Someone piped up behind me. “There was a car.”
“We heard squealing tires.”
“They didn’t leave tracks, though.”
“No burning rubber, either.”
I sighed with relief as I asked my first question. “Did you see it? Or just hear it?”
“I saw it,” a choked voice spoke up.
I turned toward a woman whose age I couldn’t really clock. She was dirtier than the rest, and clearly very scared. Her blueeyes were wide and a bit bloodshot. I could have sworn I saw a bit of yellow in her eyes as well.
I needed to tell Doc that.
“Do you feel brave enough to tell me what you saw?” I asked softly.
“Come here, child,” the older woman said. “Sit by me. It’s all right.”
The woman slowly slipped through the small throng that gathered around me and sat right against the side of the older woman with the dislocated wrist. She tucked herself under the woman’s wing, and her voice was so soft that I really had to strain to hear her.
But I heard her just the same.
“She was running. Had headphones in. I only remember that because the headphones were sort of shiny. I thought they were pretty.”
I smiled. “That’s good. Thank you. Do you remember anything else?”
She swallowed hard. “The car. It was black. Came out of nowhere. I scrambled out of view and hid in some bushes.”
“What happened after that?”
The woman’s eyes got watery. “She didn’t even make a sound, you know? No screaming or anything. It all happened so fast.”
I gave her a moment to collect herself. “Did you happen to see how many men were in the car?”
She swallowed hard and sniffled. “Two got out. But neither of them got out from behind the wheel. They both came from the back.”
So at least three men, possibly four, were in the car. I logged that away. “You’re doing so good. Thank you. Do you remember anything else?”
She shivered. “They shoved her in the trunk. I swear, that’s all I saw.”
“I know, I know,” I said softly, reaching out and placing my hand on her shivering knee. “Thank you so much for all of your information. It helps us a great deal. Do you know how close you were to the warehouse when you saw this car?”
She shook her head softly. “I don’t know, I’m sorry.”
“She ran up on us from that direction,” the older woman said as she pointed. “I remember because I heard her crying when she ran towards the warehouse. I went outside to greet her.”
I smiled at the older woman. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
She lifted her head with pride. “We always take care of our own.”
I nodded. “As do we. Us women have to stick together, and right now, one of our own is in a hell of a lot of danger.”
“The boogeyman,” one of the girls whispered.
I nodded as I turned to face yet another young woman. “That’s right. We’ve got a boogeyman in these woods that is taking women, which means all of you need to stick together for now. No one goes anywhere without a buddy, and you stick to the places that you know have cameras. Got it?”
They all nodded their heads as I turned back to the young woman who saw everything. “Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all? Don’t leave anything out, any little tidbit is useful.”
