Three days had passed since they’d found Teagan, and Ward still wouldn’t share any information. Ferris and Ryan had even gone into the station together, and Ward had given them some bullshit response about still being in the process of gathering information and it wasn’t ready to share with the public yet.
He and his team weren’t the fucking public. They’dfoundher. They were doing more of Ward’s job than he was.
Asshole.
But they knew she was awake. And they were going to talk to her, whether Ward wanted them to or not. And if there was anything he’d learned about Ward and his deputies since getting to Deep River, it was that they didn’t work hard. This guy hadn’t taken a break for a while. He was almost due. Someone shouldreplace him for that break. But again, that would require more work on the sheriff’s part, so it likely wouldn’t happen.
“Any change?” Ryan asked from over the line.
“Not yet. But he keeps looking down the hall like he’s about to leave. Makes me think he’s got somewhere to be.”
As if the deputy had heard his words, he glanced up before walking away from the door.
He just left her, unprotected, not caring about needing a fucking replacement.
Joel’s jaw clenched. “He’s gone.”
“Be there in under a minute.”
Ryan had been waiting in the cafeteria. Less than thirty seconds later, he stood beside Joel and they both quickly crossed to the door.
Teagan Kimm turned her attention from the window to them as they stepped in, then she frowned. “You’re the guys who work on the new SAR team.”
Ryan nodded. “That’s correct. We also found you.”
“They told me that.” Her frown deepened. “I planned to say thank you when I get out, but that doesn’t seem like enough.”
“We were just doing our jobs,” Joel said.
“But we’d really like to know what happened to you,” Ryan added.
“I told Ward and his deputy.” She pushed up slightly on the bed.
“We’d love to hear it too,” Joel said gently.
She nodded. “Okay. I, um, left a Bible study class in Gardiner. I was ten minutes from home when I passed this car sitting at a crossroad, but I didn’t pay it any attention. All I remember is that it was white. As soon as I passed it, though, it pulled onto the road behind me and flicked on its high beams.”
High beams…just like with Polly. “What happened next, Teagan?”
“I tried really hard not to panic, but I was so scared I wasn’t thinking properly, so I just pulled over, naively hoping they’d pass me.” She closed her eyes. “It was stupid.”
“No,” Ryan corrected. “You were trying to save yourself from a car crash.”
“I was. I remembered that girl who got run off the road recently, and I didn’t want that to happen to me. He parked behind me, and when I tried to start the engine it stalled, then I couldn’t start it again.”
“He tampered with your fuel line, probably while you were in class,” Ryan said between gritted teeth.
They’d contacted the local mechanic, who’d examined the car for the police. He’d told them more than he should have. That when the fuel line had been tampered with, the engine had started fine, but the second she’d stopped, the fuel system hadn’t been able to maintain enough pressure to restart.
She frowned. “Yeah. My boyfriend told me. I tried to lock my doors, but I wasn’t fast enough. He opened my door and dragged me out. He grabbed me out of my car. I fought him but he hit me and I blacked out for a while.”
Joel remained still, trying to shield the woman from his anger.
She swallowed. “I don’t know how much time passed, but when I woke up, we were near the river. He didn’t realize I was awake. I opened my eyes and just saw the back of him over the water. While he was distracted, I ran. Everything after that’s a blur,” she whispered, almost looking like she wanted to cry. “I ran as far into the woods as I could. I think I was running for hours before I finally took a break. By then I’d run so deep that I couldn’t find my way out. I couldn’t even find the water.”
“Did you recognize him when you saw him by the water?” Joel asked.
She shook her head. “It was dark and he was wearing a mask over his head.”
