After running cold water over my face, I walked slowly back into the kitchen. Mallory had finished eating all her food, and it broke my heart to know she’d been so hungry.
With a deep sigh, I said, “I’m sorry.”
She gave me a small smile, then it faded, and sadness filled her eyes. “Did you know her? Emily?”
I nodded. “She was my fiancée. She vanished almost six years ago.”
Mallory’s hand covered her mouth and she turned away from me. I could tell she was crying.
“Mallory?” I touched her gently on the arm. “Were you alone in the room or with others?”
Slowly turning, she wiped her tears away. Her expression was conflicted, and I could see the battle in her eyes. She didn’t want to tell me. “I was alone, but there had definitely been others down there before me.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I asked her the next question. “How do you know?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. Then she softly said, “He told me there were others. He liked to toy with them, tell them what he planned on doing before he did it. He wanted to terrify me…and he did. Knowing what he planned to do, and what he’d done to others, made everything so much worse. Not knowingwhenit might happen, just knowing it would.”
My stomach clenched, and I thought I was going to throw up again.
Lifting her gaze to meet mine, she blinked, and another tear slipped free. “There was also…blood…on the mattress. At least, it looked like blood and smelled like it. It most likely was mine, but it looked like it was stained…older stains.
I slowly sat down on a stool.
She gently touched my arm. “There might be a chance she’s still alive.”
All I could do was nod. Mallory had escaped, and maybe Emily had too. What if she also couldn’t remember who she was?
“Do you think he would have let you live?” I asked.
Her eyes slowly met mine. “I want to tell you yes, but I can’t.” She started to cry again. “His laugh…it was soevil. I feel like it’s burned into my brain, and I’ll never be able to forget it. I don’t know, Liam. I just…I don’t know!”
She broke down crying, and I quickly stood and drew her into my arms again. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
Mallory pressed her face against my chest. “I’m so sorry!”
I gently rocked her as I held her. She was apologizing because, deep down inside, she knew Emily wasn’t alive…and I knew it as well, somewhere inside of me. This whole time, I never truly felt in my heart that she was still with us.
Walking Mallory over to the sofa, we both sat down. It wasn’t long before she’d cried herself to sleep. I carefully lay her on the couch and covered her with a blanket. Piper laid down on the floor in front of the sofa.
“Watch over her, girl, okay?”
Piper looked up at Mallory with a soft bark and then put her head between her paws.
After writing Mallory a note, I grabbed my jacket and phone and headed out the door. Pulling up a number, I hit send and started for the barn.
“Bubba, I need to see you right now. Can you meet me in the main barn?”
“I’m already in the barn.”
“Good, don’t move. I’m on my way.”
A few minutes later, I walked into the barn and saw Bubba cleaning a stall.
“How’s the girl?” he asked.
I glanced around. “Is there anyone else here?”
“No, not now.”
