“Together,” I replied.
When we made our way to the kitchen, MaryAnne was cooking meat and Billy was chopping up lettuce.
“What can I do to help?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and strong.
MaryAnne stopped what she was doing and made her way over to me. She drew me in for a hug, holding me tightly. I nearly wept with the knowledge that so many people cared for me. I went from having no one, to having the most amazing people in my life.
She stepped back and used the pads of her thumbs to wipe my tears away. “You don’t need to do anything. Billy and I have dinner taken care of. Are you okay to talk to Randy?”
Smiling, I hugged her once more. “Yes, I’m good. MaryAnne, thank you for being such a great friend. I know we haven’t actually known one another for very long, but itfeelslike I’ve known you forever.”
She smiled. “I feel the same way.”
“Mallory, are you up to telling us what you remembered?” Randy asked as he approached, Jonathon not far behind.
Exhaling a long breath, I faced the two police officers and nodded. “Yes. Let’s do this.”
Liam took my hand, and we followed Randy and Jonathon into the living room.
“I’m going to record this, okay?” Randy asked.
Clearing the frog in my throat, I replied, “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Liam said you’ve gotten some of your memory back?” Jonathon asked.
“Yes. All of it, actually. I found a picture in the boxes that Liam had shipped to his house. The picture was from a going-away party at the restaurant I worked in. There was a man standing off in the background. He looked familiar to me, and then I remembered where I’d seen him. He was in the deli the day I went missing. He was smiling at me, and I thought at the time he was flirting. I got my sandwich and went back to the hotel. I decided that night that I was going to leave and move toa place closer to downtown. The lady at the front desk, she told me her cousin was looking for a roommate. I wrote down her name and number and I remember feeling excited at the idea of possibly finding a place to live. I walked into the bathroom, forgot something, and walked back into the main area of my hotel room, and he was standing there. I instantly remembered him from the deli, asked how he got into my room, and then realized he was there to do something bad. I screamed and tried to get to the bathroom, but he grabbed me. Then he punched me to get me to be quiet. I fought him off as best I could, and I got free. I nearly made it to the door before I felt something hit my head. Then everything went black.”
I closed my eyes and drew in a few deep breaths. Liam took my hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. When I looked at him, he smiled and gave a head nod.
I exhaled and went on. “I remember waking up in the backseat of a car. I was tied up, there was something shoved in my mouth, and the same guy was in the front seat driving.”
“Is he the guy from the basement?” Randy asked.
“I guess so. But I couldn’t see his face once we were in the basement. It’s like he’s blacked out in my mind. It’s frustrating to me.”
“Don’t be frustrated,” Jonathon said in a soothing voice.
“Do you remember the name of the motel?” Randy asked.
Closing my eyes, I clearly saw the place in my mind. “New Relax Inn. Like I said, I had decided just that day to try and find a place closer to downtown, since I had to take the bus to and from the motel for interviews. I liked the area I was in; it was safe. But I wanted to be closer to downtown, where most jobs were. Carol! That was the name of the lady at the front desk. Her cousin worked for a law firm, that’s what it was. She was the one looking for a roommate.”
I started to rub my temples as I felt the headache coming on once again. My hands started to shake, so I put them in my lap.
“Take your time, Mallory,” Randy said.
“I don’t remember getting from the car to the basement. I do remember he stopped once, and I was kicking the back of the seat and trying to scream. He opened the back door, pulled the rag out of my mouth, and told me he had a little something for me. It was a needle. Before I could even react, he injected me with something. I started to get tired super-fast, and as I was slipping away, he said something to me…um…like he was going to enjoy me. After that, I just remember waking up in the basement.”
“The guy said he was going to enjoy you?” Jonathon asked.
I quickly shook my head. “No…he didn’t say he himself was going to enjoy me. No…” I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding in my ears. “No, he said…heis going to enjoy you. He was talking about someone else.”
Randy and Jonathon both looked at one another, then at Liam.
“I don’t think he was the guy in the basement. I think he was…he was bringing me to him.”
“Shit,” Liam mumbled as he stood. “We need to check Chad out some more.”
“Chad?” Jonathon asked. “I was with Chad the entire time we were in Chicago, Liam. There is no way he could have slipped away and planned this. I would have heard it.”
