Eliana spun around. Cabot should have started barking, but she just stood there. Still looking at the woods, now behind them. “Cabbie.”
She’d called the dog that since she was little. She hadn’t been able to pronounce the dog’s name the correct—French—way. Now Eliana didn’t know what to say to get the dog’s attention. It was like she didn’t even know this woman was standing in front of Eliana.
Not close enough to touch.
Not even close enough for her to see the lady’s face.
Eliana tried to make out what she looked like, but with the dark and that hood over her head… “Who are you?”
“An old family friend,” the lady replied. She sounded like the girls in Sunday School laughing at Eliana. All because she didn’t go to their school, she went to school at home. “What are you doing alone, all the way out here?” She wore a long coat with a tie around her waist that hung down on the sides. Big buttons on the front, and that hood over her head.
Why couldn’t she push the hood back and show her face?
Eliana inched toward Cabot. “I’m not alone.” She ran her hand down the dog’s side, almost hugging her close. She could feel Cabot’s racing heartbeat under her warm fur. “If you were a family friend, I’d know who you are. I know all our friends.”
It wasn’t as if she was a naïve little kid who didn’t know that she wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers. She was twelve now. Her birthday was last week, and everyone had been there. If this lady were a friend of the family, she’d have been at Eliana’s birthday party.
“I…I’m going to go now.” Eliana started to step back, but didn’t want to lose her hold on Cabot.
The lady grabbed her.
Eliana screamed, spinning around. She dragged her arms from the lady’s nasty fingers and yelled for Cabot, running as fast as she could through the woods.
All she could hear was that lady laughing at her.
She just kept running.
The room was as dark as it was behind closed eyelids. Eliana tried to breathe, to control the panic. If she gave in to it, she would have nothing left. No way to hold on.
“Carlos.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Lights flipped on overhead; the long bar flashed and hummed, then stayed on, casting a yellowish glow on the room.
“You are awake.” Carlos stood by a door at the far end of the room.
“What are you doing?” She sat up and got distracted by the chair she was in. When she realized it was like a dentist’s chair—where surgeries could be performed—she hopped off it.
And nearly collapsed.
Eliana caught herself on the chair. “What is this place?”
Above the chair was a spotlight, currently dark. A seat beside hers. Long metal tables covered with science equipment she didn’t want to look too closely at.
Carlos made his way back to her, his footsteps unsteady. Occasionally holding on to a table for balance.
When he came near enough, she reached for him, just to reassure herself,I’m not alone.
Pain sparked in her elbow.
The lingering nightmare from her childhood left the same taste in her mouth. Unanswered questions on the tip of her tongue. Ones she didn’t know how to ask.
“Ouch.” She pulled off her zippered sweater and saw a red mark at the crease of her elbow. A needle prick. “I got stuck with something.”
“I don’t have one of those.” He looked around. “Whoever did this, they aren’t in here. You have your phone? Mine has no signal.”
“It’s in the car.” She patted her pockets and found the knife where she’d left it. “Do you have your gun?”
He showed her his holster, then checked his pockets. “All present and accounted for. So we aren’t captives.”
