Orla looked up, desperate, and saw Ben watching them. He quickly looked away, taking something else from the bag. He shuffled behind them and Orla could no longer see him.
Frederic stood and Orla saw his eyes flicker to Ben.
“What are you doing?” he snapped.
“Dr. Crow asked me to sweep before the meeting,” Ben stammered.
Frederic sneered and slid a syringe from his pocket.
“A little sleep in preparation for your debut,” Frederic murmured, sliding a needle into Orla’s neck.
“Ben,” she cried out, and Frederic’s eyes widened in surprise as Ben smashed the handle of the broom into his temple. Frederic pitched forward, but stayed on his feet. The doctor stared at Ben, shocked, with a fury in his eyes that chilled Orla. If Frederic got the upper hand, Ben would die.
Helpless within her restraints, Orla rocked the chair, pounding her feet into the stone floor and bucking backwards. Ben took another swing at Frederic and missed. The doctor lunged, and Ben jumped out of the way, but Frederic caught the collar of his shirt and ripped him backwards off his feet. Ben landed on his back with a thud. Frederic spit on the floor, and Orla saw blood and something small and white, a tooth. He took a step toward Ben, but the impact against his head was catching up with him. Orla noticed a trickle of blood from his ear.
Ben didn’t wait. He rolled to the side and kicked the doctor’s legs out from under him. The man crumpled to the ground, head smacking the earth, and lay still.
Ben bent down and put his fingers on the man’s neck.
“He’s still alive,” he told Orla, relieved.
Orla stared at the doctor, unmoved.
“Ben, he gave me a sedative. There’s not much time.”
Ben stood, a confused expression on his face.
“We’re almost there, Ben,” she asserted. “Unstrap me.”
He gazed at Frederic for another moment before turning to Orla and fumbling the straps from her arms and ankles.
“This way,” he said, gesturing to the dark tunnel at the mouth of the room. They hurried into the corridor lit by flickering torches. As they neared the entrance, a shaft of light suddenly split the darkness.
Ben’s arm shot out, plastering Orla against the stone wall.
Voices floated in from the entrance door.
“Dr. Crow, hold on,” a man said.
“What is it?” Crow asked his voice impatient.
Orla’s heart beat against her ribs. She felt Ben trembling beside her.
“Your patient on Floor Five is having a seizure. The nurse is asking for you.”
“Right now?” Crow spat. “Fine, fine. There’s still time.”
The door swung closed, the light vanishing. Their voices grew smaller, quieter, until Orla and Ben were left with only their breath.
“Oh God,” Ben mumbled.
Orla heard the fear in voice. He was questioning his choice.
“Ben,” she said, grabbing his hand. “Please, please help me.”
His hand shook, and he didn’t move. Finally, heavily, he turned and pulled her toward the opening.
Thick, dark clouds marred the brightness of the day. Rain was coming.
Orla’s legs buckled as she stepped into the shady forest.
“Ben,” she mumbled.
He was walking ahead, starting to run.
She dropped to her knees, her head swimming. He turned back as she fell forward onto her hands, straining to focus on the grass beneath her, but it blurred.
“It’s hitting me,” she mumbled, and her eyes drifted closed.
Chapter 47
Abe
Abe stood on the sidelines as police searched the park. They’d cordoned off the trails and blocked the parking lot. They hurried in and out of the woods like ants compiling rations for winter.
Abe snagged Deputy Waller as he walked by.
“This is your guy,” Abe told him, thrusting a sheet of paper with Ben Stoops’ name on it.
“The guy with the truck?” Waller asked, folding the sheet and sliding it into his pocket. “How do you know?”
“A car that was just spotted at the latest abduction is literally in the guy’s bedroom. I’ve also seen him at this park multiple times, and -” Abe dropped his voice to a whisper, “Orla’s roommate saw one of her earrings through a window at Ben’s house. This is the guy. If you want any chance of finding the latest girl alive, I suggest you nail him now. Not in an hour. Right now.”
“An earring isn’t a body, Abe. You understand if I haul him in and he’s innocent-”
“He’s not innocent. You saw those clothes in the woods, right? Those are Orla’s clothes. Look in the pockets of the shorts.”
Waller sighed, flicking the holster on his gun opened and closed.
“Save me the shock and tell me what I’ll find.”
“A tooth.”
Waller grimaced.
“Okay. I’m going to bring him in. Hopefully, he’ll spit the whole story out, and no one will ask about probable cause.”
Abe took a quick step away as Detective Moore pulled up, jumping from his unmarked car.
“Get him, Waller,” he murmured, and slipped behind a row of squad cars.
Abe dropped a tearful Hazel at home and stopped at a payphone to leave a message for his dad. His nerves were frayed, muscles jumping beneath his skin.
He got in his car and drove to the diner, but pulled back out. He couldn’t stomach another cup of coffee.
Back on the road, he decided he’d go up the Peninsula. What could it hurt? If Ben had the girl captive, perhaps Abe could find her.
As he pulled from the diner, a black-and-white turned onto the road behind him. The police car approached fast before slowing down, on his tail. The red and blue lights flicked on.
Hazel
Hazel opened her door to Liz bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Did they get him?” she asked.
Hazel looked beyond Liz into the street, expecting the world outside to reflect her turmoil. But cars ambled by, kids raced on bikes, birds continued their antics in the sky, and Orla… Orla, what? Hazel saw the vision of her friend hovering at the edge of an abyss. She feared to look deeply at what had become of Orla.
Hazel shook her head.
“I don’t know. The news is on. Abe sent a deputy to pick up Ben. There’s a reporter at Elder Park, but nothing new.” She didn’t say more, but backed into the house.
Liz followed her to the sitting room, where Calvin waited on the couch.
He opened his arms to Hazel, who snuggled back into his side.
Hazel turned up the volume, and they listened to a reporter comment on possible clues related to the missing women while gesturing at the caution tape strung along the trailhead.
“Abe said you found Orla’s clothes?” Liz started. “How did you know where to look?”
Hazel ran a shaky hand through her hair and gazed at the yellow tape sagging as officers stepped back and forth over the flimsy barrier.
“Abe saw a shovel in Ben Stoops’ truck. He-”
“Ben Stoops?” Calvin asked, surprised.
Hazel turned to him.
“Do you know him?”
Calvin nodded.
“Yeah, he comes into the bookstore all the time. He’s a nice guy, quiet, but nice. Are you telling me he’s the guy?”
The disbelief in Calvin’s face made Hazel squirm away.
“We found Orla’s earring in his room,” she murmured.