“So, fifteen minutes after you left work, then another twenty minutes, then another hour. There’s still time missing,” Sam says.
Bianca nods. “After my session with the pastor, I was still feeling distracted and needed to think through some things. I went into the meditation garden to think about the affirmations he gave me. I do that sometimes.”
“These are the affirmations?” I ask.
She nods, and I look down at the papers again. My eyes slide over to Sam, and I find him staring back at me. He sees the same thing. The same heavy, dark ink and blocky letters.
Run, run as fast as you can.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Baby, Sam’s here with his friend Ms. Griffin. They want to talk to you a little bit, okay?” Bianca says, leading us into the room with Gloria.
The little girl is now in a hospital gown covered with a blanket. An IV in her arm pumps fluids just like Caleb, but there doesn’t seem to be the same level of desperation. A nurse standing beside the bed is gently cleaning cuts and scrapes along her arm, but Gloria doesn’t seem to mind.
“Hi, Gloria,” Sam smiles.
Her eyes light up, and she reaches her little hand toward him. He takes it and squeezes as he steps up close enough to run his hand over her thick, dark hair. It’s tangled and bits of leaves cling to it, but she looks like she’s in fairly good condition.
“Hi, Sam,” she says. “Thank you for coming to visit me.”
“Of course. I’m here. But I’m not just here to visit you. We need to talk about what happened, okay?”
“Okay,” she nods.
There’s obvious discomfort and nervousness in her voice, and she glances over at her mother for reassurance.
“You’re not in any trouble, sweetheart,” Bianca says. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But I did,” Gloria says. “I did do something wrong.”
Sam and I look at each other. There are so many questions I want to ask, but I stay back. This little girl is scared and has just gone through something traumatizing. She doesn’t know me yet and won’t be as willing to open up to me as she will to her mother and a man who she trusts.
“What do you mean? What did you do wrong?” Sam asks.
“I know I’m not supposed to leave the community center without Mama,” she says. “I’m supposed to stay inside with everyone else until she comes in, and I walk out with her.”
“But that’s not what happened,” Bianca says.
Gloria shakes her head. “I was excited because I knew she was coming to get me early. I think it was supposed to be a surprise, but Miss Holly let it slip. I was excited to get to spend the day with her. We were going to play, and I was going to ask if we could go have a picnic. I was waiting all morning for her to come. I couldn’t even concentrate on my art project. Then it got close to the time when she usually picks me up on her early days, and I started watching the door. I was waiting and waiting and waiting. Then I thought I heard somebody, but I didn’t see her. So, when the boys started fighting and Miss Holly was distracted, I went over to the office. We’re not supposed to go over there without a grown-up, but I thought maybe Mama was there already, and I just hadn’t seen her come in. There wasn’t anybody there, but I looked at the sign-out sheet, and she had already signed me out.”
“But you didn’t see me,” Bianca says. “Why would you leave the room without me?”
“Because I saw your name on the sheet. It said you were there and picked me up. I thought maybe somebody had called you, and you went outside the talk. I was going to surprise you by coming out to you because you always come in for me. So, I got all my stuff and left. I didn’t say anything to Miss Holly because I knew she would stop me if she didn’t see you. I didn’t want her with me when I came outside. I know the two of you don’t like each other very much, and I just wanted it to be us. I’m sorry, Mama.”
She hangs her head, and Bianca steps past Sam to wrap for hands around her little daughter’s face and kiss her over and over on her forehead and cheeks.
“Don’t cry, baby. Don’t cry. I’m not upset with you. Miss Holly and I like each other just fine. I’m sorry you felt that way.”
“I just wanted to surprise you.”
Bianca tilts Gloria’s face up so she can look into her huge, dark eyes. “And I love that.”
“Who was outside when you got out there?” Sam asks.
“I don’t know,” Gloria says.
“What do you mean?” Bianca asks. “You got in the car with a stranger?”
“I didn’t mean to. I went outside to look for you and didn’t see you. There wasn’t anyone at the desk, so I couldn’t ask where you were. I walked a little bit down the sidewalk, and then I thought maybe something bad happened, and you had to go back to the hospital. I was going to go back inside, but then someone grabbed me. I couldn’t see anything, and I tried to scream, but they shoved something in my mouth.”
Bianca’s face falls. “I heard her. Oh, god. I heard her. I was sitting in the meditation garden, and I heard a sound. It was like a scream, but it was so short, and I didn’t hear anything after it. I thought maybe it was a bird or an animal. I heard her, and I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Gloria says, taking her turn to comfort her crying mother.
“The person who grabbed you, were they tall? Short? Heavy? Could you tell anything about them?”
“Not really,” Gloria says. “I was so scared I couldn’t really pay attention. They were strong enough to pick me up and put me in the back of a car.”
“Okay. Then what happened? How long were you in the car?”
“A long time. But it felt like we were going around in circles. Like we weren’t really going anywhere. Then it got really bumpy for a while, and we stopped. The person got me out of the car and made me climb up a ladder.”
“A ladder?” Sam asks.
“Yeah. But not a real one. Just little pieces of wood nailed into the side of a tree. They put me in a treehouse at the top and told me when I heard the car leave; I could take the blindfold off.”
“What did their voice sound like?” Bianca asks.
“Like they were talking through a tunnel,” Gloria says.
“They were using a voice modifier,” Sam says. “What was in the treehouse?”
“A chalkboard. Pens and paper. Some books. A few bottles of water and some crackers and stuff.”
“Did the person come back?”
“No. I was there all by myself, and I was really scared. It wasn’t like a normal treehouse. There was a big door, and it was locked. But I wanted to get out. I wanted to come home. I broke the wood over the window and crawled out.”
“You escaped,” Bianca says.
Gloria nods. “I ran and tried to remember how to get back. It took all night, but I got home.”
“Yes, you did,” Bianca whispers, kissing her again. “You’re such a brave girl.”
“You did an amazing job,” Sam tells her. “I know it was dark, and you were really scared, but do you think you could get us back to the treehouse?”
Gloria nods.
“Does she really have to?” Bianca asks. “It was so horrible for her. Does she really have to go back there?”
“We need to see it. It’s possible this guy put the other children there, too, before… We just need to see it and search the area. Eva is still missing, and she’s next in line.”
“I can do it,” Gloria says.
“Good girl,” he says, then looks at Bianca. “The doctors will probably want to keep her for a little longer just to make sure she’s alright. Emma and I will go get all the supplies we need; then we’ll be back here. Stay strong. Your baby is here. She’s doing just fine. Now we have one more to go.”