The Abducted Book 0 (16 page)

She stood up and noticed Gowdy watching
them, cradling his legs in pain. “You’re-you’re not gonna leave me
out here are you?” he asked. The color was completely gone from his
face.

“
No,” Miriam said. “I’m going to tell
them exactly where they can find you.”

Gowdy’s head fell back to the ground. In his
moment of delirium, he wasn’t sure what would be worse: facing the
consequences and losing his pose as an innocent man persecuted by
the system or simply dying. Either way, Miriam left him there to
ponder his fate.

***

Miriam and the girls arrived back on the
scene to find it swarming with police cars and paramedics. Two
helicopters flew overhead, circling above the auto salvage yard.
Miriam rushed to the first ambulance she saw, and paramedics
quickly took over, bringing gurneys, talking to the girls and
reassuring them that they would soon be going home to be with their
parents. But first, a short trip for a little checkup. The girls
were reluctant to separate from her, but Miriam managed to convince
them that she would be along in just a few minutes. The paramedics
strapped them down, lifted the gurneys into the vehicle, and
promised Emily and Jenny a ride like no other they had ever had,
with lights whirling and sirens blasting. Even Jenny seemed to
manage a faint smile.

“
I’ll be right back,” Miriam said,
brushing back Emily’s hair. She then turned to Jenny. “Then we’ll
all ride to the hospital together.”

The paramedics took over from there as they
set both girls down and began measuring their vital signs. Miriam
saw them loading O’Leary into another ambulance as she rushed over.
Lou stood by, overwhelmed by all the activity. O’Leary took one
look at her dirtied face, dried with tears, and couldn’t resist a
mild jab.

“
What the hell happened to you?” he
said, trying to fight the pain of his gunshot wounds. They had an
IV hooked into his arm and were frantically cleaning and dressing
his leg.

“
I found her,” Miriam said with a
breath of relief.

Both O’Leary and Lou looked stunned.

“
The girl?” Lou said.

“
Emily Beckett and Jenny Dawson. I
found them both.”

A smile spread across O’Leary’s face. Lou
clutched his side and coughed.

“
The Dawson girl too?” he said. “I
can’t believe it! Where?”

Exhausted, Miriam pointed to the forest,
where for the first time she noticed the sign on the fence that
claimed the land as being owned by Anderson Properties.

“
They had them in a bunker. They were
the only ones I could find. Gowdy said the others were
killed.”

“
Gowdy?” O’Leary said, between heavy
breaths. “Where is he?”

“
Still back there. Shot him twice in
the leg. I already pointed some officers in his
direction.”

Lou’s eyes widened again. O’Leary tried to
follow along the best he could despite his injuries.

“
But I don’t understand,” Lou said.
“Phil Anderson is the one you’re looking for. Not
Gowdy.”

Miriam’s eyes narrowed. “You mean you
haven’t got him yet?”

“
He disappeared,” Lou said. “Vanished
like a bat out of hell. They just raided the place, got everyone on
site except Phil.”

“
How?” Miriam shouted.

Lou backed up and held out an arm, trying to
calm her. “We don’t know. He made us somehow. But this bunker. That
changes everything!”

Miriam shook her head, feeling defeated.

Lou touched her shoulder. “Chin up there,
Castillo. We got an APB on him. He won’t get far.”

Miriam looked to the ambulance where Emily
and Jenny were being attended to. “We need to contact their
parents.”

“
Already on it,” Lou said.

“
Get me out of here,” O’Leary said, in
pain, from the ambulance. Miriam and Lou turned and waved as the
paramedics shut the door.

“
We’ll see you soon!” Miriam said. She
then looked to Lou, her expression changed. “Find Phil Anderson.
And let me know when you do.” With that, she walked away to the
other ambulance and got in, taking Emily’s hand.

Its sirens and lights went on as the
ambulance roared down the road, away from Anderson country and back
to civilization. Three combined county police departments had
descended on the area in the largest case in Palm Dale’s history.
The bunker, apparently, was just the tip of the iceberg.

Miriam stayed with Emily and Jenny at the
hospital until their parents arrived. Both the Beckett and Dawson
families had come alive with joyous rapture upon learning that
their daughters were alive. It was the most incredible thing Miriam
had ever seen. The parents called her a hero, a godsend, but she
didn’t want any of it. The girls were alive, and that was all that
mattered. She stayed with both families overnight at the hospital,
laughing and talking as both children recovered throughout the
night. Eventually, however, it would be time to go home.

In all of the commotion, she had forgotten
to even call home. But she was certain Freddy could hold things
down in her absence. The next morning, Lou himself offered her a
ride back home. They took the long drive as she repeatedly tried
calling Freddy and Ana. It was a weekday. Ana was at school and
Freddy was probably asleep in front of the television—a little part
of why they had split in the first place. She finally arrived home
and found both her car and Freddy’s still in the driveway.

“
Need me to come in with you?” Lou
asked.

Miriam looked at him with tired eyes and
smiled. “No thanks. I’ll be fine. Thanks for the ride.”

Just as she opened the door, Lou stopped her
with a hand on her shoulder, calling her back.

“
You know, O’Leary was right about
you. You’re a hell of an asset to law enforcement.”

Miriam waved him off. “I’m just glad we were
able to find Emily in time.”

Lou looked at her and smiled. “You did well,
Sergeant Castillo. We’re all proud of you.”

Blushing, she said no more and got out of
the car. She walked to the front door, purse in hand, gym bag over
her shoulder, and waved to Lou as he backed out and drove away. It
was still early.

Only a little after eleven in the morning,
and she figured she would spend the rest of the day in bed. Who
knew? Maybe she could convince Freddy to fix her something to eat.
It would take at least a good hour to tell him the whole story.
That much alone was worth a meal, she thought.

She turned the key and entered her house.
The television was on in the living room, with ongoing coverage of
the Anderson bust. The news had already traveled to her neck of the
woods.

“
Freddy?” she called out. She set her
bag down and placed her purse on a nearby nightstand. Out of the
corner of her eye, she could see him sitting at the kitchen table
with his back turned toward her.

“
Freddy? Hello?” She walked over to
him with a smile and then froze when she saw his face staring down,
his eyes still as glass with dilated, lifeless pupils. A large gash
ran across his throat from one end to the other. Blood spatter ran
down his white T-shirt.

She jumped back in shock as fear gripped
her. She screamed in terror. There was no way to comprehend what
had happened. Her body shook, and she was losing control. Then her
eyes caught a note waiting for her on the table, written in
crayon:

You took my playmates, Miriam. Now you and
your daughter are all I have left to play with. Love Phyllis.