Instead of responding, I grab the book off the chair. “I don’t need your help finding Angel, but I think you do need my help. I think you were bluffing just now. You have no idea when your time will be up or how it will happen. And you really do think I can figure it out. The problem is I’m not going to try. And even if I do figure it out somehow, I won’t tell you. I’ll leave you guessing to your dying day.” I walk to the door.
“Piper, don’t leave,” Sam says, trying to sit up again. The heart rate monitor he’s hooked up to starts beeping frantically.
“Goodbye, Sam. I’ll say hello to Angel for you.” I tap the book against the door as I shut it much harder than necessary.
A nurse rushes past me into the room to attend to the beeping machine hooked up to Sam.
“What was that about?” Mitchell asks.
“Don’t worry about it. We need to go find Angel.”
“I’ll pull the car around. Meet me in the lobby.”
I nod, and he rushes off. Dad comes over and gives me a hug before telling me he’s going home to check on Mom. I’m heading to the elevator with him when someone calls my name.
“Piper,” Officer Andrews says. “A word before you go?”
I totally forgot he wanted me to read something of his wife’s so he can find out if she’s having an affair. “Give Mom a kiss for me,” I tell Dad as he steps into the elevator.
I nod at Officer Andrews and motion to the stairwell, which will hopefully be empty and give us a little privacy.
He follows me and looks around before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a tiny black box containing a pair of diamond earrings. “I bought this for her last year. As an anniversary gift.”
“Pretty,” I say. “Does she wear them often?”
He nods. “She got ready in a hurry this morning. I don’t know why, but she forgot to put them on. She hates sleeping with jewelry.” He doesn’t say it, but his expression tells me he read into why she might not have put the earrings on.
I take the box from him and remove the card holding the earrings. “Make sure no one comes in here, okay? And don’t interrupt me. Stay quiet until I open my eyes again.”
“Got it.”
I steady my breathing, close my eyes, and transfer the earrings to my right hand.
“I know I’m late, but Kurt was asking all these questions and I couldn’t get out of the house. If he finds out I’m working a second job, he’ll freak out.”
“I don’t know why you’re running yourself ragged for a man who spends more time at strip clubs than at home with you,” the woman says, handing her an apron.
“I think we just need a fresh start. If I can make enough money to pay for the cruise, we can get away from all this for a while and remember why we fell for each other in the first place.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
I open my eyes and shove the earrings against Officer Andrews’s chest. “You don’t deserve your wife. You really don’t. She’s working a second job as a baker so she can surprise you with a cruise. I don’t know to where, but that doesn’t matter because while you’re busy frequenting strip clubs, she’s working herself ragged trying to rekindle whatever spark brought you two together in the first place.”
“So she isn’t having an affair?” He couldn’t sound more surprised. “She’s not going to leave me?”
“Look, for whatever reason, the universe is giving you a second shot with her. Don’t screw it up.” I push past him and down the stairs.
Mitchell has the car pulled up in front of the entrance, and I hop right in. “Where to?”
I wish I knew. “She’s someplace with a concrete floor, and it’s dark. Sound familiar?”
“The warehouse again? Would he really bring Angel there after we discovered he was holding Louisa there for a while?”
“I don’t think so. I think he dropped Angel off somewhere, drugged her so she’d stay quiet, and left her.”
“If he had to drug her, then it means he’s worried someone would hear her.” Mitchell pulls out of the parking lot and onto the road.
“He said I should have figured out why he took her. At first, I thought it was because her name is Angel and she’s an innocent, but I think it goes deeper than that.” I lean my head back and run over every conversation I’ve had with Sam.
“Keep talking, Piper. You’re working through this. I know it.”
I raise my hands to the sides of my head. “Every time I think I have something, it slips away.”
“Clear your mind. We need to play the game. Not Sam’s. Yours.”
He’s right. As much as I’m sick of games, I have to do this. I close my eyes. “Go ahead.”
“What’s the name of the book in your hands?”
“Deadly Silence.”
“What’s the one thing Sam can’t see?”
“How he’ll die.”
“Did he leave Angel somewhere with no plan to return?”
“Yes.”
“Is she in danger there?”
“Yes.”
“Will we find her in time?”
I open my eyes and glare at him. “Why would you do that?”
“Sorry, I took a risk. I thought it might pay off. But you said she’s in danger wherever she is. What place is dark and would put a four-year-old in danger?”
“She was cold in my vision. Shivering.”
“A freezer of some nature?”
“No.” I don’t hesitate to answer because I can feel that’s wrong. “Keep guessing.”
“A basement?”
“No.”
“A crawl space?”
“No.”
“All right. Try this. Focus on Angel. What can you sense about her?”
“I don’t have her giraffe. How do you expect me to have a vision of her?”
“Use the book.” He motions to it in my lap.
“I’ll see Sam.”
“Try it,” he urges, and I realize we’re driving toward Angel’s house. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll find something else for you to read.”
I switch the book to my right hand. Show me something I can use, I plead with my senses.
Sam pulls the old clunker of a car into the junkyard lot. He parks next to the main building and gets out of the car. He takes a set of keys from his pants pocket and unlocks the door of the small building, which is a concrete structure.
“This will do nicely,” he says with a smug smile.
I open my eyes and look at Mitchell. “The junkyard. I saw him scoping it out before he took Angel. That has to be where she is. It’s closed on the weekends.”
“How would he even get in?” Mitchell asks.
“He had a set of keys. Maybe he stole them. I don’t know.” It doesn’t matter either. We know where we need to go.
Mitchell pulls a U-turn and drives toward the outskirts of town, where the junkyard is located. It takes us twenty minutes to arrive, and the outside gate is locked since the facility is closed today. Mitchell parks outside it.
“In the vision, these gates were open,” I say, getting out of the car. “I think Sam might work here, too.”
“Under a fake name maybe?” Mitchell asks, meeting me around the front of the patrol car. “We didn’t find anything about him working here when we ran a search on him.”
“It could be. Or maybe he works here as Ryker Dunn. It could be where the name came from. This is where he was getting the cars from, though. He was fixing them up enough to drive.”
“He can do that?”
One thing I’ve learned about Sam is he’s wickedly intelligent. I think that’s why he’s so good at using his abilities. “I’d wager his IQ is off the charts.”
“Yet he works at a junkyard and as a janitor at a university. Why?”
“Didn’t you ever see that movie Good Will Hunting?”
He cocks his head at me. “That movie came out over twenty years ago. How do you know about it?”
“I read the book,” I say.
“Should have known.” Mitchell tugs on the lock on the gate, eliciting a look from me.
“What did you think that would accomplish?”
“No idea. I guess we’re going to have to climb over it.” He peers up at the gate. “It’s only about eight feet tall. It’s doable.”
“No real foot holes, though,” I say, wishing I hadn’t left my apartment without my purse. I keep a lockpick kit in there for situations just like this one.
“I don’t suppose you were a mountain climber in a previous life,” he jokes.
I look Mitchell up and down.
“What?” His head dips down as he tries to figure out what I’m checking for.
“How strong are you?”
He flexes his bicep.
I roll my eyes. “Think you can put me on your shoulders? I’ll be able to pull myself over the fence from there.”
“And how do you suppose I’ll get over it once you’re on the other side?”
“Didn’t say you were going to.”
His eyes widen. “Oh, so your plan is to leave me behind?”
“Not for long. You’re going to get on the phone and call the guy who runs this place so he can get us keys. We need to get Angel safely out of here.”
Mitchell hesitates. “Are you sure about this? I mean you won’t even be able to get to Angel once you’re over the fence.”
“Again, that’s why you’re calling the owner for those keys. But in the meantime, I need to make sure Angel is okay. I can call to her, see if she’s awake in there.” And hopefully keep her calm until help arrives.
Mitchell squats down with his hands gripping the fence in front of him. “Get on my shoulders.”
I hold on to the fence as I put one foot and then the other on Mitchell’s shoulders. “Slowly stand,” I say. “I don’t want to lose my balance.”
He starts to stand. “For someone who eats almost as much as I do, you barely weigh anything.”
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to comment on a woman’s weight?” I adjust my hands on the fence as Mitchell raises me up.
“Sorry. I thought that was a compliment.”
I’ve always been too thin thanks to my fast metabolism. Most people think that’s a gift, but I’d take curves any day. “Just focus on not dropping me.”
“You got it, boss.”
“See, now that’s much better.”
He laughs, and I shake slightly, which cuts his laughter short. “Sorry.”
I’m able to reach the top of the fence. This next part is probably going to hurt like hell since I’ll have to practically lie across the top of the fence to pull myself over to the other side.
“You okay?” Mitchell asks.
“Yeah, just hold steady. I’m not looking forward to this part.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize this had been fun for you so far.”
“I’m glad you think you’re funny.” I place both my hands on the top of the fence and push upward. Mitchell grabs my legs to steady me. “Try to stay still,” I tell him as he sways slightly underneath me since he’s no longer using the fence for support.
“I’m doing the best I can.”
“Let go of my right leg,” I say. Once he does, I swing it over the top of the fence, which digs into my bikini zone. I push up on my arms to try to relieve the pressure.
Mitchell pushes up on my left leg, trying to help. “Any better?”
“Yeah.” I push off his shoulder and swing my left leg over as well. It’s hard to maintain my grip and keep from falling to the ground, but I manage to hold on. I slowly lower my hands a few rungs on the fence before dropping to the gravel and dirt below me. I let out a deep breath. “Piece of cake,” I tell Mitchell. “Now make that call.”
He nods and whips out his phone. I turn and head for the small concrete building I saw in my vision. An empty junkyard is a little spooky. Especially since it’s dark outside and there are only a few lampposts lighting the place. If I didn’t know Sam was in a hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound, I’d be worried he’d jump out at me from behind any one of these wrecked vehicles.
There’s a clear path to the building, and I stay on it. The building is locked, like I knew it would be. There’s a window on one side, and I peer inside. I see controls, which I assume are for the machine that crushes metal. There’s no sign of Angel, but I knew there wouldn’t be since it was completely dark where she was in my vision.
“Angel?” I call out. “Angel, if you can hear me, your mommy sent me to bring you home.”
I press my ear to the glass, hoping to hear something.
My phone chimes instead.
Mitchell: Owner will be here any minute. Any sign of Angel?
Piper: Not yet.
I pocket my phone and walk around the building, looking for another way inside. “Angel?” I call out again. “If you’re awake, please say something. Let me know you’re okay.”
Still nothing. I’m getting more worried by the minute. What if Sam drugged her too much? She’s only four.
I hear the squeak of the front gate and know Mitchell and the owner are on their way inside. I head back to the door on the building.
Mitchell looks as worried as I feel when they reach me. “Anything?”
I shake my head.
The owner, a thin man with red hair, immediately unlocks the door and pushes it open for Mitchell, who steps inside. “She’s not in here.”