Sam was in a near panic. He had no idea how or when Molly had escaped, but it couldn’t have been long ago. She would have been too groggy and unable to comprehend what was going on. She couldn’t have gone far in that condition.
How in the hell did she get out of those restraints? They mustn’t have been tight enough. I have to find her, and quick, before somebody else does.
He searched the garage in a frenzy, looking in and under the van, in the storage cabinets, and behind the stacked boxes along the wall. He raked his hair as he checked every nook and cranny. A cold breeze swirled in and engulfed the garage. He turned and noticed the door that led to the side yard was ajar. Sam smashed his fist against the wall and bloodied his knuckles. It was his fault he’d trusted the restraints while Molly slept off the GHB. He should have locked her in the workroom.
Sam slammed the garage door and stomped into the kitchen.
“What in the world?” Adeline called out. Sam glanced quickly into the living room, where his mother craned her neck and looked at him.
He began pulling out kitchen drawers. “I need the flashlight, Mom. Where is it?”
“It’s under the sink. Why? What happened?”
“The girl got away, and I have to find her fast. She couldn’t have gotten too far.”
Sam grabbed his jacket and ran out into the dark. From the side of the house where the door opened off the garage, Molly could have taken to the street or headed into the woods. Luckily, the five-acre parcel at the end of the cul-de-sac, with no neighbors nearby, afforded Sam some much-needed time. The home sat on the edge of Gary before the countryside took over. The closest neighbors in any direction lived five minutes away by car. Since Molly was impaired and stumbling through the dark, that could add another twenty minutes to her getaway time. Molly wasn’t wearing a coat, either. She’d chill quickly in the nighttime temperature, which had dropped to twenty-two degrees.
Sam spun on his heels and ran back inside. He grabbed the van keys off the hook, climbed in the van, raised the overhead garage door, and backed down the driveway. Driving would make his search along the road that much faster. If he didn’t find her wandering the street, he would head into the woods on foot. Frightened and unfamiliar with the area, she would probably try the street first, he assumed. Luckily for him, the night was pitch-black, and his road didn’t have street lamps.
He drove slowly with the high beams illuminated. Sam craned his neck to the left, then to the right, while he searched the shoulders and ditches along the quiet road. He drove west to the stop sign at the next intersection. He was more than a mile from his house, and he was certain she couldn’t have gotten that far. He pounded the steering wheel and pulled a U-turn at the intersection. Then he headed in the other direction. By the time he reached his house, he hadn’t seen any movement along the road. He continued on, this time driving east. At the half-mile mark, he spotted something ahead on his right. It could have been any type of nocturnal animal except this one was stumbling in the fresh snow cover and wearing a stretchy purple jogging suit. Sam slammed on the brakes and jammed the shifter into Park. He jumped out, rounded the van, and slid the door open on the passenger side. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
The sight of him sent Molly scrambling into the woods. He went after her. They both knew she didn’t stand a chance. She screamed for help while lumbering through the slippery snow. Sam was on Molly in seconds and grabbed her by the waist as she kicked and scratched, sending them both sliding into the ditch. As hard as she fought, getting her to the van was nearly impossible—he had to silence her. With a swift blow to the back of her head, he knocked her senseless and threw her into the van.
Within ten minutes, he had her nude body strapped down tightly this time. Sam shook with the chill of wet clothes and anger. Molly would learn her lesson this time—no mercy and no sedative. He’d drain her blood while she was fully awake.