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I eased her out of my arms and pulled the sheet up over her before going to join him in the hallway. “Hey Mac, thanks for getting here so quickly.”
“No problem. You know this is one of those cases that never left my mind because of the way it ended. Mike gave me everything but I wanted to drop by to see if you had anything more for me.”
I repeated all of what she’d told the cops even down to the description of the couple who’d stayed in the cabin with her. He listened without interruption and I guess that’s why he was able to catch a little detail that I, and the detectives had overlooked.
“So she went to the doctor to confirm her pregnancy, and the cabin was already stocked for a pregnant woman. I’m guessing she didn’t tell anyone else about the pregnancy since she was waiting to surprise you. So the leak came from the doctor’s office. I’ll start there.”
He got the address and left giving me the first real hope that we were at least moving on finding my children. I went back to her, not wanting to leave her alone for too long.
She was in and out of consciousness all day until about midafternoon when she finally seemed to kick the last of the drug from her system. I forced some light broth down her throat and oversaw everything the nurses did.
I was surprised when the doctor told me I could take her home the next day. Surprised, but pleased. I’d had enough of those four walls and I’m pretty sure she had as well.
That last night in the hospital we held onto each other like two lost lovers who’d found each other after years apart. Which is exactly what we are.
The more I held her, listened to her, the easier it became for me to believe her story. The raw pain in her voice when she spoke of our children sliced pieces of my heart away.
No woman who felt that deeply could be lying. Besides, the story she told was too unimaginable to be anything but truth. And the more she told it, the more I realized that we were dealing with one sick fuck.
“The doctor said you were lactating…”
“That’s because they kept pumping my milk. The lady did it everyday. That’s how I know that our babies are still alive.” Her body shook and tears fell from her eyes. She was constantly crying.
“We’ll find them and bring them home. Mac is already out there looking. I told you about him remember? He’s very good and even though we weren’t able to find you, I think this time we’ll have more luck.”
“You still don’t remember how you got out? Or where you walked?”
“It’s coming back in bits and pieces. I was so afraid, and the drugs had me so confused that I didn’t pay much attention. I just wanted to get out of there…”
“They were going to kill me.” Her voice had gone soft but I heard her all the same.”
“What?” Anger and hate burned in my chest.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard them talking that last day. They were arguing about how to do it. The woman was saying that the money wasn’t enough for murder and he was saying there was nothing else to do with me now that I was no longer needed.”
“I guess the babies were old enough that they no longer needed my milk, which is the only reason they’d kept me alive that long.” I doubt she realized that she was shaking hard enough to move the hospital bed.
“I heard bits and pieces of conversation overtime, but because of the drugs I could never tell what was real and what wasn’t. But that day for some reason I heard them clearly.”
“I don’t know what made me try the box one last time. It had never been left open before, but this time it was. I kinda think the woman did it now that I think about it. She was always nicer. The man didn’t come into my room much, but whenever he did he was a little mean.”
I didn’t interrupt her, afraid that it might sidetrack her memories, so she went on with what she remembered, some of which was disjointed, but it was better than nothing.
“The truck was in the back of the cabin, that’s where their voices were coming from. At least that’s where it sounded like they headed after leaving the cabin.”
“I’d never been outside but I knew to move away from the voices once I climbed out of the box. I was weak and my head hurt from fighting the drugs, but I dragged myself across the floor to the front door.”
“I remember my heart beating so loudly I thought for sure they would hear it. And when I eased the door open I was sure they’d catch me and stop me. But I was able to open it without a sound and as soon as the cool air touched my face all I could think of was running.”
