The weatherman was predicting a light frost tonight. Maybe he’d take her a blanket along with her food. He didn’t want her to get sick before he was done with her. That had happened to him once before. When that one had died in her sleep, he was disappointed to have been cheated out of being the one to deliver the death blow. It was always the delicious denouement to the game.
* * *
Rachel had paced and screamed for help, and pounded on the door off and on for hours. She finally fell asleep from exhaustion, only to be awakened sometime later by a hard slap across her face.
She woke up with a scream. There was a man on his hands and knees above her, tearing at her clothing—and she knew him!
“You!” she cried, and tried to push him off, kicking and slapping at him in desperation.
Even as she was hammering at his shoulders, and trying to claw his face, he was laughing. Then he drew back his fist and hit her on the jaw, knocking her unconscious.
When she came to again, she was naked, and he was on top of her and in her, holding a knife against her throat.
“Move, and you’ll cut your own throat,” Sonny said, and then leaned down and whispered against her ear. “I don’t mind fucking a dead woman. I’ve done it before.”
She saw the expression on his face, and then her own reflection in his eyes, and froze.
The next few minutes were an eternity of pain and despair, and when he finally collapsed on top of her, the knife slid lightly across her throat, bringing blood.
He leaned down, licked it slowly, then kissed her viciously, biting her mouth before he got up.
“Dinner is served,” he said, pointing to a sack on the floor by the sink, and then he was gone.
Rachel staggered to her feet, picked up the clothing he’d ripped off her and went to the sink. Using her underwear for a rag, she began washing. At first, the rag was red with blood, but the cut on her throat finally stopped bleeding, and then she washed every inch of her body, desperate to get the feel of him off her skin.
She noticed he’d left her a blanket with the food, but she was without soap. Without clean clothes. Without hope. And yet, she knew if she ever got a chance to escape, she needed to be strong enough to do it. After she dressed she picked up the sack of food he’d brought, carried it to the far corner of the room, away from the mattress, and dug out cold chicken nuggets and fries. She gagged on the first couple of bites, but then took a small sip from the bottle of water he’d included, and waited until the nausea passed. After that she ate with solemn determination, tasting nothing but revenge.
* * *
It took Millie forever to get home. She got stuck in traffic due to a wreck up ahead, and then as traffic finally started moving, they were all detoured into an older part of the city, and then just when she thought she was in the clear, her car began losing speed. She pulled over to the first access road, and called her car service.
After being towed to a repair shop, they told her the alternator had gone out, and so she sat for two hours, waiting for them to run down the part on the other side of Tulsa.
While she was waiting, she’d called Addison-Tunnell, and asked if they’d made the missing person report to Dallas PD.
“Yes, we did. Mr. Addison reported it himself. If you’ll hold a couple of minutes, I’ll get contact info for you and text it to your phone.”
“Thank you,” Millie said, and disconnected. Her gut was in knots and she was so scared it was hard to breathe.
A few minutes later she got the text, pulled up the name and number and quickly made the call. It rang twice, and then a man’s voice was in her ear.
“Detective Floyd, Missing Persons.”
“Detective Floyd, this is Millie Chriss. I’m Rachel Dean’s sister, and I was told you are the officer looking into my sister’s disappearance.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you know anything? What can you tell me?” Millie asked.
“We know she’s missing, and under suspicious circumstances. I’m with the crime scene team right now. We’re in her apartment gathering evidence, but with no signs of a struggle, or any evidence of foul play, we’re at a bit of a loss. We’re hoping something will pop from what we’re gathering.”
“I’m coming to Dallas tomorrow. Even if I can’t help, I need to be there. Rachel and I are all that’s left of our family. I can’t lose her. I just can’t,” Millie said, her voice breaking from emotion.
“We’ll do everything we can,” Floyd said. “I have your phone number. If we find out anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Thank you,” Millie said.
She disconnected, then began sending Ray a text, explaining what had happened, and that she was leaving for Dallas in the morning. He wouldn’t get the message until he landed, but he’d call her once he did, and she needed to hear his voice.
Another two hours passed before her car was fixed, and she was on her way home. Once she got there, she got a suitcase from the closet and began packing. She didn’t know how long she was going to be gone, but she wasn’t coming back until Rachel was found.
She’d missed lunch, and was too upset to be hungry, but she knew she needed to eat. She was in the kitchen getting out a loaf of bread when her phone rang. She grabbed it, praying it would be the Dallas Police telling her they’d found Rachel, but it was Ray.
“Hello?”
“Millie, honey! What the hell?” Ray said. “Rachel’s missing?”
“Yes!” she wailed, then sat down at the kitchen table and began giving him details. “I’m already packed. I’m heading to Dallas early tomorrow morning. I know I can’t really do anything to help, but I feel like I have to be there...to be close.”
“Of course. Where are you going to stay?”
“At the same place we always stay when we visit, the Warwick Melrose on Oak Lawn,” Millie said.
“Do you need me to join you? I will. I hate to think of you waiting all on your own,” Ray said.
Millie wanted to be selfish and say yes. But this conference was important for him.
“No, I’ll be fine. You go to your meetings. Do your thing and I’ll keep you updated if there’s any news.”
Ray groaned. “I hate this. I’m sick about Rachel. And I’m so sad for you. We have to have faith they’ll find her.”
Tears finally rolled as her voice began to shake.
“They have to. They just have to.”
“I know, baby. I know. Listen... I’ve got to go. I love you. I’ll check in with you after I get to Seattle, okay?”