Excitement.

If only it had ended there. She had been marched down the hall to a darkened room, backlit with an ominous blue light that cast eerie shadows on the walls and ceiling. ‘She’s all yours,’ one of the men had said before shoving her into the room, sending her tumbling, her arms coming up a split second before her face slammed into the floor. As she’d pushed herself to her knees, she’d barely recognized the horrified screams that were coming from her. She’d almost crawled to the corner when a pointed boot had nailed her side, sending her reeling back down, gasping for breath.

Still she hadn’t stopped. She’d known her life depended on her getting away, so using her elbows, she’d inched forward on her stomach only to have two strong, smooth hands grip her feet and flip her onto her back. The man with black, soulless eyes stood with his legs on either side of her hips, smiling down at her as he lifted his booted foot and slammed it down into her stomach.

Sixty of the longest minutes of her life later, he was done. She knew how long it had been because someone had knocked on the door seconds before a booming but disembodied voice announced the man’s hour was up.

Had it really only been Sunday when she’d been whining to her friends about problems that weren’t really problems at all? The finality of the door clanging shut behind her as she was tossed back into the cell with the other girls barely penetrated through the fog of agony. She was somewhat aware of gentle hands easing her onto the nearest mattress, where she curled herself into as tight a ball as she could. As she lay there sobbing, gasping for breath, the memory of the voice from that night, the one who’d whispered nighty-night just before her world had blacked out, slammed into her.

It had to have been her mind playing tricks on her. No way could the person she knew be involved in something like this.

She refused to believe it.

Chapter Fifteen

Tuesday, May 21

Burned trees and shrubbery blocked Alyssa’s view as she forced her feet to move faster. She ignored the melodious songs of the birds and the mocking caws of the crows as she extended her arms in an attempt to save Isaac. Urgency filled her as he slipped out of her grasp, his body conforming to the shapes of the trees which suddenly became Timmy’s arms. Cymbals clanged in the distance, and then she lurched awake, disoriented, eyes stinging and blurred. It was the same nightmare she’d had for the past six weeks.

‘You going to answer that?’ Brock mumbled.

Mind still warped from the dream, it took a second for Alyssa to realize her phone was ringing. She checked the time. Four-sixteen in the morning. Voice thick with sleep and nerves, she jerked her phone off her nightstand. ‘Hello?’

‘Detective Wyatt? This is Officer Vogler. Captain Hammond asked me to call you.’