Vanessa stared at her abductor. He wasn’t fat, in fact he was well built. He would probably be attractive if not for one thing. The birthmark. He stopped just inside the door.

“Take your clothes off.”

Vanessa shuddered. She knew the other victims had not been raped but that hadn’t been much comfort.

“No.”

He didn’t come toward her, didn’t even act as if he heard her.

“Hang them in the closet with the others.”

“No.”

This time he looked directly at her.

“When I come back you will have your clothes hung up or I will kill you.”

“Please don’t do this. I’m pregnant.”

She didn’t mean to let him know but it slipped out. He stared at her for a long minute.

“Hang them up!”

He slammed the door.

She didn’t get undressed.

****

Jason ignored the nurses advice and went to the cafeteria, anyway. Nothing looked good to him, so he ended up with coffee and a banana.

Sitting alone in a booth, he thought of Vanessa. He didn’t know what she was going through but he had seen the result. He was torn between fear for her and anger at her abductor.

Jason thought of Rob. He knew that if something like this happened to Sandy, he wouldn’t be able to function. He’d be paralyzed with fear.

He finished a second cup of coffee and threw away his banana peel before heading back up to the third floor. He looked at his watch.

7:15

Vanessa had been missing for nearly 12 hours. He knew that Stephanie Morris had only been missing about 24 hours when the loggers had seen her. Two of the other cases supported the 24 hour window. If this guy kept the same timeline, and there was no reason to think he won’t, Jason had 12 hours left to find her.

****

When he got to the room, Stephanie Morris was sitting up in bed. A tray of half eaten food was on the rolling table next to the bed. Jason lightly knocked on the door. She looked up.

“Yes?”

“May I come in, Miss Morris?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

Jason took a chair next to the bed and opened his pad.

“My name is Detective Jason Strong. Your friend, Brooke Donald reported you missing to me and now I’m trying to find your attacker.”

The mere mention of her ‘attacker’ brought tears to her eyes and she started shaking.

“When you walk the streets, you know something like this can happen but….” She let the sentence trail off.

“I know this will be difficult but I need to ask you some questions.”

“Okay.”

“Did you know your attacker?”

“No.”

“Could you describe him?”

“I guess. I saw his face.”

She shuddered visibly.

“Could you describe him to an artist?”

“I can try. The most obvious thing about him was the birthmark on his face.”

Jason’s hopes began to lift.

“Okay. Will you excuse me a minute?”

She nodded and Jason stepped into the hall. He dialed Lieutenant Patton.

“Patton.”

“Lieutenant, this is Jason. Stephanie Morris is awake.”

“Excellent. Does she know anything?”

“Yes. She said she would do a description for a sketch. Can you get someone over here?”

“I’ll make the call.”

“Thanks.”

Jason hung up and returned to the room. A nurse was there checking on the girl and took the tray away. Jason sat back down.

“We have a sketch artist coming. Are feeling okay to do it?”

“I guess. Can you call Brooke for me?”

“Absolutely.”

Jason put down his pad and looked the number up in his phone. He dialed and Brooke answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Brooke, this is Detective Strong.”

“Hi.”

“I’m sitting here with a friend of yours, perhaps you remember her?”

Jason smiled and Stephanie managed a little smile herself.

“Steph…Is she awake?”

“Yes. Would you like to talk to her.”

He handed the phone to Stephanie and left the room. His questioning could wait a few minutes.

When he returned to the room, Stephanie was off the phone and her eyes were red from crying.

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem. You okay for a few more questions?”

“I think so.”

Jason returned to his chair and retrieved his phone. Pad open, he looked up at Stephanie. He realized that normally, if he had his pad open, Vanessa would be asking the questions. He forced himself to focus.

“Do you know where he took you?”

“No. Some house. It was a mess.”

“Can you describe the outside?”

“Not really. It was dark and he blindfolded me after we left the Presa street area.”

“What about the house inside? Anything specific about it?”

“Yeah. The room.”

“What room?”

“It was a bedroom. White walls with a blacked out and barred window. A mattress in the middle and a closet at the far end….”

She paused and it appeared to Jason that she was steeling herself for what she had to say next.

“….He made me take off my clothes and hang them in the closet. There were other girls clothes hanging in there.”

“Can you describe the clothes?”

“I guess. Normal stuff, except for the uniform. 7-11, I think.”

Jason recalled that’s what Marcie Walker was wearing when she disappeared.

“Anything else about the room?”

“The writing.”

“Writing?”

“All over the walls. Different colors. The same thing over and over.”

“What did it say?”

“I will never call you bloodstain again….he made me write it on the walls, too.”

“I’m sorry. Can you tell me that again?”

“I will never call you bloodstain again.”

Jason looked up at her. Tears rolled down her face. He didn’t know what the words meant but he couldn’t conceive the horror each of the girls must have felt. Naked and forced to write it over and over while that animal watched. His heart broke for her. Jason knew she needed a break. He closed his pad and got her a tissue.

“That’s enough for now. The sketch artist should be here soon. You rest.”

“Okay. Thanks. Will you stay?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She half-smiled and closed her eyes.

Jason looked at his watch.

8:30

Where was the artist?

Chapter  15

The light that had been coming in around the edges of the window was gone now. Vanessa guessed it to be nine or ten in the evening. The man had not returned but she knew it was only a matter of time. She thought of Rob, what he must be going through and how much she missed him. And Jason, who she knew would be doing everything in his power to find her.

There was a click, the doorknob turned and the door opened. He stepped into the room, looked at Vanessa, and slammed the door. Walking directly towards her, he drew the gun from behind him and pointed it directly at her stomach, the end of the barrel touching where her child was.

“Take off your clothes and hang them in the closet or your child dies.”

“Please no.”

“They all say that. Do it!”

He raised the gun and fired into the far wall. Vanessa ducked but he hadn’t intended to hit her. Her ears rang as he returned the gun to her belly.

“Take off your clothes or the next one goes through the baby.”

She did as he ordered.

She kept her eyes on the gun as her clothes came off and when she was naked, she turned her back to him.

‘Hang them up!”

She did, slowly.

When she was done, she turned around, her arms wrapped across her breasts. He threw her a marker. She didn’t try to catch it and it hit the wall next to her, dropping by her feet.

“You see what’s written on the walls?”

Vanessa nodded.