Chapter 5
As the boys gained speed on the interstate, they talked excitedly about the girls, and the plan for Prom. Suddenly, Andy smacked himself in the leg. "Ah, man!"
"What?" Darren asked.
"Katie. She was going to tell me something about her parents visiting yesterday. I forgot all about it!" A car caught up to them in the passing lane, and Andy gave it a quick glance, then checked his speed.
Darren shrugged. "Just call her tomorrow."
At that moment, the car beside them swerved right into them. Andy's arms were knocked from the steering wheel, and their car sped off the road and tumbled down an embankment.
Carolyn was dozing in Mike's arms while he watched a movie. He kissed the top of her head just before his phone rang. He picked it up off the end table.
"Hello, Mike Logan," he said. As he listened to the caller, he stiffened. Carolyn stirred. "M-my son. He borrowed the car tonight, drove to Connecticut."
Carolyn was sitting up straight, wide awake now.
"We'll get down there as quick as we can. What exit?"
His face had drained of color as he spoke to the state trooper on the phone. "The car… it rolled over."
She looked at him, terrified.
"Andy and Darren… are missing."
Alex's phone rang, and she fully expected a call from work. "Alex Eames," she said, her Captain's voice not betraying that she had been sound asleep. "Carolyn?" Alex smacked Bobby in the thigh until he sat up and listened. "Carolyn, slow down, I don't understand… Okay. Okay. Okay, bye. We'll call you later."
Horrified, she looked over at Bobby. "Andy and his friend… went to see Katie. They flipped the car. They're missing."
"Nicole," Bobby hissed.
"We don't know that. They could have been thrown… hurt."
He looked at her through pain-filled eyes. "Call Katie," he said.
"I want to see it," Carolyn insisted.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, we have to follow procedure."
"I need to see it!" She was rigid and furious.
"Look, Officer, my wife is the head of CSU in New York City. She knows how to look without compromising anything."
The man honestly looked torn. "ID?" He asked her. She jammed her hand in her purse and dug for a minute, then came out with her laminated ID card. She gave it to him. "All I can do is run it by my superiors. I'll try. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," Mike said. He was itching to have a look at the car, too, but he'd been off the force for a long time. Carolyn stood a much better chance of gaining access. He folded his arms across his chest and looked out at the grassy hill below him. He could see the flashlights moving back and forth as the troopers searched for the boys. As they searched for his son.
"Okay. Have you gotten any strange calls? Even hang-ups?" Bobby listened to her carefully. "You remember the pictures, Katie. You keep your eyes open." The soft tone he usually used with his daughter was gone. She picked up on it right away, and it upset her even more. Alex touched his arm. "Your Mom wants to talk to you." He passed the phone to Alex.
"Calm down, honey." She waited. "I know. We're worried, too. Look, Katie. We'll call you just as soon as we hear anything. Yeah, sweetie. I know. He's just… worried. I know. We just don't know, honey. I want you to keep your eyes open, too." Bobby tapped her on the arm and waggled his fingers to get the phone back. "Here's your Dad."
"Katie? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Bobby listened as she spoke. "Yes, I think she had something to do with it. I think she'll use the boys to get to you. No. I don't have anything tangible. Yes. That's it. My gut." He listened to her until she finished. "I love you, Katie."
"I love you, too," Alex said, pulling the phone halfway out of his hand and then giving it back.
"Call us if you see her or if you hear anything odd. Yes. Love you. Bye."
Bobby hung up the phone and stared at his wife. "I've got to tell Logan," he said.
"Andy?" Darren was sitting beside his friend, in a very dark basement. He kept his voice at a whisper, not sure if she would be back. "Andy, can you hear me?"
Logan groaned and rolled to his side. "What the hell happened?" He asked, once he was aware enough to put the words together.
"We crashed the car. Well, she crashed into us. She said she was helping, but she didn't take us to a hospital. She threw us in her basement."
"Oh God I crashed the car… Dad's gonna kill me."
"Andy, you're not listening. She's pyscho. Instead of helping, she threw us in her basement."
He looked confused and closed his eyes. "What?"
"We've been kidnapped." Andy groaned in response, still unable to wrap his head around the concept. "Look, Andy," Darren said. "How bad are you hurt?"
"Uh…" Andy tested his limbs, slowly moving them. "I think I'm okay. Just sore." He forced himself to sit up, then had to battle back a wave of nausea.
"You're not just sore," Darren observed. "But at least nothing seems broken. You don't have a light, do you?"
Andy pressed both hands against his head as if he were trying to keep it from flying apart. "Uh, cell phone," he said. He lowered one hand and took the phone out of his pocket, handing it to his friend.
"I shoulda thought of that!" He gave Andy his phone back and retrieved his own. Then he slowly walked the perimeter of the room, shining the light carefully to try and get a sense of the place. "Hey! There's a door over here," he whispered excitedly. He tried the knob. It turned, but when he pulled on the door, it didn't budge. "Shit. Locked."
"Darren." Andy had been watching Darren's shadow move across the room. His friend walked slowly back. "What's wrong with your arm?"
Darren lifted it, then held it close to his chest again. "I think it's broken," he said. "Hurts like hell, anyway."
Andy let out a weary sigh, and squeezed his eyes shut. "We've got to get out of here."