“Maybe there’s something helpful on her cell,” Nicki said, standing. “Sean said you found it inside?”
Shane cursed. He’d been so intent on finding Lacie he’d forgotten about the mobile. He pulled it up and glanced at the display. Twelve missed calls. He pressed a couple of buttons and started scrolling through the list. Four were from him. Six from Corinne. He skipped over those for now. One was from someone named Cindy Sheridan, a brief message concerning a booth they were working on together for the upcoming carnival. And one from Craig Davidson.
That’s the one he listened to first.
Hey, Lacie, it’s Craig. Are you screening or something? Listen, I’m sorry, baby. I know you’re angry with me, but believe me when I tell you I’m only trying to look out for you. You might be all grown up, but in my eyes you’ll always be that skinny little thing with big blue eyes that used to follow me and Bri around all the time. There was a small chuckle, a brief pause. I have to head out of town for a bit, gotta help an old friend. But I’m only a phone call away if you need me, hear? And if that bastard so much as causes you a single tear, I’ll take care of him just like I did that bully in first grade that pushed you on the playground and tried to steal your lunch money. Love ya, babe.
Shane exhaled heavily. It was going to be a long night.
*
Lacie moaned as the pain started to return with a vengeance.
“Lacie, baby, ssshhh, it’s okay. I’m right here.”
Her mouth felt as though someone had stuffed it full of dry cotton. Every part of her ached, and there was a God-awful pounding in her head that made her stomach roil. With substantial effort she forced her eyelids open. Thank God it was relatively dark; even the soft muted light from the single lamp felt like a blade driving into her eyes. Everything was fuzzy and out-of-focus, but she knew that voice.
“Craig?” she rasped.
Strong hands pushed her back when she tried to sit up. Yes, she knew those hands, too. Hands that didn’t know their own strength.
“Take it easy, babe. Here, sip this.” Craig held a straw to her lips and she did as he commanded. Cool, delicious water eased down her parched throat, and she was sure she had never tasted any better.
“What happened? Where are we?” Was that her voice? They were the words she had formed in her mind with the intention of speaking, but that didn’t sound like her voice at all, and it was so very far away.
The side of the bed lifted slightly as Craig rose to ease another pillow beneath her head so she could swallow easier. Even that small movement made her wince in pain.
“What do you remember?”
Lacie closed her eyes and tried to think. It was like trying to swim through mud. Visions of lightning and thunder burned the insides of her lids, her body shivered, remembering the icy cold rain. “There was a storm...”
“Yes, there was a bad storm,” he confirmed, his tone low and soothing.
Disjointed images appeared briefly in her mind, fading almost as quickly as they appeared. It took a while to piece enough together to make sense of it. Why couldn’t she think?
She remembered a parking lot, sitting in her Passat. A feeling of relief – the teacher’s meeting was finally over – but she was very tired. She was just going to close her eyes for a moment... “I fell asleep, I think,” she mumbled. “In my car. And then it wouldn’t start.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?”
Yes, why hadn’t she? The images jumbled together again; Lacie tried to take a deep breath, but a sharp pain kept her from inhaling too much, effectively disrupting her train of thought and she had to start all over again from the beginning. “I... I couldn’t find it. It wasn’t in my purse.”
Craig lifted the straw to her lips again, encouraging her to take another sip when her voice cracked. “I.... I went to the school, but Charlie didn’t see me. I fell... and then...” Her brows furrowed together as she struggled to recall what happened next. She looked into his face and blinked. “Then you came.” She frowned. “Why were you there?”
Craig placed his hand gently on her arm. “Thank God I found you when I did, Lacie. How do you feel?”
Well, that one was easy enough to answer. “Awful,” she groaned truthfully. If only the terrible pain in her head would let up a little she might be able to think...
“Tell me where it hurts, Lacie.”
“Everywhere...” She tried to do an inventory, she really did. She’d heard once that the body couldn’t process more than one pain at a time, but that was total bull. So many different parts of her were screaming out in agony, all of it jumbling together, her mind incapable of sorting it out. Craig’s outline was blurring again.
“Corinne... I need to call Corinne...”
“Sshhhh, relax,” Craig said quietly. “It’s okay, baby. I’m here and I’m going to take good care of you.”