“Chloe?” a male voice called.
Blake stopped as she turned, annoyance tightening her face. “Jordan, I don’t have time right now, okay?”
“Sure, I get it. Later?”
“Probably not.” She shut the door and turned to Blake and Linc. “Rachel said she needed to go to the restroom. She went and that’s the last I saw of her. I asked hospital security if they would pull footage so we can see what happened. That should be here at any moment.”
“Is she hurt? Is it her blood sugar? Why is she here?” All he wanted was to see for himself that she was safe.
Chloe shot a look at Linc, and Blake appreciated the man’s blank expression. But he could see Chloe wasn’t fooled. She crossed her arms. “Blake, how long has Rachel been missing?”
He flinched. “What do you mean?”
“She was found on a tractor trailer with sixteen other human trafficking victims. How long has she been missing, and why hasn’t there been a missing persons report filed on her? Why doesn’t anyone know she’s been gone?”
For the first time in his life, Blake thought he might actually pass out. Spots danced before his eyes and his head spun. Chloe placed her hands on his chest and gave him a gentle push. He sank into the chair behind him and turned to the one person he’d trusted with Rachel’s life. “Human trafficking, Linc? I don’t understand. That’s not possible. How does that fit with the text? With everything?”
Linc frowned. “I have no idea. Let’s see what the security cameras show.”
“What text?” Chloe asked.
A knock on the door brought Blake’s head up. He avoided Chloe’s question for now. Monique Pascal, with hospital security, walked in carrying a laptop. “I’ve got your footage here if you want to take a look.”
“Absolutely.”
She already had it ready to play. A tap of one key set the video in motion.
Blake saw his daughter come out of the room where he now sat and walk to the restroom. She paused at the door, looked both ways, then slipped inside. When she opened the door a minute and fifty-three seconds later, she looked left, and paused. She stood there for a good two minutes, had a quick exchange with a nurse at the station, who then looked away and rushed off. Rachel hurried down the hall with a brief stop in front of room 4. A nurse came out of the room a few seconds later, looked at her cart, shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“What’s that about?” Blake asked.
“An insulin pen went missing with Rachel,” Chloe said. “The nurse was bringing it, along with meds for a couple of other patients, and got called by an occupant as she passed by room 4. The nurse popped her head in to tell her she’d be right back. When she turned around, the pen was gone.”
“What about her PDM device?”
“She doesn’t have it.”
He groaned. “Okay, but at least she has the pen for extra insulin. So, where’s she going?”
“Here.” Monique tapped another key. “She went out the front door.” Rachel stepped into the revolving door and disappeared. “Then,” Monique said. “Here. I caught up with her on the parking garage camera.”
The computer screen blipped, then another video appeared. Rachel went to the stairwell and the door shut behind her.
His heart thudded and he broke into a cold sweat. She’d left under her own power, but why?
And the human trafficking thing? She’d been found in a trailer with other girls? Why would they do that when they needed her as leverage?
Because they thought they had him? That he would kill the judge and they never intended to let her go because she could identify them?
Maybe.
“But—” Blake said.
Monique raised a hand, cutting him off. “I’ve got one more shot.” She clicked the keyboard, then pressed play once again.
Rachel exiting the stairwell door. She walked across the parking lot, dodging cars. And then she wasn’t there.
“Where’d she go now?” Chloe asked.
Monique shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, but watch this.” She zoomed in on a red Suburban. Movement. The back window opening? No, it was already open. Rachel’s face appeared for a blip of a second before disappearing once more. “I think she got in the back of that Suburban. And before you ask, I tried getting a plate, but it was mostly obscured by mud or something. I did get two letters. GN.”
“I’m on that,” Linc said. He got on his phone while the others processed what they’d just seen Rachel do.
Chloe cleared her throat. “So, do we consider her a runaway now?”
“No,” Linc said with a glance at Blake.
Blake pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m . . . I don’t know what to think about this.” He looked up. “She’s a smart girl. Street smart in addition to brainy smart, but I have no idea why she’d leave.” His lips tightened. “Unless it was to avoid me.”
“What was her demeanor when she was here in the room with you?” Linc asked Chloe.
“Scared. Angry. Secretive.” She frowned. “She told me her name was Beth.”
“What?” Blake asked.
“Yes.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. But, uh . . . at first she didn’t want to call you.”
“Of course she didn’t.” He swallowed and shoved his hands into his front pockets. “She hates me.”
“Actually, she seemed to be more worried about you than anything else. She said she was afraid to tell me who she was because they would kill you. From what I understand, some of the other girls have the same concerns for their family members. Although, most have been convinced to tell who they are. But Rachel was really scared to do so.”
Blake shook his head and raked a hand through his hair. So, Rachel did care about him. Then why was she so angry with him? What had changed in the last year to cause her to turn against him so vehemently?
“Blake?”
He blinked. He’d been so lost in thought he’d missed her question. “What?”
“Why do you think she hates you?”
“I’m not sure, because she won’t give me the full story. Her attitude is like, ‘If you’re too stupid to figure it out, you don’t deserve to know’—but about a year ago, she started calling me Blake. As far as I can tell, her mother convinced her that I’m pretty much worthless and the reason I wasn’t around the last few years was because I didn’t care enough to be there. And while it’s not true, I can’t seem to make her believe otherwise.” That was probably part of it, but there was more. He just didn’t know what, and Rachel wouldn’t tell him. “So . . . right now, we don’t talk much. She spends all of her time either hanging out with Lindsey, her best friend, or at the pool, swimming. She’s on the long-distance swim team. Wants to go to the Olympics . . .” He shook his head. “That’s pretty much the only thing that hasn’t changed since her mother died. Bottom line is, Rachel hates me and I don’t know why or what to do about it.”
“And yet . . . ,” Chloe said.
“And yet what?” Blake asked.
Chloe gave a slight shrug. “She punched your number in my phone.”
“It only rang once. She hung up, didn’t she?”
“Yes, but—”
“She knew Chloe would call the number back,” Linc said. “Or that you would call the number that showed up on your screen.”
Blake pursed his lips. “You think she was reaching out?”
“I think she wanted to,” Chloe said. “I think she’s trying to ask for help without actually asking for it.”
He rubbed a hand down his face and turned to Linc. “We have to find her.”
“We won’t stop until we do,” Linc said.
Exactly what they’d all said about the St. Johns’ niece, Penny. And they were still looking.
“Linc?” Chloe waited until her brother looked up and met her gaze. “Rachel had on Penny’s shirt. The one she was wearing when she disappeared.”
He blinked. “You asked her about it?”
“Of course. It was the main reason I sought her out. She said it was in a box in the house where she and the other girls were kept.”
“Could she tell you where the house was?”
“No.”
He sighed. “Maybe one of the other girls will be more help.”