“We can’t be certain about that,” Tony said, shooting Joanna another warning look.
Joanna sat down on the small sofa across from Angie. “He’s wrong. The cops are wrong. The same doctor who gave your daughter a physical and a prescription for birth control a month before she disappeared did the same for me eighteen years ago. The same man who lured me to a club before I disappeared was seen with your daughter at least twice before she disappeared. That man is dead. The doctor who prescribed the pills is in critical condition. Whatever these bastards have been doing for nearly two decades, it’s falling apart now and everything’s going to shit.”
Tony closed his eyes. Wanted to shake the woman he’d been feeling so sorry for a few minutes ago.
“Tony.”
His sister said his name the way she had when they were kids and she knew he’d been sneaking around in her room. He opened his eyes and met Angie’s glower.
“Is she telling the truth?”
Before he could answer, Joanna made a sound of frustration and shot to her feet.
“No. I make up shit like this all the time. On day one your daughter and the others were stripped and tossed into a dark room. It’s what, day eight? By now they’re hungrier than they’ve ever been in their lives. They’ve gotten used to the darkness and the cold. If she’s performed well enough she’s probably gotten something to eat here and there. They make sure you have water—not much—but enough to keep functioning. They’re naked, hungry, scared and completely alone.”
“That’s enough.” Tony was on his feet before his words stopped ringing in the air.
“They can’t cling to each other,” Joanna continued defiantly. “Because they’re enemies. If one of the others eats, you don’t.”
Tony stepped in toe-to-toe with her. “I said shut up.”
Angie lunged out of her seat. She grabbed Joanna by the arms. “You must have some idea of where they kept you. What they looked like. Something!”
Joanna shook her head. “If I knew who was calling the shots, that person would be dying an agonizing death right now. But I don’t know. What I do know is that by tomorrow the lights will come on. It’ll be so bright they can barely stand to keep their eyes open. It feels like you’re walking around in a tanning booth with no protection. Your skin burns, your eyes burn and your lips crack.”
“What about the next day?” Steve moved into the small tension-filled circle they’d made. “And the day after that.”
Tony couldn’t stop Joanna now. He wanted to promise his sister that he’d find Tiffany before things escalated, but he couldn’t make that promise.
“They’ll be forced to perform—to fight, whatever they’re told to do—anything to survive. By day ten, you’re getting maybe a half a bottle of water a day...maybe a bite of food. He wants you completely helpless...totally desperate.”
“Dear God, why?” Angie pressed her hands to her mouth.
Joanna closed her eyes a moment, remembering. “To see who survives.”
“I... I thought...” Steve glanced at Tony. “I thought Tony said the girls always come back alive.”
“They should.” Joanna cleared her throat. “It’s some sort of twisted game. The fear of dying keeps you playing.”
Tony was grateful she hadn’t mentioned the other girl. He needed Angie and her husband calm and rational.
“But you got away. Where did the police find you?”
“On the highway.” She hugged her arms around herself. “We were in the woods and we found the highway. A trucker saw us and pulled over. We were too mentally rattled and scared to trust him so we ran but he called the police.”
“What highway? Where?”
“Vinson Highway.”
“So they didn’t take you far away?” Angie’s tone grew more agitated.
“We never knew where we were held or how we ended up in those woods.” Joanna shrugged. “The whole area was searched repeatedly. Nothing was ever found.”
Angie grabbed her purse from the floor and reached inside. “After the press conference a man came up to us.” She thrust some papers at Tony. “He says there have been strange happenings at the old asylum for more than a century. He said we should look there.”
Tony took the papers and shuffled through the stack of reports about patient abuse and mysterious disappearances. Like most old insane asylums around the country heinous things were done to patients back in the day, that was true. The pages went on and on and the accusations grew more outrageous.
“He could be just a conspiracy theorist.”
“It can’t hurt to check it out,” Angie argued.
Steve passed his phone to Tony. “Vinson Highway runs close to the asylum property.”
“It’s...” Joanna shook her head. “The old hospital sits on hundreds or thousands of acres. The whole town is near the place.”
“Please, Tony,” Angie urged. “We drove around out there today, but security wouldn’t allow us to go into any of the buildings. But you can make them see it’s worth looking into. This man was so certain. It can’t hurt to look.”
Tony held up his hands. “Okay. I’ll check it out.”
Angie hugged him hard. “We’ll get out of your way.” She grabbed her husband’s hand and ushered him toward the door.
When goodnights were exchanged Tony closed and locked the door. “You shouldn’t have told her.”
“She’s stronger than you think,” Joanna said. “If her daughter is as strong as she is, she’ll survive.”
Tony hoped she was right about that part. But, he searched her face, her eyes, looking for those other secrets she kept. “You’ve maintained that there’s always one who doesn’t.”
She nodded. “There’s never any mention of the other girl in any of the articles. The other survivors I interviewed argued with me at first because that’s what had been drilled into their heads, but the more we talked about it, the more I pushed, they finally came around. Only one refused to admit there was a third girl.”
“You said there were two, three if you count the unknown girl, taken each year for five years. How many of the survivors are still alive?”
“Me and three others. Two died of natural causes, the other four committed suicide either accidentally or on purpose. Drug overdoses. Stuff like that.”
“Of the four who are still alive, are they like you?”
She laughed. “You mean totally fucked-up? Reclusive? Tortured? Alone?”
He nodded. Damn. It sounded way worse when she said it out loud.
“Two are workaholics. They’re alone but they’re extremely successful. The other one is more reclusive than me. She lives in her mother’s basement. I expect her to be the next to...” She stuck her finger to her head in the universal gesture of pulling a trigger.
Tony lowered onto the couch. No matter that the other women survived—they weren’t able to keep living.
He didn’t want Tiffany to be haunted that way for the rest of her life.
Yet, he was powerless to stop it.
27
Angie paced the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. The people in the room under theirs were likely wondering what was going on, but Angie didn’t care. She didn’t have the energy to care. If Joanna was right—she stalled midstep and closed her eyes. Please don’t let her be right.
“We have to focus on the end result,” Steve said.
Angie opened her eyes and glared at him. He sat on the end of the bed in his boxers. He’d come straight to the room and readied for bed. How could he do that after all the woman said? “What does that mean?”
Her husband scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Joanna survived. Even if Tif has to play those awful games, even if she gets hurt, isn’t finding her alive what really matters?”