25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

W ill got out of the car at yet another house. This one was way back in a neighborhood, near the end of a dead-end road. They'd already been to three houses on the list. And they'd found no traces of anyone. Several other houses were being checked by another set of officers.

A piece of paper was plastered to the cracked driveway. Will stooped and picked it up. A receipt for the local smoothie place. Could this be a clue from Zara? Had she been here? Was she still here?

Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. "Plenty of people go to that joint."

Will checked the date. "It's from this morning. And it's for Zara's favorite smoothie."

"Who doesn't like a strawberry smoothie? Did Grant come to work with one today?"

Will shrugged.

"Either way, let's check this place out."

Will nodded. Please help us find her, Lord.

Will followed Wyatt to the back door, and Logan and Doug took the front door. They breached the house and searched, clearing one room at a time. Will and Logan met at the stairs to the second floor. They were in complete disrepair.

The friends worked their way up carefully and cleared the second story.

On the way back down, Logan's foot broke through one of the stairs. Thankfully, the other foot stayed steady on an unbroken step. "I guess we know why this house was set to be destroyed."

Will wanted to laugh, but he was too frustrated that they still hadn't found Zara.

Where was she? God, please direct me.

A noise he couldn't identify seemed to work through the walls of the house.

"Did you hear that?"

Logan shook his head. "Hear what?"

He found Doug and Wyatt. "Did you guys hear that noise?"

Wyatt said, "All I heard was Logan's foot going through the floor up there."

Doug asked, "What did you hear?"

"That's the thing, I'm not sure."

They all stopped and listened, but all they heard was the sound of the rain pounding against the house and leaking somewhere.

Doug said, "I don't hear anything, Cooper."

"Let's look around here for another minute before we leave. My gut is telling me something. I just don't know what."

"The gut is the detective's most vital tool."

Wyatt snorted. "Although sometimes unreliable."

Will resumed his search. He went out back and considered the property. There wasn't a garage or a carport or even a shed, although there was what looked like the remnants of one in the corner of the yard.

He wished he had grabbed a windbreaker to block some of the rain, but he ventured out anyway.

Why am I looking out here? She's clearly not here.

He walked along the edge of the house. Streams of water flowed around. A small orange item caught his eye. He leaned over and picked it up.

A twisty-tie. Shaped into a ring.

Zara!

Now he had no doubt she'd been here. Was she still here?

He moved around an overgrown bush. An old door was leaning up against the foundation of the house.

As stupid as it seemed, he grabbed it and looked behind the door. An opening to a crawlspace!

Throwing the door out of his way, he whistled and then called out to the guys.

Was she inside? If Zara was in there, it wasn't good. She would not be okay.

Zara could hear someone in the house, and now it sounded like they were outside the crawlspace. Was it Will?

She'd tried to bang the chain against the beams, but she wasn't sure it made any difference. Yelling was out of the question.

She tried again anyway, but nothing came out but a raspy breath. It was so gone, she wasn't even going into coughing fits at the attempt. She needed whoever it was out there to know she was down here and to come looking for her.

She had to find Miley before it was too late.

The board covering the opening to the crawlspace moved.

"Zara?"

Will! Nothing came out.

A flashlight clicked on and illuminated the space. She closed her eyes at the brightness.

"Zara!"

Her eyes adjusted, and she smiled at him. He had actually found her. He'd noticed she was missing and went looking for her.

She lifted her hands to show the chain and cuffs holding her captive in the middle of the crawlspace.

He crawled in and drew her mouth to his, giving her a kiss that dispelled any remaining doubt in her mind about whether or not they could work through her abandonment issues. They would figure it out. They would be fine.

He ended the kiss, leaving her wanting more.

After pulling out his keys, he unlocked the cuffs. As soon as her arms were free, she threw them around his neck.

"I was so scared I wouldn't be able to find you."

She let go and leaned back enough to sign. I knew you would.

He looked confused.

My voice is gone.

He nodded, and the two of them crawled out. Once they could stand up straight, he pulled her into a giant hug, lifting her off the ground.

The sound of sirens echoed in the distance.

Will led her to the front of the house where they met the ambulance.

AJ jumped out and pulled Zara into a hug. "Haven't you had enough of this already?"

Zara laughed and signed, You have no idea.

Brennan motioned for Zara to get in the back of the ambulance. "Are you hurt?"

She looked at Will to interpret. I'm fine, just dirty. Probably not good for the cuts I already had.

Will told Brennan what she had said.

Will signed to her, Any idea where Miley is?

She laughed, although silently, while Emily put an oxygen mask on her face. I can still hear you, silly. I'm not deaf, just mute at the moment.

Will put his hands down. "Of course. Miley?"

Brennan went about cleaning her cuts from yesterday, which were freshly caked in dirt.

Zara answered Will. Miley signed something to me, but I'm not sure what it means. She spelled out: e-n-z-w-e-i-l-e-r. Does that mean anything?

"Yes, there are like four or five places with that name. Was an old tycoon of sorts in the area. Anything else?"

She nodded. I wasn't sure what the sign was. It was something like this. She did what she'd seen Miley do.

Will looked just as confused.

I think it's closest to ghost.

Will spoke it aloud.

Everyone in the ambulance stopped. It seemed to Zara that they'd even stopped breathing for a moment.

What?

Will said, "I know exactly where she is, if that's where he took her."

Let's go. She looked at Brennan, then Emily.

Brennan said, "You check out. Go. We'll be right behind you in case Miley needs medical."

Will offered Zara a hand, and she jumped out of the back of the ambulance and ran to the squad car with Will. Logan jumped in the driver's seat, Zara in the front, and Will took the back seat.

Logan took off with lights and siren.

She turned to Will. Where are we going?

"The old Enzweiler Insane Asylum. It's said to be haunted. Is it, Logan?"

Logan chuckled. "Not as far as I could tell. Unless you count Will and AJ as ghosts."

The two friends laughed, but Zara stared from one to another. Yet another story they would have to tell her. I want that story later.

Will winked at her and signed, I promise.

Her heart warmed.

He reached forward and held out a sad-looking twisty-tie ring. "Looks like I'll have to replace it even sooner than I expected. Will you forgive us for jetting out on you last night?"

Yes. Forgive me for overreacting?

"Of course." I love you.

She nodded and pressed her lips together. She took the pathetic, wet paper-covered wire and slid it on her finger.

Will drummed his thumb on his thigh as Logan pulled down the long, overgrown driveway to the old mental institution. The place had been at the height of its existence right around the turn of the twentieth century but had closed in the 1970s. The entire property was surrounded with thick forest.

Right before pulling through the gates at the entrance to the grounds, Logan cut lights and siren. But there was nothing they could do about the sound of the car crunching on the asphalt-turned-gravel or the crack of breaking branches.

The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, and the sun was even peeking out by the time they exited the canopied driveway and pulled along the side of a long four-story building, including the basement and the dormer windows of the attic. Brett's truck was parked near the front but behind an overgrown line of hedges. Only the top of the cab could be seen, but it was no doubt the truck that had come up in the DMV records.

They parked beside a giant fountain that stood in the center of the circle drive. They jumped out of the car.

Zara turned to Will and signed, We have got to get in there and find Miley. Who knows what he's doing to her.

Will nodded. Zero doubt remained that Miley was in danger. He went to the trunk and tapped it.

Logan popped the trunk, and Will grabbed the shotgun and AR-15 they had put in before leaving the station.

Zara held out a hand as if she expected him to give her one of the long weapons.

"What? You're on lookout duty."

And how exactly am I supposed to radio if he comes out?

"Fine." She had a good point. And he did not want to be away from her right now either.

Wyatt came over and handed a bulletproof vest and an AR-15 to Zara.

Doug said, "Mine will fit her better."

Wyatt shook his head. "You have a family at home plus one on the way. I'll be fine."

Zara slipped the vest on. It was entirely too big. Wyatt was at least three or four inches taller than Will, let alone Zara.

Will said, "Someone should stay out here since we don't have enough manpower to cover all the exits."

Logan slid a magazine into his AR-15. "It would be better to wait for SWAT."

Zara shook her head.

Will spoke the words he was sure Zara was thinking. "Miley may not have that kind of time."

He wanted to tease Logan and ask if he was just scared to go into the building where AJ and Will had scared him good when they were about seventeen, but it wouldn't be appropriate, so he kept his mouth shut.

Another squad car came down the drive. Good. They had someone to stay outside, and the five of them could still go in.

Doug ran and told the officer the plan, and then the five of them climbed the wide front steps to the decaying mental institution.

Doug and Logan went down the stairs to the basement, and Will, along with Zara and Wyatt, swept the large open room that must have served as the lobby. They turned down the corridor to the right that cut down the center of the building. It was a narrow structure for how long it was, but that gave windows and natural light to all the rooms.

The ceiling was falling in. The paint peeling. Old equipment littered the ground—old-fashioned wheelchairs, metal desks. Many of the walls had been vandalized with graffiti.

They swept two rooms at a time, playing a game of leapfrog all the way to the end of the hallway. No sign of Brett or Miley.

Will wasn't ready to let despair creep in. Brett's truck was still outside, and they had so many rooms and floors still to search. First, they need to finish this floor.

As quickly as they could while staying quiet, they moved back down the hall and cut straight across the lobby. While the other hall had held larger rooms like a cafeteria and rooms that must have once been used for group sessions, the rooms down this corridor appeared to be treatment rooms.

Pkew. Pkew. Pkew.

Three shots. Will ducked into a room.

Neither Zara nor Wyatt returned fire.

On the radio, Will reported, "Shots fired. North wing."

"Zara!" He shouted her name in a whisper tone.

Nothing.

He risked moving closer to the doorway. He spotted her dragging Wyatt into the room across the hall.

Will sent another shell down the hallway to cover them. He hated shooting at nothing, but he could see the hallway. He couldn't see where the shooter was, and he couldn't risk shooting blind and possibly hitting Miley.

Wyatt said with a pain-filled voice, "Go. I'm fine."

Zara nodded at Will, and they both moved out into the hallway.

At every room, they cut in and swept quickly before coming back out and moving to the next room.

Brett was in here somewhere, and it was just a matter of time before they found the right room and had to engage.

Will came up to another room on his left. The muzzle of the shotgun crossed the opening first, but before Will could turn in, a hand reached out and grabbed the barrel.

Will attempted to turn the muzzle toward Brett, but he was too strong.

A second hand gripped the shotgun.

Brett yanked, pulling Will into the room and spinning him around. Brett kicked the door. It thudded shut, and a cloud of ceiling dust rained down on them.

Coughing and sputtering, they both lost their grip on the shotgun, and it spun across the floor, banging into the corner by another door that led to a different room. Will needed to keep Brett in this room until Zara could get inside.

Where was she?

Better question: where was the gun Brett had used to shoot Wyatt?

By the time Will could reach for his pistol, Brett was bounding toward him with his hands up like a boxer. He didn't spare a second before engaging.

Brett grabbed for Will's head.

Ducking to the side, Will went for the man's center with a jab.

Brett clutched Will's arm and wrapped an arm around Will's neck. This guy was huge, but Will was quick and trained in grappling.

Brett slammed him into the wall. The drywall gave behind him. Will clawed for the man's eyes and broke free from the headlock.

Using the wall for leverage, Will shoved off and pushed Brett into the procedure table-chair thing. This was the man who had tried to kill Zara, had traumatically locked her in the bathroom, and had abandoned her in that crawlspace. It took all Will was to not throw a killing blow. He needed to subdue, to neutralize this beast.

Arms flew, and they grappled with one another, but Brett's size made it feel impossible for Will to get the upper hand. He needed distance so he could pull his weapon and hold the man at gunpoint or shoot him if necessary.

He tried to sweep Brett's legs, but Brett countered.

Brett attempted the same, but Will was unable to counter and slammed into the ground.

His lungs froze, and air wouldn't go in or out. Air or no air, Will grabbed his pistol.

Brett stepped on his hand, smashing Will's fingers.

His lungs resumed proper function, and he groaned.

Brett dropped onto Will and threw a punch. Will wrapped his legs around the man. He would not let this man get the best of him.

But Brett wrapped his hand around Will's throat and squeezed.

Will swatted at him and tried to break the man's grip, but his vision blurred.