Broken Road (36 page)

“Hmmm?” she asked.
Where
?

“Can’t understand you…,” he said in a bored, monotonous tone.

“Bastard! Then take the damn gag off, and you’ll be able to understand me, you stupid idiot.” Of course, what he heard was a much different interpretation of that.

“You sound angry,” he said. “Be a good girl again, just l-like before, okay?” He waited for her to calm down and then continued with, “We’re going somewhere different. We need to leave this place. Now.”

She turned away from him and thought that maybe she could find a way to escape. He would have to untie her from the chair. She could make a run for it and scream, or rather, grunt at the top of her lungs for as long as she was able. Someone would be bound to notice.

“You’ve become quiet all of a sudden.” He began his pacing again. “Y-you’re thinking that maybe you can escape from my evil clutches during our departure, aren’t you?” Silence. “Angelise? Angelise, I’m speaking to you. It’s not p-polite to not respond when someone s-speaks to you.” Still more silence. “No response, eh? Well, then I’ll just have to assume that was w-what you were thinking. But let me just set your thoughts to r-right. No, you will not have the opportunity to run. Do you know why?”

Angelise began to cry again. All that could be heard was a soft whimper.

“I’ll tell you why…” He leaned his face so close to hers that she could feel and smell his warm, rancid breath upon her as he whispered, “Because I’ll g-get you out the same way I got you in.” Suddenly Angelise felt that now-too-familiar shock pulsate through her, and then her body went limp.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“I
can’t just sit here doing nothing,” said Jarrod as he stood up abruptly and went to the window, pulling the curtains aside to look out into the dark night.

“Jarrod, the police are handling things,” Ileana said. “There’s nothing we can do but sit and wait. I’m going crazy too.” She placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I know. I’m sorry. I know this is hard on you too.” He turned and upon seeing how utterly distraught she was, he placed his arms around her as she wept. He lowered his head, pressing it against hers, and felt the dampness of his own tears as they softly fell into her hair.

They were waiting for Angel’s parents, who had been notified of her disappearance and were on their way. Ava had reserved a room for Mr. and Mrs. Skyler at a local hotel and that was where Jarrod and Ileana were as they awaited their arrival. The police had their phone numbers and knew of their location, so if anything new came up, they would be informed immediately.

There was a soft knock on the door. Ileana stepped away from Jarrod and looked at him sadly. She wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and walked over to the door. Before opening it, she turned to Jarrod and said, “Are you ready?” He simply nodded.

She opened the door, trying to be strong, but the minute she looked at Mr. and Mrs. Skyler and saw the pain and worry etched in their faces, she dropped her guise and began to cry again. Mrs. Skyler dropped her bag and pulled Ileana into a tight embrace. The two women remained that way for awhile. Jarrod stepped forward and went directly to Mr. Skyler. He offered his hand and said, “Mr. Skyler, I’m Jarrod Wentworth.”

Looking sullen and defeated, Willie Skyler shook Jarrod’s hand firmly and responded, “Glad to meet you. Just wish it would have been under better circumstances. This is my wife, Laura.”

Laura gently separated herself from Ileana and hugged Jarrod tightly. He was a bit stunned, but once past that, he let the comfort of her arms and the warmth of her maternal embrace wrap around him like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. He lost any fragment of control over his emotions and just let the tears flow. In this moment of absolute despair, two strangers found comfort in each other’s arms.

In the meantime, after Ileana had greeted Mr. Skyler in much the same fashion, she took his hand and led him to a sofa. They sat and waited for Jarrod to lead Laura to the armchair on the opposite side. Willie leaned forward, grasping his hands together and said, “Tell me everything.”

For the next hour, Ileana and Jarrod told Angel’s parents everything, as they had to the police earlier that evening. Both parents shared looks of shock, dismay, gloom, and terror, running the gamut of emotions.

Jarrod’s phone rang and all four present stood up at the same time. In his nervous excitement, he dropped the phone, immediately bent to retrieve it, and dropped it again. Ileana rushed to his side, grabbed the phone off the floor, and handed it to him.

“Hello?”

“Hi. It’s Ava.”

“Hey,” he said, disappointed. She took no offense, knowing he must have thought it was the police.

“I’m sorry for calling. I know you were hoping it was the police. Have you heard anything yet?”

“No. Nothing yet.”

“Will you call me when you do?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“I just wanted to let you know that a large group of students are putting together some flyers and posters with Angel’s picture and information on it. They’ll be distributed and hung up all around campus and the city by tomorrow morning…I mean, this morning.”

“Thanks, Ava. We appreciate anything anyone can do. Thanks for all your help.”

“Of course. You know I love her too.”

“We know. Thanks again. I’ll call you when I hear something.”

“Okay. Bye.”

After sitting in near silence for over an hour, Jarrod could no longer take it and abruptly stood up and informed them he was going to the police station.

“I’ll go with you,” Willie said. “I can’t stand sitting here anymore.” They both left the hotel room, leaving Ileana and Laura to sit, wait, and pray.

For the last four hours, Morgan sat alone in the car she had borrowed from John earlier that day. The car was parked approximately a block away from Angel’s dorm and had a perfect view of all that was transpiring there. She had seen Jarrod and Ileana depart in the company of three police officers; had watched as dozens of students congregated, forming a large crowd milling around the building; and had sat by as patrol cars arrived and left at irregular intervals.

She was terrified and confused, not knowing what she should do. At times she felt like giving up, rushing up to one of the police officers, and saying, “I did it. It’s my fault. I know where she is!” But then the sickening fear would settle into the pit of her stomach once again, causing her to shake uncontrollably and triggering her inner cowardice to make its vile appearance.

She stared at her cell phone and began to dial. Then she hung up. She threw her head back and allowed the tears that had forsaken her for years to flow. She picked up the phone again, dialing the number of the only person she knew who would not abandon her at this critical point in her life. The only person who ceaselessly loved her unconditionally, even though she had treated her poorly ad infinitum.

“Hello?”

“Mom,” Morgan whispered into the phone between sobs.

“Sweetie, what’s the matter?” Helen responded worriedly.

“I’ve done…something horrible. I…I…”

“Morgan, what’s going on? What have you done?” Helen knew this moment was coming. Call it mother’s intuition or call it a sixth sense, but she knew beyond any doubt that her daughter had been up to no good and that whatever it was she had done, she would now pay dearly. “What’s happened?”

“You’re going to hate me forever…and I deserve it. I hate myself for what I’ve done,” Morgan cried out.

“Tell me now. Perhaps it’s not as bad as you’re making it sound.” Helen tried to remain as calm as possible, all the while praying that the words she had just said were true and not just vacuous words of comfort. She began to pace back and forth in her nervous angst.

“It’s worse…it’s terrible…I don’t know what to do. Mom, you have to help me. Please!”

“Morgan! You’re scaring me,” Helen cried. So much for trying to remain calm. Based on her daughter’s hysterics, whatever Morgan had done was nothing less than horrendous.

“I…I…had Angelise…I had Angelise…”

“What about Angel?” her mother asked with dread and an ache in her heart.

“I had Angelise kidnapped,” Morgan cried out between sobs and gasps.

Time stood still for Helen. It was as if all the planets and their respective moons in the entire spectrum of the universe were brought to an abrupt and final standstill.

“Mom? Mom?” Morgan said. “Mom, are you there? Please say something.”

“I’m here,” Helen responded in a trancelike state.
This couldn’t be happening
, she thought. This was all just a horrible nightmare, and once she woke up, everything would be back to normal. Yes, that was it. It was just a bad dream.

But, it wasn’t. It was reality.

“What do I do?” asked Morgan in tears.

“How…how could you do something so evil?” Helen cried. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you could have…where is she? Who has her? What have you done?” She was sobbing wildly now. She rubbed her chest as though she could ease the pain in her heart, which ached with fear, sadness, disappointment, and demoralization.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do. I convinced someone to take her. One of my roommates. He’s crazy, and now I’m scared he might hurt her. I think…I’m pretty sure he will.” She wiped her nose and tears with a napkin she found in the glove compartment and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry for everything. For what I did to Angelise, and for what I’ve put you through my entire life. I never deserved you. You were too good and I was…I am…nothing but…” She suddenly remembered what Alec had called her the day she had broken up with Jarrod. “I’m nothing more than a worthless piece of shit.”

Helen, amidst a deluge of tears, was able to say, “You have to go to the police and turn yourself in. You have no choice.”

“I’m scared,” said Morgan desperately.

“You weren’t scared when you planned all of this, were you? How scared do you think Angel feels right now?” She burst into tears again, wondering if Angel was even alive to feel afraid. She cried out as she fell to her knees and dropped the phone to the floor. “God, please…please don’t let anything happen to Angel.”

Nine hundred miles away, Morgan hung up the phone, slowly stepped out of the car, and deliberately dropped to her knees as well. She implored God to help her and to forgive her for what she had done. She even begged for Angel’s safe return. She kneeled on the hard pavement for awhile, ignoring the curious stares of passersby, some of whom were concerned enough to ask if she needed any assistance. She morosely shook her head and motioned with her hand for them to go.
I don’t deserve help from anyone
, she thought.

A few minutes later, she suddenly felt the presence of someone standing beside her. She looked to her side and noted two black shoes. Not regular dress shoes, but heavy-duty, slip-resistant, leather-upper, tactical shoes. The type of shoes that cops wore.

“Excuse me, miss? Are you alright? Are you hurt? Someone informed me that you looked like you might need help.”

She looked up at the officer standing above her, never blinking. She knew what she had to do. For the first time in her life, she would listen to her mother. She straightened up, pushing her shoulders back, lifting her head high, and took a deep breath.

“I know where Angelise Skyler is. I’m responsible for her disappearance.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven