“At the interview, you know that… What’s wrong?”
“Where’s the interview? Where’s it taking place?”
“I don’t know. I guess at the foundation’s office…”
“Where’s the office?” Colin shouted.
“Downtown… on the waterfront,” Maria stammered. “The older commercial area, not the historic district. Tell me what’s happening!”
Abandoned buildings, Colin thought. Foreclosed buildings. Fire… Thoughts falling as fast as shuffling cards… Dr. Manning no longer caring whether he could get to Maria… Maria needing to know how it feels… Because it wasn’t only about making Maria experience Cassie’s terror, it was about punishing Maria, making her feel the same way Dr. Manning and Lester felt after someone they loved had been murdered.
Oh, God…
“Call the police!” Colin shouted. “Call 911!”
“Colin!” Maria screamed. “Talk to me!”
“Avery Manning pretended to be Charles Alexander!” Colin shouted, feeling the clock was ticking and knowing there wasn’t time to explain everything. “Dr. Manning had a child named Alexander Charles. There is no foundation. Or scholarship. Dr. Manning made it up,” he hissed. “You weren’t the target – Serena’s the target. She’s with him right now and I need to know exactly where she is before…”
Maria understood everything in an instant, her expression stricken as Colin grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, racing for the door that led to the garage. He vaguely heard Maria screaming, “¡Llame a la policía! ¡Emergencia! ¡Llame a nueve-uno-uno!” over her shoulder as they burst from the garage, racing to his car.
Maria dove in and Colin was rounding the car when he heard Evan shouting that they were coming, too.
Colin jumped behind the wheel, barking out instructions for Maria to call Detective Wright. He turned the key hard, gunning the engine, his tires screeching as he tore away from the house. In the rearview mirror, he vaguely noticed headlights turning on, Evan and Lily and various relatives trailing in his wake.
“When did Serena say she had the interview?” Colin demanded, even as Maria was waiting for Wright to answer her call.
“I can’t remember… Seven, maybe?”
“What’s the address?”
“I picked her up at the office once, but I don’t know…”
Colin pressed the accelerator to the floor and the engine roared, the car shuddering as it rounded the first curve… Colin fighting the thought that he might already be too late… cursing himself for not figuring it out sooner. The headlights in the rearview mirror grew smaller as the speedometer nosed toward seventy, and then eighty.
He slammed on the brakes, skidding onto the main road to the screech of an oncoming car’s tires. Undeterred, he sped up again, only dimly aware that Maria was screaming into the phone at Detective Wright.
Colin continued to accelerate, surging close to a hundred miles an hour, feeling déjà vu as he swerved into the bike lane and slowing but not stopping for red lights. He leaned on his horn, flashed his lights, and cut through parking lots as precious seconds ticked by.
Maria had hung up with Detective Wright and was now frantically dialing and redialing, her actions growing even more panicked.
“Serena’s not answering her phone!”
“Find out when she left the dorm!” Colin shouted.
“But… how?”
“I don’t know!”
Colin changed lanes, ran another red light, and checked the rearview mirror. Evan’s headlights were too far behind to see anymore, and Colin squeezed the steering wheel, furious with himself for being so stupid, for missing the obvious. Thinking about Serena, telling himself that he’d get there in time to save her.
He’d get there. He had to get there.
Charles Alexander. Alexander Charles. He’d seen the name on the computer, and the connection was right there on the refrigerator, in the damn letterhead! And Serena had even said the name at dinner! It was obvious, and Colin couldn’t understand why it had taken him so long to put it together. If something happened to Serena because he’d been so damn stupid…
Colin vaguely heard Maria shout the name Steve into the phone… Heard her demanding to know when Serena had left… heard her say that Serena was running late and had left at 6:40…
“What time is it?” Colin demanded, speeding so fast he was unable to take his eyes from the road for a second. “Check your phone!”
“Seven twelve…”
Serena might not have arrived yet…
Or she was there already…
Colin pressed his teeth together, his jaw muscles pulsing, thinking that if anything had happened to her…
He’d hunt Dr. Manning to the ends of the earth. The man deserved to die, and in that instant, Colin’s thoughts began narrowing as he felt a visceral, almost tangible urge to kill him.
In his ever growing rage, the speedometer topped 120, and all Colin could think was Go, go, go…
CHAPTER 32
Maria
Colin was driving so fast that the images beyond the windows were blurry. Despite the seat belt, Maria was being flung from side to side whenever he made a turn or braked or accelerated. And yet, all she could think about was Serena and that she’d been the target all along. And he’d toyed with her…
The fake scholarship. Interviews. Slowly earning her trust…
But all the while, he’d been planning. Following Serena. Stalking. Not just in person, but on Serena’s social media, too. He’d come to dinner with the family because he’d known Maria wouldn’t be there… Serena had told the world that Maria had a date. He’d known Maria would celebrate their mom’s birthday because Serena had posted about that, too. As the reality of what was happening sank in, Maria felt a mounting sense of panic that began to take on a life of its own. It was getting harder to catch her breath as the muscles in her chest began to compress. She tried to will the sensations away and from past experience knew she was having a panic attack, but she kept thinking about Serena. What if they were already too late? What if Dr. Manning had already abducted Serena and would do to her what had been done to Cassie?