“That farmhouse can't have just vanished into thin air!”
Feeling completely impotent, I get to my feet. “I'm coming with you,” I tell him.
“Mrs. Latimer -”
“Obviously you need my help,” I add, “or you'd have found the place by now.” I wait for him to answer, but he seems lost for words. “Unless you're suggesting the farmhouse can somehow magically hide itself away,” I continue, “in which case I think maybe you're not the right man to handle this case.”
“I'll go to the media,” I continue. “Is that what it's going to take to force you to do your job? I'll go to the newspapers and tell them that my family is out there somewhere and that no-one's managing to find them. It's not like they can have vanished without a trace, I've told you where they are, so you just have to go and get them!”
“Mrs. Latimer -”
“Think about how the media will crucify you,” I add, with tears in my eyes, “if you screw this up. If you let my son stay even one day longer with that freak... God knows what she's done to him already. You have to find them!” I pause, feeling another ripple of pain in my side, and a moment later I feel a tear running down my cheek. “So I'm coming with you,” I continue. “I can find that farmhouse, I know I can, but I need to be with you in the field.”
“Your priority right now is your health,” he replies. “The doctors -”
“My priority is finding my husband and my son,” I say firmly, interrupting him. “And if you're too incompetent to get the job done, then it looks like I'll just have to get more involved.” Turning away from him, I start limping toward the door that leads back out to the corridor. “I'll tell them I'm leaving. They can't make me stay if -”
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my ankle, causing me to stumble and drop to my knees. Grabbing the door-frame so that I don't fall flat on my face, I try to hold myself steady as a nurse hurries over to help me.
“I'm checking out,” I stammer, even though I suddenly feel much weaker than before. “I have to go and show them where...”
My voice trails off, and for a moment the whole room seems to be spinning around me.
“I think we need to get you to your room,” the nurse tells me. “Then we can take another look at you.”
“No,” I whisper, trying to push her away as I get to my feet. “I'm fine, I just need to get out of here.”
I take a couple more stumbling steps forward, before losing my balance and falling forward. Crashing into the side of a trolley, I try in vain to hold myself steady. Suddenly slumping down, I slam hard against the floor and then roll onto my back, and when I look up at the nurse I realize my vision has suddenly become blurred again. I'm slipping away, but I have to stay strong, I have to get up so I can go and find my family.
“I have to go to them,” I whisper, even though I can feel myself losing consciousness. “I have to help. They can't do it without me. I have to... I have to go and...”
And then everything goes dark.
Penny
One week later
I look up just as the helicopter swoops low and rushes over us. The sound of its blades is momentarily deafening, and I watch as it rushes off across the countryside on yet another search mission. Somehow, though, I can already feel in the pit of my belly that it isn't going to find a goddamn thing.
“We're focusing on this area here,” Detective Palmer explains as he unfolds the map and places it against the side of his patrol car. “We've basically set up a ten-mile zone around Wexham, and we're scouring every inch of the valley between these two roads. I'm telling you, Mrs. Latimer, if there's a farmhouse out there, we'll find it.”
“If?” I ask, stepping over to him. “Do you still think I'm making it up?”
“Of course not, it's just...” He pauses, staring at the map for a moment as if he expects some hidden answer to come leaping out at him. “Let's wait and see what the
Feeling completely impotent, I get to my feet. “I'm coming with you,” I tell him.
“Mrs. Latimer -”
“Obviously you need my help,” I add, “or you'd have found the place by now.” I wait for him to answer, but he seems lost for words. “Unless you're suggesting the farmhouse can somehow magically hide itself away,” I continue, “in which case I think maybe you're not the right man to handle this case.”
“I'll go to the media,” I continue. “Is that what it's going to take to force you to do your job? I'll go to the newspapers and tell them that my family is out there somewhere and that no-one's managing to find them. It's not like they can have vanished without a trace, I've told you where they are, so you just have to go and get them!”
“Mrs. Latimer -”
“Think about how the media will crucify you,” I add, with tears in my eyes, “if you screw this up. If you let my son stay even one day longer with that freak... God knows what she's done to him already. You have to find them!” I pause, feeling another ripple of pain in my side, and a moment later I feel a tear running down my cheek. “So I'm coming with you,” I continue. “I can find that farmhouse, I know I can, but I need to be with you in the field.”
“Your priority right now is your health,” he replies. “The doctors -”
“My priority is finding my husband and my son,” I say firmly, interrupting him. “And if you're too incompetent to get the job done, then it looks like I'll just have to get more involved.” Turning away from him, I start limping toward the door that leads back out to the corridor. “I'll tell them I'm leaving. They can't make me stay if -”
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my ankle, causing me to stumble and drop to my knees. Grabbing the door-frame so that I don't fall flat on my face, I try to hold myself steady as a nurse hurries over to help me.
“I'm checking out,” I stammer, even though I suddenly feel much weaker than before. “I have to go and show them where...”
My voice trails off, and for a moment the whole room seems to be spinning around me.
“I think we need to get you to your room,” the nurse tells me. “Then we can take another look at you.”
“No,” I whisper, trying to push her away as I get to my feet. “I'm fine, I just need to get out of here.”
I take a couple more stumbling steps forward, before losing my balance and falling forward. Crashing into the side of a trolley, I try in vain to hold myself steady. Suddenly slumping down, I slam hard against the floor and then roll onto my back, and when I look up at the nurse I realize my vision has suddenly become blurred again. I'm slipping away, but I have to stay strong, I have to get up so I can go and find my family.
“I have to go to them,” I whisper, even though I can feel myself losing consciousness. “I have to help. They can't do it without me. I have to... I have to go and...”
And then everything goes dark.
Penny
One week later
I look up just as the helicopter swoops low and rushes over us. The sound of its blades is momentarily deafening, and I watch as it rushes off across the countryside on yet another search mission. Somehow, though, I can already feel in the pit of my belly that it isn't going to find a goddamn thing.
“We're focusing on this area here,” Detective Palmer explains as he unfolds the map and places it against the side of his patrol car. “We've basically set up a ten-mile zone around Wexham, and we're scouring every inch of the valley between these two roads. I'm telling you, Mrs. Latimer, if there's a farmhouse out there, we'll find it.”
“If?” I ask, stepping over to him. “Do you still think I'm making it up?”
“Of course not, it's just...” He pauses, staring at the map for a moment as if he expects some hidden answer to come leaping out at him. “Let's wait and see what the
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