Chapter 9

She felt beneath her and found softness. The darkness was bothering her. What was she sitting on? It felt like a bed but didn’t have any sheets or blankets and the floor was right below her. Where was her night light? Loud noises startled her from outside. Men’s voices.
“What do we do with the girl?”
“Same as last one when they tell us.”
“Farm her out tonight?”
“They say not yet.” The voices disappeared and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Where was Kyle? He was her friend. Mom said she helped Kyle but that wasn’t true. Kyle helped her. When she was scared, he was there.
Kayla drew her knees to her chest and rocked against the wall. She couldn’t remember how she got there or how long it had been. Someone had brought her gross macaroni and cheese and kool-aid and she’d been allowed to pee but other then that no one had talked to her.
What did they want? Where was her mom? She had looked hurt. Kayla remembered that. She remembered the bangs and heard Kyle scream. But she knew Kyle was okay. In her heart she knew but her mom. She couldn’t feel her mom anymore. Had she left? Maybe God took her to heaven. Her mom said that could happen but Kayla never really believed her. Maybe God would take Kayla to heaven. Maybe tonight.
Small tears streamed down her face as she stared at the sliver of light that came through the door of her room. Was anyone going to help her?

Nate was already at the hospital when Michael and Ashley showed up. Looking very handsome if Ashley would allow herself to think such things. Nate wore a tailored black suit and white shirt with small stripes. It gave him a very modern appearance. His brown hair looked shorter then it had the day before. Had he had time for a haircut or had he just styled it different? No mistaking his bright blue eyes though. They hadn’t changed. He was also looking a bit angry or a bit jealous. Ashley couldn’t be sure.
“Welcome to the party. It’s about time you got here,” Nate said.
“Nate, I didn’t expect to find you here.” Why was Ashley stammering? It wasn’t like she’d been on a date with Michael. Besides, she was a grown woman, not a small child that needed to be watched.
“I was coming here to see if you had talked to Kyle and to see if you needed anything. Apparently, you don’t.”
Ashley glanced at Kyle and noticed his discomfort with the situation. “You know what, Kyle’s dad picked me up because he knew that I was coming here and we stopped to get him some breakfast. It took a little longer then we thought but look Kyle, your dad brought you some donuts. Would you like one?”
Kyle nodded and took what his father offered him. He ate it but not with the ferociousness Ashley would have expected from a 9-year-old. He appeared to be doing better. IV’s and monitors were still connected but he was obviously breathing on his own and at least beginning to eat. His arm was in a sling and his chest was surely bandaged beneath his hospital gown. Ashley wondered how long his recovery would really take.
“If you gentlemen would excuse me, I’d like to talk to Kyle again for a while.” Ashley looked back and forth between Michael and Nate. “And Nate, if you’ll wait for me, I could use a ride back to the hotel.”
“What about Michael?” Nate didn’t bother to hide the irritation in his voice.
“Michael, I’m sure, would like to spend time with his son. Right Michael?”
“Yes, of course I do. Besides, I have a lot of work to do at the office. Cases don’t stop because of other things.” Michael forced a smile. Nate nodded his acceptance. Ashley wasn’t happy about the idea that his son was “other things”. Nothing should take a back seat to your own child. She kept quiet and waited till Michael and Nate left the room.
“How are you doing, Kyle? Any better?” Ashley pulled Kyle’s hospital chair up to his bed and sat down. She took his good hand in hers and rubbed it, careful to avoid his IV site.
“I’m okay.”
“What have you been doing? Are you getting any rest?”
“They brought me some video games but my hands not working good. The doctor said I’ll have physical therapy after I leave. Maybe I won’t have to do school work for a while.”
“Would you like that?”
“Yea, I guess.”
“Kyle, do you remember anything from that day?”
“Not much.”
“Kyle, anything would be helpful. Maybe you could help us find Kayla.”
“I don’t remember much.” Kyle looked away. His blue eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t help her. The car stopped and then… I don’t know…”
“Take your time. There’s no need to rush.”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t. I don’t know.” Kyle’s stammering was interrupted with the door opening. It was Nate.
“Nate, I told you I’d just be a minute…”
“No, I’ve got to go and I have to go now.”
Ashley jumped up. “What is it?”
“Nothing. You stay here,” Nate began to close the door but Ashley knew something was wrong. Her gut would not let it go. She had seen it in his eyes.
“No, I’m going with you.” Ashley ran to the door. She grabbed it before Nate could swing it closed or protest her response. She looked back at Kyle, “Kyle, will you be all right for a little bit? I’ll be back soon.”
Slowly Kyle nodded. It was all she needed. She followed Nate out the door and to the hospital stairs. He didn’t turn around to look at her and Ashley wondered if he knew she was behind him. Nate exited the hospital with a bang of the door. Few people stopped to give him a second glance. It was a hospital, emergencies were common place.
Ashley tried to keep pace but her heels made it hard to run. In her profession she sat on a couch all day. Running was done in the gym or on the sidewalk in running shoes. The expensive kind. The ones only for running. At least that’s what the sign said where she bought them. She managed to catch up to Nate as he threw the car in reverse.
“What are you doing?” His head was out the window.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, Ashley, you’re not. I’ve asked you to come here to talk to Kyle and get something out of him. Otherwise you don’t need to be involved.” Ashley could tell there was more he wanted to say but he was choosing them carefully.
She took advantage of his good nature and ran around to the driver’s side before Nate had time to protest. Jumping in beside him she said, “Look, there’s a possibility that wherever you go you could find one of the girls and you would need me to talk to her.”
Nate shrugged his response. Neither of them believed her statement. Truth was, Ashley didn’t know what propelled her to go along. She had no desire to see any more dead bodies. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be a part of this case and yet here she was in the car next to Nate on her way to she didn’t even know what. Truth was, she just wanted to be next to Nate. Wait where did that come from? She was just with Michael and she liked being with him. Then she left him for Nate. Her brain was not functioning properly.
No, it wasn’t about Nate or Michael. She wanted to be part of the case. And that was more frightening to her then romantic feelings.
“Here we are.” Nate pulled his car onto the curb in front of a small yellow house. The house looked extremely well kept outside with trees flourishing in the front yard along with a small garden. The grass was perfectly green while the houses on either side of it had dead, brown grass. It looked out of place and not just because of the yellow crime scene tape running the perimeter.
Nate got out of the driver’s seat and approached the officer standing outside of the tape, holding a clipboard. He showed the officer his badge and gave him his name. The officer wrote down the information and held the tape up for Nate to go under. Ashley walked up behind him but the officer held up his hand.
“Nate…”
“No, Ashley, you need to stay outside. If I need your help I will call you. Right now I don’t hold out much hope for that.” Ashley watched Nate enter the home and take charge. It wasn’t so much that he said anything; it was more the way that everyone flocked to him with information. He was born to be in charge which made Ashley wonder why he wasn’t.
And then it happened.
Ashley’s world began to swim. She felt light-headed but had nothing to hold on to. The officer didn’t seem to notice and remained rigid in his spot. This man was very good at his job. Ashley managed to right herself and stumbled back to the car.
She hadn’t seen anything but the picture of the bright, yellow house wouldn’t leave her mind even when she looked elsewhere. It was like an overwhelming evil which stood out in stark contrast to the happiness of the house in front of her.
There was a hallway in front of her. When she looked down she saw hardwood floors and they appeared to be covered in blood. The blood trail led to a bedroom door on her left. Ashley stepped through the door and saw on the bed a small girl. She was laying in a white dress, hands folded like an angel. But the room around her was red. Covered in blood.
And then the body was gone.
Ashley searched, frantic to find the girl. Feeling with every step the heaviness that had fallen upon her. She looked down.
Blood. But this time leading away. She followed it until it stopped. She was in the kitchen. Old white cabinets lined the wall. Black knobs hung on each one but only a few were firmly attached and functional. A round, silver table sat next to the wall next to her. Silver chairs with yellow padding sat on the three sides of the table. The chairs were peeling and the stuffing was showing through. A corded phone hung on the wall above it. The entire kitchen looked like it had been left in the 70’s.
Focus Ashley. Her head was spinning. She knew this wasn’t real and yet it was. She looked for the blood. It seemed to pool in the middle of the floor. Where was she? How could a body just disappear?
Something caught her eye. The floor wasn’t quite right. It was the same oak hardwood as in the hallway but something didn’t add up. The grooves were wrong.
Ashley knelt down to take a look. The blood was draining towards this spot but no further. In fact it had to slide around this spot to continue on down the kitchen floor but there wasn’t enough to smear the floor all the way to the back door. A little girl can only bleed so much, after all.
Her fingers felt the floor, ignoring the sticky fluid oozing between her fingers. She felt a latch. Slid her finger under and it gave way. The floor wasn’t a floor but a small door. It opened to a box area under the house. She peered inside but could see only blackness.
But then she saw white.
“Ashley. Ashley, are you okay?” She was shaking. By what she saw or what she felt she didn’t know. The voice repeated itself. “Ashley, are you okay?”
Nate was standing over her. She felt beneath her. It was grass, not wood. The house was still yellow, the grass still bright green. There was no blood. No red anywhere. Even the sky was blue, no sunset hues of red. What had she been thinking?
“I’m…I’m fine Nate. I’m sorry. Did you see anything in there?”
“Nothing. It was completely clean. No traces of anything. Smells like bleach so it’s possible someone cleaned something up but it’s hard to tell. We’ll have some technicians comb the house to be sure,” Nate paused. “I’m sorry; you don’t need to hear this. Can I take you somewhere?”
“No.” Ashley stood and smoothed out her pants. She would surely find grass stains on her bottom but right now she paid no attention. “Nate, the house isn’t empty.”
“I just saw that it was…”
“Nate, I know where the body is.”