Chapter 37 Panic
Wes' POV
I call officer Young and he picks up almost instantly.
"Young," He answers gruffly.
"*Jamie is missing! And there is blood! And her backpack. She didn't show up to her class*, *and I swear I dropped her off! Someone took her! I can't find her! Please help!"* I beg the officer.
Yes, I'm panicking and rambling and hopefully he can understand what I am saying and *tell me exactly where my girlfriend is*... Because I sure as hell don't know what to do right now. Someone needs to tell me what I need to do! The only thing making sense to me right now is *I need to find her!*
"Weston?" He asks. I'm surprised he remembered my voice... *Or maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm demanding he look for my girlfriend named Jamie...* Either way, I don't care. He is my only hope of finding her before something bad happens to her... *As long as something horrid hasn't already happened to her!*
"Yeah?" I ask. I try to sound normal, but my voice comes out as a squeak. *I really need to get a handle on myself, so I can find Jamie!* She doesn't need me freaking out like this! She needs me to think clearly... *But it's a hard thing to do!*
"Where are you?" He demands, cutting through the clutter filling my mind.
"I'm behind the science building..." I gulp, trying to reign in my panic for another moment so I can explain what's going on. My heart is aching now and there is blood rushing through my head, making a lot of extra noise... *Why the hell can't I focus on my girlfriend?* Am I in shock? I have no freakin' clue!
"You said there was blood?" the man on the other end of the phone tries to redirect my thoughts to focus on what is going on around me.
"Yes. I had a bad feeling after I dropped her off, so I was just gonna go check on her, *but then I saw her backpack and blood..*." I'm rambling again. I know I am, but I just can't help it.
"I'll be there in a minute*. Don't move!* I'm bringing the K9 unit. Just hang in there. *We'll find her!*" He insist, before he hangs up on me.
I pace back and forth for ten years before someone shows up. My mind has already come up with a million scenarios, *each one more ridiculous than the last.* She would never be kidnapped for ransom! She's broke and has no family that would know where she is! She has nothing of value, *except her life!*
Officers Young and Wilson, along with another officer with a German shepherd rush towards the science building where I'm sure I've worn my own path in the dirt. They all look at me with hard faces. I guess they need me to focus and I'm off on some unknown space up in my head trying to figure out why someone would take my woman from me.
"Wes?" Young asks pulling me up short.
I swallowed hard, not even needing him to say anything to me. I just hand over the backpack and point to the blood. I can't look at it, *it turns my stomach* thinking she is hurt. It's not bleeding-out levels of blood, *but enough for me to know she is hurt.*
The handler gives the dog a command and he sniffs the blood and then barks, pulling his handler, and by extension the rest of us in a direction I'm not really familiar with.
We rush through the campus following the canine to an old campus dorm that has been shut down for years due to maintenance issues. *If this dog is right I will give him a steak... Well, if he's allowed to have steak.* My mind is wandering again... Probably because I don't want to think what my girl is doing in a place like this.
We follow the insistent dog all the way down a dark hallway when I hear a scream from behind a door. *That scream sends all my blood rushing from my scrambled brain.* My heart is pounding like a sledgehammer. I'm gonna kill whoever made my girl scream like that!
The K9 stops just in front of a closed wooden door with his handler. I guess the dog stopping was also a signal for Young and Wilson to stop as well.
*I can't stop!* I don't know why they aren't moving, but I try to step forward around the frozen officers to kick open the damn door myself, because I'm sure my girl is in there *and I need to get to her!* But Wilson holds me back.
I glare at her, but she just shakes her head and nods at Young. *How can the woman be so calm at a moment like this?* Can't she hear Jamie screaming from inside? Doesn't she know I need to get to her immediately?
I redirect my focus on Officer Young. He has a gun out and gives me a stern look putting me in my place, *but that doesn't stop me from wanting to charge in and stop whatever it is that is making my girl scream right now.*
Yes, I know they are trying to protect me and stop me from doing something stupid! *I get that!* But can we get a damn move on? Someone needs to do something to save my woman from... *Well, whatever the hell is happening to her right now!*
I don't have to wait long though, because Officer Young kicks in the door holding his weapon and shouts *"Freeze!"*
My heart almost stops as I watch a naked man hovering right over my girl... Jamie is trying to squirm away from him, but he has her body pinned beneath him. Her legs are spread wide. From my position I can tell he was just about to enter her... *I think I'm gonna be sick! He was gonna...*
The panic in my chest has not subsided and I start breathing heavily and the terror on Jamie's face. Her face is red and her cheeks are wet. *My princess was gonna be raped! I'm gonna kill the bastard!*
The naked man is not completely unclothed though... *Although I'm not sure if ski masks count as clothes.* However he hasn't moved from his position of dominance on top of Jamie. All he had to do was push in and...
In two seconds flat, Officer Young has the man tackled to the floor, and is grappling with him trying to reach zip ties. Finally he has the man subdued and has the restraints around his wrists. I don't even pay the slightest bit of attention to the man I want to have die a slow and painful death. My brain is only focused on one thing.
Officer Wilson lets me go and I rush to my girl, wanting to pull her into my arms, but she is attached to the wall. *Why the hell is there a chain attached to the wall?*
"Wes!" Jamie sobs.
She is completely naked! *My poor baby.* As soon as I can, I'm taking her outta this hell and bringing her home with me!
I rip my shirt off and try to cover her as much as I am able to, before Officer Wilson hands me a small object. My mind really is off right now and I don't even know what it is she his handing to me.
"Here," she says nodding at the cuffs holding my girlfriend captive. *Of course I need a key to get the damn cuffs off her!* What was I thinking? I was just gonna sit here forever and let her sit in this cold room? *Man, I need to get with it!*
"Thanks," I swallow, taking the key with shaky hands. I really hope I don't drop the damn thing. I don't think I could see it in the dark of the room... I'm actually glad for the darkness so Jamie is partially covered..*. Sort of.*
Once I have the key I unlock the cuffs around her sore wrists.
The moment her hands are free, she throws them around my neck and sobs. I only move back for a moment as I take my shirt and pull it over her freezing body.
I hold her, kissing the top of her head and just let her cry, pulling her onto my lap, and shielding her away from the others with my body. I rock her back and forth.
"It's all over, baby. *I've got you.* No one will ever hurt you again!" I whisper in her ear as I rub her back. She is shaking in my arms. I'm sure she is gonna have to be checked out, but right now I think both of us need to hold each other.
Then I turn my attention to Officer Young who is still wrestling with the naked man on the floor. *He is yelling at all of us, but it seems like empty threats. Is this the man who took Ashlyn too? Is she in the building somewhere? Are the rumors of the other missing girls true?*
Who is this bastard who thought it was okay to hurt Jamie and the other girls?
The moment Officer Young removes the face mask, there is a collective gasp as we look at the naked man in disgust. *This can't be right, can it?* Of all the people I was worried about...
*"Rick?*" Jamie whispers in shock.