‘Looks like there was a car parked down the road.’ A male police office stood at the scene of the attack. Two patrol cars sat there, lights flashing. ‘It was just there recently. I’d say they took off in that soon after the attack.’
Vanessa stood there, feeling like all her energy had drained from her body. She sunk to her knees, the strain on her mind too much for her to take. ‘Where is he? WHERE IS HE?’
Constable Gloria Melrose, a close personal friend of Vanessa’s, crouched down beside her and put her arm around him. ‘Don’t go jumping to conclusions. I’m sure he’s ok.’
‘They took him away, didn’t they?’ Vanessa wiped tears away as they filled her eyes. She fixed them on Gloria.
‘It’s looking like that might be the case, but we have an officer scouting the fields around here, just in case he is wandering around somewhere with a concussion.’
‘He....’ Vanessa hated to even contemplate the thought. ‘He might be dead, might he? A baseball bat to the head can kill.’
‘Vanessa, don’t go thinking that. There’s no reason to even suggest that would be the case. If he had been killed, they probably would have left his body here.’
‘What if they didn’t know he was dead? Or what if he’s even bleeding to death right now?’
‘I doubt it. There’s very little blood on the scene here. It’s likely the blow just knocked him out, that’s all.’
Vanessa shuddered. ‘What if they do something to him? He’ll be at their mercy!’
‘Calm down, Vanessa. Getting all worked up is not going to help. Let us investigate and hopefully we might be able to get some more information. You say you know one of the attackers?’
‘Yes, Rod Williams. He used to work as a bartender at the tavern.’
‘Yes, we know him. He’s already caused us concerns in the past. You say you don’t know that other guy?’
‘No.’
‘Well at least we know the identity of one of them. We should be able to track him down.’
‘You have to find him now!’
‘Relax! Let’s just do one thing at a time. We’ll find him, don’t you worry.’
Another officer stepped up. ‘There are signs of something heavy being dragged in the loose metal where the car was parked. Looks like they may have dragged him there.’
‘Oh no!’ Vanessa buried her head in her hands. ‘They’ve taken him away.’
Gloria sighed. ‘Ok, we need to find this guy Rod Williams, but I’m going to take Vanessa home first. You guys finish up here and I’ll meet you back at the station.’
Vanessa got little sleep that night and tossed and turned, haunted by the images of Rex lying there on the ground. Her cell phone sat on her bedside table. She willed it to ring, wanting it to be Constable Gloria telling her they had found Rex and he was fine. She even hoped that maybe Rex himself would ring and tell her he had escaped his abductors. However, it remained silent.
She gazed up at the ceiling of her room, illuminated only by the pale light of the moon. ‘Rex, are you ok? Please be ok. I couldn’t handle not having you around. I’d die.’
Still, nobody rang. By morning, after a phone call to the police station, she learned that neither he nor his attackers had yet been found.
She didn’t go to school. She was just far too sick with worry to even consider it.