sir!”
“What do you mean, nothing?”
“Nobody’s answering, sir!”
“What?” Holder asked incredulously, staring at Morgan. Then he opened his eyes wide and looked off into space. Leaping up, he rushed out, shouting to Morgan to get his car ready. Next he ran to his office and unlocked the lower right-hand desk drawer. He pulled out a key, put it in his jacket pocket, raced back into the corridor, and punched the down elevator button repeatedly until the doors finally sprang open. By the time he reached the entrance, Morgan was holding the car door for him. As Holder got in, they exchanged worried looks.
When they reached the apartment building, Morgan double-parked in front of the building, and they hurried up to the third floor. Reaching number 307, Holder knocked. There was no answer. He stuck the key in the lock, turned the knob, and threw open the door.
THE sound at the door roused Kate. She’d been lapsing in and out of consciousness ever since the attack hours earlier. At one point she’d made out the telephone blaring, and hope had lapped seductively at the edges of her mind. But the phone had fallen silent, and she’d descended back into despair. Now hope crashed over her like a wave. She had to signal whoever it was to come in, to save her. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.
Try! I can’t let them go away! Say something!
As she was attempting to croak out a sound, she heard the door burst open and the words: “Kate! Where are you?”
“Help,” she whispered.
Then hands were ripping at the thing over her eyes and light burst in on her. She screamed as the brilliance exploded in her head, and she shut her eyes tight.
“Kate, stay with me! Morgan, find some scissors!” Holder ordered as he fumbled with the cord binding her to the pipe. A moment later Morgan was snipping at the cord, and quickly she was free. Kate immediately tried to raise one hand to her throbbing head but the effort was too great and allowed it to fall back. She kept her eyes clamped shut, shutting out the vicious light.
“Kate, tell me if you’re hurt anywhere except your head.”
She was trying to determine for herself what hurt and what didn’t when she opened her eyes a slit. Recognizing the man in front of her, her eyes widened despite the pain it caused, and tears welled up. “Why…why didn’t you come?” she asked, sorrow and accusation combining in her soft words.
“I got here as soon as I could,” he assured her.
The tears slid down her face, and she stared at him until she could stand the pain no longer and closed her eyes. “You took so long. Why did you leave me here?”
“I didn’t leave you, Kate. I didn’t know you were here till….”
Her eyes snapped open again, and she said with as much force as she could muster: “Didn’t know?” Looking away from him, she murmured, to herself as much as to him: “They hurt me.” Then to him she said: “I needed you!”
At first Holder held Kate’s stare, but then he had to break contact. With great effort he dragged his eyes back to confront hers. “Kate, I’m…I’m here now,” he stuttered, reaching out touch her face. She turned away, her lips a tight line. Distress etched on his face, he tried again: “I’m going to take care of you now.”
Tears continued to trickle down her face, and she remained silent. After a long minute, he straightened his shoulders and smoothed his face back into its blank detachment. “Tell me where you’re hurt, other than your head.”
An easier question for her was: Where did it not hurt? She was still resting on her side, so she figured the first thing she should do was to lie flat on the ground, but when she did, she was rewarded with a sharp pain below her left hip. She grunted, automatically extending her left hand toward the pain. At the same time she realized with dismay that she was almost naked in front of Holder, Morgan, and anyone else who might show up.
“Let me look,” Holder said as he moved his hand to the spot she was indicating.
“No!” she cried out.
Snatching his hand back, Holder exclaimed: “Okay, okay. I won’t touch you.”
“Please,” she said while flailing around with her fingers. Understanding her gesture, he laid his jacket over her chest, then grabbed a towel to cover her legs. She pulled the jacket up to her neck.
“Kate, we don’t have much time. Can you tell me anything about what happened?”
She looked at him, puzzled. “You already know. They took me.”
“No, I mean now, here in Langley.” He spoke very slowly, as if to a small child.
She lifted her head slightly and scanned the bathroom. “Langley? When did I…?”
“Two days ago, from Germany.”
Laying her head down to stop the pain, she wailed: “I…I don’t remember!!”
“Don’t worry! It’s because you were hit on the head. Just rest.”
Not worry? Am I losing my mind?
She breathed out and in, in and out, trying to calm herself. She did not succeed.
A siren screamed in the distance, signaling the imminent arrival of the paramedics. “Kate?” he implored.
“What?” Kate responded resentfully. A moment ago she’d dismissed Holder from her thoughts, because she needed to regroup, to reorganize her brain, to regain control. She didn’t want to listen to him.
Sensing her annoyance, Holder hesitated. Then he inhaled deeply and looked directly at her, putting his hand over hers. She didn’t pull back, but opened her eyes and met his gaze with a sigh. She waited.
“I…I have to tell you, before they get here. In Germany, when you got caught…. Things were going on here in the States, demanding my attention, but I should’ve done more.” His voice was husky with emotion, and his eyes flitted away, before he compelled them back to her face. “I am sorry,” he said simply.
She focused on him, exhaled, and shook her head ever so slightly. Pulling her hand out from under his, she withdrew into herself again.
HOLDER was rising when Morgan reappeared in the doorway to inform him that the paramedics had arrived. Almost immediately he was replaced by a male paramedic. Catching sight of him, Holder protested under his breath: “Oh, shit.” He intercepted the man before he could reach Kate and guided him back into the living room, where a second paramedic, a woman, was dumping gear on the coffee table. When he saw her, Holder murmured: “Thank goodness.” The man started to speak, but Holder cut him off. “Not you,” Holder said in his most officious voice. “She wants the woman,” he said, pointing at the other paramedic.
The two paramedics exchanged glances, then the man waved his hand, and she gathered up her gear and made for the bedroom. After asking Holder her name, she knelt down and said: “Hi, Kate. I’m Ann.”
Drawing in a sharp breath and forcing her
