The fact that Rachel wasn’t trying to stop him told him she was worried as well. He practically speed walked down the hall, opting to take the stairs instead of waiting on the elevator. There was a sense of urgency in his gut he couldn’t explain. It was telling him something was not right.
He whipped into the parking lot of her small apartment building fifteen minutes later, taking the steps two at a time. He knocked on her door and waited. When there wasn’t an answer he knocked harder, shouting her name while trying the door. It was locked. The rational side of his brain told him there was a chance she had gone out for groceries, but the other side, the gut instinct side told him that wasn’t the case.
“Katherine!” he shouted, using his open hand to slap the door several times.
He groaned in frustration. He had to get inside. Images of her bloodied and bruised floated through his mind. He turned and looked around the parking lot and noticed the sign indicating the manager lived on-site. He jogged back down the stairs and headed towards the apartment, knocking on the door until an older man answered, eating a ham sandwich.
“Can I help you?” he asked, clearly not pleased to be interrupted during his lunch break.
“I need your help,” Ben blurted out, hoping he didn’t sound too crazed.
“How’s that?” the man asked, taking a bite of his sandwich as if there was nothing horrible happening a hundred feet away.
“My girlfriend, in 4-B, she has an abusive ex. She’s not answering her phone or the door. Something’s wrong,” he said, hoping the man would believe him.
“I can’t let you in her apartment. I don’t know you from Adam.”
Ben gritted his teeth. “You don’t have to know me. You have to know she is in danger. She could be up there bloodied and beaten right now. This guy is crazy. He beat the shit out of her not more than a month ago. If he found her, it’s hard to say what may have happened. Please, you can go in with me, I just need to make sure she’s okay,” he pleaded.
“Are you talking about the pretty brunette?”
Ben nodded his head. “Yes!”
The man sighed. “Fine, but you can only go in and see if she’s there. You can’t touch anything and you’re leaving with me.”
“Fine. That’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Gimme a second,” he mumbled and went back inside his apartment, returning a few seconds later with a keyring.
Together they walked back to Katherine’s apartment. They were moving too slow for Ben’s taste. He wanted to run, but the old man was in no hurry. He slid the key in the lock but didn’t turn it.
He knocked. “Hello? Maintenance! Is anyone home?” he shouted, not moving as he waited for an answer.
Ben wanted to rip the key out of his hand and unlock the door himself.
“Doesn’t sound like anyone is home,” he muttered after a few minutes.
Ben managed to keep his retort to himself. “Exactly.”
The manager turned the key and slowly opened the door. “Maintenance!”
Ben walked into the living room and immediately felt it. The manager could yell all he wanted. Katherine wasn’t there. He walked into the bedroom and noticed the missing suitcase. His heart dropped to his knees as he stared at the empty spot by the door.
He walked into the bathroom and noticed her toiletries were gone. A sinking feeling in his gut told him what he’d feared the most. She’d packed up and run. When he returned to the living room, the manager was staring at the flowers on the table.
“Those are pretty. She probably just went out for groceries or maybe she’s at work,” he offered.
Ben walked into the kitchen. The first thing he saw was her cell phone sitting on the counter. She hadn’t run out anywhere. She’d run out of town. He turned to look at the manager who didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation.
“She’s gone,” he whispered the words. His throat felt tight.
Chapter Eleven
Katherine
SHE’D MADE A SPUR OF the moment decision to get off the bus in some small town outside Portland, Oregon. She couldn’t bear the thought of traveling another twelve hours on that bus. Mary was a lovely seat companion, but she was going out of her mind. It didn’t matter where she got off. There was no set destination in her mind. Katherine had walked down the dark country road, not afraid of being mugged in a quiet little place like the one she’d chosen to spend an undetermined number of days in.
Maybe that had been her mistake in the past, she mused. She’d been trying to hide out in large cities, thinking it would be easier to blend in with hundreds of thousands of people. It was time to change things up. She looked around the area and saw a few houses here and there with large parcels of land for each house. It was a quiet, rural area without the hustle and bustle of city life—or taxicabs.