Chapter 11: Lori’s POV
It had been a week and they still hadn't made any useful progress in finding Anika. They tried matching the victims with the similar cases to her and looked to see if they had anything in common, but besides them all looking alike, there was nothing. All together they had seventeen reported cases by the same culprit including Anika’s. The girls ranged from fourteen to twenty-two years old and lived in multiple different states. I had lost all hope of finding her. The cops were useless.
I sat on her bed in the morning of the official first week, just trying to feel her with me. I didn’t want to touch anything else though, for fear she may never come back. I felt like my life had not only been flipped upside down but warped at the same time. I was no longer the person who solved the crimes and helped out the victims, I was now the helpless parent of the victim and that hurt more than anything. I wished there was something, anything, I could do to find her, but besides answering the questions I had and supplying them her things, I was of no help.
Fear grew in my heart and the tears began to flow, I needed her back.
I knew I had become a burden to the people around me, constantly crying and always asking questions. I asked everyone that she knew if they had any idea where she might be, and every time they had nothing. I walked all around the town handing out fliers and when they tried to end the search for her in places like the woods, I demanded they continue. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her if I could.
A police officer knocked on my door then, and I ran so fast, tripping over a shirt Anika had left lying on her floor, I wanted to get mad but I had no right. I answered the door and tried to put on my best face, but he already knew how bad I was hurting. I offered him coffee and then he sat and we began to speak.
“I have some news for you Lori.” He said blowing on the hot mug.
“We have a lead, not a very strong one but none the less a lead.”
“Okay, well get to it then.” I said rudely, growing impatient.
“Well you see, my team decided to dig even deeper into the fingerprint database and we came across a match to the prints we found on the rock.”
I jumped out of my seat so quickly I startled him enough that he spilled some coffee on himself.
“How is that not a strong lead, that’s excellent!” I shouted, smiling the brightest I ever have.
“Mam please, remain calm. This is not as good of a lead as we would hope for. The prints match that of kid whom was kidnapped ten years ago from three states away. Now we know that he lives somewhere around here or within the surrounding states and by using our newest software we may be able to see what he should look like now.”
I looked at him as if he had just called me dumb.
“Okay, well then what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the lab, or out searching or anything? I questioned. He just laughed a little and then noted how he just wanted to give me the news in person. I understood that at least and then shook his hand and dismissed him. Finally, there might be a chance. That small amount of hope was all I had to hold on to.
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Taken From Reality
Mystery / ThrillerStory of a devaint man who makes his "son" kidnap girls for him, but never expects that his son would fall in love with the newest girl. Will Anika, the new girl, survive the horror she has been placed in?