I burst inside, praying with everything I had that she’d be there. That this was simply a case of my separation anxiety rearing its ugly head.
But emptiness greeted me, no sign of life to be found.
At least initially.
As I stepped farther into the locker room, I could make out a faint sound. It was muffled and unclear, but it sounded like…music.
“Hello?” I called out, every fiber of my being telling me to turn back.
But that was at odds with the mother in me who would do anything for her child. Who would never be able to live with herself if something happened to Imogene because she’d hesitated. Retreated.
So I continued into the room, nothing seeming out of place.
All the lockers were closed, some decorated with posters of encouragement for tonight’s game. As I walked past rows of bathroom stalls, the music became louder, clearer, the melody all too familiar.
Because it was the same song I once sang to Imogene when I crawled into bed with her after Nick played his twisted version of hide-and-seek.
A boulder lodged in my throat as I ran toward the sound, sliding to a stop at a pile of clothes on the floor near a bench, Imogene’s number on the back of her stained jersey.
“No…,” I whimpered, carefully lifting her clothes off the floor to reveal a phone.
On the screen was a photo of my little girl, unconscious and gagged, wrists and ankles bound, lying in what appeared to be the trunk of a car.
A wail I didn’t recognize as my own ripped from me as I fell to the floor, my cries echoing in the empty room.
“Julia!” Lachlan shouted as the door to the locker room crashed open, followed by heavy footsteps. “Are you—”
He came to an abrupt stop when he took in the scene. Imogene’s uniform. A cell phone playing “Smile”. A photo of her in some asshole’s trunk.
“Oh god, no…”
“He has her!” I sobbed as he knelt beside me, wrapping me in his arms. “He has my baby.” Each word felt like a knife plunging into my heart. “What if he’s—”
“It’ll be okay,” he attempted to assure me, preventing me from voicing my concerns. “I won’t let that happen.” He pulled back and cupped my cheeks in his hands, tears cascading down both our faces. “I swear to you, Julia. I will not let that bastard hurt her. I will find him. And when I do, I will kill him.”