Page 104 of Searching for Bristol
One.
“Go! Go! Go!” a voice said over the radio.
Rocky was already on the move, running as fast as he could for the stairs the asshole had just come down.
Surprised by the number of people appearing out of nowhere, Lance froze for a moment—then he spun as if to go back up the stairs.
Miguel, one of Fallport’s finest, got to him first. Then Bo and Robert were there. Bo stood back with his weapon pointed straight at Lance, who was now face down on the concrete with three men holding him down, yanking his hands behind his back.
“Lance Zaun, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Arthur Lever. And I’m reserving the right to add to those charges as soon as we get inside your apartment,” Simon told him.
“No!No, no, no, no, no! She’s mine! She’s always been mine!” Lance screamed as he struggled under the officers.
Rocky didn’t slow his pace. He didn’t need to see Lance go down. He needed to get to Bristol.
He and Ethan arrived at the door at the same time. He vaguely saw his neighbors opening their doors and staring at the spectacle going on around them in surprise and fear. He rammed his shoulder against the door, but it didn’t budge.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he took a breath and tried again, with the same result.
“Together,” Ethan said.
“No. Stand back,” Drew ordered.
Turning, Rocky saw Drew and Brock both held battering rams.
“Figured we might need these,” Drew said. “Call it a parting gift from my last job,” he said with a determined look on his face.
It was obvious Brock also had experience using the tool to break down doors, because he stood at the ready, waiting for Drew’s word.
Ethan grabbed Rocky’s arm and pulled him back, letting their teammates have a crack at the door. On the count of three, the two men slammed the rams into the door at the same time. The sound of wood breaking was one of the best things Rocky had ever heard in his life.
Pushing his teammates out of the way, he rushed through the door, absently noting that the deadbolt was reinforced and wasn’t the same as the one on his own apartment.
“Easy,” Zeke muttered. He had a pistol in his hand and he was pointing it into the seemingly empty apartment. For just a moment, Rocky’s stomach fell.
Bristol wasn’t there. The living area looked almost exactly the same as it had the last time he’d been in here, to help move furniture in for Elsie and Tony.
But then he shook his head. No. She was here. Shehadto be here.
Zeke and Drew cleared the living area and the kitchen. It looked almost scarily normal. The two men walked shoulder-to-shoulder down the hallway toward the bedrooms. The first one was empty. They prepared to enter the master.
The door was locked.
This time, it was Talon who came forward with the ram. He didn’t hesitate, and the door smashed into several pieces with his first hit.
Rocky heard Talon’s shocked inhalation before he pushed his friend aside.
And what he saw made his heart soar—and broke it at the same time.
Bristol. She was alive.
Her eyes were huge in her face as she stared at the doorway. She had a ball gag in her mouth and saliva dripped from her chin. Her hands were cuffed to a chain, and her right leg was propped up on a few pillows. The chain circled her ankle as well, running down to the bed frame.
The room smelled musty and had a funk to it Rocky couldn’t identify. It was also pitch black. The only light coming into the room was from the hallway behind him. There were what seemed to be blankets hung on every wall, including over the window.
Rocky took in the surroundings in a split second before he was on the move to Bristol’s side.
She was making high-pitched whimpering noises in her throat, and it was the most heart-wrenching thing Rocky had ever heard in his life. In the back of his mind, he heard a clicking sound. Vaguely, he registered the sound as a cell phone camera. He knew the scene needed to be documented with pictures in order to be able to prosecute.
