Pulled Back Again by Danielle Bannister

Author:Danielle Bannister [Bannister, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: paranormal, suspence, Pulled
Publisher: Danielle Bannister
Published: 2013-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Tobias

I feel like I’m swimming. Well, not so much swimming as drowning. All around me it’s cool and peaceful, but an odd heaviness is pulling inside my chest, pulling me down, away from the light. Away from her.

Frail hands grasp my shoulders, pushing me further into the deep.

“Mr. Garret?” a voice calls out.

I rip myself from a dead sleep to find Ms. Skillings bent over me, shaking me awake.

“I’m sorry to wake you, Mr. Garret, but I really need to check on Fluffy.”

“Fluffy?” I say. My voice is muffled and I can’t figure out why.

“My cat, Mr. Garrett. She’s not used to me being gone so long.”

I pry my lids open, suddenly remembering where I am. I rip the medicated mask off my face.

“What time is it?” I shout, my heart thundering. How much time have I lost?

Ms. Skillings smiles gently. “It’s morning, darling. I stayed here with Janelle last night. I used what I think is your spare bedroom.” She gestures past the living room to Ma’s old room. A room we haven’t used since she passed. “I hope you don’t mind,” she says, seeing my face contort. “You just looked so tired. I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

What?

I bolt upright, a cold sweat forming on my skin. I only have one thought in my mind at the moment.

“Did Jada come back?”

“Jada? Well, no, Mr. Garret. Was she supposed to return?” Worry causes her skin, already lined with age, to crease even more.

Beside her on the floor, Janelle has lifted her head to catch my answer. The poor kid still doesn’t know why her mom isn’t home yet.

“Um, no. She should be back soon though,” I say, more toward Janelle than Ms. Skillings. Janelle juts out her lower lip and I can tell she wants her mama right now.

Ms. Skillings comes over to me and rubs my shoulder, nodding some unspoken gesture of understanding. She probably thinks Jada and I had a fight. How much do I wish it were only that?

“I could go and come right back, if you need me to,” she offers.

“No. It’s fine. Thank you. Thank you for staying with Janelle. I’m sorry to have put you out.”

The courtesies I utter come without any forethought. Jada still hasn’t come back! I have to call the police.

Ms. Skillings looks from me to Janelle and frowns, clearly not wanting to leave us. With a sigh, she pulls her light-pink cardigan closed before she says her good-byes to Janelle. Her slight hunched back makes her waddle like a penguin when she walks toward the door.

The moment she steps inside her apartment, I turn to Janelle.

“Nell, peanut, Papa just needs to make a quick call, okay?”

She nods at me and continues watching her show.

As fast as I can, I run upstairs and into our bedroom and press 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

My throat tightens, but I force out the words. “I need to report a missing person.”

“How old is the person, sir?”

“She’s twenty-one. Look, I think she’s been kidnapped—”

“When did she go missing?” The operator’s voice is measured, rehearsed.

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