The Tenth Plague by Adam Blumer

Author:Adam Blumer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bellingham, WA
Published: 2013-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 60

“Somebody, help me!” Gillian cried. “My baby’s gone!”

Her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest. She fought a wave of panic as she raced up the hill, gasping and sweating. Her eyes darted across the grounds, searching but not finding.

Oh, God, please. Help me find him. He has to be here. He has to be.

“My baby! Has anybody seen my baby?”

She sprinted down the sidewalk. Campers turned and parted in her wake, probably wondering what was wrong with this wide-eyed woman. How could they even hope to understand? Hadn’t she always harbored this private fear—that somebody would snatch her baby? And now it was happening. It was really happening.

Her mind raced. Who would take him? Had the man who broke into their hotel room in Detroit followed them here?

She neared the pool. Emily rose from a lounge chair in alarm, gray hair matted to the sides of her head, eyes concerned. “Gillian, what’s wrong?”

“Chase.” She could hardly breathe, her voice trembling. “Someone took … Chase.”

Emily’s fingers curled around her arms. “When did this happen?”

“Just—just—a few minutes ago.” Her legs began to buckle, but she locked her knees into place. Tears flushed her eyes to overflowing. She dragged a sleeve across her face—she couldn’t see, and she needed to. She needed to find him.

“We’ll find Chase.” Determination steeled Emily’s voice. “Do you understand?”

Find him? How can she be so sure?

Emily’s eyes flared, the grip on her arms even tighter. “Gillian, pull yourself together. We need to start looking, and I need your help.”

Gillian stared at her, not knowing what to do. Dread tempted her to give up, to accept that only the worst could be the logical explanation. She closed her eyes, and a film played on the backs of her eyelids. Some snaggletoothed, bearded madman with Charles Manson eyes was pushing the stroller toward the parking lot and an awaiting car.

“The parking lot!” Gillian gasped. “We’ve gotta search the parking lot before he gets away.”

“He?” Emily’s voice was strident, fingers like talons around Gillian’s arm. “Did you see someone take him?”

“No—I—” She sucked in a breath. Tried to collect herself. She didn’t know what she was saying.

“I’ll go look,” Emily said. “You search the sidewalks here. Some mother might have confused her stroller with yours and pushed him away by mistake.”

Gillian nodded to herself because Emily was already gone, racing away with a white towel pulled around her like a cape—like she was superwoman, off to save the world. She’d have to because Gillian didn’t know how much help she could be.

Fear wound around her like a boa constrictor, as if trying to compress her lungs so she couldn’t breathe. Was she having a nervous breakdown? Air shuttled through her lungs—she couldn’t get enough of it. She paused, hands on her knees, and just tried to breathe. But just that simple act seemed almost like too much to handle.

Pull yourself together. God will help you do this.

What were those verses from Psalm 34 she and Marc had committed to memory last spring? She tried to remember, fought a mental block.

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