Chapter 9

            Roslyn looked frantically out the car window as Rob sped through the surface streets of downtown Memphis.  It looked to her like they were about a mile from The Blue Note, apparently heading towards the interstate. 

            Where is he taking me?  What do I do?  She reached down towards the floor to grab her purse which contained her cell phone, only to realize that she had been unable to get it before Rob dragged her out of the dressing room.  She also didn’t have shoes, which she knew would slow her down in the event that she could find a way to escape. 

            “Rob, you have to let me go,” she told him, talking loudly, hoping he wouldn’t hear the click the lock made as she unlocked her door.  “You could keep driving north until you hit Canada; the cops can’t get you there.  Just let me out and you can be free.”  She pleaded with him, reasoning with his common sense.  Just let me go Rob!  Let me go! 

            He sat there silently, a look of mocking on his face, obviously enjoying her pathetic attempts at negotiating with him.  He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead though, as it had started raining quite heavily and the visibility on the road was diminished. 

            “Rob, please,” she whimpered, unable to control her hysteria any longer.  I’m going to die.  I’m never going to be able to get away.  “Let me go.”  He still didn’t look at her, or even acknowledge that she was talking to him.  He kept that smug smile painted on his face though, enraging Roslyn even more.  “LET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING CAR YOU BASTARD!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her throat burning from the force, causing her to cough as soon as the last syllable left her mouth. 

            Rob began laughing, that same maniacal laugh that he sported back at the club, and once again, Roslyn’s blood ran cold.  He was laughing so hard he didn’t see the cars slamming on their breaks in front of him, nor did notice Roslyn’s demeanor change as she realized this was her chance to get away.  As Rob pressed the brake pedal down as fast as he could, Roslyn yanked the handle on the door and pushed all her weight against it.  The door flew open, wilder than usual from the force of the car slowing to a stop so quickly, and she leapt from the vehicle just before the front of Rob’s car smashed into the back of the car in front of his. 

            She hit the pavement hard, rattling every bone in her body, as she tucked and rolled, going with the gravitational pull.  She felt her body hit the curb, and then, with great difficulty, she lifted herself off the ground and took off down the sidewalk in the direction of the club, the last place she knew the people who could help her were.  She did not make it far though, collapsing on the sidewalk eight blocks from the accident, the rain pelting down on her as she struggled unsuccessfully to get to her feet again.  She knew she couldn’t afford to give up, having no idea if Rob was right behind her or not, but she couldn’t lift herself off the ground anymore.

            “Nick,” she cried softly, a river of blood mixed with rain running down the sidewalk in front of her.  “Help me.”

            Ten minutes had passed since they watched Rob’s car tear off down the road, and they had called the one officer they knew they could trust, Officer Meeks.  She was the first officer that had shown up at Roslyn’s apartment earlier that morning, and she was in no way affiliated with Rob or his interests.  Kaci and Serena remembered her as well, not from this morning, but as one of the officers working Randy and Diane’s case, their murder case.  They knew she could be trusted, and they knew she would whatever she could to help Roslyn. 

            “Thank you for coming Officer Meeks,” said Serena as the officer got out of her car.  “We didn’t know who else to call.”

            “Please, call me Kate,” she answered, grabbing her walkie-talkie out of the car before slamming the door shut.  “And you were right to call me; I have my suspicions too.”  She stopped talking as some noise came though the walkie-talkie, everyone turning silent, trying to figure out what they were hearing. 

            “We’ve got something,” yelled Kate after giving a 10-4 into the walkie-talkie.  “There was an accident on Monroe about seventeen blocks from here involving a maroon colored sedan matching the description you gave me of the car Rob was driving.”  She started running back to her squad car, but Nick grabbed her by the arm.

            “There’s no word about a female passenger,” was all she said as she slid into the car and pulled the door shut.  Officer Meeks sped down the road with her lights flashing and siren blaring, leaving everyone else behind as the rain began falling harshly on them. 

            Before a word could be spoken, Nick took off running down the street in pursuit of the police car.  Five blocks later he could see the traffic already backed up from the accident and he kept running towards it, pushing people out of his way as he went past them. 

            “Roslyn!  ROSLYN!”  He was shouting her name, but he didn’t remember telling his brain to do it; the two syllables flying out of his mouth on their own.  “Roslyn, I’m coming….just hang on.  I’m coming!”

            Four blocks later he ran into Officer Meeks, which puzzled him since they were still eight blocks away from the accident. 

            “Nick, did you run all the way down here?” she asked him, the answer obvious from his labored breathing and his soaking wet body. 

            “Where….is….she?” he asked, saying each word in between breaths. 

            “I don’t know yet,” Kate answered, staring down at the sidewalk.  Nick looked down too, noticing traces of blood that were just being washed away from the rain.  “What was she wearing when she left the club?”  The tone in her voice was urgent, leading Nick to believe that the answer to that question was of the utmost importance. 

            “I, I didn’t see her, but Marcus and Big Mike did,” he stammered as he dug his cell phone out of his pants pocket.  “A hot pink tank top over a bright yellow tank top and a pair of gray shorts,” he yelled at Officer Meeks, the phone still up to his ear. 

            “Then we know she was involved in the accident; a piece of her pink tank top was caught on the bottom edge of the passenger side door,” responded Kate gravely.  “I would bet anything that she was right here no more than two minutes ago.  Are you sure you didn’t pass her as you were running down here?”

            “I didn’t see her!” Nick yelled, looking around at the crowd that had gathered, searching the faces for the one he needed.  Then it hit him, the question he should have asked right away, but his mind was so focused on Roslyn, not her attacker.  “Where is Rob?” 

            “There was blood on the steering wheel and the windshield was cracked; the blood is being sent to the lab as we speak to see if it’s Rob’s, but as of right now, he’s gone too.”  Nick uttered a few explicatives, his frustration that Roslyn was right here and now gone getting the better of him. 

            “We’ll find him Nick,” said Kate reassuringly.  “From the amount of blood in that car there is no way he will be able to keep running without seeking some sort of medical attention first.  We’ll get him.” 

            “Before or after he gets her?” Nick added, his throat closing at the thought.  He’s hurt her enough already, and I’ll be damned if he’s going to do it again.

            Officer Meeks pretended to blow off his comment, but she too wondered what the answer to that question would be.  “I’ve got a call in to all the hospitals and medical centers in the area; if anyone matching either Rob or Roslyn’s description comes in, I’ll be notified.  But neither one of them could have gotten far if they are injured, so I think our best bet is to look between here and the club.”  She paused for a moment and then added, “And from the looks of it,” she said, pointing to the spot where the blood had been, “she’s making her way back to where she knew you were, back towards the club.” 

            Nick didn’t have to be nudged twice; he took off running back towards the club, his cell phone back up to his ear again as he told Marcus what Kate had said.  “I’ll be back there in about five minutes; I’m going to go down this street….uh…Freemont,” he said as he looked up at the street sign.  “Maybe she took a different way so Rob couldn’t find her.” 

            He flipped his phone shut and ran across the street, off the main road onto a much dimmer Freemont Street.  He ran all the way down it, then turning left onto another street that he couldn’t see the name of because the street light was burned out.  He peered down every alley, looking in every door way, eyeing every person he passed along the way, calling her name as he did so.  He wasn’t sure exactly where he was until he saw the illuminated sign for The Blue Note, and he realized that he was on the backside of the building. 

            “Mother fucker!” he yelled, upset that he was back at the club and had seen no sign of her. 

            “Nick, was that you that just screamed?” Marcus chirped into the two-way, causing Nick to jump a little.  “Yeah, I’m coming up to the back entrance; no sign of her.”

            As he walked up to the back door of the club, the light above it shone on a figure crumpled on the ground.  “Marcus, guys, get back here!” he screeched into his two-way as he ran full speed toward the huddled mass.  “Hurry!”