Andrew Gross - 15 Seconds

Joyfully, after about twenty minutes of advancing along slowly and around turns, we went into fourth gear and it felt as if we had now gotten onto a highway.

Probably I-77. Heading back to Charlotte.

I did my best to come up with some plan for what to do. First, I had to get out of the area; then I had to wait for Hofer to get in touch with me. This meant getting myself on a bus headed south, or if I was lucky, doing what I’d done before-finding a car.

Or getting back in touch with Carrie. She would surely bring the evidence we’d uncovered to the FBI and the police.

But first, I had to call Liz. She was Hallie’s mother. She had to know what was going on.

I took my own cell phone-I needed to make sure she would take the call. I was pretty sure the driver wouldn’t hear me over the engine noise. It rang a couple of times. It was 4 P.M. and I never knew Liz to leave the office much before six. I knew she’d recognize the number.

Hopefully, it wasn’t being monitored by the police!

At last she picked up. “Henry…?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Liz. Liz, listen, I know who’s got her!”

I told her what I’d discovered. About Hofer. And why he was doing these things to me.

His daughter.

The Oxy.

“I spoke with her, Liz. Or at least I saw her.” I didn’t tell her about the details of the photo. About the ticking clock that was over her head. “She’s alive. Probably scared out of her mind, of course. But she’s alive.”

There was an immediate lift in Liz’s voice. “Now we can go to the police!”

“No. We can’t. Everything’s still the same. I had another run-in with the police. In North Carolina. I was on the line with him and then the cops showed up. It was a million-to-one shot that I got away. You’re probably going to hear about it on the news…”

“What’s that rumble I hear? It sounds like you’re in a train station.”

“No, I’m not on a train. I’m…” I decided not to explain that either. “We still don’t know where he is, but I do know he’s going to find a way to bring me to him. If we get the police involved now, even in the strictest of confidence, because of how crazy everything is with me, it might blow everything. They may release his name… They may still even use it as a wedge to get to me. Anyway, listen, we’ve already made contact with the FBI-”

“ We. Who’s we, Henry?”

“This woman from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Who’s looked into my case.”

“A detective?”

“No. Not exactly a detective, Liz…” How could I tell her? That Carrie was from the Community Outreach department. It would make me look like a fool! “Liz, you have to trust me. We’re getting close. I don’t want to blow everything now. I just don’t know how much time we have…”

“Henry, I’ve done nothing for three days! I’m going out of my mind! Now you know who it is. How much longer can you expect me to sit back…?”

“Liz, I’m dying too. I could clear my name in an hour now if I could turn myself in. But I can’t… I know you have no reason to trust me right now, or to believe me, other than you know that I want Hallie back as much as you. Maybe more! This all happened because of me, Liz. We have to find out where he’s got her. Give me one more day.”

“Oh God, Henry, you can’t be serious, to keep doing nothing. It’s our daughter…”

“I am serious. I’m deadly serious. But until I know where Hofer wants me to go, where he’s taken her, we have to keep doing this.”

She didn’t say anything. I just heard her weeping. My tough-as-nails wife, whom I never saw as much as shed a tear.

“Just bear with me another day, Liz. A day to figure out where he is and what he wants from me. Can you do that, baby? I know what I’m asking you. Is that okay?”

Just then the truck veered to the right and slowed its speed. We were exiting the highway. We were probably nearing its base. In Charlotte.

“Liz, I have to go now. I don’t know when I’ll be able to call you. But I will. As soon as I can. Soon as I know something.”

“Henry, you can’t just run out on me like this-”

“Liz, I have to go…” We came to a stop. The truck made a right. And then proceeded, as if along an access road. I knew I didn’t have much time. And now the driver might easily hear me. I lowered my voice. “Liz, I’m sorry, but I have to run. I’m gonna find her, Liz. I give you my word. Can you trust me on this?”

She sniffled and drew in a breath. The truck went down a short straightaway, never getting out of second gear. I knew we were close. It might be reaching its destination at any second.

Liz said, “Yes. Yes, Henry I trust you. I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this, but… Get her back for me, Henry. You get this bastard!”

“I will, Liz. I will. You take care.”

I pressed off the line. I felt the truck slow and make another right turn. The driver bounced over a speed bump and seemed to pull into a driveway.

Then the truck came to a stop.

My heart was beating with dread. I knew I was in Charlotte.

And there were two possibilities:

Either I’d have to find a way to get back south, where I assumed my daughter was being held captive…

Or ten cops would be waiting for me with guns drawn as the cargo bay opened.

The truck’s door rattled open. I peeked out from under the sheet in the back of the cargo bay. Bright light flashed into my eyes.

All I heard was the grating sound of the loading ramp being pulled down to the ground. And the driver calling out to someone, obviously a ways away, “Hey, John. Givens still around? Dude owes me thirty bucks…”

“Yeah, man, he’s still here. In the spin room. You need help unloading?”

“Thanks. Give me a minute. Need to take a leak.”

My blood sped into overdrive. I had to get off the truck before the driver came back. I had no idea where I was.

I climbed out of the bin and crawled up to the front of the cargo bay and looked around. I didn’t see anyone. I steadied a hand on the ramp and jumped down. There were a bunch of similar trucks in the lot and an open slot to a loading bay. I headed off at a steady pace toward the open gate and didn’t look back. I didn’t hear anyone call. I just walked right through. Like a man leaving prison behind. All the while my heart was thumping.

I took a look around. I was in an industrial neighborhood. Warehouses and light manufacturing businesses. Queen City Restaurant Supplies. J. Crawford and Sons Glass. One thing I did know. We weren’t more than a half mile from the highway.

I picked up my pace, hoping no one called me from behind. Hey, you! You there. What are you doing?

I let out a loud sigh of relief when I was sure I was free.

I had about sixty bucks left. And no jacket. I had flung that into the river. It was March, and it still got chilly at night. And no more iPad. That was back in Carrie’s car. No good to me now.

I could make my way to a bus station and try to hop a bus. But the police might be watching and that would mean putting myself on the street for a while.

I spotted an Exxon station a couple of blocks away. And a sign for I-77, heading south. I saw an overpass and figured that was the highway straight ahead.

I hurried over to the station, figuring I’d use the restroom and find something to eat. That maybe I’d just put my thumb out on the entrance ramp and try my luck.

When I got to the gas station, three cars were filling up. I went into the men’s room and splashed cold water over my face, still reeling from the harrowing escape I’d made, and still surprised to see my newly cropped hair and glasses.