Be Quiet and Obey

Chapter 27 - Please catch him

"Miss." The woman's hand landed on Evie's shoulder, her touch comforting. "Can you follow the light for me?"

Evie blinked at the brightness of the torch before her gaze followed as requested. Seemingly pleased, the woman nodded and tugged at the blanket draped around Evie's shoulders. "Stay warm for me. Just a little longer and we'll have you off to the hospital."

Evie watched as a stretcher whizzed past the ambulance, carrying another wounded bystander. "Has anyone..," she trailed off, fearing the answer to her question.

The medic shook her head. "Thankfully, no. We have five wounded, none of which are critical."

"But, the officer who went after him..."

"He was wearing a vest." The woman confirmed, while hastily packing up her equipment.

Evie hung her head as a small sob of relief escaped.

"He'll be ok," the woman soothed. "And so will you."

Evie placed her hand over the bandage covering her shoulder. The medic told her it was only a flesh wound and that even though it was painful, there didn't seem to be any tissue damage.

"Miss Wilson."

Evie turned her head as two men flashed their badges. "Miss Wilson, I'm Detective Collins and this is my partner, Detective Young." The man introduced himself in his Canadian accent.

The medic stepped protectively in front of her. "Make it quick gentlemen, I need to get this young lady to the hospital."

"Understood." Detective Young nodded, removing his shades. "Miss Wilson, may I call you Evie?"

He offered her a small smile as she nodded at his request. "Thank you. Now, I know you must be exhausted but we would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions."

"Ok," she agreed.

"May I?" Detective Young asked, as he climbed aboard and gestured at the spot next to her. She wiggled over to allow him room to sit down. Detective Collins didn't enter the vehicle, he remained standing outside, his eyes scanning the area.

"The officer who rescued you from the diner told us that Branton Mitchels had been holding you captive in his home?"

"Ye-," she suddenly coughed and both men watched as she rubbed her bruised neck. After taking a long sip from her bottle of water she cleared her throat. "Yes," she repeated. "I was there the entire time. I managed to escape once, but I didn't get far before he caught me."

Detective Young's eyes narrowed as he gestured to her bruises. "Did he do that to you, because you tried to escape?"

"No. He did it because.. he was jealous," she said, fiddling with her blanket.

"Jealous?" He pressed.

"This is going to sound strange when I tell you this.. I'm still not sure what to make of it. Branton was jealous of Rex.. the man he shares his body with."

Detective Young remained silent for a few moments as if mulling this information over in his mind. "Sharing his body with another person, like Disassociate Identity Disorder?"

"I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "I don't know much about Disassociate Identity Disorder and Branton said he had never been diagnosed. All I know is his personality would suddenly change and he didn't seem to have any recollection of what happened afterwards."

"So, it was this other personality who brought you to the diner."

"How did you know that?" She asked.

He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Because it doesn't fit Branton's profile. He would consider it too risky to bring you to a public place. We figured we didn't have much hope of him bringing you off the property."

Her body jolted forward with shock. "You knew he was the one who abducted me?"

"We did." Detective Young turned to his partner, who reflected his grim look. "But knowing someone is guilty and proving it are two completely different things." His brown eyes softened as he looked at her. "We had requested a search warrant on his home, but since we didn't have any hard evidence to support our suspicions, it was denied."

His hands clenched into fists as tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry, Evie."

"I could hear you that day." She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "It was you who knocked on his door, wasn't it? I screamed for nearly an hour."

"We couldn't hear you," Detective Collins finally spoke, his tone laced with remorse.

She turned towards him and nodded. "I knew there was no way anyone could hear me. Even still, I feel like hearing that knock stripped me of my sanity. There was help right there and yet there was no way to reach out and take it." She released a humourless laugh. "Let me tell you, something detectives, feeling hopeless is emotionally crippling. It makes you do things that are so wrong but at the time feel right, because it makes the pain stop.. even if it's only for a little while."

Her emotional confession had both men averting their eyes. Detective Young cleared his throat and rose from his spot. After poking around inside his jacket pocket, he retrieved a small business card and held it out to her. "Doctor Yung. She's a psychologist who specialises in trauma, specifically cases like yours. She's expecting your call."

After handing her the card he exited the ambulance. "Get some rest tonight. We'll stop by in the morning."

"Detectives."

Both men stopped to look at her, the business card gripped tightly in her hand.

"Please catch him."