Silent Run Read Free

happened?” she said, almost afraid to ask.
    â€œYour car went off the side of the road in the Santa Ynez Mountains, not far from San Marcos Pass. You plunged down a steep embankment and landed in a ravine about two hundred yards from the road. Fortunately you ran into a tree."
    â€œFortunately?” she echoed.
    â€œOtherwise you would have ended up in a boulder-filled, high-running creek,” he told her. “The front end of your Honda Civic was smashed, and the windshield was shattered."
    Which explained the cuts and bruises on her face.
    â€œYou’re a very lucky woman,” the deputy added.
    â€œWho found me?” she asked.
    â€œA witness saw your car go over the side and called nine-one-one. Does any of this sound familiar?"
    The part about going off the side of the road sounded a lot like the dream she’d been having. “I’m not sure."
    â€œWere you alone in the car?"
    His question surprised her. “I think so.” She thought back to her dream. Had she been alone in the car? She didn’t remember anyone else. “If I wasn’t alone, wouldn’t that other person be here at the hospital?” she asked.
    â€œThe back door of your car was open. There was a child’s car seat strapped in the middle of the backseat, a bottle half-filled with milk, and this shoe.” Officer Manning held up a clear plastic bag through which she could see a shoe so small it would fit into the palm of her hand. Her heart began to race. She had the sudden urge to call for a time-out, to make him leave before he said something else, something terrifying, something to do with that shoe. “Oh, God. Stop. I can’t do this."
    â€œI’m sorry, but I need to know. Do you have a baby?” he asked. “Was your child with you in the car?"

Chapter Two

    His questions slammed into her, stealing the breath from her chest. An image flashed through her mind... pudgy legs, tiny little toes kicking her hand away as she tried to slip the shoe on her child’s foot and fasten the bright pink Velcro straps.
    Her daughter. Her baby!
    A deep, intense, agonizing pain swept through her. She didn’t know anything else, but she knew with complete and utter certainty that she had a little girl. She closed her eyes, desperate to see her daughter’s face, to know her baby’s name, but the blackness in her brain refused to lift. Her past remained just out of sight.
    â€œMiss?"
    She opened her eyes and saw Officer Manning staring back at her with a grim expression. “I have a little girl,” she said, hearing the wonder in her own voice.
    His gaze narrowed. “Was your child in the car, then? Did you just remember something?"
    â€œI-I know I have a daughter,” she stammered. “In my head I could see myself putting on that shoe. But I have no idea if she was with me."
    â€œWhat’s her name?"
    She bit down on her bottom lip as the truth hit her hard. “I don’t know.” Good God! What kind of mother couldn’t remember her own baby’s name? “I have to get up. I have to find her.” She sat up straight, intent on getting out of bed, but the officer barred her way.
    â€œEasy, now. From what I understand you’re in no condition to go anywhere,” he said. “And where would you go -- if you don’t remember anything?"
    His sharp, challenging gaze settled on hers. He was right. She didn’t know where to go. But she couldn’t just sit in this bed when her child could be in trouble.
    â€œWhy don’t you tell me what you can remember?” Officer Manning suggested. “Even if it’s just flashes of memory. Bits and pieces can make up a whole picture."
    She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. There was nothing but an empty void in her head, darkness so overwhelming she was afraid that it would swallow her up. Opening her eyes, she grabbed the railing of her bed, feeling the need to