Just Breathe

Chapter 15

Bruce gripped his phone and stared at the map on the tracking app, willing the red dot into existence.

But it didn't appear.

Just like the last fifty times he'd checked.

Beth's phone was turned off and he had no way to find her.

"Isn't this a little early for you?" Gordon asked, emerging onto the rooftop. "Or late, depending on your perspective?"

Bruce slipped the phone into one of the pouches of his belt and turned to face the lieutenant. The dawn sky was breaking over Gotham and Bruce had to resist the urge to squint in the light from the glowing rays.

He wasn't out early.

He was still out late.

He'd gone straight from the hospital to the Tower to change back into his suit. Then he'd driven out to the scene of the accident hoping to gather clues. He found the intersection and could recreate Alfred's version of events from the skid marks on the road and the disturbed dirt in the ditch. But the limo had been towed away and there were no CCTV cameras in the area.

Newsome - because it must have been him - had chosen the right spot. The place was deserted, with no possibility of witnesses.

He'd contacted Gordon for the police report for the crash and agreed to meet by the signal light. Gordon held up the slim file. "Not sure why this couldn't wait. It was just a hit and run out in the Boondocks."

It couldn't wait, because every minute counted.

The first 48 hours of a missing person case were crucial. It was an adage that Bruce had been aware of for years, even before he'd started investigating his own cases. But there was a world of difference between knowing an abstract fact...and living through the torment of having a loved one vanish.

Beth had been missing for 9 of those 48 hours.

540 minutes.

32 400 seconds.

And counting...

So much could happen in that time. The thought made Bruce frantic. He wanted to snatch the file from Gordon's hand and start running.

But he didn't know where to go.

He felt powerless.

Terrified.

The same emotions he'd experienced all those years ago watching his parents collapse to the ground after the gunshots...

Gordon's hand came down on his shoulder, and Bruce flinched at the contact. "Sorry, man. You kinda spaced out there. Is everything okay?"

He debated asking the other man for help, but his gut told him not to. Gordon was still suspicious that Beth was involved with Newsome, and Bruce worried that that would bias his view on her disappearance and affect the search.

Bruce had the resources to devote himself to finding her.

And he would find her.

He had to believe that.

———

"You need to sleep, Bruce. Just for an hour or two."

Bruce ignored Alfred's words and kept scrolling through the records on the screen in front of him. The police examination of the limo had found white paint at the site of impact. Judging from the height of the paint marks and the width of the tyre marks left on the road, Bruce deduced that the car involved was likely an SUV of some kind.