Tropical Threat (#3 - Semper Fi Series )

Chapter 11 - Taken

"Why are y'all gawking at me like I just confessed to murder?" Leroy asked, perplexed and a little unsettled at his friends mutual reaction. "I haven't ever met a woman named Natasha. Is she hot? Is she from some foreign country with an out-of-this-world sexy accent? Y'all act like I've committed a sin."

The trio continued to look at him with disbelief. Amanda whispered something to Paul, but neither Max nor Leroy heard it. The doctor looked at them. "We'll do another CT scan. Though not an everyday occurence, some people do suffer temporary memory loss when they've had a traumatic head inury. It should clear in a few days, but we'll need to keep him until his full memory is regained. Do you have pictures of her? Maybe seeing those will help his progress. Remind him of who she is, how they met, and other significant events. Where is she? Maybe seeing her and having a conversation with her will jolt his lack of recall."

Amanda turned into Paul's shoulder and started bawling. Paul explained the circumstances to Dr. George, who quickly apologized.

Amanda's phone vibrated. "It's a text from Tash."

Max all but jumped over to her side, and Paul looked on.

It simply read: JM

"What does that mean?" She mused aloud.

Max had a thought. "Let the Sheriff see that. It may be a clue. Texting her, however, may alert whoever has taken her that she has a phone. We'll have to wait for more from her. We know she's alive, at least."

Leroy just looked back and forth at them like he was watching a tennis match. "Okay, so unknown hottie has been kidnapped by or is with this unknown person. When did she disappear?"

"You're pretty good at this for someone with a memory loss." Paul teased, keeping the palpable tension at bay momentarily.

"Some things stick with ya, I guess."

Max added: "You were in a serious accident about four hours ago. Your wife," he held up a hand to Leroy's would-be protests about being married, "was with you and you were hit from behind. The last hit was enough to put the car into a tailspin, followed by the car flipping over and then rolling down a hill. The fact that you're both alive is in itself miraculous. Afterwards, she was not in the vehicle with you when you were rescued from the scene."

"Well, if what you're saying is true, and I believe the car accident part, then how do we find her?"

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"Annalee Phillips calling for Detective Graves," the front desk officer's voice announced into Billings' intercom.

"Thanks."

"Detective Billings. What can I do for you, Mrs. Phillips?" He did not want to explain the situation to anyone outside of department.

"Thaynks fer takin my cawl. Deetecteeve Graves was spost to come talk to me tuhday, but her friends said she's missin. I have infermashun fer her that maght hayelp with her case."

"I'd be happy to come talk to you, or write the information down over the phone. We're doing everything we can to find her."

"Ah'm shore yew awere. Ah'm not cumfterble tawkin over thephone about thiyus. Can yew make it tuhday? It's rilly importint infermashun."

"I can be there in fifteen minutes, Mrs. Phillips. Thank you for calling me." He took down the address, briefly explained to Ross where he was going, and almost literally ran out to his car.

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A punch to the left side of her face startled her awake. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck instead of just being in the car that was. "What?" Taking a deep breath, she smelled salt water, near a beach or a marsh. Georgia was full of those. She took in her surroundings. It looked like an old shack, but better equipped. To one side in the corner was a kitchen area with a stove and a sink. In another corner was a door, to a bathroom she assumed. A couch and an ancient looking television were in the center of the room, as well as a table with two chairs. She couldn't be sure, but there may have been a bed or a bedroom behind her somewhere. There was only one door near the kitchen.