The doctor met them at Kennedy Sledge’s room. Another young woman, who looked so much like Kennedy that she had to be her sister, sat beside the bed, stroking Kennedy’s hand.
“How is she?” Derrick asked.
“Physically she’s going to be fine,” replied the doctor. “But she’s suffered severe emotional trauma.”
“Did she tell you what happened?”
The doctor shook her head. “Just that she was abducted, and she asked me to call the police.” Derrick started forward, but the doctor touched his arm. “Be gentle, Agent Fox. Try not to upset her or push her. Let her talk in her own time.”
Time was one thing they didn’t have.
“The sheriff will stay here with you.” He gestured to the guard they’d stationed at her door. There was no way he was taking him in if there was a chance that he was the abductor. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Bryce gave him a venomous look but leaned against the doorjamb as Derrick entered the room. At the sound of his footsteps, Kennedy opened her eyes, turning her head toward him.
Not wanting to frighten her, he approached slowly, stopping a few inches from her bedside and showing her his credentials.
“My name is Agent Derrick Fox. You’re Kennedy Sledge, right?”
Light brown hair framed her oval face, and her pale, bruised features grew pinched. Then she gave a little nod.
The woman beside her looked up at him with imploring eyes then introduced herself as Lara, Kennedy’s sister. “She’s been through a lot, Agent Fox.”
“I know, and I truly am sorry. But the man who hurt her may be holding at least one other woman now.”
“It’s okay,” Kennedy told her sister gently. “I need to do this. Why don’t you go get some coffee?”
“Are you sure?” her sister asked, looking skeptical.
“Yes.” Kennedy squeezed her sister’s hand. “I’ll be fine.”
Lara fidgeted with her purse and stood, but Derrick read the silent warning in her eyes. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said before disappearing out the door.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you,” Derrick said, again. “Do you feel like talking?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, then opened them and took a breath. “No, but I need to. I know you’re looking for the man who abducted me.”
Derrick nodded. “What can you tell me about him?”
“He… was sick. He took other women and killed one each day,” she said in a raw whisper. “He kept repeating this rhyme about Monday’s child…”
“We believe that after he took you, he hacked into your files and your group therapy forum, and then used another woman to pose as you. She took on new clients.”
Kennedy gasped. “And since I’m a solo practice, no one realized someone took over my office.”
“That’s how he chose his victims,” Derrick finished, hating the pain on her face. “He even changed the photograph of you and set up a fake profile for the impostor.”
Everything looked professional enough to fool even Ellie.
Her eyes widened in horror. “I can’t believe a woman helped him. Although…”
“Although what?”
“I knew there were other women there. I never saw them, but I heard them crying.”
“Do you recall when he first abducted you? What day it was?”
“What day is it today?”
Derrick glanced at his watch. Twelve thirty a.m. “Technically Sunday.”
She rubbed her hand over her eyes, and Derrick took in her jagged nails and bruised skin.
“It was almost two weeks ago. As I was leaving my office, he attacked me at my car.”
“Did you see this woman there?” Derrick asked, showing her a photograph of the deputy. “Her name is Deputy Shondra Eastwood.”
“I didn’t know Shondra. But I heard him with her. She refused to beg and kept telling him she was a cop. He… punished her over and over again.” A sob escaped her. “I wanted to help them, but… I couldn’t… he kept me chained in a cage.”
“Do you know who he is? Did you see his face?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “He wore a ski mask all the time. And it was dark, so dark. I think we were held in a basement somewhere. There was no light, but there were steps. I… heard them creaking every time he came down.”
“How about his voice? Do you think you’d recognize it if you heard him speak?” Derrick asked, glancing back at Bryce, who was hovering in the doorway.
Biting down on her lower lip, she gave a quick nod.
“Do you have any idea of the location where you were held?”