Taken by Tuesday

“I’m also responsible for security at her current residence and head a security team that shadows her brother when he’s in town.”

Both police officers sent questioning looks to each other.

“My brother is Michael Wolfe.”

“The actor?”

Judy nodded. “He’s out of the country right now.”

Greenwood wrote something down on the pad of paper she removed from a pocket. “We’ll have to step up security at the crime scene.”

“I already have a team en route,” Rick told them.

“Private security doesn’t hold jurisdiction.”

Rick waved Spear off. “Let’s not worry about that now. I’m sure Judy wants to get this over with.”

Greenwood pulled up a chair and removed a recording device from her pocket. Rick fiddled with his cell phone and set it on the table. “Mr. Evans?”

Instead of addressing the police officer, Rick looked directly at Judy. “Do you mind if I record this?”

“Of course not.”

Rick tilted his head toward Officer Greenwood.

“Fine. Start at the beginning, Judy. Anything, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can be the detail that helps us get this person.”

Her palms started to sweat and it took her nearly a minute to begin.

“I stayed at the office late.” She explained her position at Benson & Miller Designs and how she’d gotten caught up talking with Ms. Miller about a project. “I was so excited about the opportunity to work on something of importance I lost track of time. When I looked it was after six.”

“Do you remember the exact time?”

“Six fifteen, six twenty. Rick and I had a seven o’clock date.” She offered him a half smile and was relieved to see a small lift of his lips . . . something she hadn’t seen since he walked in the room. “I was going to have to rush and even speeding I would have been late.”

“So you were walking to your car at six twenty?”

“No. I gathered my things and realized I didn’t have my purse so I ran back to the office. It was closer to six thirty. The garage was nearly empty.” She closed her eyes and saw the cavernous structure in her mind. “I took my cell phone out to check the time and I heard something behind me. I turned around and didn’t see anything. I was trying to keep calm, but felt someone watching me.” She shivered and Rick reached for her hand again.

Judy stared at the legs beneath the hospital-issue blanket and plowed through what she remembered.

“He grabbed me around my neck, used his full arm.” She lifted hers to demonstrate.

“A choke hold?”

“Yeah. I never saw his face. I was stunned, didn’t even respond at first. When I screamed he covered my mouth and pulled me toward the wall.” She winced and heard the crack all over again when she told them about slamming into the wall and having her face covered.

“I remember falling on my purse. He fell on top of me.” Judy blinked a few times, tried to remove the feeling of his hands on her. “I fought him, but he was so much stronger and he kept slamming my head. The next thing I knew, someone was calling out to me and I heard the sounds of sirens.”

Rick clasped his fingers with hers. She held them like a lifeline. If he’d been there, none of this would have happened.

“Did he say anything?” Officer Spear asked.

“Uhm, yeah. He called me a bitch. Said something about how easy it would be . . .”

“How easy it would be to do what?”

“I don’t know. I was confused by his words.”

“Was he a big man?” Greenwood asked.

Judy closed her eyes, let herself remember. “Taller than me. His fingers were thick.”

“Thick?”

“Meaty. Almost soft.”

“Fat?” Spear asked.

“I guess. I only felt them when he covered my mouth.”

“Any accent?”

“No . . . wait, no. I don’t think so.”

“You didn’t see the color of his skin?”

Judy was disgusted with her lack of knowledge on the man who attacked her. “He covered my head with something. I only saw shadows through the cloth.”

“According to the witness who found you, your head was covered in a pillowcase.”

Judy nodded. “That would make sense. It was big enough to slip over my head easily.”

“Can you think of anything else?”

Judy swallowed.

“Judy, you were found unconscious after seven. Whoever did this was long gone. By your account you were in the garage at six thirty.”

“Yes.”

“How much time passed during this attack?”

“I don’t know. A few minutes, maybe less before he knocked me out.”

“So you were unconscious in the garage for twenty minutes, more or less?”

Plenty of time for the man to kill her if he wanted to.

“I guess.”

Greenwood raised her eyebrow to her partner.

“One more thing, Miss Gardner,” Spear said when his partner stood.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any idea who would do this to you? An enemy? An old boyfriend?”

The question shouldn’t have shocked her, but it did. “I’ve only been in town for a month. All I’ve done is work. I don’t have any enemies.”

“Everyone has enemies,” Spear countered.

Judy squeezed Rick’s hand. “I can’t imagine anyone we know doing this.”

Officer Greenwood removed a card and handed it to Judy. “If you remember anything, call me.”

“I will.”

Rick lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “I have a question,” he said, stopping the police from leaving the room.

Why his words felt so much softer, less threatening than the police, Judy couldn’t say. “Yeah?”

“Do you know where your purse is?”

“I-I don’t know. I managed to hold on to my phone during the attack. I’m not sure why. Did the paramedics bring it with me?”

Rick looked around the room. A bag with her ruined clothing sat in a heap inside a patient belonging bag. He stood and brought it over to her.

She looked inside, noticed the blood-soaked clothing. Her purse wasn’t among her possessions.

Judy looked at the officers. “Do you know if they found my purse in the garage?”

“A tube with blueprints was found a few feet away, but no one has said anything about your purse.”