The call from Detective Taggert came at 1:00 a.m. Luke and Lucky had decided to stay together in Luke's small apartment above Luke's Club. Luke was pretending to sleep and Lucky was sitting in the dark on the couch when the phone rang. He answered on the first ring. "Detective Taggert?"
"Yea, it's me. Lucky we need you to get over to the police station right away."
Lucky's heart stopped, afraid to ask the question for which he needed to know the answer. "Did you find her?"
"No, something else."
"I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and turned to Luke, who had appeared in the doorway. He started to speak, but Luke waved him toward the door and said, "I'm right behind you, son."
Lucky didn't like the look on Taggert's face when he greeted them at the police station. He looked grim, and more tired than Lucky had ever seen him look. He was putting his all into this case and he could see it was taking its toll. "Luke, Lucky, why don't you come in the other room with me."
He led them to one of the interrogation rooms and motioned for them to sit down. They both declined. Lucky said, "Just tell me."
"First; all of the blood in the room was Elizabeth's. We were able to get a match from hospital records. And the only fingerprints we found were hers, Mrs. Hardy's, yours and Emily Quartermaine's. No unusual prints."
Luke spoke, disheartened that no other prints were found. "Shit, so we don't know for sure that it's this Baker creep."
"Dad, it is him. I know it. I can feel it."
Taggert spoke. "We're pretty certain it's him, Lucky. His whereabouts are unknown."
"What else?"
"We found this." He held up a plastic bag with a piece of clothing inside. "Do you recognize it?"
Lucky recognized it immediately. It was one of Elizabeth's sweaters, and he could see that it was covered with a great deal of blood.
He nodded and felt his own blood run cold at the sight of it. When he spoke he could only manage a weak whisper as Luke placed his hand on his shoulder. "It's Elizabeth's."
Luke spoke then. "Where did you find it, Taggert?"
"Along the interstate leading out of town. We don't have the lab results back yet on the blood."
Lucky looked at Luke, searching again for answers he knew he didn't have, the answers he knew no one had except the sick bastard who had taken Elizabeth from the safety of her room. "I can't bear the thought of her with him, Dad. I have to do something. I can't just sit back and do nothing."
"I know, Lucky. I feel the same way." Lucky turned away from them then and walked toward the window, looking out..
Luke looked at Taggert. "You know, you and I haven't always been on the best of terms, but I want you to know I appreciate everything you're doing to try and find Elizabeth. And we need to know what we can do to help."
Taggert gave him a faint, sad smile. "Let's just say I've got a soft spot for Miss Webber." He placed a hand on Luke's shoulder briefly. "I don't intend to rest until we find her."
Lucky had been deep in thought, his eyes unfocused and glazed. Finally he spoke again. "Where could he have been taking her, if he was heading out of town?"
"Someplace out of state probably, maybe even out of the country. We searched the entire area where this was found."
"Were you looking for her there?"
Taggert nodded.
Lucky ran his hand through his hair, feeling the tears stinging his eyes. "She's not dead, Detective Taggert. I know she isn't. I would be able to feel it if she were."
"Let's hope you're right, Lucky. Why don't you two go home and try to get some sleep and I'll let you know tomorrow what you can do to help." Lucky shook his head. "I can't sleep and I know my Dad can't either. Please just tell me what we can do."
Taggert sighed. "Okay. Stay here for a few minutes and I'll be right back." They nodded as he left the room.
Luke turned to Lucky. "You doing okay, son?"
Lucky nodded, but his eyes betrayed him. Forty-eight had passed since Elizabeth had been taken, and with each passing hour, Lucky grew more frightened for her and less hopeful that she would be found any time soon. He still blamed himself for letting so much time go by between the time she was taken and the time he discovered she was missing. How he wished he could relive the night before it happened. If he had stayed with Elizabeth while her grandmother was out of town, he would have been able to protect her. He would never forgive himself for leaving her alone.
Taggert returned a few minutes later. "I have an idea, if you think you're up for it."
"Anything, man. Anything at all. Nothing I do can compare to what Elizabeth is going through right now."
"Okay. Why don't you and Luke come over to Elizabeth's house with me? I want to search her room again, see if there's anything we might have missed. Lucky, you might be able to tell if anything else is missing. It would be a big help to us." Lucky looked to Luke and they both nodded in agreement.
"I understand Mrs. Hardy is staying with your sister?"
Luke nodded and spoke. "Let's get going, then. We'll meet you over there."
A few moments later, Lucky was entering Elizabeth's bedroom, and all the emotions he felt that first night came rushing back to him and he felt as if he had been kicked in the gut. He had to put his hand on the door frame to steady himself.
Taggert noticed him falter. "Lucky, if you'd rather not do this, its okay.
He shook his head, "No, I'm okay. It's just that being here brings it all back. I'll be okay. She needs me to help her.I can feel her willing me to find her and save her.Don't you understand Detective Taggert? I love her more than my life. I have to do whatever it takes to find her."