Chapter 27: Carla

Jack was unexpectedly paired with Hannah as her partner, which left the entire precinct stunned. Everyone was aware of Hannah's quirks and couldn't understand why Jack was the exception. Some even maliciously spread rumors that Jack might be gay.

Jack didn't care about these rumors; he was more troubled by Zoey avoiding him. Since that night at the hospital, Zoey had treated him like air in public and came up with various excuses to avoid private contact, as if she had wronged him in some way.

With no other options, Jack finally called Maureen one day and arranged to meet her the next evening.

"So, you're ditching me for dinner and training tomorrow night to see your glamorous psychologist?" Hannah, driving the patrol car, sounded like a jealous wife.

"Didn't Zoey say she found the cause of your post-shooting trauma? You just need to..."

Jack's gaze lingered on Hannah's profile. "So, Zoey didn't keep anything from you, did she? She told you everything."

Realizing she had slipped up, Hannah stuttered, blushing from her ears to her neck. "I don't know anything. Go ask your psychologist; she's the mastermind."

"Mastermind? You three are plotting behind my back? Hannah, watch out!" Jack's peripheral vision caught a figure suddenly appearing in front of the patrol car. He quickly shouted a warning.

Hannah snapped back to attention and slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. Despite the patrol car not moving very fast, there was a dull thud as they hit someone. They hurried out to find a blonde girl in an oversized men's T-shirt lying unconscious on the ground.

Hannah checked the girl's head injury while Jack noticed something was off. The girl wore a half-open handcuff on her left wrist, and under the oversized T-shirt, she had only a pair of panties. Most tellingly, she was barefoot, with her feet cut by small stones, indicating she had been running desperately.

Signaling Hannah to take note of these details, Jack picked up the radio. "Car 7-A-26 reporting a possible vehicle collision. Please dispatch an ambulance."

While waiting for the ambulance, the girl regained consciousness and clutched Hannah's arm, sobbing, "Save Emma, please save Emma. She can't hold on much longer."

Hannah tried to calm her down. "We're police officers. You're safe now. Tell us what happened. Who is Emma?"

"I was kidnapped. Emma is the girl who was with me. Please, you have to save her. He'll kill her when he finds out I escaped." The girl's fear was palpable, and Jack's frown deepened.

"What's your name? Do you remember where you escaped from?"

"My name is Carla Robinson. I don't recognize this neighborhood. I ran for about half an hour. No one would help me, so I kept running. That man has guns, many guns. I didn't dare fight back. Whenever I disobeyed, he would hit Emma. Please, help her. He'll kill her if he finds out I escaped."

After placing Carla in the arriving ambulance, Jack and Hannah followed in their patrol car to the central hospital. There, they met John's old classmate, Dr. Garris, the new head of the emergency department.

"The patient has a minor concussion from the head injury and some scrapes on her hands and feet. Other than being emotionally unstable, she's fine," Dr. Garris informed them after a brief greeting.

"So, we can take a statement from her? It won't take long. We suspect she was kidnapped. Have you done a sexual assault exam?" Hannah asked urgently.

Dr. Garris shook her head. "The exam requires consent from her guardian. We've notified her family, who are on their way. You can speak to her briefly before they arrive."

Entering the hospital room, Jack saw Carla lying on the bed, her forehead bandaged. She had thick blonde hair, big blue eyes, a cute nose, and delicate lips, revealing a white, neat set of teeth—clearly a girl from a well-to-do white family.

Given her ordeal, Jack let Hannah take the lead in questioning.

"Hello, Carla. I'm Officer Hannah, and this is my partner Jack," Hannah said gently, holding the girl's hand and speaking softly.

Carla was much calmer than before. Though still showing signs of panic, her speech was now clear and coherent. "The man who kidnapped me is a strong, middle-aged white guy. About two weeks ago, he held me at gunpoint in front of my friend's house and forced me into a large plastic box in the back of his car."

As Carla spoke rapidly, Jack jotted down notes in his notebook.

"He took me to his basement, where there was another kidnapped girl, an African American named Emma."

"He told us that if either of us tried to escape, he would kill us both."

"He always carried a gun, and neither of us dared to resist. During the day, he made me clean and do laundry."

At this point, Carla began to cry, and Hannah held her close, gently stroking her back to comfort her.

"So, how did you manage to escape?"

Knowing they didn't have much time before Carla's family arrived and interrupted their questioning, Jack pressed for more information.

"I didn't dare resist and tried to comply with everything he asked. Emma said there was another girl before me who went through what Emma is going through now. That girl disappeared before he brought me in."

"Emma told me to find a way to escape, or I would face the same fate soon."

"So, I pretended to obey him for days. Last night, after he went to bed..."

"He usually sleeps until noon. Early in the morning, I quietly unscrewed the bed frame bolts to avoid making any noise and escaped barefoot."

This case is inspired by "The Girl Who Escaped," which seems to be based on a true story.

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