The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 334

"What about your friend?"

Nathan asked smoothly.

Laura let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. "We never even met up that day."

"I had just gotten off the subway and was on my way to our meeting spot when she called me. She said her boss had dumped last-minute overtime on her and she had to cancel. I was annoyed, obviously, but what could I do? I told her I'd just walk around for a bit and head home."

"She probably assumed I went straight back to my apartment."

"Did she try texting you after that?"

Laura shook her head. "I don't know. I dropped my phone during the struggle."

"But knowing her, if she texted and I didn't reply, she'd just assume I was giving her the silent treatment for flaking on me. She'd never in a million years guess I'd been kidnapped."

"Why did they take you?"

"Was it for ransom, or did they have another motive?"

Laura's pupils dilated in panic. Her composure crumbled, and her voice wavered with a frantic tremble.

"I don't know... I didn't even know who she was at first. I had never seen her before in my life. It wasn't until later, when I heard her screaming at someone on the phone. The person on the other end sounded furious, yelling at her, 'Evelyn, haven't you had enough?!' That's how I found out her name."

"What exactly did she do to you during those three days?"

Laura's injuries looked exclusively like the result of physical beatings. Did Evelyn just snatch a random woman off the street to use as a human punching bag?

Did she have severe, violent sociopathic tendencies?

"At first, nothing."

Laura clearly dreaded reliving the nightmare, but she forced herself to speak, knowing every detail could be the key to helping the police.

"She overpowered me, shoved me into the trunk, and slammed it shut. I was terrified. I kept waiting for a chance to bolt."

Laura looked completely bewildered. "I have no idea... I just kept kicking and clawing at everything... then suddenly the back gave way, and I fell out."

"I was terrified she was still lurking nearby, so I didn't dare make a sound. It wasn't until these two officers found me that I finally risked asking for help."

The female officer looked to Nathan. "Mr. Peyton, what's your read on this?"

"We can't draw any hard conclusions yet," Nathan replied. "Get her official statement on record. Once we consolidate and verify all the security footage, we'll see if we can extract any actionable leads."

The officer nodded in agreement.

As the room bustled with procedural activity, Laura watched them with hollow, lost eyes. After a heavy silence, she finally asked, "Aren't you... aren't you going to arrest her?"

She had literally handed them the kidnapper's name on a silver platter. Wasn't that the ultimate lead?

Nora stared at Laura, her voice laced with absolute gravity. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Morgan, but if our preliminary assessment is correct, the Evelyn Tate you're talking about is likely already dead."