“Nancy?” Frank asked softly. “Can you hear me? Nancy, open your eyes.”

Nancy’s eyelids began to flutter.

He said, “Nancy, open your eyes.”

Nancy’s eyes slowly opened. He eyes were opened just a little bit. Frank smiled as Nancy moistened her lips.

“Frank,” Nancy said softly.

“I’m so glad I found you,” Frank said as Nancy’s eyes started to close. “Nancy, stay with me.”

“I’m tired,” Nancy mumbled.

“Tell me how you ended up here.”

“I’m not sure,” Nancy said drowsily.

“What do you remember?”

“I was running errands. I was to meet Ned for dinner.”

“Anything else?”

Nancy was quiet. Frank called her name a few times, but there was no response. He pulled the blanket off her. Nancy’s right arm was in a splint. There were cuts on her left arm. He saw her clothes were filthy and wrinkled from being wet.

Frank covered Nancy back up. He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. He realized someone had been caring for her. He figured someone had brought him to Nancy. He glanced around the room. He tried to figure out who it was, but there was nothing in the room to identify the person.

He looked at Nancy’s face. He knew he needed to get her out of there. He needed to figure out a way and soon.

* * * * *

Joe and the others continued searching throughout the day. They had come up with nothing. Everyone was getting disappointed. Joe was getting worried. There was no sign of Frank.

The sun was beginning to set and they were making their way back along the river toward the cars. As they walked, Ned said, “This was a waste of time.”

Joe ignored Ned as he stopped. He saw a set of footprints. He looked at the footprints. The prints made their way into the woods.

“I found something,” Joe said.

“What is it?” Callie asked turning with the others to look at Joe.

“Footprints,” Joe said looking at the others. “There are also marks here that show something had been dragged from the river.”

“Let’s follow the prints,” Ned said after looking at the prints.

“Let’s go,” Joe said.

Joe led the way into the woods keeping a close eye on the prints. They continued on and only stopped when they lost the prints deep in the woods.

“I can’t believe the prints are gone,” Joe said.

“It’s okay,” Ned said.

“Really?” Joe asked.

Ned looked at Joe. “Really. This is a lead. We need to let the police know. They’ll be able to help us search.”

“You’re right. There’s a lot of ground to cover,” Joe said. He looked around the woods, then back at Ned. “We better get going.”