Marilyn Read Online Free PDF Page A

know where you are?
    Marilyn didn't respond.
    'You're at the Bailey Motel, out here, just off Highway 5. Can you tell me what happened, Marilyn? Are you hurt?'
    She looked up and across at him. She could feel him examining her from the other side of the room
    'No, I'm not hurt.'
        'That's good, Marilyn, you're doing great. Now, you said about your son. What happened to your son? Is anyone else hurt?'
    'Jack,' she gasped, her head dropping.
    The glass hurtled toward the carpet, her fingers still mimicking the duty of holding it. It collided with the floor in a soundless thud and rolled in a semi- circle. Colour rushed to her face, and tears attacked her cheeks in a frenzied barrage.
    'Someone has taken Jack, I woke up in my car, he was gone, he's gone, Jack's gone. I don't know what's happened to him. I… I.'
    ‘Hey, hey, calm down, it's OK.' Elwood got to his feet and knelt down beside her. 'We'll find him, OK. We'll find him.' He wrapped a comforting arm around her, she was freezing to the touch and her whole body was shaking.
    'It's OK, take your time, try your best. Explain to me what happened. Where's Jack? What happened to your son, Marilyn?'
    Elwood shimmied around to face Marilyn, he held her hands in his and encouraged her.
    'I… I. I'm not sure. I woke up in my car on the side of the road. I pulled over because I was feeling tired, I was only going to sleep for an hour. I don't know what happened,' she spluttered. 'I shouldn't have pulled over. I should have kept on driving. It's all my fault.'
    She pulled her hands away from Elwood and buried her head in her palms between her quavering fingers.
    'It's all my fault.'
    'You can't blame yourself, Marilyn. It's not your fault. Marilyn, hey, come on. Look at me, everything's going to be OK. We'll find Jack, together. I'll be with you every step of the way.'
    Marilyn lifted her head.
    'Thank you, thank you so much,' she said with a faint beginnings of a smile.
    Elwood dipped his fingers into his robe pocket, drew out a clean but crumpled handkerchief and used it to dry her tears.
    'Now, Marilyn. I'm going to need to know exactly what happened. What's the last thing that you can remember?’ he pressed, gingerly.
    'We stopped for food at the diner a few hours back, Jack was starving and wouldn't let up. He kept nagging me to find somewhere.'
    Marilyn laughed, it was a painful, genuine laugh.
    'That's good, Marilyn. What happened then?'
    'We ate our food, talked for a little while and then I said we better hit the road. We drove for a bit. I started to feel really tired, it came from nowhere. Jack went to sleep pretty quickly, so I put the radio on to try and keep myself awake. I remember almost falling asleep at the wheel, you know, like when you jump and wake yourself back up, but can't tell if you've actually been sleeping. I thought it would be a good idea to pull over and have a quick hour. I didn't see any harm in it with the weather being so bad and Jack was already asleep, I thought it was a sensible idea. I… I...'
    'You're doing fantastic, Marilyn,' he said, reassuringly. 'You really are. Now. Was anything else missing, or anything out of place when you woke up, purse, money, anything strange at all?'
    'My phone. My phone was gone. I kept it in my bag on the back seat.’
    'Your phone? Nothing else?'
    'No, not that I know of.' She questioned, 'Why?'
    'Just trying to understand what has happened. I know these questions may seem a bit silly, but anything and everything is important. Can you remember anything suspicious? Anyone that you didn't like the look of? Anything at all, Marilyn?'
         'No. Nothing. I... I can't think. I'm sorry.'
    'There's no need to apologise. You're doing brilliantly. How old is Jack?'
    'He's eight,' she answered, proudly.
    Elwood cleared his throat as non-threateningly as he could.
    'I'm sorry to ask you this, but, did you have an argument, do you think Jack could have…..' he trailed off. 'Run away?
    'What? NO, of course