'Mark,' Sara began, trying to keep her voice calm. 'Stop this. She's not here.'
'The hell she's not,' he countered, taking a step toward her. 'Where is that little cunt?' He slammed his hand against the door again, punching an impression into the wood. Nelly screamed and ducked behind the counter.
'Where is she?' he demanded.
Sara purposefully made what she hoped was a nervous glance toward her office. Mark picked up on it immediately.
'Aha,' he said. 'She in there?'
'No,' Sara told him.
He smiled, stepping closer to her. Sara could see that his pupils were as small as pinpricks, and guessed that whatever he was on was not about to dissipate any time soon. Up close, he seemed to be giving off an odor. Sara was not certain, but the smell reminded her of chemicals.
She asked, 'What are you on, Mark?'
'I'm about to be on my fucking sister if she doesn't keep her fucking mouth shut.'
'She's not here,' Sara told him.
'Lace?' Mark said, craning his head around the office door. 'You better get the fuck out here right now.'
Sara caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She knew from the neon-yellow blur that it was Lacey, trying to make her way out the back door. A cold sweat chilled Sara as she calculated how long it would take for Lacey to make it to the exit. She stared at Mark, willing Lacey to hurry, but the girl was not moving. She was standing stock still as if someone had pinned her to the wall.
'She in there?' Mark asked.
'No,' Sara said, looking over his shoulder. 'She's behind you.'
Lacey's hand went to her mouth as if to stop herself from screaming.
'Right,' Mark said, giving Sara a scathing look.
'I want you out of here right now, Mark. You're trespassing.'
He ignored her, walking into the office. Sara followed him at a distance, trying to be casual about the fact that she was trapping him in the room. She prayed that Maria had gotten hold of someone, even if it was Brad Stephens.
'Lacey?' Mark said, his voice softer, but in a more menacing way than before. He walked around the desk. 'It's only gonna be worse if you don't come out now.'
Sara crossed her arms. 'What's purity, Mark?'
Mark looked under the desk, cursing when he found it empty. He kicked it, moving the steel desk across the floor a couple of inches.
'Did you make Jenny feel dirty? Is that why she wanted to make herself pure?'
'Get out of my way,' he ordered, walking toward Sara.
She put her hand on the door, blocking his exit.
'Get out of the way.'
'What's purity?'
He looked like he might answer, but Sara realized too late he was just trying to throw her off guard. The next thing she knew, she was being pushed back, and hard. She fell into the hall, whacking her head on the floor.
'Sara!' Molly said, running around to help her.
'I'm okay,' Sara managed, trying to sit up. She looked down the hallway and saw that Lacey was still there about the same time that Mark did.
'Run!' Sara told her. Lacey hesitated, but finally seemed to understand she needed to get out of here. She ran to the door and slammed it open.
'Bitch,' Mark yelled, taking after her.
Without thinking, Sara reached out and grabbed at Mark's foot. He tried to yank it away, but she caught the leg of his pants in her fist.
'Stop it,' Sara said, trying to hold on.
He reached down, hitting at her hand with his fist. When this did not work, he punched at her face. Sara saw the glint of the red stone in his ring before the first blow caught her on the forehead, and she was so surprised that she let go.
'Oh, my God,' Molly breathed, putting her hand to her mouth.
'Crap,' Sara hissed, touching her forehead. Mark's ring had caught her right at the temple. She looked at the blood on her fingers, but then thought of Lacey and made herself stand.
Molly began, 'Maybe you should-'
Sara took off after Mark and Lacey, shouting, 'Where the hell is Jeffrey?' over her shoulder.
Sara stopped outside the back door, trying to get her bearings. The sun was beating down, and Sara shielded her eyes as she tried to spot Lacey in the trees behind the building.
'Did they go around front?' Molly asked, jogging toward the side of the clinic. Sara followed her, bumping into the nurse as she turned the corner.
Molly was pointing to the road. 'There she is.'
They both took off at the same time, but Sara's stride was longer, and she soon left Molly behind. The road in front of the clinic was hardly a busy thoroughfare, but at lunchtime the professors and students left campus to come into town. Sara watched as Lacey ran into the street, Mark right behind her, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Somehow, they both made it across the road. Lacey ran toward the lake, but Sara watched as another figure, a blur, really, came from the side and tackled Mark to the ground. By the time Sara and Molly crossed the street, Lena Adams was straddling Mark's back like a rodeo rider as she jerked his arms behind him and cuffed his wrists.
'Oh, shit,' Lena said, looking up the street.
Lacey was too far away for Sara to recognize her by any other means than the bright yellow raincoat. Sara stood helpless, watching as an old black car stopped beside the girl. The passenger-side door swung open and an arm reached out, grabbing Lacey around the waist and pulling her inside the car.
Sara touched the bandage on her forehead as she got out of the car. Molly had sewn in two sutures, then canceled the rest of Sara's appointments so that she could have some downtime in order to recover from the ordeal at the clinic. Sara's head hurt, and she was hot and irritable. She might as well have stayed at the clinic and seen patients, but Molly had not really given her a choice. Maybe the nurse was right. Every time Sara thought about what had happened at the clinic, she felt as if a band were being tightened around her chest. Knowing another one of her kids was in jeopardy and that there was absolutely nothing she could do made Sara want to put her head on her mother's shoulder and cry.
'Mama?' Sara called, kicking off her shoes as she closed the front door behind her. There was no answer, and Sara walked back to the kitchen, asking, 'Mama?' again.
There was still no answer, and Sara felt her heart sink. She filled a glass with water and finished it all in several gulps, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Sara flopped onto the kitchen stool and picked up the phone, dialing Jeffrey's number. Lena had taken Mark off to the station before Sara had thought to ask her where he was.
'Tolliver,' he answered, and she could tell from the hollow echo of his voice that he was in his car.
'Where are you?' she asked.
