No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

“From your house?” Darby rephrased: “Wait, okay, Jay,
where do you live?”
“1145 Fairbridge Way.”
“Where is that?”
“By Costco.”
“No. What’s the name of the city you live in?”
“San Diego.”
This made Darby shudder. She’d never driven to the West
Coast before. Lars must have been on the highways for days,
with this girl penned up in the back. That explained the fast
food trash. She glimpsed more of the van’s interior as her
pupils adjusted to the darkness — blankets and rugs heaped to
cover the cage. Plywood shelving on the walls, all empty.
Coca Cola bottles, the glass kind, jangling on the metal floor.
Loose sawdust. Nails. A red gas can with a black spout.
Children’s clothing bundled up in white K-Mart bags, although
Darby doubted Lars had changed Jay once since he’d abducted
her from her hometown. All the way in southern California.
“Right by the Costco,” Jay clarified.
Darby noticed a circular logo on the girl’s shirt, and
recognized it — the ball-shaped device from the Pokémon
games. A Pokeball, she remembered, from the iPhone app that
had briefly taken CU-Boulder’s campus by storm. “What’s
your last name?”
“Nissen.”
“Is …” Darby rattled the circular padlock securing the
kennel door. “Is Jay short for something?”
“Jaybird.”
“No. A longer name. Like … Jessica?”
“Just Jay,” the girl said.
Jay Nissen. Age seven. Reported missing in San Diego.