“Why do you ask?”
“She seems so…tired. She seems shaken.”
“Your mom has PTSD from one of our missions. The fire set it off. But she’s fine now. I have a friend who owns an MMA gym. I think I’ve introduced you to him. Max?”
“I remember Max.”
“I asked him for a favor.”
“You don’t ask for favors.”
“For your Mom, I would do anything. I asked to borrow his gym to work some hand to hand combat with her. Your mom thrives on fighting. Death? That’s another story. He and a couple of other fighters joined in and took turns against her. We went over an hour trading off. Your mom never stopped. But when she collapsed exhausted she had the biggest grin on her face and a light glowing in her eyes.”
Ame stared at him stunned. “Mom? Hand to hand combat? You mean that lady who tucks me in and used to read me bedtime stories can kick a guy’s ass?”
“Amelia, language,” Sloan warned.
“Dad, I’m fourteen. Kids at school say far worse. I’ve heard you say far worse.”
“Point made.” He studied the parents walking to the school. “Where in bloody hell is your sister and brothers?”
“Inside, Dad. You have to go get them.”
“Oh. This pick up routine is new to me. I’ll be right back.” Sloan unfolded from his seat and strode to the school building. Despite being dressed in a pair of jeans and a tight fitting T-shirt, he left everyone he passed in awe. Moments later he emerged with Aubrey, Liam, Colin and Ethan. Ame couldn’t help but giggle as her little sister’s ebony curls bounced as she chattered away to Dad. She was a bundle of energy as she climbed into the Hummer. “Ame, looked who picked us up!”
Ame laughed. “I know, kiddo. He picked me up too.”
“Oh.” Aubrey snuggled into her car seat and continued to babble at Sloan. Her brothers fought to get a word in edgewise. Sloan flashed a grin at Ame as he attempted to answer all three children at once.
Abbey greeted them with a smile as they all stumbled through the door and the three younger siblings skipped to their bedrooms. Her grin grew bigger as Sloan set the flowers and chocolates on the counter for her. Ame hugged her mom. “Feeling better?”
“Much. How was school?”
“Everyone knows.”
“Show your mom the video,” Sloan interjected.
Ame pulled her phone from her jacket and, after finding the video, handed it to Abbey. The proud smile rivaled her dad’s. “Very good, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.” Ame tucked her phone back into her pocket. “I’m going to go start on my homework.”
“Would you like some cookies?” Abbey motioned toward the living room and the commotion of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and siblings. “There was a cookie baking bonanza going on here this afternoon.”
“Sure.”
Abbey gathered two cookies each from the piles of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and double chocolate and set them on a plate. She handed it to Ame. After placing a butterfly kiss on each of her parent’s cheeks she climbed the staircase toward her room.
Time slipped away quickly as Ame studied for her chemistry test. She had a crazy knack for the subject and loved it. If she aced this test tomorrow she had a great chance to end the year with an “A”. The only break she took was to have a supper of spaghetti, meatballs, and garlic knots with everyone. She giggled as she watched the men she knew as her uncles perch on armchairs in the living room while they shoveled the pasta into their mouths, just so their wives and children had a place to sit. This wasn’t the first time the whole family was over for dinner. There had been plenty of big meals. But the clan was surrounded by computers and boxes which made the space tighter. The inconvenience tightened the family’s bond to each other. The whole scene made her question. Would life ever go back to the way it was? Once she finished eating she tossed her plate into the sink of dishes her grandmother was already washing and scampered back to her room.
It was nearly nine o’clock when her cell rang. After writing a couple notes on her paper, Ame checked the screen. “Dakota,” she murmured. Her heart pounded in her chest as she silenced it. She couldn’t help the crush she had on him. But after seeing him with Chelsea she didn’t want to talk to him.
A few seconds later it rang again. With an irritated huff she silenced it again.
When it rang again she answered it. “What do you want, Dakota?”
There was a brief silence “To talk.”
“Right now I’m studying.”
“It’ll take just a second.”
“Okay. Talk.”
“I want to talk face to face. Let’s meet.”
“Dakota, I live in the country. It’ll take a half hour to get back to the school.”
“I know. That’s why I’m outside.”
Ame nearly dropped the phone. “My house is surrounded by a security gate.”
“I buzzed. Your mom let me in.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Ame looked up to see Abbey leaning against the doorframe. Her mother winked at her. “He beat me to it.”
“Ame, please come down and talk.”
She paused. “Okay. I’ll be right out.”
“Great. See you in a bit.”
Ame ended the call then slipped off the bed. Her mother placed a quick kiss on her cheek as she passed. She glanced at her family talking and laughing before she stepped outside.
Dakota stood in the front yard, the moonlight casting him in a soft glow. He scuffed the toe of his tennis shoe against the sidewalk and smiled when he saw her.
“How’d you get here?” Ame questioned.
Dakota thumbed over his shoulder toward an old truck. “I have a school permit.”
“You’re not at school.”
“I told my parents I needed help with my chemistry homework.”
She descended the cement steps and crossed the grass to him. “Is that why you’re here?”
“No. I mean, I could use the help. But no. I’m here to talk.”
“About what?”
“Us. Our friendship. I hate the fact you’re avoiding me.”
Ame spun on her toe and wandered away from the house toward the tree line that shielded their house from the road. “I’m not avoiding you.”
Dakota jogged to keep up. “When you pass by you don’t say hello.”
“You were busy talking to Chelsea. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I’d rather you would.”
“You seemed pretty happy talking to her.”
He frowned at her. “Are you jealous?”
“Of what?”
The question was never answered. The scene blurred as an arm wrapped tightly around her waist and a leather-gloved hand clamped over her mouth. In the commotion she noticed a man do the same to Dakota. Ame struggled to get free but her captor lifted her off her feet. He didn’t let go until she was dropped next to Dakota on the floor of a utility van.
The three men, the same three who nearly abducted her at her school, climbed into their seats, muttering to each other quietly. The only word Ame could make out was “butcher”. Was that what was going to happen to them? Were they going to be butchered?
The van rocked violently as Oliver drove down the drive toward the main highway. The vehicle stopped long enough to pry something from the front gate to allow it to close and lock. Ame wrapped her arms around her legs folded to her chest as she stared silently at Dakota. His gaze was locked on her. She shook in fear as she fought back tears. She got him into this mess and he probably didn’t even like her.
As the ride smoothed Dakota reached a hand to her. “Come here, Ame.”
Ame scrambled across the steel floor of the van into his arms. He hugged her tight to him as he buried his face into her ebony hair.
“I’m so sorry I got you into this,” she whimpered.
“It’s all right. It’s not your fault.”
“It is. If you hadn’t been with me, you wouldn’t
be here.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m glad I’m here.”
Ame looked up at him through the blur of tears. “You are?”
“Yeah. Here I can keep you safe. But Ame, why are we here? What do they want with you?”
“Well, my dad…”
“Both of you shut up,” the largest of the men growled at them as he spun in his seat.
“Let Dakota go. He has nothing to do with this.”
The one driving, the one who said he was her Uncle Oliver, glanced back to her from the rear view mirror. “Oh, sweetheart. You have no idea how much we need him. You misbehave and I’ll hurt him badly. Understand?”
Ame nodded silently. Dakota snuggled closer to Ame.
“Just tell me later,” he whispered.
She nodded as she clung to him. They held each other tight as the van disappeared down the dark Minnesota highway.
Chapter Five
Abbey stood at the bottom the stairs, growling frustrated. “Ame, are you ready for bed?”
Sloan frowned as he approached her. “What is it?”
“I’ve called to her three times. She isn’t answering.”
“She probably has earphones in. Ethan.” Sloan caught his oldest son as the boy passed. “Go check on Ame, please.”
Ethan shrugged as he climbed the stairs, playing his video game on his tablet the entire time. Sloan shook his head. “That child is going to break his neck one of these days.”
Abbey pointed to the smaller mirror image of Ethan sitting on the ottoman in a pair of superhero pajamas also immersed in a game. “Colin isn’t much better.”
Sloan chuckled as he tugged his wife into his arms. Abbey buried herself in his arms as he held her tight. Every morning she woke up with this man was a dream come true. She was so lost in his embrace she didn't notice Ethan thumping down the stairs. “She’s not in her room, Mom.”
“Did you check her bathroom?” Sloan questioned.
Ethan shrugged again. Sloan rolled his ice blue eyes as he let Abbey go. He leapt up the stairs two at a time. Abbey nudged Ethan toward the living room with the rest of his siblings.
The concerned look on Sloan’s chiseled face as he descended the staircase worried her. “She’s not upstairs,” he reported.
“Maybe she snuck into your office to work on your computer,” Abbey suggested.
“Of course.” Sloan took her hand and led her to his office. Turning the knob, he pushed the door open. Abbey’s heart dropped when they found the room dark.
“Amelia!” Sloan shouted, a hint of fear in his voice. There was no answer. “Amelia!”
Without a word the couple parted to search for their daughter. Abbey checked every room, every closet, every bathroom. She stopped short as she noticed the front door cracked open. “Sloan!”
She heard his footsteps hurry to her. “We live in a fenced in compound, Abigail.”
“But with everything that has happened…”
“She’s probably watching the stars.”
“Maybe she’s still outside talking to Dakota. But that was nearly two hours ago.”
“A boy? She was outside talking to a boy?”
“It was Dakota. The boy who works for Mom. He’s a good kid.”
“No boy around my daughter is a good kid.”
“He is.” She rushed back to the living room, locking the sliding glass doors that led to the pool.
“Mommy, what’s going on?” Liam, Aubrey’s twin asked softly.
Abbey glanced at all of her children, from the baby in the port-a-crib to her two sons buried in their tablets. “We’re looking for Ame. Daddy and I will be right back.” She picked up her wandering toddler and set the little girl in a second port-a-crib then sighed. “Ethan and Colin are in charge. Ethan, can you start a movie please?”
“Mom, it’s bedtime,” Ethan protested, not looking up.
“I get that. Please just do what I say.”
“Fine.” The boy tossed his tablet on the couch and shuffled off to the television. Abbey spun on her toe and sprinted outside to find Sloan.
Rushing out the front door, she saw him standing in the front yard, his hands clenched to his jeans clad hips. Dakota’s truck sat in the front drive. “Where the bloody hell did those kids go?”
Abbey searched the expansive area for any sights of her daughter. It made no sense. Ame had been so happy that night. Why did she and Dakota disappear? She hurried after Sloan as he stormed into the grove of trees.
“Abbey!”
Abbey turned to where Sloan was standing over a patch of mud. She jogged through the trees to him. His eyes were focused on a tire track.
Her heart raced in her chest. “We need to go find her.”
“No. We call Gordon, Robert, Logan and Bartholomew. We gave our children explicit instructions to never leave. Ame now understood why.”
“You don’t think…”
“Abigail, call your Da and get your pistol. And call the security company. I need the videos over the last couple of hours,” Sloan instructed sternly.
She stared at him for a long, hard second before she nodded. She ran to the house, pulling her cell phone from her pocket as she went. She quickly dialed Gordon.
“What’s going on, little one?” he asked with a yawn.
“Ame’s missing. We found a tire track in the woods,” Abbey reported, her words tumbling over each other as she spoke.
There was a pause. “Abigail, get in the house with your other children until your mother and I return. I will call the other boys on my way.”
“Yes, Dad.” The tone of his voice terrified Abbey. The gate was only open long enough to let Dakota in to talk to Ame. How did another vehicle get onto their property?.
Abbey did her best to keep her emotions in check as she tucked her other six children into bed. By the looks in their big blues eyes, she failed miserably. The hardest was little Aubrey, who looked up to her big sister like Ame was a rockstar. “When is Ame coming home?” the little girl whispered as she clung to the comforter under her chin.
Abbey fought back tears and struggled to put up a brave front. “Soon, sweetheart. She’ll be home soon.”
Aubrey snuggled into her pillow and closed her eyes. Abbey stood and rushed from the room before the sob escaped her throat. As she quietly shuffled down the hall and descended the steps she heard the front door fling open. She hadn’t hit the bottom step before she was enveloped in Gordon’s arms. “We’ll get her back, lass.”
“Who got in the gate?” Abbey sobbed.
“We’ll know when we see the security videos. Mary, please ask Bartholomew to check the footage.”
“Of course.” Mary tugged her daughter from Gordon’s arms and hugged her tight.
After a moment Gordon cleared his throat. “Abbey, you’re with me. Mary, guard the children. The boys should be here soon.”
“All right.” Mary let Abbey go with a forced smile. Abbey pecked her on the cheek before hurrying after Gordon. It took all the speed she had to keep up with his long strides. They made their way into the woods guided by the moonlight. Sloan’s figure cast a deep shadow along the ground making him nearly invisible against the dark landscape. He stared at the ground beneath him.
“Signs of a struggle?” Gordon questioned uneasily.
“Aye. There are tire tracks leading toward the gate. There are footprints in the dirt. Three sets are easily designer shoes, possibly boots. There is also a set of tennis shoes about the size of the others. And then…” His voice trailed off as he swallowed hard.
“Aye? Then what?”
“There are a small set of footprints. A pair of tennis shoes, the size of Ame’s feet. There’s a scuffle there.” Sloan pointed at the ground, where the indentations in the mud were. “They’re accompanied by a set of the expensive shoes then they disappear.”
“What does that mean? Did someone take her?” Abbey whimpered.
Sloan sighed. “Aye, love.”
“Why?”
“Why did someone try to take her before? Why did they blow up our building? We need to find these bastards. Now.”
Abbey wiped the tears as they slipped down her cheeks. She thought everything she had encountered in her life up to this point was nearly enough to break her. They didn’t compare to losing her child.
She was suddenly crushed against a hard wall of man. Sloan hugged her close, burying his face against her hair. His warmth was comforting as she cried into his chest. “I promise you, luv. We will find her. I won’t rest until we do.”
“I’ll be right by your side while we search for her,” Abbey sniffled.
“I’m counting on it.”
They were distracted from each other by the chirp of Gordon’s cell. The older Irishman dug the phone from his pocket and answered it. He instantly turned on the speaker phone. “What did you find, B?”
Bartholomew’s voice cracked through the phone. “The truck in the yard entered through the gate. Before it could close, someone jammed something in the mechanism. A white van followed it in. The three guys from the school were in it. They left about five minutes later.”
“Can you see if the children are with them?”
“No. But why else would they be there?”
Gordon looked up at Abbey. “Where is Ame’s cell phone?”
“In her room. She didn’t take it with her when she met Dakota,” she answered.
Gordon directed his voice back to the phone in his hand. “B, could you go get it? Let’s call Dakota and see if we get an answer.”
“I’m on it.”
“We’re on our way back.”
“See you in a few minutes.”
Gordon didn’t wait for the line to go dead. He spun on his toe and stormed back to the house. Sloan took Abbey’s hand in his as they followed. She squeezed his hand tight as they hurried to catch up.
The house was silent as the three of them stepped inside. Bartholomew, Robert and Logan hovered around a tablet at the dining room table while Mary settled nervously on the couch. Abbey watched as Sloan nodded silently to them. With the tap of a finger on the tablet a phone began to ring.
Abbey stared at the tablet in Bartholomew’s hand waiting for the phone to stop dialing. She knew Dakota. He was a good kid, the football quarterback and a great student. And, even though Ame thought it was a huge secret, she knew her daughter had a crush on him. She started as the phone was answered.
Family Ties Page 6