Apprehended (Amber Alert Series Book 3)

by Sara Schoen

  "How did you escape?" Callum asked after a few minutes of letting me compose myself again.

  "There's a tunnel in the basement that the girls dug," I replied, my voice cracking. "It leads to the back of the house, and then you run into the woods. Alec saw me though," I stated, causing Callum to tense. "He chased after me. We played cat and mouse for a while, but when we faced off we got into a fight. He's shot, or maybe just grazed. I took the gun, fired it in the fight, and then ran so I'm not sure."

  "That's fine, we don't need you to go over it right now. We have to get you back before Alec finds you again. Is he still out here?"

  I nodded, "He's also looking for the other girls that escaped, and there's still two in the basement. I don't know how much longer they can last."

  "We will get them out," Callum promised. "But first, let's get you out of here." Callum bit his lip before he asked me about my other injuries. "I know you still may have some adrenaline pumping through you after your escape, but do you feel anything hurting besides your face?"

  "I'm having a hard time moving this arm," I said lifting my left arm as far as I could without cringing. "My ribs hurt pretty badly, and so do my legs, but that could be from the running." I had tried to shrug my shoulders, but the pain over took me and I cried out in pain.

  "We should get out of here then," he said in a worried tone, helping me up. He paused for a moment, to let me lean against the door to recover slightly. "I'm glad that you're alive, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you."

  My breath caught in my throat at his words. I couldn't respond.

  "I'm so sorry for how I reacted. I am horrified that I played into his games. I should have seen that he was trying to take you. Why else would he target Audrey? She was never a person of interest to Steve, but you were. We looked at what he wanted us to, and I could have lost you."

  "It's not your fault," I managed to choke out. "It's mine. I pushed you too much and—”

  There was a loud bang, and then a scream that cut off our moment before we could make it through all of our apologies. I recognized Kate's voice as the cry echoed off the trees.

  "Come on, let's get over there," Callum ordered, suddenly turning serious again and pulling me with him as we raced to find out what caused Kate to scream.

  Callum refused to let go of my hand as we hurried toward the scream. Sliding to a stop, Callum hid us behind the corner of the house. He peaked around and I followed suit. He held me back as he tried to figure out how the scene was going to play.

  Alec had Kate in a neck hold with a gun pressed to her head. The other team members and police officers had him surrounded with their guns drawn and aimed, hoping not to shoot. They would risk shooting Kate if they didn't account for every minor detail, the speed and direction of the wind, the cloudy conditions that caused shadows to extend and blend Kate with Alec more, and even the steadiness of who took the shot. It was a stressful situation, and there were only two ways out. I just wasn't sure which one Alec would take.

  "I see that Callum has finally joined us," Alec called as I shrank back behind Callum. "The man that ruined the only chance I had to have what Steve couldn't. The one that made Jessi fall for him, before she could meet me."

  Callum glanced back at me with a curious expression, then it changed to the smirk I had seen the first day I met him. He was about to speak when Alec interjected.

  "Is Jessi there with you?" Alec asked with a scoff. "Of course she is. I should have known the second she got away she would run straight to you. She is so happy to see you again, that I bet she won't even think about how you couldn't find her, and that you failed to protect her. You're the reason I was able to take her! If you had put her on a plane that day, or if you hadn't taken such an insult when she tried to get you to see that it wasn't your fault that your original team died. I never would have gotten her. It's all on you!"

  Callum pulled his gun and angrily started to walk toward Alec. I raced after him, trying to convince him that he was playing back into Alec's hand but he wouldn't listen. I tried to grab his arm, but he pulled away and continued to walk toward Alec. No matter what I did, he just continued to walk right into Alec's plan.

  "Callum, just stay away from him! He's trying to make you angry."

  I heard Alec laugh, "Yeah, Callum, you should stay away. You never know what will happen."

  "Put the gun down, let Kate go, and we can talk like you want," Callum said, finally stopping a few yards feet away from Alec.

  "What makes you think I want to talk?" Alec asked, tightening his grip on Kate and moving her body so that she could block him from a clear shot.

  "If you didn't, you would have run when Jessi escaped, because you couldn't risk going to look for those other girls that escaped now. You had run out of time and you knew it."

  Alec had no reply, his eye twitched and showed his growing anger. I saw him run his tongue over his teeth has he decided to move off of Callum, and refocus on me.

  "We could have had it, Jessi," he stated. "If you hadn't been so hung up on him, or saving these girls, then you could have made it. You just had to accept it. None of this would have had to happen."

  "Those girls didn't deserve this," I said before Callum pushed me behind him and cut us off.

  "This is over now, Alec," Callum spat. "Release Kate, and we can all get out of this alive."

  "What if I don't want to get out of this alive?" he asked as I peeked behind Callum.

  I glanced between Alec, and the officers with guns pointed at him. Alec was once again ordered to put the gun down. He just laughed, there was no sign of fear, and there was nothing in his eyes but humor. He found the situation funny, even though he was about to die. I heard someone, maybe Callum, order him to put the gun down again, and instruct him that this was his last warning.

  “Just remember, if your legacy continues then so does mine," he called to me as he held the gun tightly to Kate's head.

  They wanted to take him alive, but Alec wasn't going to let that happen, he had made his choice. I watched as Alec raised the gun to Callum, an angry gleam in his eyes. He was going to take the shot, one last try before he was killed. I pulled Callum to the ground as I saw Alec move to pull the trigger. The shot rang through the air before we crashed to the grass. Callum popped up, hunching over me, but stopped. I noticed that his shoulders relaxed, and he got up to offer me a hand. I glanced over to see Alec on the ground, shot, and Kate in the arms of Darrell.

  "It's over now, Jessi. Let's get you ready to go home."

  Chapter 29

  Almost no one reacted after Alec had been shot, there was a moment of uncertainty. It took a moment to realize that Alec had been taken out, and relax before anyone moved. The crowd broke up quickly to search the grounds. Callum had sent some of the officers in to retrieve the other two girls that were still in the basement, and to have them immediately taken to the hospital, then locate the other girls who had escaped, so that everyone could reunite with their families. Everyone split up, and started cleaning up the mess that Alec had made.

  Callum had led me to one of the ambulances that had arrived on the scene shortly after the exchange. He told me that he would come back, he was needed inside the house for a few moments. He raced off and I was checked over by a paramedic for my injuries. I was told to visit the hospital for broken ribs and arm. I got off easy, according to the medic. He'd seen worse in these cases and was prepared for it when the other girls were carried out of the basement.

  "They've been here longer, I would expect it as well," I said in a sullen tone as the paramedic finished his examination just in time for the other two girls to be carried out of the house.

  There were so many people around. It was suffocating to be around so many people after being alone and relying on only a few girls for comfort. There were what seemed to be every police officer in the area, paramedics, coroners, and soon the press would show up. There were obvious attempts to get most of the place cleaned up before th
ey caught wind of what was going on. It wouldn't take much time since they practically followed Callum and the police around according to the news broadcasts I had seen with Alec. They'd be here soon, and they'd have a field day.

  Luckily, the two other girls were getting into their ambulances and were being taken away. They wouldn't have to see the feeding frenzy, or be showcased on the news for everyone to see, not yet anyway. Anything was up for grabs when they left the hospital. The press would find the girls' names, and they would need to move to get away from it all. I just hoped they could heal and move on like Anna and Audrey had been able to. Even the ones that had been there long term had a chance. I had seen it with Garrett, and they could all have lives that didn't focus around this kidnapping.

  I watched officers move in and out of the house collecting evidence. They came out with boxes and bags. There was a large bag with dirt from the basement, some of it was dark and clumped together. If I had to take a guess, it was where I bled onto the floor. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the coroner zip Alec into a body bag. The bag slowly closed over his body, as the sound of cars reached my ears. A smile curved reluctantly at the corners of my lips; that would be the press arriving now. I turned around to see one of the first news crews arrive and start to get a shot of what was going on. I looked back at the coroner to see her slowly wheel Alec’s body to her van, and away from me.

  "So how did you get out?" I heard Callum ask, breaking me from my thoughts at his sudden closeness.

  "I didn't see you approach," I said shyly as I realized that he had maneuvered from around the paramedic truck that I was sitting on the bumper of. I paused momentarily to take a deep breath. I knew I would have to talk about it, write a statement, and have everyone know what happened to me again. "I got out through a hole in the basement, like I said before."

  "I know what you said, but the floor is concrete, where did the dirt come from?" he asked carefully. I must have flinched at his words. I tried not to get protective or defensive, but his questions made me uncomfortable.

  "I guess the girls spread it over the floor while they dug the hole. That's the only thing I can think of," I said with a sigh as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to find some comfort. I felt Callum tentatively put his hand on my shoulder, and when our eyes met he smiled and nodded at me to say he was here for me. "So, how did you find me?"

  He chuckled lightly, "I knew that would be your first question."

  "Now, don't profile me! That's only for people we chase after, not team members," I said with a smile as I playfully bumped him with my shoulder. We laughed together for a few moments before he stopped to answer my question.

  "Two girls came into station today," he said carefully. "The one that wouldn't stop screaming until someone listened to her was named Tegan. Eventually, I had to get her to shut up, so I went to talk to her. She was screaming about information, but she wouldn't tell anyone her name she just kept screaming out your name."

  I laughed lightly at the thought of Tegan racing into the police building, and demanding that they listen to her. I'm sure someone had originally told her that everyone was busy, but if she kicked up a big enough fuss to get Callum to see her, I would've loved to see it.

  "Once I saw her, I knew she was the last girl taken, at least to our records, so I listened to her. We had been following a lead, but it was a dead end."

  "The decoy," I interjected, causing Callum to stop and then sadly nod his head.

  "That's exactly what Mr. Colson was," he said. "It was a waste of our time, and we didn't realize that he was a decoy until we had followed it too deeply. We had figured out that our escalation idea that we had discussed was correct, but it never added up how someone that thoroughly plans everything would have accidentally grabbed the wrong girl. He had to do it on purpose."

  I nodded, knowing where this was going. "It's not your fault Callum."

  "He profiled us. Not even us as a team, but he did it to you and me. He saw the tension building between us, he watched it happen, and went after that Jessi." Callum looked torn, upset and guilty for what hadn't been his fault. "If I had just not reacted in such a volatile, so self-defensive, then maybe this never would have happened to you. Maybe we could have prevented—”

  "Callum," I interrupted. "I shouldn't have pushed you like I did. I just wanted to help you, to refocus for the case at hand, and to get you to reconnect to your team. You leave them alone, they follow your orders, and they respect you, but you don't know them like you should. I know you're afraid, but you shouldn't push them away again. They are your team, and they want to be your friend too."

  "I know," he sighed. "You were right to try to point it out. I've been living with it for so long. I was thinking about it after I sent you away. You were right, and even though I had thought about it over and over again for the last few years, I couldn't see it. I needed someone to tell me it wasn't my fault. They knew it wasn't, but no one had ever said it to me before. I went to go find you before you got on the plane, but you never came. You never made it to the airport in fact, so I went to Audrey's, but you weren't there either. Your car was torn apart, and you dropped everything when you were taken." He paused momentarily, and sighed heavily before he continued. “When I sent you away, it made you a target. He took advantage of my weakness, and that left you open to him. For that I apologize, Jessi.”

  "Don't worry about it, Callum," I said after thinking about how to say this so he wouldn't blame himself for another five years. "You saved me. You listened to Tegan, she led you here, and you saved me. That's how you apologized, you got me out of here, and now I get to go home again."

  I saw his blue eyes flash to me. There was an emotion in them that I hadn't seen before, a hesitation in his breath that told me he had something he wanted to say, but he was torn. I could see it in his eyes, he felt the same way about me that I had grown to feel about him. I just needed to hear him say it, so that I knew I wasn't misreading him again. I waited, but he never said what he had been thinking about instead he glanced over my shoulder to see the press.

  I followed his gaze to cameramen pointing cameras at us, a few people taking pictures, and plenty of officers trying to hold them back. When I looked back at him, the emotion in his eyes was gone, replaced with a familiar annoyed gleam in his eye.

  "I am really beginning to hate those people," Callum growled. "They haven't left me alone."

  "They keep asking about us?" I asked with a smirk.

  He looked at me in shock, "Were you watching the news?"

  "Oh yeah," I chuckled. "Alec always watched to see if you guys were following his decoy. He was furious that you never did answer that woman's question."

  "Yeah? Well, they still aren't getting an answer," he said letting a smile flash across his lips. He stood up and offered his hand to me to help me up. "Let's get you to the hospital to look at those injuries. I don't think I'm needed here anymore, and I wanted to make sure I was with you when you went."

  "Are you admitting those feelings you have for me?" I asked as he led me to one of the cars in front of the house, and in full view of the press.

  "I prefer to keep my private life private,” he said glancing back at the press before he opened the door for me to get in. "But, why don't we give them something better to publish then Alec's story?"

  I smiled, "what did you have in mind?"

  I barely got the question out before his lips met mine, and the camera flashes started to go off wildly around us. There was clapping, from whom exactly I wasn't sure, but if I had to take a guess it was from the team. The only other thing I heard was the rapid beating of my heart, and I felt, for the first time, that someone cared about me, and not the story behind me.

  Chapter 30

  We had stayed behind a few days in Colorado after the team left. I had to stay for observation, to give my statement, and gather everything of mine that had become evidence in the case. I also wanted to stay behind to see the girls, all of them. I had met the
girls that escaped from the basement, listened to their stories of how they escaped and where they went before Callum and the police tracked them, and I forgave them as they asked.

  It didn't matter that I wasn't upset with them, they wanted to hear me say that I didn't blame them and that I forgave them.

  "We didn't mean that note to give you more trouble," Tegan stated. "Nicole had suggested it because we thought you'd see it before he did, and we didn't want you to worry when you saw we were gone. I had also tried to warn you, but it didn't work. I'm sorry."

  "It's fine, Tegan," I stated, glancing at Callum knowing he would agree with me. "You got almost everyone out through that tunnel, and then you went to tell them where I was. That's more than I could have asked of you, and I'm sure they thank you for it." I gestured to the girls that stood sheepishly behind her with their parents by their sides. "You did that, Tegan. You brought them together again, and I know the parents are thankful to have their girls back no matter what it took."

  "Even Casey's?" Tegan asked curiously. We learned that Casey was alive, and Alec had lied about finding her and killing her. A hiker had found her when she passed out in the woods the day she escaped. She had fallen into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital due to an infection. She hadn’t been able to tell anyone where we were, or help the police, but at least she was okay. Alec had never even noticed she was gone.

  "Even Casey's. Any parent would be thrilled to have their kid back after this. Casey is doing fine, they say she could wake up any day now." I wasn't sure if she would wake up before the girls all went home, but her parents had told me the doctors were hopeful. I didn't want Tegan to feel bad especially since her choices got most of the girls out unscathed. The other girls were mostly unharmed, except some minor injuries and the malnutrition. Most of the injuries stemming from Alec's beatings, were healed. Now the doctors were focusing on getting the girls vitamins and food.