by Char Webster
Nick shook his head and jumped.
They ran to the other side of the second warehouse and down the fire escape. At the bottom, Robert pulled Kate into a huge hug. “I know you planned all this so that I could rescue you, but really, Kate, there are easier ways to get my attention.”
Kate laughed and said sarcastically, “Yes, Robert, please be my hero.”
The other two guys laughed, but Nick scowled. Robert let her go and introduced the other guys to her. “Kate, the guy you ran into and almost knocked over is Jason. Ryan was the Kung Fu fighter who roundhouse-kicked the gun away from Tony.”
Kate shook hands with both of them, but narrowed her eyes at Ryan in confusion. Jason came up and put his arm around her and said, “So, what are you doing later?” He was wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Kate was still looking at Ryan, trying to figure out why he looked familiar. She had too much on her mind to worry about it, so she just shook it off.
Ryan pushed him out of the way and said, “Don’t mind Romeo, he hasn’t learned the finer art of timing. I, on the other hand, would wait until you at least got into the car so you couldn’t run away,” he teased.
Kate was smiling now. These guys were entertaining.
Nick took Kate’s hand and pulled her away from all of them. “Let’s get moving. Ryan, lead the way.”
Robert, Ryan, and Jason piled into Robert’s SUV and Kate and Nick jumped into Nick’s vehicle. Nick was gripping the steering wheel tightly and wasn’t speaking.
Kate turned in her seat to face him and reached over to grab his hand. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
He squeezed her hand. “I almost lost it when I realized you were gone,” he told her. “You have to know, I would do anything to get you back.” He paused and then said, “I’m so sorry you were taken.”
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I’m fine. I managed to get out before anything bad happened.”
They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, each too emotional to try to talk.
A few minutes later, they pulled up to a row home on the corner of a sea of row homes. Blocks and blocks of houses looked similar. There was a driveway in front that was big enough to hold the two SUVs.
They all got out and walked up to the house. It had a small front yard with a tree and a couple of shrubs near the front door. They had to go up a few steps to a landing with an awning over it. Despite being an older home, it seemed neat and well maintained.
The inside of the house was surprising when compared to the outside. It was completely remodeled and modernized. The kitchen held all new cabinets, countertops, and appliances. It looked like there were new hardwood floors with expensive-looking area rugs throughout the first floor.
They settled into the living room area and flopped down on two new couches that faced a brick fireplace.
Ryan was already busy hooking up his laptop tablet to crazy looking equipment that Kate had never seen before. He started to type quickly on all kinds of different screens. He had three monitors set up next to each other on his dining room table.
Kate was tired and hungry. They hadn’t gotten to eat their breakfast, and she still felt like she needed coffee. She looked over at Nick, who had taken the seat next to her on the couch, and he looked tired. She figured he must be fighting a hangover from his overindulgence of alcohol from the night before.
As if he read her thoughts, which she figured he could have, he smiled and said, “Hey Ry, what are the chances you have some coffee?” Nick pointed to the Keurig on the counter.
“There’s some in the cabinet over there,” Ryan told them, pointing to the one above the coffee maker.
Kate watched Nick pull some files out of his backpack and hand half to Jason. They began flipping through the information on Brooks, while Robert was helping Ryan attach wires to his equipment. Everyone was working except for her. She needed something to do to keep busy.
Kate got up and started to rummage through the cabinets for coffee mugs, and pulled the k-cups out. A few minutes later, they all had steaming cups of coffee. She was disappointed to see that Ryan didn’t have any food at all in the house. She didn’t think he ever did, since the stack of takeout menus was at least an inch high.
She settled on the couch with her mug and listened to the guys discuss their next moves. Her adrenaline levels were crashing and she was feeling exhausted. She must have dozed off because the noise of a cell phone ringing woke her up.
She watched Nick frown and say hello.
“Nick, thank God I caught you,” Dawn said urgently. “Maddy’s gone. Some huge tattooed guy knocked me out and grabbed her. She’s gone.”
“Shit.” Nick paused, needing to get his emotions under control. “Dawn, don’t worry. We’ll get her back. We’re making plans to get them now.”
“I’m so sorry, Nick. I’m so sorry. I tried to keep her safe.” Dawn was crying hard.
“It’s not your fault. These guys are professionals.” Nick tried to assure her, but he was furious. He wasn’t angry with her, but at that guy Brooks and all his hired thugs.
“Please tell Kate. I tried to get through to her, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Tell her I’m so sorry.”
“Kate’s right here, and she doesn’t blame you either. We WILL get the kids back, and the guys who took them will pay,” Nick told her. “Dawn, stay away for a while until this is over. I don’t think they’ll go after you again, but they might.”
“Okay,” she sniffed. “Both of you need to be safe, and please find the kids.”
“We will,” he told her. “Thanks.”
Nick hung up the phone and covered his face with his hands. He blew out a breath and confirmed what the others already knew. “They took Maddy.”
Everyone looked crestfallen. They now had three kids to find.
Chapter Twenty
Dawn hung up the phone and settled back on the hospital bed in the emergency room. Nurses, orderlies, and visitors were walking quickly throughout the area, and thankfully, no one had been paying that much attention to her.
Someone from the baseball game had found her unconscious on the ground and called an ambulance. She had told the paramedics that she had slipped on the wet grass and hit her head on the car. Hopefully they wouldn’t ask any more questions.
Kevin had appeared by her side right before they strapped her to the gurney. She had told him that she was fine and not to worry. She hadn’t wanted to attract too much attention. One of the team member’s parents had offered to let Kevin stay with them until Dawn felt better. She had agreed quickly because it was better to have her son around lots of other people. He would be safe with his friends.
Kevin had given her a long, squeezing hug and looked like he was going to argue about going with her to the hospital, but she had insisted that he stay at the game. He looked around and asked where Maddy was, and she quickly lied and said that Kate took her home before Dawn fell. She didn’t want the man who took Maddy to go after her son. She had to protect him.
She hoped that she had done the right thing. Too many strange things were going on, and Dawn suspected that she knew only a little bit of it all. Nick and Kate would take care of things. It was up to them now. She didn’t want to be involved anymore. It was too dangerous. That man could have killed her, and her son would be left without a mother.
Dawn closed her eyes for a few minutes to try and get the headache she felt under control. They had taken a few X-rays, and she was now waiting for the results. They thought that she might have a mild concussion, and if so, they would make her stay overnight.
She opened her eyes to a throat clearing and a male voice saying, “Excuse me, Mrs. Johnson.”
Dawn looked up and almost groaned out loud. This was the last person that she wanted to see. “Hello, Detective Martin. What brings you here? Surely you don’t visit every clumsy person who bangs her head.”
“I heard your name over the radio, so I wanted to come and check on you,” the d
etective told her. “It seems your agency must have a black cloud over it. First, your office gets broken into and ransacked like someone was looking for something. Then, your receptionist is beaten almost to death and still hasn’t recovered. Now, I find you in the hospital with a head injury. The doctors are trying to figure out how you could have possibly done that with a slip and fall against the car.”
Dawn sighed. She needed to get rid of this detective. She didn’t want him asking any more questions.
“I guess there’s no explanation for clumsiness,” Dawn told him. “I’ve never been graceful.”
“That’s your story?” Detective Martin asked. “You slipped on the grass and hit the back of your head on the car?”
Dawn just gave him a half smile and didn’t say anything.
“Fine, how about we talk about something else,” he continued when she didn’t answer. “Someone at the game said that they saw a screaming child being carried away from where you were by a large man with tattoos. That description sounds vaguely familiar, don’t you think?” He took out his notebook and flipped back a few pages. “Here it is,” he told her. “The guy who beat your receptionist almost to death was described as a large man with big muscles, dark hair, and tattoos. That’s some coincidence.”
“Detective, you must be working too hard. There had to be thousands of men who fit that description. There were probably several at the game alone.”
“You’re hiding something, Mrs. Johnson,” he told her. “I’m going to find out what it is.”
“Detective, I appreciate your concern, but there isn’t any big conspiracy or unsolved mystery.”
“And that’s what all the people say who are hiding things. Hope you feel better, Mrs. Johnson. You’ll be seeing me around.” Detective Martin left and Dawn blew out a breath. She really hoped that she was doing the right thing.
~*~*~
Frank couldn’t believe that the youngest kid had given him the most trouble. The brat bit him twice, hard enough to actually draw blood. She kicked and screamed and almost drew the attention of a woman in the parking lot. He duct-taped her mouth as soon as he got back to the van. He hadn’t planned to duct-tape her feet and hands since she was so small, but after her kicking him in a place he would rather not think about, he taped her up.
They were almost back to the building where he had left the other two kids. He needed to call Brooks and set up a transfer. He knew that Brooks would try to double-cross him. In fact, he was counting on it. He would set up his own trap for Brooks. He needed to be able to grab his daughter and get away before Brooks tried something.
He almost felt bad about turning over the kids to him. These kids were not in the system, being bounced from one place to the next. They might have been once, but not now. They had actually landed in a place they called home. All of the other kids Frank helped Brooks get were not in good places. At least with Brooks, they had food and clothes and got an education—well, at least if they cooperated.
The ones who didn’t cooperate didn’t last long unless they had a particularly useful gift.
He pulled into the service area garage of the building and closed the door behind him. It was in an industrial setting, and other businesses were around and occupied. Frank knew the woman who ran the service that cleaned the entire office complex. He always made it a point to discover which ones where empty for occasions just like this one.
The office he selected had been empty only about a month and a new tenant had not been found yet. Frank loved using office buildings because most people didn’t pay any attention to what was going on in them.
He parked and went into the back of the van to grab the little girl. She was still squirming and looking at him with such loathing that Frank had to laugh. This little thing is feisty, he thought.
Frank picked her up and carried her over to the room where her sister and brother were still zip-tied. Hopefully, they hadn’t gotten into any more mischief. They had already been fed their breakfast, so they should have been okay for a while. Feeling slightly guilty for keeping them bound, he would untie their hands until it was time to trade them for his daughter.
Throwing up a shield around him and the little girl, he entered the room cautiously. Frank was impressed to see that the two teens had managed to get out of their zip-ties and were once again about to attempt an ambush.
He was really liking these kids. He smiled and held out the little girl. Both kids gave up their attempt to strike out at him, afraid of hitting their sister.
Alex ran up and screamed, “Maddy!” and Zach yelled, “Mads!”
Frank placed the child softly on the floor and backed out of the room.
Alex scooped up Maddy and gently peeled the tape off her mouth. “Oh, Mads,” Alex cried. “I can’t believe they found you.” She continued to peel the rest of the tape off of her feet and wrists. Maddy clutched Alex’s neck and said, “Missed you, Lex. Missed you, Zach. Where’s Kate? I want Kate!”
Zach grabbed Maddy and hugged her tightly. “It’s okay, Mads. Kate’s going to come get us. She’s going to come get us with Uncle Bud.”
Alex took Maddy back and started rocking her in her lap. She sang quietly to Maddy just like their mother did when she was alive. It usually worked to put her to sleep and, sure enough, within minutes Maddy was asleep on Alex’s lap.
Zach looked over and asked, “Do you think they took her from Kate?”
“I don’t know. I get the feeling Maddy wasn’t with Kate,” Alex told him.
“Do you think Kate and Uncle Bud are okay? Are they still coming for us?”
Alex sighed and stroked Maddy’s hair. “They both have to be alright,” she said. “They’re coming to get us. They won’t give up.”
“Lex, I want to stay with Kate when this is over. I love Uncle Bud, and I want him to stay with us too, but it feels like home at Kate’s,” Zach admitted quietly.
“Yeah, I want to live there, too. Uncle Bud will understand. He travels for work too much to keep us anyway.” Alex paused. “I like her.”
“Me too,” Zach told her. He looked down and mumbled, “I’m scared.”
Alex looked at him and said, “I am, too.”
Zach got up and sat next to Alex and Maddy. The three of them snuggled together.
~*~*~
Brooks was beyond impatient. He had thought that Frank would have delivered the children by now, but he must have underestimated Frank’s love for his daughter. It was taking entirely too long, so he would have to get Ray’s assistance. That man would gladly hurt the girl so that Brooks could send Frank a video of it. If I didn’t hear anything by tomorrow morning, I will let Ray have his fun, Brooks thought. It was thrilling to watch Ray inflict pain and the people’s faces as they experienced his power.
He didn’t know where Ray was; the man had left early that morning and didn’t say where he was going. All Brooks knew was that he better be back soon.
The house was quiet with most of the children gone with Louise. He liked the silence; he didn’t experience it very much. She had only left a few of the older children there, the ones that she wasn’t as close to and the ones who had started to develop their own personality traits that didn’t always please Louise.
He called one of the children he needed to his office, a fourteen-year-old runaway that Frank had picked up at age of ten in New Orleans. Bret strolled into the room and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at Brooks, and hating the man in front of him. At first Bret had been thankful for a house and food, but that changed quickly when he discovered what Brooks was truly like. Now, Bret just wanted to be left alone.
Brooks was disgusted that the boy’s dark hair was curling at the ends and needed to be cut, but he knew it wouldn’t happen unless he dished out a severe punishment. Bret’s green eyes were staring back at him in defiance that had only gotten worse over time.
Brooks figured that some of Bret’s insolence derived from never having known his father and growing up wild on t
he streets. The kid’s mother left him at a babysitter’s and never went back to get him. Bret had been put in foster care with a particularly brutal family, but had run away shortly after arriving there. Looking at Bret, Brooks wouldn’t have guessed that he had been so sorely abused.
Brooks looked down at Bret’s attire. He continued to wear ripped jeans and T-shirts when he was told to wear golf shirts around the house. Bret was really trying his patience.
“I need you to do something for me,” Brooks told him. The kid actually looked bored. Brooks was either going to kill him or train him for his personal staff. He had more guts than most of the guys twice his age. He also had a gift that Brooks wanted to utilize. Bret could control water and moisture in the air. He could create fog for cover or clear it away so they could see. He could also do a few other tricks with water geysers and such.
“I need you to create a thick fog for cover when Frank arrives—so thick that no one can see even a foot in front of them.”
“Why?” Bret asked, still looking bored.
Brooks slammed his hand down on the desk and screamed, “Because I’m telling you to do it, and if you chose not to, then I WILL kill you.”
Bret ignored Brooks’ outburst and said, “I can’t hold it for long.”
Brooks huffed in annoyance. “Just hold it as long as you can. Leave now. I’ll call you when I need you.” He knew Bret was just developing his gifts, but he had better get this right or Brooks would kill him. The kid was more trouble than useful.
Bret walked away stiffly. He hated Brooks and this house but he didn’t have any choice at the moment. He was still too young to make it on his own. At least he was getting an education. He would need that. In a few years, he would escape. He just had to bide his time until then.