Ray disappeared later that week.
***
Mary woke up at 8:00 a.m., rubbed her eyes, rolled back over and fell asleep. She woke up an hour later, quietly dressed and went downstairs to start breakfast. She checked the security system and found no issues. All screens were clear so she made her usual pot of coffee and went out to the patio to enjoy the morning. A few minutes later Sam and Sammy joined her. Sam sat down beside Mary, laid her head on the table and pretended to be snoring.
“Baby, we had a rough night. Are you okay?”
“Mom, besides being, kidnapped, chained in a cabin with a bomb, shooting Jack and shooting four biker thugs this has been a great month.”
“You forgot the shotgun blast through my poor car’s window.”
“Yeah, that too.”
Sam went into the kitchen and brought a cup and the pot out to refill Mary’s cup.
“Mom, are y’all sorry that you became my foster parents? It has been a bit hectic since I joined the family.”
“Sam, we can’t wait to adopt you. Actually, we thought that you would be the devil’s child from hell and we would barely survive the experience.”
“Don’t pat me on the back too soon. I know I’ll screw up some more sometime.”
“Don’t worry, we all make mistakes. Families pull together when one of them make a mistake and help that one fix their mistake and move on.”
Sam thought for a minute and a tear ran down her cheek.
She looked over at Mary, patted her belly and said, “Is my baby a mistake?”
Mary went to her and took her in her arms and replied, “I can’t lie to you and say it was planned, but most babies surprise their parents. Only a few plan everything out and say let’s have a baby on December 5th. Babies come when they come. Your baby will have a mom, two grandparents and a fuzzy gray dog who all love it dearly.”
“I love you Mom.”
Kathy came down the stairs closely followed by Grumpy.
“Mary, Kathy and I are starving. How about some of your blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast?”
“Okay, I will teach the girls how to make pancakes while you call and check on Kathy’s parents."
The girls had breakfast ready in about 30 minutes and Grumpy came back in the room and asked Mary to step outside with him.
“Mary, the Cole’s kidnapping is all over the news and the police asked me to tell Kathy that her parents were kidnapped, but nothing else. They have contacted her grandparents and they are flying here from the west coast. They will be here late evening tomorrow. I volunteered to pick them up at the airport. I’ll bring them here and we’ll play it by ear from there.”
“Let’s tell her after breakfast. The poor child won’t be hungry after this news.”
They had a good breakfast and Sammy enjoyed getting a bite or two from everyone. He stayed close to Kathy and sat in her lap several times.
“Sam, please clean up the table and do the dishes while we pass on what we know to Kathy.”
They took Kathy to the living room and Grumpy filled her in on what they knew so far. The news had most of the detail so Grumpy wanted to tell her before she saw it on the TV.
“Kathy, as you know, your parents are missing. A janitor at the college your mom teaches at saw a man force them into his car and drive east. There was blood at the scene, but we don’t know who’s it is or if they are wounded. Kathy, that’s all we know. All of this is on the news. Your sad’s parents are coming to be with you until we figure out what happened.”
Kathy held her composure and said, “Mom and dad are probably dead, aren’t they?”
“Kathy, I won’t speculate. It looks bad and the police have very little clues. There hasn’t been a ransom note or any trace of them.”
Kathy started crying and Mary held her and consoled her as best that she could. Sam joined them a little while later and took Kathy up to her room.
“Mary, something doesn’t feel right here. I’d swear that this was connected to the attacks on our family, Joe and Andy, but I can’t see any connection besides that Kathy is friends with Sam.”
“Bill, we have enough to worry about. The attacks on us may just be starting. I watch that darn security monitor every minute and wonder if someone is going to drive up shooting at the house. I might just start sleeping in the safe room.”
“Sam, do you think that whoever took my parents could be the same people behind the attacks on y’all? This is just too weird. Two different families have people targeting them. Just too much of a coincidence for me. I won’t let myself cry and fret; I want to solve this and find the rats who took them.”
“Kathy, I was thinking the same thing. I know that you hate Jack and his dad, but what did his dad ever do to you? Jack tried to corner you at my house, but did you ever meet his dad?”
Kathy took a deep breath and said, “Jack’s dad dropped by your house one day to give Jack something and I knocked on the door while he was in your house. He was drunk, pulled me into the house and tried to pull my shorts down. I kicked him on the shin and got away. He yelled that he would kill me as I ran away.”
“We need to keep our investigation of Mr. Jack Collins going and find the dirt on him. We have to stop him before he hurts more girls.”
THE END of Chapter 1 of Power Can be Deadly
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The Author
Anthony Newman was born and raised in a small town in the western part of Kentucky. He and his best friend spent summers shooting .22 rifles and fishing. He read every book he could get his hands on and fell in love with science fiction. He served six years in a National Guard Armored Unit and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Chemistry. He made a career working in manufacturing and logistics but always fancied himself as an author. He currently resides in Kentucky with his wife and a bunch of tiny mop dogs, Sammy, Cotton and Callie.
Grumpy, Sam and Sammy: A Murder Mystery and Thriller Page 18