by KJ Kalis
“Okay. I’ll see you in an hour. Saguaro Pass?”
Piper nodded. They’d met there before. It was a small park at the top of a canyon with a picturesque view of a big stand of Saguaro cactuses below. “Sure.”
As the call ended, Piper checked her phone. It was about a half hour drive from the house to the park where Landon wanted to meet. Piper suddenly felt sticky from her morning at yoga and decided to take a quick shower.
Ten minutes later, Piper opened the door to the bathroom, sliding into a pair of jeans and a loose top, her long blonde hair braided down her back. She dabbed on a little bit of makeup, some dark eyeliner, a couple coats of mascara and pink lipstick. There wasn’t time for much more.
Piper grabbed her purse and keys from the kitchen and went out to the Audi, starting it and checking in the rearview mirror before backing out of the driveway. There were always landscaping trucks and swimming pool maintenance people passing by. The last thing she needed to do would be to crash into one of them on her way to meet Landon.
As the road curved before her, Piper gripped the wheel a little bit more tightly. Her stomach was in knots. She stopped, waiting for the traffic to clear so she could pull out onto Mesa Boulevard, heading south, toward the freeway. Saguaro Pass was far enough away from home she didn’t have to worry Chase would find her and Landon together. But now, driving the Audi, she felt a wave of nausea pass over her. She was a married woman who allowed her own daughter to be kidnapped by her lover. What had she become?
Piper turned off the air conditioning and rolled down the window, as if somehow the fresh air might blow her feelings away with the wind. Merging onto the freeway, she turned on some music. It was hip-hop, from the last time Abby was in the car. Piper swallowed and tapped the screen, switching to a pop station. Music filled the little car and Piper stared straight forward, keeping her eyes on the road.
The Saturday afternoon traffic had thinned out quite a bit, just a few cars smattered here and there, traveling north toward Phoenix or to some other destination. A couple of the cars she passed had rental stickers on them, families or couples who had come to Arizona to enjoy the hot, dry weather, defrosting from wherever they lived. Piper glanced off to her right, seeing the desert change a little bit as she drove. Tucson was largely flat, with mountains around it, much like Phoenix. A long time ago, Abby had done a report on why people settled near the mountains in Arizona. Piper chewed her lip for a second. Third grade, maybe? She discovered that people settled near the mountains because of the runoff of rainwater. Living in the desert wasn’t easy, especially not back then, when drilling wells and siphoning water off of the Colorado River was nearly impossible.
A semi-truck passing her Audi startled Piper back into concentrating on the road. She checked the signs above — Maxwell Street, and then Tombstone Road, where she needed to get off. She felt like her heart skipped a beat. The closer she got, the more she was excited to see Landon, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was just a little bit angry at herself for letting him take Abby. When they’d talked about it, Landon assured her that it would be like a field trip for Abby, but now that the day had come, Piper wasn’t so sure. Abby had never met Landon. How could she? Piper was still married to Chase.
Chase.
Piper sighed and steered the car with one hand, trying to relax in the seat. What had happened to her marriage with Chase? Probably nothing from his end, she realized. Chase was just, well, Chase. He got up in the morning, ate the same breakfast every day and then went to work. That’s who he was really married to, Piper realized, his job. She straightened up in her seat. It’s practically marital neglect, she realized, putting the blinker on to get off of the freeway.
On the ramp, she tapped the brake to slow the little Audi down. Butterflies formed in her stomach as she realized she was just a few minutes out from seeing Landon. He was the one she was meant to be with. Maybe when all this was over, maybe she’d leave Chase and take Abby and they could go live with Landon. Yes, that was a plan...
The Audi’s engine automatically downshifted as she hit the first rise, going up the side of the mountain. The spot Landon chose for one of their rendezvous was beautiful. The road curved around the side of a low mountain, the desert below sweeping in front of anyone who stopped to look. It wasn’t much more than an extra lane on the side of the highway with a placard explaining that Saguaro cactuses were protected and that the pass had one of the best views of many of them growing naturally in all of Arizona.
At the next stop sign, Piper looked in the rearview mirror, running her finger under her lip to clean up a little bit of pink lipstick that wasn’t where it should be. She used her hand to fluff up her bangs and check to make sure there was no lipstick on her teeth. Chase didn’t seem to care about how she looked anymore, but Landon did.
A minute later, her phone chirped, “Here. How far out are you?”
“Two minutes,” she said into her phone, sending the text remotely.
Another set of butterflies formed in her stomach. Maybe this was a time to talk to Landon about moving in together. She was ready to leave Chase. She knew it.
Piper slowed the Audi down, the curves in the road becoming more severe as she drove, the mountainside hanging over the left side of the road leaving no room for error, a drop-off on the right. It was a two-lane road, but just barely. Piper put two hands on the wheel and slowed down even a little bit more, not wanting to fly the Audi off the side of the road. If she swerved left, the Audi would go into the side of the mountain. If she swerved right, it would go off the side of a cliff and drop at least one hundred feet down to the desert floor.
As she pulled up at Saguaro Pass, Piper checked her rearview mirror. No cars behind her. That was a good sign. She put on her blinker anyway, hearing the clicking and seeing the light on her dashboard. She pressed the brake and pulled to the right. Landon’s car was already there, parked off to the side. She saw the muscles of his back through his shirt as he stared out across the desert, looking away from her. Pulling the Audi up next to his car, she shut off the engine, just in time to see him turn and smile at her. All the misgivings she’d had on the drive over about letting him take Abby disappeared in that second. She knew she was supposed to be with him.
Sliding out of the car, she slammed the door behind her and ran over to him, giving him a hug and a kiss. “I’m so glad you had time to meet today. How are things going?”
He stepped back from her just a little bit, “Fine. We have everything under control.”
Piper grabbed his hand and gave him a tug toward the single bench that was positioned to take advantage of the view out into the desert. Piper plopped down, letting go of Landon’s hand for a second, staring out into the desert. The Saguaros stood tall, their arms growing out of the side of a central trunk. There were hundreds of them dotting the landscape as far as she could see. She glanced at Landon. He wasn’t looking at her. He seemed preoccupied. “How’s Abby? I’ve been really worried about her today.”
“She’s fine. She was a champ.”
“Does she know?” Piper felt bad asking the question, but part of her wondered if Landon had pulled Abby off to the side and told him her this was just a ruse, just a way to get her dad to cooperate and that he was friends with Piper. Part of her hoped he did because it might make her less afraid.
Landon furrowed his eyebrows as if he was mocking her, “Now, why would we tell her?”
“That’s what you told me you were going to do, to make her feel more comfortable.”
“You heard wrong. I wouldn’t do that. This is an operation, like any other. She’s only gonna know what she needs to know. She doesn’t need to know that I know you.”
The comment struck Piper as a little strange, but she tried to ignore it. “So, what’s next? I know we talked about the details, but I’m just feeling a little unsure. I was wondering if you could run me through it one more time? And,” she said, looking down at her fingers sheepishly, “I also t
hought that maybe we should talk about what happens after this. Like I was thinking on the drive here that maybe I leave Chase and then you and I could live together, and we could have Abby come and stay with us.” Piper glanced up at him, but Landon wasn’t looking at her.
“I don’t know about that.”
“Why?”
“It could be because I’m in the middle of an operation. Don’t you get that?”
“Of course, I do, but I just thought…”
Landon stood up, “When I’m on an operation, that’s really all I can concentrate on, Piper. I thought you understood that.”
“I do, I do. Will you at least tell me where Abby is? Can I talk to her? I think that might make her feel better.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Piper saw a change in Landon.
A muscle rippled across his jaw, “No. We’re not going to call Abby. I’m not going to tell you where she is.”
Piper stood up and crossed her arms in front of her chest, “Why? I’m her mother. You told me that you would share what was going on with the operation. What’s going on here?”
Landon stood up and walked over to her, pulling her close. He kissed her. When she opened her eyes, she expected to see his features softened, but they weren’t. They were as hard as stone. He whispered, “You don’t understand, do you?” Piper felt his hand grab the back of her hair, his fingers encircling her braid. Pain ripped through the back of her head. All Piper could do was tip her head back on her neck, hoping to loosen his grip. He felt her shove at her back from behind and growl, “Let’s go. You want to see your daughter. Let’s do exactly that.”
The next minute or so was a blur. Landon pinched the skin her left arm with his hand and pushed her toward his car. She tried to wrestle free, but all that did was make him grip harder. She winced in pain. His fingers were so strong it felt like a vice, like her skin was being torn off the muscle. He pushed her face first into the side of his sedan, the hot metal stinging her skin and leaned his body weight into her, not letting go of her hair. The sun was right in her eyes, so she closed them, hoping he would let her go. “Please,” she whimpered, “I don’t know what’s going on here, but please, just let me go. I promise, I won’t tell anyone anything.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Landon hissed in her ear. She could feel his hot breath on the side of her face. Before she could say anything else, she felt something tight around her wrist. Landon let go of the grip on her hair long enough to catch her right arm and force the other wrist into a cable tie. Piper sucked in a breath. Was this actually happening? Landon pushed her off to the side, opening the back door of the sedan. “Get in,” he said. Piper realized she couldn’t do anything other than comply. She was out in the middle of the desert on an abandoned roadway where there was no traffic. She didn’t have a gun or a knife or the training to get away from him. She and Abby now had something in common. They were both his hostage.
Landon fastened the seat belt across her chest and then opened the front door to the vehicle. He pulled out a roll of duct tape, using his teeth to tear off a piece. He slapped it over her mouth and then added a black hood. “Lay down. If you sit up until I tell you to, you will never see your daughter again.”
Terror filled Piper’s chest. She felt like electricity was passing through her body. Had Abby gone through this same thing? Question started to roll through Piper’s mind as she heard the car start and pull away. Surely, someone would find her car and come looking for her. She used her fingers to press at her back pockets, realizing her phone was left in the car. So was her purse. Someone would be able to figure out it was her vehicle, but without her phone, she couldn’t call for help. Whatever Landon had planned, she was now part of it.
After a couple minutes, Piper’s breathing started to slow down a little bit, the initial surge of adrenaline wearing off. She tried to focus on what she did have left, her hearing. Other than the road noise, she could hear Landon humming. A second later, she heard a faint beeping, as if he was dialing a phone. “We’re on our way in. I’m five minutes out. Be ready,” was all he said.
Piper sucked in a ragged breath through her nose, taking in as much oxygen as she possibly could through the hood. Is this how Abby had felt this morning? Had she been able to breathe okay? And they were five minutes out from what? Where were they going? Maybe Landon was just taking her to see Abby, and these were all precautions? Part of Piper wanted to believe that’s all it was, but the way he handled her at the park had surprised her. He’d never been that rough in the past. Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding? Maybe he was trying to keep her in the dark about where they were going? But why had he been so rough?
A couple minutes later, Piper felt a bump in the road that was enough to jostle her from where she was laying on the seat. Railroad tracks? She tried to adjust herself on the seat. Her right arm and shoulder had fallen asleep from being pinned behind her for the ride. Her right leg had a cramp in it. All she wanted to do was sit up and move her arms and look around a little bit, but she couldn’t even ask for that because Landon had taped her mouth closed.
Another bump from Landon’s car and some quiet rattling overhead and murmurs of voices got her attention just as the car came to a stop. Piper heard the driver side door open and then close, feeling the car shake a little bit. A second later, she heard the door that was closest to her feet open and Landon’s voice coming through the car, “Get her out and put her in the cage. If she’s calm you can take the cable ties off of her. If not, leave them on.”
Piper heard boots walking away from her as she heard another voice say, “Sit up.”
Piper struggled to do that, trying to swing her legs back down onto the floor of the car, but without using her hands it was difficult. She felt someone with a strong grip pull at her and then say, “Put your feet on the ground.” Piper tried to feel with her feet for the edge of the car and leaned forward, trying to get out. Whoever was speaking to her pulled on one of her arms and put his hand on the top of her head so she wouldn’t bump it. Not that it made much of a difference. The pain in the back of her head from where Landon had grabbed her braid was so tender she was fighting off a headache. She stifled a few tears, sniffing under the hood that kept her in the darkness, worried she wouldn’t be able to breathe and not wanting to give Landon the satisfaction. She couldn’t cry. She just couldn’t.
Piper stood for a second, trying to get her balance. Without being able to see, it was hard to figure out where she was. She felt one hand on her left elbow and another on her right. Two men? One on either side of her? She wasn’t sure. The voice she’d heard a moment before said, “Walk forward.” He barked at her like someone in the military, probably someone that worked with Landon. Piper shuffled her feet on the floor, not wanting to trip on anything. The two strong hands on her tugged her forward, trying to get her to walk a little bit faster. Ahead of her, she heard the rattle of something that sounded like a gate being opened. There was the squeak of some hinges and then she felt herself being turned around, facing the way she’d come in.
A second later, they removed the hood, the bright lights causing her to squint. There were two men standing in front of her. “I’m going to take the tape off now. Let me just tell you there’s no point in screaming. You’re in an abandoned warehouse. There isn’t anyone other than us for nearly a mile. If you scream or make a fuss, we’ll put the tape and the hood right back on again. Understand?”
Piper nodded.
As the man pulled the tape off, the adhesive stung her skin, taking her lipstick off with it. Piper blinked a couple of times, trying to get her bearings. Her hands were still cable tied behind her back, but at least she could open her mouth. She drew in a couple of long deep breaths while the men stared at her. “Good,” the man said, staring at her.
Now that her eyes had adjusted to the light, she could see there were two men staring at her, both wearing black from head to toe. They were outfitted like they were in the military or something, long
sleeved polo shirts and black cargo pants letting everyone know that they spent a lot of time at the gym. Of the two of them, one was shorter and stockier. The other one, who stood off to her left, seemed to be taller and thinner. Both had the same grim expression on their face, the same square jaw. The shorter man was staring at her. After a second, he said, “The boss said I can take off your cable ties if you can stay calm. If that’s what you want, nod your head once.”
Piper was afraid to do anything other than what they asked, so she nodded. Just once.
The man looked at her, “Okay. But understand, if you cause a fuss, the restraints go back on.”
Piper nodded again, just once.
The taller man pulled something out of his waistband and flipped it open. It was a knife. Piper held her breath for a second, wondering what he was going to do, then realized he was going to use it to cut the cable ties off her wrists. She heard a snap and then another and felt her arms drop back to her sides. She shook them and looked at the men. The shorter one looked at her and said, “Now, go sit down.”
As they stepped away, Piper turned around. A huddled form sat on the bench behind her. “Abby!” she whispered.
Abby looked up, her eyes wide and sad, “Mom? What are you doing here?”
11
Something wasn’t right.
Charlie Burns sat at his desk in his office at the North American Intelligence Institute in Washington, DC, and swiveled his chair to stare out the window. Outside, he had a not so lovely view of the back of a cluster of office buildings. If he stood up, he could see the tip of the Capitol building, but that was it in terms of view. He tugged on his shirt, pulling the collar away from his neck. Something definitely wasn’t right…
Jess Montgomery was his best analyst. There was no one that even came close to her ability to piece together chunks of information that weren’t connected and make sense of them. It was Saturday. She was supposed to be finalizing a presentation and getting it to him so he could review it. Jess was due to travel the next day, Sunday, and give the presentation to some of the Navy brass on Monday. This wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill presentation — it was one that could land the think tank millions of dollars in consulting fees from the government, wider ranging responsibilities, and probably a big promotion for Jess.