Maggie's Baby

by Colleen French

He pulled on his shorts without bothering with his boxers. “Probably not. Well, maybe just a little. I told you, teenagers could come up with some crazy ideas. But Taylor has always gone for the drama of a scene. She likes to make more of issues than are there. She likes to exaggerate her own feelings, maybe just to try them out.” He gave a wave. “Once she gets used to the idea, she’ll be fine.”

  “Okay,” Maggie said hesitantly. “If that’s what you think. Just promise me that after you talk to her, you’ll call me at work and let me know how she is.”

  He pulled his T-shirt over his head. “You don’t think I could go all day without talking to you, do you?”

  He was still grinning at her with that sexy smile of his when she closed the bathroom door.

  Jarrett left Maggie a message around eleven in the morning, but she was busy until after lunch with a serious foot laceration, a family with a suspected case of salmonella poisoning, two sprained ankles, and a suspected MI. It wasn’t until almost one that she finally had the time to grab a soda in the physician’s lounge and make a personal phone call.

  “Hello,” came Jarrett’s voice over the phone.

  “Hi, there.” She couldn’t resist a smile as she remembered flashes of last night’s lovemaking. “How’s our favorite daughter doing? Is she really upset with us? Packing her bags to join the Foreign Legion?”

  He paused. It wasn’t until that moment that Maggie realized his greeting had been strained. “Jarrett?”

  “Maggie, she’s not here. I’m getting worried.”

  “Not there?” She set down her soda can. A tiny current of fear curled up her spine. “What do you mean she’s not there?”

  “I can’t find her. She’s not on the beach. She’s not at Heather’s. They dropped her off early because Heather had to change her flute lesson time. No one’s seen Taylor since she left here this morning.”

  “Her cell phone?”

  “She’s not picking up.”

  “Have you called the police?”

  “I think I’m going to now. It’s been six hours. I know she’s almost fifteen, so I gave her as much time as I could, but I think I have to do it.” His voice was tight with concern. “I know she’s a responsible young woman, but this just isn’t like her. She wouldn’t just take off. She knows how much I worry about her safety. She’s old enough to be aware of what kind of world we live in.”

  Maggie jumped out of her chair. “I’ll be right there.”

  Chapter 17

  “My father is going to be pissed when he figures out I’m gone!” Taylor shouted from the shadowy basement room her kidnappers had locked her in. She kicked the solid wooden door once with her toe; then, in frustration, she turned and slammed it with the heel of her tennis shoe. “And you won’t like it when you see how pissed he can get.”

  “Shut up in there!” came an agitated male voice from the other side of the door. “You hear me? Shut up, or I’ll use duct tape on that mouth of yours.”

  Taylor crossed her arms over her chest angrily, but she didn’t speak again. She wasn’t afraid of having her mouth taped so much as having to face her kidnappers again. At least alone in this awful room, she felt a, little safe.

  But the minute she turned away from the door, her brief fit of anger subsided into terror again. She paced the tiny, dark room, tears running down her face. How could this be happening to her? Real kids didn’t get kidnapped, not kids like her who got good grades and tried to do what her father asked her to. That was just in movies, wasn’t it?

  A sob escaped her and she clamped her hand over her mouth to keep the men from hearing her.

  Why was this happening to her? She had done everything right when the men grabbed her in the alley at the end of her street down near the beach. She did everything her dad and guidance counselors at school had said to do if someone tried to snatch you. She hollered, she kicked, she screamed.

  But no one heard her. No one saw them slap her so hard that she went dizzy. No one saw them take her cell phone, throw her into the beat-up old utility van and take off.

  She wiped her runny nose with the sleeve of the sweatshirt emblazoned with the name of her father’s college alma mater. She was so scared she was trembling all over. Her stomach was so upset that she felt like she was going to barf, only she hadn’t had any breakfast.

  “What am I going to do? What am I going to do?” she whispered over and over again in a chant. “Daddy, what do I do?”

  She was never the kind of person who got really upset over things. She had always taken pride in the fact she could stay calm even when people got hurt, like the time Heather fell off her horse at the stable and broke her arm. But Taylor could feel herself losing control. She was almost hysterical.

  “Okay,” she murmured, hugging herself. “Okay, stay calm. This isn’t going to help.”

  She took a few deep breaths, trying to make her heart stop pounding so hard that it hurt her chest. “Dad says you have to stay calm in bad situations.”

  Taylor didn’t know where she was, but she didn’t think she was more than half an hour from home. That’s how long she thought it had taken to get here. She didn’t know much more than that. The van had had no windows in the back and they had blindfolded her before dragging her into this house, down steps, and into the windowless room.

  There was nothing in her prisonlike cell but an old mattress, a floor lamp without a shade, and a Port-a-potty like the ones you took camping. She scrunched up her nose. She’d have to pee pretty bad to use that. There were no windows, a concrete floor, and only one door. She could hear an occasional car outside, but she could tell she wasn’t on a major road.

  Her kidnappers were watching TV on the other side of the door. There were only two. One was called Cal. He was the one who’d just hollered at her, the one in charge. He had greasy blond hair and a scar above his eyebrow. He wore a torn Rolling Stones T-shirt. She remembered that because she liked the Rolling Stones.

  The other man was named Ants. He wasn’t as rough as Cal and had tried to make her more comfortable on the floor in the back of the van on the way here. He told her not to be afraid. He was the one who had helped her duck so she wouldn’t hit her head going down the steps, blindfolded.

  Taylor took another couple of deep breaths, feeling better. Calmer. She had no doubt her father would find her. Right now he and Maggie were looking for her. They had cops and dogs and helicopters aiding the search. With any luck at all, she wouldn’t have to pee before they got here, broke in the door, and arrested her kidnappers.

  Taylor pushed back her tangled hair. Okay. So where were the police, the dogs, her father, and Maggie? Her chest tightened again and tears filled her eyes.

  “No, no,” she whispered. “Gotta stay calm. Gotta think about something else. Think about school starting. Think about Dad and Maggie.”

  Dad and Maggie . . .

  This was all her own fault; she knew that. If she hadn’t acted so stupid about seeing her father and Maggie in bed together, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Here she was trying to convince her dad how grown-up and mature she was, and then she pulled a stupid stunt like this.

  Her friend Heather would give anything to have her parents get back together again. Taylor didn’t know why she’d reacted like that when she saw the two of them. Taylor really did like Maggie.

  They were alike in so many ways, and Maggie was so smart and so funny. And the best thing was, she made Dad smile—no, she made him grin like one of those goofy high school boys she knew. When Maggie was around, he was always grinning.

  Taylor still didn’t understand exactly what had happened between her parents before she was born, but she was beginning to think they had made a big mistake in breaking up. Even if they were young, they must have loved each other an awful lot to still be in love after all these years.

  And now maybe Taylor had ruined everything. She had said that awful thing to Maggie. She knew it wasn’t really true. She knew Maggie hadn’t been tr
ying to get her father back through her. In the beginning, Maggie had even avoided her father.

  Maybe she’d said it because a part of her wanted to have her father and her mother to herself. She didn’t want to share either of them with the other. Now it sounded stupid even thinking about it. She wasn’t dumb enough to think the entire world revolved around her, or that she could be solely responsible for her father’s happiness. Taylor plopped down on the mattress on the floor. Well, she couldn’t fix anything with Maggie and her dad unless she got out of here. Until she got out of here. Right now she just had to stay calm and wait.

  ~~~

  “I’m sorry, Mr. McKay. I understand your concern, but she is a teenage girl, and teenage girls have been known to run away. It’s my job to ask.”

  Jarrett, Maggie, and a Talbany Beach police officer stood in the middle of Jarrett’s living room. Maggie had offered the officer a seat, but he had declined.

  “Understand my concern!” Jarrett exploded. “The hell you understand my concern. My daughter did not run away. She has never been late to dinner in her life, never missed the school bus, never gone home with a friend without checking with me first. I’m telling you this is not like her. Something has happened.”

  “Jarrett, we need to stay calm,” Maggie said, brushing his forearm.

  She was as upset as he was, maybe more so, because she knew from experience that when a person thought this can’t happen to me, it did happen. But someone had to stay calm, and right now it was apparently her turn. She couldn’t go to pieces because Taylor needed her and Jarrett needed her. She couldn’t think of all the terrible things that could have happened to Taylor; that wouldn’t help, either. And she certainly couldn’t contemplate what her life would be like if she found her daughter after all these years only to lose her to tragedy. She wouldn’t think about it. She just wouldn’t.

  “I’m not an idiot,” Jarrett continued. “I own a large corporation and I realize I could be the target of something like this. We have certain rules in this household, and my daughter abides by them.”

  The officer waited calmly until Jarrett finished. “Sir, I’ll file your daughter’s report. Our patrolmen in cars as well as on foot will be on the lookout for her, and someone will question the neighbors. We’ll do everything we can. I’m simply telling you that with girls this age, we usually find them within a couple of hours, a day at the most. They have almost always taken off on their own and returned on their own.”

  “So what am I supposed to do while you file your reports?”

  “There’s a lot you can do, Mr. McKay. You can call your daughter’s friends, ask them to call extended friends on the chance someone has seen her.” It was obvious from his patience that he had given this speech to frantic parents before. “You could check out the beach and places she likes to hang out—the boardwalk, nearby arcades, the movies.”

  Jarrett threw up his hands in frustration. “And when we don’t find her in any of those places?”

  “As I said, we’ll do everything we can on our end. We’ll find her.” The officer offered a taut smile. “I understand your fears. I have a daughter of my own.”

  Maggie walked the officer to the door. “Thank you for coming, sir. We’ll do all the things you suggested.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll file the report and someone will be by with more questions.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Jarrett said angrily as Maggie closed the door behind the officer. “Someone has taken her, Maggie. I just know it.”

  Jarrett was a mess. He was still wearing the previous day's rumpled T-shirt and shorts, and he hadn’t brushed his hair.

  Maggie was just as frightened as Jarrett was, but if there was one thing her job had taught her, it was to appear calm even when she wasn’t, to think logically, act on her logical thoughts, and fall apart later.

  “Why don’t you go change? Shave,” she said gently. “I'll go check Taylor's laptop and see if her phone contacts are there while you clean up.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “I already called everyone I can think of.”

  “That was hours ago.” She faced him and rested both hands on his broad shoulders. She hated seeing him so scared and feeling so helpless. “Who knows? Maybe she’s shown up somewhere by now.”

  Jarrett closed his eyes and opened them again. “I’m not handling this well.”

  “You’re handling this as well as any scared father could. Get cleaned up and you’ll feel better.”

  He studied her face for a moment. “Thanks for being here, Maggie.”

  She tenderly brushed the hair off his forehead. Life was a heck of a roller-coaster ride. One minute she was lying in Jarrett’s arms, on top of the world, and the next minute this. “She’s my daughter, too. I’m scared, too.”

  “I know.” He smiled grimly. “But I couldn’t get through this without you. Not just because you’re her mother, but because you’re Maggie—the woman I love. The woman I’ve always loved.”

  His words filled her heart with joy, and yet she couldn’t revel in that joy, because right now a part of both of them was missing.

  They kissed like parents, like husband and wife.

  “Go change now,” she said gently, smoothing his stubbled cheek with her palm. “Try not to worry. We’ll find her. I know we will.”

  ~~~

  “Excuse me.” Taylor knocked on the door after she heard Cal go up the steps. She was feeling calmer now. She was still afraid, terrified, but she knew she was going to be all right.

  From what she gathered from the last conversation she’d heard, the one called Cal had somewhere to go, something about it being time to make the phone call. She was hoping that meant he was calling her parents. It was already pretty obvious they hadn’t kidnapped her to rape her or torture her or anything gross like that, so it had to be for ransom.

  Cal had left Ants to guard her.

  She knocked again. “Excuse me!”

  “I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Ants said.

  Taylor could hear The Simpsons on TV.

  “I’m hungry.”

  “Gave you a ham sandwich and a Coke at lunch.’

  “I don’t eat meat,” she lied. The truth was, her stomach had been too queasy, but the kidnapper didn’t have to know that. She had once seen a special on TV about kidnappings, and the man on the show had said that victims had the best chance of surviving if they made some kind of connection with the kidnappers, made them realize the victim was a real person. That’s what she was doing, or at least trying to do. She had to do something or go crazy. “I’m a vegetarian,” she called.

  “You're what?”

  “I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat meat. I want a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.”

  “We ain’t got no broccoli and potatoes here,” Ants said. “Where you think I’m going to get that?”

  “Arby’s.”

  “We got no Arby’s around here. I’d have to go all the way into Talbany to go to Arby’s. We ain’t got nothing around here but a DQ and the gas station round the corner.”

  Taylor smiled. So they weren’t in Talbany, and they weren’t along the coast. If they were, there’d have been some fast-food place nearby. All the beach resorts had them. They must have gone west, out into the sticks. Somehow knowing where she was made her feel better.

  “I’m awfully hungry,” Taylor said, softening her voice, trying to sound a little bit pitiful. If she could get Ants to leave, she might be able to break down the door and get out on her own. “Please, Ants? I’m so hungry.”

  “I can’t go nowhere.” He paused. “I’m really sorry,” he said then, “but you shouldn’t be here too long.”

  “No? Why’s that?” She stepped close to the door, her hopes rising.

  “I ain’t supposed to talk to you.”

  “Come on. Tell me. I’m really scared, but if you tell me I won’t be.”

  “What the hell. What Cal won’t know won’t hurt him.” His hand
met the door. “He's callin’ daddy. If your daddy drops off the money tomorrow morning like he’s supposed to, you’ll be out of here before breakfast and we’ll be on our way to Vegas.” He paused and cursed. “Don’t tell Cal I told you none of this.”

  Not until tomorrow morning, Taylor thought, tears welling in her eyes. But she wanted to go home now. Home to her father and Maggie. She wouldn’t even care if Maggie stayed the night. She just wanted to be home safe.

  Taylor laid her hand on the door. “Could my dad pay now and I could go home now? I know he’ll pay as long as I’m not hurt,” she said quickly.

  “Yeah, that’s what’s Cal said. We saw his picture on the cover of that there magazine at the mini-mart. Cal said he had to be rich. Said he’d pay top dollar for his daughter.”

  “He’d even pay more if you gave me back now.”

  “Nah, sorry. Cal says we got to let him stew overnight. That way there won’t be no funny business in the morning over the money. He’ll put it right where we tell him—no cops, no exploding ink.”

  Taylor glanced at the port-a-potty in the corner of the room. If she couldn’t go home until tomorrow morning, she knew she’d have to use that disgusting thing.

  She went back to the cot and flopped down on her back. She stared at the ceiling, trying to remain calm despite the tightening in her chest again. It sounded as if she was going to be okay. She knew her father would pay the ransom. She just had to hold out until morning.

  She could do that. She knew she could, because she was tough, as tough as Maggie. Shoot, Maggie’s husband and baby had gotten killed in a car accident and Maggie had survived it. Being kidnapped couldn’t be near as bad as that. Taylor knew she’d just have to be brave, eat ham, use the port-a-potty, and she’d be home for lunch.

  ~~~

  The house phone rang at exactly four p.m., after Maggie had finished calling all Taylor’s friends for the second time and Jarrett had just come into the house from driving up and down the beach avenue again.