Kayla frowned. She didn’t like being left out. Plus, she had a hard time controlling her thoughts that morning after waking up from that upsetting dream.
Why was she dreaming about Mitch? In the dream, his junky rental house was literally falling apart around him, yet he refused to spend any money to fix it. Kayla pleaded with him, telling him he had to at least fix the roof that leaked directly into his bedroom.
“No,” he kept repeating, “you just don’t understand.”
She woke up irritated with him. But then she couldn’t stop thinking about him, which was even more annoying.
Luckily, there was a lot that she could do at the house to distract herself and to prepare for her mom’s arrival. “I guess I could wash all of these dishes that you left here for mom. She won’t like coming home to a dirty kitchen.”
He laughed. “You two notice everything. I wasn’t going to waste time washing a few pots and pans while she was in the hospital!”
Kayla patted him on the shoulder. “Sure dad, I know that you would’ve jumped at the chance to wash dishes at any other time.”
He winked at her and left through the garage.
Kayla busied herself with tidying up the kitchen. She washed all of the dishes and set them to dry. Next, she sorted the mail into more manageable piles for her mom to address when she got home. After taking out the trash, she wiped off the counters and the kitchen table before grabbing the vacuum cleaner.
There likely wasn’t much time before her parents got back, but she wanted to make it as nice as possible. Vacuuming always took the longest because her parents still had the same ancient, heavy vacuum from when she lived there in high school. She couldn’t believe it still worked. It was so loud that she could barely hear herself humming.
At one point, she thought that she heard a door open. She turned off the vacuum immediately, and stood there listening in the silence, her heart pounding. Did someone get into the house? She was really getting paranoid now.
She quietly reached for her cell phone and waited. After two minutes, she didn’t hear anything. She shook her head and sighed. It wasn’t worth living the rest of her life worrying about sounds that she imagined while vacuuming. She’d have to relax eventually.
She restarted the vacuum and wheeled it into the living room. It took about ten minutes to do a good job in there, and by the end she noticed that the vacuum looked pretty full. She decided it was best to empty it before she took it upstairs. She bent over, detached the dustbin, and spun around to go back to the kitchen.
Suddenly, there was a hand over her mouth.
“Don’t scream, and don’t make this worse,” said the man restraining her.
She dropped the dustbin and instinctively screamed. It was muffled and useless under his grip. Another person grabbed her hands, securing her wrists with a zip tie.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you Dr. Small.”
He said her name with such disdain that it sent chills down her spine.
Her heart thundered in her chest. How was this possible? How could these idiots think that she was involved with Marty and be desperate enough to kidnap her?
Unable to speak, she settled with narrowing her eyes at him.
He laughed. “Oh, what’s the matter? Did you need to finish cleaning up around here?”
Kayla tried to respond but there was now tape over her mouth.
“Don’t be scared sweetheart,” he said, staring at her with joy glowing from his beady eyes.
Kayla was at least six inches taller than him, and she peered down at his shining, bald head. The guy looked like such a dweeb – like someone who would try to cut in front of her at the grocery store and act surprised if he were called out on it. His sidekick looked no older than eighteen. Yet somehow they still managed to sneak up on her.
She wasn’t scared. She was angry.
“Come on Dr. Tall,” he said, with what sounded like a snort, as he led her to the back door. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
They stepped through the door and into the backyard. Almost immediately, a voice called out, “Police! Hands up, get on the ground!”
Her two kidnappers immediately fell to their knees. Kayla looked down at them, bewildered. It was happening too fast for her to process.
Police officers descended upon the kidnappers and a man with gray hair approached her.
“Hi Kayla, are you alright?”
She didn’t know how to respond. The police seemed preoccupied with the criminals – which was fine by her. This guy wasn’t dressed like an officer, but the only way he’d know that name would be if he knew her from witness protection. Was he FBI?
She decided he must be safe and nodded.
He swiftly cut her hands free so she could remove the tape from her mouth. “Thank you.”
“My name is Silver, it’s nice to meet you.”
Kayla smiled. She felt like she was in a daze. “Hi Silver.”
“I’m sorry that this happened to you. The good news is that we might have gotten enough intelligence to really get these guys in trouble.”
“That’s nice.” She wanted to listen to what this man had to say, but it dawned on her that her parents could arrive at any minute. If her mom saw their home surrounded by police, she would have another heart attack. “Is it okay if I give my parents a call to let them know that everything is okay?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
She took a deep breath and stepped a few feet away from the excitement. The flashing lights atop the police cars blinded her and made the situation seem even more surreal.
What was she even going to say to her parents? She called her dad, and luckily, he picked up. He told her that her mom’s discharge was delayed because the cardiologist wanted to see her one last time, but he was called into an emergency case that morning. They wouldn’t be home for another few hours.
Kayla was relieved. It’d be best tell them everything in person; she decided that for the time being, she’d tell them that the police came by, but everything was okay and she’d explain later.
Unlike her mom, her dad wasn’t one to ask too many questions. “Sounds good sweetie, you stay safe and we’ll be home soon.”
She felt a bit calmer after hanging up – at least her mom wouldn’t be scared half to death when she got home. Kayla turned around to look for Silver, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, one of the police officers approached her.
“Hi Dr. Small, my name is Sergeant Blair. We got a tip that you were in danger, and I’m glad we got here when we did. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice oddly calm. “I’m totally fine. Thank you for coming and…” Her voice broke. Maybe she wasn’t as calm as she thought.
“You’re very welcome. We’re going to get these two down to the station, but maybe you and I can go inside, and I can clarify a bit of what’s going on?”
“Sure, come on in,” Kayla said as though she were inviting him in for lemonade. She must’ve still been in shock, because none of it felt real.
And for some reason, Mitch’s face kept popping up into her head. And not in an “I told you so” kind of way. It wasn’t even that she was worried that he was in danger – that wasn’t quite it. It was like she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she’d never see him again, as though that would be the worst part of being kidnapped.
Odd how brains work, she thought airily as she opened the back door for Sergeant Blair.
“Can I make you some tea?” she asked him.
“Uh sure, that’d be nice,” he said, nodding to a few officers to follow him and stand guard.
Chapter 21
Waiting for news from Silver was torture. Though Mitch trusted Silver, somehow he couldn’t shake the awful feeling that something might happen to Kayla.
He drove back to his house and got on the computer. He was supposed to work a shift selling insurance, but he couldn’t think straight. Instead of taking calls, he bought a pla
ne ticket to Albany. He couldn’t leave Kayla to fend for herself.
Not half an hour later, his phone rang. It was Perez.
“Hello?”
“Mitch, how’s it going?”
There was a chance, of course, that the Marshals didn’t know what he was thinking. But he knew that chance was slim. “I’m getting ready to find Kayla.”
She laughed. “Oh, I did not expect you to say that.”
Surely the Marshals could see his every move? “Oh, I thought you knew.”
“I did, but I’m surprised by your honesty.”
Mitch sighed. “I understand that you won’t be able to provide me protection once I leave. But this is my decision.”
“Actually, it isn’t. We’re only a week away from your testimony, and a lot of our case rests on it. We can’t let you leave Cody.”
“What do you mean you can’t let me? I’m a free man.”
“Yes,” she said patiently, “you are free. But I’m telling you right now, if you leave and are hurt or prevented from testifying, your dad will still go to jail, but it’s likely that many of the other people involved in his crimes will walk free.”
Mitch buried his face in his hands. He still couldn’t believe that his testimony was so important, but from what the FBI told him earlier, his knowledge established years of criminal connections. He understood that it was important, but nothing was more important than Kayla. His own life was worth nothing if Kayla was harmed.
“Are you still there?” asked Perez.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I am. I’m just thinking.”
“Listen, there isn’t much that we can do right now for Kayla. But I will reach out to the local police department and make sure that they’re on the lookout for Colin and his gang. I’ll let them know how serious it is.”
“That’s something,” he said.
“This will sound harsh,” she said slowly, “but I’m pretty sure that if you show your face in Albany, it will only draw more attention to her. They’ll think that she’s around, too.”
That thought crossed his mind initially, but after sitting and replaying his worst fears, he pushed it to the side and decided to go anyway. “I can see that.”
“And don’t think you can trade yourself to save her. They’ll take you both. Stay put. I’ll do everything I can. Please don’t do anything stupid, and I will keep you updated, okay?”
Mitch rubbed his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse for her, especially if she wasn’t even on Colin’s radar anymore. He could get there and make everything worse. “All right, thank you.”
Unable to focus, Mitch went out to his workshop to do something with his hands. Anything to distract him for the rest of the day.
It didn’t work that well, but it was better than nothing. Around eight that evening, he got a call from Silver. He had a bit of news – his team was in place and succeeded in locating Kayla. They watched her as she left the airport, got to the hospital, and left the hospital. The team was conducting 24 hour surveillance and would not let her out of their sight. Silver said that they detected some suspicious activity.
“What kind of activity?” asked Mitch impatiently. “Have they told the police yet?”
Silver took a long breath. “Not yet. She’s not in any danger. She has a guy watching her, and as soon as he makes his move, the team will make sure the police are right there.”
“After he makes a move? Why can’t they catch him before that? She could get hurt.”
“She won’t,” Silver said flatly. “We’ve seen much tougher cases than one woman being followed by one guy. If we grab him before he does anything, the police won’t be able to hold him. You know this, stop thinking so much with your heart.”
Mitch’s face flushed red. That was not normally something that he would be accused of. He tended to be a logical person. “If anything happens to her –”
Silver cut him off. “It won’t. Stop worrying. I’ll update you in the morning.”
The line disconnected. Mitch had the urge to drop his phone in the trash and book another flight to Albany. If it was just one guy, Mitch could definitely take him. He wasn’t a trained fighter or anything, but he could throw a few punches or something. Anything.
Mitch had another sleepless night. He kept thinking about Kayla – and not just about her being in danger, but about all the adventures they’d had together over the past few weeks. As guilty as he felt that she was dragged into the witness protection program with him, he was also extremely grateful.
If it weren’t for her, he would never have taken the initiative to get to know so many people in town. He never would’ve gone square dancing and he probably would’ve never gone to Yellowstone. Had she never come, he might be better at selling insurance, but everything else in his life would’ve been worse.
Kayla could bring sunshine into any situation; she was unwaveringly positive and incredibly fun. It was no wonder that she made friends everywhere she went. She was smart and funny, generous and kind…she was unlike anyone he’d ever met.
Mitch felt like he was being driven mad with guilt. Guilt that something might happen to her and it would be his fault. Guilt that he didn’t listen to her and give more consideration into taking his dad’s money; so the last time they saw each other, she wasn’t speaking to him.
Why didn’t he just tell her that he was afraid of becoming consumed by greed, like his father? Kayla wasn’t a judgmental person. She wouldn’t have thought less of him. She probably could’ve talked him through it.
Instead, he kept it all to himself. Now he would never see her again, and she might even end up hurt because of him. After a few hours of worrying, he fell into a restless sleep plagued with nightmares of dark shadows following Kayla through the hallways of the hospital.
He was awoken the next morning by the ring of his cell phone. It was Silver. Mitch felt his heart rate go through the roof.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Everything is good,” said Silver. “Everything is really good.”
“Is Kayla okay? What happened?”
“She’s completely fine. The guy – Colin – made a move to take her, but we knew it was coming, and had the police waiting for him.”
Mitch swallowed. Take her? “He actually got her?”
“He did, but the entire ordeal was less than ten minutes from the time he entered the house until he left the house and got arrested. Just enough time to catch him red-handed.”
“Was she hurt?”
“No, not at all. We bugged the house so we knew exactly what was going on. I gave the tapes to the police to build their case.”
Mitch felt the tightness in his chest easing up just a bit. “That’s good.”
Silver continued. “It is. Turns out that Colin demanded a pretty high price to track down your girl. It was so high that five of your dad’s old partners pitched in to pay him. And Colin is singing to the police like a canary.”
Mitch let out a sigh. “You’re kidding.”
Silver laughed. “No, totally serious. He’s giving them everything. Names, billing statements, wire transfers. The cops will arrest them in the next 24 hours, and then your girl will never have anything to worry about again.”
He kept calling her “his girl.” That wasn’t quite true, but Mitch didn’t correct him. “That’s incredible.”
“I told you that we know what we’re doing,” said Silver smugly. “I like to set a trap before I intervene. This Colin wasn’t a very bright guy.”
Mitch cracked a smile. “Doesn’t seem like it, does it?”
“Do you still want the team watching her for the rest the week?”
“Absolutely. But don’t scare her.”
“You got it. Alright, I gotta run. Take it easy.”
“Thanks. See you.”
Mitch set his phone on the bedside table. He felt like he was floating. Kayla was safe, and she was going to be okay. It turned out that Silver was the right guy
to call after all. And with the police, and hopefully soon the FBI and Marshals, on her side again, she was in good hands.
A weight lifted from his chest. Kayla was okay. The only thing that would make it better would be if he could see her again and explain how sorry he was. He knew it was impossible, though.
A smart, beautiful and sassy woman walked into his life, and he messed it up. He was his usual quiet self and kept all of his thoughts and feelings locked up. He allowed fear to dictate how he behaved – fear of being judged, fear of her leaving forever. It didn’t matter in the end, he still ended up with a broken heart.
Mitch bitterly wished that he would have at least told her how he felt about her. If only he hadn’t been so afraid.
Chapter 22
The police cleared out after a few hours, and Kayla’s mom arrived home later that evening. It was perfect timing; Kayla could calmly explain that she was sort of, kind of abducted, but the police were fully aware of what was going on and were able to rescue her.
Unfortunately, her mother didn’t find that very comforting. “I can’t believe this happened! I am never having a heart attack again!”
“Great, I was hoping you’d say that,” said Kayla.
Her mother let out a huff. “How can you be so calm? Something bad could’ve happened. Something bad did happen!”
Kayla sighed. She’d always taken after her father – it took a lot to ruffle his feathers, and he sat in the corner of the room with a slightly amused look on his face.
“Nothing bad happened,” Kayla said. “In fact, it was actually pretty lucky that he abducted me. The sergeant told me that they now have enough evidence to track down all of the guys that were looking for me, and because a crime was actually committed, they’ll go to jail.”
Her dad chimed in. “See? She’s even safer than she would’ve been if she wasn’t kidnapped. Sometimes kidnapping is a good thing.”
Her mother shot him a dirty look. She remained unconvinced, but she was grateful that everyone was okay.
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