When Hillary Blake's phone rang again, he could barely hear it. His thoughts were on Kimberly. He wasn't a religious man, but he prayed Kimberly was fine. That they wouldn't hurt her. Kimberly was all he had.
"Your phone is ringing, Hillary" Christopher said. He looked worried too. "We can't start panicking now. You have to pull yourself together so we can figure out how to help Kim. Before they hurt or God forbid, even do something worse."
Hillary nodded in agreement and checked the caller ID. It was Phoebe. He held the phone to his ear with shaky hands.
"Mr Blake, I can't reach her" Phoebe said. She sounded so distressed and obviously she had been crying. "I went to apartment. It was open. Someone messed with the lock. The living room was scattered. Like there was some kind of fight in it. I think something really bad has happened to Kim... And no one knows where she is".
"I know" Hillary said, almost surprised he could even speak. Though he hardly recognized his own voice. "I just got a call for a ransom. They didn't even waste any time. Kim has been kidnapped and they threatened to hurt her if I involve the police"
Phoebe burst into tears. "Oh my God. I'm coming over. Mr Blake" she said, before she hung up.
When she got to the house, the guests were leaving. Hillary had announced that he had to end the party because some important family matter had come up and it had to be handled immediately.
Phoebe met Christopher in the living room. He was talking to some guest who were wanted to know why such a nice party had to end so abruptly. "Where's Mr Blake?" she asked him sniffing, her eyes red and swollen from all the crying she did on her way there.
"He's in there" Christopher said, gesturing with his hand. But you have to calm down a bit. I know Kim is your best friend and it's okay to be scared for her safety. I am too. Very scared. But right now we have to encourage her father and be there for him. Try to make him see that we will do everything possible to make sure Kim gets out of this. If he sees you this way he's only going to get more worried. Please"
Phoebe nodded. Knowing he was right. When she saw Hillary, seated in his office, looking lost. She wanted to start crying all over again.
"This is partly my fault" she said to Hillary.
"How?" Hillary asked.
"Two weeks ago, Kim told me that she had a feeling that she was being watched and followed. I should have made her come to you to talk about it. But instead I laughed about it and convinced her she was just being paranoid. If only I hadn't, she wouldn't be in this mess. This is all my fault. She's in this situation because of me" Phoebe said. The tears fell freely again. She couldn't help it.
"No, it's not your fault" Hillary said. "How could you have known? What we should focus on right now is ensuring that Kim stays safe and find a way to bring her home.
Phoebe nodded." But how can we do that without involving the police?"
"Did she see anything suspicious?" Christopher asked Phoebe as he appeared in the doorway.
"No", Phoebe shook her head. She said it was just a weird feeling. I guess she just knew something was wrong some how.
Christopher nodded and Hillary stood up.
"Where are you going?" Christopher asked as Hillary walked out of the office.
"I really don't know" Hillary replied. "Gonna go think of a way to save my daughter"
When he got into his room, he locked the door and sat on the bed and then buried his face in his palm. He had to come up with something...and fast.
He couldn't just trust that idiot with his daughter's life. What if he killed her even after getting his god damn ransom. He wasn't just going to sit and wait like a coward. He thought.
Few minutes later, he picked up his phone and made a phone call.
----------------------
Kimberly had been awake for a while now. At first when she woke up. She had banged on the door of the little room in which she was kept.
"Let me out." She had screamed." Look, you guys don't have to do this. Just tell me what you want. Let me out of here"
She moved back when she heard footsteps coming closer to the door. She stepped back and the door flew open. Wicked eyes came into the room, looking furious.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch" he yelled. "Don't you ever stop talking? You can scream all you want. No one is going to hear you. But I promise you, if you try to scream again, I will slice off your tongue. After all, I only told your father I would return you to him alive. I never said anything about a few parts missing ".
He grinned at her as he shut the door again and Kimberly sat on the floor and wept.
It was even harder when he had his men drag her out and put a phone to her ear so she could talk to her father. The worry in his voice made her cry all over again.
Now she listened to the raised voices coming from one of the rooms.
"We almost lost her because of your stupidity" wicked eyes was saying to someone.
"Relax, Alex" another voice said. So Alex was wicked eye's name. Kimberly thought.
The other person was still speaking, so she listened. "We have her, don't we?" he said.
"Well, we would have lost her because you decided to take your damn sweet time" Alex yelled again.
"I told you I had some personal stuff to handle"..
"Well handle your personal stuff on your own time" Alex said. "All you had to do was show up with the stuff and knock her out. Still you were late.
"I'm not the one who couldn't handle one girl" the second man said and he laughed scornfully. "He got beat up"
"Fuck you, Johnny" Alex said with some heat. "You better hope I don't tell the boss about this. Stupid mother fucker"
"What did you say?" Johnny asked.
Kimberly heard more yelling come from them and she heard voices. Apparently other members of the gang were trying to prevent Johnny and Alex from getting onto a fight.
She pulled her knees to her chest and wept some more. She just wanted to leave this horrible place and people.
Given the choice, Asher Adams preferred darkness to light, and tonight was no exception. It had taken him Fourty eight hours to find the lady and her kiddnapers, but he had waited another Fourty Eight before going to rescue her—just so he could learn about their schedule and then go in the night.He liked shadows, the silence, the fact that most people were asleep. Even those awake were on the low end of their energy cycle —although not his men. He made sure of that.Asher checked the time, then glanced back at the two story house. After nearly two weeks of watching over the woman, the guards had grown sloppy and complacent. They patrolled the estate on a schedule now, instead of at random intervals. After so many days of quiet, they no longer expected trouble. All the better for him. He thought.He reached for his night vision binoculars and trained them on the second story bedroom windows. The third one from the left had drapes open, which allowed him a view of the darkened room. A w
"Man on the stairs, Asher. Watch your back"Asher swore under his breath. There was an extra man on duty tonight. Wasn't that always the way?He left the door, pivoted and pressed his body into the shadows. Someone walked into view, his gun drawn."Hey, Mildred, are you alright? There's been some trouble. Chase is missing""What?"When things went to hell, they did so at light speed. Kimberly's female guard aka Mildred, stumbled from her seat. Asher heard the sound just as he zapped the guard. Unfortunately she tried the door and found it unlocked. There was the sound of a pistol being cocked.Asher dropped the guard onto the landing and waited for Mildred to come out, hoping she was just stupid enough not to follow orders. That rather than staying with her prisoner, she would venture onto the landing.Sure enough, the door cracked open. He got her in the arm before
As they rose high in the sky, he checked his man. One gunshot in the leg. Damn it all to hell. He thought grimly and glared at the young lady huddled in the far seat. There were things worth getting shot for, but saving someone like her wasn't one of them.The other team members had already started emergency first aid. Asher moved back to give them room. He picked up a headset and motioned for Kimberly to do the same."I need to get my man to a doctor" he told her, speaking into the attached microphone.Her gaze moved from him to Paul then back to him. "Of course" she said. "I can stay with you at the hospital"There was no point telling her that they weren't going to a hospital. Public health facilities required too much paper work, and the staff would have too many questions. Asher had his own state of the art medical center with trained specialists —all former students military doctors &mdas
Kimberly stared at him and bit her lower lip. Wondering what she had done to make the man dislike her so much. It wasn't her fault she got kidnapped and she didn't force him to come rescue her. She was sorry about his friend if that was what he was so mad about... And she was grateful for their helpBut that wasn't her fault either.She breathed deeply."Mr Adams" she said. "I'm assuming my father hired you to find me? You didn't answer me before and I just wanted to be sure"He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, your father came to me a week ago. He didn't want to contact the police because he didn't want to spook the kidnappers. He hired another company to locate you after the kidnapping, but they didn't have much luck." He raised one shoulder and let it fall. "I'm better""How is he?.. My father" she asked.He shrugged. "Really worried, obviously. His dau
He watched her take a step back and smiled inwardly. For some reason he just felt like they were in some kind of fight. Like she was taking something from him. Something he knew he shouldn't let go of, and he just had to fight to hold on to it."Or would you prefer to get kidnapped again?" he continued. "If you do, that's your problem, not mine. But I'm getting my money from your dad first. Then if you wish to get kidnapped again, suit yourself. So that means that for now, you are stuck with me. And if this place isn't good enough for you.... Well, you are just going to have to suck it up"For once she didn't reply. He was a bit surprised, she seemed to have a reply to almost everything. But she just stared at me him. Her beautiful eyes shone. She didn't move away from him anymore and he was standing right in front of her. He leaned towards her. She didn't flinch. He had to acknowledge that she had some backbone. And she wasn't a screamer. T
It would be very weird if she woke up suddenly and found him staring at her like some kind of creep. He thought. Hell, he felt like a creep. Standing there and fighting the urge to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ears. Most of it covered a part of her beautiful face.He wanted to.. But he didn't.He turned and left the room as quietly as he had come in. Careful not to wake her.-----------------------Kimberly walked back and forth in the small room until her legs and back ached, then she perched on the edge of the bed and stared at the door. One again, she had no idea how much time had passed or when Asher Adams would return. She only knew that she was afraid and desperately needed to go home.One thing she had learned in the past few days was that she wasn't ready to die. And she didn't trust her rescuer. She rested her elbows on her thighs and dropped her head to
Asher's eyes dropped to his chest where she had poked him, and then back to her. His eyes widened and his mouth opened.Kimberly watched him. Wondering what he was going to do to her. He looked like he was about to say something when a woman, probably one of his team members appeared in the doorway. She held a bag in her hand which she handed to Asher."James told me to give you this" the woman said."Thanks, Madison" Asher said and the woman nodded and left.He handed the bag to Kimberly but she didn't take it from him, so he dumped it on the bed."Just things you should freshen up with. And a change of clothes too. I will be down the hall in the kitchen. You should eat something before we leave"He turned and walked out, leaving the room open this time.Kimberly opened the bag. It contained a toothbrush, paste and the normal bathing stuff. She was surprised
Someone rang the bell and Asher went to check the security camera monitor and recognized the man standing on the front porch. It was James."What's the word?" Asher asked, after letting the other man into the house.James, a tall , dark man with steely gray eyes and a scar that ran down his neck, shrugged. "Paul is doing fine" he replied. "They got the damn bullet out. Doctor says he is good. But he lost some blood""Any damage?" Asher asked.James shrugged. "I didn't want to hear anything bad so I didn't ask. I'm sure it's fine though. If there were any problems, they would have told me"Asher nodded. He understood. He wouldn't have asked either if he had been in James shoes. "You okay taking care of the other job?" he asked."Sure thing" James replied. "We got teams there already. And if the uncle gets any close to the kid, I will take him down"&nbs