Hillary Blake looked at his phone again and checked the time. The more he looked at the phone, the more worried he got. Where was Kimberly? He asked himself over and over again. Had she changed her mind about coming home?
If she had, she could have just called him and told him and told him that she couldn't make it. There was no need to ignore his calls.
He tried calling her again, but this time the phone was switched off. Hillary Blake began to panic. Christopher Keane, his long time friend stared at him and moved closer.
"Is everything okay, Hillary?" Christopher asked. "You looked worried"
"I have been trying, but I still can't reach Kim" Hillary replied. Looking even more worried than ever.
"Damn it" Christopher said. "I guess she must be really busy. Remember she said she was at work. I'm sure she is just busy with something. And whatever it is, it must be very important. Just try to enjoy the party. Kim is a big girl and I'm sure she's fine".
"Well, if it's a work issue, she would have called and told me about it. She said she would be here soon. And she should be by now. I can't enjoy the party if she isn't here and I don't know where she is. Something must be wrong. I have a bad feeling about this" Hillary said as he looked around while Christopher looked at him sympathetically.
"I should call Phoebe, they always make plans and go out together. If anyone knows where Kim is, it's her." Hillary said.
"Good idea" Christopher said.
Phoebe picked the call after the fourth ring. "Oh hi, Mr Blake" she said cheerfully. "Happy birthday. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your party, I'm sure you are having a great time though. How's Kim doing?"
Hillary sighed deeply. "She isn't here Phoebe. She said she was going to be here soon and she isn't. That's why I called you. I thought you might know where she is"
"I'm sorry, Mr Blake. But I don't" Phoebe said. "But maybe she's just stuck at work. She was really looking forward to the party too. I will try and see if I can reach her".
"Please do that. Thank you" Hillary said as he hung up. What Phoebe said had made him even more worried. Kimberly never did stuff like this.
"She doesn't know where Kim is either" Hillary said to Christopher. "What if she's in some kind of trouble?"
"Let's wait for a few minutes" Christopher said. "And if she isn't here or we don't hear from her. We are calling the cops"
Hillary liked that idea. He nodded in agreement. Kimberly was all he had. He couldn't loose her. Couldn't think of what he would do if he did.
His phone rang almost immediately and Hillary almost dropped it. He fumbled in his haste to see who it was.
"An unknown number?" Hillary hissed. He didn't have time for this right now. But he picked the call and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Hillary Blake" he said impatiently and obviously irritated.
"Hello, Mr Blake, I trust you are having a great time at your party. Listen very carefully" a voice he didn't recognize said. "We have your daughter, Kimberly, and if you want her to continue breathing, you will exactly what I tell you... And I mean EXACTLY what I say"
Hillary froze. And he almost dropped the phone. He nodded helplessly. Forgetting that he was on the phone.
He moved into the nearest room, away from the guests and motioned for Christopher to follow him, which Christopher did.
"Do you understand what I just said?" the harsh voice on the other line barked, and Hillary clutched the phone to his ear tightly.
"I understand" Hillary said. He could barely recognize his own voice. Beside him Christopher stood. He was beginning to look worried too as he saw the fear written on Hillary's face.
"Don't try to involve the police" the man said. "Trust me, I will know if you do. And you won't believe what I will do to your daughter if you try to mess with me. You don't want to take chances with your daughter's life.. Do you?"
"No I don't" Hillary said. His hand shook. "Please don't hurt her. I will do whatever you want".
The man on the other end laughed. "Just what I thought. You will do anything for your daughter. Now what I want is really simple, and it shouldn't be too hard for you.... Since you are... You know.... You".
The man laughed again, and all Hillary could think of was how badly he wanted to wrap his hands around the bastards throat. He didn't say that though. He kept quiet and kept his thoughts to himself. For Kim's sake. He didn't want to do anything that would put Kimberly in more danger than she already was. God! Who knows what they might have done to her already. He thought.
"Money." the man's voice said, interrupting Hillary's thoughts. "That's all I want. You have a lot of it so like I said before, it shouldn't be hard for you. All I want is a ransom of Fourty million. And I want it in cash. I don't want the damn police tracking me through the fucking bank. I will call you to let you know where I expect the money to be. I don't think I need to remind you that I have your daughter. If you do anything stupid like involving the cops, I promise you that I will slit your daughter's throat and I won't think twice about it."
"I want proof that my daughter is safe and alive" Hillary said hurriedly before the man hung up. "How do I know that you truly have her.... Or that you haven't killed her".
"Oh your daughter is alive alright" the man said. "But she definitely isn't safe." He laughed again. And Hillary had to bite his tongue to keep from telling the idiot to burn in hell.
"I will let you talk to her for few seconds" the man said. Hillary heard a few muffled sounds and people whispering before he heard Kimberly's voice. His heart sank when he heard how distressed she was.
"Dad" she said. "Dad, I'm scared. Please get me out of here. They broke into my apartment.... I'm...."
Hillary didn't hear anything else as the phone was snatched from Kimberly. He heard her scream "Dad".
"You heard her. Hope you are motivated now" the man said.
"Don't you dare hurt...." Hillary began, but he said the remaining words of that sentence to himself as the man hung up.
Hillary sat in a nearby chair. Scared for his daughter.... And angry as hell. That bastard better hope he never found him. He thought. But for now, he was more concerned with finding and bringing his daughter home.
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
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