Kimberly looked at her wrist watch and sighed.
Okay, maybe deciding to finish work before going to her father's house was a bad idea. It was her father's birthday and he had invited a few friends to a party at his house.
The last thing she had wanted to do was miss her father's birthday. But it from the look of things, she was going to be late. But at least she had bought a gift.
She groaned as her phone rang. She checked the caller ID. It was her father. He was obviously calling to know where the hell she was. She pick the call and held the phone to her ear using her shoulder.
"Hi dad" she said, trying to sound cheerful as she tried to concentrate on the file in front of her and listen to her father at the same time.
"Where are you, pumpkin?" her father sounded unhappy and Kimberly groaned again. She hated when he sounded like that.
"You are not really going to miss my birthday, are you?" her father asked.
"I will be there soon, Dad. I promise" Kimberly said. "Has the party started?"
"Yes it has" her father replied. Sounding even more distressed —if that was possible. "And you should have been here before it did".
Kimberly nodded. She knew he was right. "I'm on my way, Dad. She said."Just give me some time"
When she hung up she sighed and looked at the papers scattered all over her desk. She couldn't even remember why she had made the decision to finish with work in the first place. She shouldn't place anything before family. And her dad was her only family. He should come first. Especially today.
She began to pack up. She arranged the files and stacked them on top of her table. Then she grabbed her jacket, which was draped on her chair head rest. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs.
Most of the the staff had gone home so the premises was almost empty except for the security guards around. She waved goodbye to one of the guards, Philip as she got into her car.
She had to hurry home and get dressed. She didn't mind showing up at the party in her work clothes. She didn't care about such things, but her father did. And it was his birthday. It wouldn't cause any harm to do things his way tonight, especially now that she was late.
She got to her apartment and parked her car. Then she rushed upstairs. Searching her bag for her keys all the way to her door.
"Ha, found it" she said with relief as she withdrew it from her bag.
But as she reached forward to slid her key in the lock, she paused.
Something was wrong.
-----------------
She wanted to scream. But she didn't.
Her door was slightly open. The lock had been tampered with. It wasn't too noticeable and she only noticed because she had pushed the door when she tried to slid her key in. Kimberly lifted one hand to her mouth and bit her lower lip. Someone had gotten into her house.
She pushed the door open and looked inside. Everything looked fine... Just like she left it. Perhaps the thieves had taken what they wanted and left. What could they be after? She asked herself.
She walked inside and looked around. Everything was intact. She rushed to her room... Still intact. She went to the drawer beside her bed where she kept some cash. The money was still there.
She stood upright, clearly confused. Then she walked back into the living room. If the person or people who broke into her house didn't take anything. What could they have been after? She wondered.
Her mind drifted back to the weird feeling that she had been having. Maybe it was a stalker. She thought. Finally showing himself or herself.
She picked her phone from the table where she had dropped it, intending to call the police. A noise behind her made her start. She turned to see a man standing behind her. His hair was dyed green and he had narrow, wicked eyes.
Kimberly looked at him closely. She had never seen the guy in her entire life.
"Drop the phone, pretty" he said with a wicked smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Kimberly didn't move. Her phone was still in her hand and it was still locked. The man wasn't holding a gun, but that didn't mean he couldn't harm her. She looked to her right. Her door was still slightly open, so she made a run for it.
Only she hadn't taken more than two steps when wicked eyes grabbed her. He pulled her down on the couch and fell on top of her. Her phone fell from her hand and he shoved his knee between her legs.
"Where the hell is this mother fucker?" he said and Kimberly wondered what the hell he was talking about. The man was definitely crazy. She thought. Well she wasn't going to let him do whatever he planned to do without a fight.
With massive effort, she brought her knee up and jabbed him in the groin. He groaned in pain and let go of her. But apparently she didn't hit him hard enough because as she jumped up from the couch, he caught her and hit her across the face.
While she was still reeling, he slammed her back down, pinning her with his hand.
Barely conscious of her face anymore, she stared wordlessly. Blackness threatened, the room seemed to tilt.
"Bitch" wicked eyes said. He grabbed the front of her shirt. Buttons flew. Kimberly screamed. A loud, blood curdling sound that filled the space between them. Kept on screaming until he shoved a hand, the one he had been using to pin her down, across her mouth. She bit him, hard, and struggled into a sitting position.
"Listen to me, damn it" she said. He pushed her, but she shook herself free. "Just listen to me. Look, I have money, okay? My dad has money. And I can give you any amount you want. Just leave me alone and I won't even try to call the cops"
"Oh for God's sake." Wicked face swore. He hit her again. "Shut up, Bitch. I said shut up" He looked around. "Where the fuck is that bastard?"
Kimberly felt something warm trickle from her mouth. Her lip was starting to swell. She saw his distraction as an opportunity. She jabbed him in the groin again, using all the strength she could muster this time. He let her go as he groaned in pain. Then she got up and ran to the door.
She yanked it open, but she ran straight into another strange man. She was about to scream again when the second man put something over her nose and mouth.
The last thing she thought before she inhaled the sweet, sticky smell and everything went blank was that her Dad was going to be so, so worried.
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. Ju
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