Fourth of July (28 page)

Dylan felt blackness envelope him. Sinking onto the toilet, he couldn’t comprehend it.
Rachel and Tyler? Taken. His wife. His little boy. How?

They must have been kidnapped minutes ago. Lumbering to his feet, Dylan raced outside. He scoured the yard, the street. He ran to the end of the block, straining to see a vehicle. Nothing.

Sprinting back to his house, he raced to the kitchen. He called Chris first. The phone didn’t ring. Chris’ voice came on, requesting the caller leave a message. Dylan hit the off button, Chris must be on the phone. He called his former partner and the police department. They both assured him they were on their way.

After Dylan hung up the phone, reality struck him. They were really gone. His family. His whole world. In the hands of terrorists, and he didn’t know where they were or how to save them.
Dylan sank to the tile, the note crumpling in his hand.

“No, no,” he whispered over and over. “Please Lord, no. They can’t have her. They can’t have Ty.”

Tears streaked his face as he murmured, “No,” over and over again. An angelic voice drifted down the stairs, cutting through his despair.

“Daddy? Mommy? Ty guy? Come see my beautiful dress.”

Maddie? Oh, his girl. How could a child possibly deal with this? He couldn’t deal with it.
He struggled to his feet.

“Hey, Daddy. Don’t I look pretty?” She flounced down the stairs like a beauty queen.

“Beautiful,” he choked out.

“Where are Mommy and Ty?”

Dylan didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

“Uh-oh,” Madison said. “Oh, no.”

Dylan felt tears coming. It seemed as if Maddie already knew what had happened. Her little face scrunched up in concern. Her eyes filled with worry.

“Oh, Daddy. Did Ty have an accident? Oh, no, it must have been a bad one. I hope Mommy’s not frustererated,” she stumbled on the difficult word, “with him.”

Dylan’s throat constricted. He couldn’t speak. He pulled Madison into trembling arms. Holding her close, he fought his raging emotions. Horrible people were holding his wife and son. Could he rescue them? Would they be injured, abused, killed? How could he tell Maddie what had happened?

Please grant me thy strength, Lord.

“Maddie,” Dylan began when he finally found his voice.

“Daddy, you sound funny.”

“Do I?” Dylan squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Sweetie, Mommy and Ty...”

Did he really have to tell her the truth? Yes. Maddie could spot a lie from a mile away.

“Mommy and Tyler,” his voice caught again, yet another attempt at clearing his throat. “They were taken by some bad people,” he finally managed to choke out.

The color drained from Madison’s face as she comprehended her father’s words. Her chin began to quiver. Large tears rolled down her silken cheeks. Dylan attempted to brush the tears away, but they continued to fall. He soon realized he was crying too. Madison threw her arms around her father’s neck and bawled. He held her as their shared sorrow stained their cheeks.

“Why, Daddy? Why?” Madison pulled away. “Why would bad people take Mommy and Ty?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. But I’m going to get them back.”

“You are?” Madison’s eyes gleamed with hope intermingled with sadness.

Dylan nodded, praying with every fiber of his being he was telling his daughter the truth.

“Thanks, Daddy.” Madison flung her arms around his neck again, squeezing tight. “You find those bad guys and you rescue Mommy and Ty. Then you make those bad guys be good. I’ll pray for you and Mommy and Ty. I’ll even pray for the bad guys. Okay?”

His daughter’s unfailing trust caused fresh tears to leak from Dylan’s eyes. He prayed he could attain her level of faith.

“Okay,” he said, holding her close as sirens wailed in their direction.

“Lexie, what’s going on?” Brittany’s words rushed out in a higher pitch than normal.

“You sound busy.” Alexis brushed shadow across her lids, resting the phone against her shoulder.

“I have to be to church in a half-hour. You know how Steven gets when I’m late.”

Alexis opened her makeup drawer, retrieving a tube of mascara. “Why doesn’t he help you with Savvy then?”

“Ha!” Brittany laughed. “That’ll be the day. C’mere Savannah, let’s get your dress on, sweetheart. You know his only responsibilities are to make money and watch football.”

“Sounds like the life. I’ve already told you, Brit, I’ll make the money if you take care of everything else so I can watch football.” She applied a layer of mascara.

“You can’t see me, but I’m rolling my eyes at you.”

Alexis laughed, trying to keep from begging Brittany to serve the jerk divorce papers. “I’ll call you tonight.”

“Tell me why you called first. I can talk while I get ready.”

“Chris is coming to church with me,” Alexis wasted no time. “He took me to lunch yesterday. He is amazing.”

“Ooh,” Brittany squealed like a teenager. “Tell me everything.”

“Where should I start?”

Ding-dong.

“Oh, Brittany, he’s here!” Alexis glanced at the clock on her bathroom counter. “Dangit. I’m not ready.” She covered the receiver, leaning out the bathroom door. “Just a second Chris, I’ll be right there,” she hollered. “Brit, I’ll call you later.”

“You’d better. Your exciting love life is the only thing that keeps me going.”

“What’s wrong?” Alexis asked, worry for her sister taking precedence over getting the door.

“You don’t have the time now, but I’m going to meet with a lawyer. I won’t let Steven force me to stay again.”

“Oh, Brit, that is wonderful news. I can help you.”

Alexis heard footsteps in her bedroom.

“Oh, no,” she gasped. “I think he’s coming in my room.” She looked at her T-shirt and cut-off sweats, there was no time to change before he saw her.

“Whoa, that’s a little forward.”

“I thought I locked the apartment door,” Alexis said. “I’ll call you tonight.”

“Love ya. Have fun for me.”

“I will.”

DYLAN SAT ON THE LIVING ROOM couch next to his former partner, Gary Thompson. He hung his head in despair. Gary had just listened to the nightmare and read the note. Dylan closed his eyes. He prayed for guidance, gradually feeling strength return. God would grant him the fortitude to keep going.

Feeling his friend’s eyes on him, he glanced up. “Sorry I handled the note. I know better than that.”

“We’ll check it for prints,” Agent Thompson shrugged. “I doubt there will be any. I would have touched it too. You okay?”

“No,” Dylan said. “But I’m going to get my family back. Is there any way undetectable ways to track me?”

“Yes,” Gary said. “We have a new tracking device that their scanners shouldn’t be able to pick up.”

“Where do you plant it?”

“You have to swallow it.”

“That’ll work.” He glanced at Madison clinging to her doll. “Give me a minute.”

“Okay.” His old friend placed a hand on Dylan’s arm. “Rand and I will protect her with our very lives.”

Dylan struggled. He didn’t want to leave Maddie, especially with two men she didn’t know, but he didn’t have any other options. They were good men, good agents, and he had to keep Maddie safe. He bit his lip to control his emotions, tears wouldn’t save Rachel and Tyler.

“I know you will. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t leave her.” He nodded his gratitude, shaking the agent’s hand. He stood to face Madison. What would he tell her?

“Maddie,” Dylan knelt on her level. The agents moved away to insure their privacy. “Sweetie, you’re going to go with Agent Grey and Agent Thompson for a little while.”

“Why can’t I go to Grammy Ruth’s or Jessica’s?”

Dylan shook his head. “You have to go with Daddy’s friends. They’ll take good care of you.”
You have to be safe
, he added silently, hoping she wouldn’t fight him on this.

“Okay.” She sighed. “Daddy,” she lowered her voice, “Isn’t it kind of weird they don’t have real names?”

Dylan almost smiled. “They do have real names, sweetie. You can call them Rand and Gary, okay?”

“Daddy,” Madison whispered. “Do you really think I should call an adult by their first name? That wouldn’t be good manners, would it?”

“I think it will be okay.” Dylan gave her a tight hug. “Will you be all right?”

“I think so,” Madison’s demeanor was serious, “the one agent guy...”

“Rand,” Dylan supplied.

“Yes, Rand. I told him I wanted to go to Jessica’s, but he said if I went with him I could bring my dolls and he would buy me any treats I wanted.” She smiled at her dad. “So I think we’ll be okay together, as long as he knows how to play Polly Pockets.”

Dylan did smile as he thought of the massive Agent Grey playing Polly Pockets with his little girl. Dylan could barely manipulate the tiny figures’ accessories and Rand’s hands were twice as thick as his.

“I’m sure he’d love to play with you.”

Madison turned to look at the burly agent who offered her a flicker of a smile and a thumbs up. She returned the gesture.

“I’ll be okay Daddy,” she said bravely. “But I’ll miss you. I already miss Mommy and Ty.”

He hugged her to him, trying to glean strength from her diminutive form.

“I miss them too, sweetie.”

“You’ll find them, Daddy. I’ll pray for you every second.”

“You do that, love. Will you be good for Rand and Gary?”

“Daddy, I’m always good.”

“That you are. I love you, Maddie. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you more.” Madison clung desperately to her father for several minutes.

“I love you, Daddy. I love you forever.” Madison released him and walked to Agent Grey’s side. “Are you ready to play Polly Pockets all day? If you don’t know how, I can teach you. I think I’ll need to do something fun so I don’t worry about my mom and my little brother too much.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” he returned with a lopsided grin. He nodded once to Dylan as he led the little girl away.

Dylan stayed kneeling on the floor. Madison halted. Pivoting to gaze at her father, she kissed her hand and blew it in his direction. Dylan caught it and pressed it to his chest. He watched his little girl walk away, his heart heavy. Despair almost overwhelmed him as the last member of his family left his side. Struggling to his feet, he prayed with everything in him that the Lord would soon reunite them.

Chris couldn’t stop grinning as he sang along with Maroon 5 on the drive to Alexis’ apartment. He and Dylan finally had a break. They had a well-known terrorist behind bars. Although this morning’s interrogation team wasn’t getting any further than he and Dylan had last night, Chris felt confident they would soon collect some information from the man.

A pair of agents was tailing Danielle with the strong possibility she would lead them to more of the terrorist leaders. Best of all, he was looking forward to spending several hours with Alexis.

Chris strode to Alexis’ door, banging on it with his fist. He couldn’t wait to see her again. Ringing the doorbell, he waited impatiently. No response. That was odd. He tried the door. The knob turned in his hand. He nudged it open.

“Alexis,” Chris called. “She still doesn’t get it about leaving her door unlocked,” he muttered to himself.