Chapter 34
I’m sitting on my bed reading on Tuesday night when my phone dings with a notification.
Picking it up, there’s a link listed and Fawx's phrase.
Oh no, is Nick okay? My heart rate skyrockets as I quickly click on it, and it brings me to a message board.
Someone writes the phrase again, so I type out my portion that Nick asked me to memorize.
Summer?
Yes. Fawx?
Yes. Message from Nick. His boss is planning your kidnapping tonight. Surveillance is already on you. Eddie informed. Go to the safe room. Let it play out.
Is Nick okay? Who’s surveilling me? We can leave here right away.
Stay. Let them come. Needs to end tonight. Nick en route. Use safe room, FBI will be there. Gotta go.
The chat room closes, and I’m left stunned.
It’s already late. What do I do? Are they watching the house right now?
I can hear the tv on in the living room, so I casually go out and grab a glass of water from the kitchen and take a seat in the couch corner.
“Hi darling. What are you doing back out here?” Dad asks.
“Okay, so don’t freak out, Dad. I need you to act completely normal.
Don’t respond to what I’m about to say,” I smile.
“Nick’s hacker friend, Fawx, just messaged me.
We verified who we were, then he told me I’m going to be kidnapped tonight, and there’s already surveillance on me.
He told me Nick’s on his way, and Eddie knows.
To let it play out because it has to end tonight.
The FBI will be here and to go into the safe room. ”
I see Zander go still, but he looks over and smiles at me. “Timeframe?”
“Just tonight. Nothing more specific. What do we do?”
“We do as he said. If we are under surveillance, we need to act naturally. Dammit. I don’t want to use my phone.
Eddie will contact Troy, I’m sure. The main thing is that you’re safe.
It’s already after dark, so we don’t know when they’ll strike.
I’ve got a SAT phone and a burner phone in the safe room and a laptop we can use,” he says, running his fingers through his hair.
“Darling, why don’t you get ready for bed?
Do your routine, and I’ll be here. Close your curtains.
Grab your second tracker, your knife, and pepper spray, then get into bed and turn off the lights.
Once the lights are out, crawl out and quietly stuff the pillows under your comforter to make it look like someone's in there. Crawl into your closet and wait. I’ll come get you once the house is dark. ”
“I’m scared, Dad.”
“So am I, darling. Focus on Nick coming home. They may not even show up for hours yet. We’re just being cautious. Now go. I won’t let anything happen.”
Nodding, I put my glass in the sink and then go to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
When I enter my room, I close the curtains and go into the closet and change into jeans and a tee, adding the second tracker to my shoe.
Dumping all my pillows on the floor except two, I flick off the light and get into bed, grabbing the pepper spray off the edge of the desk.
After waiting a few minutes, I hear nothing, so I slide off the bed onto the floor and stuff my extra pillows under the comforter like Dad told me to do.
Grabbing my knife off the nightstand, I crawl into the closet.
I pull Jake’s hoodie off the shelf and tie it around my waist. Sitting in the back corner, I wait.
The lights go off in the main area, so Zander must be heading to bed too.
What feels like a huge amount of time goes by before I detect movement. Flipping my knife open, I get into a crouch, preparing in case it’s not Dad. Why can’t my life ever stay boring? The bubble we were in between high school and college has burst.
I see a blob appear in the closet door and breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s Dad. He comes up to me and squeezes my hand, then motions for me to follow.
I can see the outline of his holster and gun over his shirt.
We slowly crawl across the house, staying near the walls as much as possible.
Zander stops before entering each new room, checking for movement.
How is this my life? Once we get into his closet, we stand, and he lets us into the secret room.
With the door shut tight, he turns on the overhead light.
“Okay darling. We’re safe now. Let me flip on the monitors and activate the cameras.
” I stand against the wall as he sets everything up and turns the monitors on.
“It looks clear so far. I’m going to call Troy on a burner phone.
” He folds out a camping chair for me and then leans against the desk.
He must have the phone on speaker because I hear it ringing. “Hello,” Troy answers.
“Troy. It’s Z and Summer.”
“Are you safe?” he interrupts.
“We are. Eddie called you then.”
“Yeah, we’ve been talking. The FBI from Memphis is coming this way and coordinating with the office in Columbia, and they’re hoping to take the big boss down.
He’s coming personally for this. If they capture him, it’ll all be over.
I’m at the office with 5 of our best on standby.
They want this to play out despite my protests. Where do you want us?”
“For now, stay put. Call this number with updates. I’ll do the same.”
“You got it. Stay in that room no matter what. Be safe,” Troy responds before the line goes quiet.
Zander lets out a deep breath. “Okay darling. We may have a long night ahead of us. We’ve got snacks, water, and a laptop full of movies. What would you like to watch?”
“I’m not sure I can focus on anything, so you pick.”
Zander grabs a different laptop from the desk, powering it on, and searches through files until he starts a movie. “I’ve got a comedy cued up. Slide over and I’ll start it.”
I do, and he hits play on the movie. He offers me a granola bar and gets comfortable in his chair beside me.
I try to focus on the movie, but we’re both glancing at the monitors looking for movement.
This is surreal, despite all I’ve already been through.
I practice slow and deep breathing to quell my nerves.
Nick is coming home, though, and I can hardly believe it.
Will he be okay? Did he kill his dad, as he intended?
I’m worried about his mental state. These past 8 months must have been awful; it’s been the better part of a year.
He could have changed a lot in that time.
No matter, whatever he needs to get past this, we’ll provide.
We can work on the rest as long as he is safe.
He's missed so many things, the biggest being Jake. Hopefully, his stubbornness has kept him true to himself. The guys, Troy and Gabby, will be so excited to see him.
We’re most of the way through the second movie when we catch movement outside on the monitors. Zander leans over and opens a small safe under the desk, setting a gun on the desk along with magazines. Sliding it towards me, he looks me in the eye. “Check your weapon, darling.”
I nod, going through the motions I’ve been taught. Once it’s ready, I clip in the magazine and set it on the desk in front of me. Dad calls and puts Troy on speakerphone. “We’ve got movement outside Troy.”
“How many?”
“Four or five circling.”
“Eddie’s still waiting for his colleagues to get organized. We’re heading your way.”
“Keep your distance,” Dad replies before hanging up.
“Dad, exactly how safe are we in here?” I have no desire to go through another kidnapping. Despite the trauma, I was lucky I was found before I was raped. Something tells me I wouldn’t be this time.
“Very. First, they’d have to find us. Second, this place is a tiny fortress. Muscle and bullets can’t get in here, I promise.”
Nodding, I watch him check his weapon and store extra magazines on his person. We return to the screens, waiting to glimpse someone. There aren’t many cameras. One by the back deck, the garage, the front door, the living room facing towards my hall, and one in the kitchen area.
My nerves are getting worse as we wait, and a tremble starts in my hands, so I slide them together between my legs. I’m not alone. We are going to be okay. One moment at a time. I keep repeating those phrases as I struggle to find some patience.
“There’s someone entering the dining room,” Dad states, pointing towards the screen.
I watch a man enter our home with a gun raised, slowly walking inside, swinging his arm left and right.
Another man appears on the living room camera, coming from my hallway.
A third comes in the front door, and a fourth enters our line of sight, maybe coming from Zander’s room.
The one who came from my hall is gesturing with his arm, probably talking to the others.
They split up again, and we lose track of three of them for a while.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. “This room is soundproof, right?”
“Yes darling. We’d have to make an enormous noise before they even had a chance of hearing us.”
I’m not sure how long we sit and watch before the four men meet back in the kitchen.
One of them leaves through the patio door before re-entering with a fifth person, and the kitchen lights are switched on for some reason.
The fifth man is in a suit and he's gesturing to the others. What the heck? Three move out as the fourth stays with him. The suited man adjusts his cuffs and sits at the table as if he’s waiting for dinner.
“What’s he doing?” I whisper. He crosses his ankle over his knee and looks around, waiting.
“I think that must be the boss,” Zander replies. He takes a photo of the screen and sends a text. “Sending to Troy and Eddie,” he tells me. His phone rings quickly, so he answers on speaker. “Eddie,” he greets.
“Z, how’d you get that pic?”
“From my cameras in the house. Where are you?”
“At the Mt. Pleasant airport. We’re leaving now. ETA 20 minutes. Are you secure?”
“Yes.”