They spent hours in the conference room sifting through the two kidnappers’ lives. There was nothing to tie them together. They lived two states apart and the only evidence of them being in contact was the surveillance video of them kidnapping Stacey-Ann and after that, nothing. They didn’t even have enough to charge them for Seth’s shooting. It’s like they’d disappeared into thin air.
It was a relief that Seth was doing well, but Daniel still hadn’t woken up from his medically induced coma. According to Richard, his surgery was full of complications, one that left him with a brain bleed. Ellie could never know.
Carson took a break from the frustration and went to see Ellie. When he got to the case room there was no one there so he went to his office and it was empty too.
He rushed to the case room to check again. Empty. “Audrey!”
“Yeah?” she said, walking into the case room.
He turned to look at her, “Where are they?”
“Ellsa had to go see her accountant about the money and Ellie went to see Daniel at the hospital.”
Carson could feel the panic creep up his spin, “Alone? Call Richard and ask him if she is already there.”
“Dada!” Stacey-Ann’s singing voice filled the room.
Startled, Audrey and Carson turned to the direction it came from. She was hiding behind a tree pot, smiling and giggling. Her big sparkling brown eyes lighting up her face.
Carson sunk to his knees, his voice caught in his throat. She looked so beautiful… and taller! Her hair was longer and she had more teeth in her mouth.
She was walking!
She ducked back behind the tree pot then peaked out again, “Hi!” She yelled, waving at him.
Carson cried, stretching his hands out to her. She ran, jumping into them. He held her tight thanking God for bringing her back. But he didn’t understand how?
“Carson, Ellie never got to the hospital! Gwen has gone out to look for her. And Ellsa isn’t answering her phone.” Audrey announced, in a panic.
Carson stood up, his daughter securely in his arms as he rushed behind Audrey to her office. He felt like he would never put Stacey-Ann down, ever. “Track her cell phone.”
“It’s off.”
“What about Gwen’s?”
“That’s off too.”
Carson felt like he was about to blow up, in frustration. “Do you still have permission to tap into the security cameras?”
She turned in her chair to face her five computers. Her office was like a lair, where everything on the web, secured or not, was at her disposal. Her fingers ran wildly over the keyboard, bringing up several different on each screen. If they didn’t have to cut through so many red tapes, they probably would have ended Carson’s nightmare days ago.
Audrey stopped when the video got to Ellie walking alone towards a dark van. A red head jumped out, carrying Stacey-Ann and then Ellie got in calmly, touching her daughter for only a second before she was taken away. Then the red head came back, without Stacey-Ann and they drove off.
“It really was Gwen. But where is Ellsa?” Audrey gasped out.
“I hope for Ellie’s sake she’s okay. Can you track the car?” Audrey went back to typing. “It’s like you don’t know me.”
Carson came to an abrupt stop in front of the huge building. This wasn’t where he expected to end up. “Audrey, are you sure this is the place?” he spoke into his Bluetooth.
“That’s where the car GPS says it is.”
Unsure, “Audrey, it’s a hospital?” getting out of the car and running inside.
She checked the address again. “The same hospital Daniel is in. He is on the fifth floor.”
Carson got into the elevator, impatiently tapping his foot as it crawled up the floors. Once the doors opened, he jumped out. He didn’t have to run far before he bumped into Richard.
“What are you doing here Carson?”
“Where is Gwen and why is her phone off?”
Richard raised his brow at him, “What’s the problem?”
“Someone took Ellie and dropped off Stacey-Ann. It was an exchange and Gwen was there!” With every word he uttered, Carson’s anger rose like an active volcano ready to blow.
Richard shook his head shocked, “That’s impossible!”
“Why because she’s an FBI agent?”
“No. Because she’s been here searching the hospital for Ellie like you asked. She hasn’t left the building since we got here.”
Carson shook his head in denial. He couldn’t have hit a dead end, “The GPS tracker says Ellie is here!”
“Carson, I found the car. Fourth parking level, C2, second row and the third spot!” Audrey’s urgent voice sailed into his ear.
He ran for the stairway with Richard behind him, barking orders into his phone. Carson pulled out his gun once he got to the door exiting to the fourth parking level. He held it to his side as he ran out. When he got to C2 he held his gun up and he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ear, all the other noises muted.
“Carson, take cover. There is someone in the car.”
Against Richard’s loud orders, Carson headed straight for the car, his gun aimed at the driver. When the driver turned to look at him, his eyes grew wide in shock, Carson yanked open the door and pulled him out by his neck.
“Where is my wife?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” The man stuttered, his eyes glued on the nine millimeter gun.
He placed the mouth of the gun on the man’s shoulder, making him whimper. “I’m going to ask you one more time before I start putting holes in you! Where. Is. My. Wife?”
“Carson, that’s enough!” Richard yelled.
The man’s face creased up as he cried, fear written in his eyes, “I swear, it was a onetime thing! I’ll never touch her again.”
Carson felt his heart leap, “So where is she?”
A woman’s scream rang out. Carson turned to look. She had her shaking hands over her mouth, as her bulging eyes stared at him.
The man cried pointing at her. “There she is! I swear never again!”
Richard pulled Carson off him, “I’m sorry sir. You are not the one we are looking for.”
Once he was released, he ran, leaving the woman behind and passing a smiling Gwen.
Carson yanked his arm out of Richard’s hold and barked into his receiver, “Audrey this isn’t the car!”
“I figured as much when that guy started crying.”
Carson felt his heart drop. He couldn’t have failed again. “Audrey!”
Audrey flinched at the fury, as he spoke her name. She went back to her keyboard more frantic. “The GPS of the kidnappers is still in tack they just hid behind that guy’s signal.” She cheered when the real signal popped up, “I have an address for you babe!”
Carson ran for the stairway, “It better be the right one!”