Chapter 5

And it hits me when I reach for you
That I'm afraid you won't be there

Two days passed with no word from anyone who may have seen his family, and Brian was starting to feel antsy. The media stayed camped outside his gates in case something happened. Fans joined the media quickly, and neither group showed signs of leaving. When Kevin had pulled through the gates on the third day after the kidnapping, he realized that the fans and media were respectfully staying outside the gates and not trying to get inside. He had gotten out of his car and thanked them, then, gathering up a few of the cards, flowers, and gifts from the fans, he had brought them in to Brian.

Brian could only stare at the sympathetic cards filled with sentiments such as, “We’ll find them, Brian!” and “Don’t lose hope! Your family will be safe!” among others. He had nearly wept when he’d picked up the set of three teddy bears with a card attached to them that read, “When your children come home, they’ll need something to hold onto. Hopefully, this will help!” Jackie had taken the cards and teddy bears and placed them in the den where Brian would not see them and feel worse.

Nick had arrived the day after the kidnapping, and, when he had hugged Brian, Brian had finally broken down. Nick simply held him as the sobs wracked through his body. When Jackie had tried to comfort her son, Nick had shaken his head silently, knowing that Brian was better off left alone to get all the grief, fear, and frustration out. After a while, Brian had sat up and wiped the tears off his cheeks.

“Sorry, man,” he gestured towards the tear-stained part of Nick’s shirt. “Want me to get you another one?”

Nick shook his head. “It’s okay, Bri. I’m just glad you finally got all that out. AJ told me you hadn’t cried yet. Just smashed stuff last night, I hear.”

Brian sighed. “I took out a mirror in the basement, a couple old vases, and stuff. It made me feel a little better, but it’s today, and my family’s still out there somewhere. With a psychopathic bastard.”

Nick squeezed his shoulder. “We’re going to find them, Brian. The whole country’s going to be looking for them now that you’ve put their pictures on the news and in the newspapers. It won’t be long, now.”

Lieutenant Sheridan and her aide came by each day to see if there was anything they had missed. Brian was grateful for their help and was furious that there really was nothing more any of them could do to help them. When Sheridan had apologized, Brian had waved it off and sincerely told her that if there was anything left unchecked, she had probably already checked it.

Then, on Saturday night, four days after the disappearance of his family, Brian’s cell phone rang. He had told everyone not to call his phone in hopes that the next time it rang, it would be the kidnapper. He froze and stared at it while it rang. Sheridan picked it up and handed it to him.

Brian flipped it open. “Hello?”

There was a small laugh on the other end of the line. “Well, well, well, Brian Littrell. What a fix you’re in. I have your family, your everything, and what do you have? Nothing,” a man’s muffled voice spoke.

“Who are you?” Brian demanded. “Look, if you’ll return my family, I swear to you, I’ll give you whatever you want. Just, please, bring them home.”

“I don’t think so, Brian. I’ve been having quite the time with them. Especially Sienna. Your daughters and son are nice and all, but it’s Sienna I’ve always wanted. And, now, I have her. You’ve probably got the cops trying to trace this call, so I’ll hang on a few more seconds. That way, they’ll find out where I am. The thrill of the chase,” he laughed. “It’s quite exciting. There, now. That’s a minute. Well, it’s been nice talking to you. Goodbye, Brian.” There was a click and Brian stared at the phone in his hand.

He turned to Sheridan, who was on the phone with the officers tracing the call. She looked over at him. “They’ve traced it to a town outside of Richmond, Virginia. We’re going to have to call the department there for further details,” she told him. “I’m doing that, now.”

Half an hour later, she came back and told him that the call had been traced to a telephone booth outside a movie theater. “There were cameras on the streetlight next to the telephone booth, and they show a man in a bulky coat, hat, and scarf walking to the booth. He looked up directly at the camera, and the screen goes black. The son of a bitch had a remote jammer,” she told him. “They’re very rare, and he knows exactly what he’s doing. Everything’s very well planned on his part.”

Brian sighed. “So, they’re in Virginia, then?”

Sheridan nodded. “Yeah, and, unfortunately, because it’s an out-of-state matter now, it’s no longer under the jurisdiction of the Lexington Police Department. The Feds are coming in on it, now.”

Brian frowned. “Are you talking about the FBI?” When she nodded, he sighed. “Does this mean you’re off the case—you and the rest of the Lexington PD?”

“I’m sorry, Brian. I really wanted to help you out, but trust me. The FBI is much more capable of handling this sort of situation than I could ever hope to be,” she reassured him.

Brian stood. “Well, thank you, Lieutenant. It’s been a pleasure, even under the circumstances.”

She nodded. “It has, and I’m sure your family will be home safe and sound, soon. I’ll pray for them,” she promised. An hour later, she and the rest of her team had cleared up and left, telling Brian that the FBI agent attached to the case would arrive the following day.

***

Sienna shifted in the corner of the room she had been thrust into and made sure Luke was getting enough milk. Of course, she thought, if she didn’t get much more to eat soon, there wouldn’t be anything to feed Luke after a while. She glanced over at the twins, who had been confined to an old playpen. They had been eating bits of bread and raw vegetables that Sienna had tried to soften before feeding them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for them, so they grew tired easily and slept most of the time. Earlier, she had held them and realized that they both had fevers. Knowing she needed medicine for them, she tried to think of the best way to negotiate for it with their captor.

She looked over as the door opened, and he came in, setting down a bag on the rickety old table in the room. They were in what Sienna figured was a cellar. There was a small window set high up on the wall, the floor was cement, and the only furniture in the room was an old table and an ancient armchair with its springs and stuffing coming out. They’d been there about three days, Sienna had calculated.

She couldn’t remember exactly what had happened that first day. She had been napping with the twins and had been woken by the sound of crashing glass. Thinking AJ had dropped something, she opened her eyes in time to see a cloaked figure in black step through the broken window. She’d barely had time to scream when her mouth had been covered and a sickly sweet smell filled her nose. Thinking she had just been given chloroform, everything had gone dark.

When she’d woken, she had discovered that she was in the back of a van with heavily tinted windows. She had tried to look out of them but realized that she could barely see the cars on the road next to them. She had found Luke still in his carrier next to her and the twins curled next to each other at the opposite end of the van. Making sure that they were okay, she had collapsed on the floor, her limbs feeling lethargic and lightheadedness filling her. Figuring that she had been drugged properly, she had brought her children close to her and fallen asleep again.

She wondered how horrible it must be for Brian. He must be suffering, not knowing where they were and who had taken them. Sienna hoped he didn’t blame himself because it hadn’t been his fault that all this had happened. True, she couldn’t quite figure out how no alarms had gone off at the trespass, but, right now, all she cared about was getting out of this hellhole and taking her babies home safely.

Luke whimpered a little. Looking down, Sienna noticed that he had fallen asleep, so she buttoned up her blouse and placed him back into his carrier. Then, she glanced up at their captor as he moved towards her, a malicious glint in his eyes.

She met his gaze defiantly. “My children need medicine,” she told him.

He shrugged. “So? Do you think I care about your rugrats?”

“You should,” Sienna said. “If they die, you’ll have to add first-degree murder to the list of crimes you’ve committed.”

“No one’s going to figure out I’ve got you as long as I keep you shoved down here,” he told her, smiling evilly.

Sienna cocked her head. “What happened to you?” she wondered. “When did you snap and become psychotic?”

His grin vanished. “It was supposed to be me and you, Si. But, no, you had to have everything your way. Well, now we’re doing things my way, and I get the added bonus of watching your husband suffer,” his grin returned as he laughed a little. “Revenge is always sweet and always better served cold, darling.”

Sienna felt her blood run cold. “You’re never going to return us, are you?”

He shook his head and laughed again. “Nope. You’re mine, now and for always. Resign yourself to it.”

She took a deep breath and tried not to panic. She hadn’t panicked before, but now she realized that he had really and truly gone off the deep end. But she knew she had to take care of her kids—no matter what. “Okay,” she began. “If you plan on keeping me in this hellhole for always, get me the medicine for my kids. All I need is children’s cough syrup and fever remedy. I promise, if you get me this, I’ll do whatever you want.” She held her breath, waiting for his response.

He watched her closely, and then a viciously triumphant smile lit his face. “Whatever I want, huh? All right, then. I’ll get your kids their damn medicine and get all of you food. Good food,” he added. “As long as you do what I want.”

Sienna swallowed, fear making her heart pound in her chest. “Whatever you want,” she agreed, managing to speak over the ball of dread lodged in her throat.

***

Brian slipped into the back pew of the church for the Sunday service. He tried not to think about how this was the same church he had married Sienna in. It would only serve to increase the fear and worry that grew day by day. Half listening to the sermon, Brian buried his face in his hands and prayed for Sienna and his children’s safe return. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw their faces, and it made him feel guiltier for letting them down. Each minute they were out where he couldn’t reach them was killing him.

Brian knew that his friends and family were worried about him and what he was doing to himself in his grief. His mother would insist that he needed to eat, but he hadn’t had an appetite. How could he eat? Brian wondered. Were Sienna and the kids getting proper food? How could he eat when he didn’t know what was going on with them? Brian knew he wouldn’t be able to fully function until they were home where he could hold onto them for always.

He hoped that no one had noticed that he had yet to step foot into the bedroom he and Sienna had shared. He’d slept in the guestroom down the hall and refused to look into the nursery or playroom, either. Knowing that it would remind him of everything he’d done with his family, he’d stayed far from any of those rooms.

Brian glanced up as the sermon ended and tried to remain invisible as the congregation exited the church. Closing his eyes again, he prayed for patience and for his family to be safe, no matter where they were or who they were with. His mother had taught him that God could do anything for a person as long as they trusted him, so he silently sent up a plea to God to help him this time. Nothing that he’d asked for before and nothing he may ask for in the future would ever be as important, vital as the safety of his family.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Brian looked up into the kind face of the man who had just given the sermon. The same man, Brian knew, that had presided over his wedding ceremony.

“We’re praying for you, Brian,” Patrick McBride told him. He was a tall, lanky man in his early sixties with graying hair and kind blue eyes.

Brian sighed. “Thank you, but I’m so scared. I know God’s listening, I mean, he has to be listening, right? But I’m still terrified that my family is never going to be returned to me.”

“It’s okay to be scared. Let’s be honest, if you weren’t frightened for the safety of your family, I’d worry about you,” the older man told him. “God is listening, but, sometimes, it takes a bit of time before you hear His response, His solution. Don’t lose faith, Brian. Your wife and children will come home. Besides,” he smiled a little, “I think your wife is too strong to give up easily. If nothing else, count on the fact that she will have enough strength to bring herself and your children home.”

As he drove home, Brian realized that Sienna was strong. Hell, Brian thought, she was one of the strongest people he knew. With each knock life had given her, she’d gotten back up and continued on with her life. When her parents had died, she’d continued on to graduate from Columbia University and opened her own flower shop. When he’d left her for the wrong reasons three Christmases ago, she had managed to live her life, even after she’d discovered she was pregnant with the twins. She’d always been courageous, smart, and knew how to handle herself. Unfortunately, he was afraid that even Sienna had met her match in a man who could kidnap her and the babies from their secure fortress of a home without setting off any alarms and alerting the neighbors. Praying once more for patience, he pulled onto the road leading towards his neighborhood.

Lyrics from “I Got You” Nick Carter

***

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