Chapter 1
Tracy twisted in her seat to glance at the three month old baby asleep in his car seat. She hated to wake him, but she had to go get groceries, or her family would soon be living off of take out, again.
Greg had offered to keep both twins at home with him, but Tracy knew he needed to work. He had a deadline coming up for the first draft of his new book. Taking care of one three month old was difficult enough, but two, while trying to get anything done, was damn near impossible, so Tracy had only left little Mara with him, taking Rick with her.
She had parked next to one of the shopping cart stalls, so she could easily grab a cart to put Rick in.
Little green eyes opened tiredly as Tracy picked him up out of his car seat, one of two in the back seat of Greg's four door Dodge Charger.
She was just setting Rick into the baby seat of the shopping cart, when a car pulled up beside her and the driver rolled down his window. The car was a battered Toyota Camry with Georgia licence plates. Something about it set her on edge.
"Excuse me," the driver began.
Keeping her hands firmly on the shopping cart, Tracy slowly approached the car. "Yes?"
A hand holding something white snaked around Tracy's neck, clamping down over her mouth and nose.
Tracy held her breath, trying to break free of the person's grip, but he had already gotten to good a hold on her. All she managed to do was claw at his arm, leaving a furrow of scratches.
Stars began to flash in her vision, and her body screamed at her to take a breath. She watched in horror as the Camry's driver got out and picked Rick up. The baby started to fuss, but the man seemed to know his way around children and soon had him calmed.
Tracy drew in a breath to scream, and the world went dark.