*I do not own any rights to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Thank you for reading!

Entrapment

Ch. 1

"This must be the place," the driver of the white van spoke in a leisurely tone.

"I agree; this is it," his passenger said as he opened his door. Two large, burley men dressed in white casual uniforms stepped through the gate to Gull Cottage gazing upward to the old home.

"I've got the paperwork right here. Let's get this over with." The driver's voice contained a note of disgust. "I'm ready." But the passenger was not overly enthused, either. The two men walked up to the door of Gull Cottage and rang the bell, half hoping not to get a response.

Carolyn Muir was just making her way downstairs when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it, Martha." She opened the door and the sight of the burley men made her wish that she hadn't. "May I help you?" Her voice held trepidation.

"Yes, ma'am. We are looking for a Mrs. Carolyn Muir. Would you be her?" Carolyn froze but tried to remain calm. "What is this about, gentlemen?"

"Ma'am, we have signed authorization from your doctor to bring into Bellvue Psychiatric Hospital for evaluation. If you will just come with us, I promise we won't hurt you". The two men pushed the door the rest of the way open and abruptly began closing in on Carolyn. She started stepping back and uttered in a broken sentence that there must be some kind of mistake.

"Martha!" Carolyn's voice was urgent, signaling an emergency. The stalwart housekeeper hurried into the foyer ready to aid her employer and friend, but one of the men grabbed her and shoved her into the hall closet, barring the door with a chair. She did manage to give the man a swift kick in the shin before hitting the closet floor. At the same time the other man in white lunged at Carolyn claiming both of her wrists in his large hands.

"Unhand me, you . . . you gorilla!" Eyes set and arms flailing, Carolyn was ready to face off the two large hospital attendants that had burst into her home.

—

If Daniel Gregg could doze off, he certainly would have. These Spectral "meetings" of sorts held little interest to him and began drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. Pacing was out of the question. His fingers then slowed to a halt as the hairs on the back of his neck rose and stiffened.

"What the devil?" he murmured. Something was terribly wrong at Gull Cottage! Something was happening to Carolyn!

Through the continuous evolving of their relationship, Carolyn and Daniel had gained an almost empathic connection to one another. At this moment, Daniel could feel both Carolyn's intense anger and fear. A struggle was taking place and he was a world away…

Nudging the Admiral next to him, the Captain spoke softly, "Sir. It is of the utmost importance that I leave at once!"

"Leave?" the Admiral responded. "What do you mean, Captain? What could possibly be more important than the mandated agenda happening here, today?"

Patience was not one of Daniel's better traits in abundance and what he did have was nearly spent. "Sir, I have good reason to believe that my family is in peril and needs me at once!"

"Nevertheless, Captain, you and I both know that it is against regulations to leave these meetings until they are finished." It was at this point that one could almost hear that last straw breaking the camel's back. Captain Gregg stood to his feet to address the superior officer.

"With all due respect, Admiral, hang regulations! I cannot and will not idly stand by here knowing that my family may very well be in dire straights!" And with that, he vanished from their sight. The other members in attendance exchanged looks and murmured among themselves.

Daniel Gregg had realized from the start that considering the Muir family his own would cause him to walk a thin line where the Spectral Fraternity was concerned. Up to this point, not much had been said except that his attendance had become rather sporadic as opposed to regular and it was requested that he address the matter. Most likely there would be repercussions to his actions that day, but at the moment it was inconsequential. Getting back to Gull Cottage was first and foremost in his mind. Time passed differently between his two worlds and he did not know what he would find once he arrived home.

—

Carolyn was still struggling to free herself from the her potential captors. One man had to come up from behind her and tightly wrapped himself around her chest and arms. The other man came to the front to grip her legs. With a hard kick, her heel made contact with the man's nose. Blood and pain were the result. She continued to flail and kick making herself a one-woman wrecking crew in her own home. Broken glass, torn curtains, and overturned furniture were what remained of her foyer and parlor.

"I hate this part of our job!" the man with the bloodied nose yelled. "This ends now!" And with those words, he retrieved a syringe containing fluid and jammed it into Carolyn's neck. The light was now fading from her eyes and a heaviness spread throughout her body. Now unconscious, she was reduced to the state of being a limp rag doll. The men quickly placed her into the white, unmarked van. One man drove while the other plucked a restraining jacket from a compartment in the rear. This became her new garment that was meant to be worn by those deemed "unstable and self-destructive".

The man with the bloodied nose returned to his passenger seat and pulled a map from the glove compartment. "Alright. Turn left at this road and three miles down we should find a blue van waiting for us with keys under the seat. We make the switch there!"

The driver spat, "I don't like this! It stinks of something we should not be involved in!"

"I know! I know! We're just following orders!" The other man was dabbing his sore nose. The blue van was exactly where expected. The switch was made with Carolyn Muir secured in the back and hidden from sight. The van sped down the coastline mixing in with other vehicles.

Captain Gregg stopped just short of Gull Cottage when he realized that all of the overflowing emotion coming from Carolyn simply . . . disappeared. Nothing. His thoughts began to race, but then he managed to reign them in.

Daniel materialized in the parlor to what could only be described as complete havoc. His senses were being flooded by the scene in front of him. He could barely hear Martha's cries from the closet. Worst of all was that he could not detect Carolyn Muir anywhere . . . at all.