FOR THE CHILDREN'S SAKE

Prologue

It was 6am, and 3-year-old Jenna Austin was ready to start the day. "Adam, get up!" She shook his crib rails quietly, hoping to rouse her brother without waking her parents.

No such luck; her mother was blessed with a bionic mischief detector. "Jenna's at it again," Jaime said, poking Steve awake.

"Mmmm..." Steve answered without opening his eyes. "Your turn."

"You were supposed to forget about that," Jaime said lightly, sliding out of bed. She padded past the open door to Adam's room and spoke quietly but firmly to her daughter. "Jenna, I need you to go back to bed until I get Adam's bottle ready, then we'll give it to him together."

"Ok, Mommy," the child said cheerfully.

Jaime continued on into the kitchen and as she sleepily pulled a bottle out and prepared to warm it, she heard Adam's crib rail being lowered. "Jenna -" she warned. Steve and Jaime had been running ragged ever since the 3-year-old had learned to release the rail's latches. Jaime could hear the sound of Adam's not-quite-awake early morning babble coming down the hall and she swore silently to herself. Jenna wouldn't dare to actually take the baby from his crib...would she?

"Mommy!" a panicked Jenna cried out to Jaime.

Reality proved to be much worse than Jaime's suspicions. When she looked up, a stranger stood in the kitchen entryway with Adam cradled in the crook of his arm and the same hand gripping Jenna tightly by the shoulder. Her eyes were sauced-wide; the child was thus far too shaken and startled to cry. Behind her back, where the little girl couldn't see it (but Jaime certainly could), the intruder's other hand held a gun.

"Stay nice and quiet," the gunman told Jaime with menace in his voice. "Do not alert your husband - and I know you don't want to frighten the children."

"Leave them out of this."

"They're going to keep you quiet and compliant. Now let's go. There's a van waiting outside."

"You're not removing my children from this house," Jaime bristled. "I won't allow it."

"You'd prefer the alternative?"

Jaime's gaze fell once again on the gun that silently threatened her babies. If she tried to fight off their attacker, was he cold-blooded enough to shoot the children? She couldn't take the risk. With grim resignation, she began quickly gathering a few supplies. The intruder followed her everywhere, leaving her no way to signal to Steve. She handed Jenna her favorite doll and the frightened little girl clutched it tightly.

Thinking fast (and under the guise of looking for a special item), Jaime left a doll-sized toy van on Jenna's pillow as a clue. Would it be enough?

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