Thank you all so much for your reviews and comments! I'm not sure that I'll always be able to update this quickly but I wanted to give a bit more seeing as you've all been so kind in showing interest. I hope you enjoy...
She had been trained to deal with difficult situations calmly and rationally Hostage crises, terrorist attacks, kidnappings; during so many terrible events, she made the decisions that nobody else wanted to make – that was her job. But this wasn't work – this was family.
"Henry they've got Allison. What are we going to do?" Elizabeth needed her husband's reassurance. She wasn't usually one to panic but right now she felt sick – she had failed her daughter and she couldn't bear to think of what the consequences of that might be.
"Bess we have to make a decision quickly, do we inform security and get the White House involved or do we do as they say and keep this to ourselves?"
"What if they already think I've told someone? I went into work Henry; this note has been here since this morning. It says that if we tell anyone, that they'll –" She couldn't say the words out loud. "What if they already have?" The last words were a whisper.
"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Stevie walked over to her parents. As she came downstairs she perceived the intensity of their conversation and, as she drew closer, she could see looks of worry on both of their faces. "What's happened?"
"Stevie, when was the last time you saw or spoke to Ali?" Henry asked his daughter urgently whilst trying not to sound too panicked.
"Why? What's happened? Is she OK?"
"Just answer the question Stevie!" There was such sternness to her mother's tone that Stevie obeyed and answered her father's question.
"Last night, after we'd all had dinner, when we went up to our rooms that's when she mentioned going in early this morning. That's all she said really, we said goodnight and that's the last time. Now please, tell me what's happening, you're scaring me." Stevie was worried now. Her parents weren't ones to overreact and right now they both looked terrified. Stevie hadn't thought much of Allison staying out but now that she came to think about it, it was unusual for her sister to have been gone for so long.
"Just go to your room for a while Stevie." Elizabeth commanded; she was in action mode and now that she had received the necessary information from Stevie, she needed nothing more.
"No, I'm not a child, I won't be sent away. Something's wrong and I want to know what's happening. She's my sister and –"
"Stevie please," Henry pleaded, the last thing they needed right now was a family domestic, "just wait upstairs and let us deal with some things. We'll come up and speak to you soon."
Reluctantly, Stevie obeyed and went to her room. She didn't like being kept in the dark and she certainly didn't like being treated like a child by her parents. However, her father had sounded almost desperate and she trusted that they would open up to her as soon as they could.
"This was planned Henry, planned to the smallest detail. If Ali already had plans to go into school early then somebody has been watching her to know exactly when she would be out of the house. Security check our post, right, so this letter was planted, disguised as junk mail and sure to get to us by 8am. They've had her since before then." Elizabeth had to be logical about this; it was the only way she could deal with it.
"But we didn't open the letter straight away, we carried on as normal because we didn't know anything was wrong. That's good Bess, it means that they wont suspect we've told anyone. If they've been watching Ali then they are watching all of us – we can't tell anyone. We can't take any risks; these people aren't armatures, they haven't done anything suspicious or else security would have picked up on it."
"Right, OK, you're right but Henry what do we do now? It's so strange, they haven't made any demands and who even sends written threats anymore?"
"It's old school I'll admit, but you and I both know that it's getting easier and easier to track digital footprints, they must have thought it through, and that means that they'll have their next step planned."
"And they wont hurt her," Elizabeth took a deep breath, the last thing she wanted to do was to break down in tears because she feared that if she did, she'd never be able to pull herself together, "they wont hurt her because they need her."
"She's their bargaining chip." Henry confirmed solemnly.
"Mom! Dad!" Stevie rushed down the stairs towards her parents, she was visibly upset and sounded panicked.
"Stevie, darling, what is it?" Henry rushed over to his daughter and took her in his arms but she struggled.
"Dad, wait, I need to show you." Stevie pulled away from her father in order to show him her phone. "It's a video, it's Ali, she –"
"Oh God, Stevie show us." Elizabeth rushed over to them.
All three of them huddled around the tiny screen; Elizabeth took a deep breath as Stevie moved to press play. There she was, her baby, right in front of her on the small screen looking cold and frightened. What Elizabeth would have given to just reach out and hold her little girl…
"I am Alison McCord, I am the daughter of the Secretary of State. I have not been harmed." Alison's voice was shaky as she spoke the words that she was evidently being directed to read although nothing was visible in the shot.
"Elizabeth McCord, you will provide us with the information we need. If you do not –" Alison paused. Elizabeth and Henry felt their stomachs tighten in agonizing pain as they watched tears drop from their terrified daughters eyes. Alison took a deep breath before finishing; "If you do not, then I will die."
With that the video ended, filling the McCord's living room with a dreadful silence.
"What the hell is going on?" Stevie burst out, she was crying heavily now and her father pulled her in to his shoulder so that he could try to comfort her.
Elizabeth paced the room. Her head was spinning – who would do this? She mentally ran through all of the current issues that the State Department had been dealing with, she considered each problem and tried to assess who might be desperate enough to turn to kidnapping.
"I just don't know!" The words came out as half cry and half sigh as Elizabeth allowed her body to plummet to the sofa. Scared, frustrated and tired, she simply couldn't think anymore; she didn't know what to do and she hated feeling helpless.
"Oh Mom." Stevie pulled away from her father and went over to join her mother on the sofa. Elizabeth pulled her daughter in close, wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cuddled Allison, or the last time she'd told her she loved her. In fact, she wasn't even sure what they'd last spoken about. Days just seemed to rush past in a blur when things were busy at work and now she regretted not cherishing every moment with her family.
"Everything's going to be OK." Henry put a hand on each of their shoulders and prayed that his words sounded as reassuring as he'd intended them to be. He didn't know how everything would turn out, how could he? But he had to stay strong – for all of their sakes.
"Baby, we have to stay strong OK. You, Dad, and me we're the only ones who know about this and it has to stay that way. I don't know who has Allison but I will find out and I will get her home safely." Elizabeth cupped Stevie's face as she spoke. Whilst the two of them didn't always see eye to eye, Stevie trusted her mother more than anyone else in the world.
"What about Jason?" Stevie asked.
"For now, we keep him out of this." Henry hoped that he could protect at least one member of his family from the horror of this situation.
"But what if they send him something too? Or worse…"
"If they send him something then we'll face it together, as a family. But nothing is going to happen – not to either of you OK, your mom and I will keep you safe."
"You mean we won't let them down like we have Allison." Elizabeth had moved from desperation to anger and she spat the words out with all of the vehemence that she was feeling towards herself.
"We're going to get her back Bess." Henry didn't have the luxury of giving in to his fury; he had to remain calm and strong for his family.
"God, I hope you're right." Elizabeth walked out of the room, she needed some space, just a moment alone so that she could think about just how far she might have to go to get her daughter back.
Please continue to comment, I love hearing what you all think and am always open to hearing suggestions/improvements/ideas. M :)
