A/N: Sorry sorry sorry sorry! I have been meaning to get back to this story and it just hasn't been in the cards. When I posted last Spring I had every intention of this being my summer project, and here we are at the beginning of November. Again so so sorry for those who have been waiting.

The midday bell rang at the Sister of the Sacred Heart School excusing the middle school age children to lunch. The hallway that had been dead silent just moments earlier was now bustling with 12, 13, and 14 year olds ready for a brain and food break. Students were going to their lockers, chatting with friends, and checking their phones. Cellphones had to be turned off and inside book bags while in class. Students were allowed to have them out between classes and on breaks. As long as the administration did not have to deal with cyber bullying or any other negative social media behavior then the school would continue to allow use between classes.

Grace Williams exited her class with her friend Katie. They went to Katie's locker first as it was the closest to their classroom. The two girls would then go to Grace's locker and meet up with a few other friends before heading outside to eat lunch. They followed a similar routine before lunch each day. The girls chatted about cheer practice, homework, and made plans to get together with other friends over the weekend to hang out.

Grace leaned against the wall while Katie put her bag inside her locker and retrieved her lunch. Grace was looking forward to after school. Amber was picking her up. She loved spending time with her dad's girlfriend. She always had a good time with her. It made it a little easier when her mother was in Las Vegas with her step father and brother. It was nice to have another woman to talk to about girl things. Danno tried his best, but there were just some things that a pre teen girl would rather talk about with a woman than a man. More than anything else Amber made Danno happy and Grace wanted her dad to be happy.

The happy chatter of the hallways was suddenly replaced with several loud blasts. Students began screaming in terror as smoke quickly filled the hallway. Had a bomb just gone off? Was the school under attack or on fire? The ringing of the blasts still filled the students' ears as the shrill screech of the fire alarm added to the noise and chaos that exploded all around them.

Teachers came running out of their classrooms trying to maneuver their way through the thickening smoke in order to get the frightened students heading in the direction of the exits. Visuals were poor and students kept tripping over each other as well as bags and books that had been dropped in the in the sudden fray.

Grace and Katie were affected by the explosions and smoke just as much as everyone was. Grace by instinct instilled in her by her father dropped to the ground and covered her head. When she put her head up it was difficult to distinguish who was who. All students were

required to wear the same sky blue colored shirt and khaki skirts, shorts, or pants making everyone look similar in the smoke. Grace wasn't sure if Katie was still next to her or not. It was turmoil all around her. The sounds of students screaming and coughing were mixed in with the yells of a few teachers trying to get students to the nearest exits.

Grace coughed as she unintentionally inhaled smoke into her lungs. Her eyes burned and watered. She got her knees in an attempt to get up and try and get out of the building with the rest of her classmates. She felt something pull on her backpack. Someone was pulling her to her feet. Grace felt grateful for the extra help and didn't think anything of it. As soon as she was standing upright the hands moved from her bag to around her waist. Then she was being pulled. The smoke stung her eyes and she continued to cough. She was trying to catch her breath to ask what was happening when she was pulled through an open classroom door. The non smoky air started to enter Grace's lungs and she welcomed it. She coughed and gasped for a moment more before looking at her surroundings. Before she had a chance to question why she had been brought into this room or why the door had been shut behind them a colored bandana pressed against her mouth and nose. Grace tried to resist, but an arm came across the front of her body holding her firmly in place. Grace's head began to feel heavy and her vision began to blacken. All at once her body failed her as she slumped forward unconscious.

The man, who wore a janitor's uniform, laid Grace's body onto the hard tile floor. He peered out of the door's window at the murky hallway. He could still see a few outlines of terrified students and staff trying to get out. He walked over to Grace and pulled her backpack off her shoulders. He began unzipping the pockets until he found her cell phone. He slipped the device into his pocket and produced a second phone from his other pocket.

"Went according to plan," he said into the phone after dialing, " . . . . .Yeah, got her drugged. . . . . I think I can get out without being stopped. . . . Worse case scenario I will take her out the front door. . . . If I am not there in ten minutes go the building next store and I will be there as soon as I can. . . .uh huh. . . . uh huh. . . . .bye."

The man took a deep breath as he looked down at Grace Williams. He and Frankie were counting on everyone being in a disarray. He hoped that when he went back out in the hallway with the unconscious girl he would be able to get, unnoticed, to the alley in the back of the school where deliveries were made. This is where Frankie would meet him. If he ran into someone on the way he could easily fake panic and recite a rehearsed story about finding the girl passed out on the floor. He was in such a hurry to get her out of the building that he hadn't realized he was going in the wrong direction. It would be more risky to get her away and into the parking lot next door with so many people around. However, he was counting on there being so much chaos that no one would notice him leave with the student.

Time was of the essence. Both men knew it wouldn't be long before she was missed. They also knew that every cop in the city would be looking for her once her dad found out that she was gone. But that was something they had planned for.

The man glanced at his watch so he knew how much time he had before Frankie left the alley and went to their close by agreed upon spot. He picked Grace up into his arms and peered once more out into the hallway. He saw a few stragglers still making their way outside. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and walked out of the vacant classroom. His heart pounded as he made his way through the empty corridors. To his relief the classrooms in the adjoining hallways had already been evacuated. This told him chances running into someone were slim to none unless there was somebody already in the building looking for missing students. He doubted that.

He and Frankie had picked this particular time for a reason. Students were in between classes and would be unsure of where to go or which teacher to report to. Outside would be in complete disarray as the teachers and other staff tried to organize the students. They would also be busy attending to anyone who may have been injured.

A smile crossed the man's face as he reached the back exit with plenty of time. Frankie was in the idling car waiting for him just as they had planned. He opened up the back door and set Grace's limp body on the seat. He then climbed into the front next to his friend. Frankie looked in the rearview mirror at Grace.

"Ian," he said addressing his friend, "You are a God, man."

The two men gave each other a congratulatory high five. Frankie put the car into drive, turned around, and headed for the exit. The alley exited directly onto the street. Frankie intentionally maneuvered the car so they could go right past the front of the school. Ian got his first glance at the pandemonium that the two men had created at the uppity high priced private school. No emergency vehicles had arrived yet, but sirens could be heard close by. Students were crying and clung to one another while the principal was attempting to give instructions through a bullhorn. Some teachers were attending to injured students and staff members while others were trying to herd the frightened children into groups.

Both men laughed out loud as they looked at the mess they had created. They continued on down the road, but soon pulled over to allow emergency vehicles to pass by them. They were, of course heading in the direction of the school.

As Frankie pulled back into traffic Ian pulled Grace's cell phone from his pocket. The first part of their plan was complete, but after their short celebration they knew they had to move on to the next part quickly. Timing was crucial and they were on a very tight schedule. Ian turned on Grace's phone and pulled up her contact list. Amber's number was one of the first in her phone. He chuckled to himself seeing 'aaDanno' as the first contact in the little girl's phone. A clever trick to make sure her dad was the first contact in her list. He pressed Amber's name and handed the phone to his buddy.

Amber sat at a table in the empty break room finishing her lunch when her phone rang. She smiled when she saw a Grace's 'contacts' picture looking back at her. Amber was looking forward to picking the little girl up after school got out. She loved spending time with her boyfriend's daughter. She was such as sweet girl and the two had a lot of fun hanging out with each other.

"Hey, Grace," Amber said, "You having lunch right now?"

"Hello, Lissy," a familiar voice on the other end answered.

It was a voice that she hoped that she would never ever have to hear again. Amber's heart sank as she heard 'him' call her by her former nickname.

"Frank," Amber gasped, "How did you. . . ."

Amber stopped mid sentence remembering that the call was coming from Grace's cell phone.

"Where's Grace?" Amber asked in a panic, "What did you do to her?"

"Calm down, sweetie," Frankie said in a soothing voice, "She's fine and as long as you do exactly what I say then she will remain that way."

Tears were pooling in Amber's eyes and falling down her cheeks as she listened to her ex on the other end.

"I want to talk to her," Amber said, "I need to hear that she's alright."

At the same moment that Amber made her request her phone rang indicating that she was getting a text.

"You should have just received a photo from Ian. . . .you remember my buddy Ian I'm sure," he said.

Amber pulled the phone away and pulled up the text. She covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at the Grace's unconscious body in the back seat of a car.

"You are going to get up, get your things, and go to your car. You have exactly 90 seconds to get to do so and text a picture back to Ian's phone. I am going to hang up and wait for your text. If you go even one second over then this girl is going to be missing a finger. You know me and you know that I don't make idle threats so I suggest you hurry."

The line went dead. Amber didn't have time to waste she jumped up from the table, raced back to her desk, and grabbed her purse out of the bottom drawer. A few of her co workers gave her a confused look as she hurried to the exit and out the door. She ran to her car with her phone in hand and quickly took a picture of her car and with trembling fingers sent the picture to the number that had sent Grace's picture. She got into her car and started it as her phone rang again. This time it was from a different number.

"Good girl," Frankie said in a mocking tone, "We are off to a good start, Lissy."

Amber started heading out of the lot before she realized that she didn't know where she was going.

"Now what?" she questioned.

"You are going to head home and to make sure that you don't try to call anyone you and I are going to stay on the line together."

Amber pulled into traffic did her best to drive quickly, but one handed.

"I like what you did to your hair, but you know that I prefer it short and dark."

Amber felt shivers crawling up her back at the thought of Frank watching her. Obviously, he also knew about Danny. Had he seen her spending the night at his place? Had he seen them making love to one another? Another thought entered Amber's head as she raced through a yellow light. Frankie had threatened her on more than one occasion that he would hurt her and who ever she was with if she left him. That threat had been on the forefront of her mind after she had met Danny, but it had suppressed with time.

Amber wiped the tears from her eyes as she pressed down on the accelerator, but then backed off. She didn't want to get pulled over. She knew that would make Frankie angry and in his paranoid mind he would think she had done it on purpose.

"What do you see in that other guy anyway?" Frankie asked breaking into her thoughts.

"He had never hit me," Amber answered without thinking. She heard him intake several breaths and knew that her comment had been a mistake.

"I told you that I didn't mean to do that and I always apologized," he said in his defense.

Amber cringed as she heard his voice rise. She prayed that he wouldn't take his anger out on Grace.

"Where are you at?" Frankie asked.

So he wasn't following her. Amber told him the street she was on and that she would be home soon. Amber's thoughts turned to Danny. He was going to go nuts when he discovered that Grace was missing. She wondered how they had gotten her out of school and hoped that it wouldn't be too long before someone discovered she was missing.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I hope to be a lot quicker at getting the next chapter posted. Thanks to all who have stuck with me.