This chapter is dedicated to the movie Taken with Liam Neeson. If you have not seen this film you should. After seeing it I was filled with anger for the reality of these actions and compassion for the victims who may never get to see their families again.

What's mine is mine. What isn't mine is the great Anthony Horowitz. God bless that man.

Don't forget to check my profile for sneak peeks!

Taken

Lainey's eyes snapped open. She was lying on the ground and her vision blurry. Her hands and feet were bound and she had a leather gag in her mouth. Her ears were plugged and she couldn't move her own body without great effort. She closed her eyes hard so hopefully she could take in her surroundings. After a few blinks she could tell that she was in some sort of prison sell. After a few minutes she managed to sit up. Her head began to clear and she looked down at herself.

She was in a prisoner's bright orange uniform and she had no idea what day it was or where on the planet someone had taken her. All she knew was that she had been taken from everything she held dear and there was no way out. There were no windows and a flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The door was as solid looking as the concrete walls. Lainey crawled over to inspect it. The concrete floor scraped her knees as she let out a small whimper. Dirt dug into the muscled side of her arms as she moved like an inchworm.

The door was metal. She stood up on her bleeding knees and banged on the door until she passed out from uncontrollable sobs and the pain from her wounds.

Alex was pacing in the living room of his home. He wasn't really sure what to do.

"Alex," Jack called from the sofa. "You're making me seasick." The anxiety was clear on her face. He had been home an hour and a half and had still refused to eat dinner.

"Go on and eat," Alex said as he turned to her.

Jack tried to frown innocently. "I'm not hungry," she lied as her stomach gave her away. Alex sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine," she consented. She pursed her lips and pointed a finger at him. "But you are going to eat something before you run off alright." She got up off of the sofa and went into the kitchen.

As soon as Alex heard Jack opening cabinets and things he grabbed a back pack and went out the door where he walked quickly down the road toward Lainey and Hannah's house.

Jack came back out from the kitchen. "Alex?" she called. There was no answer. She threw her hands up in the air and in a huff dialed a very important number to a very important bank.

Instead of sneaking into the house like before Alex decided to walk up to the front door. If Lainey's room had been bugged then maybe Hannah would answer the door for him instead of Lainey. He had to know if his instincts were just playing tricks on him. He was a little impatient as he rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer it.

Hannah opened the door and Alex sighed with relief. "What's going on Alex?" Hannah asked. "Is everything okay?"

"I hope so," Alex said as his eyes looked for cameras that could see him but even if he couldn't. "Come outside with me please. It's important."

"But I'm in my night clothes," Hannah objected. Slowly she decided to relent as Alex's brown eyes begged her to comply.

When they were almost to the street Alex began to talk quickly grateful that Hannah listened without interruption. "In the middle of the song I believe that someone kid-knapped the real Lainey. She never flirted with me like that before. I know it's possible that I could be wrong but it's also possible to have cloned someone."

Lainey came out of the house. "Hey Alex!" she called. "What's going on?"

Hannah stiffened and gave a movement to Alex and he turned away. "He left his cell phone somewhere and was wondering if he left it in our car," she lied. "I just gave it back and was scolding him for having walked all the way over here in the dark."

Police cars rolled up with no sirens. Lainey put her hands in the air. Alex recognized Ben as he got up and out of one of the cars. "Do you know who I am?" he asked Lainey.

"What kind of question is that?" Lainey asked as she put her hands down. "Of course I know who you are."

"What's my name?" Ben asked curtly.

Lainey's eyes shifted nervously. "I was paid," she called. "I swear I don't where the real Lainey is."

Ben frowned. "Take and question her about everything she knows about Lainey," he ordered a police officer who nodded and took the fake Lainey away. "Don't worry," Ben said to Hannah. "We'll find her."

Hannah gave a grim smile. "I don't doubt you finding her at all," she said. "But you can't keep me from worrying about whether or not she's alive when you do."

"I'm going with you," Alex interjected.

Ben turned to Alex. "Don't be so sure this is what you want Alex," Ben said. "Stay home and enjoy the holidays."

Alex looked to Hannah. "I feel the same was as Hannah," he explained. "I want to make sure she is found alive."

"You don't have to do this," Hannah pointed out.

"I know what it's like to be alone and trapped," Alex said. Being a spy with no real choice was proof. Yet he had been lucky enough to escape every time. He had to give Lainey a chance. "I have to do this for myself."

Ben shrugged. "I'm not going to complain if you don't," he replied. Alex smirked and got into a car as they drove off into the night.

Two people had entered her cell with masks similar to fencing masks on and non-gender uniforms. The moved her to what looked like an infirmary. They cut off her beautiful long hair and dyed it black. The stench of the dye was still in her nostrils. The leather gag had begun to cut into her mouth and her leg restraints had been changed to shackles. One saw to it that her knees and arms were bandaged. Neither of the people spoke.

Silently they offered her a pretty dark purple dress to wear. Lainey growled, frustrated that they would not speak to her. One of them shrugged and took the dress back. She tried to object through her gag only to get one of them to cock their head to the side. She held her bound hands outs and spread her fingers toward the dress and nodded to it.

Lainey was certain she had never felt anything more wonderful in her hands before. In a flash she punched the one on her right in the gut and put her arms around the shorter one on her left swinging him or her around in a headlock until her back hit the door and the only way out of the room. It was a bad plan. If the person she had hostage was smart they could have already been out of her grasp.

She lifted her chin and growled at the person she attacked who had doubled over and was coughing. They reached for an instrument and Lainey launched the person toward the other. She didn't wait to watch them fall as she turned the door handle with a little difficulty and escaped. The gag was too tight for her to remove with her bound hands. She waddled as quickly as she could in the opposite direction of the silent masked people. She wished she could have grabbed a knife to free herself.

Her eyes searched frantically for a bathroom as she hustled through empty hallways. She thought it odd for a prison to be so empty but she wanted more than anything to be free of the restraints. The corridors suddenly started to look less like a prison and more like a hotel. She tried one of the doors. To her relief it opened.

The drapes had been pulled back to let the bright sunshine come in through the wall that was a window. It blinded Lainey momentarily.

"Nice to finally meet you Lainey Harper," came a grasping voice that had a Middle Eastern accent. "You passed a very small test. Please sit."

She squinted and saw a man who looked like he had worn a nun's habit for too long. His face was ruddy and obviously Middle Eastern but his neck and ears were a pasty white. On the arm of the chair was a Keffiyeh. He ordered the only other person in the room to take off her gag. He wore a robe with a shiny knife at his belt. Lainey had never studied the Middle East as much as she should have. That was probably for personal reasons. She knew the knife had a special name and didn't lash out as he made her sit on the edge of one of the hotel beds.

The man took the knife from his belt and grinned when Lainey's gaze had fear in it. He took the knife and put it to the base of her skull where he cut the gag with a jerk that made Lainey flinch. He took the leather out of her mouth. "And my hands," Lainey spat as she thrust her fists at his groin. The man grabbed her arms and pulled them out of his way as he put the knife to her throat.

"Be nice Lainey," the man from the chair said. "We don't have to let you live."

Lainey glared at him. "Then why haven't you killed me already?"

The man chuckled. "I'm not the enemy," he said softly.

Lainey gritted her teeth until she could regain her composure. "You tied me up and put me in a cell with a leather gag," she explained.

"I know what I did," the man said. "I need your help."

Lainey looked at him with incredulity. "Take off these restraints then," she demanded as she shook her hands and the man standing. The man in the chair nodded which caused the other to scowl. After the restraints around her hands were gone she looked at the man in the chair again. "Who are you?"

The man smiled. "You can just call me Sir for now," he said. "The kind man releasing you is Ahmed."

Lainey looked at him for a moment and then looked back to Sir. "Why didn't you just ask me then?"

Sir shifted his weight in the chair. "Because we want Alex Rider to find you," he said. "If I had asked I would have been risking not having any help at all."

"Well what is it that I'm supposed to be helping you with?" Lainey asked as she touched her hair that was basically gone.

"Children," Sir replied, "To give them a better Christmas and a brighter future." Lainey examined his face to see if there was anything he was hiding by his expression. It revealed nothing yet. She continued to be wary as she rubbed her sore wrists.

"How do you plan on accomplishing that?" Lainey asked calmly then added, "Operation T.V. box?"

Sir grinned. "Nice to see you have a sense of humor," he said. Lainey saw that he had a golden tooth. She also noticed that her hands were shaking and she was getting a headache. "You must be thirsty," he pointed out. "You've been in Jerusalem for 24 hours now. We gave you some sleep of death drug and put you in a casket." Sir waved his hand carelessly. "Get dressed and I'll show you a little of the city and get you something to eat."

Ahmed laughed. "You have to wear a burka around this part of the city," he said.

"I'd rather take my chances," Lainey said with a frown.

Sir looked at Ahmed. "She isn't Muslim Ahmed," he said gently. "She can wear whatever she likes."

The streets were buzzing. They ate at a restaurant below the building they had been in. Lainey ate slowly as she studied Sir. He was a big man who seemed to be likable enough to be at ease. Yet Lainey hated him. He had her taken away right out of a public area as if she had committed a crime punishable by the mafia. She gave away her agitation by jiggling her knees. The table wasn't very stable so it was obvious.

Through his beard Sir frowned. "I'd really appreciate if you didn't knock over the table," he requested. "There is no reason to be upset with me."

Lainey didn't know what to do with her hands. She felt like breaking something. Taking a deep breath she opened her mouth. "I was taken against my will, tied up like an animal and left in a cell," she pointed out evenly although if looks could kill…

Sir scratched at his beard and sighed. "I didn't want to do it but you should know what it's like to feel trapped. Like the children of this country," he explained. "Human trafficking in this country has risen since America has gotten involved in our politics. Parents sell their children for money because someone tells them that they will be taken care of. These men take the children out of their homes and take them to what their families think is a mission home. We have been intercepting these traffickers for years with help from a person I think you'll like to see." Sir smiled kindly at her. "She has been waiting to see you for a long time."

Sir's eyes lifted to someone standing behind Lainey. "It's been almost ten years," came an American female accent. Lainey's eyes widened. She turned around and looked at the woman standing behind her. "Hey baby girl," she said with tears streaming down her face.

"Mom?"

"I've told you a bazillion times," the fraud said. "My name is Ashley. I was auditioning for a musical when someone asked me if I would act like this Lainey girl."

Alex was watching the interrogation through a one way glass. It had been a half an hour that Ben had asked this Ashley what she knew about the people who had hired her.

"Did they tell you their names?" Ben asked.

"They used code names!" Ashley yelled as she jumped to her feet. "They gave me a prepaid card with ten thousand quid and left me with this woman who started telling me everything about her daughter while she bought me a makeover. She gave me a picture and some videos of her daughter at a restaurant laughing so I could mimic it."

"How long were you going to be this girl then?" Ben asked.

"As long as I kept up the act," Ashley replied and sat back down. "They'd send a prepaid card with ten thousand quid each month until I was found out." She leaned back in the seat. "I haven't hurt anyone and I haven't stolen anything."

"You stole an identity," Ben snapped as he palmed the metal table making her jump.

"She's not dead," Ashley pointed out. "The woman wasn't going to let her boss kill her daughter after losing her for ten years."

Alex folded his arms as Ben glared at Ashley. "Where did they take her?" he demanded slowly.

"Make me a deal," Ashley sneered.

"No prison time seem like a good enough present?" Ben growled. "You'll be in a lock up otherwise."

Ashley took a moment to consider. "They took her to the Holy Land…you know, Jerusalem," she spilled. "Can I go now?"

"Sure," Ben replied and then flashed the prepaid card at her. "This is now evidence though. So don't feel too confident about your Holiday parties."

Alex turned his back to the window as Ben came out. "So much about a white Christmas," he muttered. "Jack and Sabrina are going to kill me for running off again." Ben chuckled and waved his paperwork to be processed and walked off. Alex sighed as he looked outside and wondered why things like this always had to happen to people he cared about. A small marble of jealously entered his mind. At least Lainey had found out her mother was alive after all these years. At least she had family still alive.

He stared outside. She had still been taken even if she would be with her mother. Alex intended to get her back and make sure she was safe. Snow began to fall outside and he thought about Lainey's warmth. The marble of jealousy melted away. He closed his eyes as a tear fell to his cheek. He wiped it away. "I must be tired," he mumbled to himself and then covered his trembling lips with his fingers.

For those of you who complained about Lainey being better than Alex….I hope you're satisfied now. Alex has gotta be a hero now.