IMPORTANT DETAILS for this story:
Callie got Adopted the same day as Jude, her biological father is Donald.
Callie did go through the ordeal with Liam but she kept a few things hidden from everyone.
LENA got the principals position and lost the baby.
I don't know where Sharon, Dana and Stuart live. So Im saying that Sharon lives in the California area. While Dana and Stuart live in Florida.
REVIEW ANSWERS:
GUEST: You have to read through this chapter to see who the kidnapper is but you are on the same thinking wave that I am. :)
The story may or may not deal with Liam again but a lot can happen.
GUESTS: Thank you to all you guest reviewers for you review. I am glad you like the story.
CabbieLoverSAC22: Hmmm, the story may or may not deal with liam in the future but a lot can happen.
Brittana022: You will have to read and see. Everything adds up in the end.
lazytown2000: Always happy to get your review. :)
Rose099: You got your wish. Updated.
So thanks to all of you who reviewed. Here is the next chapter and the one you have all been waiting for.
Previously:
Their house had been taped off for the crime scene, cones and markers marked out where the van skidded, where Callie and Rylan had been standing and where Mariana had been standing. Where the girls skipping ropes had been dropped and where the boys had been along with Stef and Lena.
There were cops and crime scene people all around the yard while civilians stood behind the police tape, all gawking and trying to get a look at what was going on in their normally quiet neighbourhood. What annoyed Stef were the cameras flashing from civilians and from the news stations. Although the news stations annoyed her less as she knew that media coverage on her kidnapped children could help assist in finding them.
As soon as Stef stepped out of the house cameras began flashing, Stef sighed and headed over to the nearest officer guarding the border of the crime scene. She told him about the delivery and headed back inside. Someone would bring the pizza into them.
Stef hoped her family would at least eat something, even if it was a slice. Stef really was worried. Worried about her kidnapped daughters and worried about the emotional and mental state of the remaining members inside the house.
Xxxxxxxxx
With all the statements done and the pizza delivered and sitting on the coffee table half eaten, the crime scene investigators had finished taking photos and collecting evidence.
Soon enough all the civilians had gone inside for the night and the cars were gone, well all except a few cars that were going to patrol and the news crews, who were waiting around in the dark for a statement to get the gossip an the latest inside scoop.
Lena and Stef locked up downstairs as the kids got ready for bed. It was late and with the chaos and high running emotions of the afternoon, the whole family was physically and emotionally tired. The amount of sleep they would get tonight was another story.
Stef and Lena finally made it to their room and started their night routine. Stef sat on the bed with her back against the headboard as Lena put moisturiser on her skin.
"I need to phone Alyssa." Stef sighed out. Tomorrow was suppose to be Rylans first therapist appointment and Callies was this Saturday. Stef had to phone Alyssa to let her know what has happened.
"Do it in the morning honey. There is no rush." Lena told Stef as she put the lid on her moisturiser and slipped into the bed next to Stef. Her back against the headboard and snuggled into Stefs side with her head on Stefs shoulder.
"I know. I just feel helpless. Our daughters are out there with some maniacs and I'm sitting here doing nothing." Stef explained, her hands clasping onto Lenas that sat in her lap. She really did feel useless. Lena could understand that, she felt useless as well. All they could do was be with each other and let the other professionals do their jobs.
"The whole station and the surrounding stations are all looking for them. No one kidnaps a cops kids without repercussions." Lena reassured her wife. That was all she could do. Lena could tell Stef was getting frustrated, she could see that Stef was also feeling useless and upset and guilty.
"When I get my hands on whoever kidnapped them I'm go..." Stef started her voice holding anger, but her rant was cut off by Lenas hand over her mouth. Lena turned her head and sat up straight as she moved her hands to clasped Stefs cheeks so that they were looking each other in the eyes. Lena could read Stef just by looking into her eyes.
"Hey, calm down honey. We will find them, ok?" Lena said looking at the emotions displayed in Stefs eyes that she wasn't portraying on the outside.
"Yeah." Stef sobbed out as she leant forward to lean her head on Lenas shoulder as Lena held her wife to her. Her emotions that she had held strong through the statements all came tumbling out at once. They held onto each other tightly, both of them needing the comfort and strength from each other to help them through this and to help them keep it together, for their kids.
The Moms stay in their embrace for a while. Just content in holding each other in the moment. It was helping calm them a little. It wouldn't work fully until every one of their kids were under their roof and safe.
Their moment was cut short by the hushed whispers outside of their closed bedroom door. A small knock could be heard as Mariana called out softly, hoping to not wake her parents if they were asleep.
"Moms?" Both Stef and Lena wiped their eyes and tried to compose themselves before facing the kids.
"Come in kids." Lena called and immediately the door was opened and Mariana, Jude, Jesus and Brandon were now in the room. Stef patted the bed and the four of them made their way over.
"We can't sleep." Jude said as he and Mariana situated themselves between Lena and Stef. Jude closest to Lena while Mariana sat closest to Stef.
"We're worried for our sisters." Brandon explained as he and Jesus took seats at the bottom of the bed so they could face the four at the head of the bed.
"There are a lot of people looking for them. They will be back here in know time. We just have to stay positive." Lena said to reassure the kids. It was hard to make promises when she didn't know if she could keep them so she didn't make promise.
"Can we make flyers to put up tomorrow?" Jude asked. He wanted to do something to help find his sisters and Flyers might be a good way.
"I think that a great idea, it will help to have the community be on the lookout and it will get you guys doing something." Stef responded with a smile to the kids as she leant over and ruffled Judes hair.
"Yeah, I feel useless not helping find them. Flyers are something us kids can do." The other three kids nodded to what Brandon said.
"Well its sorted then. You guys and Mama will make flyers tomorrow and go stick them up all around the community and take a pile to stores who can pass them out to customers." Stef explained confirming the kids and Lenas plans for tomorrow. All the kids nodded, thankful that their parents agreed into letting them help in the search for Callie and Rylan.
With the kids and Lena focused on the flyers tomorrow, Stef could get updates and help her co workers and captain. She wasn't going to sit on the sidelines, she was going to do whatever she could to help find her kids.
"Mom?" Mariana said hesitantly as she bit her lip. She wanted to say something but she didn't want to sound stupid. She had been thinking about this since her siblings had been kidnapped.
"What's on your mind sweets?" Stef asked, looking down at the teen, she could see that Mariana had something on her mind, just by the way she was biting her lip.
"I think they wanted Rylan." Mariana shared her thoughts. Lena and Stef frowned while the boys waited for Mariana to explain.
"Why do you think that sweets?" Stef asked, she was all for ideas on why someone would want to kidnap Rylan and Callie.
"I've been thinking since they were kidnapped and the only thing I could think of is that they were after Rylan. What if this has a connection with the bogus uncle. He couldn't get custody of her, so he had to resort to like a plan B, kidnapping. " Mariana explained. Everyone taking in what Mariana had just explained and all the evidence was linking up.
"But why take Callie then?" Jude asked confused.
"She was standing next to Rylan, she was showing Rylan how to hold the skipping rope properly so it wouldn't slip out of her grip. Maybe she saw the someone in the van reach for Rylan and immediately grabbed onto her. Which means they had no choice to take her as well." Mariana continued to explain.
"Miss thing that is a really good bit of information and very good detective work, ill be right back." Stef said as she scooped her phone up, placed a kiss to Marianas temple and headed out of the bedroom to call her captain with the idea Mariana came up with. All the evidence pointed to it.
"Lets all try to get some sleep. I know we have a lot on our minds but we need to be fresh in the morning. We won't be good to help anyone if we are tired." Lena said before Jesus and Brandon headed off to their rooms to grab blankets and pillows to bring back to sleep on while Mariana and Jude snuggled down in the middle of the bed, leaving enough room for Stef on her side to slip into when she got off of the phone.
xxxxxx
Friday morning rolled around too soon. The evenings events yesterday had drained them physically and emotionally but their minds hadn't shut down. The family all together got an average of maybe three hours sleep.
Stef stood at the stove flipping pancakes and sipping on coffee as the rest of the family slowly woke up upstairs. Stef was already dressed for the day. She had woken about 6am and couldn't get back to sleep, so she had dressed and gone downstairs to make some coffee and start breakfast.
The last of the pancakes were being put on the plate and on the table when Lena came downstairs dressed for the day. Giving Stef a peck on the lips, she then headed over to fill herself a cup of coffee. One by one the kids came down and took seats, every one of them still in pyjamas. They all looked tired but began to eat the food on the table. Pancakes, fruit and toast were on the menu along with milk, water, tea and juice.
"Jesus, can you take the trash out after breakfast? Brandon go with him please." Stef asked as she buttered a piece of toast. She didn't want the kids to go out and do anything on their own. The kidnappers may have who they wanted but you could never be to sure.
"Sure Mom." Jesus said before taking a bite of pancake, Brandon nodding.
Xxxxxxx
After breakfast Mariana headed up to get showered and changed while Lena, Stef and Jude cleaned the kitchen from breakfast and the two older boys took the rubbish out.
"I'm going to go talk to the patrols to get an update." Stef said wiping her wet hands off on the hand towel.
"Ok honey." Lena called over her shoulder as Stef headed out of the kitchen.
Stef didn't even make it out of the front door. As soon as she opened the door, another note was stuck on it with another knife covered in blood.
We only wanted her but ended with two.
we have who we wanted and a bonus
we did warn you
you will never see them again
p.s, you didn't see this coming.
we enjoyed the camping trip
James and Amanda :)
Stef didn't make a fuss, she didn't want to make her family afraid so she closed the front door behind her, making sure she didn't touch the note and contaminate it, pulled out her phone and pulled up the all too familiar number.
She could see her colleagues patrolling and the news crews from last night had obviously given up with trying to get a statement from the family last night and were no where in sight. Stef was a little relieved at that.
Standing on the front porch, Stef dialled her Captain's number. Seeing James and Amanda's names on the bottom of the note made Stef furious. Callie and Rylan both felt off with the couple and got an eerie feeling with them and now Stef knew why.
"Stef, what can I do for you?" Stefs Captain asked through the line, not bothering with formalities given everything that was currently going on right now.
"We got another note. My family don't know yet." Stef sighed out, her eyes looking over at the note stuck on the door.
"What did the note say? Where was it?" The captain said on her end of the line. Stef could hear the computer start up in the background.
"It was attached to the front door with a blood covered knife, just like the others. It says that they wanted one of the girls but got the other as a bonus. Marianas idea from last night is sounding very much like its on the right path. What if the bogus Uncle joined with some people? They even sighed their names on this note." Stef said as she leant against the railing of the front porch, looking out at the road and people jogging.
"They did? Do the names ring any bells?" Stef could hear surprise is her captains voice. It really was odd that kidnappers would leave their names on a note. The only reasons they would do that is if they knew they couldn't be traced or they were dumb. Stef was hoping that it was because they were stupid enough.
"Yeah. We even met them when we went camping. The couple we met, were called James and Amanda Sutton, its them. Callie and Rylan felt off when they were around. What if the bogus uncle hired them to kidnap Rylan? " Stef explained knowing that with this new information the family would have to go and give statements.
Stef now had the job of Explaining to the family that they got another note and it was from a couple they met, it made her stomach churn.
"Alright, ill send out the Crime scene guys to gather the note and evidence. Could you all be at the station by 10 am?.We need statements and you all need to talk to a sketch artist. This is a good lead sStef." The captain asked.
"Yeah ok. It really is a good lead, we saw their faces, we have their names. Captain, I don't think they are amateurs at all, they have managed to get to the house to put the notes up without being heard or seen. I'm worried." Stef told her captain, her mind flashing with pictures of James and Amanda.
"I know you are Stef. This case is number one priority right now. Go be with your family. Ill see you later Stef." Captain Roberts said to Stef.
"We will see you at 10am thanks captain, bye." Stef responded before hanging up. She was glad she had such an amazing captain. Stef sighed as she slipped her phone into the pocket of her jeans and then looked over at the note on the door before heading towards it to go inside.
xxxxxx
The crime scene guys would be here soonish and Stef needed to inform the family before they got there otherwise they would be so confused and worried.
Stef took a deep breath and let it out before heading back into the kitchen. As she arrived in the kitchen, only Lena, Jesus and Jude were in there. The three of them were sorting out craft stuff. They had paper, laptops, colouring pencils and other stuff that would be useful for the flyers.
"Any updates?" Lena asked looking up from the laptop to Stef. One look at her wife, Lena knew there was something wrong, she could read her wifes eyes like a book.
"Jesus, can you go grab Mariana and Brandon please?" Stef said instead of answering Lenas question. Jude stopped what he was doing and looked at his moms as Jesus stood from his seat.
"Sure Mom." He nodded as he headed out of the kitchen to get Brandon and Mariana. He wasn't going to complain or argue about it, he could see the worry on his Moms face.
"What's going on Stef?" Lena asked as she slid off of her stool and made her way towards Stef. She didn't like the emotions running through Stefs eyes, they scared and worried her.
"Just wait till the kids come down." Stef said to Lena who nodded hesitantly and took a seat back at the table as Mariana, Brandon and Jesus came into the kitchen and took seat on the stools.
When all of them were facing Stef and giving her their complete attention, Stef started the conversation that she had dreaded wanting to talk about.
"So My captain wants us to go to in and meet her at about 10am. We need to give statements on meeting James and Amanda and also talk with a sketch artist." Stef said leaving out a lot of information, hoping the kids wouldn't ask more on it and just accept it.
"Why?" Stef sighed at Judes question. Of course the kids would ask why, she should have known they were inquisitive like her.
"We got another note." Stef stated and Lenas eyes went wide. Lena didn't need to know what the note said to understand what Stef was on about.
"What did it say?" Jesus asked curiously.
"It said that they got the one they wanted and a bonus. It was signed James and Amanda." Stef said leaving out the part about them never seeing the girls again. Not wanting to scare her already scared family even more.
"So, What?, Looking for hiking trails was just an excuse to talk and spy on us to gain information?" Brandon asked anger lacing his voice.
"Possibly." Stef said nodding.
"Callie and Rylans radar on people that are trouble, definitely works." Lena sighed out. She had had a fight with Stef over them and her two girls who were taken by them had felt uneasy with the couple around. Lena was just shocked, everything about them had seemed so normal.
The kitchen went quiet as the family took everything in. Stef just watched each of the members of her family in the kitchen, studying them.
"Can we start making the flyers before we go to the station?" Jude asked after a moment of silence. He gestured to all the supplies they had pulled out and Stef nodded with a sad smile.
"Yeah, you all can make them with Mama while I call Alyssa to cancel Rylans and Callies appointments." Stef said ans the kids nodded with Lena.
"Can we call the grandparents?" Mariana asked hopefully.
"Yeah, they can help us look for Callie and Rylan. " Jude added as their Moms looked at each other. They hadn't even thought of their parents before now and Lena really wanted her Mother and Father right now as well.
"What do you think?" Stef asked her wife.
"They need to know. I would like to have my parents here for support." Lena explained her reasoning and Stef nodded. She wanted her Mom too.
Before Stef could respond, Lenas mobile started to ring. Lena reached over held it up to show Stef.
"Alright ill answer this while you call Alyssa and then we can tackle our parents." Stef said taking Lenas phone and holding out her own phone for her wife. She would talk to Bill because she needed him and his team to do a few things for them.
"Ok, good idea." Lena said as she grabbed the phone out of Stefs hand and headed out to the back yard.
"While you guys are doing that, we are going to make a start on our flyers." Brandon told his Mom as the kids all turned their attention to the flyers. Mariana going onto the Laptop since she was the most qualified and knew more about technology then the others.
"Hey Bill, its Stef." Stef said into the phone as she answered it. Seeing the kids were ok and Lena was outside on the phone, Stef focused on her conversation with Bill.
"Hi Stef, Lenas voice mail said it was an emergency?" Bill asked from his end of the line.
"Rylan and Callie were kidnapped yesterday evening." Stef informed the case worker as she headed into the living room to talk.
"Oh god. I'm so sorry to hear that. What can I do?" Bill asked. Stef could hear paper shuffling about on his end and knew he was probably writing notes. He was Rylans case worker and needed to know everything.
"We need the information on the man claiming to be her uncle. We believe he might be involved in the kidnapping." Stef explained, hoping that they had something they could go on.
"Sure, anything else I can do for you all?" Stef smiled sadly, Bill really was a great guy.
"No that's it, Can you meet us at the station with your information, around 10am though?" Stef asked as she heard more paper rustling over the phone. Stef moved around the living room as waited for Bill to respond. Her eyes scanning the various photos of the family before landing on a picture of Mariana, Callie and Rylan snuggled up together on Marianas bed reading together. It was a truly beautiful sisterly moment.
"Yeah, sure. I need to go to the station anyway since Rylan is still a foster child and I need to tell them to keep me informed." Bill explained as Stef nodded in understanding from her end even though he couldn't see it, her eyes still on the picture of the girls.
"Ok, we will see you there Bill."
"See you later. Again, I'm so sorry Stef." Stef nodded.
"Thanks Bill." Stef said before hanging up, a lone tear falling down her cheek as she continued to look at the photo of Rylan, Callie and Mariana. Stef didn't want to think that this could possibly be the last photo she would ever get of all three of her baby girls together.
"Ill find you my Babies, Mommy will find you." Her fingers stroking over Callie and Rylan as she thought about what they were doing and if they are ok.
Ooooooo I bet you didn't see that coming.
The question is, why did they kidnap them?
I hope you are enjoying the story. This story looks like its going to be a long one so there are plenty more chapters coming.
Read and Review please