--
Kara gasped audibly at the hateful words her stepbrother tossed at her. Her fault? "God, this is such a mess," she sighed tiredly as she went to the door and closed it behind her brother. Leaning her back against it, she eyed each Donovan in turn. "First, let me apologize for Brian's behavior. He...he's always been testy when it comes to my brother John or myself. It's that 'step' syndrome. Brian was ten years old when his mother met my father; I was three and John was five at the time." She shrugged and pushed off from the door. "Would you care for tea? Coffee?" she asked suddenly, but was not surprised when her three visitors shook their heads. "Second, the reason I've been acting like such a horrid person is...my brother, John...you met him once, didn't you, Farron?...was kidnapped two days ago." She sniffed slightly as the tears threatened to return.
Farron's eyes grew wide in surprise. She had not been rejecting him at all. She loved him and had not held it against him that he had not returned her sentiment. She loved him still. His heart grew with the realization of what she was going through and that she had been on her own. Except for that prick of a brother. He caught her up into a firm, comforting embrace when they entered the sitting room. Kara kissed his neck softly and whispered, "thank you for not giving up on me," while he stroked her back softly.
"And your brother, John? Have you heard from the kidnappers?" Frank asked, settling beside Loralei and Rachel on the loveseat in Kara's sitting room while Farron and Kara sat across from them on the large sofa.
Kara nodded and snuggled against Farron when his arm came around her shoulders. "Yes, they've demanded ten million by the end of the week," she replied, sadly.
"Why haven't you notified the authorities?" Farron asked softly.
"Oh, Farron...don't you see? If they find out, they'll kill John. We can't take that chance!" she cried desperately. "You see...that is why Brian insisted I keep away from you. How difficult would it be for them to find out that your brother is a government agent?"
He stroked her hair softly when she buried her face against his neck. "It will be all right," he soothed softly and felt her literally shaking in his arms. "And you've been dealing with this...with Brian's help?" Although he had just met the man, Farron hated Kara's brother. Hated him with a passion. How dare he demand Kara stay away from him? How dare he let this burden rest on her shoulders?
Kara nodded. "I...we've been working with the company lawyers, liquidating assets and whatnot. And with my trust fund...we'll have the money the day after tomorrow."
"And Brian?" Loralei asked. She had picked up the same weird vibes that Frank and Farron had. "What is he doing?"
Kara's lips pursed slightly before she answered. "Brian...well, he's had a run of bad luck in the stock market. He lost most of his trust fund years ago. He runs the company's R&D department and makes a hefty salary, but nothing that would meet the ransom demand."
"Tell me about the company and John," Frank insisted.
"John is the CEO now, after our father's death five years ago. Daddy was a self-made man, as the saying goes. Don't get me wrong, he had a head start with the family money, but he took a small trust and built it into an Empire." She looked up at Farron, who was listening intently. He had heard all of this during one of their long talks and still he listened to her like she was telling it the first time. He had a unique way of making her feel special without even trying. "Unlike my brother, Brian, Dad was a whiz in the stock market. He made a killing when he was quite young and started an electronics company. Everett Enterprises went from developing and manufacturing televisions, stereos, and the like, and moved into electronic and computer games. It's a solid company, run with an iron, but fair, fist by my brother, John."
"Let me get a K&R team on this, Kara."
She shook her head frantically. "No, please. Brian's right about this. No law enforcement." She pulled away from Farron and sat forward on the edge of the seat. "I realize who you are, Frank...but this is my brother who is in danger and I'm just not willing to take a chance with his life."
"Shel," Farron spoke softly. "Before you dismiss the idea completely, hear Frank out." When Kara turned in his direction he was relieved to see she was not upset with his interjection. He only wanted what was best for her, and this was familiar territory to Frank.
Kara chewed her bottom lip absently while she pondered Farron's suggestion. Should she listen? Could she take the chance? Had she already doomed John to his death by allowing them entrance into her home? The thought petrified her. She and John had grown up practically inseparable. Only when they went off to boarding schools did they spend any time apart, and even then, they stayed in close contact.
Frank excused himself and went into the kitchen. When he returned, Kara noticed he held the small notepad and pen she kept by the kitchen phone. He scribbled something while he said, "Kara, I can't force you to go to the authorities. It's your decision." He took the few steps across the room to hand her the pad so that she could read what he had written. At least allow me to have Cody stop by (disguised, of course) and sweep this place for bugs.
Kara nodded as she read the note, indicating her acceptance to his suggestion. "I appreciate your staying out of this. John is very important to me and I won't be able to live with myself if I am the cause to his being hurt in any way."
Frank nodded. He went to Loralei and offered her his hand in helping her to her feet. "We'd better get going. Rachel will be waking soon." That his daughter would awaken was not an issue, he wanted to get home to call Cody and get him to the Everett house as soon as possible.
***
As soon as they were back in their own home, Frank flipped open his cell phone and speed dialed Cody at his residence. They were between cases and the entire team was enjoying some down time.
"Helllloooo!"
"We've got a situation." Frank barked into the small phone.
"Always good to hear from you, Boss."
"Right, Cody. Listen. There's been a kidnapping...A John Everett. I need you to get to our neighbor's house, Kara Everett..."
"Yeah, I remember her.
Pretty little thing..."
"Cody, concentrate! We need to sweep her place for bugs, but keep it on the down low. They could be monitoring her place."
"Gotcha."
"Get Monica to the Nest and put Alex and Jake on standby. I need you to pull up anything you can find on Everett Enterprises as well as John, Brian and Kara Everett. Monica can go through the files while you check out Kara's. She's expecting you."
***
To be continued...