Trail of Clues
Abby skipped her way down the hallway. She had managed to catch an early flight, there were no delays, and she was home way ahead of schedule. She couldn't wait to see Tim and their little girl again.
She knew that they'd be at the office, so she headed there, right after changing out of her travel clothes, fixing her hair, and freshening her makeup.
She entered her lab, only to see her husband, looking paler than she'd ever seen him in her life, diligently processing something for fingerprints.
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Caitlin thought hard before turning on her phone. What if someone tried to call her? The ring would tip off whoever had taken them. Then she remembered - the vibrate setting. She squinted, and hoped her hardest that nobody would be able to hear the tone of the buttons being pushed.
Once she had her phone on, she sent a text message to her Dad.
JT, in the meantime, had found other things to drop down the hole. Caitlin's hair scrunchies - a distinctive shade of pink, two in number. He untied his shoes, and shoved the laces through the small opening. Then, finally, he searched his pockets and found the note that his mom had given him, with the phone number where she could be reached if he started to miss her.
Caitlin, besides her hair accessories, had contributed to the trail of crumbs as well. Down the hole went her small emerald birthstone ring - the one with her initial "C" on it, as well as her own shoe laces, and a necklace that Auntie Faith had given to her on one of their "girls only" shopping trips with her and her Mom.
They sat back, trying not to panic, and waited.
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Abby was near panic herself, but was trying not to show it. Their little girl's life might very well depend on her staying cool and collected.
Anyway, she wanted to be in a proper state of mind when they found the dirty bastard who'd taken her and JT. Panic and hysterics were not conducive to what she had in mind.
Tim had filled her in as best he could, and together they processed what little evidence they had.
They confirmed that the print on the button was indeed Caitlin's, and Tony had found a full list of the employees at I.C. A/C. But sofar, all of the names on the list had turned up clean as a whistle.
Tim was startled when his phone chimed. He opened it up and saw that he had a text message in his inbox, from Caitlin. "That's my girl," he whispered. He held his breath as he opened the message and read it.
"tar smell, hair things, help us daddy."
"What the hell does she mean, Tim?" Abby said, starting to panic again. Tim held up a hand, shushing her momentarily as he sent back a message.
"We're looking for you Princess. Keep your phone on. Love you."
He pushed send and then turned back to Abby. "Tar smell, that's what she calls it when Mr. Follows fixes his driveway every year. Fresh tar, maybe? Road construction, an old building having a roof repaired? I don't know Abs," he said, as he dashed over to the lab computer and started a GPS trace on the phone. "Damnit," he swore in frustration. "The signal is unstable. Why the hell is she so hard to nail down?"
"Wait, Tim. Hair things. How was her hair done up this morning?" Tim looked at her, thinking. "Pigtails, like usual. Her pink terry hair ties, the Union Jack barrettes that Ducky brought back for her from his last trip home to England."
Abby's face lit up as she realized what the kids might have done.