"What do you mean Cameron's gone? Are you sure he isn't with Mrs. Whitby next door? You know she loves having the kids over." But Colby knew, even as he questioned her, that Hannah would already have checked. He was simply hoping against hope. He saw Don, Megan, and David look up at his words. Don's Maggie had just turned six, two years older than his Keely. Megan's Darla was Keeley's age, and David's Jonathan was the same age as Colby's triplets. Cameron, the youngest of Colby's triplet sons, was only three.
"I was changing Verity's diaper, Colby, and when I turned around, Cameron was gone. I've looked everywhere, and Mrs. Whitby has also called around. No one's seen him." The note of terror was still in Hannah's voice.
"Colby, tell her we're on our way over there," Don cut in. He knew how he would feel if it had been Maggie.
Colby nodded in relief, "We're on our way, Hannah. Lock the doors, and don't let anyone in."
----
There was something surreal about seeing your home turned into a crime scene, Colby reflected grimly. He'd been to dozens of crime scenes, but none had filled him with quite this degree of dread. Everyone went about their usual tasks. Well, everyone except him. He had clutched Tyler and Brandon close to his chest the moment he got there, while Keeley clung to his side. Hannah cradled Verity close, struggling to stay calm for the baby's sake, but her eyes were wide with fear. Colby would have given anything to have sheltered his family from this.
He sat down next to Hannah, settling Tyler and Brandon in his lap. "Come sit next to Daddy, Keeley," he said softly to his daughter. Then noted with regret that, at age four, she'd already learned to stay on his left, so that his gun hand would be clear. Colby gave her a hug, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, as she leaned trustingly into his side.
"Everything's going to be fine, Hannah," he said quietly to his wife, as he gently caressed her cheek and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
She turned her cheek into his cupped hand as a sob escaped her.
"Shhh. Shhh. It's going to be alright," he murmured softly as he kissed her.
Megan sat down close by and began to ask Hannah questions about the afternoon. Colby saw David dash in and say something to Don. He left the children with Hannah and joined David and Don.
"The kid across the street, Eddie Mason, is some kind of an electronic whiz. He's got a security camera scanning the street, and I've got some footage of this afternoon. I'll get it to the lab and see what we come up with," David was excited. It was a huge break for them.
Colby shook his head ruefully. He'd always had a problem with that camera. Eddie had a crush on Hannah, and Colby had been very unhappy when he found out about that camera. To Colby, Eddie was just an electronic peeping tom. It would be the very height of irony if Eddie had recorded the kidnapper. There'd be no convincing Eddie to remove the camera then.
"Well, we know the motive isn't money," Colby was realistic. It was impossible to support five children on an FBI agent's salary. They only managed because he had a small share in his parents' businesses, plus they had income from Hannah's jewelry store. Even then, they were just getting by.
Don agreed, "Cameron's too old for the baby black market, so it leaves revenge. We'll have to check who's been released from jail recently."
Just then, Don's cell phone rang.
"Agent Eppes. Good to see that your agents are on top of things," a raspy voice sneered.
"Who's this?" Don asked sharply.
"My name is Warren Gordon. Most people call me Demento. Do you remember me?"
Don froze. Demento was responsible for the deaths in the home invasion case seven, no, eight years ago.
"Demento. Yes, I remember you," Don responded, coldly. "What do you want?"
Everyone around him froze in apprehension. They remembered the cold-blooded murders during the home invasions.
"Well, I wanted to make it simple for you. I have the Granger kid. Spirited little thing, isn't he? I finally had to knock him out," Demento laughed, a crazed maniacal sound that sent chills down Don's spine. "And keep an eye out for all your kids. I'm coming after them next. Then I'll show you what pain really is when I start torturing them for your viewing pleasure. Vengeance will be mine." He hung up.
Colby fought the terror that rose in his throat at the grim look on Don's face.
"We have to get our families into a safe house," Don said calmly, though his anger and fear were evident as he told his team what Demento had said.
----
Don finally decided to go with just one safe house. He thought it would be easier to concentrate defences on one house, rather than spreading his resources too thinly. It meant that they had to be more vigilant, since everyone that Demento wanted was under one roof.
Megan listened to David while he convinced Olivia to get Jonathan and head to the safe house. He was apparently getting an earful. In contrast, Larry had listened quietly to her explanation, and immediately offered to pick Darla up from preschool and round up Charlie, Amita and Alan. Megan was grateful that Larry understood the danger. He knew that it would hurt the agents more to see their families hurt. And that Demento intended to torture whomever he kidnapped.
Robin wasn't pleased, because she was scheduled to be in court. But nothing mattered more to her than Maggie's safety. She left her secretary to reschedule or get someone to cover for her. Maggie was her first priority, and Robin got Maggie out of school and arrived at the safe house with their things in short order. She wasn't taking any chances with her daughter's safety.
Hannah was grateful that Colby had been there to help her get things together. She was already shaking from the ordeal. The children hadn't felt well when they got up that morning. It hadn't seemed serious to Colby. Nevertheless, she had decided to keep the children out of preschool for the day. Now she was wondering how wise it had been. Or would it have been worse at the preschool? Would he have got more than one child then? She shuddered at the thought.
Colby settled their children in the largest bedroom of the safe house. He saw Hannah shudder, and wrapped his arms protectively around her. She sighed as she snuggled close, face against his neck. She was still trembling a little, and he thought she might be close to tears. "It's going to be alright," he whispered softly. She nodded, but there was a hitch in her breath. He knew she wasn't crying only because she didn't want to scare the children.
"It'll be a pretty good trick if we're all still speaking to each other at the end of this," Megan said to Don, looking around at everyone settling in the best way they could.
"This is the best way, Megan."
She sighed, "I know. But it's still true." Megan looked at David, who had just come in. "Did you get anything from the video?"
David nodded, "It was Demento alright. Hannah was changing Verity's diaper, but she was yelling at Tyler and Brandon. They'd been fighting over something. Demento had his hand over Cameron's mouth, but Cameron was kicking and scratching, even managed to bite Demento on the hand. That's when he knocked Cameron out with his fist. Drove off in a Ford truck. I'm not expecting much out of it but I traced the address on the truck's license number. And I don't think it'll be a good idea for Colby to see that clip."
Don grimaced but agreed. He was ready to kill Demento for punching the child, and Cameron wasn't his son.
----
Cameron was sulking. He always tried real hard to listen to Mama and Daddy, and he hadn't wanted to go with the man. Daddy always said never to talk to strangers, and he hadn't. But the man had grabbed him, even though Cameron had shaken his head no and had started to run back to Mama. The man smelled, and then he had a smelly hand over Cameron's mouth. Cameron kicked and scratched at him, but he was too little and the man was too strong. It had only made the man angry, especially when Cameron bit him as hard as he could. He didn't remember much of what happened next because the man had hit him on the head. Even when Daddy was angry, he'd never hit any of them. This was a very bad man.
The next thing Cameron remembered was being in the bad man's truck. It was a truck like Grandpa's in Idaho. Except that Grandpa's truck was clean and shiny. This truck was disgusting. That's what Mama had said this morning about the neighbor down the street who hadn't cleaned up their garbage bin. It was a new word for Cameron, and he'd had to ask Mama to explain it. He missed Mama, and he wanted to go home. But the bad man had told him to shut up and shook his fist at him. Cameron didn't want to be hit again. His head still hurt and he couldn't see right. He pouted. How come Tyler and Brandon never got into trouble, but he always did, even when he was trying to do what Mama and Daddy told them? It just wasn't fair.
He looked out the window. He was starting to get very scared, because he didn't know where he was. Mama had always described where they were going, when she took them places, but he didn't think he'd been here before. He saw signs like the ones at the grocery store Mama took them to, but it wasn't the same store. He saw other signs that he knew, but they weren't the same places he'd been to. Cameron started to repeat their address and phone number in his head, he didn't want to forget. He tried to see if there was a policeman nearby he could run to, but there wasn't.
The truck finally pulled into a driveway. It was at a street corner. Cameron looked at the number on the door and the alphabets in the street sign at the street. He couldn't read the word, but he knew the alphabets. He kept repeating them in his head, along with his address and phone number. Maybe he could get it to someone.
----
"Demento sent us a video clip," David said, pulling it up on the laptop. They watched grimly as Demento prodded Cameron into view. Demento had Cameron hold up the day's newspaper, then laugh maniacally as he smacked Cameron hard on the head. Colby clenched his fists, and swore to himself. The other agents felt for him.
Demento turned to the camera and started talking, threatening Cameron with torture, and threatening to kidnap the other kids. Suddenly, Megan leaned forward. "What's Cameron holding up?" He had slipped another piece of paper in front of the newspaper when Demento turned his back to him.
Colby looked closely, "It's a drawing. He likes to draw, they've all got a little of Hannah's talent."
"David, go back and pause the clip," Don instructed, "Then enlarge the drawing."
"7233 Safe," Megan read, even though the S and the E were backwards. "It's a blue house with black shutters. Colby, do you think Cameron drew the house he's in?"
"Oh, my God!" Hannah screamed. Colby turned to see her turn white with shock at the picture on the computer.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't be in here," Colby pulled her into his arms and took her out of the kitchen where they had been. Don grimaced, perhaps they shouldn't have been using the kitchen.
Colby consoled Hannah as he drew her to the bedroom. His heart broke, as Hannah finally broke down and burst into tears, at the sight of little Keeley valiantly brandishing a baseball bat, her tiny little body splayed protectively in front of her brothers and her baby sister in the baby carrier. "It's okay, princess, you can put that down. Mama was scared, but she's okay now," Colby soothed Keeley, pulling her into his embrace. "You're a brave little girl, Daddy's proud of you, but it's going to be okay."
"Promise?" Keeley whispered.
"I promise," Colby choked out. He comforted them as best as he could, then left them to see if they'd found out anything more from the clip.
Hannah hushed Tyler who started to protest, "Daddy has to go back to work, Tyler. We want Cameron back as soon as possible."
They had already pinpointed the address. "You're not going in on the raid," Don said firmly.
"The hell I'm not! That's my son!" Colby fumed.
"That's precisely why you're not going in. You can come with us, for Cameron, but you're not going in," Don wasn't giving in.
Colby was furious, but he went along with it. It was that or stay behind, and he wanted to be there to make sure Demento got what he deserved.
Cameron had made it easy for them to find the house. The house was a large one, and it had been simple enough to ensure that the child was safe before they broke in and arrested Demento. The element of surprise had been completely on the FBI's side. He'd tried to resist arrest, and Colby had the satisfaction of smacking him down hard. Don and David pulled him off before he could do more, but it was better than nothing, he thought.
----
Hannah had clung tightly to Cameron all the way home from the safe house. Colby knew when Keeley started singing the baby to sleep that she would be alright. Tyler and Brandon had already begun tussling in the back seat. They would be fine too. And Verity was still a baby, and unaware of her surroundings. But he wasn't sure about Cameron. Cameron's eyes were huge in his tiny little face. And his arms were wrapped tight around Hannah's neck, face buried in her chest. He saw her press kisses on Cameron's head several times on the trip home, and sighed at the pain in her eyes. He hoped the shadows and pain in her eyes would be replaced with a smile before too long.
Later that night, Colby tucked his children into bed. He lingered at Cameron's bed for a little longer, gently brushing his hair away from his face, staying until he was asleep. He didn't know what demons Cameron would have to fight in the days to come from this experience, but for now, his son was safe.