Hey everyone, it's me again! Thank you to all who are still following this story through all of its random twists and turns, including this surprising plot twist. Bet you didn't see that one coming. Haha. Anyway, I have to work tomorrow (yes, on the 4th of July) from 8-2pm, so hopefully I will update either then or on Wednesday morning/afternoon. Until that time, sit back, relax, and enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter Nineteen: Dangerous Game

"No freaking way," Eva exclaimed once again as Elsie finished that portion of her story. I nodded solemnly, as did Greg.

"You were kidnapped?" Leala asked in hushed awe. Baron's eyes were wide, and he was literally leaning forward on the couch in order to hear more.

"Yes, I was," I replied. The kids simultaneously shook their heads in disbelief.

"Wow," Baron whispered still shaking his head. "Wow."

"Weren't you scared?" Eva asked with wide eyes. I looked at her, biting my lip in concentration and nodded.

"Yes, but at the same time, when I was kidnapped, I was unconscious."

"Well, what happened? And what does this have to do with meeting Dad?" Baron asked with growing anticipation. Elsie chimed in.

"Oh, you'll see," she replied cryptically. "But don't you want to hear everything that happened up to that point?"

"Yes!" the children chorused, leaning forward to hear Elsie better.

"Well, for one thing, I remember what every single person in that office did when I told them that Anna had been kidnapped…"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

My tear-filled eyes roamed around the room. Hawkes' mouth had dropped open slightly and he was staring intently at Kristina and me. Lindsay had gripped Danny's arm, steadying herself. Danny took his other hand and covered hers with his own. His eyes were transfixed on Mac's desk, jaw tight. Stella placed both of her hands on Mac's desk and was taking deep breaths. Mac's eyes were blazing and he clenched a pen tightly in his fist.

But who I remember most of all was Flack, for he sat down in a chair and raked his fingers through his hair, staring at the floor. And then he spoke, not looking up.

"I didn't tell her I was sorry," he said, voice wracked with regret. My eyes filled with fresh tears and I let out a choked sob.

"She…she forgave you already," I assured him.

"How do you know?" he asked, still not lifting his gaze from the floor. The others in the room remained speechless and focused their stares out the windows, away from our conversation.

"Because…because…" I began to choke out. Kristina put a comforting hand on my shoulder as I continued. "…she was on her way…to…to tell you that she was sorry."

Flack lifted his blue eyes from the floor and I could see that they were swimming with emotion. He didn't have to say anything, but I knew what he was feeling. Mac cleared his throat and everyone seemed to break out of their trances.

"Danny, you take Hawkes and the girls down to the crime scene. See if we can't get tire treads or anything that Anna or her kidnapper might have left behind."

Danny and Hawkes nodded.

"Stella, you and Lindsay stay here in the lab and wait to process anything that they find."

"But—" Lindsay began.

"No, Lindsay. I want you both here in the lab."

Stella nodded and ushered the younger woman outside of Mac's office.

"Come on," Danny motioned, bringing Kristina and me out of the office and back into the bustling hallway of the crime lab. I turned around once, and saw Mac sitting talking to Flack, trying to comfort and assure him.

We returned once more to the alleyway on Broadway that Anna had been taken from. Danny and Hawkes pulled their kits out of the crime lab's SUV and stepped into the entrance of the alley, looking for anything to collect.

"Hey, Danny, check this out," Hawkes said, pulling fibers off of the ground in front of him. Danny studied the fibers closely.

"Send them back to the lab. Maybe we can get something off of them," he said emotionless. He was just going through the motions, but in the back of his mind, he knew that this was no ordinary case. It was his friend who had been taken.

Check the trashcan. I am sure she must have stuck my clothes in there. I had almost walked past the alley, before a Muslim woman, dressed in a headscarf that covered her mouth stopped me and began talking fast. She had a heavy accent, so I paused to listen to what she was frantically trying to tell me. 'Help, help my son, please.' I looked at her intently. 'Your son needs help?' I asked. 'Yes, yes. Help!' she had said to me, pulling me into the entrance of the alleyway. 'Where is your son?' I managed to ask, before I felt a cloth cover my nose and mouth. And then suddenly…I felt very tired.

"Hawkes, look at this!" Danny shouted from a trashcan. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a red top. I looked at the top and gasped. Danny and Hawkes looked over at me.

"That's my top. I let Anna borrow it."

Hawkes examined the clothing and pulled out his tweezers. "Check this out Danny," he said, holding up the tweezers. "I got more white fibers."

Danny smiled sadly. "Alright then, we'll take it back and Stella and Lindsay can get working on that."

Danny took the clothes, bagged them, and placed them in the SUV. Hawkes walked carefully down the back of the alley and shouted that he had some tire treads. He snapped photographs of the treads and examined the rest of the alley for any trace evidence. Danny shook his head sadly, and sighed.

"Let's start processing," he stated, climbing into the SUV. "But first, we're going to get you ladies home," he said, addressing Kristina and me. I shook my head firmly.

"No. I want to stay in case you find anything. I want to know."

"I need Kristina to stay though," Hawkes said to Danny. "She saw the car that took her and we need to match the treads."

Danny exhaled. "Alright, you can stay, but only if Mac gives the green light. If not, you both are going home." We nodded and I prayed that we would find Anna.

"There was no blood in the alley," Danny told Mac as we returned to the lab. "No indication of a struggle, other than some white fibers we found. We also found Anna's clothes stashed in a trashcan with the same white fibers on them."

"Send it to Stella and Lindsay," Mac stated. Danny nodded.

"Already did, and they're working on it."

Lindsay rushed into the room and interrupted. "The results on the fibers are in. The fibers came from a common washcloth or a towel. But what is interesting is the substance on them," she said, handing the results over to Mac.

"Trichloromethane," he stated, reading over the results.

"What does that mean?" I asked puzzled.

"Chloroform," Lindsay stated simply. "Basically used to knock someone out."

"So, are kidnapper didn't want to kill Anna automatically," Danny said. Mac shook his head.

"But what we really need to find out is where he is taking her, and why."

Hawkes jogged into the room with Kristina shortly behind him.

"I think we've got our get-away car," he said with satisfaction.

And that is where I will kindly stop for today. Haha. If you didn't get it, Anna is the one who is talking in italics. She will continue to do that throughout the next couple of chapters. Basically, I'm using that so you know what she is thinking during this whole kidnapping. Read and review!