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Over a half an hour drive away from the hospital was a place called Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention camp located in the Santa Monica Mountains of western Los Angeles County, California. The camp was known for its sports program. Most notable was the camp's American football team, the Kilpatrick Mustangs. In this camp was a young man by the name of Jonathan Hawley. Jonathan Hawley, or Johnny as his close friends and family called him, was a tall young seventeen-year-old man.
He was of average height with a muscular build, chiseled jawline, fair skin, short jet black hair, a scruffy goatee, and dark blue eyes.
This was Sarah O'Brian's boyfriend and Aidan's father. Like the other prisoners, he was also wearing a baggy, bright orange jumpsuit with a series of numbers on the back. Six months ago he had been hanging out with his friends when a cop pulled him over and found marijuana in his car and Johnny was sentenced to six months in prison. He wasn't a bad man. He was just a little childish and loved to cause mischief. But this baby was going to be a fresh start for him and Sarah.
When Sarah told him she was pregnant and after getting over the shock, Johnny stepped up and made a promise.
Nobody would love his child more than him. After he was sentenced, they knew his release date would be very close to her due date. The chances of him being released before their child was born would be slim, but that didn't mean Johnny did hope and pray he would see his child's birth. He wasn't getting his hopes up. He was due to be released in two weeks and the last time he saw Sarah she looked like she was about to pop like a balloon.
Johnny was going to be meeting with his lawyer today to discuss an early release.
He had been keeping his head down and keeping up his good behavior. He was also hoping that the information that he was about to be a father would sway whoever decided to release him. When the guards came to escort him to the meeting, however, he was surprised to find a priest waiting for him with the lawyer.
"What's up man, this ain't Sunday?" He asked as he took a seat.
"Mr. Hawley, you've been blessed with a baby son named him Aiden O'Brian." The priest said with a blank face. As soon as he heard that, Johnny's heart swelled with emotions that he couldn't begin to understand. While he was saddened that he couldn't be there for the birth of his firstborn, he smiled knowing that they had the rest of their lives to get to know each other. In a second he thought about all the things he and his new son, Aidan, would do together through the years.
He had already come up with a list of awesomely manly activities that he could do with his son to strengthen the paternal bond with him.
The first thing he thought of was fishing. A father and son fishing together was an iconic image of most paternal bonding. Johnny's dad took him fishing all the time and they had a great relationship. This fishing stuff worked, at least in Johnny's opinion. He remembered the time when his dad taught him and his siblings how to rig a line or make their first cast or how he beamed with pride when they caught their first fish. There was nothing like it.
Johnny was looking forward to playing catch.
America's pastime has brought fathers and sons together for over a century. Sure, it was a bit cliche, but there was something about playing catch with a baseball that could bond a father and son. What was nice about playing catch with your son was that it could provide opportunities to open up and have deep conversations with him about life. The time spent showing his son how to throw a split seam would be a memory he would keep for the rest of his life.
Another Johnny and his siblings did with his dad were go camping.
What better place to connect with his son than in the great outdoors? The teaching opportunities on a camping trip were endless. He could show Aidan how to start a fire, how to navigate with and without a compass, how to use a pocket knife, and how to identify plants and animals. Even the basic stuff like how to tie basic knots. Besides all the practical knowledge he could pass down, sitting around a campfire could give him a chance to pass on some manly wisdom in life.
He could help his little boy how to build and launch a model rocket.
Building a model rocket was like building a pinewood derby car, except a model rocket involves fuses and combustion; two things that excite any boy. While they would be building the rocket, Johnny could inspire his son with stories of daring test pilots and brave astronauts. Maybe his time building and shooting off a rocket will lead to a career in space engineering. There was nothing like watching sports to bring men together. Instead of rooting for his favorite team from the living room couch, he would pack up the car and take Aidan to watch them live and in person.
He could teach his son how to snag a foul ball or show him how to score a baseball game by hand.
He would buy the kid a hot dog and a team jersey and he would be on cloud nine for weeks. Whatever sport they would go watch, his son would remember that day for the rest of his life. But Johnny was also planning for the long term. When his son got to driving age, it was time to start working on a real-life car with him. Sadly, many men today, Johnny included, were utterly and completely clueless when it came to basic car maintenance. But Johnny could ensure that his son was one of those few self-reliant men by teaching him how to change the oil or brakes on his car.
Even though Johnny was one of those men who didn't know how to do basic car maintenance, he would make it a project to learn together with Aidan.
The satisfaction Johnny would get as Aidan puts the key into the ignition and she roars to life would be unmatchable. Even knowing that Helen would be against it, Johnny planned to take his boy out hunting. Hunting was a perfect time to bond with his son. Some people might ask why he would do that. Most people didn't know that when you go hunting, you pretty much sit around in a blind all day. That gave Johnny plenty of time to talk shop with his boy.
They could talk sports, talk politics, or talk about how they were freezing their asses off.
Also, it gave him another chance to pass on some skills like how to track an animal or how to handle a gun. Even if they didn't bring home a trophy, they would both come back with plenty of memories. Johnny wanted his son to have a better sense of right and wrong than he did growing up. One way he planned on teaching Aidan the importance of giving back was by taking him to do a service project with him. There were few qualities as important to exemplify to his son than that of being service-oriented.
It would give his boy a chance to rub shoulders with different kinds of people.
He would hopefully walk away with a better appreciation for what he has and more compassion for his fellow man. Johnny was so excited to meet his son and plan their future together that he almost missed what his lawyer said next.
"Mr. Hawley, your son's missing." He said and it took a couple of seconds for Johnny to register those words. When he did the feelings of joy he had been experiencing only moments ago faded into feelings of dread and horror. His son had been born but had been abducted before Johnny got the chance to meet him. His son was missing and he was just sitting here doing nothing about it. He shot up from his seat and desperately looked at his lawyer, the guards, and the priest.
"Y-You gotta let me outta here!"...
Thankfully, Johnny's wish was granted and he was released early and was taken straight to the hospital. Pushing past all the reporters, police, and staff, Johnny ran into the ward where he saw Sarah sobbing loudly in her mother's arms. There were police all over the place taking photographs, lifting fingerprints, and talking to the staff members. Johnny tried to approach his distraught girlfriend, but she gave him the most hateful glare he had ever seen.
Before he could say anything a man in a suit with a badge and gun attached to his belt approached them.
"I'm Detective Benson, I'll be working this case." He introduced himself to the distressed parents, but they weren't interested in pleasantries. "Between 2:30-3:00 pm, medical personnel or someone posing as medical personnel removed your son from the ward."
"W-Will she hurt my baby?!" Sarah cried in desperation. She didn't know anything about this woman who stole her baby. For all, she knew this woman could be forcing pills down her baby's throat or be about to smother Aidan with a pillow.
"I can't answer that Miss O'Brian." The detective replied and that was when Johnny noticed the security cameras.
"Security cameras! There's gotta be something on them!" He exclaimed but the detective shook his head.
"Unfortunately even though the cameras did show the woman leaving the hospital with your son the ones in the car park are not working today so we have no way of knowing if she fled in a vehicle or on foot."
"What about fingerprints?!"
"We can only match the perpetrators who committed a crime in Califonia and from what the cameras show it seems she was wearing gloves," Benson explained, but he wanted to give these parents some kind of hope. "We believe that the kidnapper either worked at the hospital or pretended to work at the hospital so we're scouring files."
"How long will that take?" Helen glared.
"I can't answer that."
"Maybe you can answer this: How. Are. You. Gonna. Find! MY! BABY!" Sarah suddenly screeched loudly through her tears. Johnny tried to wrap his arms around his girlfriend, but she angrily shoved him away and still glared daggers at the detective. Benson paused for a minute before he straightened up and gave the teen a stern glare.
"What can you tell me about this woman? Any identifying features? Did you get her name?" He questioned, but Sarah shook her head.
"She wasn't wearing a nametag." She sobbed and Benson resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. This made things more and more difficult to find this woman and the missing baby. All they knew about this kidnapper was that she was white, with long, curly black hair, young, and heavyset like she just had a baby. Or had just lost one...