Chapter 38

Robin looked through the bookshelf in her 'room' and sighed. It was obvious that Grant knew nothing about kids, especially her little girl. Emma had grown past Dr. Suess years ago and the other books were better suited for a three year old, not a school age child.

It had been two days since Grant had brought her here and she still had no clue what he had planned for her. He brought her three meals a day and her medication, always with that damn dog by his side. Sometimes he just came down and stared at her. Robin did her best to ignore him but she really didn't have any place to hide. Yes, she had a bathroom and a shower but there was no door to the room so he could see her wherever she went.

But that wasn't the worst part, she had spent years under lock and key so she was used to a lack of privacy. No, the worst part was she had no idea how her mom and Emma were. She remembered what had happened to her grandmother after Grant's first attack. Her mom was much stronger and younger than Filomena had been but still Robin couldn't get the sight of her mom lying there on the floor out of her mind.

Then there was Emma, her beautiful baby girl. Emma was strong but she had been through so much in her young life – far more than Robin had ever wanted her to go through. She had wanted Emma to have a normal life where her only worries were school and friends, who was getting her dance class and whether or not she was going to get in trouble for spilling juice on the carpet. Instead she had to deal with her mother's multiple kidnappings, her father's drug addiction, the loss of a brother, believing her mom was dead, and now this attack by Grant. Robin felt the tears coming as she cried over her daughter's life and her own inability to protect her little girl from danger.

Robin heard the door open and quickly dried her tears. She decided to just ignore him but Grant wasn't going to let her. "Hello Robin – how are you doing today?"

She didn't say anything so he rattled the cage. "Robin? I can do this all day."

Robin shook her head and turned around. "Great. I can't tell you how many nights I dreamed of being kidnapped once again."

"Have you been crying?" Grant noticed her red eyes. "What's wrong? Oh, I know – you are worried about your mother and daughter." Robin remained silent so Grant continued talking. "Well, I am bringing you some good news. Your mother and daughter are both fine."

"Why should I believe you?" Robin stayed where she was and watched as Grant pulled an envelope out of his pocket.

"Because I had a friend of mine check up on them. Here." He put the envelope in the space between the door and the cage side. "Go on – take it."

Robin stepped forward and took the envelope. Cautiously, she opened it and smiled. Inside were pictures of her loved ones and the date stamp on them was for the day before. The first one showed Emma and Patrick meeting up with Noah. Robin was happy that Noah had come back to town to be with his son and granddaughter during this difficult time.

The next picture showed her mom, bandage on her forehead, sitting at Uncle Mac's house with her dad, Mac and Lucky. Robin had no doubt that the group was working together to track down Grant and bring her home safely. She sat down on the bed and held the pictures to her chest, sighing with relief. They were alive and okay. "Thank you."

Grant smiled. "I didn't want you to worry. Now that you know that everyone is okay – you can focus on more important things."

Robin looked up at him. "What things?"

"You'll see." He slid a small thin package through the same space he had pushed the pictures through. "Here is a little something to keep you occupied."

Robin stood up and took the package. Inside was a small tablet. She looked at Grant questioningly but he just laughed. "No, no internet Robin. I'm not stupid. But there are plenty of books on there for you to read. I think you read at a higher level than the books in there."

Robin turned it on. "Battery life?"

"I'll bring the charger in with your next meal which I am going to go fix now." Grant turned around and headed out the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

Robin sat down on her bed and resumed her study of her prison. Since she got here she had been trying to figure a way out but had not come up with a feasible scenario as of yet. She needed to clear her head and maybe some reading would help her do that. She began going through the various books, looking for something to read. She found that he had added a mixture of biographies, thrillers, romance and history novels. Going through her choices she finally settled on an old favorite, Bag of Bones. She certainly didn't want to start anything new – she was hoping she wouldn't be here long enough to finish it.

"I want to thank you again for sending me those pictures Jerry. I appreciate it." Grant stood outside by the property line while talking to the man. There was no GPS in the burner phone and the SIM card had been destroyed as soon as Grant had printed out the pictures he needed.

"I trust my usefulness has come to an end and I can go about my life now." Jerry wanted to be sure that Grant didn't have someone watching him.

"Of course. Have a nice life Mr. Jacks." Grant hung up the phone and then set it on the ground. Picking up his foot, he slammed it down hard on the phone and watched as it shattered into pieces before heading back in the direction of the house.

Jerry heard Grant hang up the phone. "Don't worry Mr. Putnam – I plan to."

Jerry walked up to the house and knocked on the door, waiting patiently for someone to answer it. Moments later the door swung open and Jerry smiled at the man standing there. "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"