Chapter 16 – Help Me Come Home

Disclaimer: I own everyone not recognizable

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For the first few hours after Carli's call, John was outside taking an axe to trees. Cutting up firewood was all he could do to take his anger out safely. He never stopped cutting, just made large trees into firewood. The police reviewed Carli's files and traced every movement they could on the guy who they believed held Carli. Stephanie told them all she could and Paul attempted to talk to John. He sat outside in silence just letting John know he was there. The house would be filled soon enough with family and friends, John needed some silent support for now.

Stephanie was inside talking with her parents on the phone and crying hysterically. They were talking about things they knew John wouldn't and couldn't hear much less handle right now. Suddenly the house got quiet and they all looked outside to John. A few officers ran outside so Steph followed. John stopped cutting the instant he felt the vibration in his pocket. "Carli?" He whispered as if that would help keep her contact a secret.

"Come get me, please." She was crying on the other end causing John to freak out. "I'm so scared."

"I love you, baby girl and I'm trying but you have to help me, can you see where you are?" John read from a sheet of paper an officer shoved in his hand blinking back the tears.

"I've only seen this room and there aren't any windows. When I got out of the car I felt gravel and heard a lot of animals, I think I'm in the woods somewhere." She tried the doorknob again but it was locked.

"Try to listen to everything around you, is there a tv?" He asked trying to stay calm for her.

"I have a tv." She replied listening at the door for signs they'd returned.

"Can you watch the local channels? Are you close to home?" He was anxious as hell.

"I don't know, they just brought…" She was cut off.

"They?" Now he was hysterical.

"There's him and four others, one is his brother." She replied trying the tv. The officer pointed at the paper again getting John to focus.

"Watch the tv for any clues as to where you are, the weather, the local news, listen to their conversations." Carli shook her head in response as she listened at the door.

"I want to come home, please John? Just come get me." Carli was completely panicked and feared for her and the baby. Her captors hadn't yet noticed she was pregnant, luckily nobody had touched her yet. "Please come get me." Her tears were like knives to John's heart.

"I'm coming baby, just help me figure out where you are. Stay calm and fight Carli. You know you can do this, don't let him take you." He tried to sound firm with her giving her encouragement. She knew what he meant by 'take'. It had a double meaning and she vowed to fight like hell for her and her baby.

"They're back, I love you…hurry." And with that she hung up. John threw the axe as far as he could and started moving the firewood to the house. Paul stopped him and made him go for a walk.

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She pretended to sleep as she heard the men move around the structure. She heard him say they needed to leave, they were too close. They'd get on the road before the sun came up. Shit! What do I do? The door suddenly opened and she tried to control her breathing. The bed moved and someone was now sitting next to her back. She fought the desire to throw up as he stroked her hair and bent to her ear.

"Carolina, we're driving to our new home in the morning, I know you'll like it. I know how much you love the beach so I found us a nice home right on the water." He kissed her temple and she literally fought the bile rising and burning her throat. I fucking hate the beach you asshole and you know that. "Sleep my beautiful girl because when we get to our new home your duties as my wife will begin." He kissed her head again and left the room. I want to kill him and I want my face to be the last thing he sees. Fuck! How can I tell John the plans?

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Vince and Linda brought Joey back to see John, he was having a very emotional time being without Carli and they thought seeing John would help him. He held his son and they went for a walk. All he could think to do was tell Joey his Mommy was at the store. He was still young enough to not comprehend time and he could tell him 42 times she was at the store and he'd never call him out on lying. Joey began to yawn and John knew it was bedtime. He took Joey in through the front door since the police had commandeered his kitchen and family room.

He hadn't heard from Carli in six hours and he hoped she was okay. He fought the bile that constantly threatened to spill out and the agony was excruciating. The house phone rang and everyone looked at him. He looked at the caller id and it was Carli's cell. "Baby girl?"

"John I'm close. I don't know where but they keep saying to eachother we're too close and we have to leave. They're talking about leaving here before the sun comes up. You have to come get me now. He says there's a house on the water and there's a beach and that's where we're going." She tried to whisper and knew her call was a risk.

"Listen to me. When you leave, call the house and leave your phone on, we can trace the signal and find you. Say anything to give us clues, anything you see, any time you stop." John was pacing and pulling at his hair.

Carli nodded. "I love you. Please find me; I know this isn't going to go well." She listened at the door and then heard Joey's voice in the background on the phone. The tears came rapidly and her heart was breaking. "Tell my boy I love him with everything I have." Carli hung up as she couldn't hear her son any longer. His little voice sounded so happy when he asked when she was coming back from the store. Please God, I know we haven't been on speaking terms these last few years, but please, help me, help my son and my baby.

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The police found Carli's cell phone signal but couldn't narrow it down to the street. She was in this state in this town and they sent out another APB and officers on foot with dogs. If she left the state it would only get harder to find her.

Throughout the night John slept fitfully waiting for her call. On the other end of town Carli checked her cell battery. She had two bars left and hoped they'd get her before her phone died. No pun intended. She tried to sleep so she'd be strong for anything that would happen in the morning. This would be the hardest thing she'd ever do. She had to think of her unborn child's safety above anything, she would certainly sacrifice herself without second thought.

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Carli was roughly woken up and yanked from her cot. She had one minute to do anything she needed to in the bathroom, they had seen cops in the area and needed to leave now. While in the bathroom she called John as instructed and left the phone on. When they went outside she got her first glimpse of the cabin and the locale. "Where in the hell are we? You know I hate the woods." The guys ignored her as she continued. "I am not getting in that piece of shit 1977 Nova. It's baby shit green, it the same color as my son's poop after he eats peas." They all shot her a look but she kept talking. On the other end of the phone line they were frantically tracing the call. They put out an APB for an army green Nova and hoped there were officers remotely close. "Can we stop at a Circle K or 7-11 so I can eat? If I don't eat I get shaky and lightheaded. I'll probably throw up too from the motion of the car so it would be easier if I sat in front. That way if I need to throw up I can just lean out the window." The four guys in on the plans looked at Scott. He walked to Carli and spoke softly to her.

"We'll stop and get you something to eat when we get gas…" He tried to continue but she cut him off.

"We need to stop in the next 5 or 10 minutes, I'm not kidding about getting sick. Did you seriously have me in this nasty cabin? It's disgusting and could collapse at any moment. Looks like something out of a horror movie is there a lake in the back? I hear ducks." She was doing her best to aggravate the hell out of her captors although she needed to be careful so they don't gag her.

"Carli, enough, talking shut up. Yes there's a lake back there, yes there are ducks, shit." Scott was ready to gag her if she didn't stop rambling.

"Alright, sorry, I was just curious where we are. We were in the car for a long time so I was just wondering. You don't have to bite my head off." Carli began whining and faked a few tears.

"Carli, we drove in circles so it would seem like a long drive, we're about 10 miles from your house and this is the closest you'll ever be for the rest of your life." He said giving her a little too much information but she was pissing him off.

They all got in the car and drove in silence for awhile before stopping at a convenient store. She had turned off the phone to save the battery and once they were all getting out of the car she called her home again. "Thank god, a 7-11, they have good drinks here. You know, stopping right on the main road isn't a smart idea. Don't you think my husband's looking for me? Don't you think he's called the cops?" Carli was standing close to the guy behind the register who recognized her from the tv reports. She smiled at him and hoped he would call 911. "Hi, how are you?" She asked the teenager.

Her kidnappers were getting annoyed with Carli and walked away from her. She spoke to the kid behind the counter as she looked at the candy bar display in front of her. "Call 911 right now. Crouch down and call them. Tell them which store this is and what road is out there. Tell them Carli has been here." The kid looked at her nonchalantly and knocked something off the counter and bent to pick it up. When he was cleaning he did exactly as she asked. He also never hung up so they could trace his call.

She continued making small talk and they all went to the counter with their supplies. As they were walking out she turned to the kid, "Thank you." Only the two of them knew it meant more than the water and fruit bars. They guys stood around the car talking about the route they needed to take when an unmarked police car pulled up behind them at the gas pump. The cop got out and pretended to ogle Carli.

"Mornin, ma'am, you're out awful early. On vacation?" He asked knowing full well he found her.

"Hello, sir. We're on a road trip but their surprising me with our final destination." She added a schoolgirl giggle for good measure. "She put her hand out to shake his, "Hi, I'm Carli." She walked to his car.

"Nice to meet you…" He squeezed her hand tight. "I'm Jim." Carli saw inside and it confirmed what she thought. She saw the laptop and her picture on the front seat. Her captors called for her and she went back over.

"It was very nice to meet you Jim." She said waving. Jim hurriedly finished fueling so he could follow them. As he got in the car several other unmarked cars pulled in and blocked the Nova. Carli was thrown to the ground and all she heard was a lot of screaming. She was yanked up and a gun was put to her head. John. John was here and he would see her die; that was the last thing she ever wanted. She didn't want that image burned into his memories. One of the gunmen recognized John and aimed his weapons at him. John froze in his spot and locked eyes with his wife.

"No! No!" Carli screamed and struggled against Scott who was holding her and backing into the store. She put her chin to her chest, took a deep breath and threw her head back connecting with Scott's nose. He briefly let go as he screamed in pain, he still held one of her arms. Carli threw all her body weight into the punch hitting him in the nose a second time. Scott retaliated and punched Carli throwing her to the ground.

"You fucking bitch!" Scott screamed and kicked her in the stomach. If there weren't guns on John the officers would have opened fire on Scott. Carli's world became a blur as she felt the kicks to her tummy and all she heard was Scott yelling at her and John yelling at him. He pulled her up by the front of her shirt and punched her in the face. Through the tears and pain she saw Scott's gun on the ground. From somewhere deep inside she found strength, strength to stand and return the punches. She kicked him as hard as she could in the one place that would make him crumble instantly.

When Scott let go she spun around throwing herself down and grabbing his gun. Suddenly everyone was quiet as they watched Carli. She stood slowly and aimed for Scott. Her hand was shaking violently and tears were streaming down her face as Scott looked up at her. He slowly stood and began to laugh, "Do it Carli. You don't have the fucking guts to kill me."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked over at John and the officers who looked at her shocked. One of the officers turned his back and soon the others followed. Now the only ones looking at Carli were John and the henchmen. She saw Scott out of the corner of her eye move toward her and she looked back to him. Her hand became steady and her eyes were venomous. One shot to his head and the rest of the magazine was emptied into his chest.