Frederick Nolan was one of the best diplomats on the East coast. He prided himself on that and almost that only. He acclaimed his family as well. He'd married a beautiful young Thai immigrant twenty-four years ago and since became a proud speaker for immigration rights. They'd had two beautiful children, Michael, who was finishing up his first semester at Yale University, and Isis, who was in the fifth grade.

He never suspected that people hated him as much as they really did. Sure, he had a lot of negativity spiraling in his direction as a result of his tolerant international attitude, but on the flip side he had a lot of fans, too. Nolan never thought somebody would be so hostile towards him that they'd kidnap his niece, however.

His sister, Sam Redford, called him Friday evening, tears riddling her usually calm, quiet voice. She was nearing hysterics and had no one else to call. Nolan was glad that she had called. He needed to know. Rachel was his pride and joy and he considered her his own.

They sat at Nolan's kitchen table the next morning with untouched mugs of coffee. They'd had little to no sleep the night before and it was nearing six a.m. Chris was still in an unsound sleep in the room adjacent.

Sam looked pale. Nolan knew he looked little better than his older sister. He'd taken her and Chris home that night to rest back at his place. The police still considered the house and the surrounding area a potential crime scene.

"So, Gina's coming?" Nolan sipped his coffee. It was too hot and too strong and he hated it. He swallowed hard and it slid painfully down his throat. He distracted himself by steepling his fingers on his lap and studying his fingernails.

Sam nodded limply. "Yeah. She'll be meeting us here when her plane gets in. Her father will pick her up and give her a ride over."
"He could have stayed, too, you know," Nolan murmured. Sam shrugged.

"He wanted to sleep at home. He still…" she trailed off, her words growing thick.

"He what?"

"He still thinks she's going to just walk in, all safe and sound," Sam choked and began sobbing again. "Like she was just camping out in the woods or something."

Nolan wanted to believe that as well. "Maybe she is. Maybe this all is some nightmare, induced by God only knows what, that we'll snap out of soon enough."

Sam shook her head. Nolan wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. "We're not, Freddie. I've tried pinching myself thousands of times since I got that call and I haven't woken up."

His phone rang then, and the sound resonated throughout his large manor. He quickly hopped to his feet. Sam looked hurt.

"I have to get it," he whispered. "I don't want Chris or my family to wake up."

She nodded, and he darted off to his study, grabbing the phone off the receiver.

Please be Sam's husband with news of Rachel! Good news. Good. We want good news. "Redford? What's the latest?"He never called his brother-in-law by his first name. They'd been college buddies before they'd been family; his first name simply seemed too foreign.

"No, Mr. Nolan, this is not who you think it is." The voice was alien, cold, and an eerie sort of calm.

He froze, his hand stopping on the doorknob. "Who is this?"

"That's for me to know and for you never to find out."

Nolan was strongly tempted to slam the phone back into the receiver. But the nagging thought that this might have to do with his niece kept his ear glued to the telephone.

"What do you want? Do you have anything to do with my niece?"

A laugh. It chilled him to the bone. "Who's your niece?"

"You know who, you bas-"

"Calm down, Mr. Nolan. You'll get nowhere with your hasty temper. Neither will the dark-haired young lady who currently is sitting next to me in my apartment."

Rachel. My Rachel. I swear to God, if he's laid a hand on her… "I swear, you sick asshole, if you've hurt her in anyway I'll have your hea-"

The stranger clicked his tongue. "Now, that's no way to negotiate."

"Negotiate?"

"Yes. I'm willing to bargain with you."

Nolan took a deep breath. "I'll do anything. Just tell me what I need to do to get Rachel back."

The man's voice lowered drastically. "I can't tell you know. Here's what you need to do. Have your computer on and ready by twelve o'clock this Wednesday. You will receive a phone call, and we will proceed from there."

"Not Wednesday! That's three days! She could be dead in that time!"

"Mr. Nolan, if you want her to die, that can easily be arranged. At the moment, however, she is being well taken care of. She has food, water, and a place to rest. The only injury that she may have acquired is out of her pure unwillingness to comply to my authority."

That was a lot of big words. He's hurt her. But she fought back. That's my Rachel.

"Just don't hurt her. Please."

There was a highly exasperated sigh, which was the first emotion Nolan had heard from the man out of the entire conversation. "I wouldn't hurt her unprovoked. If you must know, I find her highly entertaining and quite the interesting young lady. I wouldn't waste such a girl."

That doesn't sound good. Oh, dear Rachel, what has he done to you? I'll kill him for this. He'll die for what he's done to you. Nolan's voice shook when he spoke again. "Why are you doing this to us? Why her?"

There was a pause, then a light chuckle. "It's all in my job description, Mr. Nolan."

"You bastard."

"By the way," the man ignored him, "if you tell anybody about this conversation, your niece will be murdered, slowly and painfully, on sight." Click.

Nolan slumped into a chair. I'll get you back, Rachel, if it's the last thing I do.