Well, I decided that I was tired of the emo-stuff. Let's get some action going! Thanks to Brigid Tanner for proofing this.

Chapter 24

John watched the tall man, the one he saw Sarah having dinner with the other night and in the book store with today, guide the girl inside the apartment. They looked nothing alike, but with the way the tall guy acted he figured they must be related. John walked around, memorizing the location of the apartment. If this guy thought he could take Sarah away, then John had to do something about that.

He already took a picture of the car and wrote down the plates. Now John just needed to decide the best way to get to the man who thought Sarah was available. Sarah was his. She always would be. The best way to prove his point would be to take something of the intruder's, something personal and precious, like Sarah.

As he headed back to his car to contemplate his message, he heard a door slam and running footsteps. He looked back to see the tall man running up to him. John stopped. He was not the one who needed to be afraid.

"Excuse me!" The tall man slowed as he approached. John watched confidently, knowing this man was not a threat. "You live around here? Just move in?"

John smiled, facing him. "No. But now I know where you live."

The tall man frowned, stepping closer. John refused to step away. "Do I know you? Are you following me?"

John's smile broadened. "Ask Sarah." He spun on his heel to march away. The man did not follow. By dark John would know the man's name and where he worked. It would be simple.

From his car, on the road, John called an old friend who used to be a cop. His friend worked as a private investigator now and still had a number of contacts on the force. An hour later his friend called back. The tall man was either Sam or Dean Cooper. Sam worked at the local branch of the public library and Dean was a mechanic at a nearby garage. The girl was the daughter of one of them.

John thanked his friend, hanging up. Now he needed to find out if the tall guy was Sam or Dean, and decide exactly how he would hurt him.

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Kevin watched the door to his English class intently. She should be here today. He hoped. Any time now. The paper that was due today sat on his desk, ready to turn in, but he wanted to wait until she arrived first.

His breath caught when she walked in. Shoulder length soft brown hair, not too straight or too curly, deep brown eyes that sparkled when she talked, even though that did not happen nearly often enough, and she was just so different, very different, from all the other girls.

"Hey, Rae!" He waved as she walked to her seat.

She shot him a quick smile, making his heart speed up. "Hey, Kevin."

He spun around in his chair to face her. "You finish the homework assignment?"

She nodded, pulling out her English folder. It always amazed him how organized Rae was, having a separate folder for every subject. He supposed that was the influence of her uncle. Her dad certainly didn't seem the type to be worried about keeping papers organized. Rae slapped the neatly written paper on her desk, scowling.

"Something wrong?" Kevin asked, hoping it was not time for the bell to ring just yet.

"It's a trap," Rae snapped, tapping a finger on her paper.

"The paper?" Most of their conversations were confusing, he was getting used to it. Actually, Kevin was starting to enjoy it. Rae nodded, not offering any more. "How is the paper a trap?"

She sighed, leaned closer to talk to him. Kevin leaned closer too. Her hair smelled like wildflowers. "The assignment was to compare our primary caretaker, whether it's your mom, dad, grandparent, whatever, with the mom from the story." Rae nodded to the front of the room. "She's trying to get me to say something bad about my dad."

That dark look in her eyes was strange, Kevin had not witnessed it before. He knew Rae just started seeing his mom as a patient, but Mom refused to discuss it. As usual. Sometimes he really hated that patient-doctor rule.

"Like what?" he whispered. Kevin still remembered how hard her dad shook his hand when they met and the way the man scowled at him in the library. Rae had a really protective dad. He was starting to suspect it might go the other way, too.

"I don't know," she whispered back, "but the bitch got Family Services investigating us, so I'm sure she's up to something."

"Kevin, Sammie," Miss Grimmault's terse voice cut through all the before class chatting, "the bell has rung. Does everyone have their papers ready? Pass them forward, please."

Kevin nearly jumped when Rae's hand touched his as she passed her paper forward. He handed their papers up, tossing her a backward grin. She rolled her eyes at him.

After class, Kevin walked with Rae to history. This was the best part of the day for him, the time he got to spend with her without that Amy around, which was about to be ruined. Sure enough, they had just enough time to sit down and for Kevin to ask how her evening was when Amy blew in like a nasty stormcloud.

"Rae! You are never going to believe what happened to me last night!" Amy said breathlessly as she slammed her books down on her desk.

Rae's face lit up at Amy, making Kevin feel just a touch jealous. He was pretty sure she never looked at him like that, but he could hope. "What?"

Kevin suppressed a growl as Amy went on. "My dad called. He invited me to go to a concert with him and I asked if you could go! It's next weekend. So? Will you ask?"

Rae's face fell. "I'm still grounded."

"For how long?" Amy demanded. "You don't mean your dad grounded you for two whole weeks?"

Rae shook her head. "A month."

Kevin was pretty sure his eyes were as big as Amy's. "You're grounded for a month? What the hell did you do?"

Rae turned to answer him. "I disobeyed an order."

"An order?" Kevin wondered what that was all about. "What do you mean?"

Rae sighed. "When my dad wants to make sure I do something, or don't do something, he makes it an order. You don't disobey orders."

"Like he did at the movie theater?" Kevin said, finally understanding what that order thing was all about.

"Yep." Rae slumped into her seat. "Where's Mister Steinway?"

"Oh, great," Amy grumbled. "A sub. Today's going to be a waste of time."

But before the sub could even say why she was there, one of the kids who worked in the office showed up with a note. The sub took it. "Sammie Cooper?"

Kevin glanced over at Rae. She raised a hand.

"You are to report to the office immediately," the sub held the note out to her. Kevin watched as Rae took the note and left, feeling just a little queasy about it.

Kevin motioned for Amy to lean closer. Amy looked confused, but she did it. "What?" she hissed, looking distinctly displeased.

"You don't think this is about Family Services, do you?" he asked, worried.

Amy shrugged. "I hope not." Her eyes fixed on the door. Kevin had a feeling neither of them would relax until Rae came back.

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Rae clutched the note asking her to report to the front office in one sweaty hand. Now what? She hoped it was Bobby showing up to surprise her with lunch or something, but lunch wasn't for another couple of hours. A pit formed deep in her stomach the closer she came to the office. Whatever it was, Rae was convinced it was not going to be good.

She was directed into her principal's office where a burly man in a bad suit sat in a chair. He smiled at her when she came in. Rae ignored him, handing her note over to the principal.

"Sammie, this is Mister James from Family Services," her principal informed her. Rae frowned. Wasn't that Marty's last name? How many members of his family were in Family Services? Now that was just sick. Rae stared at the principal, waiting for him to tell her what this was all about. He sighed when she said nothing. "You need to go with him."

Rae felt her eyebrows shoot up. This had to be a joke. Or a nightmare. Either way, it was a bad one.

"Rae," the new Mister James said, standing to move around where she had to look at him, "this is just temporary. We at Family Services feel that a few days separation will give us a better view of what exactly is happening to you at home."

Rae backed away, toward the door. No, no, no, no, no, no. This was not happening. It couldn't be. Didn't Miss Susan just say last night that this would be a bad idea? She reached behind her for the doorknob but just felt empty space. Continuing to back away, Rae tried to keep both men in sight. They both moved toward her.

She spun around, racing for the door. Flinging it open, Rae ran out into the hall. Where could she go? Where could she hide? Dad. She had to call Dad and her cell was still in history class. Rae ran for her history class like something dark and dangerous was chasing her. She rounded the next corner to find her principal blocking her way.

Rae stopped, confused. Damn it, she should have explored all these freaking hallways by now. How did he do that? She backed away, to find a pair of large arms encircling her waist.

"No!" She screamed as she was lifted off her feet. "Help! Help! Fire!" Rae shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ffffiiiiiiirrrrrre!!!!"

Dad was right, fire definitely got more attention than kidnap. Heads poked out of nearly every classroom door. Lights flashed in the hallway. She kicked and screamed the whole way outside, desperately trying to fight her abductor. Rae tried to use those moves Dad and Uncle Sam taught her, but most of them were only good in a fight, not in being carried away. Besides, this guy was really strong. In the parking lot, away from all the watching eyes of the school, the guy threw her into the back of his car. She tried to hit or scratch him, but he caught both her wrists up in one of those fat, meaty hands. Rae kicked out, but he acted like it was nothing as he wound duct tape around her wrists. Her ankles were next, followed by a long piece over her mouth, tangling in her hair.

Rae watched, wide-eyed as he slammed the back door. No way was this a government man. They might be the enemy, but she never heard of them using duct tape.

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Martin groaned at the pounding inside his skull. He was going to kill his cousin Ernie. What possessed him to start drinking with Ernie, anyway? Oh, right, the Coopers. Martin tried to sit up, but he couldn't. Confused, he peeled open his morning-after eyes. He was still at Ernie's. Wonderful. He hated this tiny apartment, full of empty pizza boxes and beer bottles. But why couldn't he sit up?

Martin tried looking himself over. He was still on Ernie's couch, probably where he passed out. What was that silver stuff on his chest? He tried to blink the fuzziness from his vision. This was more than a beer hang-over, Martin was sure. Beer never made him feel this thick and fuzzy. Duct tape? He was taped to Ernie's couch? What the hell was going on here?

The door slammed. Martin rolled his head to see his rather large cousin come in with a bundle over his shoulder. Horror rose in Martin when Ernie set his bundle down in the beaten, cigarette-burned easy chair. It was Rae Cooper and she looked terrified.

"Ernie?" Martin barely found his voice. "What the hell did you do?"

Ernie grinned at him. "Don't worry, Marty. I'm going to cut you in."

"Cut me in?" Martin tried to shake the fuzziness from his brain. "On what?"

"She's worth a fortune," Ernie said, pointing to the poor girl. "We're going to ransom her and be rich." He rubbed his hands together, that far too familiar greedy glint in his eyes.

"Damn it, Ernie. This is kidnapping. You do realize that's a federal offense?" Not to mention her father was one scary guy, which Martin chose not to mention. No reason to give Ernie the idea of going head-to-head with the father, they were already in deep.

"I looked up Clementine McDermott. She's worth millions!" Ernie's manic grin set Martin's teeth on edge. "And we are going to cash in!"

"No, Ernie," Martin tried to keep his voice even, level. "This is wrong. Just look how scared she is. Would you want to be in her shoes right now?" Ernie had one fucked-up childhood, the main reason Martin worked for Family Services, but he still had a conscience. At least, Martin hoped he did.

Ernie shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's just a kid. She'll get over it."

Martin struggled against his bonds. Boy, when people talked about duct taping things, they were really serious, weren't they? "Did you?" he demanded. "Did you get over the things your father did to you?"

Ernie's face darkened, frightening Martin. "My dad was a great man. Still is." His hand swept over his apartment. "He's just ashamed of how I live right now. That'll change after I get this money. Then he'll be proud of me."

Martin shook his head. Ernie still didn't understand. That man's father was a menace. Even as an adult his cousin still wanted his father's approval. That was beyond sad. His gaze locked on to Rae's frightened eyes. He promised himself he would get her out of this somehow.