Chapter 24

After staring at the television for a few more minutes, Joe stood up and looked at me. He said, "Okay, Cupcake, I'm going to go take a shower and shake this mood off. When I come back, we can catch up on your day and I'll be a lot better." He bent to kiss me and I attacked his mouth with a fervency I hoped would get his attention. I think it did. Before straightening back up, he put one hand on my cheek. He looked at me like he was studying my face. He walked to the table and cleaned up the sacks and debris from our meal. He gave a sigh that sounded like half whine and half growl and then went into the bathroom.

I was feeling forlorn. What could have gone so wrong today? Did Green recant his story? Morgan hadn't seemed nearly as frustrated as Joe, so I didn't think it was that dramatic. It had to be something more personal than that – like something that would add to the length of time he would need to be away from me. While thinking about it, I realized I needed to check in with my mother. She had been really nervous about my coming on the trip and I had promised her I would call frequently. I walked to my purse and looked for my cellphone. It wasn't in my purse. Ah ha! Joe must have taken it into the bathroom. I grinned to myself and thought 'that dirty sneak.' I grabbed my coat and shrugged into it as I headed out the door to go around to the bathroom window to reprise my role as eavesdropper extraordinaire.

I didn't see the man at first. I was focused on picking my way around the house in the snow without falling on my butt. I walked directly into him before realizing he was even there. In the split second I saw his face, he appeared to be as surprised as I was. The next thing I knew, I was wrapped tightly in a sheet. It was dropped over my head and was acting as a blindfold so I couldn't see anything. I quickly became disoriented. I could hear myself screaming for help but soon something was tied around my mouth over the sheet so I couldn't speak. The guy was quick and I felt the second handcuff pop into place before I even felt the first one. In my mind I was whining…. Why can everyone else use handcuffs and make it look so easy? I never get anyone handcuffed that easily!

I remembered a couple of things – Joe had done a program for my niece Angie's class at school about stranger danger and he had told the kids that if someone tried to abduct them that they should use 100 of their strength and ability to keep the perpetrator from getting them into a car because if they were taken to a second location, their chance of escape and survival dropped by more than half.

I also remembered in the movie Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock did a little self defense course and said that you should go for the guys instep, his nose and his knees. Or was it his instep, his eyes and his nuts? Ooh – I should have watched the movie instead of making out with Joe!

Whoever had me was pulling me but I was disoriented and I wasn't sure which direction we were going. I couldn't see anything because of the sheet and I was really scared, of course. In the past I would have been pissed but now that I had to worry about Joe Jr., I had to admit that his safety was even more important than mine. The baby was awake and moving around a lot, reminding me that we were in this predicament together and it was my job to protect him.

I needed to guess the orientation of the man's body based on my instincts. I tried stomping on his feet. Afterall, my hands were cuffed behind me and my feet were my only real defense. I missed his feet but almost ended up falling on my butt with my attempts. I decided to try to head butt him in the nose. I realized he was a lot shorter than I expected, when I felt his nose through the sheet when it made contact with mine. I'm such a doofus. I just basically kissed the jerk. I did it hard, at least. Maybe I at least jarred his teeth a litte. He couldn't have enjoyed it.

I tried again. I don't know what I hit, but it wasn't him. I knocked myself silly. I was dizzy and seeing stars. "What is wrong with you?" He hissed. "Stop it. You are going to hurt yourself." He pushed me backward and the back of my head clunked against something metal. "Sorry." He said. My kidnapper is apologizing to me?

He pushed my legs and the next thing I heard was the car door shutting. Damn. I'm not doing very well. Okay, well, I've been abducted before. I can do this. There are only a couple of differences this time…… Well, several…... Okay, a bunch……. First, I don't know who has me or the first reason why. I'm pregnant and worried about the baby. I'm not in an area with which I'm familiar. I don't have anyone here I can call even if I get away – I don't know any phone numbers…I guess I could call 911. What would I say – 'um, some guy, don't know who, has me somewhere, don't know where, for reasons unknown to me….'

This isn't my fault. This is Joe's fault. I don't know why, but it is. If he hadn't been so damn secretive about it all, I may at least know who has me. Oh, crap! If this is the guy that killed Jeri Stapleton, he could kill me. Why would he? I don't know much about the case. What the heck is going on?

I don't know how long we drove. Or what direction we went. Or what type of car we were in. Or anything. All I know is that the guy (it is a man) is about my height. His voice was sort of … non-descript. Great.

I was slobbering all over the sheet that was in my mouth under the gag. This is gross. I wanted to cry. 'Okay, Stephanie,' I said to myself. 'You have to get a grip. In the past, you would have been mad. At the kidnapper, not at Joe. It's silly to be mad at Joe. He's probably still in the shower. Get to work, here. You need to get this situation under control.' By the time the car stopped and I heard it turn off, I was, indeed, very angry. I shouted, "Listen, you piece of shit. You need to let me go right NOW!" Of course, I was gagged, so it came out as "rrrrr rr r r r rrrr r r r rrrr r r rr r RRRR!"

The guy got out and shut his door. He was gone for a few minutes before my door opened. "Okay, now, be careful. Don't hit your head again." He helped me stand up. I was pretty disoriented and a little dizzy since I couldn't see anything. I was glad I had my coat on. It was really cold outside. "We're going to walk over here just a little ways – there's a step up right there." He was guiding me along. I didn't want to fall down – but I sure as heck didn't want to go wherever he was taking me, either so I was moving pretty slowly. "Come on, don't take all day. It's not far now." I felt carpet under one of my feet. Uh oh, I thought. What's going on?

Joe has to know I'm missing by now. He'll come find me. How? Hopefully he knows who has me….think, Stephanie. "Okay, now, here's a chair you can sit in." Okay, well at least he's sort of a nice sounding kidnapper.

"I'm going to cut the sheet off from around your face now. I would take it off completely but I'd have to take off the gag to do that and I can tell you are not one to be quiet." He said in a nice, calm voice. I could feel him snipping at the sheet with a pair of small scissors. He started at my nose and worked his way around the back of my head. "Now, be still, or I'll cut your hair by accident – don't want to do that. I know how you girls are about your hair." Who is this guy? Other than the fact that he kidnapped me, he's been pretty darned nice.

When he got around to the the front of my face again, he flipped the sheet down so that I could see. "Ooh. Gross. This sheet is all wet. Can't you control yourself Stephanie? Yuck." I took a minute to focus my eyes. It was the guy from my backyard. That doesn't tell me much. I still didn't know who he really was or why he had captured me.

He sat down on the bed across from me. We were in a hotel room of some sort. There was a TV on a dresser, two full beds, an arm chair, in which I was sitting, and a bathroom. There wasn't even a telephone in the room that I could see. The guy was assessing me with grey eyes. He was short, sort of chubby, balding, and…. boring looking. There was nothing spectacular about him. He was chewing on his lip like he was trying to decide what to say but coming up with nothing.

"rrr rrr r rrr rr rr rrrr," I grunted.

He sort of furrowed his brow and looked at me. He appeared to be unarmed. I looked around the room and didn't even see a suitcase. "I can't trust you and take off the gag, and I can't uncuff you. I don't know how to communicate with you. I'll think about it." He flicked the TV on using the remote control that was bolted to the night table between the two beds. Is there a guy in the world who can think without the freaking TV on?

I stood up and walked over to where he was sitting on the edge of the bed and I kicked him in the shin.

"Ow! Now, you had no reason to do that, whatsoever. I've been as nice as I know how to be. That was just mean. I don't want to have to tie you to the chair. That seems sort of rude to do to a pregnant lady, but really, you need to watch your manners. I didn't even intend to kidnap you, but you just sort of took me offguard by barreling out of the hotel room like that." He was gripping his shin where I had made contact and his little round face was getting all red. I needed to be able to communicate with him in order to get this show on the road. I didn't feel threatened at all anymore. I was really just ticked off and I needed to use the restroom. I finally walked over there to the small bathroom, motioned to it with my head and said, "rrr rrr rrrrr rr."

"Oh, okay. Go ahead." This nutless wonder was obviously not thinking. My hands were cuffed. I turned around and flapped them at him and jumped up and down a little with my feet crossed at the ankles. I wasn't that desperate yet but he didn't need to know that.

He paused, sort of tipping his head from side to side like Bob does when he hears something that I can't. "Oh, your hands. Well, I can't let your hands go. You might do something you shouldn't."

I tried to look desperate. I couldn't go to the bathroom with my hands cuffed. I had another of the funny little maternity body suits on under my dress. I had to be able to unhook and hook the crotch and that was a full contact event, as Joe had learned the previous evening. "rrr rrrrrrr rr." I opened my eyes as widely as possible, trying to convey the seriousness of this situation.

"Well," he said, looking very wary, "okay, but if you so much as touch your gag, I won't let you out of the cuffs again. If you are a good girl, however, I'll leave the cuffs off. By the way, I'm taping the latch so that you can't lock me out. I just thought you should know. We need to be able to trust each other here, so I'm taking the cuffs off."

"rrrrr rrr." I said, which meant 'Thank you'. He seemed to understand. I went into the restroom and did what I needed to do. As I was trying to hook my little body suit again, however, I felt a lump in the pocket of my coat. It was my cell phone! I'd stuck it in my pocket instead of putting it back in my purse. I couldn't use it now. He'd hear me. I did a little silent dance. Hallelujah, I have it! If it rang, I'd be in trouble. I quietly pressed the buttons to turn it off. I slipped it back in my pocket. I was hot wearing the coat, and the sheet, but at least my hands were free and I had my phone. There was no way I was taking my coat off now that I knew the phone was in it.

I assessed myself in the mirror. I looked like a pregnant lady dressed in a sheet to be a pregnant ghost for Halloween. My hair was awful. I looked HUGE but part of that was the coat.

I washed up and re-entered the room with the guy. I smiled as well as possible with a gag in my mouth and silently returned to my chair. I folded my hands in my lap to show that I was going to be cooperative. I needed time to think. How would I get him out of the room for a few minutes so I could call someone? Who the heck would I call? Who do I always call when I'm in trouble? Since Joe and I got engaged, I started calling him, but there's no way to call him – he doesn't have a phone and I don't know the number of the Bed and Breakfast. So, I would fall back to my old standby, Ranger. Ranger would figure out how to find Joe and Joe and Ranger would find me. Even though I have no idea who this guy is, Joe will know. I'm sure this will be fine.

Of course, if I still have this stupid gag in my mouth, he won't understand me. Not that I would have much to tell him anyway. I sighed. The sigh attracted the attention of my captor.

I tried to look innocent. I pointed at the gag. I put my hands together in a praying position and then used my right index finger to 'cross my heart'. Back to the praying position…

"So, you want me to take off the gag?" My guy was struggling with his better judgement. "Will you be quiet?"

"RRU-HURH" I answered enthusiastically.

"Okay, but one little holler will get you gagged again." He walked over and pulled at the gag, which came off easily. My jaw ached. It had been open and immobilized for what seemed like forever. I worked it open and shut a bunch of times before I tested my voice.

"Thank you," was all I managed. I sat quietly trying to figure out what to say next. He was still watching TV and eventually I said, "Um, if you don't mind my asking, why are we here? I mean, why did you grab me and bring me here? I don't even know who you are."

"You don't need to know who I am. Unfortunately, you are here because I sort of panicked. I didn't go to that Bed and Breakfast to grab you. You just came out while I was walking around to the back of my car to put some things in the trunk – including that sheet. I need your husband to cooperate with me. I don't know how to get that cooperation but maybe having you here will help. Doubtful, but maybe." He slunked down further on the bed and seemed to disappear into the silly sitcom he found on the TV.