Chapter 6

Jennifer's head was swimming. Between the chloroform she'd been given, being tied up, and lack of food, it was getting hard to think clearly. Jennifer shook her head to clear it. She pondered her situation. Natalie had gone somewhere this morning. Jennifer had heard the door open and close, and Natalie drive away. Jennifer wiggled and tried to loosen her bonds. No luck. There had to be some way out of here. She looked around the room. The light was very dim. Natalie had boarded up the windows. Jennifer guessed she was in a basement, probably in Natalie's house. If only there was some way to send a message to Jonathan! Jennifer leaned her head back against the wall. She started to close her eyes, until she noticed the black widow spider on the wall next to her. Jennifer shrieked through the gag, and scooted away from the spider. She hoped there there weren't any more.

Lisa anxiously watched the clock while she sorted packages and letters. It seemed like luch time would never get here! She flipped through another pile of letters and put them in their proper bins. She listened to some of the gossip going on around here, but did not pick up anything interesting. Jonathan wanted to keep Jennifer out of the media as much as possible, so the employees did not know she was missing. Lisa put some more letters in their bins. She quickly looked at her watch. Ten more minutes to go. Lisa started to work on a stack of boxes in the corner. She sorted them into their bins, and noticed everyone getting up to leave. Finally!

"Hey, Lisa! Some of us are going to Whataburger for lunch. Would you like to join us?" asked Dale, one of her male co-workers.

Lisa smiled. "I'd love to, but I really need to make an important phone call. Can I take a rain check?"

"Sure." Dale smiled as he left.

Lisa smiled to herself. He was kind of cute. Maybe another time. She waited until everyone left, then grabbed her purse. She got into the elevator and punched the button for the top floor. Deanne was at her desk, just preparing to leave for her lunch break.

"Deanne, I found this in the mail room. Can you get me a copy?" Lisa produced the letter, which she had pulled out of her shirt in the elevator. Deanne took it and read it.

"This was in the mail?"

Lisa nodded. "Have there been any others like it?"

Deanne opened her bottom desk drawer. There were several letters similar to the one Lisa had found inside. "I've been hanging on to these. I haven't shown them to Mr. Hart yet. I wanted to turn them over to the police."

"They might have something to do with Mrs. Hart's disappearance. Can you copy them for me?"

"Certainly. I'd show them to Mr. Hart, but he's left for the day. Actually, he's going out of town to see his wife's father. He said he'd left a message at your office."

Lisa nodded. "I guess we will do what we can until he gets back, and hope he calls us."

Deanne led the way to the copy machine. She made copies for Lisa, and put them into a folder. "I really should have mentioned these to Mr. Hart sooner, but if there is a psycho on the loose, I wanted evidence. The first one I kind of dismissed as some crackpot writing letters, but then when more came, I started to get worried."

"My associates and I will be meeting with the police later to go over the van. I'll take the letters to them then."

"Good idea." Deanna handed Lisa both folders.

"Thanks. I'll let you know if we find out anything."

"OK." Both girls got into the elevator. They rode it all the way down. Deanne left the building to go to lunch. Lisa ran to the restroom to see if she could find Sarah cleaning in one of them. No luck. After making sure it was empty, she hid in a stall, and pulled out her walkie talkie. "Sarah? Can you hear me?" she whispered. No answer. "Kianna?" No answer. They must have had their units turned off. Lisa left the stall and searched for the janitorial closet. She saw someone wearing a janitor's uniform just down the hall. From the back, it looked like Sarah. She quickly approached. "Excuse me," she said. The person turned around. Thankfully, it was Sarah.

"Hi."

"Hey, I've got something to leave in your car. Can I have your keys?"

"Sure." Sarah handed them over. "Level A1."

"Thanks." Lisa saw someone approaching them. "We're out of toilet paper in the ladies' room, " she said as the person passed. "I'll get these back to you later," she whispered. Lisa took off. She found Sarah's car and hid one copy of the letters under the seat. She relocked the car, then found her own. She hid the originals under the seats in her car. She checked her watch as she relocked her car. Dang! Time to get back to work. At least she had crucial evidence. That was some consolation for missing lunch. Lisa dashed back into the building. She passed Sarah on her way into the mailroom. She slipped her the keys, and ducked inside. She just barely made it as the clock was signifiying the end of her lunch hour.

Kianna's lunch break wasn't as busy as Lisa's. She couldn't eat with her friends, so she decided to hang out with her typing pool. They went to the break room after they had eaten. Natalie dominated the conversation and went on and on about her life story. "...And my father lost his job, and we didn't have any money. My grandparents paid my school tuition. I had to wear second hand clothes..."

Kianna listened and nodded sympathetically. "My family didn't have much money either."

"I hated it. What about you?"

"I learned to deal with it. When I was old enough, I got a job to earn my own money."

Natalie crossed her legs. Her pant leg hitched up a little with the motion, and Kianna noticed a bite mark on her leg. "What happened to your leg?"

"Huh?"

"Your leg. That looks like a nasty bite mark."

Natalie looked down at her leg. She was slightly agitated. She had been hoping no one would notice. "Oh, that. I surprised the neighbors' dog yesterday, and it bit me."

"You should get that looked at."

Natalie stood up to go back to work. "Really, it's nothing. I'll be fine." Kianna watched her go. Natalie's story was a possible scenario, but her manner suggested that there was more to it. Kianna decided to keep an eye on her.

Sarah cleaned the restroom on the Kianna's floor. Natalie came in, muttering to herself. She seemed angry about something. Sarah tried to make out what she was saying. No luck. Sarah kept busy scrubbing sinks. She had a feeling that Natalie might be worth watching. Natalie continued to mutter while she was in the stall, and when she came out. She stopped momentarily while she washed her hands, then she flounced out of the room. Sarah made sure the closed sign was in front of the bathroom. She turned on a sink and pulled out her walkie talkie. "Lisa, Kianna?" No answer. "Why do we even have these things?"

Sarah put it away and got back to work.

Jonathan's private jet landed at the Cambridge Airport in Maryland. Jonathan had phoned ahead to Jennifer's father, Stephen Edwards. Stephen was waiting for them with his limo. He was an elderly man, with a bald head, and graying hair on the sides. He had jowels and was slightly overweight. He was dressed in a business suit. Stephen had worked for the CIA and had served in the Army during World War II. Kidnap and intrigue were not new to him. He greeted Jonathan and Max warmly.

"Where's my daughter? Why couldn't she come?"

"Steve, we need to talk," Jonathan told him gently. Stephen's chaufffuer put their bags in the trunk as the three men got into the back seat of the limo. Jonathan and Max were in one seat, as Stephen sat directly across from them.

"What is this all about?" Stephen demanded.

Jonathan leaned forward and clasped his hands together as he put his elbows on his knees. "Steve, Jennifer's been kidnapped. I wanted to tell you in person, instead of over the phone."

"When? Why? How?" Stephen sputtered.

"I've got the police and the best people looking for her in LA, which is the reason I dared to come here. I will be in constant phone contact with them. Someone broke into our house yesterday when Jennifer and I drove Max to the airport. He was going to go on vacation, but cut it short when I told him Jennifer was missing. Jennifer put up a good fight, from the looks of her study. Whoever took her tied up and drugged our dog, and killed our gardener."

Stephen leaned back in his seat. He reached for the bar next to him. " Whoever hurt my little girl is going to pay."

"That's how I feel, too, Steve, and we will find out who it is and get Jennifer back. I promise you that."

Stephen mixed drinks for all three of them. They sat back in their seats and sipped, as Jonathan told them what he knew of Jennifer's disappearance. After awhile, each of them was lost in his own thoughts, wondering where Jennifer was, as the limo continued on towards the Edwards residence.

Natalie came home from work and went into her bathroom. She pulled up her pant leg, and looked at the bite just above her ankle. She had cleaned it out yesterday, but it looked really sore today. She touched it and winced. Natalie got some antibiotic cream and bandages out of her medicine cabinet. She cleaned the wound, applied the cream, and bandaged it. She would have to be careful of what clothes she wore until the bite healed. Natalie went downstairs. She opened her basement door. Jennifer was asleep, her head on her chest. The plate of untouched food from last night was still on the floor in front of her. Natalie grabbed Jennifer and roughly shook her awake. Jennifer opened her eyes, shook her head, and tried to focus. Natalie's face was a blur in front of her own. "Wake up, Jenny! It's not safe to keep you here any more."

"What are you going to do with me?" Jennifer croaked in a hoarse voice.

"I will take you somewhere that no one will find you for a long time."

"You're going to kill me?"

"Not yet. I just need a new hiding place for you. This one is getting dangerous."

"Natalie, why are you doing this?"

"At last, you remember my name! I didn't even think you knew it, knew who I was." Natalie united Jennifer's ankles.

"I did know your name, Natalie. Why are you doing this to me?" Jennifer stalled for time. She was sure Natalie was going to kill her. Maybe she could talk her out of it.

Natalie pulled Jennifer to her feet. She had been sitting on the basement floor for most of the last 24 hours. It took a moment for her to steady herself and to get the circulation back into her legs. "Natalie, there has to be a reason for this. Please tell me why."

Natalie pulled Jennifer up the stairs. She had parked her car inside her garage with the door closed. She had entered her house through the connecting door to her kitchen. Now she pulled Jennifer out the same door, talking all the while.

"You always thought you were so smart, Jennifer. You had all the friends. You were a cheerleader. The boys were always asking you for dates. Your father was rich and could afford to send you to Gresham Hall." Natalie referred to the boarding school they had both attended.

"You went there too, so your parents must've had some money."

Natalie shook her head. "No. My mother died when I was young. My father owned his own business for a long time. A pharmaceutical company. But it was bought out by a bigger company. Do you know which one?" Natalie pushed Jennifer into the back seat of the car. "Stay still." She threw a blanket over her.

Jennifer had a sinking feeling. "Hart Industries?"

"No, it was another company that was owned by Hart Industries. Eventually, they downsized, and fired my father. We lived off of the money from the sale of the business for a while. But we really had to scrimp to afford the things we needed. I'll bet you don't even know what that feels like, do you, Jenny? My grandparents paid for my tuition and expenses at Gresham Hall. You always thought you were so smart, because you had everything. Now you really have everything, including Jonathan Hart. I'm going to take him away from you, and for once it will be me in the middle of everything, with you on the outside looking in." Natalie opened the garage door and backed the car out. She shut and locked the garage and house.

"Natalie, I didn't have everything. My mother died as well. I spent all of my teen years and adult life without her. I really missed her. I still do." Jennifer was hoping that the one thing they had in common would soften Natalie up.

"Even so, you have Jonathan, and I will take him away from you. He's been seeing me on the sly, you know."

"What?"

"Yes, last Tuesday evening, he came to my house."

Jennifer knew last Tuesday evening, Jonathan had taken her out to dinner and a show. She shook her head. Natalie was definitely in need of some professional help. "So that's where he went!" Jennifer said, playing along. She knew Jonathan would never cheat on her. That didn't stop other women from trying to entice him away, though. Jennifer wondered where Natalie was taking her. She was pretty sure her questions would be answered soon.

Natalie drove into the service entrance for Hart Industries. At this time of the evening, all of the employees had gone home. The night time janitorial staff was in the building, as were the security and night time kitchen staff. Natalie drove down the ramp and into the basement garage entrance. She put the card that she had stolen from the security office into the reader, and the car was admitted. Natalie looked around to make sure no one was watching. She reached into her pocket and took out her bottle of chloroform and a rag. "Sorry to have to do this to you again," she said as she held the rag over Jennifer's nose and mouth. Natalie arranged the blanket around Jennifer, then took her out of the car and slung her over her shoulder. She went into the boiler room area of the basement. The area was only checked periodically, so Natalie knew no one would find Jennifer for a while. She put Jennifer down in a seldom used closet, and closed the door slightly. "Sleep tight, Jenny," she said as she returned to her car.