Chapter 16

"Let me go. Why are you doing this?" Bailey pleaded.

Her plea was met with silence. "She knows who I am now. What am I going to do?" he thought as he continued to tie her to the chair. When Bailey left Illinois without a word, he had been furious with her. All the years they knew each other and she was going to throw it all away for this middle of nowhere land. For years, she had talked about moving to Alaska. Alaska, Alaska, Alaska…that was all she wanted. Then when she had that one chance, she left. No goodbyes, no "come with me", she just left and I had to live without her. A noise at the door had him hurrying to tie Bailey's mouth. At that moment, John opens the door as the intruder slips around the corner of the dining area so he could catch John off guard.

John walks in to the dining area, gasps and drops the food. He rushes to Bailey reaching for the ropes. Bailey stops John with a grunt and a shake of the head. John stops and looks up into her eyes. Bailey gestured with her eyes towards where the intruder had hidden as the intruder comes around the corner with his gun aimed at John's face. John raises his hands in surrender. The intruder motions for John to sit in the chair he had set up for John.

"Move, and Bailey dies." The intruder growled at him.

John nods in surrender and the intruder ties John. "Ok, I see why I didn't fight, but why didn't you?" John asked as he was being tied.

Bailey looked at John with daggers in her eyes. "Humph." she grunted as she cut her eyes towards the girls.

"Oh…" John said as he allowed his captor to tie and gag him. John couldn't help but wonder, who was this guy was and what did he want from him and the girls.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The intruder looked at Bailey and Bailey bowed her head and looked sad. John didn't know what was going on, but he was going to find out. A few minutes later, the intruder came back with another person in a ski mask. This time, this was clearly, a woman.

"Let's move them." The woman said. John shivered; he knew that voice. He couldn't place the voice but he knew it. What did they want from them? Next thing John knew, they had everyone stand up and moving to a waiting van outside. John immediately became very concerned. The four of them load into the back of the van, the male following behind them. The van door closes and the female slides in to the drivers seat. John noticed that Bailey kept staring at the male intruder as if she knew him and was going to kill him. The male didn't notice. John cleared his throat and Bailey looked away from the male to John. John raised an eyebrow in question at Bailey and Bailey frowned and shook her head. Something was wrong; he could feel it in his bones. He didn't know what, but he was going to find out and soon.

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Bailey couldn't believe what was going on. Why would he do this and who was this chick? She couldn't help but stare at her captor. All those years they knew each other and he does this? Why? Bailey had had enough of this mess. She fought against the ropes and shifted and kicked. The male pointed the gun at her head and told her to stop. Bailey stopped immediately, but held the captors gaze. With questions in her eyes, she grunted a "Why?" He looked at Bailey with sadness in his eyes and then looked away. Bailey hung her head and cried.

The van slowed and turned on to a rural road just 20 minutes outside of Homer. A few moments later, they arrived at a small cabin in the woods. The female parked the van and got out as Bailey shifted to an attack pose. The male noticed and shoved his gun into her side, hurting her still tender ribs. Bailey winced slightly and relaxed her pose. The female opened the door and ordered everyone out.

As they climbed out, they were guided in to the cabin and ordered to sit in the prearranged chairs. That is when Bailey saw him. She gasped and went weak. Cara and Emily saw him the moment their mom gasped and started to fight against the ropes. The captors held guns to the girl's chests and they settled down immediately. Bailey looked at John who looked as if he had seen a ghost. Because in the corner, lay Paul alive and tied to the bed.

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Paul screamed and strained against his own ropes. "Let them go! Leave them alone!" Paul screamed.

"Shut up!" the male screamed back.

"Nick, let them go!" Paul screamed again.

Nick ripped the ski mask from his head and marched to Paul and backhanded Paul across the face. "I said shut up." Nick growled at him.

"You are one sick person, Nick. You won't get away with this! If I ever get free, you will regret this!" Paul spat at Nick. The female charged towards Paul with her own gun she had stored in the cabin. "Shut up!" she said in a harsh whisper. Paul finally settled down, but he watched Nick and the she-devil closely.

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John sat in stunned silence. Paul alive? How? He saw the coroner pronounce Paul dead. But wait…he saw Nick kneel over Paul's motionless body and do something. But what did he do?

Nick came behind John and took the gag from John's mouth and from everyone else's mouth. As he moved away, the female crept closer to John.

"I bet you don't know who I am with this mask on do you?" the female asked. She climbed on to John's lap and hooked her arm around his neck. "It's me, baby." She giggled and wiggled her hips slightly as she took her mask off. John sat stunned as he finally realized who the female was.

"Gia…" John growled. "Get off of me…now." John said angrily.

"Oh, you." Gia laughed as she slid off of John's lap. "You were always such a kidder!"

"I'm not kidding Gia. I told you the last time I saw you that I don't ever want to see you again. I meant it then and I mean it now." John said while seething with anger. He looked over at Bailey who sat facing forward stone-faced. He knew she didn't like what had just happened and he knew either Gia or he was going to pay for that.

"So John, when are you going to take me to Mexico?" Gia purred.

"Never, Gia. We were done as soon as you cheated on me." John growled.

"Oh John, don't be that way. We were perfect together!" Gia giggled.

Gia turned to Nick and smiled. "Well, maybe we should get ready to do as planned!"

Nick nodded in agreement. Gia clapped and squealed in glee. "SQEEEEE! It's time!"

Gia turned around and stalked out of the cabin. "I'm going to go get the supplies!" She threw over her shoulder.

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Bailey stared at Nick with a mean glint in her eye. "Why are you doing this, Nick? What would posses you to kidnap us? I thought we were friends."

"Oh Bail, we are…" Nick pleaded

"Oh no we are not! You don't kidnap your friend and her kids. You don't kidnap her ex for kicks!" Bailey spat at Nick. "And Paul, you are supposed to be dead! What is going on here!" Bailey screamed. It felt like she was losing her mind. Her whole world was spinning, her ribs still ached, and her heart was breaking. The only friend she could count on and believe in had betrayed her. She couldn't grasp why. Things were moving so fast.

Nick took a deep breath and stalked to the window. Gia had taken the van back to his shop to get the supplies needed to carry out her plans. Nick had thought it risky at best, but he wasn't going to let Gia hurt Bailey like she planned. His plan was to get the five of them up here and dispose of only John. He had yet to think of how to get rid of him and make it look like he hadn't meant to kill John. Gia had other plans though. She wanted to kill Bailey and her girls and Paul so John would come back to her. Gia's sick plan sent chills down his back. Kill Bailey and the family I always wanted? No. After Nick had kissed Bailey and she reacted the way she had, Nick had been approached the following day by Gia. She tried to sell him on her plan and at first Nick scoffed at the idea, but he had made an emotional decision to follow her and her plans. Now that he was knee deep in it he felt he had no choice; he had to go through with the plans and somehow change the outcome.

"Answer me!" Bailey screamed at Nick.

"Ok, Bail. I never meant for this to go so far. She approached me with the idea and after your rejection, I agreed to the idea. She wants to kill you and keep John for her self. She keeps calling him her "Dear John"." Nick started to explain. "I knew Paul was going to attack you. So I ordered a drug called Cardol that slows the heart really slow. Then I hired a coroner to fake Paul's death. Unfortunately, the coroner was killed in transport of "the body". Casualties are always expected. Don't worry he died a good death, a nice big grizzly carried him off." Nick chuckled as he nodded and turned towards Bailey. "You don't have to worry about dying if you choose me." Nick grinned and turned to exit the cabin.

Bailey sat in shock. She sat thinking for a while, anger boiling to the surface. "You hurt my girls or let that lunatic hurt them and I will never forgive you!" Bailey spat at Nick, while anger shook her whole body.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the girls having a conversation with their eyes. As freaky as their conversations were, they seemed comforting to Bailey. She knew they did that when they were planning something. Bailey felt uneasy. She didn't want them to get hurt.

"Nick, will you get me something to drink?" Bailey asked in her sweet voice.

"Any thing for you, sweetheart." He smiled as he left the cabin for a jug of water on the porch.

At that moment, Cara and Emily jumped up free from their binds. Rushing to both John and Bailey, they slashed their ropes with the knives the girls bought with their jobs. Cara rushed to their dad and slashed those ropes and Emily grabbed a skillet from the stove and waited by the door. John waited behind Emily to assist. They waited for a few minutes and heard the van drive up and the drivers' door slam. They heard footsteps and Nick and Gia arguing on the porch. Gia walked in first and Emily swung hard at Gia's head making contact with a sickening thump. Gia fell to the ground like a lifeless doll. Nick sprang into the cabin and lunged at a waiting John. Bailey watched as fists were flying. The girls and Bailey helped Paul up from the bed and led him outside to the van in case they got the upper hand. Bailey rushed back inside to John and Nick to break them up and saw Gia, blood racing down the side of her head, with the gun pointed at John and Nick as they sat on the floor with wide eyes. Bailey gasped and Gia swung on Bailey with the gun. As Gia raised the gun to Bailey's chest, Bailey saw Nick stand and grab Gia and the gun. John moved like lightening to grab Bailey and fling her to the floor.

As Nick and Gia fought for the gun, Bailey makes a plea to John. "Please help him. He's sick he needs help. Please!"

Bailey's faith in Nick confused John. But as John moved to help Nick control Gia, shots rang out and Bailey screamed and fell to the floor crying.

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