Oakdale, Illinois, Hughes Residence, 2019
Katie Hughes loved their big house on the hill. Chris surprised her with it the day they returned from their honeymoon.
After five years of marriage, the house and the three acres on which it rested, had developed that comfortable homely feel she'd always imagined as a little girl, dreaming of married life.
Of course, she'd come to believe that life would be with Brad Snyder; her soul mate even in death. She'd never have imagined she'd find her happiness after six marriages. But that was life.
Chris was an amazing husband. She couldn't have asked for a better person to fill the father-shaped hole in her son's life. She also had this comforting feeling that Brad approved and was happy for her. That made moving on a whole lot easier.
The only time Katie hated their big house on the hill were times like these, when she was alone with Jacob and Chris was out of town.
He'd done this before.
At the start of their marriage, he'd disappear for days without any real explanation as to where he was or who he was meeting.
For a while, it caused a huge strain on their relationship, even though Katie never once believed it was due to an affair. Whatever it was that had Chris leave her for long periods of time; she knew it wasn't another woman.
Something troubled Chris deeply; giving him nightmares. And it was the one part of himself, Chris refused to share with her.
She sighed as she read through the script for that afternoon's taping of Oakdale Now on WOAK. She was doing a piece on Luke's suicide; a story on which she would definitely struggle to remain objective. Occasionally she would stop to record notes to herself on the mini Dictaphone she always carried on her.
She glanced up at the clock and realized with surprise that she'd worked through breakfast and not heard one peep from Jacob. She wondered what new game had him so busy he'd forgotten about food.
"Jacob, Honey?" she called as she made her way to the foot of the stairs, turning off the Dictaphone and slipping the tiny device into the pocket of her black trousers. "Time to get ready for school! Come grab some breakfast quick."
The house remained eerily quiet and she frowned. In her experience, a quite child was never a good sign. The last time her son was this quiet, she caught him trying to clean ink drawings off his bedroom wall.
"Jacob?" As she called again, a shadow fell over her from behind. She spun around in shock to find a man standing in her entrance hall. As the bright morning sunlight highlighted the dust particles in the air, she realized he held a limp doll in his arms.
The doll looked just like Jacob.
Katie screamed.
…
"Dammit! Where is she?" Chris asked after another attempt to get through to his wife on the cell phone Damian gave them to use.
He knew it was risky trying to contact Katie. There was a strong possibility the feds had a trace on her cell, hoping he'd call. But he wanted to prepare her for their arrival. He didn't think it would be fair to just show up at the house with a wanted fugitive.
"Maybe she's already left for the day?" Noah asked from behind the wheel, his attention on the road ahead.
Chris shook his head. "No. She has a routine, you know? You have to with a kid."
"Well..." Noah tried, "...maybe she's getting him ready for school."
Chris looked out of the car window at the farmland flashing past. "Yeah. Maybe."
After Noah returned from his crazy visit with Agent Williams, it had taken Chris hours to talk Noah down, convincing the man to go back to Oakdale with him. Noah wanted to run off half-cocked to confront Marsden in Washington. But Chris knew they needed more hard evidence before they even thought of going public.
He also had this strong sense that keeping Noah away from the vicinity of Senator Marsden would be wise. It wasn't that he cared for the senator's well being, quite the opposite. What he really worried about was this feeling in his gut that Noah would kill the senator without hesitation.
To be honest, Noah was scaring him. The brunette seemed almost… too calm.
Chris was certain Noah hadn't even scratched the surface of dealing with Luke's death. It was like the man wiped that knowledge clean from his mind. Noah was a soldier on a mission now; emotion didn't play a part in that.
But he also knew it was taking a huge effort on Noah's part to keep it up. Every now and again, Chris would catch a crack in Noah's features; a bob of his prominent Adam's apple; a crease forming in his brow, a sound escaping his lips as if Noah was silently struggling to hold back a scream.
It was unnerving to say the least.
…
"Jacob!" Katie didn't even think. She flew forward and snatched her son from the man's arms; barley registering the snake tattoo around the man's wrist.
Jacob flopped in her arms; heavy like he was asleep.
Please God, be asleep!
The man followed her as she passed by him and moved to lay her son gently on a sofa in the sitting room.
"Jacob? Wake up." She bent her ear to his lips, praying for a sound that would confirm he lived; patting his cheek hopefully.
"Your son is fine."
The voice startled her. In her frantic state she'd even forgotten he was there. "What happened to him?"
When she looked up and for the first time clearly saw the cold look in the man's grey eyes, she screamed a second time.
"Now, now…" the man chastised. "…we don't want to be making so much noise… now do we?"
"Who are you?" Katie breathed. She stood guarding her prone son with shaky legs.
"You know..." the man replied with an air of amusement, "...people always ask that; and I wonder why? I mean… does it really matter? If you must name me… you can call me Garrett."
Terrified, Katie started crying.
"Now..." Garrett continued, "...your hubby has been a very naughty boy; and we can't let him get away with that. He must be made to understand that there are consequences for his actions. It's time to find out whether you're any better at following orders than he is."
…
"There!" Chris yelled. "That's my house! The one with the yellow Mini parked out front."
Noah pulled up the driveway behind the Mini; all the time scanning the surroundings for danger. As he did, he noticed a plumber's van parked against the curb.
"You got any water problems?" he asked Chris.
"What?"
"You expecting a plumber?"
Chris whipped his head around and swore. "They've come for my family, haven't they?"
Noah's eyes closed for a moment, breathing back another bolt of pain. They were becoming more frequent. "I hope not."
He grabbed the gun he'd stolen from Agent Williams off the dash; and they both rushed from the car, bursting through the front door of the house.
They were just in time to watch Katie jump from the top floor banister.
As she did, she seemed to notice Chris and the chance of rescue. She snatched at the wooden banister mid-flight; hanging from her arms just in time to prevent the rope from pulling taught around her neck.
"Katie!" a horrified Chris screamed; already stumbling up the staircase to rescue his wife.
Garrett stood in the entrance hall. Noah instantly recognized the murderer. For a split second, they stared at each other. Then with a startling speed, Garrett made a move toward Chris.
Anger lit a fire under Noah's feet and he launched himself through the air, propelling Garrett full force into the opposite wall. The gun flew from Noah's grasp and slid away across the hardwood floor.
Garrett was quick and delivered a strike that hit Noah reeling backward. As Noah stumbled, Garrett swept Noah's legs out from under him, sending Noah on his back with a solid thud.
One moment Noah felt winded and saw stars; the next he was in an arm lock with the man.
They were both just as strong as each other; and neither man could get a punch in to end the floor rolling. Each man grunted and struggled for dominance over the other.
Finally, they found themselves back on their feet, encircling like two boxers in a ring. Noah saw his chance and delivered two savage punches to Garrett's face. He kicked out and sent Marsden's henchman flying into the sitting room.
Unfortunately, Jacob had chosen that moment to wake up and search for his mother. Garrett's huge girth sent the child soaring backward. Jacob slid across the floor and landed with his back against the sofa.
"Mommy!" the young boy screamed in fear; and struggled when Garrett grabbed him in a neck lock.
From nowhere, a gun went off and Garrett fell back into the wall. But the gunshot to his shoulder did nothing to lesson Garrett's grip on Jacob.
Noah looked back and saw Katie holding out the smoking gun she'd retrieved from the floor.
"I was married to a cop! So I know how to aim!" Katie screeched at Garrett. "You drop my son now, you bastard!"
Noah watched her finger depress the trigger. "Katie, no!" he yelled, holding out his hand. "Please… we need him alive…"
For the first time, Katie seemed to register who he was. "Noah?" she asked in amazement.
Noah nodded. "He has information on the murders. Please Katie. He might be my only hope."
"I'm so, so sorry about Luke, Noah," she stated. "You know that I am! But he has my son!"
Regardless, they paused for too long. Garrett used the time to withdraw a knife from inside his boot. He held the blade to young Jacob's throat. "I can kill him before you pull the trigger," he warned the angry mother. "Put the gun down."
"Katie!" Chris gasped, moving behind his wife. "Put the gun down, Sweetheart. He's serious."
Katie looked back at her husband and lowered the gun. "What's going on?" she wailed. "Oh, God… What's happening?"
They watched Garrett shuffle backward and they all followed him through the kitchen. With the terrified child dangling against his chest, Garrett felt behind him to open the door leading to the back yard; and disappeared through it.
"Jacob!" Chris and Katie cried.