Chapter Three: Hot Call
The clerk looked up from her crossword as the man and child came back in. As before the child hung back, behind the man. "Hey, great," the clerk said as she took the bathroom key back. She turned, peering out the window at the man's car. "So pump number two?" She double-checked the register, saying, "That's, uh, $47.28, please."
As the man pulled out his wallet to pay, the clerk's eyes fell on the child. "Hey, who's this?" She leaned closer and asked, "What's your name?"
The man replied first. "Jack. He's a little shy."
The child's eyes snapped up at the man, glaring. For a moment, the eyes almost seemed to glow, then the child backed down and cast a pleading look at the clerk. The clerk almost stilled at those eyes…violet eyes. With a would-be-casual tone, the clerk pulled out a candy tin from behind her counter. "Hey, Jack," she began, shuffling through the tin, "uh, tell me…what's your favorite flavor here: cherry or grape?" At the man's look, she quickly added, "It's okay. It's on the house."
The man shrugged, tugging the child forward. Violet eyes met hers, still pleading, and the clerk could see red hair under the ball cap. "Grape," the girl told her.
The clerk pulled a grape sucker from the tin and held it out to the girl, offering a reassuring smile. The sucker fell before the girl could grab it and, as she ducked for the treat, the cap slipped, showing more of her red hair.
In a cold tone, the man with the girl asked, "How about some change?"
"Sure," the clerk replied, keeping a perky tone. "Sorry about that." As she handed the man his change, she spotted a gleaming weapon tucked in his belt. Hiding her sudden fear, she said, "And here we go." The clerk waited until the door chimed behind the two, then dove for her phone and dialed.
"911?"
"Uh, yeah, um… The-the missing girl? Alanna, Alanna something? Um, she-she's here. She's here at my gas station. And she's, she's with a man and he has a gun."
"Ma'am, are you certain it's the child?"
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. She's wearing boys clothes, and she has violet eyes and red hair."
"Okay, ma'am, I need you to stay calm, but if you can get a license plate…"
The clerk's head shot up and she peered through her window again. "License plate…" She dropped the phone and bolted for her door. "License plate." With bare moments to spare, she darted outside and read the plate on the SUV pulling away.
Kira felt a rush of adrenaline and fierce determination as she hit the alarm. "Team One, gear up, gear up," she all but yelled. "We have a sighting of missing child Alanna Calvin, traveling in a car, license plate: Romeo One Bravo Uniform Four Hotel Eight." Behind her, Lance's expression transformed from grief to equal determination. Kira had to grab him and haul him back into his chair as she finished, "Registered to a Gerald Duglin, 60 Red Brick Lane, East Scarborough."
As Sarge and Team One raced to the garage, he tossed out an order to his nephew, "Lance, stay with Kira!"
Lance stared after them; they were gone too fast for him to protest. Softly he said, "But 'Lanna…"
Kira shifted her grip to his hand. "They'll get her back," she promised.
In the kitchen of her home, Penny washed the floor, scrubbing every bit of dirt off the tile. She worked steadily, without pause or even a quiet protest. At a beeping sound, she looked up and hurried to the panel. A brief look and she moved to hide behind the wall from the nearby door to the attached garage.
A man entered the home, setting his jacket on a nearby chair. "Penny?" he called.
Penny emerged from her hiding spot with a relieved, "You're home."
Smug, he replied, "I told you I was close."
Gerald pulled Penny to himself, kissing her forehead and wrapping her in a hug. She responded by snuggling close to him and tucking her head under his chin. A noise from the door made her look up in surprise.
Violet eyes peeked at her, surprise in them and a trace of hurt, as if their owner had not expected Penny's presence. The new arrival stared between Penny and Gerald, her jaw tightening and her gaze almost looking through Penny.
Penny pulled away from Gerald, alarmed by the little girl and the unexpected threat to her life with Gerald. As she looked between Gerald and the girl, he grasped her hands and spoke gently. "I want you to meet someone." He pulled her over to the newcomer, eyes dancing with an inner excitement. With a slight flourish, he pulled a gray ball cap off the little girl's head, letting braided red hair fall to the girl's shoulders. "Surprise," he announced, "Penny, this is Alanna."
Kira grimaced internally, Sarge would not be pleased, but it was protocol to call Child Services in with a minor at risk. Deciding to simply get the announcement over with, she clicked the radio. "Team One, Child Services have been notified and are standing by; uniform units are en route to secure the perimeter."
Sarge sounded grim and less than happy as he acknowledged. "Copy that. Advise those units to use radio code only. Media will be on their scanners; they're already going crazy with the information blackout on the girl's family." Kira nodded; officially, Lance was at SRU headquarters to keep him safe. The media was having a conniption fit over the sparse statement Commander Holleran had authorized, but the Toronto Police Department had no intention of letting Alanna's abductor find out she was related to Team One's Sergeant.
She listened as Sarge spoke with Ed. "This guy must have been driving all night, avoiding all the barricades and checkpoints." Anger colored the Sergeant's tone; now that he had a target…now that Team One had a target, they wouldn't stop until Alanna was safe.
Gerald smiled at his new toy as he opened the fridge and retrieved a nice, cold beer. He kept his tone as sweet and condescending as he could. "You did a beautiful job, Penny." He turned to Alanna, remarking, "It's clean, huh? You could eat off the floor."
Instead of shrinking, the girl cast him another glare. Spirited, huh, and feisty. He was going to enjoy breaking the red-haired teen. Annoyance rose when Penny asked, "Why?"
He gave Penny a look. "Why what?"
"Why is she here?" Penny pressed. Anxiously, "Did I do something?"
Gerald contained a roll of his eyes as he moved past Penny toward his new play-thing without responding.
Ed Lane glanced over at his boss. Sure, the situation was stressful, but he was pretty sure something else was bugging his friend. "All right," he demanded without preamble, "what's going on?"
"Nothing," the Boss replied quickly, too quickly. After a moment, he gave in. "My son- he sent back another letter, 'return to sender'. Big surprise," he finished bitterly. "And this thing with Alanna…" Greg shook his head. "Lance doesn't know I know, but his teacher's been hassling him and grading as hard as he can."
"What? Why?" This was news to Ed.
"The family talents," Greg arched a brow at Ed as he spoke. "Since their father can't teach them and I can't either…I insisted the kids be taught at school."
"And this guy's making a big deal of it?" Ed was incredulous.
"Yep. I was going to go in and talk to the man's superior next week. Probably with the essay Lance was working on last night. Mio nipote planned on making two copies."
Ed smirked. "Sounds like you're rubbing off, Boss, with planning skills like that." He returned to the other issue. "Your son, though, you got to see him in person. Where…? He's in Dallas, right? You got to go there. It doesn't matter if they slam the door in your face."
Greg rubbed his face, looking very tired all of a sudden. "I've got two kids right now, Ed. They're great, you know that, I know that, but they still miss their parents. Maybe, maybe that's who I've got to focus on now…let the past lie." He was silent a moment longer. "I think I'm done, you know?"
Ed looked forward, hearing the loss in his friend's voice and unable to do anything about it.
Alanna crossed her arms as the Muggle pulled out a box and gestured for her to follow him. "Alanna…follow me." The redhead gave him a mulish look. If she could have gotten away with it, she would have dropped him with a Stunner on her way to the phone but the black-haired Muggle, Penny, was there and watching. "Come here," he ordered, looking annoyed at her defiance. You kidnap me, take me away from my family, and you think I'm gonna play nice?
Wary, the girl approached the Muggle, her eyes falling on the box. Electric dog collar…what's that for? Suspicion filled her eyes and she resisted the urge to reach for her wand.
"This is really special, okay?" the Muggle began, sounding as if he thought she was three, not twelve. "You are very important to me." She sneered at that and he gave her another irritated look. "This is going to help keep you safe," he finished as he attached the collar to her ankle. Alanna nearly blew it out with her magic right then as her power surged, sensing her anger and fear. Her eyes glowed, but the Muggle didn't see it as Alanna forced her magic down again.
"There," the Muggle said, sounded satisfied. "Now what do you say?"
Alanna glared, crossing her arms again.
"What do you say when someone gives you a present?"
The redhead put her nose in the air. "You expect me to thank you for kidnapping and imprisoning me?" Violet eyes snapped with her fury and she shook her head, refusing to give him what he wanted.
He grabbed her, hauling her close and shaking her a little. Magic sparked and he let go, surprised by the static shock. The Muggle stared at her a moment, threat clear in his eyes, then moved on. Alanna swallowed down her fear as he explained the collar to her. "Here's how it works. You get too close to a door or window, and you're going to feel a little buzz. That's a warning. And what happens if we don't pay attention to the buzz? What happens if we go outside the house?"
Penny responded before Alanna could think of a sarcastic, cutting reply. "You cross the underground wire and the bracelet electric-shocks you and you die."
Alanna stiffened up involuntarily at that. Fear showed in her eyes as she looked at the black-haired girl. I want to go home.
"But you know what?" the Muggle asked, his voice thick with insinuation. "It's better to die than to get caught by the police, 'cause you know what happens if you get caught by the police?"
The redhead gave her captor an arched brow. I bet my wand, he tells me cops are bad.
"They'll hurt you so bad you'll wish you were dead." I win.