Page 11 of Played

And I swear to God I see her. Her sweet little face, pressed up against the back window, for a split second.

…but it disappears just as fast.

Chapter 4

Laney

We wait for da’s friend, Clyde, who is a police officer, to arrive, before we head to where Caleb is. “We’ll never get anywhere near the scene without Clyde.” Da states. “Doesn’t matter how wealthy we are. Sometimes money can’t buy things. Access to a crime scene is one of them.”

“Good call.” I say to da, as I grab my purse. Mama stays behind, just in case someone needs us here.

“You bring my grandbaby home safe, now.” Mama says.

“I promise you, as God is my witness, I will.” I tell mama, fighting the lump in my throat.

“I know you will, Laney.”

“Clyde’s here.” Da says, as he puts his shoes on at the door. Mrs. Quinn has managed to pull herself together, doing some baking, so that when Peg comes home, she’ll have her favorite cookies waiting.

We take da’s car, so that I can make calls, if necessary. As we keep with Clyde in his cruiser, he turns on the sirens, leading us to where we need to be. It’s the longest ten minutes of my life, but as we arrive, when Clyde leads us to a building, surrounded with police cruisers, and other emergency response vehicles, I see Caleb’s brother Ethan. He’s with Dougall, Caleb’s da, but Caleb is nowhere to be found. For just a moment. Amongst the flurry of police officers, cruisers, and a flatbed tow truck, I see my love off in the distance, running to a car, while a cruiser follows, just a short distance behind him.

“What’s going on?” I ask, running to him.

“Laney, stop!” Da shouts, in a vain attempt to grab me, but it’s too late. As I run to Caleb, faster than I would ever expect, I see what he’s after. It’s a car, tearing off, trying to get away, and I can only guess that that’s the kidnapper, and that he’s got Peg. As I surmise this, I run faster, gaining on Caleb. The car turns down a street, squealing its tires, as a cruiser tries to block him, but the car sneaks by and passes. I follow as closely as I can, watching the chase unfold. Traffic down the small alleyway is non-existent, as the whole area has been blocked off, and as I turn down the street that Caleb is on, gaining on the car, we both witness it.

A man stops the car abruptly, opens the driver’s side door, and abandons the running vehicle, tearing off on foot. He heads for the back of a building, going inside, as if he owns the place. But all I care about is what’s inside the car, or, more important, who. It looks like Caleb is thinking the exact same thing. That’s when we hear her. Little Peg is inside the car, crying her heart out in terror. “Jesus Christ!” Caleb shouts, running so fast it looks like his legs will give out. I watch officers head inside the building, going after the man now on the loose, as I finally make it to Caleb.

“Oh my God! Peg!” Caleb shouts, almost cries, as he approaches the vehicle, and practically dives inside. His voice cracks. “Baby, you’re okay.” He says, and as I arrive at the vehicle, I climb in the other side, where the bairn sits in a ball on the floor, covering her face, crying so hard her face is red and soaked with tears. We both look her over, making sure that she’s not hurt, as she sobs, terrified, soaked in sweat and tears, and urine, from what I can smell. Aside from soiling herself, she seems unharmed, so I pull her into my arms, Caleb right behind me, us both squished inside the vehicle, holding her tight.

“Get out of the car!” We hear officers shouting, scurrying to us. “Get the child out and vacate immediately!” Two of them say, pulling us out. “The car could be armed with a bomb. He might have activated it when he abandoned it.”

“Shit.” Caleb says, running away from the vehicle, holding Peg tight to him. The place is a flurry of activity, with police running all over, trying to catch the perpetrators. We take Peg back to the site where we were when we arrived, as she lays on Caleb’s shoulder, still shivering and sobbing with upset. As if the poor bairn hasn’t been through enough, now this. “We’ll get you back to grandmama’s house, baby. Mrs. Quinn baked you some cookies. Your favorite.” I tell her, sliding my hand through her hair, trying to calm her.

The paramedics are there, at the ready, but she wants none of it, and I don’t blame her. She’s shivering with fear, sobbing so hard she’s coughing, and so they let her calm down, before they look her over. “Are you hurt, baby?” I ask her, as she buries her face into Caleb’s neck, not wanting to see anyone. I pull her little dress up, so I at least can see her legs and back, and she looks unscathed, aside from being drenched in her own urine. Her legs are sticky and wet, right down to her socks and shoes, and I regret not thinking ahead and bringing her a change of clothes.

I make a quick call to mama, to let her know that Peg is safe, and to please bring some clothes for her if she can, but I doubt it. Mama won’t get anywhere near the scene, but she can pass the clothing along to the officers. When Peg finally cries herself to sleep in Caleb’s arms, the paramedics take a look at her, and confirm that she is, in fact, unharmed. “Thank God.” Caleb says, looking at her little body, asleep on the gurney, inside the ambulance. He slides a hand through his hair in relief.

Dougall and da see us and walk over to check on Peg. “She’s fine. Asleep.” Caleb answers. “Did they get the son of a bitch that took her?” Caleb asks through gritted teeth.

“They got one of them.” Dougall answers with an indignant grunt. “But they’re still after the rest of them.”

“What about Ned? He’s got to have a connection to this.” Caleb states.

“He’s still with police, yes.” Da answers.

“Which one did they catch?” I ask.

“Just Wesley Higgins, from what I understand.” Dougall replies. “But the others are still at large, and all of our security staff are being questioned.”

“I hope ours are, too.” I add.

Da nods. “Definitely. Every staff member is being questioned on this, until we get to the bottom of it all.”

Caleb sees his brother Ethan off in the distance, talking to one of the officers, and seethes. “What’s dipshit still doing here?”

Dougall raises a hand. “Caleb, stand down. Your brother cares just as much about this family as you do, and now is not the time.”

“Bullshit.” He sneers. “I could have sent the ransom to Higgins, and this could have gone off way smoother. We might have caught all of the assholes involved, if it weren’t for him and his secrets.”

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