Page 41 of His Baby Her Gift

Frustrated, Carter tried to remain calm when he was anything but. “Yes.”

“I’m not sure where she went, but I saw her being wheeled out by another woman.”

“Can you describe her?”

“Um . . . yes. She was fairly tall. Maybe five-eight or five-nine. She had brown skin with dark hair and blonde highlights. She also had pretty blue-eyes. I noticed them when we were in the gift shop.”

Whatever tight resolve Carter had snapped. “Call 9-1-1! Harlem wouldn’t willing go with that woman. She had to have been forced.”

A look of fear came over the young woman’s face as she pushed up from her chair. “Taken? Like kidnapped?”

“Yes. Exactly like that.”

She wasted no time not only calling the police but her superiors with the hospital.

Carter dialed another number. “Sam. This is Carter. I have a big problem. I need you to get over to Loyola hospital A.S.A FUCKIN’ P!”

*****

The van was moving when Harlem came to. She was still shrouded in darkness because her eyes were covered.

Harlem wasn’t sure how long she had been out but all the moving around, along with whatever Elaina used to knock her out, made Harlem feel like she was going to throw up. She inhaled deeply, hoping to calm her body down and slowly release the air from her lungs.

Harlem wiggled her wrists together to see if she could loosen the zip ties. They were too tight. Still, she had to continue to try to get them undone.Maybe I can remove this damn thing from over my eyes.Harlem used the carpet on the floor to assist in its removal. As quiet as possible, Harlem squirmed, moving her head up and down. After some time, and with a serious case of rug burn, Harlem managed to maneuver the blindfold so that she could see underneath a small crack. There weren’t any windows in the back of the van, so it was difficult to know if it was even day or night.

The van stopped.

Harlem turned her head to the side so that Elaina couldn’t see the part of the blindfold that had been moved. Then, she stilled as if she were still unconscious.

Elaina got out of the driver’s seat and walked to the back of the van, still brandishing the gun. “Harlem.”

Harlem didn’t answer. She pretended to be out cold.

Elaina shook her shoulder, but Harlem didn’t move. “Good, the chloroform is still working.” Elaina couldn’t help herself. She caressed Harlem’s stomach. “Pretty soon, it’ll be you, me, and daddy. I just have a few more things to take care of.”

Elaina went back to the front of the van and got out.

Harlem couldn’t believe any of this was happening; this situation was something for the movies. If Harlem didn’t take control, she would be one of those women people talked about on cable news.

She remembered that Elaina had a black duffle bag. She saw her open it and pull the zip ties out. Harlem tried to sit up. It was awkward because of her stomach. She managed to quickly scan the back of the van.

Harlem spotted the bag. It was on the floor between the driver and passenger seats. She had no idea how long Elaina would be gone, so she couldn’t risk trying to get to it. Instead, she glanced around to see if there was anything else she could use to cut the ties.

Harlem noticed a broken piece of metal on an exposed portion of the van wall. Before she could get to it, Harlem heard what sounded like someone putting gas in the van.

Harlem moved back to the position she had been in before Elaina got out of the van. It wasn’t a moment too soon because shortly after, Elaina opened the driver’s side door and got inside.

She glanced back at Harlem. Everything seemed to be exactly the way she left it. Elaina put the key into the ignition and started the van before pulling off from what Harlem believed was the gas station.

Harlem rolled over toward the jagged piece of metal. Fortunately, it was close enough for her not to look too far out of position.

After a few different tries and several cuts on her wrists, Harlem finally positioned herself where she could rub the zip ties against the metal. It wasn’t sharp like a knife, so it would take some work to cut through it.

Harlem didn’t know how much time she had, but she had to make the most of it.

Chapter 20

Carter was beside himself with worry. He had reviewed the police footage with Sam Meeks, an employee of his who was former CIA. “You’ve got to find her. The clock is ticking.”

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