Heart Strong and Head Break

            The next morning, the fourteenth of May, I wake up first and decide to surprise Kevin with breakfast in bed again. The staff makes waffles, fruit salad, toast and tea. I carry the tray into the bedroom and place it on my dresser. I sit down on the edge of the bed and just sit there looking at Kevin for a few minutes. He looks gorgeous and peaceful at the same time. I finally lean forward and gently press my lips against his. He moans and puts his arms around me. The smell of breakfast finally catches his attention and he sits up in bed. “What is this all about?” Kevin asks.

            “I brought us breakfast in bed,” I reply as I get up and bring the tray over to the bed.

            “Again, with the breakfast in bed, you are too much, Baby,” Kevin says. Between the two of us, we finish off the four waffles and ate all the fruit salad, Kevin the waffles, and I the fruit salad. “Well that was delicious and thank you for the pleasant wake-up,” Kevin says as he places the tray on the floor and takes me in his arms and lightly kisses me.

             “You’re very welcome! So what do you want to do today?” I ask.

            “Oh, I don’t know,” he says. The phone rings just then and he picks it up. “Hello? Yes, she’s right here,” he says to the caller. “Kala, Angel, it’s for you.”

            “Thanks,” I say as I take the phone from my husband. “Hello?”

             “Ma’am, it’s Claire,” Claire says.      
            “Oh, hi, what is it now? Ferrets in the furnace; cats in the Coke machine; snakes, seals, slugs, and snails in the ceiling; wombats and wallabies in the walls?”

            “No, Ma’am, it’s a new company, the terms of the merger need your approval,” she says.

“A new acquisition that needs my approval, hm, well, that is nice. I’ll be in as soon as I can,” I say. I hang the phone up and expect to see Kevin with a dejected look on his face. Instead he wears a look of curiosity.

            “A new company?” he asks with interest.

            “Yes,” I say. “I’m going to be in meetings for most of the day, I’m afraid,” I say to my husband.

            “Good, then I’m going to start packing our things for the tour, and I’ll have dinner waiting when you get in this evening,” he says.

            “Okay,” I say with a smile. I get up and get a shower, alone; I do my hair in a French twist and let two slim stands of hair accent the sides of my face. I get dressed in a dual layered, French Blue skirt, it is just above my knees, and then I put on a white shirt, with sleeves that just cover and hug my shoulders then stop. I put on a short jacket, which buttons once in the front and matches the skirt. I top the whole thing off with a pair of high heels, which match the rest of the ensemble.

            “Whoa, miss CEO,” Kevin jokes as he lies lazily in bed.

            I come over to the bed and kiss him, “Now then, my dear, sweet, loving husband, you have the day to yourself and may I remind you that tomorrow we start the North American tour,” I say as I kiss him once more. “So I want you to take it nice and easy.” I tuck him back underneath the covers, drawing them right up to his chin.

            “Yes, ma’am,” he says.

            “That’s my good little angel,” I say as I bestow a kiss on his forehead, his cheeks, and finally a kiss to his lips that takes his breath away, it is deeper than he has ever experienced before, and as he is in a trance by the end of it; I take the opportunity to escape to the office.

            When I get to the office, there is a cut and paste letter waiting for me, no one ever saw anyone drop it off or leave it on the front stoop, but when the security guard came for his morning shift, he found it there. I ignore it and tell everyone that if any more letters are found that they are to be given over to the police, I decide that I will drop this letter off at the police station on my way home. I bear down on the task at hand and am rather pleased because when I finish at three in the afternoon I have a new company added to my conglomeration.

            I am very happy as I make my way back home; that is until I notice a car is following me, I look and see Jason in the drivers seat. I take a different route home; it goes right past the police station. I get there far enough ahead of him that I can get in and speak to an officer and give them the letter, which is still unopened. It says, don’t look back; even though you might not like what you see, be assured that I love what I see in front of me and it will soon be beneath me.

            By the time Jason’s car drives through the area going suspiciously slowly, the police are able to stop him and ask him what he’s doing, but Jason isn’t seen in the car, it’s another man. He tells them that he’s looking for a little girl that he is supposed to be watching. She seems to have disappeared. They cannot do anything about because this man isn’t Jason, and it isn’t Jason’s car, and for all they know this man is telling the truth, because I don’t know him either.

            As they can’t do anything other than take the note that I was given that morning, I leave the station while Jason and his friend are still just outside the station, in a small side street. I start to go up a hill and just as I pull through a green traffic light, the car zooms after me, the police come after him for speeding, but I too speed up, and there is a chase, me being chased by the stranger, and the stranger being chased by the police. Everything is fine until I make a right hand turn and swerve to avoid hitting a rubber ball that crosses my path just then. I do this for fear that a child would unthinkingly run into the street after it. I barely miss hitting a mailbox. I stop so suddenly, that I hit my head. The other car crashes into the lamppost, blocking the intersection. I am so shaken by this point that I get out of the car to see what damage has been done, I become aware that I feel very dizzy. The police surround the culprits on three sides. Both Jason and two other men jump out of the car and grab me up, holding a gun to my head before I can get away.

            “You all had better just back off, unless you want her dead,” Jason says. The police know that they can’t let him get away with killing me. They all jump into my car, taking me with them. They race off, and I just pass out.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

             Meanwhile, Kevin and his friends and their women have all gathered at his house for supper, and Kevin is most upset when a secretary tells him that Kala had left at three. It is now nearly six that evening, and she isn’t home. She would have called, had there been trouble. Suddenly there is a knock at the door. The butler gets it. “Sir, Officer Gamber to see you.”

            “Thank you, James,” Kevin says. “Officer, what’s happened to my wife?” he asks.

            “She was involved in a chase, she was taken hostage by the aggressors, and the marked police cars were unable to get a line on her car,” the officer says. “We have an unmarked car on them, but he hasn’t called in with anything just yet.”

            “Jason did this, right?” Kevin asks.

            “And two other men, yes,” the officer replies.

            “The car has a silent homing device in it so that it can be tracked if it’s stolen,” Kevin says. He rushes to the phone and calls the company, who turns the chip in the car on. “You should be able to track her down easily now,” Kevin says.

            “Thank you, we’ll call you the moment that we hear anything,” the officer says.

            “Look, have an ambulance standing by, he’s slashed her up before, and I know that he will do everything in his power to rape her,” Kevin says.

            “Yes, sadly, I’m well read on your wife’s problems with this criminal,” the officer says. “If you could, it would be best if you stayed with friends, or had them staying here with you. Being alone won’t help things for you, I’m afraid.”

            “Yes, I’ll do that, but please, tell me the moment that you hear anything,” Kevin says.

            “We’re going set a phone tracking device in the house and keep security around here for you, just for safety sake,” the officer says. 

            “Thank you,” Kevin says.

            “Do you have any idea what he’d ask for as ransom for her?” AJ asks.

            “Well, that’s just it, he has what he wants already,” Kevin says. “He wanted Kala, not her money, or status, or anything else,”              Kevin says.

            “That’d be sweet if it weren’t so savage,” Leighanne says.

            “Well, I’m going to go and get some clothes,” Howie says as he leaves the house, “I’ll be back a little later, Kevin, Natalia and I will stay here until this whole thing blows over.”

            “I think that we’ll stay too,” Leighanne says as she leaves for her house. Sarah goes to her and AJ’s place; Nick scoots off to his shared place with Celeste. Brian, Celeste, Natalia, and AJ all stay with Kevin that moment. AJ calls the management over for a crisis meeting.

            Once everyone has gathered it is decided that touring with this going on could be done, but shouldn’t be. Everyone knows that Kevin will refuse to come when it’s his wife who’s tangled up in it, and everyone knows that touring without Kevin isn’t an option. Especially when he needs the support of everyone like this.

            Brian calls the media circus over, and a statement is issued,  “First off, we’d like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice, but this is breaking news for us and needs to be gotten out as quickly as possible. The tour of North America, which is scheduled to start tomorrow, has postponed indefinitely. A very dangerous man kidnapped Kevin’s wife a few hours ago. He has been going after Kevin’s wife ever since she was about sixteen years old. After careful deliberation we have come to the conclusion that Kevin needs our support, and until his wife is safely recovered, we will not tour. We ask our fans, who have been so loyal to us in the past to bear with us on this, no one wants to postpone the tour, but there’s no alternative. Kevin is needed to help with the investigation, and give the police any information that he can, either about Kala, or Jason, or where he might take her. Obviously, we can’t tour without one of our group members, so we turn now to our fans and ask that they stand with us during this hard time. All tickets will be honored on the make-up dates for the concerts, which will be tacked on at the end. We will now direct your attention at this time to the chief of police, who will answer all questions possible, thank you,” Howie says.

            Then the police come on and say what kind of car it was, the direction in which it was headed, and its license plate numbers. Anyone with information to contribute is urged to call the police on a special line.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            All the while, the car has been heading due north. Eighteen hours later, it comes to a hill and drives right into the side of it. There is an underground entrance to a large mansion and estate. The mansion is a replica of one third of a castle, which resides in Scotland. I am only partly awake, but I can hear, and feel.

            “Come on, let’s get her inside so the doctor can take a look at her,” I hear Jason say.

            “No, Kevin, Kevin, where are you?” I cry softly and start to squirm.

            “Sh, Kala, it’s all right, Darling,” I hear Jason ooze with false love and charm. “It’s all right, I’ve brought you home. This is your home now,” he says.

            I pass out again for I don’t know how long and wake up somewhere alien to me on a bed of some sort. “I’m sorry, I know how much you want to be with your new wife, but in her condition, it just isn’t wise. She has a nasty concussion; she should be in a hospital. The only reason I’m not insisting on that is because you’ve agreed to keep a doctor and nurse here to watch over her constantly.”

            “Absolutely; I’d have her in a hospital in an instant if I didn’t worry for her if she were in a hospital. I want to be with her constantly,” I hear Jason’s voice say. I start to mumble and turn my head from side to side. “Sh, Brooke, Darling, hush, it’s all right, it’s all right now. She’s worried about me exhausting myself while taking care of her.

            “Ma’am, really, it’s best if you just try and be still,” the doctor says.

            “No, he stole me, he stole me,” I try to explain, but Jason covers my mouth and keeps me still.

            “Brooke, Angel, please just be still, the pain will leave you faster if you just stay still,” Jason says.

            “Your husband is right, Ma’am,” the doctor says.

            “He’s… not… my husband,” I say as my mind shuts down.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            The police manage to get a line on the car, and find that it was moving north and went out of the state. It was several states away when it finally stopped. It wound up in Maryland. The next day they give Kevin this startling news, but it doesn’t seem to come as any great shock to him.

            “That’s where she’s from,” Kevin says to the police. “That’s also where Jason has a house. I just don’t believe what’s happened to her. God, if only I had been with her, protected her, did something. I can’t believe that this has happened to her.”

            “Kevin, this isn’t your fault,” Celeste says as she and the girls gather around him to give him the kind of comfort that only women can provide.

            “God, I don’t even want to think about what’s happened to my wife in his clutches,” Kevin says.

            The guys come back into the room and gather around Kevin as well. “Hey, Kevin, your mother is on the phone.”

            “Thanks Brian,” Kevin says as he takes the phone from his cousin.

            “Kevin, what’s going on over there?” his mother demands.

            “Well, Kala, was kidnapped by the same guy that tried to kidnap her in Germany,” Kevin says. “They’ve just been traced to Maryland. I don’t know anything more beyond that.”

            “Oh, Honey, how did this happen?” Anne asks her son.

            “She was coming home from work yesterday, and he and two friends chased after her, the police took after them, and she turned down a side road, and they think she must have hit her head against something inside of her car because they say she got out and looked very dazed and unstable. So, as Jason and his friends had wrecked their own car, they took Kala hostage, and dragged her back into her own car and sped off to Maryland. Mom, I’m so worried about Kala, I just don’t know what to do,” he cries.

            “Oh, Baby,” Anne coos to her youngest son. “I’m going to get on the next plane to Florida and come to take care of you,” she says.

            “No, Mom, don’t do that, I’ll just send one of my planes out there for you. Just be at the airport in say, two hours,” Kevin tells his mother.

            “Okay, until I can get there then try to keep your mind off of her,” Anne says.

            “Mom, she’s all that I ever think about,” Kevin says.

            “Well, do something constructive rather than sitting there and worrying,” she says. “Goodbye, Dear.”

            “Bye, Mom,” Kevin says as he hangs up the phone. “Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do to get my mind off of this?” Kevin asks his friends. No one can come up with anything serious, because Kevin needs to be at the house to answer the phone should someone call. Hours later, Anne arrives and Brian and Leighanne meet her at the airport.

            “So, has anything happened since I talked to Kevin?” Anne asks.

            “No,” Brian says.

            “Why hasn’t Jason demanded any ransom for Kala, yet?” Anne asks.

            “Because, this wasn’t a kidnapping meant to get at fame, or wealth or anything like that, this was a kidnapping to get the person,” Leighanne says.

            “Or at least that’s what Kevin’s told us,” Brian confirms.

            “So, when they find where he’s holding her they just have to storm the gate and take her back by force?” Anne says.

            “That’s the way that it looks, and knowing of Jason’s desperation to have and keep Kala, it’s not going to be an easy fight,” Brian says.

            “Oh Lord, poor Kala,” Anne says.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            I wake up for the first time and feel a monstrous pounding in my head. I open my eyes and find myself in a room with a lady sitting by my side. “Oh, you’re awake, your husband will be pleased to hear that,” she says, she starts to get up.

            “Please, where am I?” I ask.

            “You’re in your new home,” the lady responds.

            “No, I’m not,” I say.

            “Of course you are, your husband brought you here after you fell from a horse on your wedding day,” she says.

            “No, I didn’t,” I tell her.

            “What do you mean? Your husband said that…” she says.

            I interrupt her, “Jason isn’t my husband,” I say.

            “What? Of course he is,” she says. “You must have taken quite a spill if you don’t remember wedding him.”

            “I remember wedding my real husband, Kevin Richardson,” I say. “He’s down in Florida right now. I was kidnapped, well, I don’t know when. Do you know when I was brought here?” I ask her.

            “Yes, you were brought here late at night two nights ago,” she says.

            “Then I must have been kidnapped three days ago,” I say. “So if it was the fourteenth then today must be the seventeenth of May.”

            “Yes, that’s right,” the nurse says. “But your husband will help set things straight with you, just let me go get him for you.”

            “No, I don’t want to see that creature, he kidnapped me, he’ll kill me,” I cry.

            “Oh, poor thing, you must be delusional, I’ll get you something to help,” she says.

            “No, I’m not, I’m fine, just badly hurt,” I tell her.

            “Here, take this pill, it should help with the headache,” she says.

            “What is it?” I ask.

            “It’s acetaminophen,” she says. “Now, what else is wrong?” she asks softly.

            “I’ve been kidnapped and I want to go back home,” I tell her.

            “I promise you that you haven’t been kidnapped,” the lady tells me. “Your wedding to Jason was the social event of the season,” she says.

            “How long have you lived here?” I ask her.

            “My whole life, she says.

            “What was the big social event four months ago,” I ask.

            “Why, it was Kala Pierson’s marriage to Kevin Richardson,” she says.

            “What is my name?” I ask her.

            “Why, you’re Brooke,” she says.

            “I’m Kala Pierson,” I tell her.

            “Okay, you have to be delusional, let’s just get your husband in here to talk to you,” she says.

            “No, I don’t want to talk to that monster, he stole me away from my husband,” I cry.

            “Nurse, what’s going on in here?” Jason asks as he comes into the room.

            “AAAAAA, you! Get away from me, stay away from me,” I scream.

            “She’s forgotten who she is, Sir,” the nurse says. “Perhaps you should leave, until I can calm her down.”

            “No, if she’s upset then I’d better be here to help, Darling, come now, just rest, it’s all right, it’s all okay,” Jason says.

            “No, it’s not, stay away from me, you’ll kill me,” I scream as I try to get away from him.

            “Perhaps you ought to give her something,” Jason says to the nurse.

            “Yes, Sir,” she says. She gives me a shot of medicine through the IV line. It works beautifully, or horribly in my case. I lose all of my energy, and just sort of sink onto the bed.

            “There, that’s better, Darling, isn’t it,” he says. He wraps his arm around me and kisses me softly. I turn away from him. “Oh, poor thing,” he coos. “You just try and get some rest,” he says. “I’ll be in to see you later, Kala.” He leaves the room. The nurse looks at me a little oddly.

            “Why don’t you let him near you?” she asks.

            “He kidnapped me,” I tell her. “Go to the police and ask them for yourself. Tell them to call the Florida police.”

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *

            “Okay,” she says. “I’ll do that once my shift is over.”  She knows that something is really wrong because even Jason called her Kala, not Brooke, which was the name that he had said was hers.

            Indeed, Jason had cooked up an elaborate plan, whereby, he used the name Brooke, quite by accident, and just sort of posted false pictures of himself with Kala (in her wedding gown) superimposed. They were the published pictures from her wedding day to Kevin. Then he went to all the trouble of doing a fake ceremony, and splashing it about on all the society pages of all of the papers in the nation. As Kala, Kevin, and everyone else were still in Europe they had no idea what was going on.

            Now that Kevin has his mother there things go a little bit smoother for him, but everyone is still upset. The guys and girls all go back to their own houses, but hang out with Kevin late into the nights, just so that he isn’t alone. Kevin stops eating very much and starts to become impatient with the slow progress that is being made on the case. “Why hasn’t anything happened?” he asks one day of an officer.

            “We’re working with the police in Maryland, and the FBI, and even some of the military is being called in. What we’re all trying to do is to get someone from our side into the house, to collect and feed information out, because as it stands now it’s an impenetrable fortress. We wouldn’t get beyond the gates. This guy clearly protects whatever he gets with a vengeance. We’re doing everything that we can, really we are, I’m sorry that it isn’t much help or comfort to you. As soon as we can we’re going to get you up there, so that when we get your wife out, alive, you can be the first one to hold her.”

            “Why can’t I go up there now?” Kevin asks.

            “We’d permit that, if we didn’t feel that you’d do something rash and get yourself, others, and possibly even your wife killed, Sir,” another officer says. “However, as soon as we can we’re going to get you up there.”