"I'm sure everything will be okay. We're gonna find her, Baby," Brian said, comforting me.
I looked up through tear-stained eyes. I was grateful for the comfort Brian was trying to bring me, but I saw fear in his eyes. I knew he was just as scared as I was. I gave him a weak smile. Just then, a police officer opened the door, and walked into the room. We both jumped up, with hopeful looks on our faces.
"Mr. and Mrs. Littrell, we have found a note that the kidnappers left," he said.
"Oh my god," I said, as I collapsed into Brian's arms.
"Kris, sweetie, everything's gonna be all right," he said, trying to calm me down.
I took a deep breath, and said, "What did the note say?"
"I'll let you see it in a moment, but it's asking for a large sum of money for the return of your daughter."
"I'll pay it," Brian said, "Whatever it is, I'll pay it."
"Um, it's a little more complicated than that, Mr. Littrell," the police officer answered.
"Brian," Brian said quietly.
"Excuse me, sir?" the officer asked.
"Brian. Please call me Brian."
"Sure, and my name is Mike Kinney."
"Thank you, Mike. Can we see the letter?"
"Sure, come this way," Mike said, walking to open the door.
I looked into Brian's eyes as he helped me stand. They were full of so many emotions, I thought they would overflow. I stood on weak legs as Brian put his arm around my waist to support me. We walked out the door Mike was holding open. Mike led us to a small, bare room, with a table and a couple of chairs in it. There was a small ziploc bag on the table.
"Please, do not take the note out of the bag, it still needs to be dusted for prints and checked for fibers. We figured you would want to see it before we did that."
I stared up at him with blank eyes. Brian looked at me, and answered Mike, "Thank you. Can you leave us alone for a minute, please?"
"Sure," Mike replied, walking out the door, and shutting it slowly behind him.
I looked over at the single bag on the table, and burst into tears. I crumbled to the floor. Brian was sitting right beside me when I looked up.
"Bri, please don't make me read that. I can't handle it right now."
"That's fine sweetie. I can do it. Can you just sit here for a second, while I take a look at the note?" Brian asked, in a soothing voice.
I nodded. Brian got up off the floor, and walked over to the table. He picked up the plastic bag, and began to read. I yearned to know what it said, but I knew I couldn't do it. I had to, though. For Kara.
"Brian, what does it say?" I asked.
"You sure you're ready to hear this?" he replied.
I nodded. "Yes," I said, "I need to hear it."
"Okay," Brian said, and started to slowly read the letter.
"I have your daughter. If you ever want to see this beautiful face again, I need 50 million dollars, in unmarked, nonsequential bills. Nothing higher than twenties. I'll be in touch."
"Oh my God. Who would do such a thing? Why?" I asked.
"I don't know, Kris, I don't know."
There was a small silence. Then, Brian stood up from the chair he was sitting in, and started for the door. "I'm going to go get Mike," he said.
I nodded. He left, but was back in a few seconds, with Mike in tow.
The both sat down in chairs, near me.
"What do we do?" Brian asked simply.
"Well, first off, you should probably get home soon, since the kidnapper said he would be in touch. Second, we need to get this note dusted and checked for fibers. The best thing for you two to do is to go home, and wait. It will be hard, and you might want some close friends to stay with you for awhile. Do you have room in your house to keep some police officers with tape recorders and such to tape the call from the kidnappers?"
"I think so."
I let out a small laugh. Brian looked at me with a strange look. "Brian, we have room for an army in that house."
"May I ask, what do you do for a living Brian?" Mike inquired.
"I'm a singer, I'm in a singing group. You might have heard of us; the Backstreet Boys."
"Oh, yes. My daughter loves you guys," Mike said with a smile.
Brian and I got quiet. He had said the magic word. Mike realized this, and said, "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. We live at 2514 Woodbrooke Lane, it's about a ten minute drive from here. I think we're going to go home now."
"That's fine," Mike answered. "We'll have people at your house between ten to twenty minutes." We got up to leave, and Mike showed us out the door. We got into our car and headed home. But, before we pulled out of the police station, I couldn't help looking back at the empty car seat in the back, and feeling an emptiness in my heart.
Chapter Four
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