Apprehended (Amber Alert Series Book 3) (16 page)

Chapter 30

We had stayed behind a few days in Colorado after the team left. I had to stay for observation, to give my statement, and gather everything of mine that had become evidence in the case. I also wanted to stay behind to see the girls, all of them. I had met the girls that escaped from the basement, listened to their stories of how they escaped and where they went before Callum and the police tracked them, and I forgave them as they asked.

It didn't matter that I wasn't upset with them, they wanted to hear me say that I didn't blame them and that I forgave them.

"We didn't mean that note to give you more trouble," Tegan stated. "Nicole had suggested it because we thought you'd see it before he did, and we didn't want you to worry when you saw we were gone. I had also tried to warn you, but it didn't work. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Tegan," I stated, glancing at Callum knowing he would agree with me. "You got almost everyone out through that tunnel, and then you went to tell them where I was. That's more than I could have asked of you, and I'm sure they thank you for it." I gestured to the girls that stood sheepishly behind her with their parents by their sides. "You did that, Tegan. You brought them together again, and I know the parents are thankful to have their girls back no matter what it took."

"Even Casey's?" Tegan asked curiously. We learned that Casey was alive, and Alec had lied about finding her and killing her. A hiker had found her when she passed out in the woods the day she escaped. She had fallen into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital due to an infection. She hadn’t been able to tell anyone where we were, or help the police, but at least she was okay. Alec had never even noticed she was gone.

"Even Casey's. Any parent would be thrilled to have their kid back after this. Casey is doing fine, they say she could wake up any day now." I wasn't sure if she would wake up before the girls all went home, but her parents had told me the doctors were hopeful. I didn't want Tegan to feel bad especially since her choices got most of the girls out unscathed. The other girls were mostly unharmed, except some minor injuries and the malnutrition. Most of the injuries stemming from Alec's beatings, were healed. Now the doctors were focusing on getting the girls vitamins and food.

The families of the surviving girls had been contacted, and most had made it to see their girls, only Tegan's parents were still on a flight into Colorado. I know Tegan was worried about seeing them again, and it was showing as concern for the other girls and their parents reunions. She was so worried about what her parents would say and do because she had seen the other reunions. She wondered if it would be the same, or if it would disappoint her.

"What do you think they'll say when they see me?" Tegan questioned as I was leaving the hospital.

"They will be thrilled to see you. Trust me, your parents are going to be so excited to see you, and there's no moment that will ever compare to it," I said thinking back to seeing my dad for the first time after being taken." And if you're still worried, just think about what wonderful things the other parents are going tell them when they come. You saved their daughters, Tegan. These parents adore you for it!"

There was a moment of pause as tears welled up in her eyes, "You helped too."

"And you tell them that, and what we did together."

"Won't you be here to talk to them?" she asked curiously. She seemed to stop breathing as she glanced between Callum and me in a panic. I didn't have an answer for her. We hadn't told anyone that I was leaving today, because we had been waiting for all the girls to have their families before we left. My father was waiting for me at home, so were Anna and Garrett, and I couldn't ask them to wait any longer. I was about to give her a meager answer when Callum did it for me.

"Actually I'm taking Jessi home so that she can see her family. We are getting on a plane soon so that she can have the reunion you're about to," he said pointing behind Tegan to two adults looking around. They each had sandy blond hair and were searching frantically through the crowd of people for their daughter.

Tegan turned around to look at Callum and me again. Shock was written over her features, it quickly morphed into a smile as she heard her parents call her name. She looked back at me, torn. 

"Go. Tegan, if you need me, they know how to get in touch with me."

She didn't need to be told twice. She raced toward her parents, and the halls of the hospital were filled with happy tears and words of comfort on both sides. Tegan's fears rushed away as her parents held her, the other girls and families joined in, and told them how proud they were of Tegan for what they did for them.

"Come on, let's get you home," Callum said as he slipped his hand into mine and led me from the hospital so that we could get on the plane to head home.

***

Callum and I were dropped off at the airport for the next flight to Virginia. It wasn't a direct flight so we would be spending a lot of time on the plane together, alone. I could feel tension building between us. We hadn't talked about the kiss or the kidnapping since I had been recovered. We had touched on a few of the topics in the hospital, but never talked in depth about them. I always had one of the girls with me, and when we were about to talk about it someone would always interrupt us. We would have to talk about everything while alone, or we may never get another chance.

I just wasn't sure I was ready to talk about it. 

When we had mentioned the topic, Callum would grow uncomfortable, but he would always hold my hand and talk to me after much hesitation. I could sense that same hesitation now as we made our way toward the plane. We had made it through the airport security without any problems, and were arriving at our gate where a few familiar faces, Audrey and Damien, were waiting for us. Damien glanced down to see Callum and I holding hands before Callum excused himself to check on the flight.

We watched him leave, rather quickly, and it made me curious if he knew something about this conversation that I didn't.

"So you're really leaving this time right?" Audrey asked with a ghost of a laugh in her words. "No more police bursting into my house looking for you?"

I laughed along with her for a moment. Callum had gone to find me before I could leave, but when he learned that I hadn't made it onto the plane, not even to the airport he went looking for me. He went to Audrey's since that was the last place I had been, and Kate had informed me that he had actually forced open the door when Damien didn't open it fast enough. Needless to say, Damien wasn't pleased that he now had to fix the door to their apartment, and Audrey didn't want to have it happen again.

"Yeah, this time it's for real. So don't worry Damien, we won't be making you do any more house work right now," I said earning a groan from Damien. He did remarkable work at repairing it from what I heard, and enjoyed being around to help Audrey with things like this. He just hated that it got broken in the first place. "I see that he's made sure there are witnesses for it this time, and I'm getting guided to the plane to make sure no one takes me again."

She laughed, and Damien smirked taking the opportunity to crack a joke. "Just do us a favor, when you get married, don't have children. I don't want to see the pattern continue."

"What about you and Audrey?" I asked curiously. "It's clearly a mother-daughter thing. If she has a daughter it could just continue."

"But it was for Steve, and he's dead. That's the end of our linage with kidnappings, I will make sure of it when we have kids," Damien promised as he wrapped his arm protectively around Audrey. She smiled and placed her hand on his chest to hug him for his kind words. I saw the promise ring predominately on her hand, but no wedding band yet.

If I had to venture a guess, it was going to happen soon because Damien was constantly checking his pants pocket for something. He was worried about losing it, and that meant that it was very important. I smiled at him, but he wouldn't understand why. He had gotten the ring, and was planning to do it very soon if he was carrying it around with him now. I was happy to see that they were able to move on from the horrors that brought them together. I hoped that I could do the same

"I'll just hope for a boy instead I guess," I said continuing the conversation as I glanced at Callum talking to the woman behind the counter. She was smiling brightly to him while talking, she leaned forward to be closer to him, and he didn't even seem to notice that she was trying to flirt with him. I chuckled, and he turned to look at me with knowing eyes. I winked, and turned back to Audrey and Damien laughing.

Audrey made a sound that resembled a purr. "Mmhmm, so, Jessi," she said, causing me to glance to her to see an amused gleam in her eye. "You and Callum seem to be on good standing. So what's going on there?" she asked curiously, with a smirk that mimicked Damien's. They had been together far too long if they were able to copy each other’s expressions.

"We saw the kiss plastered all over the newspaper the last few days," Damien stated before chuckling to himself. "Should we be framing them to show at the wedding? That way we could say we knew you guys before you made it official."

“Well, so far, there's nothing going on. He's escorting me home," I started before Damien interrupted.

"Stayed with you at the hospital while his whole team went home a few days ago."

I ignored him and continued, "He decided that since he got me kidnapped, he at least owed me a date and an apology for how he had been treating me during the case.”

"That's so cute," Audrey cried, bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. "I'm so happy for you. I figured that something would happen. It was obvious from how you guys acted, even if you argued and fought all the time. It was easy to see that something would come of it. Hopefully it will turn into something amazing," Audrey said thoughtfully as Callum turned away from the desk and started his trek back to us. "I know it did for me." She turned to Damien with a smile, and he gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"Jessi, the plane is getting ready to go, we have to board now or we will miss the flight," Callum said, completely oblivious to the conversation that we had been having in his absence. "Say goodbye, and I will collect our things to take on the plane." He paused for a moment so I could nod, then he turned to Damien and Audrey. "It was a pleasure to meet you both. I am sorry about the door by the way."

"It no problem, I fixed it already," Damien said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just don't do it again, okay? If you and Jessi come back up, just wait for me to answer next time. Hopefully no one's life will be in danger."

Audrey and I nodded in agreement, both of us had had enough of Steve Bennett, and anyone else that idolized him and tried to pick up where he left off to last a few more generations.

"I promise to visit soon, and that time it won't be because of a case," I said hopefully, even though I had no idea if that was going to be possible. We didn't get many long-term breaks, and vacations were rare, but welcome when they came. Hopefully I hadn't just lied to their faces, I'd feel awful.

"I'll accept that," Audrey said as she pulled me into a hug. "I also want calls every day with updates on what’s going on between you two. I don't want to have to read it in the papers," she whispered to me so Callum wouldn't hear our exchange.

"Can do, I promise," I whispered back before pulling away and telling Damien goodbye. We shared a short hug before Callum slipped his hand in to mine and pulled me away before we took any longer. We waved goodbye again before I picked up my carry-on heading toward the plane to finally go home, and put this nightmare behind us for good.

Epilogue

It had only been a few weeks since coming back from Colorado, and there were already more papers cluttering my desk than an overworked high school English teacher. There were papers over every inch of my desk, not a bare spot over the wooden table. It was impossible to find anything in the mess that had been passed to me, and they just kept coming. I had lost my keys, my wallet, and even the one file I needed somewhere in this clutter. I needed help, but no one was going to offer that.

"Hey, Jessi." I heard a smooth, deep voice said effectively pulling me out of my thoughts. "I see you're buried deep in a mountain of paperwork."

I glanced up to see Callum, with his usual lopsided grin and breathtaking eyes. A smile flashed across my face as I remembered the welcome back he had given me when I made it out of that house. He had hugged me, and told me that he was glad to see I was okay. I could have sworn that I saw a tear slip down his cheek. I was oddly thrilled to know that he had been so worried about me, even though it had amounted to nothing since our return.

He had fawned over me while I was looked over at the hospital, and taken me personally to the plane so we could return home together. The team had traveled back the day they were supposed to, but Callum had waited for me and taken care of me in the meantime. He had even taken me to see Anna, Garrett, and my father upon our return. He met them all, and they thanked him for taking care of me. Anna even asked if he and I were seeing each other.

I smiled as I told her that I thought it was going to happen soon, but so far nothing had come from it. He had dropped me off at home that night with a reminder to keep my doors locked and the alarm system set before I went to sleep. We stood awkwardly at my door as I waited for him to lean in and kiss me, but it didn’t come. Instead he offered me a hug, and a handshake to tell me it was nice to have worked with me.

Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled with how the night ended. I had thought it had been nerves, but since then, nothing.

There had been nothing more than a friendly nod in my direction when we saw each other at work, which was becoming more of an occurrence since I was being moved onto his team for future cases. The director of the agency had arranged it, and I was thrilled, but this was also why my desk was currently a mess. I had to clean it out, and move everything important with me to my new desk location.

"Hello, Callum, it's nice to see you again. I feel like we haven't talked since Colorado," I said, noticing that his eyes shifted downward as I continued. "Oh wait, that's because we haven't," I stated with a smirk as I looked up to see what excuse he had cooked up, but all I got was a guilty expression and down turned eyes that wouldn't look at me.

"Yeah, about that, Jessi. I'm sorry, it's just that—”

"That you don't date people from your team, and since I'm being moved there you don't want me to get the wrong idea. I get it don't worry," I said as I slammed a few of the files into the box next to my desk. There was a thunderous clap as the files slapped into the box.

Callum flinched at my anger. "I guess since you're so upset with me, you won't even consider an apology," he said, causing me to look up at him when I heard the sadness in his voice. I had never been good at staying mad at someone when they were so clearly trying to make amends. I looked up to see him holding out a bouquet of flowers in a beautiful blue vase. "I hope you'll forgive me just a little bit, because I can't take the flowers back now," he joked lightly.

I felt a smile curve at the edge of my lips, "I didn't know you could be the romantic type, Callum."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck as if he was about to lie, or that he was overly nervous about something. I waited for him to spit it out, but he must have decided to skip over whatever he had been thinking about because he changed the topic instead. "Did you look at that case file I had Spencer bring down?"

"Well considering my desk is an absolute mess, and I can't even find my wallet to go get lunch. I would have to say no, I haven't looked at it yet."

"Well, let me help you find it," Callum offered as he moved to help me organize the pile of papers at my desk. “Maybe we can clean off this mess and you can go get lunch before it's time for you to head home for the night."

He smiled as he helped me shift through the loads of files and papers on my desk. Eventually we found the file he was talking about, and managed to clean off my desk so that I could move upstairs. There hadn't been much progress in the way of getting Callum to tell me what was on his mind, but at least the desk was clean now, and the move had been sorted down to one box instead of four, thanks to Callum's assistance.

"So what's the case about?" I questioned as Callum handed me the file to look at. "It must be important since you came to help me find it, and made me look at it. Normally you would have just ordered me to find it, and I would have to hope I found it before you got angry with me for taking so long."

"It's an important one, and I just want your opinion on it before I take it to the team for consideration," Callum stated with a deadpan expression as he flipped through the small remaining files I had on the corner of my desk that I had to decide if I kept or tossed out. They were the first few cases I solved, but they were over with. It was probably best if I got rid of them in the end.

"It better not be another kidnapping one Callum. I am serious that I don't want to spend all of our time looking at—”I started to threaten, but when I opened the file my words got caught in my throat. I felt my breath leave my lungs as I looked at Callum in shock, and searching for an explanation.

"Oh, did I not bring the case file?" Callum asked sarcastically as a toothy smiled spread across his face. "I must have mixed these two up by accident."

I glanced back down at the file in shock. In big bold sharpie letters was the question "will you forgive me, and give me a chance to make it up to you?"

"Callum, I...I..."

"No Jessi, please don't say no. I realize that I wasn't the easiest person to deal with on the case, or the most comforting after your experience!" Callum started as he raced to my side to plead with me for forgiveness. "I just didn't know what to do. I realize that most people that go through that want to be treated as if they are normal, but they also want alone time. I tried to let you have time alone, and I hope I didn't ruin it. I wanted to take you out when we first got back! I've been waiting to ask and couldn't wait any longer. I really want to try to—”

"Please stop talking," I interrupted with a smile. "I would be happy to give you a chance to make it up to me, but this time you better do it right. I don't give third chances," I warned.

He let out a deep breath, and cast his eyes toward the ground momentarily before he registered my words and flashed me another smile. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, but it has to wait because I still can't find my wallet, and I'm starving," I said picking up my box to take upstairs. "But when I do, I want to hear more about you, and get to know you, without us having to get into a standoff over the case."

"That sounds wonderful," Callum stated as he took the box from my hands, and lead me toward the elevator. "But I'm not waiting another day. I'm taking you to lunch, and paying. So don't bother looking for that wallet until we get back."

I laughed lightly as the elevator doors opened and Callum lead me inside. We made it through the elevator ride, and up to my new desk. I was able to see the entire team again, while Callum helped me set up my desk before we even tried to leave for lunch. The entire time, the team made fun of us. Saying that they knew it would happen eventually, but I just brushed it off and we left them to get lunch.

We never made it.

Halfway down the block, heading toward a cafe that Callum wanted to take me to, he got the call. There was a series of murders happening in Chicago, and we were needed there immediately. The police feared if it wasn't handled soon there would be more deaths, and everyone would be in danger. Callum glanced at me before changing our plans. He said we were going to grab a to-go lunch somewhere nearby, and that we would be back at the office to hear about the case right after. Whoever called him must have agreed, because Callum stated he wanted the team ready by the time we got back and that we could hear about the case while on a plane from the airport.

"So that date will have to wait a little bit longer," Callum stated with a shrug. "But let's grab some lunch, and see if we can't at least get past the first date awkwardness. With how little time we have to be alone, I don't want to waste a moment with you."

"Sounds good to me, but let's hurry, we've got another case to get to," I said as I slipped my hand into his and led the way to a deli down the block where we could grab a quick meal.

For the first time, there was a weight off my shoulders. The ability to feel comfort in knowing that the kidnappings of Steve Bennett were behind me, that I was able to move forward now as Audrey and Anna had done before me. With Callum, that future was bright, even with the dark things we would witness in our line of work, because I would have someone that finally understood me. Someone that would help me move past the kidnappings, and into a future where I was in control.

Little did I know, that from the kidnappings, not only did Audrey and Anna get happy endings, but I would too. Callum and I would go through hard times, we would fight and argue, even come close to ending it, but in the end we would remain strong, and we would make it as Audrey and Anna had done with Damien and Garrett. It was rare, but if we worked hard enough, we could make our lives have a happily ever after.