Maggie lifted the lid to the small box and looked inside. She found one small sheet of paper. Knowing she would not call the police, Maggie picked it up and turned it over to read the note.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, Move Andy's Jeep hidden to all but you, spring is new, and fall is late, switch your plate with his, and then you must wait"
How the heck was she going to get over to the park and move Andy's jeep without using her own car? Maybe she could get an Uber or a Lift ride there and move the Jeep. Ugh! She called Amelia for help to get the Jeep moved and get back home.
Going down to her car with a screwdriver, Maggie took her license plate off of her car and came back upstairs. Then she called Amelia.
"I need your help, and I need you to not ask questions. Can you do that for me, Amelia?"
"Honey, what is going on?"
"Really, no questions. It is better for you if you don't ask questions."
"Okay, okay! No questions. I am on my way."
"Great, I'll be out front waiting for you."
Fifteen minutes later, Amelia pulled up in front of Maggie's condo. Maggie got in her car and directed Amelia to the dog park where Andy's jeep was parked. She decided to move the Jeep to a twenty-four-hour superstore on the main drag through town where it wouldn't draw attention. She quickly changed the license plates and took off with the jeep.
Once they moved and safely parked the car, she got back into Amelia's car, and they headed back to her condo.
"Now, can you tell me what's going on? I promise to do my best to be helpful."
Maggie cried quietly as they drove back toward her condo.
"The same people that broke into the career center have kidnapped Andy. They left a box of dead flowers at my place last night and kidnapped him today just before we were supposed to meet at the dog park. I have his dog at my condo and that's why I had to move the jeep. Whoever it is blames me. They say it's my fault they kidnapped Andy, and I have to follow their directions if I want to get him back, but I can't call the police or they will kill him."
"Oh My God! What the hell is going on? Someone kidnapped Andy, and you're now caught up in this mess. You have to call the police!" said Amelia.
"No! I can't take the chance that they will know, and then kill him. None of this is his fault. Some crazy person is mad at me, and they will take it out on him. That's not his fault. I can't chance that they will kill him. You can't tell anyone!" cried Maggie. "Promise me you won't tell anyone."
"I promise! I promise I won't tell anyone, but you have to let me help you." said Amelia. "What to you have to do now?"
"I don't know. I have to wait for their next clue to arrive." replied Maggie, as she tried to stop crying. "I can't figure out who could be so mad at me to do something like this. I don't know what I did to make someone so angry."
"Who knows! You may never know what you did to make them made. They may not really know what they are mad about, not really. They may just be blaming you for something that is in their imagination." mused Amelia.
The two women went up to Maggie's condo to check on the two dogs and found yet another box by the front door. Maggie picked it up and took it inside with them so they could open it together after checking on the dogs.
Max and Ripley were cuddled together on the sofa in the living room. Both looked up as the two women walked into the room. Their heads turned in unison to follow the women as they crossed to the room to the dining room table. Ripley's tale wagged expectantly. She was ready for a treat and some scratches.
Maggie put the box down and went into the kitchen to get both dogs a treat and returned to the sofa. She gave them each a little bit of attention and a small treat before returning to the table and the latest mystery box.
She lifted the lid and looked inside. A solitary sheet of white paper lay in the box's bottom, face down. As she lifted it out, her stomach did little twists and turns. Flipping the paper over to see the print with shaking hands, Maggie looked over at Amelia and saw that her friend had gone ghostly pale.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, Andy needs to be fed, and that's up to you."
The note included a list of groceries along with the location and time to drop off the food. She had just over ninety minutes to buy everything on the list and get it to the drop-off location.
"I've got to go. I need to get to the grocery store and get what they want so I can drop it off on time." Said Maggie to her friend.
"Let me help you, we can split up the list and make the shopping go faster," said Amelia.
"I don't want to get you involved any more than you already are." replied Maggie.
"Oh, please! Grocery shopping isn't being that involved," argued Amelia.
"Fine, but that's it. You stop after that. No more helping after this task. I don't know how long this will take or how dangerous this will get. I don't want you in any danger." answered Maggie.
Together, they ran out the door and headed to the closest grocery store. They split the list and started shopping as quickly as possible. When each woman had finished her part of the list, they met back up near the cash registers. Quickly paying for the pile of and bagging it up, they headed back to the car.
Maggie used her phone's GPS to get directions to the location where she was supposed to drop off the food. It would take them thirty-five minutes to get there without traffic. Maggie said a silent prayer for no traffic as she pulled out of the parking lot and followed the directions to her destination because she only had just over forty minutes to get where she was going.
"Um, Maggie?"
"Yes?" said Maggie.
"How are you going to keep doing this and go to work?" asked Amelia.
"I do not know. Because I have a lot of sick time, I might need to call in sick for several days while this is happening. I just don't know how long this is going to take." She said. "I hope it won't take too long for Andy's sake."
"That's true, we want him free as soon as possible," said Amelia. "But what if he is in on it?"
"What? No way! He wouldn't have abandoned his dog in the park. What if I didn't show up? There is no way he would have left Max in the park willingly." replied Maggie. "You didn't hear how he talked about Max the night we texted. He loves that dog the way I love Ripley."
"Okay, it was just a thought."
They drove on in silence for several minutes. The only sound in the car was the voice of the GPS give directions to their destination. Luckily, there was not very much traffic, so they were making good time.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the building where they were directed to leave the groceries, Maggie searched for the big gray bin where she was supposed to place the bags. It took her a while to find it, but she finally saw it tucked around the north end of the building, just around the corner.
Maggie parked her car and quickly grabbed the bags and carried them over to the large bin. She pried it open and carefully placed the bags of food inside. It took her three trips to bring all the bags to the bin. She wouldn't let Amelia help her. She didn't want anyone involved in the kidnapping to identify her and get angry that she was helping Maggie.
As soon as she got all the food into the bin, she got back into her car and pulled out of the parking lot. She didn't want to be around when the kidnappers came to get the food. The last thing she wanted right now was to run into them. She wanted Andy back, but she wanted nothing to do with the kidnappers if she could help it.
"Let's go home!" she said as she drove out of the parking lot.
Andy lay there in the dark, wondering when someone would allow him to get up off the bed. His back ached from lying in the same position for so long, especially because his arms were pulled up above his head and were going numb. He also realized that he needed to go to the bathroom, but he refused to go all over himself.
"Hey! I need to go to the bathroom! Let me get up! Where are you? Let me up!" He yelled, hoping the kidnappers would hear him. He didn't know if they were around, let alone listening to him.
Suddenly, he heard the door slide open, and he felt gloved hands unlock the handcuffs from the frame of the bed. He tried to get up, but someone pushed him back down onto the bed. There were a few footsteps across the room, and the door slid closed again.
Andy removed the blindfold from his eyes and in the dim light of the room saw there was a small bucket by the door and a tray with some food on it near the door as well. He assumed the bucket was there so he could relieve himself. He moved the food over to the bed, then used the bucket to take care of his biological needs.
When he returned to the bed, he checked out the food on the tray. He was surprised to find that several of his favorite foods were there for him to eat. There was a turkey and havarti sandwich, a sliced up apple, some sour cream and onion chips and a bottle of water. How did the kidnapper know this was one of his favorite lunches?
Andy knew he should be concerned about eating the food given to him by the kidnappers, but he was so hungry that he just grabbed the sandwich and wolfed it down. He wasn't sure how long he had been there, but it felt like several hours. It had to have been at least five or six hours since he first woke up here; he thought. Thankfully, his head was no longer hurting as badly as it had been when he first woke up.
He didn't know how long someone had locked him in the room. Was it only a few hours or more than a day? It didn't feel like more than a day. He rubbed his chin to feel the stubble on his face and knew it had only been a few hours based on the lack of facial hair that had grown in while he had been unconscious.
It was good to know that thing were not so far out of control. He hadn't been missing for too long. But poor Max. He wondered what had happened to his sweet dog. And to Maggie. She must think he is a world class jerk for standing her up at the dog park. If he got out of this, no, when he got out of this, he would make it up to her.
When Maggie got home from dropping off the food, she and Amelia when back up to her condo to check on the dogs. She was relieved when she got to the door and her welcome mat was box free. The two dogs were still on the sofa curled up together as if they had grown up together their whole lives.
Maggie took them out for a quick potty walk and then a small snack as they came back inside.
"What do we do now?" asked Amelia.
"What do you mean we? There is no we, there is just me. You played your part, and it's over. Now it's just me again." answered Maggie. "I don't want you mixed up in this. I already mentioned that. Your safety is my priority, so I want you away from this mess."
"Well, what you want and what you are going to get are two different things, my friend!" replied her friend. "I'm in this now and I'm going to keep being in this until we solve this problem."
"Amelia, no!"
"Maggie, YES!"
Maggie paced around the living room and started chewing on her nails. A habit she had broken herself of years ago, but it was coming back because of the stress of the situation. She forced herself to put her hands in her pockets and kept walking around the room.
"I don't know what to do now." She breathed. "I don't know when the next clue will arrive or how it will arrive."
"Now we wait and have a glass of wine. Do you have any in the fridge?" asked Amelia.
"I think there is some Pinot grigio in the door. You know where the glasses are," replied Maggie as she sat in the large armchair by the window overlooking the grassy area behind her condo.
"Oh, some cheese and crackers will go nicely with the wine while we do our waiting," said Amelia as she tinkered in the kitchen.
In a matter of minutes, she returned with a mini charcuterie board and two glasses of wine. Maggie did not know she had the fixings for such a nice board in her refrigerator. Apparently, Amelia found enough salami to make a rose for the board, too.
Sitting quietly, eating meats and cheeses while sipping wine, should have been relaxing, but it was making both women more anxious. Something to do was what they needed. They were not sit and wait people; they were women of action. If something need to be done, they were the ones that got it done. Neither of them enjoyed waiting for someone else to tell them what to do next.
"Man, this is killing me! I hate waiting," said Maggie suddenly.
"Oh man, I thought it was just me," answered Amelia. "We need to do something to be pro-active. Something to prepare for whatever might come next."
"You're right. I'm going to go get my backpack and we can collect up things we might need. Duct tape, a screwdriver, my Swiss army knife, what else?" said Maggie.
"Some thumb tacks and nails. Maybe some cord or a rope," added Amelia. "We probably will want some paper and a pen or pencil, maybe a sharpie, and do you have any matches?"
"Check in the kitchen, second drawer down next to the sink." replied Maggie.
Suddenly, both Ripley and Max jumped up and ran to the door, barking furiously.
Maggie ran to the door behind them, thinking perhaps a fresh box with a clue. There was a box at her door, but it was just her monthly dog treat box, which Ripley recognized was for her. She started doing her happy dance in the hall and continued all the way back into the living room.
Just as Maggie started to open the box, both dogs headed back toward the front door as fast as they could, barking the entire way. Again, Maggie followed them, but suspected they were just barking at another delivery for the neighbor or for herself. She wasn't expecting anything else, but then again, she hadn't been expecting the box for Ripley either.
At the door, she shooed away the dogs and opened the door to find a small beige box, just like the ones the other clues had come in. She looked around to see if she could see who delivered it, but they were long gone. Carefully lifting the box up off the ground, Maggie brought it inside. She took it to the dining room table and sat it down.
Amelia came over and waited for Maggie to open the box so they could look over the contents together. Maggie lifted the lid and took the paper out of the box, turning it over as she did so.
"Roses are red, violets are blue. Timing is everything Andy is counting on you. To see him again, leave him, you must. Sparky is ours, in that you must trust. See him you can, have him not even, solve the next puzzle at the Cape of Saint Steven."
"OK, we go to the Cape of Saint Steven and solve a puzzle, but why do you have to give up someone you don't even have yet?" Asked Amelia.
"I don't know. I think whoever kidnapped him has a thing for him and is jealous of whatever was starting between us," Said Maggie. "But it was so new. How could anyone know? There had been no time for it to become a thing."
"I don't know, but it sounds like jealousy to me. If you think about it, the food list was very specific. It wasn't just chips, it was a specific brand and flavor of chips, and brand of cheese and cookies, and so on. Maybe they were all things that Andy is known for eating or something," Amelia added.
"They didn't give a timeline for solving this puzzle, so we better get going. I'm going to grab a hammer and a small saw I have out in the closest on the deck." Said Maggie as she headed out the back door.
When she came back in, she went into the kitchen and filled up two large water bottles and grabbed some of the leftover cheese and crackers to bring with them in case they needed a snack while they worked on the puzzle. She did not know how long it would take to solve it or if she even could solve it, but she was going to try.