At one o'clock in the afternoon, they took Max and got in the car. They drove by the superstore where they had left Andy's jeep to make sure it was still there and okay and then headed to the drop-off location they had been to earlier the day before. Arriving a bit early at the location, they drove around to avoid arriving too early and alarming the kidnappers. They didn't want to scare them and have them decide not to let Andy go after all they had been through.
The door to the room Andy was locked in slid open, and someone tossed a note inside.
"Put on the blindfold and the handcuffs, then sit on the bed and don't move."
Andy quickly followed directions. He placed the handcuffs on his wrists and then put on the blindfold and sat down and waited. A moment later the door opened, and he heard footsteps coming in his direction.
Gloved hands reached out and took hold of his right arm. With the gloves on, he couldn't tell the size of the hand. They could have belonged to a man or a woman. He just couldn't tell.
They carefully led him to the door and then down a long hallway. At the end of the hall, they turned right and when up a flight of stairs and out a door. He could tell they had gone outside at this point. The air smelled different, fresher.
They led Andy down a pathway and around a corner. Someone pushed him over to the side, then freed one of his wrists from the handcuff. They placed it back in the cuff after threading it around the handle of a door. The next thing Andy knew, someone pinned something to his shirt and then left him alone.
Maggie pulled into the parking lot at precisely 1:45 pm. Putting the car in park, and unbuckling her seat belt, she got out of the car in one motion.
"I'll be right back. You stay here with Max." she said to Amelia.
"We'll be here waiting for you and Andy!" Amelia whispered.
Walking quickly toward the building, Maggie's heart raced. As she turned the corner and could see the storage box where she had left the food yesterday, she saw Andy. Someone had blindfolded and handcuffed Andy to the box. Without knowing she had done so, Maggie ran.
"Andy!" she cried.
"Maggie?" asked Andy.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" she said as she reached his side.
"I'm okay. What are you doing here?" he said as she removed the blindfold.
"I've been looking for you ever since they took you!" she answered. "How do we get you out of these handcuffs?"
"They pinned something on my shirt," he answered.
"Got it!"
She quickly unlocked the handcuffs and set him free. Without thinking, she gave him a long hug.
"I'm so glad you are okay! I have Max in my car." She said into his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged back.
"You have Max? Oh, man! I'm so glad he is okay. I was so worried about him. And you. I was worried you wouldn't believe me when I told you I had been kidnapped.
"Come on, let's get the hell out of here and get you reunited with your pup." She said as she took his hand and led him to her car.
Max was sitting looking out the window of the car when he saw Andy and Maggie come around the corner. He started to bark and do the happy dance in the back seat of the car. Andy jogged over to the car and let himself into the backseat with his dog. It had only been one day, but the joy of being reunited was clear on the faces of both man and dog.
Maggie got in and started up the car. As she pulled out, she looked in the rear-view mirror at the two fortunate souls in her back seat and smiled.
"Oh man! My jeep is still in the park. I bet it got towed," said Andy suddenly.
"We moved it, so it's safe." Replied Amelia.
"Um, who are you?" asked Andy.
"I'm Amelia, Maggie's best friend. I've been helping her find you." She answered.
"Andy, what do you want to do next? Get your jeep? Go home? Go to my place and compare notes?" asked Maggie.
"Let's go to your place and you can fill me in on what's been going on. I am so confused. This has been really crazy," answered Andy. "But maybe I need some clean clothing first," he said.
"We can either stop somewhere and get you something or we can wash your things at my place when we are there," said Maggie
"Let's just stop. They never took my wallet away from me," he answered.
On the way back to Maggie's place, they stopped at a local department store and Andy ran in and picked up some new jeans and a few shirts. At the condo, he took a quick shower and got dressed, then they all sat down to share their version of what had happened over the last two days.
"I remember parking my jeep and then walking over to the off-leash area with Max when suddenly everything went dark, and my head hurt. The next thing I knew, someone had put a blindfold on me, handcuffed me to a bed, and I was in a dark room in some smelly old building."
"I must have arrived not long after they took you. I found Max tied up to a picnic table inside the off-leash area with a note that said 'Roses are red, violets are blue, we found Sparky, now you get to too! Doodles are golden, Daisies are white, call the police and you seal Andy's plight.' I knew I couldn't leave Max there alone, so I brought him home with Ripley and me. They have been getting along wonderfully," said Maggie.
"It all started with the Career Center getting broken into on Friday, and a strange box being left here at her condo after work that same day." said Amelia.
"I think whoever kidnapped you was trying to scare me. I think they are jealous of something, but I'm not sure what," added Maggie.
"They are jealous that you and Andy have reconnected! Even if it is just at the beginning stage," said Amelia.
"What?" said Andy
"They want you for themselves and they think Maggie is competition," replied Amelia.
"So, they kidnap me to prove they love me? That's crazy!" cried Andy.
"I didn't say it made sense to the rest of the world, but it fits with what we know." She said. "They had Maggie buy food to feed you, very specific food. Specific brands and flavors of foods. My guess is they know you and know what you like to eat. They may even work with you or hang out with you."
"I noticed something last night. They came into my room when they thought I was asleep. I could smell a scent that was familiar. I know I know it from somewhere, but I can't figure out where," he said. "It was a clean scent, almost like soap and flowers, but not really."
"They also, well, were weird when they were in the room. They touched my hair and smelled me," he added with a shiver.
"Smelled you?" both women said in unison.
"Yeah, they leaned in close and took a deep sniff over my head, like they wanted to remember what I smell like," he answered.
"Most definitely it's someone that has a thing for you!" said Amelia. "My question is, what do we do now? Now that we have you back, do we call the police? Do we act like nothing happened? What do we do?"
"That's up to Andy." Replied Maggie. "What do you want to do about all of this? Should we call the police? I could call Officer Brighton and tell him what had happened this weekend and get his help."
"Let's call and see what he has to say. I want whoever did this to be caught. They left my dog alone in the park, abandoned." He said, a hint of anger in his voice.
Maggie went to the kitchen and pulled Officer Brighton's business card out of her work bag so she could call him. She wasn't sure if he worked on Sundays, but she would leave him a message at the very least. She mentally rehearsed what she would tell him about the weekend's events while the phone rang and was surprised when he answered.
"Brighton."
"Oh, Hello Officer Brighton. This is Maggie Mitchel, there have been some developments in my case that I wanted to talk to you about. That I need your help on, really." She said.
"I'm in the middle of something right now. Can we talk tomorrow morning? He replied.
"Just a moment…" She then told the others what he said and returned to the call. "Can you meet me at my place tomorrow?"
"Will 9:00 AM work for you?" he asked.
"That would be great, thank you."
After hanging up with Brighton, Maggie sent a text to her boss, letting her know she would not be in on Monday. She was going to take a sick day. She didn't want to be in a rush in dealing with Officer Brighton and what might come next with Andy's kidnapping case.
With that settled, Maggie took Andy to go pick up his jeep from the superstore and then followed him to his place to pack a few things. He decided he didn't want to be alone on his first night free and Maggie offered her sofa as a place for him to stay.
Andy had a little house on a quiet street about twenty minutes from Maggie's condo. Together, they did a quick walk through to make sure that no one was there or had been there. There was no sign that whoever had kidnapped Andy and been harassing Maggie had been in Andy's home.
As he packed what he needed, Maggie looked around at his living room. It was warm and inviting. There were pictures of some places he had traveled to over the years and pictures of his family decorating the mantel over the fireplace.
When Andy returned from packing, he found her admiring the pictures.
"My favorite vacation was in Japan two years ago. We climbed Mt. Fuji." he said.
"Wow! That is so cool!" replied Maggie. "The farthest I've traveled of late was to Idaho for a conference last year."
"Idaho is cool." he said, laughing.
"No, it really isn't!" she laughed along. "It was a good conference, though."
Andy grabbed a toy that was one of Max's favorites, and they headed back to Maggie's place. They stopped at her favorite pizza place on the way back and to get something to take home to eat. A large pepperoni and sausage pizza and a garden salad would be a comfort food dinner.
Ripley and Max knew they were bringing food in the second the door opened, and the begging began. Both dogs loved pizza crust. But that had to wait for a quick potty walk around the parking lot.
Max was not as used to going for potty walks as Ripley was. He had a backyard to potty in at home, so walking regularly was not his usual way of doing his business. The smells in this new neighborhood were intriguing to him and slowed him down.
Once the dogs were taken care of, pizza was the next thing on their agenda. Maggie got out some plates, napkins, and forks for both Andy and herself. She offered him some water, soda, or wine to drink and then sat down at the table to eat.
While they ate, they talked about a variety of topics. Anything and everything except the kidnapping. Andy told her about several of his other trips for work and fun. Maggie talked about looking for a new car. They both talked about how much their dogs were a part of their family.
Maggie couldn't help but think that if the person who kidnapped Andy had intended to keep them apart, they had failed. She also kept thinking that if that person knew they were together tonight, they would be furious. Worry crept into the back of her mind like a worm crawling through moist dirt.
"I have to confess that I'm a little worried," said Andy suddenly.
"About the kidnapper?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm worried that they might know we are together tonight and what they might do to you if they know," he said.
"I was thinking the same thing. If their goal was to keep us apart, for whatever reason, they failed and they might be furious about now," said Maggie.
"Exactly! What are they capable of if they are that mad?" he asked.
"I have one of the doorbell camera things that I've never put up. Maybe you can help me, and we can put it up tonight just to be safe." Said Maggie.
With that, Maggie got up from the table and went to the hall closet and got the box with the doorbell camera and brought it back to the table. They opened it and read the directions. Maggie set the principal component up to charge and Andy started fiddling with the frame that would go on her door frame. He made sure they had all the part and let Maggie know what tools they needed to put it up.
Together, they put the frame on the outside of her front door and then waited for the camera itself to charge. Maggie then went online and set up her account so they could save any videos that they might want to keep for the police. As soon as the camera was ready, they put it outside, and they both sighed in relief.
As it was after 10:00 PM, Maggie went and got some sheets, a blanket, and a pillow for the sofa. She wasn't sleepy, but she was getting tired. It had been a long couple of days, and she was feeling all the effects of the stress and worry that had come with them. Andy seemed to feel the same way. They called it a night and headed to bed.
Ripley followed Maggie into the bedroom, as did Max until Andy called his name. Both dogs curled up with their humans and promptly fell asleep. As for Maggie and Andy, sleep came slowly, but before long, both were asleep as well.
Maggie's alarm went off at its usual time and the first thing she did was check the door camera app on her phone to see if the kidnapper left anything at her door. She saw her neighbor who left for work at four AM but nothing else. As she slipped out of bed and headed into the bathroom, she sighed with relief. She quietly dressed in a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt to walk Ripley.
As she walked down the hall toward the front door, she heard the TV in the living room and poked her head in to see if Andy was awake. He and Max were sitting up on the sofa under the blanket, watching one of the good morning news shows.
"Good morning. Been up long?" she said in greeting.
"Hey, not long. How did you sleep?" he asked.
"Fair to midland, you?"
"Your sofa is really comfortable," he said, sounding pleased.
"I'm going to take Ripley out for her walk. Do you guys need to go out too?" she asked.
"We should go too. Let me put on some shoes and we'll join you," he replied.
Together, they headed out the door and were surprised to find a box sitting there, ready to be found. How they got it there without being captured on the doorbell camera was beyond Maggie. The camera captured the widest view of the entryway, so Maggie couldn't understand how someone placed the box there without being caught on camera.
Maggie checked the doorbell app one more time, just to be sure she missed nothing. On one video she saw a tiny shadow at the bottom corner of the video. Somehow, the kidnapper knew they had put up the camera and knew to avoid it. How could they have known?
"They knew! Somehow, they knew we put this thing up last night and they worked to avoid the camera. Something must be hacked." She said. "As soon as we come back, we need to check our phones because we are being spied on."
"This is my work phone. They would know if someone had hacked it. It gets checked at least once a week by the IT people." He answered.
They hurried the dogs around the parking lot and brought them back in for their breakfast. Maggie searched online for tools that could check if her phone had been hacked and allow a hacker to listen in on conversations. She downloaded one of the well-known security programs and scanned her phone.
The scan found a vicious stalker ware that would let her phone do surveillance of what was being said in the area and what was happening on the phone. Maggie immediately removed the malware from her phone and suggested Andy do the same thing.
She didn't know how or when someone could have placed it on her phone. It could have been there for just a few days or a long time. Most likely, it had only happened in the last few days. It had to have happened since she had reconnected with Andy.
As Andy ran the scan on his phone, he found the same stalker ware. Someone in the IT office had downloaded a file containing the stalker ware.
"Someone in the IT office did it!" cried Andy. "Someone in the IT office downloaded the file it was attached at work."
"Well, now we know where to start to look for the kidnapper." replied Maggie, as she looked at the box on the kitchen counter.
"I guess we should open it and find out what they have to say next," said Andy.