"Roses are red, violets are blue, I told you that Sparky was mine, but you didn't listen, now someone else you love is going to go missing."
"Amelia!"
Maggie dropped the note and grabbed her phone to call Amelia. She usually went to yoga on Monday mornings before work and whould be on her way there now. The phone just rang and rang. There was no answer. She left a panicked message for Amelia to call as soon as she got the message, but didn't really think she would get it.
Dropping the phone on the counter, Maggie ran out of the kitchen and into the bathroom and threw up. When she finished emptying her stomach, she sat on the bathroom floor and cried. Ripley came in and laid down next to her, trying to bring her some comfort.
Andy came in with a glass of water and sat on the floor with her. He wasn't sure what to say, so just sat in silence as he handed her the water and a towel to dry her tears. They sat like that until just before Officer Brighton was due to arrive.
Maggie got up and went to her room and got dressed. Her head ached, and she felt a migraine coming on. She knew even medication wouldn't stop it now. Her head was a lost cause. She tried to pull herself together so she could have an intelligent conversation with Officer Brighton.
Once Maggie dressed and took her medications, she headed back to the living room. As she was turning the corner into the living room, there was a knock on the door and the doorbell camera app on her phone chimed to let her know someone was at the door. Office Brighton was early.
"Good morning, Office Brighton," Maggie said as she opened the door.
"Hello Maggie, you look like hell," he replied.
"It's been the morning from hell, so I would say that is appropriate!" She said.
"What's going on?" Brighton asked.
"Come on in and we will tell you the entire story," she said and led him to the living room. "Brighton, meet Andy. He is part of the story."
Together, Andy and Maggie filled Office Brighton in on the events of the last two days and, of course, this morning's developments regarding Amelia. They were methodical and very detailed in recounting their parts of the story. Maggie got emotional when they got to the message from this morning. Andy took over and let Office Brighton know they had tried to reach Amelia but had heard nothing from her yet this morning.
For his part, Brighton listened intensely and asked only a few questions. He didn't want to disrupt the flow of the story with too many interruptions. After taking copious notes, he waited for them to finish.
"So, you didn't call me because you were afraid, they would kill Andy?" he asked. "And you went about all of this investigating on your own without professional help?"
"Well, I was afraid they would find out and given the stalker ware we found on our phones this morning, I was right!" Maggie replied.
"Where exactly did you drop the food off and then pick Andy up at? Brighton asked.
"I have the address on my phone. Let me get it for you." answered Maggie as she fiddled with the GPS to pull up the address.
"Now, tell me about this morning again. You realized there could be something on your phone, then you checked the packaged?"
"Yes, we removed the stalker ware then read the message in the package that came this morning." Andy replied. "The new message says, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, I told you that Sparky was mine, but you didn't listen, now someone else you love is going to go missing.' and that's when Maggie tried to call Amelia."
"And she hasn't called back!" cried Maggie. "They have her and they are going to hurt her; I just know it!"
"Well, let's try to figure out who did this and why," said Brighton.
"The why is easy! They are jealous of whatever they think is going on between Andy and me." Said Maggie. "We used to be pen pals when we were kids, and we just reconnected a few days ago. We are friends at this point, that's all."
"We think it was someone from the IT department at my office because the stalker ware got on my phone from a document uploaded from someone in there the last time they checked my phone. And then it got transferred to Maggie's phone when I texted her a photo of my dog Max." explained Andy.
"I'm going to send a team to the location where they held you, Andy, and then I am going to go to your IT department and start talking to people. Is there anyone in particular that you think might be the one behind all of this?" asked Brighton.
"No, they are all really nice people. I have no clue who might be behind this kind of craziness." Said Andy.
"Anyone seem to pay particular attention to you? That seems to know what you like? Someone that always has your favorite snacks or such?" He asked.
"Not that I've noticed. I don't really have that much to do with them unless I have to." answered Andy.
"OK, I'll just talk to all of them." Replied Brighton.
"What should we do next?" asked Maggie.
"Nothing, except keep me up to date on any new messages you get or if Amelia calls," said Brighton.
Officer Brighton said his goodbyes and headed off to investigate the IT department at Andy's office.
Maggie collapsed on the sofa after seeing Officer Brighton off. It was all she could do to not start crying again. Her head throbbed and her stomach was doing flips. She was seeing an aura of bright colors dancing around the edges of her vision because of the migraine.
Slowly, she got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen and got some crackers and an ice pack. Returning to the sofa, she sat down and put the icepack on the right side of her head to ease the pain she was feeling. The crackers were to settle her upset stomach.
Andy helped himself to a can of diet soda and some fruit. He also took a seat in the living room. Feeling unsure what to do next, he just sipped his soda and ate the grapes he took from the refrigerator.
Amelia sat in the dark, her hands handcuffed behind her back, and a blindfold covering her eyes. Amelia's anger and fear were equal as she realized she had been kidnapped on her way to yoga class.
She had just gotten out of her car when it had happened. A tall man had come up behind her and put a cloth over her face and knocked her out. The cloth must have had something on it that put her to sleep almost instantly.
The room was chilly and damp, as she sat on the floor in a corner. Her arms were hurting from being pulled back for the last several hours. She had always had a good sense of time and was pretty sure that it had been three hours since the man had kidnapped her.
Amelia wondered if Maggie knew someone had taken her. The bastard that took her probably sent one of those stupid notes that said roses are red, violets are blue, just to taunt Maggie. Poor Maggie would take it all personally. She would blame herself for everything.
She had the definite feeling that the kidnapper would not treat her as well as they had treated Andy during his time in captivity. They liked him. She was a punishment to Maggie, so her care was not something they were worried about. They probably weren't even in the building right now.
She wiggled her hands in the handcuff to see if there was any way she could get either of her hands free. Her left hand felt a little loose, and she tried wriggling it free. If she could just get it over her thumb joint, she could get her hand out. Suddenly, her thumb dislocated, and she let out a little scream at the pain.
Amelia gritted her teeth and kept wiggling her hand and managed to get it free. She did not know how it was dislocated just when she needed it, but she was going to take it.
With her left hand free, she brought her arms in front of her and rubbed her thumb after talking the blindfold off. She tried to remember how to put her thumb back into position without injuring it more. Beyond belief, she was able to get it to pop back into place on the first try. Someone out there in the universe was looking out for her.
She stretched her shoulders a bit and then got off the floor and walked over to the door. As expected, she found the door locked. It was a rickety old door, and perhaps she could get it open somehow. Maybe there is something in the room that could help her pry it open.
Looking around the room for anything she could use to open the door, Amelia found an old metal chair that was rusted in place. She smashed the chair against the wall, and it broke into several sections. There was a long piece of leg that she thought she could use to do some prying on the door.
She took the long chunk of rusty metal over to the door and tried to pry it open to no avail. The metal just wasn't strong enough to do the job. Her next plan of action was to use the sharp end of the pole to dig out the door jamb around the lock.
The wood of the doorjamb broke away in small pieces but did so easily. As Amelia put more pressure on the wood, her left thumb ached, but she ignored the throbbing in her hand. Her goal was simple, and she was nothing if not goal oriented.
Twenty minutes of digging paid off, and the door came free. Amelia opened the door slowly and looked out to see what was out there. She found a small hall with a few doors leading both directions. Not sure which direction to go, she turned right and started walking carefully down the dark hall, checking each door she passed as she went.
About seventy-five feet down the hall, it ended in a T and she had to decide again which direction to take. This time, she turned left and walked farther away from the room where she had been staying. As she walked down this hall, she passed a large window and looked out, hoping to get an idea of where she was. Unfortunately, she recognized nothing in the area.
Amelia continued up the hall and found the front of the building. She realized no one was around, and it seemed like no one had been there since she was dropped off earlier in the morning. She checked the front office to see if there was a working phone, but there wasn't. Next, she went to the front door and made her way outside.
Someone left her in an abandoned warehouse outside of town. There was nothing open nearby for her to go to for help, so Amelia made her way to the nearest busy street and started walking. She was sure she would run into a gas station or convenience store, eventually. Once she found one, she could call 911 and then call Maggie.