Chapter Seventeen

 

Anna wanted nothing to do with the next exchange. Nothing at all. She'd already screwed everything up once. Why would they want to put her in charge of doing it a second time?

Who would trust someone who screwed up as much as she did? Why would they want her to do anything at all? She should just stay in the car and hope that they forget that she's even there.

That would be the best way. They'd be able to get everything done, and everyone would be alright. No need to worry about how they were going to exchange Ava and the money. Just as long as Ava was back, the rest of it wouldn't matter.

Other people might not think so, but there's nothing else in the entire equation. Not really. Not when it's weighed against her daughter's life. If she could give up anything at all, she would. In a heartbeat.

Apparently, though, the only thing that she's got to offer the world is that she used to know Mitch. Mitch used to know her. Now she's nobody at all, just the woman who screws up paying kidnappers and loses her baby. Just the woman who—humiliatingly—can't help but be attracted to the cop who's looking for Ava.

Why can't they just find her, so that Anna can get back to her life? Get back to her meetings, get back to feeding Ava.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, of course. It's too private, too personal, and frankly a little bit weird all told, but her breasts hurt. They're too full of milk, to the point where they're practically leaking.

She takes a deep breath, holds it. Lets it out. Waits a second before taking another deep breath. She's going to start panicking again. She can feel the terror inside her, threatening to rise up and overwhelm her once more.

She can't afford to let that happen, not when people are relying on her to make sure that everything ends up going according to plan.

She won't be alone this time. There will be someone else. They'd asked to send the cop with her. That was nixed right off the bat. Too dangerous. Much too dangerous. Risking a cop seeing their faces, hearing their voices…

No, that would be a big risk. The kidnappers had refused. They only had an hour or two to prepare disguises, if they were even going to use anything more than the dark glasses and ski mask that the guy earlier had worn.

Part of Anna wondered how much of this was according to plan. They'd tried to lie and say that she didn't pay up, but she had. She absolutely had. So why lie about it?

She takes another deep breath. Holds it. Maybe she's not wrong. Linda always says that Anna beats up on herself too much. Always says it. Maybe she's right. But maybe, this time, Anna's not wrong.

Maybe she's not important in this. Maybe it's all about who she knows. Maybe they took Ava because of Mitchell, because of whose son he was. Maybe they took Ava because of who her grandfather was.

What that means, it's hard to say. There must be some kind of meaning to it, but… Anna's head gets fuzzy. Even as the panic starts to go down—it's the lowest it's been since she woke up to find Ava missing—it's still hard to separate out the thoughts she's having from the thoughts that are intruding into her mind.

She picks up the bag of money. It's heavy. Much heavier than the last one. She uses two hands and she picks it up for a minute, takes a few shuffling steps, and has to set it down again.

Mitchell sneers at that. Still, his father reaches down and picks up the bag. He's got a voice that she likes. One that reminds her of her own father. "Come on. I'll carry this, you just worry about Ava."

Her heart picks up a little bit at the thought that she might have her daughter in her arms in a few short minutes. Just a few minutes from now, and she'll be back with her daughter.

The panic goes down again. Only a 5 out of 10. She can manage a 5. She doesn't even get the giggles at a 5.

She walks beside him. Mr. Queen doesn't talk much. The others stay back a long way. They can see, barely, in the darkened park. No lights to see by, but no lights to blind them, either.

Somewhere back in the distance, Josh and Sherry and probably a few others in policemen's uniforms are watching the whole thing. They probably have some high-tech stuff that lets them see in the dark.

They probably have some men with rifles, too. As they move into the park, though, it's becoming increasingly clear how useful rifles will likely be.

There's a van parked. Backed up. The back doors are open, and a man Terry's size sits, a mask over his face. He's not wearing dark glasses, but aside from the whites of his eyes there's nothing to see under the mask, as if he's blacked his skin up with grease.

In his arms, a little baby reaches for his finger as he reaches it out to her. She coos and gurgles. The sounds of a healthy baby girl. He pulls away the gloved finger before Ava can reach it, but she reaches for it nonetheless.

He looks up before they get close. "Did you bring the money?"

Mr. Queen's voice sounds confident. Nothing like how Anna feels, even as the panic subsides a little more at the sight of her daughter.

"It's all right here," he says.

"Let's see it," the guy says.

In spite of their comparable size, the guy's voice is too high-pitched to be Terry's. He stands up, and the rear end of the van rises off its springs as his weight comes up.

He hands the baby over to Anna. Her arms wrap around Ava. It's really her. It's really Ava. Beautiful girl. Pretty girl. Ava smiles at her mother. Anna can't stop grinning, can't stop looking at her little girl.

She doesn't notice what's going on until she hears Mr. Queen grunt hard. That brings her eyes up, even as she steps back to keep the baby away from harm.

The big guy has a fist embedded in Mr. Queen's gut. The kidnapper squats down and bends the old man over his shoulder, and then stands up underneath him, and the former mayor—currently looking good to win a congressional seat from the incumbent—goes with him.

"Go on, get out of here," the guy says. The strain of carrying changes his voice a little. Squeezed and nasal. She'd almost say it sounded fake. But none of that matters, not really.

They'll figure out what happened to Mr. Queen, in the end. But right now, she's got her daughter back, and that's all that Anna is worried about.

It's not fair to Mitch, not to care about his father. It's definitely not fair to the old man, who never said a sour word to her. But that doesn't change how she feels about it.

She hefts the girl in her arms a little, bringing her higher up. Right by her face. She leans down to press a kiss into the baby's forehead, and then turns to start back. They'll want to know all about what happened, when she gets back.

So if she wants to spend as much time as possible with the baby girl, then she'll have to take her time now. She squeezes a little tighter. Her head's a little light from the sheer thought of what's happened the past few days.

She has her daughter back, though. No way are they going to have even as much trouble getting Mr. Queen back as they did with Ava. Because there's nobody in the world who'd dream of hurting him.

Not like Ava. Nobody would get themselves hurt to protect Ava. Nobody but Anna, Detective Meadows, and apparently Mr. Queen.