Everything was set for the big day. All the family that could make it to help Katie move showed, as well as several friends that just happened to have the large trucks she needed to transfer all of her things.

“Why don’t we just put the items inside the garage for now, so I can take them out and place them where I want as I go? There’s really no rush for me to get them unpacked right away, is there Zack?”

“No, Katie, there is no rush. Take as long as you’d like to unpack. Just getting you here was a big enough hurdle.”

He chuckled as she threw her empty overnight bag at his head, catching it in midair. Then he lunged for her. This had been the best day so far, and he couldn’t wait to have many more with her.

“You think he’s watching somewhere?”

Nestled under him, she couldn’t help but be nervous as their plan hinged on Randall making a move, one way or another.

“I know he’s out there somewhere, I just wish I knew exactly where, so I wouldn’t have to worry about you so much.”

His eyes searched hers for the connection they shared. Once he found what he was looking for, he let out a sigh of contentment that she echoed with her own.

“I just wish this was over with, so we could get on with our life together.”

Zack nodded his head in agreement. Having seen the horrors she still lived through, putting her though this was just not something he wanted to do, but having Randall gone was the only way to not only ensure her safety and his peace of mind.

“I love you so much.”

He had surprised her over the last few days with showing and telling her how he felt, making it easier for them on moving day.

“I love you, too.”

“Hey!” Matt called from the hall, carrying what looked like a box of the entire living room. “You two gonna help, or are we to be your servants for the day?”

“We had an option?” Katie smirked as she pushed herself free from under Zack. “I choose servant over big brother any day.”

“Hardy har har, little Kat’ten”

“I hate that nickname, Mattzie.”

“Oh Christ, don’t start with that shit!”

“Then don’t start with the Kat’ten shit!”

“Mom!” they both said in unison, their voices echoing throughout the condo.

“What?”

“Matt’s being mean to me!”

“Katie’s using my old nickname!”

“You two knock it off! Don’t make me come over there.”

Zack was dying he was laughing so hard, nearly falling off the bed in the process.

Then Justin made his way into the room.

“What? What’d I miss?”

“Mom!” Matt yelled again, in order to get someone on his side. “Make her stop.”

Then Katie poked Matt on the side of the ribs, nearly causing the box to slip from his hands.

“It’s your shit, princess, unless you’d rather I dropped it on my foot, too.”

“Hey! As eldest…”

Justin stepped into the middle of the two siblings, trying to sort out the matter before their mom had a chance.

“Crap, now you’ve done it.”

Placing the box down on the floor, Matt pushed at Katie, shoving her into the wall without hurting her, just enough to nudge her out of the way.

“Knock it off.”

Katie repeated Matt’s earlier statement in a similar tone.

“If I may continue? As eldest, I can solve this matter easily.”

Pointedly looking between the two siblings, Justin shot a glance at Zack, who was in tears watching the interaction.

“You’re not helping matters much.”

“Nope, wouldn’t think I would be.”

“You plan on helping with this?”

“Nope. I’d much rather watch the scene unfold.”

“Stare at the carnage and whatnot?”

“Something like that.”

Zack leaned against the headboard, watching as Katie pushed Matt back.

“Knock it off!”

“You knock it off!”

“Mom!”

“How old are you two, anyway?”

“I’d say about…”

Holding up three fingers, firmly separated as far apart as possible, Matt shoved his hand in Justin’s face.

“This many!”

“Cute. Real Cute.”

Pushing his hand down with a flap of his own, Justin turned to Katie.

“What’s your excuse?” Narrowing his eyes at her, he watched as she just chewed on her bottom lip. “Don’t know? Super. You’re both idiots. Problem solved.”

With that, Justin turned to leave, but then decided to flip Zack the bird on the way out, which caused Zack to fall off the bed in hysterics.

“Mom!”

“Good lord! What is the problem now?” Annie screamed from the kitchen, where she was packing dishes as she rolled them into bubble wrap.

“Justin flipped my boyfriend the bird.”

“Justin! Mind your manners! Katie, stop making out with Zack and pack your room up. Matt, get that box from the hall and put it in the truck already. Oh! And the two of you, stop being a pain in the ass!”

“Ha-ha. By the way, Mom was talking to you guys on the whole pain in the ass thing.”

“Justin! Knock it off.”

“Shit.”

“The woman has bat ears. You should know that by now.”

“Katelyn!”

“Now you’re in trouble.”

Laughing so hard he could barely carry the box, Matt just leaned against the wall as he tried to breathe through the pain of laughing so hard it hurt.

“You alright there, Matt?”

Zack decided it was time to keep moving, since he wasn’t sure the siblings would be able to finish if he didn’t at least put in some effort into keeping things on track.

“Yep, bud, I’m grand.”

Leaving without a glance, Matt took the box to the truck, where he made piles of what went where at the new place. Organizing it so they wouldn’t have to dig in several areas for the same room’s items, Matt made his life’s work out of organizing whatever he came across.

Zack’s plan was simple: keep Katie surrounded by family and close friends, as well as his security detail, and move her out of the condo she owned. Then, when Randall showed his face, snatch him before he did any harm to any of them. It sounded simple enough, and Katie was for the most part cooperating fully. As the day progressed, though, the strain on the family was beginning to wear on her. He could see it. Once she’d left to bring the boxes down to the trucks by herself without letting anyone know she had gone. When she came back, he’d been so upset that he almost attached her to a bungee cord to keep her from escaping. Almost.

With night closing in, Zack figured one more trip to the house should do it, then they could all breathe again. Though Randall hadn’t yet appeared, the hairs on the back of his neck alerted him to the dangers that were ahead. Once they got there, Matt and Justin made their way into the house without looking back, heading straight for the last four boxes from the kitchen.

“Hey guys, where’s Katie?”

His heart nearly stopped with the look the two shared.

“She was right there a minute ago.”

Annie came into the room just then as all three heads turned in her direction.

“What?”

She just stared at them.

“Mom, have you seen Katie?”

“Yeah, she took a box down about ten minutes ago, to the truck. Didn’t you guys see her downstairs?”

She ran out the door when the boys shook their heads.

“What the fuck?”

Panic was taking over as Zack bolted down the steps, nearly colliding with Annie on the way down.

“Katie! Katie!” they called.

But there was no answer, just the glare from the overhead street lights illuminating the night.

“Katie!”

Justin ran around the truck, trying to pick up on anything she could have left behind.

“I found the box she took down here, but she’s nowhere in sight.”

“Maybe she just went off somewhere to get something.”

“No! She knows the plan.”

Zack was having a heart attack. His chest was so tight and his heart was racing so fast he could barely take a breath.

“Zack, she’s been slowly breaking the plan all day. We’ve been trying to run interference, but when that girl is determined to do something…”

“I know, but we had a plan. She wouldn’t just leave. She wouldn’t wonder off knowing how much I’d get upset.”

Annie placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to give him some comfort, but it just wasn’t working. He couldn’t breathe, his heart was beating out of his chest, and he was sure he was about to vomit on her foot if she didn’t back away.

“Um, Mom…”

Justin approached just as Zack was turning color.

“I’ve seen that look before, and you’d better step back.”

“What? Why?”

When Zack tossed his lunch and anything left from breakfast right there on the ground, Annie rapidly took Justin’s advice to step back.

Justin ran to Zack’s side as he continued to dry heave.

“It’ll be okay, Zack.”

“How? How in the hell will it be okay?”

Zack ran the back of his hand across his mouth as he tried to swallow the acidic taste.

“She’s probably here somewhere. We’ll find her.”

But Justin wasn’t sure they would, and Matt had stopped looking, placing his hand against the truck, trying to figure out their next move.

“He has her.”

Maybe it was just the voice in the back of his mind telling him what they were all afraid to say, but he knew in that moment that they wouldn’t find her anytime soon.