I hurried back to Lauren’s room. I had this gut feeling that something was wrong. My gut had never let me down before. I just prayed that I would get to her in time.

In my haste, I nearly rammed into someone being brought in on a gurney. The hospital staff shot me dirty glares that forced me to slow down. It was torturous. The dread that filled my soul was getting worse by the minute.

When I finally got back to her room, it was already too late.

She was gone.

The bedsheets were thrown to the floor like someone had roughly pulled them from the mattress. The heart monitor was overturned, its screen cracked. Still, it continued beeped ominously, even though it no longer had anyone to monitor. Wires had been cut from the medical equipment. I shuddered to think what they could be used for or what Lauren was going through.

I knew, without a doubt, that this was his doing. It had to be. The phone call was just a distraction. No, it wasn’t even that. It was a taunt. He was toying with me. To him, this was all just one big game. Well, if he wants to play, then he better be prepared to play hard.

Furious with myself for letting this happen, my fist suddenly flew toward the wall. I busted a hole through the drywall, which crumbled to the ground, coating it in a fine white powder.

I cursed under my breath, nursing my hand.

Just then, the doctor walked into the room. His eyes widened when he saw the state of it. “What in the world…?” he muttered to himself, a horrified expression painted on his face.

“How could you let this happen?” My fury transferred to the man. “How could you let him just barge in here and take her?” I grabbed him by the collar, pinning him to the wall. “He just fucking took her, and no one even realized!”

The doctor gaped at me like a fish out of water.

Disgusted, I dropped him.

He gasped for air before running out of the room. I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before I was swarmed by a contingent of security guards. I had to work quickly.

I scavenged the room for clues. Knowing Dean, he had probably left one for me, something that would force me to continue playing the game. But it would not be easy to find. He always hid it and hid it well.

Seconds ticked by, and still, I could find nothing out of the ordinary.

Footsteps thundered through the hallway. I no longer had time to escape. With no other choice, I opened the window and climbed out. I quickly closed it, making my retreat less conspicuous. As a room positioned in the middle of the hospital, there was no fire escape to save me. The ground was far, far away. Quickly, I thought through my options. There wasn’t much I could do without breaking a leg.

Suddenly, men barged through the door. I dropped down, clinging to the ledge, hoping they wouldn’t think of looking out the window. I held my breath, listening carefully. Someone was approaching.

I pressed myself against the side of the building, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough. I had to drop down. So I did.

Luckily, I managed to grab hold of the ledge right below me. With an effort, I hoisted myself up and through the window. I sighed in relief when I found myself in a linen closet. White bedsheets were stacked all around me. Large, industrial washers groaned with their loads.

Then something caught my eye. A sheet of paper was pinned to the side of one of the washers. At first, it looked like the crude drawing of a five-year-old, something a proud parent would put on the fridge. As I moved closer, horror pierced through my heart.

It was one of Gina’s drawings. She had made it for me for Father’s Day. After displaying it on the fridge for a few months, I had tucked it away in one of my drawers. How had he gotten his hands on it? Had he been inside my home? A million and one questions flooded my mind like a torrent. Rage threatened to consume me, but I held it back, knowing that it would only cloud my judgment. If I was going to win, I needed every ounce of wit I could muster.

Carefully, I pulled down the drawing. Flipping it over, I was faced with a heavily-encrypted message written in Dean’s messy hand. I scanned it quickly, but it at once seemed too easy. This had to be a trap. Nothing was ever this easy with Dean.

I hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with a plausible solution, but all of them would take time, and that was one thing I didn’t have. He had kidnapped Lauren and, for all I knew, Gina as well. I needed to save them. There was no other choice.

Just to ease my mind, I called Hillary, the mother of Gina’s friend who was hosting the slumber party.

The phone rang and rang.

“Come on… pick up…” I muttered to myself, pacing around the room in my worried state.

“Hello?” Hillary’s voice came through the line, muffled by the sound of screaming kids.

“Hello, Hillary. It’s me, Franklin, Gina’s dad.”

“Oh! How are you? Is everything alright?”

“I just wanted to check on Gina. Is she doing alright?”

“Hmm, oh yeah, sure, sure. She’s having a blast like all the rest. They’re playing princess right now.”

“Can you put her on the line? I need to talk to her.”

“Sure, just let me find her.” Her words sent a shiver through my spine.

I waited anxiously for her to return. As I did, I kept studying the message Dean had left me.

On first glance, it read: Meet me at Maplewood Park.

But deep down, I knew that there had to be more. There was always more with Dean. He was a man of mystery and puzzles. He found enjoyment in feeling like a puppet master, like some evil mastermind. He had never found someone capable of outsmarting him. That is, until he’d met me. I had just been starting out at VanGuard. I’d been the new kid on the cybersecurity team, working as an intern. In the end, when everyone else had been stooped, I had understood. I had brought him down to his knees, and now, he wanted revenge.

“Hello? Daddy?” Gina’s sweet, innocent voice soothed my worried soul.

“Oh, baby…”

“Daddy?”

“Sorry, pumpkin, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you having fun at the slumber party?”

“Yes! We’re playing princess!”

“That sounds nice. Just be a good girl, okay? I’ll come pick you up in the morning, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Eager to get back to her friends, she hung up.

Relieved that my little girl was okay, I snatched up her drawing and headed out the door.

Trap or not, I was going to find that man, and this time, I was going to make sure he was behind bars for good.