I kissed him then, and he kissed me back. “You just made me so happy.”
“It takes two,” I said, smiling at him.
“I’m the luckiest man in town, Haven. I can’t believe you’re in my arms. Mine.”
“I can’t believe you can’t believe I’m yours,” I said.
“Oh God, Haven, you really are mine?”
“Max!” I shook my head. “Yes, come on! Time’s running out.”
“Gotcha!” Max said, straightening up. “The car’s loaded. I’m loaded. The men I hired to pose as land surveyors made their plants.”
“Then let’s go,” I said, packing a SIG Sauer into the inside of my jacket along with a few magazines. The kidnappers were murderers. They killed Rose Triton before. Probably Penelope Hills, too. And they wouldn’t hesitate to kill my mother or me. I needed to protect myself and not wait to get saved. And I didn’t want anyone getting hurt because I couldn’t protect myself.
Max sat in the back seat, hidden by tinted windows while I drove the small non-descript college student car into the old warehouse complex. It was a creepy old place during the day but at night? Darn right creepy like something out of a horror movie.
But having lights on in one of the buildings? Not so creepy, but scary because I knew the kidnappers really were there. And my mother was there with them.
I parked my car where they could see the front of my car in their view, but not the part of my back passenger doors where Max could get in and out.
I got out of the car and reached into it to bring out a heated pizza bag. Wearing my cap and a pizza delivery jacket, I made my way to the front door of the warehouse where there was light. I ran the doorbell and then bang on it loudly.
“Pizza!” I shouted. “Someone ordered pizza!”
I kept banging until I heard some shuffling noises and even voices.
The door finally opened, and I peered into the face of an older bald man, who looked like a henchman in any crime film.
“Pizza’s here!” I said.
He looked at me without a smile and nodded his head back. “Anyone ordered pizza?”
“Not me,” a man said. “But I sure wanted some. Must be my wishful thinking.”
The henchman looked at me and said, “We didn’t order any pizza. How did you get this address?”
I checked the receipt taped onto the pizza box. “It says here, 28973 Hidden Falls. Isn’t this it?”
“Does this look like it would be it?” the henchman asked.
“Hell, we get orders from all places. It’s not in my job description to judge a place. All I do is follow orders and that’s to deliver pizza orders.”
I looked around to see if I can see an address.
There was one. “Oh I see it is 2897 but is that last number an 8 or a 3?”
He took a look and said it was an 8 but it was so faded he wasn’t sure.
The second henchman walked up and said, “What kind of pizza do you have?”
I opened the bag and pulled out a large pizza. Opened it, letting the delicious hot smell of pizza fill the air and said, “Looks like Meat Lovers Supreme.”
Both henchmen looked hungry.
“Are you sure you didn’t ordered pizza? This place looks huge. Maybe someone in an office here ordered it? Working overtime?”
“Nope, just us,” the second henchman said.
“It says here the person who ordered it is by the name of Bra…” I swore, “Damn why couldn’t Harold write neater. You’d think a guy with a high school education can write.”
The second henchman laughed. “Tell you what. I’ll pay cash for the pizza. I’m just starving for pizza right now.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know. My boss might get mad at me if I don’t deliver it to the right address.”
“I’ll pay you cash. Then you can give that to your boss.”
“My boss is a tightwad,” I said. “Stick stuck so far up in his ass I know he would give me a hard time if I mess up.”
“Ain’t I know it,” the henchman said. “Stay there, and I’ll go get some cash.”
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my legs together suddenly. “Damn, I have to go pee.”
The henchmen looked at each other. Finally the second one said, “There’s a bathroom to the right of the door. This place is under construction so watch yourself.”
“Okay, thanks!” I said, handing the pizza to him before heading towards the bathroom.
While the two henchman opened the pizza box, I made my way around, looking for any movement. It was dark, and I put on my night goggles hoping to see the heat imagery of something alive.
Finally I saw a figure in one of the rooms. It was an empty room, and the figure was seated in a chair in the center of the room. Was this the one room that was special? I hope it was or it wasn’t going to work.
I walked up to the figure and lifted the hood over the head.
She looked tired, worn out, dehydrated.
It was my mother.
“Mom” I said quickly, cutting the rope around her wrists and her ankles. “It’s me, Haven.”
“Haven?” Mom asked groggily.
“I’m getting you out. Come with me now.” I looked around. “Is there a way out of here besides the way I came in?”
Mom got up, rubbing her wrist and her ankles. I gave her a small pocket-sized water bottle from my jacket. She took a big gulp and said, “There’s a way over there.”
She led me to the door, right when the first henchman flooded the room with lights and saw us.
“Run!” I yelled at my mother.
She ran as fast as she could with me behind her.
The henchman was almost to us when he pulled out a gun.
I pulled out mine and shot him in the shoulder. He shot back at me, but missed.
“Hurry!” I shouted.
Right when Mom ran through the door, the second henchman was on me. His
