Stolen

Vincent, Kevin, and Tara watched the news report with sad eyes. They watched as she fell to her knees. The reporter was saying something but they all groaned as she threw up on the carpet. Her mother stumbled out of the way but her father caught her before she could fall into her own vomit. Then the camera cut out.

Vincent sighed and turned off the TV. They were on the couch and his feeling of guilt increased. Because he was stupid, she was with her parents and they were already making a scene. They wanted to capitalize on her return. It was all about money and poor Carmen had no idea what her parents had turned in to.

“Don’t you see?” Tara whispered. “We have to.”

“I’m not pretending to kidnap her,” Vincent argued. “I won’t do it. No way.”

“That’s not what I suggested,” she said.

“It sounds like it,” he mumbled, crossing his arms.

“We have to get proof,” she said. “And that means sneaking. Don’t you two want her back? Don’t you want her to be healthy again?”

“Of course,” they said in unison.

“Then let’s do it.”

Vincent sighed. “Why can’t Kevin be the one? He’s smaller than me and can sneak better!”

“Because he’s the one that’s going to do the damage,” Tara reminded him. “And he can keep his parents busy better than you can.”

Vincent sighed again. “Fine. We’ll start tomorrow.”

The following day, they got prepared. Vincent gathered all his tools while Kevin went to visit his parents. Vincent had no idea what was going to happen when he showed up but he expected a phone call from Faith soon. Around three, he got his wish.

“Hello?” he said.

“Vincent,” Faith said in a cold voice.

“Ah, Mrs. Jones. How can I help you?”

“It would seem that our electricity is shot and the electrician is too busy to help.”
Vincent gave Tara and the town electrician, an older man named Tim, a thumb’s up.

“And?”

“We need our electricity back. Now. Come over and we’ll pay you whatever you want.”

She hung up before he could respond. He shook Tim’s hand as he put on his belt and grabbed his toolbox.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Anythin’ to help ol’ Carmen,” he said. “I remember when she would babysit my granddaughter. She’s the sweetest girl out there.”

“Yeah, she is,” Vincent said and got into the Mercedes just as Kevin got back home. “It worked. I’ll be back soon.”

Kevin just nodded. He looked upset and Vincent assumed an argument had happened while he was there. He gripped the steering wheel tightly. It wasn’t a long drive and he was there in just minutes. He glared at the house he had been in so many times.

He rang the doorbell and the door flew open. It was Faith and she looked impatient.

“It took you long enough,” she snapped.

“Had to get my supplies,” he shrugged, holding up the box. “Are you going to let me in?”

She huffed and moved to the side. He looked around surreptitiously as he walked for any glimpse of Carmen. He didn’t see her as he got to the breaker. He flipped the breaker a few times. He knew that wasn’t the problem but he had to go through the process or he would look suspicious.

“I’m going to have to go upstairs,” he said.

“Why?” she demanded.

He lifted his brows. “To your attic,” he said. “That’s where the box is, remember?”

“I’m not climbing into the attic!” she cried. “It’s dusty and there are bugs up there.”

“I’m not asking you to,” he said as he walked up the stairs. “I’m perfectly capable of getting up there on my own.”

“Like I’m going to trust you to be alone in my house,” she said with a haughty sniff.

He stopped walking and turned to her. “Do you want your power back?” he asked and she glared. “Then you’ll let me walk around in your attic.”

She rolled her eyes as he pulled the ladder down. Then he saw the open door. Carmen was standing in the doorway and their eyes met. He gave her a tiny wink before climbing the ladder. He went to the back where their transformer was and plugged the wires back in that Kevin had unplugged. He waited until he heard it running and Faith’s sigh of relief before leaving.

As he slid the ladder back up, though, he put a small camera in the hole where the ring was. It had a good view of the hallway.

=

The next part was the hardest: getting the proof to Carmen once they had it. When he got back home, both Tara and Kevin were at his computer, watching the footage. The camera was linked directly to the computer and they could hear and see everything going on in the hallway.

“So far all they’ve done is talk about how annoying it was to have you in the house,” Kevin said. “Well, Dad was impressed that you didn’t ask for money but Mom still managed to find something to complain about.”

“Oh? What was it?”

“That you brought dust into the house from the attic,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Vincent sat down on his bed and sighed.

“I saw her,” he said and they both looked at him. “She looked miserable, guys. I think-.”

He was interrupted by the sound of her screaming. They all turned to the computer sadly. They knew those screams. She was having a nightmare.

Vincent watched as her parents ran to her room. The screaming got louder when they opened the door. Howard went in but Faith didn’t. Instead she shook her head and went back to their room, stretching as she walked. They heard her mutter ‘just a nightmare’ before she closed the door. Anger bubbled in his stomach but he didn’t do anything yet. The screams were replaced with her sobbing. Then she went quiet and Howard left, cracking the door. He was visibly shaken, something that gave Vincent a strange sense of satisfaction.

“Maybe if they hadn’t given up on her, she wouldn’t be having those nightmares,” Kevin said bitterly and Tara rubbed his back. “How long do you want to wait?”

“Just a day or two,” she said. “We’ll have enough by then.”

“How will we get it to her?” Vincent asked.

“Leave that part up to me,” Tara said and he nodded.

“I hate waiting,” the three of them said in unison.