Stolen

Carmen stayed in bed most of the day. She wasn’t sleeping but living through the memories made her weak. Around five in the evening, though, someone knocked.

“Hey,” Vincent whispered. “Someone’s here to see you. Kevin’s raising hell but she won’t leave.”

“Okay,” Carmen mumbled and swung her legs out of bed.

They walked into the living room where Kevin was glaring at someone, crossing his arms in anger.

“I don’t want you in this house,” he snapped at Jenna. “You’re a reporter!”

“You’ve searched me over three times,” she snapped back. “Do you want me to strip down naked? I’m clean. I just want to talk about my father!”

“How did you know to come here?” Carmen asked, startling everyone.

Vincent let her sit in the arm chair and she got comfortable. Tara brought her a bowl of soup. She noticed they had taken down the Christmas tree. It made her sad but she knew it would just cause more trouble.

“What do you mean? This is where you are. Everyone knows now.”

“No I mean here. To Kendrick.”

Jenna shrugged. “There was a hot lead and my boss wanted me to cover the story. I'm the best at this stuff, you see. I never thought you’d know about my dad’s kidnapping.”

“Why’d you change your name?”

Jenna didn’t answer right away. She stared at her knees, her eyes filled with tears.

“They left a note,” she whispered. “They threatened me. They said they’d find me if my dad didn’t give them what they wanted; whatever that meant. So, I ran. I never should have. I should’ve waited. I should’ve looked for my dad. I was so scared, though.”

“He talked about you a lot,” Carmen said and Jenna looked at her again. “He told me all about you. He loved you very much.”

“You said he had supernatural abilities. What does that mean?”

“Everyone there could do something different,” she answered. “He could turn invisible.”

“But how?” she breathed. “He didn’t say anything about it!”

“He never told me that part,” she said. “I got my abilities just by chance. I hit my head in just the right spot that it unlocked that area of my brain that held those powers.”

“I wonder if it’s hereditary,” she mumbled. “Did he say anything else?”

“Just that he hoped they never found you,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s because they’d try and hurt you or if he thought you had the power to turn invisible, too. It could just be that he loved you, though.”

Jenna wiped her tears away. No one spoke for a while.

“I don’t know what to do now,” she sighed. “Do I go home? Do I stay here?”

“You could help us,” Carmen said and everyone looked at her.

“How?” she asked.

“They’re going to make their move,” she said. “I don’t know when but it’ll include Kendrick. I need you to use your reporter skills to keep an eye on the town. If there’s anyone new or strange, come tell us. If anyone’s acting different, let us know. What is it?”

Jenna’s eyes lit up. “There’s a new comer at the hotel I’m staying in. No one knows his name. He’s going by John Smith but we all know that’s a load of shit. I can talk to him.”

“I don’t want him to think we’re suspicious,” she said but Jenna shook her head, wiping her tears away.

“Can I have my phone please?” she asked and Kevin passed it back to her. “Here’s my number,” she added, writing it on Carmen’s hand. “Text me or something so I have yours. I’ll call if I get anything on him.”

“He’ll know.”

Jenna smiled before leaving. “There’s a reason I’m the best extractor in OKC.”

She slipped out. Carmen looked at the phone number on her hand and read it off to Kevin.

“Think we can trust her?”

Carmen nodded. “While she was writing, I saw her planning different ways to talk to this new comer. Stop being so suspicious, Kevin,” she added. “You heard her: Everyone knows I’m here. That includes The Agency.”

Everyone stared at her.

“Did you get the last of the cameras set up?” Tara asked Vincent who nodded. “Good. Then I’ll call my boss and have him put someone on 24/7 surveillance.”

Carmen frowned. “What? Why would they do that?”

“That’s right,” she said. “You’ve been in bed all day. Go show her, Vincent.”

“Come on,” he said and led her back to his room.

He sat down and she immediately got in his lap. He put an arm around her waist as he navigated to the Facebook page he had showed her. Apparently it was the new MySpace but it was lasting longer than MySpace had.

“This showed up earlier this morning.”

He clicked on something and a page opened up. Carmen let out a watery laugh.



The page was full of notes from her fellow townspeople. They were all messages of support and there were pictures that she had taken with friends in school.

“Look here,” he said and clicked on a tab that said ‘about’.

Carmen leaned closer to the computer screen.

Five years ago, Carmen Jones went missing. Everyone loved Carmen. She babysat your kids, was devoted to the church, and the best track star to ever pass through Kendrick. Now she’s back but we all know what that has led to: Hordes of horrible reporters wanting to make her life a living hell. But we’re not going to let that happen. Here is the plan, my friends.

Everyone pitches in with different efforts. Let’s let Carmen Jones be home and get better in peace.

UPDATE: We all saw the despicable display of her parents. If anyone hears from Faith or Howard, let’s show them what we really think of them.

UPDATE: People are asking about her. Remember: Silence is golden.

“Wow,” she said, sniffling. “They’re really doing all this for me?”

“You mean a lot to this town, Carmen,” he said. “And they’re willing to help, no matter what.”

“Does anyone else know about The Agency?”

“Not unless you’ve said anything. Gaby’s been called off the force, though.”

She looked at him in shock. “What? Why?”

“Because she’s not giving the chief any information. All the documents she made, all the recordings she got, she’s destroyed.”

Carmen stared. That was hard to believe.

“Something happened,” Carmen said slowly. “Something happened at the station. We need to find out.”

“No, we don’t,” he said. “You need to stay here; especially if your suspicions about the attack happening before Christmas are true.”

She sighed. “You’re starting to sound like Kevin.”

He chuckled. “Are you scared?” he asked suddenly.

She looked at her hands. “A little,” she said. “I mean, I’m not just facing The Agency. I’m facing the people that tortured me and killed my only friend there. But they think I’m the key to their operation. If that’s true, then maybe I can also be the key to stopping them. I don’t know if I can do it, though.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not brave,” she said. “I’m no heroine. I’m just a track star who got lucky.”

“That’s stupid,” he said and she looked at him, offended. “You’re the bravest person I know, Carmen. Not only did you get out of their alive, you risked death to get out. You ran 50 miles to get to safety. You told Gaby about these guys. You told us what you went through. If that’s not bravery than I don’t-.”

Carmen kissed him, putting a hand on his cheek. He hesitated then kissed her back gently. She closed her eyes as his hand ran up her back. This time, though, she didn’t look for something. She just wanted to feel.

“Now I know,” she whispered, pulling from the kiss.

“Know what?” he whispered back, his eyes on her lips as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

“Why you’re my safe place.” He looked into her eyes. “You saved me, yes, but because I- Well, I had a crush on you in high school, you know. Now, though… I’m sure I….”

He chuckled and kissed her lips lightly.

“I’m falling in love with you, too,” he murmured and she put her head on his shoulder. “I want you to get better first, though, before we try anything.”

She smiled, closing her eyes. “Which only makes me like you more,” she said.

He laughed. “You know, I had a crush on you, too.”

“We had too much fun making each other’s lives hell, though.”

He nodded. “I remember when you called me a small dick. That was a good one.”

She giggled. “I remember when you stole my math homework. I kept thinking how low that was until I got it back from the teacher, concerned why I had put all the answers as ‘Jesus’.”

He laughed. For the rest of the afternoon, they sat on his bed and reminisced of all the ways they had managed to either humiliate or irritate each other.