Taken

Chapter 20{Book 2}

RIKKI

March 8, 2014 4:15 a.m.

I woke up to the feeling of someone gently shaking me. "Ugh," I groaned, waking from my slumber.

"Morning, sunshine," smiled Kade before he placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Do we really have to get up?" I mumbled, yawning.

"Come on, up and at 'em. Today's the day we get Taylor and Bailey back."

When Kade said those words, it really woke me up.

"Okay, let's go!" I said excitedly.

"Shh, we can't let anyone hear us. They don't know that we're heading up to Duluth, remember?" whispered Kade.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I don't function well in the morning," I joked.

Kade laughed lightly, "Okay, well go and get ready in the bathroom. We have to be at Zayn's in forty-five minutes."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going," I huffed, grabbing some clothes out of my closet before heading into the bathroom.

A half hour later, Kade and I were both ready for the big day.

"I'm going to leave this note here on my nightstand so Mom and Dad don't think I got kidnapped again," I stated, placing the note on my bedside table.

"Sounds like a plan. Now we just have to climb down the ladder outside of the window," Kade told me.

"Sounds like fun," I said sarcastically, but Kade just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, be careful climbing down that ladder, Rikki. It's not the sturdiest thing in the world," Kade warned as I placed one foot on the ladder.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," I promised as I made my way down the gardener's ladder. A few minutes later, the both of us were safely on the ground.

"Okay, my Camaro's parked around the block," Kade said as we started walking away from my house.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this. It doesn't seem real."

"Well, you'd better believe it because it's happening right now," Kade replied.

"I can't believe I just snuck out, either. I've never done that before," I said nervously.

"Rikki, I'm sorry that we had to do this the way we did, but it's the only way we can get Bailey and Taylor back. You know that if we had told any of our parents, they wouldn't have let us go. Hopefully all is still well at the end of the day," Kade said grimly.

"Don't say something like that," I scolded as I climbed into Kade's car. "Of course everything will be okay at the end of the day."

"Rikki..." Kade started.

"No, Kade. We can't afford to have a negative mindset. If we aren't optimistic about today, then something probably will go wrong."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sorry," Kade sighed.

When we arrived at Zayn's house, Tanya, Lance, and Lacey were already there.

"Nice of you two to join the party, finally," Zayn laughed.

"Shh, you'll wake up your parents," shushed Tanya.

"Oops, sorry," replied Zayn in a whisper.

"Okay, let's just get going now before someone does wake up Zayn's parents," Lance said, and we all climbed into the Big Pumpkin.

"Here we go!" cheered Zayn as he pulled out of his driveway.

Yup, here we go, I thought to myself nervously.

***

TYLER

March 8, 2014 9:34 a.m.

"Rikki, it's time to wake up! Your mom wants you to go shopping with her today," Tyler called as he knocked on his daughter's bedroom door.

When he didn't hear any noise coming from the other side of the door, he tried again. "Rikki, I'm serious! It's time to wake up!"

Again, Tyler heard nothing from Rikki's side of the door. Teenagers, Tyler thought to himself before letting himself into Rikki's room. "Rikki?" he called once more.

Tyler walked over to Rikki's bed, but when he got there, he realized that her bed was empty. "Rikki!" Tyler yelled. He checked both her closet and bathroom, but Rikki was nowhere to be found.

"Gina, come up here!" Tyler shouted down the stairs. "Rikki's missing!"

"What!" Gina cried before rushing up the stairs. "What do you mean she's missing? Adam's still in the basement, right?"

"Yes, Adam's still down there. I checked on him right before I came upstairs. You don't think Jeff and Carlos..." Tyler started, but before he could finish, Gina flew into Rikki's room.

"She's really gone!" Gina wailed, looking at Rikki's bed.

"Gina," Tyler soothed as he headed over to comfort his wife. When he reached her, Tyler noticed something he hadn't before. "What's this?" he asked, picking up a piece of paper from the nightstand.

Gina read the note over Tyler's shoulder and said, "She and the rest of the kids are going to Duluth to rescue Taylor and Bailey! Do they realize how dangerous that is?"

Tyler sighed before saying, "I'm just as upset as you are, but there's really nothing we can do right now. Who knows how long ago they left? They could be to Duluth already for all we know. I guess all we can do right now is sit and wait for her to come home."

"But what if they..." Gina started before breaking down into tears.

"Gina, Rikki will be fine. Kade will keep her safe, he cares about her too much to let her get hurt," Tyler assured his wife.

"I hope you're right. I just don't want her to get hurt or kidnapped again. We already went through that once, we don't have to do that again," Gina said.

Tyler sighed once more, "We can only hope that she returns to us, safe and sound."

"Wait a second, what about her phone? Call her!"

Tyler took out his phone and dialed Rikki's number. After a few rings, the worried parents heard a pop song coming from the drawer in Rikki's nightstand. Gina opened to drawer only to find Rikki's phone.

"Damn it," Tyler cursed. "Our daughter's smarter than we give her credit for."

"That she is," sighed Gina.

"Well, like I said before, I guess all we can do for now is sit and wait," stated Tyler.