The Depth Between Us

Part 5: Kidnapped

For the past few nights, Kiera has been having the same bad dream about real traffickers coming after her and Jay not coming to her rescue.

She shot up straight in her bed and panted for breath. She rubbed her eyes and realized that she couldn't go back to sleep. Kiera got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen.

Jay woke himself up to use the bathroom, then heard the sound of the microwave going off. So, he walked out to find Kiera drinking a glass of milk at the island.

"Kiera?" Jay questioned.

"What?" she asked after swallowing.

"It's 3:30 in the morning. Why are you up?" Jay asked as he looked at his wristwatch.

Kiera didn't say anything, she just moaned as she covered her tired eyes with her hands.

"You look like you haven't gotten any sleep." Jay said, placing his left hand on her right shoulder.

"You think?" Kiera grunted as she pulled her hands away from her eyes.

"Why don't we sit down and talk about it?" Jay suggested.

With that, the two of them sat down on the couch. Kiera stared at Jay for a good couple minutes, then she took a deep breath before speaking.

"I had a nightmare." Kiera said.

"What was it about?" Jay asked.

"I was really sold to a trafficking ring and that you didn't come to help. This is the third night that it has happened." Kiera explained.

"Oh my God, this is all my fault. I told myself that I wouldn't get you involved in any more cases, but my colleagues talked me into it." Jay apologized.

Kiera just sighed as she took the last sip of her warm milk. The effect was making her sleepy. She set her empty glass on the coffee table.

"Kiera, look to me. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I protect people for a living, it's what I do." Jay said as he took her hands into his.

"Thanks. I know I can always count on you." she said, giving a soft smile.

"We better get back to sleep." he said as he grabbed a blanket from the side of the couch.

Kiera nuzzled closer to Jay as he covered them both up with the blanket. The next thing he knows, she was out like a light. It was like she felt at peace when she's around him. Jay kissed her forehead, then he fell back asleep.

A few hours later, Jay's wristwatch was going off and he knew he had to go to work. He picked Kiera up off the couch and carried her back to the guest bedroom, then he went to his bedroom to get ready.

It's now 10:30am and Kiera woke up. She remembered that she has a babysitting job from 12-4pm with one of her favorite kids in the neighborhood. His name is Nathan, he's 7 years old, and he was diagnosed with Autism. Kiera knows him from her church's Sunday school program and Michelle is good friends with Nathan's mom.

She took a bus to get back to her neighborhood since her car was still at her house. She walked to Nathan's house and his mom let her inside. Nathan immediately ran into Kiera's arms to greet her. His mom quickly went over everything she wanted Kiera to do with him while she's out running errands.

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Kiera was able to go home when Nathan's mom came back home around 4:00pm. She just got off the bus and was about a block away from the apartment complex. She's walking past a donut shop when she heard the sounds of a little whimper. Kiera stops in her tracks to figure out where the whimper was coming from. It was coming from an alley behind the donut shop.