Married to the Jock (DWTJ series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sadie's POV

It was as if I was 12 years old again, sitting on the bottom of my best friend Rebecca's swimming pool seeing how long we could hold our breath for. The other kids around us would be at the surface yelling and splashing around but the noise was muffled and almost tuned out completely. 

That's how it feels right now. 

I'm staring into the eyes of the young police officer who is explaining to me how the kidnapper had used Emery's window to break in and steal her away while she was sleeping. I could hear him, barely. The blood rushing through my ears nearly drowned out all the sound around me, muffled voices.

Kent squeezed my hand from where he was sitting next to me. I couldn't take my eyes off the officer who had now started talking to my husband instead. My mother stood behind us, cradled in my father's arms as she continued to sob. I felt like crying too, I just couldn't yet. This was all a dream. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening. 

"What are you guys doing to find her?" Kent's voice rang out, still muffled but I heard him. I finally tore my eyes away from the young officer and stared at my husband who's eyes were filled with tears yet his emotions showed nothing but anger. "That's my little girl out there!"

"Sir, please try to stay calm, that's all we can do at the moment. My men are out there as we speak searching for your daughter," The officer responded with worry clear in his eyes. Was he telling us the truth? Or was this just another case where the child will never be found? What do they call that . . . a cold case?

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through my side and made me crumple over.

"Sadie!" Kent called out and grabbed me so that I wouldn't fall from the chair. "What's wrong? Is it the baby? Are you okay?" 

"I....I'm fine," I managed to whisper, sitting back up in the chair while the pain dulled a bit. All this stress was definitely not good for our baby...

"Is there anything we can do to help?" My father asked, stepping forward to place his hands on my shoulders and give them a trembling squeeze. I glanced over at Kent again who's eyes wouldn't leave mine. He seemed to have aged 5 more years since the news of our baby girl being kidnapped. I'm sure I look the same as well. 

I mentally kicked myself, how dare I be thinking about looks at a time like this. My baby was somewhere out there with strangers and who knows what they were planning on doing with her! 

"If you'd like you can accompany search parties, we've already sent an Amber alert out with your daughter's description as well as put her picture on the news and internet," The officer took a deep breath. "We will do everything we can to find your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Agather, I promise you that," 

"We'll go search for her, you two need to go back to the house," My father said pointing at my mother and I. 

"No, no you can't go anywhere right now," I pleaded, grabbing onto Kent's jacket. Kent reached forward and pulled me against him, holding me tight for a few moments before letting me go. 

"Sadie, listen to me now," Kent grabbed my face with both hands and I felt the hot tears begin to roll down my cheeks. He was gentle with me and his grip wasn't harsh, just firm "there's no way in hell I'll be caught sitting at home waiting for other people to find our daughter. I have to go out there, she has to know that we did everything we could to get her back," 

Kent's tears fell now too and he pulled me close again, both of us crying into each other's arms. The thought of my daughter not being found sent a hard knot into my chest that made it hard to breathe, I felt as though I was being pushed against a concrete wall and there was no way out.