A Home for Christmas (14 page)

Jenna was getting sleepy as Riley turned into her
driveway.  Her eyes were drooping, but when his headlights hit the front
of the house, she bolted upright in the seat.  Her front door was wide
open.

"Riley!" she gasped, placing her hand
on his arm. 

He parked and reached in the glove compartment
for his gun, which further shocked her.  She realized it shouldn't since
he was a part-time member of the Springfield P.D. SWAT team, but still, seeing
him pull a gun surprised her.

"You two stay in here.  Lock the doors. 
Do not open them for any reason for anyone other than me, you understand?"

Wide eyed, Jenna and Cam both nodded.

"Call 911.  Tell them there has been a
possible break-in and that I am on-scene and will check-in after my
walk-through, OK?"

Jenna nodded.  "OK.  Riley, be
careful."

He winked at her.  "No worries."

She watched him carefully walk into the house,
then called 911 and reported what he'd instructed her to say.  When she
hung up, she turned to check on Cam, whose eyes were locked on the house, face
pale, eyes wide.  She reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring
squeeze.

"Did we leave the door unlocked,
maybe?" Cam whispered.

"We went out through the garage," Jenna
replied. 

"I don't want to go inside."

She squeezed his hand tighter.  "It's
going to be all right.  Riley won't let anything happen, honey. 
He'll keep us safe."

"But what if..."

She stopped him.  "Hush, now. 
We're not going to play 'what if'.  If there is something to worry about,
we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  For now, we're going to trust
that Riley has it under control, OK?"

Two minutes later, a car came to a screeching
halt in front of the house.  Jenna saw Mike exit the vehicle and rush
inside.

"Who was that?" Cam cried.

"He's Riley's friend, Mike.  It's OK,
Riley probably just called him to..." She stopped when Riley came out and
motioned for her to get out.  "What's happened?"

"We had Whit, one of my colleagues, watching
the house.  He's inside, got hit from behind.  He's OK but he's going
to need stitches where he got hit."

"Oh, my God!" Jenna cried, her hand
covering her mouth in shock.  "Why?  Why did you have someone
watching the house?  What's going on?  What about the alarm system?"

His eyes shifted to Cam, who was clinging to
Jenna's arm, his face pale and his eyes as big as saucers. 

"Can you call your folks to come get
Cam?  The police are going to have to go through the house, dust for
prints.  It's going to be a while before you can change clothes or pack a
bag."

"I don't want to leave you," Cam said
to her.

"Honey, I know you don't, but..."

"No, Mom!  I don't want to leave
you!"

Riley stepped forward, placing his hand on Cam's
shoulder.  "Listen to me, bud.  Someone broke into the house and
trashed the place.  You don't need to be here, OK?  It's better if
you go back to your grandparents and stay with them and your Aunt Jackie until
the police clear it so your mom can pack clothes for you."

"But..."

"Cameron," Jenna cautioned.

He sighed.  "Fine."

Riley squeezed his shoulder then kissed Jenna's
brow as she called her parents to arrange for them to pick Cam up.  When
the police arrived, Riley sent them in to meet with Mike and he stayed with
Jenna until her parents came and got Cam.  After Cam was gone, she looked
up at him.

"How bad is it in there?"

He shook his head.  "I think it's
mainly trashed because Whit got into a fight with whoever was in there. 
He's banged up a bit more than I wanted to say in front of Cam.  Nothing
bad, bad, but they grabbed one of Cam's baseball bats and did some damage to
his ribs and face.  There's a lot of blood, so prepare yourself, OK?"

She nodded and allowed him to lead her
inside.  What greeted her had her stopping in her tracks.  Her living
room was in shambles.  Her tree had been toppled, decorations smashed and
scattered everywhere.  There was blood on her furniture and all over the
wood floor.  Whit was sitting up and speaking to the police, but he was
having difficulty with his facial injuries. 

"Hey, James," Riley greeted one of the
policemen, "this is Jenna Blackwell, the homeowner."

"Ms. Blackwell," James said, nodding to
her.  "We're going to need you to do a walk-thru and see if anything
is missing, but I think Mr. Whitten got here before any damage could be
done."

Jenna nodded, leaning into Riley's side for support. 
She couldn't imagine why anyone would have broken into her home.  She
didn't understand why Riley had someone watching her house...but she had a
feeling it had something to do with Wade.  Riley held her hand and took
her on a walk-thru of the house but as far as she could see, nothing was
out-of-place. 

When they got back into the living room, the
paramedics had arrived and were seeing to Whit, getting ready to take him to
the hospital.  Mike came to them, speaking in his low, soft voice.

"Whit saw the guy go in and was in the house
within a minute after the suspect entered.  They engaged in here and Whit
had him subdued until he was hit from behind by an unseen assailant."

"Did he know who they were?"

Mike shook his head.  "Said they looked
like muscle for someone, though."

Jenna released a pent-up breath.  "So,
this has something to do with Wade?"

"Most likely," Mike replied.

"Because of the drugs?"

Riley rubbed the back of his neck. 
"He's also into gambling...and over two-hundred thousand dollars in
debt."

"Oh, my God!" she cried. 
"So, they're coming after me now??"

"With him in rehab, they can't get to him,
so they go after his family," Mike said.  "I have some feelers
out there.  If I can find out who he owes his money to, maybe I can call
them off.  My family has...shall we say, connections, to those in the
sports booking business.  It's only a matter of time before I find out who
it is."

She looked up at Riley.  "Take me to
Wade.  I'll make him tell me."

"That's not a good idea," Riley began
but she held up her hand to stop him.

"Wade is many, many things, not the least of
which is easily manipulated.  Take me to him, or I'll go myself."

"All right, baby," he said, kissing her
brow.  "Go get changed and pack a bag for you and Cam."

She nodded and then disappeared into her
room.  Riley watched her go then turned back to Mike.

"Why would they break into her house?"

Mike shook his head.  "Doesn't make
sense.  Not if they're only after gambling debts.  Something else is
going on here."

"I'm glad we got that security system put
in," Riley said, "thanks for that."

"Melissa is on her way to the hospital to be
with Whit," Mike told him, referring to the widow of their fallen comrade,
Pete "Zig" Zigler.  She and Tessa ran their offices and tech
department.

Riley smiled.  "Think they'll finally
admit they got a thing for each other?"

Mike shook his head. "They're still
tip-toeing around Zig's ghost."

Riley chuckled and was about to answer when
Jenna's scream sent him and Mike both bolting down the hall to her room. 
She was on her knees on the floor, phone in her hands, tears streaming down her
face.

"Jenna?  Baby?  What's
wrong?"

"They got Cam!  Riley!!  They got
Cam!!"

He lifted her into his arms and sat with her on
the bed.

"Who has Cam?  What's going on?"

She handed him her phone.  The screen showed
a picture of Cam, hands bound, mouth gagged, eyes terrified.  Terror like
he'd never known gripped his heart, making his stomach clench.  He handed
the phone to Mike, who immediately did a synch with his then handed it back to Riley.

"Jenna?  Baby, you need to call your
parents.  You need to..."  He stopped when her phone rang. 
The number came up as blocked.  He hit answer and put it on speaker.

"This is Riley Stanton.  Who is
this?"

"Put Mrs. Blackwell on the line," the
voice on the other end said.

"I'm here.  Where's my son?"

"He's safe.  For now.  Wade owes
us two-hundred thousand dollars."

"That's Wade!  Not me!  We are
divorced.  We've been divorced for over five years!" she cried.

"I understand that, Mrs. Blackwell. 
However, money is still owed and Wade hasn't been paying.  We need to get
his attention somehow."

"So, you go after Wade!  Leave my son
out of this!  Please!  He's just a boy!  I don't have the kind
of money you're talking about.  That's all on Wade."

"Well, we understand that, Mrs. Blackwell,
we really do.  But Wade needed a little bit of motivation.  So, now,
he's got incentive."

"He is in rehab!!!  Let my son
go!" she screamed. 

"Colt?  Got a trace yet?" Mike
asked quietly

"Working on it.  Keep them on the
line."

"What do you want from Jenna?" Riley
asked.

"As of now?  Nothing, other than her to
light a fire under Wade's ass to get us our money.  He pays up, we let the
kid go."

"And who is we?" Riley asked. 
"Who does he owe money to?"

"That's none of your concern, frog
man.  Blackwell knows who we are.  Tell him he has until the end of
the day tomorrow if he ever wants to see his kid again."

"Don't you hurt my son!" Jenna
screamed, but the call had already been disconnected.

"Colt?" Mike prompted.

"Working on it, Boss.  Signal was
scrambled.  I've got an approximate location but nothing specific; call
wasn't long enough."

"Tell me they are still within city
limits," Riley said.

"Affirmative."

Jenna was calling her parents, anxious when there
was no answer.  She tried Jackie's phone and got the same result.

Riley called his uncle, the chief of the
Springfield police department.  He had units mobilized to check the roads
between Jenna's house and her parents, and had units go to their house. 
Mike was speaking in rapid Italian on his phone, so fast Riley couldn't pick up
on all that he was saying.

"Riley?" she said when he ended his
call.  "What's going on?"

"We'll get him back, Jen, I promise. 
Finish changing.  We need to go to the rehab facility and talk to
Wade."

She shook her head.  "I don't know if I
can face him without wanting to kill him.  Cam was taken because of
something he is involved in.  Riley...I swear, if anything happens to
Cam..."

He kissed her brow.  "I know it's hard,
but you can do this.  You need to stay strong.  These people, muscle
for loan sharks or bookies...they usually don't have a stomach for hurting
kids, OK?"

She nodded, raking her hands through her
hair.  Mike left the room, still on his phone.  She watched him walk out
and then got off Riley's lap to go into her closet to find her shoes.  She
felt numb, as if this were some sort of nightmare.  Someone had her
son.  She lifted her phone and pulled up the picture of Cam.  He was
so terrified; her heart broke looking at him.  And what had happened to
her parents and Jackie?  None of them were answering their phones. 

After she pulled her shoes on and grabbed a
jacket, she went in search of Riley, finding him and Mike in the living
room.  She crossed immediately to Riley, burying her face in his chest
when he wrapped his arms around her.

"The cops found your family.  They're
all fine.  The guys rear-ended them.  When your dad stopped, they
pulled a gun, grabbed Cam and bound and gagged your folks and Jackie but left
them in your dad's car on the side of the road.  They're shaken up, but
all fine."

"Thank God," she breathed. 
"Where are they now?"

"At the station giving their
statements."

"But, they're all OK?  No one was
hurt?"

"No one was hurt," he confirmed. 
She nodded, tears beginning to pool in her eyes again.  He pulled her to
him, kissing her forehead.  "It's going to be all right."

Mike ended his phone call and gestured to the
door.  "I've got a line on who this could be, but we've got to get
Blackwell to confirm."

"Let's go."

Jenna clung tight to Riley's hand on the drive
into Dallas to the rehab facility where Wade was.  Riley's uncle had
called ahead to the facility to clear the way for them to see Wade after
hours.  The clinic director hadn't been pleased about it but when it was
explained to her that a child was involved, she relented.  They were met
at the front doors and escorted to the director's office, where Wade was
waiting for them.