Caroline's Seduction (Montgomery Family and Friends) (12 page)

Ten

Caroline put away the last few pieces of glassware her students had used in that day’s lab.  She glanced toward the wall clock.  It was only fifteen minutes past four, but for once she was caught up with all her work.  The thought of a nice long bubble bath followed by a glass of wine and a lighthearted romance book to pass the time beckoned.  She could definitely use a happily-ever-after right now.  The shadow that was Kyle looming over her was beginning to have an effect.  She really needed to let go of everything plaguing her mind and take care of herself.

This was a three-day weekend and she was planning to relax before she cooked a large dish of broccoli casserole and a couple of pound cakes.  She was joining the Montgomery family for Sunday lunch this weekend.  All three sisters were going to be in town.  Joyce had invited Caroline as well, saying she would be delighted to have all four of her daughters together at the same table for the traditional Montgomery Sunday lunch. 

This Sunday the lunch was going to be at Annabel’s home.  Caroline had heard the romantic tale of Annabel and Jonathan’s reunion after being separated for several years.  He’d bought the house which had been adored by Annabel since childhood as a wedding present.  It would be enough to melt Caroline’s heart if she still had one to melt that is.   She’d pretty much lost her heart when she had the miscarriage.  At least Jonathan, Mason, and Matthew were proof that not all men were selfish thoughtless jerks!  She was really happy that the Montgomery sisters got their happy ending, but that didn’t mean there was going to be one for her.

It was a little nippy so Caroline put on the light jacket she’d worn that morning.  She grabbed her purse, turned out all the lights, and closed and locked the door behind her.  She wouldn’t be back for four days and it felt good knowing she was caught up with all her work and could actually relax during this short break. 

She passed the student pick up area on the way to her car.  She noticed that Sarah was sitting on the curb with a dejected slump to her shoulders.  Caroline knew she should keep going, but her feet had a mind of their own.  She was standing next to Sarah before she even knew what she was doing.  She sat down next to the teen.  “Hey Sarah,” she greeted in a welcoming voice.  “Is something bothering you?   You don’t seem to be your usual cheerful self.”  In fact the teen had been very talkative during lab less than two hours ago. 

“My dad promised me we could go to Atlanta this weekend.  Now he says he has to work.  On top of everything else, he has a late meeting this afternoon that he couldn’t postpone or cancel.  If I’d known just a few minutes earlier, Jay’s mom could have taken me home.”  She shrugged her shoulders, “but I didn’t and now I’m stuck here for God knows how long!”

Caroline stifled the sigh threatening to escape.  She’d managed to avoid Kyle and all mention of him in the weeks following the holidays and that fiasco of a dinner at Joyce’s house.  She couldn’t ignore a student in need however, especially Sarah.  It went against everything that made Caroline who she was.  “I was just on my way home myself.  I’d be more than happy to give you a ride home,” Caroline offered.  “You need to call your dad first of course to make sure it’s all right with him.  I’ll just wait here while you call him.”

Sarah perked up and gave Caroline a huge smile.   “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she enthused.  “I’ll call him right now.”

Caroline waited.  She wasn’t too surprised when Sarah couldn’t get through to her father.  She heard Sarah leave a message with Jenna, Kyle’s personal assistant. 

Sarah looked back at her teacher.  “He’s already in his meeting and can’t be disturbed.  I left a message with his PA.  She’ll let him know that you are taking me home.  That way he won’t have to come by the school on his way home.”  Sarah started walking toward the teacher’s parking lot. 

Caroline had no choice but to follow.  She would hate for Sarah to be stuck at the school for another couple of hours.  It got dark early these days.  Kyle was at work still, so at least she didn’t have to worry about running into him.  She’d blissfully been able to avoid him the past few weeks.  She wanted to keep it that way.  Maybe just this once her luck would hold until the end of the school year. 

She glanced around and noticed that the parking lot was practically empty.  The other teachers must have cleared out early.  They were probably in a hurry to start their three-day weekend.  Thank goodness for the Montgomery family Caroline decided.  If it wasn’t for them she’d probably end up working at school Monday anyway.  How boring was that?  Now she had Sunday to look forward too and it would probably be a late night with lots of talking and wine drinking.  Caroline was so focused on her thoughts of the upcoming dinner that she didn’t notice the out of place cargo van until it was almost too late. 

Caroline and Sarah were about forty feet from her car when a plain white van came to a stop in front of the two females.  That action was alarming and immediately put Caroline on notice.  The fact that the van was actively blocking their access to Caroline’s car sent alarm bells shrieking in her head.  Her first instinct was to protect Sarah.  She turned to the girl just as the van door slid open. 

“Sarah run back to the school as fast as you can.”  She felt the girl hesitate.  She turned putting her body between Sarah and whoever was in the van.  She gave the girl a push.  “Go! Now!”  Caroline demanded.  She was relieved to see that the teen listened this time.  Sarah took off at a sprint that would have done any track coach proud.

Caroline was focused on getting to the safety of her car.  She veered to the left of the van, intent on going around the front of the vehicle.  A stranger stepped out of the open door and lunged for her.  She came to an abrupt halt when the man grabbed her jacket from behind to hinder her progress.  She opened her mouth to scream, but a grimy hand slapped across it cut off any sound she would have made. 

Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it might break through her skin and land on the gravely concrete.  She arched her back and kicked the man that was keeping her from safety.  The back of her foot connected with his shin and he let out a muffled oath. 

The driver opened his door.  “Get her in the van.  She cost us the kid, but maybe we can use her to get back at Wakefield.”

That statement answered one of Caroline’s questions.  This wasn’t a random attack.  They’d been after Sarah and it had something to do with Kyle.  Well they’d be in for a surprise, because Kyle didn’t give a damn about her.  She’d learned that the hard way.  The man holding her tried to hustle her into the van and she struggled harder.  She couldn’t let them get her in that van.  Surely Sarah had reached the school and found help by now?  She fought until she had an arm loose.  She used it to elbow her captor in the gut.

Finally Caroline heard feet pounding against the payment.  Someone was coming to her rescue.  Thank God!  Sarah must have found help.  A siren suddenly wailed in the distance.  The driver of the van let out a vicious swearword.  “Leave her!  We have to get out of here.  That brat must have alerted the police.  We can’t afford to get caught.  Move!” the driver barked at his accomplice. 

The man holding Caroline brutally shoved her back and away so he could jump into the now moving van.  Caroline had not ceased her fighting and the extra momentum of the shove sent her hurtling toward the ground.  She tried to turn so she could break her fall, but she wasn’t fast enough.  The back of her head hit the hard concrete with a resounding thump.

She was out cold when Jason Dixon, the school resource officer got to her.  He lightly checked her for other wounds.  He was pretty sure a head injury was the only damage.  He couldn’t see anything to indicate a gun or knife wound.  And she had been conscience before the fall.  He’d seen her struggling with the suspect.  He’d also heard the hideous sound her head had made when it came in contact with the unforgiving concrete of the parking lot.  He wasn’t likely to forget it anytime soon.

An attempted abduction was the most excitement he’d seen since he became a deputy in this sleepy little town.  He knew one thing for sure, his boss Sheriff Cole Duncan was not going to be happy about this.  The man prided himself on running one of the safest counties in Florida, hell the southeast.  Nope the sheriff was not going to be happy at all.

The siren in the distance grew louder.  Jason watched as the large black SUV driven by his boss turned into the school parking lot and came to a sudden stop right beside him.  The grim look on his face spoke volumes.  

Cole Duncan jumped out of the SUV and ran over to his deputy.  “What happened here,” he demanded.  He recognized the woman on the ground as Caroline Johnson.  He’d been introduced to her by Abigail Montgomery several months before.  He thought Abigail had been trying to match-make and he had been interested in the lush redhead.  Caroline had been friendly but standoffish however, so Cole had not pursued her. 

The Montgomery family would be infuriated beyond belief.  They considered Caroline one of their own.  Add to that the fact that this happened on school grounds, oh boy.  Mason Blake, the school superintendent was going to be furious, and his wife Abigail Montgomery Blake was going to be out for blood!  He almost felt sorry for the perpetrators, almost.

Even though he’d been expecting it, the deputy was taken aback by the harshness of Cole’s voice.  It was disconcerting even though he knew it wasn’t directed toward him.  He’d better give his boss the facts pronto.  He gulped at the fury radiating from his boss.  “Um, Miss Johnson was giving a student, a Miss Sarah Wakefield, a ride home.  A van stopped in front of them and Miss Johnson instructed the student to run.  I was making my rounds of the school building when I saw Miss Wakefield running toward me.  She was waving her hands and screaming for help.  She told me a man in a white van was trying to take Ms. Johnson and she needed my help right away.”

Cole tightened his fists.  An attempted adduction in broad daylight on school grounds was the act of a desperate man.  He turned the full force of his stare on his deputy.  “Was she drugged?  I don’t see any blood.  Do we know why she is unconscious?”

The deputy gave a sharp shake of his head.  “I don’t know if she was drugged.  I saw her struggling with the kidnapper.  They heard me coming and took off.  There were at least two people, the driver and the man who detained the victim.  The guy holding her threw her to the ground and she hit her head.  I heard the thump all the way across the parking lot.”

“Damn it!  So we are probably dealing with a head injury.  I’ll get an ambulance out here and have her transported to the hospital.  She might as well be a Montgomery.  Mason is going to be furious that this happened at one of his schools.  He’s going to be on our case night and day until we solve this.  Speaking of Mason I better call him now.”

A young girl came running over to the lawmen.  Cole ordered her to stay back.  The girl gave him a belligerent stare and popped her hands on her hips in a defiant stance.  “I don’t think so.”  She ran over to the fallen woman and kneeled down beside her.   “What’s wrong with Caroline, err Ms. Johnson.”  Tears were streaming down the girls face.  Her defiant exterior had already crumbled.

The deputy looked at the sheriff.  “This is the young lady who was with Miss Johnson when the incident occurred.”   

Cole looked down at the frightened girl.  “We need to call your parents to let them know what happened.” He paused to make sure the girl was paying attention.  “And I know you already talked to officer Dixon, but I’m going to need an official statement for my records.”

Sarah wiped her eyes.  “It’s just my dad and me.  He’s in a very important meeting and I don’t know if you will be able to get in touch with him.  That’s why Caroline was taking me home.”

Cole’s eyebrow arched at the familiarity between teacher and student.  “How well do you know Ms. Johnson?”

“She used to date my dad, back when we all lived in Georgia.”  Sarah eyed the sheriff.  “Jay Davidson is my best friend here in Florida.  I’ve already called his mom to tell her what happened.  I’m sure she’s called her husband by now.”

Cole nodded his head.  “Thank you for the information, but I still have to call the superintendent’s office.  It’s protocol.” 

The ambulance drove up and two paramedics jumped out to tend to the still unconscious Caroline.  Sarah moved out of their way and let them do their work.  She watched them fit Caroline into a neck brace.  Then they carefully slid her onto a flat board before loading her into the back of the ambulance. 

Sarah looked at the sheriff.  I’m going to the hospital with Caroline.  My dad will find me there.  That’s where I’ll be if you need to ask more questions.”  She gave him a look that dared him to stop her.  He didn’t.  Sarah jumped in the back and sat in the corner, making sure she stayed out of the paramedics’ way.

Kyle looked up when his PA burst into the room.  “I’m sorry to interrupt Sir, but the sheriff is on line one.  He says it’s an emergency and he refuses to get off the line until he’s talked to you.”  She sent an apologetic look to everyone gathered around the conference table.

Kyle looked around the table at the various managers of each department of the business he had recently acquired and was trying to turn around.  Then he looked back to his PA.  “We were just wrapping up here anyway.  Please let the sheriff know I’ll be with him in just a minute.”

Kyle quickly concluded the meeting and ushered the other men out of his office.  Then he picked up his office phone and connected to line one.  “Hello this is Kyle Wakefield.  How may I help you?”

“Mr. Wakefield, I’m Sheriff Cole Duncan.” He wasted no time getting straight to the point.  “The best we can tell, your daughter Sarah and her teacher Caroline Johnson were the targets of an attempted kidnapping this afternoon.”

Kyle immediately shot up out of his chair and paced around the desk.  He fired out questions quicker than the sheriff could answer.  “Are they all right?  Where is Sarah now?  What exactly happened?”