She made a grab for his phone. “You can’t call anyone or he’ll hurt Aiden.”
“He who? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know yet,” she admitted. “Just hold off on the police for a minute and let me check on my sitter and her kids. I’m going inside.” She used her elbow to nudge aside the broken door, calling Rachel’s name again. Daniel followed, silent as a shadow. She found her friend’s cell phone under the toe kick of the kitchen island, the screen cracked.
As the ringing died and the voice mail message came through her phone, Shannon caught the unmistakable sound of crying children from the other side of the basement door. The doorknob was broken off, preventing their escape.
“Rachel? Boys? Are you okay?”
The crying faded and she heard shushing noises. “Shannon, is that you?”
“Yes.” Relieved, she felt her hammering pulse ease a bit, though her friend’s voice was faint and full of pain. “Are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“No. No police!” Rachel coughed and sputtered, tried to talk again. “I’m fine. The boys are fine. They said no police.”
They. So more than one person attacked her neighbor, kidnapped her son. “I know. It’s okay,” Shannon assured her. “She sounds weak,” she murmured to Daniel. “How do we get her out?”
Daniel ran his hands over the door hinges. “On it. Give me a second.” He jogged out of the house.
As she spoke through the door with the boys, they confirmed Rachel’s claim that they weren’t injured. She hoped the same held true for their mother.
Daniel returned, tool belt slung over his shoulder. He made quick work of popping out the hinges and Rachel and her boys emerged from the basement.
For a long moment, Rachel clung to Shannon, quaking from the ordeal. When she finally sat down at the kitchen table, her brown eyes were filled with worry and sorrow. Her gaze shifted between Shannon and Daniel. “You didn’t call the police? He’s not a cop?”
“No,” Shannon replied. “This is my boss, Daniel Jennings. He followed me when I left the job site.”
“Thank God.” Rachel hugged her boys close. “Oh, that’s horrible and I know it.” She pressed her hands to her face, hugged her boys again. “They took Aiden. I’m sorry.” Tears flooded her eyes, rolled down her cheeks. “They promised to come back if we called anyone. Not that I had a phone to use down there. How did you know?”
Shannon couldn’t say the words, just pulled up the messages and showed Rachel. Daniel, too. No sense hiding the truth of this fiasco from him now. He scowled for a long moment at the phone, but he didn’t say anything.
Meeting Shannon’s gaze, Rachel only cried harder. Daniel handed her a roll of paper towels. “They had Aiden before I knew what was going on,” she said, blotting her face dry. “I’m so sorry, Shannon. You know I love him like my own.”
“I know.” She sat down and hugged her friend, taking and offering comfort through an unthinkable crisis. “They didn’t hurt your boys?”
“These two seem to be fine,” Daniel said gently. He had the twins perched on stools at the kitchen island and had given them each a juice box. He handed Rachel a bottle of water. “Tell us how it went down.”
“I heard a loud bang near the gate and suddenly two men stormed into the yard, out of nowhere.” She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and dabbed at her eyes.
“They smashed the gate like Hulk,” one of the twins reported, while his brother nodded.
“I was over there—” she pointed “—at the sink, watching the boys play while I cleaned up breakfast. And...” She coughed again.
“Take your time.” Shannon urged her to sip the water.
Rachel obliged. “One of them had my boys,” she continued. “The other was hauling Aiden off the swing, toward the gate.
“There was no time to react. I grabbed my phone to call for help, but it was too late. The one with the twins kicked the door in and shoved his way inside with my boys.” She went over and laid a hand on each head. “He pushed them through the basement door. I screamed and he sprayed something in my face. Knocked my phone out of my hand.” Lost in the recollection, she stared at the cracked phone screen.
“How long ago?” Daniel prompted.
“Two hours, maybe?” She squinted at the oven clock. “No, a little more than that. We’d just had breakfast.”
Shannon’s vision blurred with tears. Two hours was a big head start. “They only called me a few minutes ago. They could be anywhere with Aiden by now.”
“Did he say anything?” Daniel asked.
“Told me not to make a report or—or else.”
Daniel’s nostrils flared and Shannon had the feeling he was suppressing a string of choice words and opinions unfit for the ears of little boys.
“Did they say anything to you guys?” Daniel asked the twins.
“They were bossy,” the first twin replied.
“And mean,” his brother added. “They smelled like spaghetti.”
“Seriously?” Daniel cocked his head.
The boys nodded in unison.
Rachel shrugged. “Maybe. Whatever he sprayed in my face made me groggy and choked me. I woke up on the landing, the boys crying over me and trying to wake me up.”
“You always wake up when we cry,” one twin declared.
“We can take you to a hospital,” Daniel offered. “Get you checked out.”
“I’m fine,” Rachel said.
“The cough may be more related to the spray,” he said. “You shouldn’t take the chance.”
“Not now, not today,” she insisted. “What are you going to do?” she asked Shannon.
What could she do? “I’m not sure,” Shannon confessed, staring at her phone. “I won’t report it,” she promised Rachel.
“You have to,” Daniel countered. “The kidnappers are gone, coming back isn’t smart.”
She shook her head as Rachel gasped in fear. “I believe the threats. I won’t put this family at risk.” She pulled Rachel into another hug. “I don’t know why this happened, but I don’t want you in the middle of it.”
“The men this morning put me in the middle of it. You’re one of my best friends. You and Aiden are family. Whatever you need, we’ll help.”
Moved beyond words, Shannon could only hug her again.
Daniel pulled out his phone. “I’m calling one of the guys to take care of
