December 9, 2017
11:45am
Harrison, Fink, & Timberlake, Attorneys At Law
598 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
“She really is beautiful Justin.”
I smile up at him, and adjust Mackayla in my arms as she takes her second bottle. “Thanks, Barry. I hope it’s okay that she’s here. I wanted to give Hannah a break.”
Despite the fact that I’m an emotional mess, I can still fake my mood like nothing at all is happening to me.
“Of course.” He winks and comes over to give my daughter a soft kiss on the top of the head. “Ah, that youth. I can still remember when my kids were this age. It’s a beautiful thing, Justin. I”m glad you’re taking advantage of Hannah’s studio time.”
So am I.
“We’ll meet after lunch.” He nods. “Go over some depositions.”
“Sounds great.” I smile down at my daughter and rock her gently.
With one final wave he walks out of my office, closing the door behind him. If only he knew, in another hour, he’ll never see me again. It’s not that I’m glad to be rid of him. Actually, I might miss the guy a little bit. He’s pulled me out of a rut more than once, and always stood by my side. But there are no choices. This is my chance…our chance, to get out and change our lives for the better.
Shelby came into my office this morning, right after eight am, started making a big deal over the baby and all that. Once we were completely alone though, she shut my door and moved a chair up to the front of my desk, putting some paperwork down as a decoy.
“Maggie called me,” she whispered. “Last night. We met for dinner.”
I eyed her silently, as I continued to hold Mack in my arms.
“I’m going to help you.”
It took a lot not to get emotional. I knew I couldn’t afford it with so many people around and the chance that Fitz might randomly pop in to check on me. Hannah laid out the rules early this morning before she left for work. I wasn’t allowed to take the baby out of the building for any reason, and if I did, Fitz would be waiting for me. She would call me on my lunch hour, to make sure that I was eating in my office…
Only I wouldn’t be.
God willing, I’d be in the car with Maggie, speeding towards the Mexican border with my daughter.
“She gave me this.” She cautiously slid the metal object across my desk. “She said you would know what it is.”
I did. It was the tool that would remove the tracking device strapped to my leg. I immediately shoved it in my pocket. “Can you watch her for minute?”
“Um, sure.”
I handed my daughter off to my secretary and walked swiftly to the mens room, where I carefully removed the device, being sure not to shut it off. I shoved it into the pocket of my blazer, so it would still track my movements, and I quickly made it back into my office.
“When the lunch hour starts, I’ll meet you back here. You’ll have to trust me. The only way we can get the baby out of here, is if I put her inside a box, and carry her outside as if I’m running to the post office. Maggie is going to meet me a few blocks away, and then drive back around to the fire escape. She said there’s a back stairwell you both know well. She wants you to take that exit. She’ll be waiting outside the door.”
It was so risky. I knew if Mack made any type of sounds while hidden in the box, it would give Shelby away for sure, and Hannah would stop at nothing to make her pay for trying to help me escape.
“Are you sure you want to do this? There’s a lot of risk involved, Shel. Especially for you.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I’m sure.”
I couldn’t help it. I put the baby down in her carrier and hugged Shelby, in the back of my mind vowing to send her some type of compensation as soon as Maggie and I were settled and in safety. “Thank you.”
The next few hours practically unnerved me. I second guessed the plan about five times, and when Hannah called me unexpectedly around ten thirty, I nearly jumped out of my skin. She asked the normal questions, wanted to know if I had given Mack her medicine. She said my little date with Mackayla seemed to be going better than she expected, that maybe we should do it more often. I held my composure together, somehow. That phone call seemed to go on forever, and I was never more thankful when she told me she would see me back at the house that afternoon.
I knew it would be the last time I would speak to her.
“Sir.”
Shelby casually walks into my office. I eye the clock on my desk. Twelve o’clock on the dot.
“What is it Shelby?”
“Did you want me to mail those documents?” She glances over her shoulder to the now empty office behind her. Everyone has gone to lunch. We have just minutes before Fitz might get curious.
“Yes. Here.”
She shuts the door, and I get Mack out of her carrier. She’s asleep, thankfully, but I have no idea how long she’ll stay that way inside of a box. Shelby lifts the top off, revealing a small pile of blankets covering the inside of it, and I flinch as I carefully place my baby inside.
“Please be careful.” I whisper.
She puts a few empty envelopes inside, on top of Mack, hoping to use them as a decoy if she has to open the box for any reason, then she puts the top back on. The baby doesn’t wake. I let out a long sigh.
“I saw that guard milling around outside the building…Fitz right?”
I nod. “Is he coming in?”
“Not so far, but I doubt we have much time.”
“Tell Maggie if I don’t come out of the fire exit in time, to just take the baby and leave.”
She nods and presses her lips together. “Good luck. Be at the back stairwell exit in ten minutes.”
“Go.”
She does it, seriously, calmly. I follow her to my office door, and she gives me a final glance back over her shoulder as she enters the elevator.
Then she’s gone, and so is my baby.
I walk back inside my office, and drop the tracking device into Mack’s carrier, praying that it will be enough to keep Fitz unaware of what’s really happening. I wait exactly ten minutes, and then walk out of my office, pulling my overcoat on and reaching the entrance to my old hiding place in just seconds.
The elevator dings.
I hear those heavy footsteps.
Fitz.
I thrust the door open and disappear behind it, getting the flashlight from its normal place and racing down the stairs. I know I only have minutes. He’s going to know something is up the moment he walks into my office.
An eternity seems to pass before I’m able to make it through the fire door, and out into the alleyway. I look to my left…dead end. I look to my right.
“Justin!”
Maggie races into my arms, and I hold her tight. Several feet behind her in the distance, is the car that I’m sure we’re going to be taking, at least for the moment. It’s a run of the mill Toyota sedan, something she probably put fake plates on, so we won’t be tracked easily.
“Where’s Mack?”
“Backseat,” she pants harshly and takes my hand.
“Fitz is in the office. We can’t wait.”
She nods, and we start racing to the car without another moment of hesitation. She jumps into the drivers seat, and I get in the back with the box containing my daughter.
“Hold on.”
She slams on the gas, and we speed down the city street. I grip the box for dear life, removing the top after I hear Mack begin to make some noise. She’s perfectly fine, squealing and giggling when she sees me, once I’ve removed the envelopes placed on top of her.
“Dump your phone.” Maggie calls back to me. “They can trace you otherwise.”
I don’t think, I pull it out of my pocket and chuck it out the window. “So what’s the plan.”
“We have to settle down for the night so we can regroup and set a plan for the next few days. I have some ideas where we can stop, I guess…it just depends on how things go.”
How things go, meaning if Fitz and his goons get on our tail.
“How many bottles has the baby taken today?”
“Two. She’ll be good until at least five or six.” I look down at my daughter and she’s fallen back to sleep. Damn, I guess boxes don’t bother her. She can sleep through anything. Definitely my kid. “I should tell you, she’s allergic to dairy. By some miracle, I was able to get that out of Hannah last night. She also said that Mack might be asthmatic, so we’ll have to be careful. I have medication to give her, but I think it’s only enough to last another couple of days.”
“Shit.” She blows out a breath. “All right, well, we’ll have to get to a supermarket and stock up on formula then. I only brought some cans of regular, not soy. The medication might be a problem though, at least until we get out of the immediate area. You’ll have to ration it out.”
I can tell that she’s scared, even though she doesn’t want me to see it. I can’t blame her. The moment she agreed to do this with me, she put her life on the line. I wish I could tell her to turn back, but it’s too late for that. By now, Fitz has made the call to Hannah, who has surely notified the police, making up some story about how I kidnapped our daughter. By tomorrow, I know every law enforcement agency on the east coast will be searching for me.
But, God willing, they won’t be searching for Maggie. I’m praying that Hannah is too stupid to figure that part out.
Deep down, I know she isn’t. That within the next couple of days she’ll realize Maggie is missing too.
I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.
“Try to rest,” she tells me gently. “I’ll wake you when we’re close, okay?”
“All right.” I lean back against the seat, putting the box next to me on the seat. “We’re going to need a car seat, you know.”
“I thought of that. It’s in the trunk. I didn’t have time to get it in the car before I came to get you. We’ll stop in a while and I’ll fix it.”
She focuses back on the road, her eyes darting here and there, worriedly. “Mags.”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
Her tension seems to ease for just moments. “I love you too.”
“Will you marry me Maggie?”
She eyes me in the rearview. “Justin…I know you’re overcome with emotion right now but…”
“I mean it.”
She sighs a little, and a slight smile takes over her expression. “A Mexican wedding?”
“Sounds festive.”
It’s the first time I’ve really laughed in months.
“Let’s get there first. For now, get some sleep.”
She turns the radio up slightly, telling me that she’s done talking for the moment. It takes a long time, but my eyes finally close, and I let myself fall into a long, peaceful sleep. The first one I’ve had in a very long time.
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