Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty Nine
“Stacey-Ann.” Ellie stirred awake, her daughter’s name on her lips.

“Ellie?” Carson had helplessly watched her wake up like this for two weeks.

It was killing him faster, than not knowing where his daughter was. He was a father and a husband. His main duty in life was to his family, to protect and keep them safe, but he felt like a spectator. He was a bloody FBI agent for crying out loud! How was it possible he could help others, but when it came to his family he failed time and time again? What good was he if he couldn’t even keep his family safe? And now, they were cursed to spend every waking hour in the bureau and passing the night on the couch in his office, waiting for a lead to his daughter.

Ellie opened her eyes and stared at him, “Where is she?”

“Ellsa still has her.”

Ellie cringed away from him, fresh tears spilling out of her swollen eyes. “How could she do this to me, how could she?”

Carson lifted her up and laid under her, before he held her against his chest, hugging her tight. “She’s evil and she wants to hurt us.”

“But why?”

“She hates us. She hates that we love each other and that we are happy.”

She pushed herself up to look at him. “I understand that, but she couldn’t be the one who kidnapped Stacey-Ann. She doesn’t like children.”

Carson put his hand on her cheek. He loved her naivety and how hard she tried to see the good in everyone. “Who else could it be?”

Ellie’s face creased as she cried, “I should have just let her walk. The moment she stood up, I knew I had to come home. I didn’t want you to miss it. And now she might never...”

Carson placed a finger over her lips. Shaking his head, “Don’t say that. She’ll be fine.”

“She had her first birthday all alone and scared, without us to protect her, or tell her how much we love her! I want my daughter back Dale!”

Carson bit down on his emotions. This was his fault, he was supposed to protect her and now she’s in the hands of a crazy woman. He placed his hand over his unborn son, “Please calm down, for the baby’s sake.”

Audrey pushed open his office door. “It wasn’t Ellsa who took Stacey-Ann.” She held up two pictures for Ellie, “Do you recognize them?”

“He’s the bodyguard, but I don’t know who that woman is. Is she the one who took my baby?”

Audrey nodded. “They were lucky our cameras were down, it gave them a head start. We got these from the surveillance videos across the street, the paper work finally came through. And another thing, Ellsa is here screaming the house down.”

Ellie nodded, pushing herself off Dale, “I knew she couldn’t hurt me like this. I’ll go talk to her.”

“Just because she’s not the one in the picture, doesn’t mean she wasn’t behind it,” Carson warned. Ellie looked at him for a moment before she left. A part of her was sure Ellsa didn’t do it. But a part of her wasn’t, Dale was making some sense.

When she got to the case room, Ellsa was cuffed on the chair yelling her lungs out. She stopped when she saw Ellie, “What the hell is going on here?”

“Did you take my daughter?”

“No and you should have told me this days ago! But I know who did, my bodyguard and his stupid girlfriend!” She pulled at the cuffs, “Someone, get these things off me now!”

“Why? They match your outfit,” Gwen jeered.

Carson sat on the desk next to her. “How do we know you aren’t involved in the kidnapping?”

“One, she is my niece and the only kid I like. And I’ll probably like the next one, but there is no guarantee. And two, why would I want to extort myself?”

“What?”

“Half an hour ago they called, asking for two million dollars, of which I don’t have!”

Ellie moved closer to her, “What do you mean they want money?”

“The bodyguard must have seen the cabin and thought we were rich. If he only knew it was borrowed.”

Ellie swayed on her feet. She felt like she was going to collapse again. Things just seemed to be getting worse by the hour.

Carson jumped forward and held on to her. She looked so pale and fragile it made him frantic and scared, “I should take you to the hospital.”

She rubbed her fingers over her eyes to clear the dark spots, “No, I’m fine. What are we going to do?”

Ellsa tugged at the cuffs again, “That’s what I came here to ask, when the red head pounced on me.”

“I’m going to go off topic for a minute,” Richard began, “Ellsa, why did you make the rest of us think Ellie and Stacey-Ann were dead.”

She smiled, looking at Carson, “I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

“So you punished me for rejecting you by keeping my family hidden!”

She shrugged her shoulder. “That, and the fact that I don’t trust any of you. Case and point, it has been two weeks and you still haven’t found my niece.”

Richard nodded, “Understandable. So did that cop really try to run you over or did you help him into that poll?”

Ellsa chuckled, “Unbelievable. You guys will keep protecting him even in his death. I want my phone call.”

“Not yet.”

Ellie reached into Carson’s pocket and pulled out a phone. “Here, call Daniel.”

“Ellie!” Carson exclaimed.

“The only reason Ellsa was in front of that car, was because she pushed me out of the way. That man had every intention of running us both over!”

That cop was always a sore subject when it came to her. Any reference to him, set her blood boiling.

“How well do you know Carson?” Doran threw in, hoping to delay the call. With Daniel there, they wouldn’t get anything out of her.

“Ellie introduced us.”

Ellie looked at her surprised, “You set us up on a blind date. You gave me his name. We talked about him before our second date, remember?”

Ellsa held the phone up to her ear, “I forgot to tell you. I called my friend and she sent me his information. Your blind date was a rich, white Deland Carson. He doesn’t like his first name- with good reason- so he goes by Dale. How could I have known there would be another one at the restaurant? Anyway it worked out well for you, so what’s the biggy?”