Chapter 41

"We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts."
- Johnny D.

"ROSE HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

The panic that Traci had was contagious; adrenalin had begun to course through my veins. I do not think it was so much the words that had triggered my adrenal gland as the sheer alarm that had been in Traci's voice and face. Adrenalin was a useful tool in 'fight or flight' situations, but this was not one of them. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Didn't you hear me, Chad? Rose is gone! She must have been--"

"Shut your pie-hole, Woman!" I barked, regretting the words as soon as they had left my mouth.

I had never used those words or tone with my girlfriend before, but they seemed to have the desired effect. I knew that I could control my adrenalin better if I slipped into 'agent mode' and purged myself of all emotions, but I did not want to go that route if I could help it. I took a couple more cleansing breaths before I reopened my eyes and said, "Tell me what happened," as I got out of bed.

"I woke up earlier than usual, so I thought I would head on out to the kitchen, since Rose is usually up by now making breakfast. When she wasn't in the kitchen, I thought she had slept in, so I went up to her room to wake her up. She wasn't there! I searched the whole house, and I couldn't find her!"

The break that my breathing had caused seemed to have also calmed Traci somewhat, but the panic quickly crept back in as she told me what she knew. I did not bother getting dressed, though I glanced at my cigarette case on the computer desk as I strode by; nicotine could provide an offsetting reaction to the adrenalin.

As I followed Traci out of the bedroom, I asked, "Could she have maybe gone over to Pollyanna's?"

"No, I already called her. She doesn't know where Rose is either!"

Helvíti. Pollyanna must be worried sick if Traci's voice even had half the panic she had now when she talked to her. As we entered the living room, Traci started towards the stairs, only to come to a screeching halt when she realized that I was no longer following her. She quickly joined me at my side as I entered the foyer and examined the house alarm.

The fact that the alarm was still armed from when I had set it the previous night appeared to be a good sign. I entered in the appropriate sequence and brought up the log. The alarm had been disabled for fifteen seconds an hour and a half prior from the inside. That was the only change in status.

As soon as I turned away, Traci quickly led the way again, taking the stairs two at a time. When we reached the top, both Lori and Marge were standing in their respective doorways.

"What's going on?" Marge asked sleepily.

Traci urgently answered, "Rose has been kid--"

"It appears that Rose is not in the house," I interrupted Traci. Marge and Lori's eyes grew wide in surprise, and they followed us to Rose's room.

Unlike her backpack or school locker, Rose kept her room as immaculate as she did the rest of the house. I closed my eyes and visualized what the room had looked like the last time I had been in there. After about ten seconds, I opened my eyes and cast them about the room, trying to notice what was out of place. I saw her school backpack on the floor next to the door and, from the shape, it appeared that it contained her schoolbooks. The bed was made, which made me doubt Traci's assumption that Rose had been kidnapped even more.

I walked over to the closet and used one of my knuckles to slide back its door. While I did not have every article of Rose's clothing memorized, I did take note that one of her favorite dresses was missing. There was a shoebox on the floor of the closet that was slightly askew, so I squatted down to examine it. It took me a few seconds to recall that it was the same box that Pollyanna had given to Rose for her birthday. Again, I used one of my knuckles to knock off the lid and saw that the container was empty. I stood up and scanned the closet again, and this time I noticed that the handbag that she had also received for her birthday was missing as well.

Turning around, I was about to tell my theory to the three women who had watched my examination when a blinking light coming from the computer monitor on the desk caught my attention. Rose always turned off her computer when it was not in use, so I quickly walked over to it and, using the back of my hand, I nudged the mouse. The sound of the computer coming out of hibernation mode filled the room and the screen sprang to life, showing a note written in Notepad was on the screen. Despite Marge, Lori, and Traci coming over to see what it said, I read it aloud.

"Everyone, I went to see my dad. I'm sorry that I did not tell you my plan. I'll call at lunchtime. Rose."

I turned around and began to make my way to the phone that was besides Rose's bed when Traci said, "I already tried her cell phone, and she did not answer. She must have been kidnapped, otherwise she would have answered!"

Apparently, Traci had found out Rose's cell phone number. The idea that a phone call would go unanswered was alien to my dear Traci. Instead of telling her what I thought about her theory of Rose being kidnapped, I continued my way to the phone. On the bedside table next to the phone was a box of tissues, so I pulled out a few and used them to pick up the handset. I was going to use one of my knuckles to dial, but I saw that Pollyanna was number one on the speed dial. Using my knuckle, I pressed that button.

"Rose?!?"

I could sense trepidation in Pollyanna's voice and was slightly annoyed at Traci for making her earlier phone call. I tried to use a calm and reassuring voice when I spoke. "Pollyanna, it's Chad. Rose appears to be fine. It seems that she went to see her father."

"Oh... oh!" she replied. While the first 'oh' was one of relief, the second one was of surprise.

After a pregnant pause from Pollyanna, I could sense that she was debating whether to tell me something. Taking a gamble, I asked, "Pollyanna, do you know where Rose's father is incarcerated?"

Again, Pollyanna let out a sigh of relief as she answered, "He's at the Santa Barbara County Jail."

"Thanks. I'll see you at school, and if I hear anything before then, I'll let you know," I reassured her.

"Okay. Thanks, Chad. Bye."

After I told the Caspars what Pollyanna told me, Traci asked, "How did you know he was in jail?"

Shrugging, I told her, "I didn't. I merely thought that he might be in jail or prison from the letters that Rose received. See, the envelopes were prepaid, but the address was handwritten. Also, the return address looked like it was stamped on, but the name above it was also handwritten. However, I only saw them briefly as the postal worker handed them to Rose, so I wasn't to sure about what I'd seen."

"I think you're right, Chad. When I was in the backseat with her, I didn't see the return address part, but I do remember seeing that it was a prepaid envelope," commented Marge.

Traci asked, "Why didn't Rose tell us that her father was in jail?"

After a moment's thought, I theorized, "I don't think Rose really meant to keep it a secret. I think she told Pollyanna and left the decision to tell us up to her."

"Still, Pollyanna should have told us," Traci replied.

"Love, why is it that Helen Blocker and Julie Jennings seem to know that I shave my pubic hair?" I asked with a smile.

Traci glanced down at my exposed cock before protesting, "All I told them was that giving head was fun, especially if the pubes were shaved! Besides, you never told me not to tell anyone."

I did not mind others knowing that I shaved my pubic hair, and I was glad that she had only told her fellow cheerleaders instead of the entire health class. Still... "Love, it is not that you can't be trusted to keep a secret; you've kept my relationships with your sister and mother under wraps. It is just that sometimes you don't know what should be kept private, is all."

Traci gave a little pout but she did not rebut what I said. Instead, she asked, "You don't think she was kidnapped?"

I nodded and said, "I'm ninety-three percent sure that Rose went down to see her father." As I listed off my observations, I went back to the computer and took ahold of the mouse. Despite my confidence, I refrained from touching the keyboard with my fingertips and instead relied on the mouse to navigate my way. I launched the Firefox web browser and discovered that the history was cleared. Figuring that the cache was cleared, as well, I decided to examine the cookies. I found one for Greyhound.com that was set to expire in a year from the previous day.

"Ninety-seven percent sure, now," I commented as I shutdown the computer. While the video feeds in the house were no longer being recorded on the computer in the master bedroom, I could always slip down to the panic room and check the computer down there. I figured that it would cache at least the past seventy-two hours and knew that I would be down there if we did not receive a phone call at lunch.

"Shit! We need to get ready for school!"

When the bell rang for lunch, Lori and I were out of our math class like bats out of hell. Despite the fact that we practically ran to the Quad, Michelle, Traci, and Pollyanna were already at the table that we ate at when we got there. Lori and I sat down, and only a few minutes later, Traci's phone rang.

"Rose! Are you okay? We've been worried about you! When did... oh, okay."

Traci tried not to look disappointed when she handed me her phone and said, "She wants to talk to you."

"Hi, Rose. Were you able to see your father?"

I could picture the tears of joy that flowed from her eyes as she answered, "I was! They even let me stay a little longer than they should have. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what I was doing."

"What's done is done. Don't worry about it. What time does your bus get back?"

"It arrives at Log Cabin at five forty-seven," Rose answered. Log Cabin was a small convenience store that was only a few blocks from the school. The Greyhound buses usually skipped Central City and instead made stops at San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria. They did have a few 'milk run' routes that would stop at the smaller towns along their route, which explained why Rose had such a long time until she was able to return.

"Okay. We'll pick you up at Log Cabin at five forty-seven," I told her.

"You don't need to do that! It's not far from home, and I can walk," Rose protested.

"We'll pick you up at Log Cabin at five forty-seven," I repeated, a tad more firmly.

"Okay. Thanks, Chad. Can you pass the phone to Pollyanna?"

I handed the phone to Pollyanna, and the conversation that they had lasted just under thirty seconds. After Pollyanna told Rose that she loved her, she ended the call and handed the phone back to a crestfallen Traci. "Call your mom and let her know that Rose is fine and that her bus arrives at Log Cabin at five forty-seven."

As Traci scrolled through her phonebook looking up Marge's cell phone number, she mused, "Rose could have at least talked to me."

"She didn't want to use up all of her minutes. Besides, she knew that lunch ends in twenty minutes, and she wanted you to have enough time to eat." Pollyanna replied, smiling. I had only seen Pollyanna briefly in the morning during the break, but I somehow felt that it was the first time she had smiled all day.

Lori was getting up, since it appeared that everything was okay. "Can I use your car this afternoon?" I asked her.

"Sure. I just need to grab my track bag from the trunk. I can grab it now or we can meet at my car after school."

I told Lori, "After school's good. I'll need to check with Coach Forrest to see if he'll let me get out of practice early.

Nodding, she said, "I'm sure Coach King will let me out of practice, as well. Parking lot at five thirty?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay. I told Teddy that I was going to be eating lunch with him, so I had better get going."

I smiled, and everyone except Traci bid her farewell. When Traci finished her call with her mom, she asked what was going on. When I told her about meeting in the parking lot at five thirty, she said she should be able to do that, since there was not a game, so the cheerleaders would be pretty much done with practice by then.

"We could meet earlier so that we can have enough time to pick you up at your house," I told Pollyanna.

Shaking her head, she said, "I can wait here. I'll just go to the library."

"Or Mom could give you a ride," offered Michelle. "I'm pretty sure she can take us both there."

"Okay, let's do that. Actually, I'll just go home with you, then. I'll just give Mom a call and let her know what's going on," Pollyanna told Michelle.

I thought about offering Traci to make the call, but my dear love had been teased well enough. I began to eat the lunch that Rose had prepared. In our rush to leave the house that morning, we had discovered our lunches in the refrigerator. She must have gotten up quite early to make our lunches before she snuck out of the house.

When Pollyanna ended her call, she told Michelle, "Mom said that she'll meet us at Log Cabin. She said that she could even pick us up if your mom can't take us."

"Doesn't she have a yoga class to teach at that time?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, she does, but she said that she can start it off and have one of the advanced students take over."

"Your mom teaches yoga?" I asked Pollyanna.

Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Yeah. She's flexible and can tie herself in knots. I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if she could lick her o--"

Pollyanna cut herself off from what she was about to reveal, but everyone at the table had a very strong idea of where she had been going. Her blush was as red as her lover's hair as everybody else began to laugh. The image of a nude Irene doing what Pollyanna had been about to imply filled my mind, and I felt a slight stirring in my loins. While Mrs. Huntington might be no spring chicken, she was far from being an old hen.

Lori let out a small chuckle after Traci theorized, "The kidnappers forced Rose to call, and they knew that I would be able to tell something was wrong, so that's why they didn't want me talking to her."

I was sitting next to Traci in the backseat of Lori's car, and I gave her cheek a kiss, saying, "If she's not on the bus, then we'll make sure to tell the police that."

Traci flashed me a wry grin, having come to the understanding that she had jumped to a wild conclusion, so she had made her previous statement in jest. Wrapping my arm around Traci's shoulders, we spent the remainder of the brief trip to the convenience store in silence.

Marge was leaning against the side of the store when we pulled into the parking lot. I did not see her car, so I figured she must have walked. She appeared to have spotted us as well, because she was at the side of the car by the time we were getting out.

Traci wrinkled her nose slightly after hugging her mom, and she gave Marge a strange look. Marge seemed to increase the tempo that she was chewing her gum and after I gave Marge a hug, I realized that Traci must have detected the faint scent of tobacco that was in her hair and clothes. As stressful as the morning had been, I did not blame Marge for partaking in a cigarette or two. Actually, I was slightly jealous, since I had been unable to.

It appeared that Traci was going to confront her mother about what she had smelled when Jean's minivan pulled into the parking lot. The space next to Lori's car was open, so she took that one. As Pollyanna and Michelle were exiting through the sliding side door of the minivan, Irene pulled into the parking lot and parked on the other side of Jean.

We all gathered in a cluster, and after greetings were exchanged, I told Irene, "Pollyanna says that you're very flexible."

Traci and Michelle began to chuckle, while Pollyanna turned an interesting shade of red. Irene smiled at the reaction that my comment had caused and nodded. She was dressed in a leotard, and despite the baggy sweatshirt that she had donned, I could not help but note what a fantastic body she had despite her age. Lifting her leg up, she took hold of her ankle, and before I knew it, she had her foot next to her ear. She reached out and rested her left hand on Pollyanna's shoulder, though it did not seem to be actually necessary for her to maintain her balance.

"Damn! You should take up yoga," I mentioned to Traci after I had let out a low whistle.

Traci rolled her eyes and proceeded to copy Mrs. Huntington's stance. She was still dressed in the sweats she had worn for cheerleading practice, yet she could not get her foot as close to her ear as Irene had hers; it was nevertheless impressive. Lori grinned and matched Traci's pose, though her foot was closer to her ear than Traci's was. I could not help but wonder what other people were thinking when three of the eight of us were standing on one foot in such outrageous poses.

Once everyone had both feet firmly planted on earth again, Irene said, "Yoga is not just about flexibility; it is a path of mental and physical purification. Though, it can really spice up your sex life."

"Mom!" Pollyanna protested while the rest of us began to chuckle.

As the laughter died down, I noticed Traci taking out her cell phone and checking its screen. A small frown crossed her pretty face, so I asked her, "What's wrong?"

"Rose hasn't called."

"Well, she is on a bus, after all. She doesn't want to disturb her fellow passengers by talking on the phone," I conjectured.

Traci only rolled her eyes slightly when she told me, "That's why God created text-messaging."

I was about to tell her my doubts about the Almighty creating instant messaging when her phone began to ring. She did not bother seeing whom it was from and instead simply brought it up to her ear as she pressed the receive button.

"Hello? Hello?" Traci spoke into the phone.

The connection must have been broken, because Traci started to lower the phone from her ear. Before she could look up who had called her, the phone rang once more, and Traci quickly answered it.