Chapter 13
As soon as the door of the van closed with her father unconscious inside, Rae took off running.
She literally ran as fast as she could, not even looking behind.
She did fear for her own life, but she knew that if she took much time to go back home, the chance that they would be able to help her dad were much lower.
So now she ran. Okay, she didn't make it to the house running. She was totally exhausted by the time she arrived at Sam Wilson's house – she only went there because it was closer than her own home.
Besides, Sam was a close friend of her dad and she knew that Sam would be home now. As she stood in front of his door and senselessly rung the doorbell, she turned around. She watched the road, but no one was there. Good. If Steve somehow managed to free himself, they might come for her or her siblings as well.
There was another reason why Rae didn't go to her parents' house first.
Her mother seemed to be under a lot of stress right now and Rae was aware of her parents' crumbling marriage.
She knew that her mum would probably find out anyway, because there was simply no way she wouldn't find out, but she didn't want to tell her right now.
Sam opened the door, he looked happy to see her, but then his expression crumbled upon seeing the wild, panicked look on her face.
“Natalia? What happened?”
“Can you let me in?” She asked quickly, checking the road behind her again. He frowned but let her in. He led her to the kitchen where he asked again “What happened?”
This time, she gave him an answer. “They have dad, Sam, they have dad!” She couldn't stop herself from screaming the words frantically, throwing them at Sam, as if they'd hurt her if they stayed on her tongue for too long. In a way, they did.
Sam looked even more confused now, but she was out of her mind and didn't really know where to start or how to explain. Her heart was still beating way too fast and al she could think about was the darkness and the coldness of the van and about the panic in her father's eyes.
Suddenly, she wondered if Steve would've given up and gone with the strange men if it weren't her, but a stranger. She knew the lengths that her father was willing to go for his family and friends, but not for some random person he didn't know.
She pushed the thought into the back of her mind and stared at Sam with wide, wild eyes. “Do you understand, Sam? They took him! We have to do something! They have him, Sam, please, you have to do something!” She begged.
Sam reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch away from him. He frowned, but didn't ask.
“Okay, Rae, I try to understand, alright? I'll try. But you'll have to try to calm down a little so you can tell me.” He spoke the words in a soft voice he knew was soothing for the girl.
She gathered her thoughts and nodded, running a hand through her brown her and wiping the sweat off her forehead. She took a few deep breaths as instructed by Sam. He looked at her with growing concern. “Alright, you're doing good, Rae. Can you talk to me now?”
She needed an extra minute to collect her thoughts before nodding. “Yeah, sorry …” She looked up at him and he tried a small smile.
“Now, tell me, what happened to your dad?” He kept his concern out of his voice.
“He … I was just walking home from school and then a van pulled up beside me and they knocked me out … I knew one of them. Rumlow, Brock Rumlow.” She said the name with desperation, hoping Sam would remember him too. Sam did, but he didn't really let it show, he just nodded.
“And then?” He asked.
“He … I woke up in the back of the van and didn't know where I w-was.” she said, holding back tears. “They called him, my dad I mean, or something and then he was there all of a sudden. I don't – I can't … They said I could go now, but they said that they wouldn't let him go or something like that, I don't know anymore.”
Sam's dark brown eyes widened with shock and he resisted the urge to cover his mouth with a hand. It wasn't really his style anyway.
“Okay, and when was that? Did you call the police?”
Natalia's eyes widened. “What? No, of course not! I don't even know if I still have my phone with me.”