TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES
By
DONALD WELLS
Table of Contents
Title Page
INTRODUCTION
TAKEN! A – THE GIRL
TAKEN! B – THE NEIGHBOR
TAKEN! C – THE MALL
TAKEN! D – THE BET
TAKEN! E – THE ELEVATOR
TAKEN! F – THE SLASHER
TAKEN! G – THE WITNESSES
TAKEN! H – THE SUSPECT
TAKEN! I – THE VISITOR
TAKEN! J – THE DEBT
TAKEN! K – THE ROOM
TAKEN! L – THE QUIET LITTLE TOWN
TAKEN! M – THE LETTER
TAKEN! N – THE DOG
TAKEN! O – THE RUSSIAN
TAKEN! P – THE OLD MAN
TAKEN! Q – THE CHAUFFEUR
TAKEN! R – THE ASSUMPTION
TAKEN! S – THE CRUSH
TAKEN! T – THE NAME
TAKEN! U – THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS
TAKEN! V – THE BOY
TAKEN! W – THE ONE
TAKEN! X – THE DUPE
TAKEN! Y – THE OTHER DR. WHITE
TAKEN! Z – THE CLOSE CALL
BONUS SECTION
TAKEN! & – THE SNEAK PEEK
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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DONALD WELLS
About The Author
Thank you!
COPYRIGHT
Further Reading: Blue Steele - Box Set - Captures 1-6
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
The TAKEN! Series continues to surprise me, and the thing that surprises me most about it, is that it is a series.
In June 2012, I wrote a short story titled TAKEN!, which was about a serial killer who was saved from his baser instincts by the love of a woman, a woman who, it just so happens, was the person he had chosen to become his first victim.
I liked the story a lot, and I wrote it within a few hours while I took a break from the novel I had been writing at the time, a book titled REDEMPTION.
I soon found that the characters in TAKEN! stayed on my mind, and before long, I began thinking of new stories to tell that featured them, and so I wrote TAKEN! 2, and then TAKEN! 3, then 4 and so on.
I was helplessly hooked on the TAKEN! Series by the time I finished TAKEN! 3, and after writing TAKEN! 9, which is one of my favorites, I knew that I would be writing the TAKEN! Series for the rest of my life, and it is my absolute favorite thing to write.
Now, as if the TAKEN! Series wasn’t enough, I soon spawned a second series based on a character from TAKEN! 6, a female bounty hunter named BLUE STEELE, and BLUE is up to six books and counting, and oh yeah, did I mention BLUE’s cousins, the CALIBERS?
The CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY has four books (soon to be five) and also a second series that features one of the characters as a much younger man, also, there’s the CALIBER Western Series that is comprised of three short stories.
Who knew that one little short story could spawn so much?
And oh yeah, getting back to the subject of surprises, the main character of TAKEN! doesn’t even have a name.
And now we have this book, TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES – 26 Original TAKEN! Tales.
Every story in this book was written as a gift for the members of my Mailing List who had signed up to learn of new releases (http://www.donaldwells.com/mailing-list-sign-up.html) and thousands of them read the Alphabet Tales while they were free on the TAKEN! Website (www.takenseries.com)
And this book is not the end of that practice, as TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES 2 is now in progress, and each of those tales will be initially free as well.
To all the fans of the TAKEN! Series, I say, THANK YOU!
And what do I say to those of you who aren’t fans, but who have somehow stumbled upon this book? To you, I say, hop on board, TAKEN!’s a great ride—and full of surprises.
DONALD WELLS
September 2014
TAKEN! A – THE GIRL
(The events in TAKEN! A take place between TAKEN! and TAKEN! 2)
The girl was nervous, but brave.
She didn’t have to do this, they could have found another way to trap the killer, but no, she insisted, and he suspected that she had a case of survivor’s guilt.
The plan was his wife’s idea, and it surprised him. While she didn’t disclose everything to the girl, she did reveal enough so that a smart girl like this one could come to some conclusions.
He liked the girl too. She had pluck. There aren’t many people who will willingly expose themselves to being attacked by a killer.
He didn’t think much of this killer. The man had no... elegance? No, elegance isn’t the right word, perhaps panache, or maybe just plain style, the man had no style. He was simply a butcher.
Three girls were found dead in their rented house. They had all been beaten and stabbed by a lunatic with no conscious. The girls were beautiful and since they were asleep in their beds at the time, were either nude or wearing very little, but the killer made no attempt to rape any of them.
No rape or lingering torture for this one, not this one, this one was all slash and dash.
The fourth girl sharing the house, this plucky little thing acting as bait, she had luck to thank for her survival.
After the killer broke into the house, he went room to room, and girl by girl he bound and gagged them. This one survived because of a habit. Apparently, when the killer opened her bedroom door and looked in, he saw a made bed and no one around. However, the girl was there, but she was seated on the floor, on the other side of the bed with earphones on as she bopped her head, with eyes closed to the beat of the music.
By the time she emerged from her room to brush her teeth in preparation for bed, the other girls had already been slaughtered and the killer was, as she put it, “Doing unspeakable things to their faces with his knife,”
She ran barefoot from the house with the killer giving chase. She screamed for help, but it was after two a.m. and by the time anyone woke and looked out the window, she and her pursuer had moved on.
She lost the killer when she hid behind the dumpster of a fast food restaurant and didn’t dare emerge from its shelter until the sun was bright in the sky. When she walked back to the home in a daze, she found it barred to her by police and news vans, then, moments later, her parents ran to her while shouting with joy. They had thought she was still in the house, murdered.
He and his wife heard about the butchery while working as consultants on another case, and when Jessica saw the girl on the news looking more angered than fearful by her ordeal, she insisted on meeting her.
The girl and his wife hit it off right away, although she seemed a bit standoffish towards him, but then, he has that effect on most people.
Amazingly, the police identified the culprit by a print left on one of the dead girls’ severed breasts and the girl recognized his face instantly from an array of mug shots. He had a long record as a second-story man, but apparently, he had graduated to mad killer.
Still, the print was only a partial and could belong to any of hundreds of men. Only the girl’s testimony would erase reasonable doubt. The killer had to know this, had to know that only the girl could put him away for certain, and also, he knew that a dead girl couldn’t testify.
Movement!
Someone was on the patio and attempting to gain entry. He looked over at the girl where she pretended to be asleep and saw that she was aware of it as w
ell, and he signaled her to lie still, to lay there, to bait the trap.
The killer entered more stealthily than he would have thought possible and made it to within three feet of the girl before he struck him on the back of the head and rendered him unconscious.
He looked down at the man.
And yes, it was Karl Hyatt.
“Sir?”
He glanced over at the girl and saw that she had tears in her eyes.
“Yes, Carly?”
“Thank you sir, and please thank Dr. White also.”
He studied her as he cinched handcuffs around Hyatt’s wrists.
“Why aren’t you calling the police?”
“If you wanted them here, they would be here, right?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do with—nevermind.”
“Carly, Jessica tells me that she’s offered you work, as a... researcher?”
“Yes sir.”
“Are you taking the job?”
“If you don’t mind sir,”
“No I don’t mind, I don’t mind at all,” he said, and afterward, he grabbed the killer and tossed him over his shoulder. “We’ll be in touch, Carly,”
“Yes sir, thank you sir.”
He sent her a nod and then walked off with his captured prey.
TAKEN! B – THE NEIGHBOR
(The events in TAKEN! B take place during TAKEN! 5)
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Virginia Jones sat up in bed.
Gunshots! More gunshots,
Virginia had just fallen asleep again after the earlier commotion over at Dr. White’s house, which also involved gunshots, along with an ambulance, the FBI, and the police.
Her husband, Bob, worked nights, and it was times like this that she hated his work schedule.
Virginia slipped out of bed and looked out the window. Down on the street was a man holding a gun in front of the police car that had been parked in front of the White residence. As the man moved away from the car, the streetlight revealed the slumped and bloody bodies of the officers.
“Oh Lord,” Virginia whispered.
The slayer of the cops walked towards Dr. White’s front door and, after reaching it, he began kicking at it.
Just as the door gave way, Virginia spotted Dr. White’s daughter, Jessica, climbing out a second story window and onto the roof of the porch, following her was her little sister, Gabby.
The teenager practically flew down the trellis attached to the side of the house and then caught her sister as she jumped down.
As the two girls ran across the street, Mrs. Jones hurried downstairs to let them in.
Jessica was banging on the door even as Virginia opened it.
“Mrs. Jones you have to help us. There’s a killer inside my house and so is my boyfriend, you have to get the police here before—”
BAM! BAM!
Two more shots, and these came from inside the house.
Virginia watched with sympathy as Jessica sank to her knees.
“Noooo,”
Little Gabby hugged her sister about the neck.
“Don’t cry, Jessie, please don’t cry.”
Virginia looked across the street as movement in the White’s doorway caught her eye.
“Jessica, look dear.”
Jessica raised her head and watched as the tall young man dragged the now wounded marauder from her house.
In an instant, Jessica’s demeanor changed from misery to elation and she rushed out the door.
“Mrs. Jones, please watch Gabby!”
Jessica flew into the tall boy’s arms and any fool could tell that they were in love.
“Gabby?”
“Huh?”
“I thought Martin Stewart’s boy, Kevin, was Jessica’s boyfriend.”
Gabby looked up with a big grin on her face.
“Not anymore.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
Mr. Henderson from down the block ran over to the young couple with his gun in hand, and took charge of watching the killer. As he did that, the young man walked to the back of Dr. White’s car and opened the rear. Moments later, he and Jessica were helping her father climb out of the trunk.
“Daddy!” Gabby cried, and rushed out the door and over to her father.
Virginia Jones smiled at the happy reunion, as her hall phone rang.
Gracious, who could be calling at this hour?
“Hello?”
“Ginny, Ginny, it’s me, Mary. I’m so sorry to wake you up, but Hannah hasn’t come home yet, I’ve tried all of her friends and no one’s seen her. You haven’t talked to her, have you?”
“No, Mary, but it’s not like her to stay out all night, is it?”
“Of course not, and I—wait, here she is now. She just pulled up in some boy’s car. Oh is she going to get an earful. I’m so sorry to have wakened you, Ginny.”
“You didn’t wake me, and have I got a story to tell you, but it can wait, go see to Hanna.”
Virginia heard a noise on the line that sounded like a door opening.
“Ginny, she just walked in; I’ll call you later.”
“All right, goodnight, Mary.”
Before the call ended, Virginia heard her sister-in-law scolding her niece.
“Hanna Jones! Where have you been? And just who was that young man?”
“His name is Jeffrey, and he’s my new boyfriend.”
“Don’t you walk away from me, young lady, now just what—”
CLICK
Virginia placed her phone back in its cradle and smiled at the ordinariness of her sister-in-law’s life, as outside her home, police and emergency personnel arrived and attempted to bring order to last night’s chaos.
She closed her door with a sigh and walked into the kitchen to make coffee, and waited for her husband to come home.
TAKEN! C – THE MALL
(The events in TAKEN! C take place eight years after the events in TAKEN! 5)
Jessica smiled at him as he took a seat on the bench.
They were at the mall with her fourteen-year-old sister, Gabriella, shopping for the perfect dress for Gabby’s first high school dance. He had tagged along just to be near Jessica, as the demands of her medical training and the responsibilities of his growing business left them little time to be together.
However, today they both had the day off and planned to spend every moment of it alone together, but things rarely go as planned.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Jessica said.
“Of course not, with your schedule, when else would you find the time to do this?”
“I promise to make it as quick as I can, and then the rest of the day is ours.”
Gabby was standing nearby and gazing into the display window of a clothing store. She had recently gone through a growth spurt and looked more like her big sister every day.
He glanced over at Gabby and she sent him a wave and a smile. He smiled back at her, while noticing the man with the camera who was taking pictures of her.
He looked back at Jessica.
“Take your time in the store. I’m sure that Gabby misses you too, and afterwards, we’ll all go to lunch.”
Jessica leaned over and kissed him.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
As Jessica and Gabby entered the store, he went back to watching the man with the camera.
The man was middle-aged, pudgy, and had acne scars on his face. The subjects of his camera lens all seemed to share the same traits; they were all girls, all very young, and all blond.
Two girls came along, they were both blond, not likely any older than eleven or twelve, and both were dressed in shorts, as the weather was warm. The man’s eyes followed them as his tongue crept out to moisten suddenly dry lips, and as the girls drew even with him, he took their picture.
“You two are beautiful,” the man said. “Have you ever thought about being models?”
The two girls giggled
at the man and kept walking.
“No, really, I can get you on TV.”
The girls’ laughter grew louder and the man stared after them with a foul look that bordered on hatred. After muttering a curse, he began to follow them.
He rose from his seat on the bench and walked over to look through the display window. Inside the store, Jessica had half a dozen dresses draped over her arm as Gabby pulled yet another one from the rack.
They would be awhile yet, good.
He followed the man with the camera as the man followed the girls, and he soon found himself near the ladies’ room.
As he stood behind a pillar, watching, the girls headed for the bathroom, however, just before they entered, one of the girls grabbed the other one by the arm and pulled her excitedly toward the display window of a store that specialized in posters, and the two girls squealed with excitement and hurried inside the store.
To his surprise, the man with the camera had taken his attention off the girls and was now staring at the door of the ladies’ room.
After two women left the bathroom, the man walked over and gave the door a tap.
“Building maintenance! Is anyone in there?”
A smile lit the man’s face as he realized the room was empty, and after looking around, he slipped inside.
As he headed for the bathroom door, he looked over and saw that the two little girls were busy gazing up at the posters on the walls and he decided that he had time to do what needed to be done.
He entered the ladies’ room as if he had every right to do so, and once inside, he found the man hiding in the last stall. The man was naked and his clothes sat neatly atop the toilet seat.
The man sent him a crooked smile.
“I can explain.”
Behind them, the bathroom door opened and a woman came in.
He shoved the man against the back wall while silencing his mouth with his hand, even as he shut the door on the stall with his foot. As they waited for the woman to leave, he reached over and grabbed the camera that was still hanging from the strap about the man’s neck. It was one of the new digital models.
When he got to the pictures of Gabby, he erased them, and then found further proof of the man’s depravity among earlier photos of under-aged girls. Just as the woman was leaving, the two girls came in while talking excitedly about the posters they had just purchased.
Taken! Alphabet Series - 26 Original Taken! Tales (Donald Wells' Taken! Series Book 14) Page 1
