Girl in Trouble (An Alex Mercer Thriller Book 1)

by Stacy Claflin

  Laughing, she tried to find the ground, but couldn't. She was going to have to 'swim' through them to reach the platform.

  "Ready or not, here I come!" Dad squatted and then jumped.

  Ariana squealed and tried unsuccessfully to run. Dad landed near her, sending a geyser of balls flying out everywhere. Laughing, he threw himself down right next to her.

  She gasped for breath and landed next to him, putting an arm around him. He wrapped both arms around her and squeezed. "You know, I honestly don't think I've ever had more fun in my life."

  Her heart nearly exploded in her chest. "Really?"

  "I mean it."

  Ari leaned her head against his shoulder. "Me, too."

  Dad stroked her hair for a moment.

  Her whole life was completely perfect. She had Dad to herself, she was finally at the Ball Palace, and her party had been awesome. The only thing she could possibly ask for would be for him to live closer so she could see him more. But she had this perfect moment, and she wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

  He gasped for air. "Are you as tired as me?"

  "Nope." She giggled.

  Dad kissed the top of her head. "That's good. Do you know why?"

  "Why?"

  "Because I still have to tag you."

  She shrieked and scrambled away. He laughed and chased after her, having the advantage of being able to touch the floor. She barely made it to the platform before he could tag her. Ari climbed up, her eyes focused on a wobbly bridge up ahead. At least it had rails so she wouldn't have to worry about falling—just remaining steady.

  Dad teased and taunted her, nearly tagging her. Finally, she reached the bridge. She clung to the sides and ran, barely able to stand up as the bridge swayed back and forth while twisting.

  Luckily, he seemed to have just as hard of a time with it as she did. Finally, she made it to the end. The high platform went in four different directions. She headed to the right and found herself at the top of a line of five tall, steep slides that had big bumps going all the way down.

  Just as she sat down at the top of one of the middle ones, Dad plopped himself next to her and winked. She pushed herself and went flying down. Dad caught up in just a moment, and they went down together. He could have easily reached over and tagged her, but he didn't.

  They landed in another pool of plastic balls. He reached down and pulled a bunch into his arms. "Maybe we should play tag with balls. If I hit you, you're it."

  Ariana gasped in protest. "You can't!"

  "Why not?"

  She scrunched her face, thinking. "Because it's cheating."

  "Are you sure?" He aimed a red ball at her.

  "Yes!" But she ran, anyway. A ball bounced against her back. She spun around to find Dad laughing.

  "Gotcha!"

  Ariana scooped up as many balls as she could, chucking them at him in rapid-fire succession. He laughed and threw just as many balls her way. It was impossible to tell who tagged who with balls bouncing off each other left and right.

  Finally, Dad dropped his pile and held his arms in the air. "I give up. You win—I don't stand a chance."

  "If that's the case…" Ari aimed for him and threw a ball, hitting him square in the forehead.

  His eyes widened and he brought his hands to his chest. "You got me!" He fell backward with his arms outstretched.

  "Funny." Ariana waited for him to get up.

  He didn't.

  "Dad."

  No movement.

  "Dad?" Ariana crept over toward him until she was right next to him.

  He didn't budge. In fact, he didn't even appear to be breathing.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, he reached out and grabbed her wrists. Ariana fell over, laughing.

  "Gotcha." Dad grinned, his eyes shining.

  Ari gasped for air. "I'm usually really hard to scare, you know."

  "Then I must be the master."

  "I think so."

  They held each other's gazes for a moment before bursting into laughter. Dad put his arm around Ari. "You know what? It's getting late—"

  "Oh." Ari's heart sank.

  "So, maybe I should stay in my old room. Then tomorrow we can spend the day together."

  Excitement ran through her. "Really?" Not just tonight, but the next day, too?

  He nodded. "If I'm going to use a sick day, I may as well make the most of it."

  Ariana beamed. "Does that mean we can stay here longer?"

  "As long as you want."

  "I heard it stays open until midnight."

  His face turned serious. "I think both your moms would have my throat if I kept you out that late."

  She couldn't disagree. "Let's go try the jousting."

  "Let me just text my boss before I forget."

  "Okay."

  He pulled out his phone and Ari looked around. They were at the other end of the building, maybe there were some new characters or items she could find for her game. She grabbed her phone, too, and went to the app, holding the screen up to look.

  Her heart skipped a beat. Near an emergency exit stood a zombie bride. She'd only heard rumors about them. Nobody she knew had actually seen or captured one. Yet there it was, and nobody was close enough to get it.

  "I'm gonna run over there," she said. "I have to get that zombie bride."

  Dad nodded, not looking away from the screen.

  "I can go?"

  He nodded again.

  "Yes!" She threw her fist into the air and scrambled for the exit. Nobody else had grabbed it yet, and she also couldn't see anyone headed that way.

  Ari's heart felt like it would explode as she made her way over. She watched as the zombie bride paced by the door, flesh dripping onto the ground. It was completely gross—and totally cool.

  Finally, she got close enough to capture it. Ari tapped the screen, and a moment later, the zombie bride was hers! Her screen flashed and played music, congratulating her on such a rare find.

  She couldn't wait to get to school on Monday and show everyone.

  "Oh, darn," came a male voice from behind. "I missed the zombie bride. Did you get it?"

  Ari turned around.

  The voice belonged to a tall, skinny man about the age of Papi. He was tan with thin, balding hair. The man smiled, exuding friendliness. "Did you get it?"

  She nodded. "Yeah. I didn't even know it was real. Do you play?"

  "Who doesn't?" He arched a dark, bushy brow. His eyes shone with excitement. "Can I see the bride?"

  "Sure." She held out her screen.

  He leaned closer, studying it. "You're so lucky. Did you hear that someone saw a pumpkin king out in the parking lot?"

  Ariana's mouth dropped. "For real?" The king was even rarer than the bride.

  "That's what people are saying, but the king is fast. Nobody who has seen it could nab it."

  Ari's mind rushed. What if she could get it?

  "Want me to show you where it's supposed to be?"

  She studied the man. He seemed super nice, but she knew all the stranger safety rules. She'd be stupid to go out with him… even if he did know where a pumpkin king was.

  "I should get back to my dad."

  He nodded. "Of course. Well, if you change your mind, let me know. You can even bring your dad. Maybe between the three of us, we can get that king for you."

  She hesitated. If he was bad, he wouldn't tell her to bring her dad to meet him. She glanced over at him. He was still texting. A kidnapper would just grab her and run, right?

  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad just to go outside—not way out into the parking lot. Just out the door to look. If she could catch the king, it really would be the perfect ending to the most amazing day.

  "Do you want to check?" asked the man.

  Ariana glanced back and forth between her dad and the exit. Part of her was telling her not to go. Lectures from her parents ran through her head, but she really wanted the king. It would only be a min
ute, then she could run back inside.

  Text

  Alex hit send and took a deep breath. Darren had really given him a hard time about one sick day. It had been well over six months since Alex had used a sick day. His boss could've been more understanding, but all he cared about was getting the job done.

  His boss needed to get used to this because Alex was going to start taking more Saturdays off to spend with Ariana.

  He jammed his phone back into his pocket and glanced around.

  Where was Ariana? Had she decided to play hide and seek? She'd said something to Alex while he had been text-arguing with his greedy boss.

  What had she said? Something about…? He couldn't remember. He'd been too focused on his idiot boss.

  He glanced around again. With all the kids and teens running around, shouting, it was hard to think.

  Why hadn't he stopped texting for a moment when she was talking to him?

  Alex scratched his head, squinted, and looked around again, this time paying closer attention.

  Some kids shouted on his left, breaking his concentration. Reflexively, he turned in that direction.

  A girl who looked just like Ari from behind was leaving with a balding man in a jean jacket. The girl had the same blueish-green colored jacket as Ariana. The same ponytail, too.

  His heart sank and his eyes widened.

  It was Ariana.

  "No!" He burst into a run, terror seizing him. The stupid plastic balls made it hard for him to find his footing.

  What was Ari doing? Hadn't anyone taught her to stay away from strangers?

  He had to get to her. They seemed to be walking in slow motion, yet he couldn't move any faster than they were.

  Finally, he broke free of the ball pit.

  "Ariana! Stop!"

  The man and his daughter turned a corner up ahead. It may as well have been miles away.

  "Stop them!"

  No one noticed him. Or the man walking away with Ariana.

  His throat closed up. He forced his legs to move faster. Everything moved too slowly, except for that man and Ariana.

  "Stop them!" His voice was high and squeaky.

  Alex's pulse raced, making it hard to breathe. He rounded the same corner they had, but now they were out of sight.

  They could have gone anywhere—the arcade, the food court, or even outside.

  His stomach twisted in tight knots. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

  He released a string of profanities and ran over to the man selling tickets. "Have you seen my daughter?"

  "What does she look like?"

  "You just sold us tickets to get inside! You don't remember?"

  The dude shrugged. "Do you know how many people come and go around here?"

  Alex swore again. "Did you see a little girl about this high,"—he held his hand to his side, just below his chest—"with dark brown hair full of sparkles?"

  "Maybe." He played with his goatee. "Not sure."

  "You're useless!" Alex ran to the arcade and glanced around. No little girls.

  He ran to the exit.

  "You're going to have to pay to get in again, you know."

  Alex would have it out with that little punk later. He ran outside. Thankfully the bright overhead lights made it easy enough to scan the parking lot.

  He saw them.

  At the far end of the parking lot, Ariana held up her phone as if showing him something on the screen.

  "Ari!" he screamed, his voice shrill and cutting his throat. "Ariana!"

  Neither seemed to hear him.

  He burst into a run, his heart pounding against his ribcage. Alex had to dart around parked cars, but finally he neared them. He could see Ari's profile—it was definitely her.

  Alex studied the man's face. He was just a tanned, skinny balding guy who looked like he'd been through a lot because of the deep lines around his eyes and mouth. His cheeks were a bit sunken, but otherwise there was nothing striking about the man.

  "Ariana!" He was so close, yet so far. He continued running.

  That time, she turned. The man wrapped an arm around her.

  "Dad!" Ari called, fear in her eyes.

  The man covered her mouth, hoisted her up, and ran.

  Alex's blood turned cold. "Stop!"

  He didn't. In fact, he ran around the corner of the warehouse.

  Alex caught up just in time to see the man stuff Ariana into an already-running black SUV. The man jumped inside and slammed the door shut.

  Pulse drumming in his ears, Alex ran faster. He got closer to the vehicle, and closer still.

  He reached for the door.

  The SUV squealed away just as his hand grasped air rather than clasping the handle.

  "No!" Alex tried to make out the license plate, but it was caked in mud. Not one number or letter showed. Even the make and model of the car had been hidden by dirt and grime.

  He ran after it, managing to keep up until it tore out of the parking lot. The tires squealed again as they turned the corner.

  Alex continued running, but the SUV had to be going at least twice the legal speed. It turned onto a main street, going out of sight.

  Determined, he continued running, gasping for air and crying out for Ariana. By the time he reached the main road, the vehicle was out of sight.

  He ran his hands through his hair and looked up and down the street for any clues.

  There was no point.

  She was gone.

  Searching

  Alex waved his arms like a maniac, trying to flag someone down. He needed to get into a car and chase down that bastard. Not even a single car slowed to help him.

  He stopped, rubbed the back of his neck, and pulled at his shirt's collar.

  What was he supposed to do now? If he went back to the ball place, he would be going away from her. But he didn't know where she was. On the other hand, he could get into his car and try to find the jerk. He knew what the kidnapper looked like and he could easily spot that dirty SUV.

  Alex turned around and ran back to the parking lot. His mind raced out of control. He needed to think clearly.

  The police. He needed to call them. They could put every last one of their men on this.

  He stopped and took deep breaths as he pulled out the phone and dialed 911.

  "Nine-one-one," said a bored-sounding lady. "What's your emergency?"

  "My daughter…" Alex gasped for air. "She's been kidnapped."

  "What? Where are you, sir?"

  What was the name of that place? He checked the sign on the warehouse. "The Ball Palace." It was too dark to make out any road signs.

  "Over near Wilson Avenue?"

  "Yeah." That sounded right.

  "Stay where you are. I'm sending officers over right now. Are you inside or outside the building?"

  "Outside." Alex started walking again and headed for the entrance.

  The operator asked him a series of questions and Alex described what Ariana looked like, what the kidnapper looked like, and what he could tell her about the SUV.

  By the time he reached the warehouse, he could already hear sirens in the distance. He leaned against a pole, rubbed his arm, and glanced all around.

  This couldn't be happening. But it was. Ariana had been snatched on his watch—right before his eyes—and he'd been unable to stop it. And to think he'd thought he was a bad father before. Now he took the award.

  "The officers are there," said the operator. "I'm going to hang up now."

  "Sure." Alex ended the call.

  The sirens grew louder and flashing lights brighter as the police cars turned into the parking lot and all stopped around him. There were at least four or five of them.

  Alex ran over to the first officer out of a cruiser. "They went that way." He pointed toward the main street. "He took her in a black SUV. It was caked in dirt and mud. The man—"

  He pulled out a tablet and slid his finger around the screen. "Slow down. What's your name? Her name? We nee
d a description and a picture. Do you—?"

  "She went that way!" He pointed again, this time with more flair. "Someone needs to go after them!"

  "Sir, you need to calm down."

  "Calm down?" Alex shouted. "My daughter has been kidnapped! He could be hurting her right now."

  A female officer came over and put a hand on his arm. "We need to know this information, sir. It'll give us the best chance at finding your daughter."

  "No, chasing down that SUV is the best way to get her back!"

  Why had he bothered calling the cops? They hadn't helped much when his sister had been kidnapped. What made him think anything would be different now?

  "Sir?" asked the female officer. "What's your name?"

  Alex threw his head back, hitting the pole. "Alex Mercer."

  Her eyes widened. "Alex Mercer? You mean the brother of Macy Mercer?"

  "Yes! I'm the brother of the kidnapped girl from twelve years ago. Now, can you get my daughter?"

  A murmur of whispers surrounded Alex as the police officers realized the connection. The only two kidnappings in their small town were both within the same family.

  "Just find her," he pleaded.

  Discussion

  Zoey Carter put the last of the leftover sandwiches into her parents' fridge. At least all the messes were cleaned and the food was now put away. It had been another great party—the only thing that would have made it better would have been if Alex hadn't shown up. But Ariana had wanted him there so badly, it would have ruined it for her.

  At least she had the memory of the look on his face when she'd shown him her new engagement ring. The shock, the hurt. Now maybe he felt a little bit of what he'd done to her.

  Kellen came in and wrapped an arm around her. "Are we leaving the decorations up, sweetie?"

  She gave him a quick kiss. "Yeah. Ari adores them. She'll probably want to keep them up until Thanksgiving."

  He smiled and rubbed her shoulders. "That's so cute. You ready to go? I'm exhausted."

  "Me, too, but you can keep doing that." Zoey closed her eyes and relaxed her head as he continued massaging.

  "There you two are." Kenji—otherwise known as her dad—came into the room and smiled at the couple. "Another great party, wouldn't you say?"