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  The surgery would be minimally invasive and only take an hour, but her surgeon wanted her to stay overnight at the hospital for observation. Deirdre and Kenny had met with the surgeon and gone over every eventuality. Deirdre had suffered too long from the compression not to take every precaution. Although the mortality risk was low with the kyphoplasty surgery, it was still a risk. She could have more damage than could be detected, be left paralyzed, or worse, she could have an allergic reaction to the bone cement that was used as glue and inserted into the bone cavity or develop an infection that could result in death. To Deirdre, the risk was worth being able to function normally again.

  Bright and early on a clear September Monday morning, Deirdre checked in to the hospital and was taken by wheelchair up to a room she would occupy for the next two days. A typical hospital room on the third floor with a window, a bathroom, and a small closet. A hospital gown lay across the bed with a pair of non-slip hospital socks beside it.

  Kenny looked out the window at the hospital campus below. The leaves on the multitude of trees were beginning to change colors and the grass was beginning to dull. The weather-beaten statue of St. Paul looked down on the people as they hurried to and fro. Deirdre’s cell phone rang just as she sat on the side of the bed, and she dug the phone out of her purse and accepted the call.

  “Hello? Yes, this is Deirdre Whitt… who? Oh, yes, of course, Commissioner, how are you?”

  Kenny sat beside her, trying to listen in, and Deirdre shooed her away.

  “You are? Oh, that’s wonderful. You’re what? Oh, well… that’s even better. Yes, I can’t wait to see you as well.”

  As soon as Deirdre ended the call, Kenny fired a barrage of questions at her. “Are you two dating? Is he coming to the party?”

  “Yes, he’s coming to your party Thursday night. He said he can’t wait to see you again.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think he was talking about me, Grandma,” Kenny teased, and stood up.

  “Makenna, sit down. I want to talk with you,” Deirdre instructed, patting the side of her hospital bed. She would be wheeled into surgery in a few minutes, and she had something on her mind.

  Kenny obeyed, sitting beside Deirdre on the side of the bed. Deirdre held out her hand and Kenny held it in both of hers. Deirdre had insisted that Kenny leave her diamond rings at home, not because she found them embarrassing, which she did, but because she didn’t want distractions while she was a patient whose life was in other people’s care.

  “Everything all right, Grandma?”

  “In case something happens to me—”

  “No, Grandma, nothing will happen.”

  “Don’t interrupt me. I have things I want to say that I should have said sooner. I have always been so proud of you, but, honey, I’m worried. You seemed to be following in your mother’s footsteps.”

  “Why would you say that?” Kenny asked, then lowered her eyes. “Yeah, I know. But I’m not using drugs, Grandma, I promise. Just drinking a little.”

  When Kenny was old enough to ask about her mother, Deirdre told her the truth. Jaylen Whitt was seventeen when she gave birth to Kenny. She hung around long enough to sign the papers giving her parents guardianship, then she went back to her drugs. Deirdre always thought of Kenny as a miracle baby, because she was born clean and sober.

  “I’ve always been proud of you, honey. You’ve achieved so much already— college scholarships, working several jobs at a time, taking care of me. I couldn’t be prouder of you, and I have faith that you will find your path again. Just know how much I love you, Makenna.”

  “I love you so much, Grandma.”

  There was a tap on the door, a nurse wearing scrubs and a mask walked in. “Mrs. Whitt, it’s time to get you ready,” she announced.

  “Oh, all right. Let’s get this over with,” Deirdre said. “Will you be all right, Makenna?”

  “Sure. I’ll be with your posse and Sophie in the waiting room,” she replied.

  Deirdre laughed. “Good. Behave yourself and don’t buy the hospital while I’m in surgery.”

  “No promises,” Kenny joked, but then became introspective. “Grandma, please…”

  “I love you, honey. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “I love you, too, Grandma.”

  Kenny kissed Deidra on the forehead and then walked down the hall to the waiting area. She sat down beside Sophie. Deirdre’s friends sat across from them, chatting.

  “So, Soph. How’s the job going?” Kenny asked, hoping to distract herself.

  “Just fine. I’ve got some applications for maids and groundskeepers that I want you to look over. They’ve passed the background check and can start work immediately.”

  “Soph, if you like them then I like them. I don’t need to see their applications. You have carte blanche.”

  “Thank you, but I won’t hire someone without your input. It might be someone that you don’t like for whatever reason. I think one of the applicants was the same woman claiming to be your mother last week.”

  “That’s crazy. Okay. I’ll take a look at them after we get Grandma home. Thanks for being here, by the way.”

  “Your grandmother and I have become fast friends. I wouldn’t be anywhere else right now.”

  Sophie clasped her hands together and prayed quietly. “Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén”

  “Thank you for that,” Kenny said, as Sophie did the sign of the cross across her shoulders. “I don’t know what you prayed, but I appreciate it in any language. Listen, I’m going to go find a soda and a pastry. Need anything?”

  “No, I’m fine. They have coffee over there,” she replied.

  Kenny walked over to Deirdre’s three friends. “I appreciate you all being here for my Grandma,” she said as she knelt in front of them. “I’m going to the cafeteria. Can I bring you back anything?”

  They shook their heads in unison. “That’s sweet of you, dear, but we’re fine. Thank you.”

  Kenny nodded and stood up. She knew two of the three ladies. One of them, Alice, had been Deirdre’s best friend for years. Thinking about what her grandmother had said earlier, Kenny was grateful that these were true friends. She envied them.

  She made her way down the stairs to the first floor and followed the signs to the cafeteria. The cafeteria wasn’t open yet but the sitting area with the vending machines was. The dining room was moderately large and completely empty. Some of the small round tables still had the chairs stacked on top of them. Kenny pulled out her wallet and shuffled through her twenties and fifties until she found a dollar bill. I need to carry more singles. Sliding the bill in and pressing the button for a diet cola, she bent down and pulled it out. Turning as she popped the top, she nearly ran into a man dressed in surgical scrubs.

  “Dr. Blanchett? Aren’t you supposed to be operating on my grandmother right now?”

  “What do you mean? She checked herself out twenty minutes ago. Against medical advice, I might add.”

  Kenny glared at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Why would she do that?”

  “I don’t know, but she did. I guess she got cold feet. It’s her legal right to change her mind.”

  Her blood pressure elevated as her stomach dropped. She’d only been in the cafeteria for seven or eight minutes. Wouldn’t Deirdre have called for her? Was he saying something?

  “I just assumed you had taken her home.”

  She knew in her heart that something was terribly wrong. Even if her grandmother had changed her mind, she wouldn’t leave on her own. Hell, she could barely walk as it was. The room began to spin, and she had to grab the soda machine to keep from falling.

  The doctor grabbed her arm. “Are you all right?”

  Kenny ignored him and ran into the surgery waiting room on wobbly legs. She desperately clung to the hope that her grandmother would be waiting for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. “Sophie. Sophie!”

 
“¿Qué ha pasado?”

  Kenny was panting, as if she had run all the way, which she had. But it was fear that constricted her lungs. And her face was pale, deathly pale, her gray eyes almost white with terror.

  “Kenny. What’s happened?” Sophie repeated in English.

  “Grandma. Have you seen Grandma?” Kenny asked breathlessly.

  “No, she’s still in surgery… isn’t she?”

  Deirdre’s friends joined them with concerned looks and excited voices.

  “What’s going on?” Alice demanded.

  “What’s happened?” Bonnie asked.

  She could see the fear in their eyes, and Kenny knew that she needed to calm down. She took a cleansing breath and said, “Apparently, Grandma changed her mind and decided not to have the surgery.”

  “Dios mío.” Sophie exclaimed. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Kenny replied.

  “But, then, where is she?” Bonnie questioned.

  “She probably didn’t want to face us and took a cab home,” Kenny suggested, knowing instinctively that it was a lie.

  “Excuse me. Are you Ms. Whitt’s granddaughter?” an older woman wearing a pink jacket asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kenny replied eagerly, hoping the woman knew where her grandmother was.

  “A nurse asked me to give you this envelope,” the volunteer said, holding out a white business envelope.

  Kenny took the envelope. “A nurse?”

  “Yes. She was dressed in scrubs and wore rubber gloves and a mask.”

  “Okay, thank you,” Kenny said, looking at the envelope in frustration. “Why would a nurse be giving me an envelope?”

  “It’s probably the bill. They’ll charge you whether Deirdre has the surgery or not,” Sophie jested halfheartedly.

  “You’re probably right.” Kenny tore off the flap and pulled out a piece of paper. She unfolded the paper and began reading. Again, her face turned white and her blood pressure caused her ears to ring.

  “What does it say, Kenny?” Sophie asked, peering over her shoulder.

  Kenny carefully refolded the paper and slid it back into the envelope. “Just what I said. Grandma is waiting for us at home.” Kenny put her hand on Betty’s shoulder. “She, um, asked me to tell you that she appreciates all you’ve done for her, but she’s too embarrassed to see any of you right now.”

  “That’s just the oddest thing,” Bonnie said.

  Kenny shrugged. “Give her a couple of weeks, I’m sure she’ll feel better by then. Thank you again for coming, I know it meant a lot to her. Do you ladies need me to call a taxi for you?”

  “No, we came in my car,” Betty said. “You’ll call us if she comes to her senses?”

  Kenny chuckled unenthusiastically. “She’ll call you herself. Just give her a little time, okay?”

  “We understand. Take care of your grandma, Kenny,” Betty charged.

  “I will, I promise.” Kenny watched as the ladies walked out of the room and let out a breath when they were gone.

  “Okay, what’s really going on, Kenny?” Sophie asked. “You’re as white as a sheet.”

  “Grandma’s been kidnapped.”

  Chapter Four

  Monday, Day of the Kidnapping

  “¡Madre de Dios!” Sophie cried.

  Kenny grabbed her arm. “Shh, Sophie. Calm down. We can’t let anyone know.”

  “Are you loca? We have to call the police,” she insisted.

  “No, we can’t. If we do, they will kill Grandma.”

  Sophie’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Then what will you do, Kenny?”

  Kenny looked at her. At the concern on her face and the tears in her eyes. She wanted to cry, too. She wanted to scream and curse and hit something. It was because of that cursed lottery that her grandmother was taken. If only she hadn’t been so cavalier with the money. If only she had recognized the greed, not only in herself, but in other people, and taken steps to protect those she loved. Kenny would gladly give it all back in a heartbeat to save the woman she considered to be her mother.

  “Kenny?”

  “What?”

  “What will you do now?”

  “Oh, uh, I’ll pay the ransom, of course.” She knew it wasn’t that easy. She knew from her studies that the kidnapped victim rarely lived after the ransom had been paid. Suddenly, with the flip of a switch, she had to be the responsible one. She had to grow up and take charge, something she had forgotten when she won the lottery. Her grandmother may have been kidnapped because of the money, but by God, she would also be saved because of it. “Listen, Sophie, don’t worry about hiring anyone, okay? I can’t handle strangers in the house right now.”

  “Good, I agree.”

  “I’m going back to Grandma’s room and look around. She might have left some of her things in there. I also need to get a copy of her discharge papers and talk to the nurse who came to get her.”

  Sophie wiped her tears away. “I’m coming with you.”

  Kenny smiled and squeezed her arm. “Thank you.”

  Kenny and Sophie walked into Deirdre’s hospital room and found housekeeping making the bed. Kenny spotted a familiar purse on the cleaning cart. She had bought it for her grandmother on a shopping spree that Deirdre refused to participate in at first. But when Kenny said she would waste her money and buy a saddle bag and other sundry items for her, Deirdre changed her mind. It wasn’t as big a spree as Kenny was hoping for, but a purse and matching wallet was a start.

  “That’s my grandma’s purse,” she exclaimed, snatching the small clasp bag from the cart.

  “I was taking it to security as soon as I finished up here,” the housekeeper explained quickly.

  “Was there anything else of hers left behind?” Kenny asked, rifling through the purse. There was a wallet, small hairbrush, lipstick, tissue, ink pen, checkbook and some chewing gum. Her grandmother would chew gum when the pain in her back became too much. It was a way to distract herself. However, it hadn’t been working, lately, and it never worked completely. “Wait. Where’s her cell phone?”

  The housekeeper shrugged. “I didn’t find one. Maybe she took it with her?”

  She wouldn’t just leave it behind. Maybe the housekeeper was right, and she took it with her. God, I hope so. Kenny began opening drawers as Sophie checked the bathroom. They searched the entire room, including under the bed, the trash that the housekeeper had thrown in the bag on her cart, and even the see-through needle disposal container. Nothing else was found.

  Kenny returned to the purse and opened the wallet. She looked in every pocket. Credit cards but no cash, and a few coins, left untouched. There was a photo of Kenny as a baby in the arms of a woman she had never seen before. Could that be her mother? Why wouldn’t her grandmother have shown her that photo before? Kenny had seen plenty of pictures of herself as a baby with her grandparents and as she grew up. She knew she was loved and never pressed beyond the causal question about her mother. She found herself wishing she had. She just wasn’t sure why it was important now.

  Deirdre hadn’t talked about Kenny’s mother, Jaylen, much, because it was too painful for her. She carried the burden and crippling guilt of not being able to save her only child from selling her soul for drugs. Terrified that Kenny would fall prey to the same thing, Deirdre was always overprotective when it came to drugs, even over-the-counter drugs. When her back began bothering her and the doctor suggested a prescription, she refused it. She told Kenny that it cost too much, when in actuality, she didn’t want them in the house tempting her granddaughter, even though she was past those dangerous teenage years by then.

  ***

  “Smile pretty for the camera, darling.”

  “I will not. Not until you tell me why you’re doing this,” Deidre demanded.

  “I told you, we just want the money.”

  “For drugs, no doubt,” she said as she stood in front of a wall in a small room. It was a room she was very familiar with. One she had rai
sed two children in. The first was her daughter, the second, her granddaughter. She held up the piece of paper and frowned. “And why won’t you tell me who is helping you?”

  “Now if I told you that, there would be nothing to look forward to, would there?”

  Her kidnapper had shown up in her hospital room dressed as a patient transport tech. But instead of a gurney, which was protocol when transporting a patient to surgery holding, he was pushing a wheelchair. He tried to sound intimidating when he threatened her granddaughter, but he couldn’t quite pull it off. Deidre went with him though, because he indicated that he wasn’t working alone. The threat was real, even if the man was simple-minded. She realized quickly that he was the lackey, that someone else was calling the shots.

  He had shown her pictures on his cell phone of Kenny working at the plant. It was enough to convince Deidre to check out against medical advice.

  “How did you know that I would be at the hospital today?” she asked, holding up a legal-sized sheet of paper that had been written on. Looking at the text, she rolled her eyes.

  “Your granddaughter told me. Well, actually, she told a reporter on one of those news shows that you would be having surgery. She was quite excited that the first thing she would spend her money on was your surgery.”

  “It wasn’t actually the first thing,” Deidre mumbled to herself.

  “As soon as we heard that, we came up with this idea. Pretty good for only having a few days to plan it, don’t you think?”