It had been a long week, and it felt good knowing the first round of holiday excitement was over.
Sandi had decided to take the morning off.
She curled her long slim body into her favorite chair and reached for the book she had started the week before Thanksgiving.
She so enjoyed this spot. Whenever things got hectic, she would get herself a cup of hot tea, a good book to read and head for this very place. It was like having her own little sanctuary.
If needed, she would wrap herself in a soft throw always kept on the arm of the chair. Some days she might not even read but sat with her eyes closed as the bright sunlight soothed her mind and body. Usually, after an hour or so, she would once again be ready to deal with all the little frustrations that were part of everyday life.
It surprised her somewhat when the doorbell chimed. Jim had left early, and the girls were both at school. This was Jo’s last week before Christmas break, and Annie would be at play-school until Jim picked her up at 2:30.
She looked at the clock on the mantle; it was only 10:30. She hadn’t expected anyone out and wondered who it could be. Then the doorbell once again broke the silence.
Stretching, she did not hurry as she went to the door, but as she looked through the decorative glass panel, she saw two uniformed police officers waiting on the opposite side.
Quickly she unlatched and opened the door.
“Can I help you?” she asked. “Is there something wrong?”
The male officer looked solemn and held out a badge showing his identification. “Sargent Dwayne Parker, Delaware Township Police Department, Ma’am. May we come in?”
Opening the door wider, she stepped back and allowed them to enter the house.
“Are you Sandi Benning?”
“Yes, sir, I am. What is going on?” Sandi’s voice felt suddenly weak. “Has there been an accident?”
The officer held up a picture for Sandi to look at and asked, “Do you know this woman?”
Sandi’s hand came to her mouth. “Yes! Oh, God! That is my friend Jen Lucio! What happened to her? Is she— dead?” Sandi appeared as if she was going to be sick as she looked at the photograph.
Jen’s hair was matted and bloody, both of her eyes were swollen. It was hard to tell if they were open or shut. There were large purple bruises on the arm that hung limply over the side of the stretcher, on which she was lying.
“She was found early this morning. Apparently, she was attacked as she was closing. So far, all we have is what she could tell us. Do you know a man named Sam? We were not able to get a last name. However, she is concerned that you may be in danger.”
“Sam? He is the father of my youngest daughter. We lived together when she was a baby, but we haven’t seen him in a long time. Surely you can’t think he did this?”
“Where is your daughter now?”
“Annie? Why do you ask? She is at play-school.” Suddenly, Sandi felt as if she could not breathe. “Oh! My God! Do you think?”
The officer continued, “We are not suggesting anything, but we need to make sure—”
Sandi was already headed toward the phone.
Before she had a chance to lift the receiver, it started to ring. Confused, she only hesitated for a moment before picking it up. “Hello?”
The voice of the young woman at the other end of the line spoke in short frantic bursts. “Mrs. Benning, Mrs. Benning! This is Bev over at Fun Stuff Playschool. Mrs. Benning, something awful has happened!”
“A man, Mrs. Benning…. there was a man who came here. He just grabbed her! I’m so sorry! He took Annie right off the playground!”
Sandi gave a muffled scream and heard no more of what the hysterical girl on the phone was saying. She simply buckled at the knees as the female officer grabbed her to break her fall. Sargent Parker pried the phone out of Sandi’s hand as they guided her and helped her sit in the nearest chair.
“To whom am I speaking? This is Sargent Parker, Delaware Police. You need to tell me exactly what has happened.”
Within minutes, the officer had gotten the basic details of Annie’s abduction and dispatched extra officers to the site of the daycare.
Officer Dunn sat beside Sandi until she had calmed herself enough that she was able to give her phone numbers to get in touch with Jim and the family.
It was almost 10:00 when Sam pulled alongside the curb and just around the corner from the small house with the fenced-in yard. A brightly colored sign out in front read “Fun Stuff Playschool.”
The day was chilly but most of the snow from the week before was gone, and the sun was shining brightly.
He had spent the last hour driving past the school and around the block and finally there were now children out playing on the climbers and swings. Two young women stood talking just outside of the doorway.
Because of a large brushy area, he could observe without being immediately obvious. He watched as several of the children played on the climber while others were kicking a big blue ball back and forth. Still others played in small groups of two or three or alone.
It only took a few moments for Sam to pick out the child he was looking for. He had no doubt this was Sandi’s daughter for she had blonde hair and freckles and looked exactly like a picture of Sandi’s younger sister that she had kept sitting on the nightstand beside her bed.
He figured he would just hang out and watch for a while and when Sandi came to pick up the kid, he would follow them and make her give him the money he deserved.
Reaching into the glove compartment, he took out a bottle of whiskey and took a large gulp of it. He was feeling kind of dizzy, and it was hard to concentrate, but he must find out where they lived.
When that “damned” Jen refused to cooperate, he had almost given up on getting any information out of her. But after working her over, for not giving him what he wanted, he had found her purse. Opening it and checking it for cash, he came across exactly what he needed all along.
It was an invitation to a Christmas program at this school. Made of red construction paper cut in the shape of Santa’s hat, it had the kid’s name on it. A note signed by Sandi said, “Hope you can come.”
Sam took grim satisfaction that he had really fixed that uncooperative bitch. Even without her help, he now he had what he came for anyway! He chuckled as he thought I bet she will think twice before she ever gives me anymore of her mouth.
As he stood and watched, the two young caretakers were busy visiting. They had not even noticed when he stopped and got out of the car.
His opportunity came when two of the little boys got into a shoving match, and one managed to get himself knocked off the play-gym. Both women responded to the boy’s loud screams and became busy with the injured child. Several of the children gathered around to see what was happening. Motioning for the children to come into the building, one woman picked the child up and carried him in while the other stood at the door continuing to motion for the children to come in. Then, she shut the door behind them.
It was too perfect! Annie continued playing. She was all alone now and in the excitement, they had not even noticed that she had not responded to the quick instruction to go inside.
Sam had not really known exactly how his plan would work out. He figured all he would do would be to follow Sandi home, and then they would willingly write him a check. All he had to do was promise them he would not bother them again.
It wasn’t as though they didn’t have plenty to spare. He knew the Benning family had plenty. In fact, he never dreamed there could be another way of going about it. Now, the perfect opportunity presented itself.
This would be easy and would guarantee he could get more out of them. They had money! Sam realized they would pay plenty, if he had more control of the situation!
Walking back over to the car, he reached inside and picked up the kitten that lay against its mother on a dirty blanket on the floor. Slowly, he walked toward the play area and quietly called Annie’s name. When he got her attention, he put his finger to his lips and motioned her to come closer. He held the scraggly black kitten in his hand.
Carefully watching for other activity, he held the kitten out and the little girl came running over to see.
“What you got mister?”
Quickly putting a rough hand over her mouth, he lifted her over the low fence and sprinted toward the vehicle, which he had left with the ignition on. As he shoved her and the kitten into the car, the child bit him hard on the hand and managed to let out a blood-curdling scream.
One of the women reappeared at the door and heard the child’s scream, but it was too late! He had Annie and was driving “like a bat out of hell “as he headed toward the outskirts of town.
Annie wailed from the back seat of the filthy old car. “Where are we going? I want to go back to school! I want my Momma!”
“Shut up, kid! I ain’t gonna hurt ya. Don’t ya know? I’m yer daddy!”
“No! I want my Daddy Jim!”
“Daddy Jim is it? Daddy Jim is gonna have ta give old Sammy big bucks if he ever plans ta see his little princess again!”
Once again, he took a large gulp out of the almost empty whiskey bottle and pressed even harder on the gas pedal.
Shaking his head to clear it, he continued driving. Turning a number of times, he eventually swerved down a gravel road. He slowed as he maneuvered the car around large rocks and holes in the rough unpaved road. Mud, dust and gravel billowed behind the vehicle as they traveled through a field and into a thickly wooded area.
Suddenly, the child started screaming at the top of her lungs. “Take me home! Take me home now!” She was throwing her arms around and kicking her feet on the back of the seat.
Sam jerked the car to a sudden halt and reached his rough filthy hand into the back. Grabbing the little girl by the hood of her jacket, he pulled her almost over the seat and close enough to his cruel face that she could smell the foul odor of the alcohol on his breath.
“If ya ever want ta go home and see yer momma again ya’d better shut yer mouth and shut it now!”
Shoving her toward the back of the seat, he roughly released her. “Damn kid! This better be worth all my trouble!”
By the time they stopped, snow had begun to fall, and the sky had darkened with the impending storm.
Annie finally quieted. Her face was white and tear- streaked. Her pigtails came loose, leaving her hair in a tangled mess. She pulled her small body into a tight ball as far back into the seat as she could get. The kitten was a black fur-ball curled against her pink parka.
After another fifteen minutes, Sam finally pulled into yet another dirt lane. He stopped and turned off the ignition.
“Well, girlie, we’re home.”
The small unpainted shack looked like it had not seen a living thing in at least fifty years. The porch roof had caved in and several of the windows were just broken shards of glass.
Snow had begun to fall more thickly now and the ground around them was already covered. “Come on kid. We got work to do. Come on, damn it. It’s freezin’ out here!”
Annie whimpered but got out of the door he opened. Mumbling something to himself, he guided her toward the back of the bungalow. “Around here.”
They entered at the rear of the cabin and after shutting the door, he slid an old bolt that was near the top into place. “There! Just in case ya get any ideas about wanderin’ off, that’ll keep ya safe. You know; my old man used ta lock us in at night, so we couldn’t run off.” He grunted and continued, “Didn’t ever think I would need to use it myself.”
They were standing in the middle of what had been a small kitchen area. Other than an old drop-leaf table with peeling paint and one broken chair, there wasn’t much left. On the table, there were several tin cans and a jar of peanut butter, a partially used loaf of bread, and a twelve-pack of beer.
Sam stepped into another room and started piling wood into a very old cast-iron stove. “I’ll git ‘er warmed up soon. Sorry ‘bout the mess but didn’t really plan on havin’ company!”
The little girl stood with her back pressed against the wall, still clinging to the kitten that was now beginning to try and free itself from her grip.
“Better let that stinkin’ cat loose, or it’s gonna scratch the heck out o’ you.” Sam moved a step closer to the child, and she scooted further into a corner. She was shaking so hard her teeth were practically rattling. She let the kitten go free, and it ran to its momma that had followed them into the house. They crawled into a cardboard box under the table, and the kitten started to nurse.
“Aw, come on kid. I ain’t gonna bite ya! Come on over here - here by the fire. Lemme take a look at ya.”
A single tear ran down her cheek, but she stubbornly held her chin up and shook her head.
“Man, ya must be as stubborn as yer mother! Right now. It’s warmer over here anyway.”
Very reluctantly, Annie slowly crept over a little nearer to where Sam was standing. He reached over and pulled her even closer. Looking at her intently, he took her by the arm and turned her in a complete circle. An odd feeling came over him, and he
quickly released her arm. “You ain’t nearly as ugly as ya were when you was a baby.”
This time he was the one that seemed to want to get as far from the child as he could. “Man, I gotta figure out what to do with ya now that I have ya.”
Sam walked back into the kitchen and opened a beer. “Let me think.”
“I guess now that you here I have ta feed ya something’. Are ya hungry?” Not waiting for an answer, he picked up a plastic spoon and put a blob of peanut butter on a slice of bread. “Ain’t got much, guess this’ll have ta hold ya till tomorrow.”
He folded the slice of bread over and reached out a filthy hand to give it to Annie.
“You stink, Mister! Don’t you ever take a bath?”
“What? Well you little b—, you finally found your tongue, huh? If ya must know, this ain’t exactly the Waldorf now, is it?”
“Just eat yer sandwich and shut the hell back up! I think I liked ya better when ya was quiet!”
With that, he muttered something under his breath and stumbled over to what at one time had been an overstuffed chair. The faded armrests were broken and torn, and springs poked out from both the seat and the back. An old rug was wadded and stuffed in the seat in an effort to make it usable. Flopping down into the chair, a poof of dust filled the air as Sam said to himself, “Man, I hope we git this settled quickly. Don’t know what I was thinkin’!”