Reunited

“It’s for you, sir. They found Katie.”

Special Agent John Lanton snatched the phone from the deputy’s hands. “Is she there? Is she at the barn?”

A hesitant voice came through the line. “Yes, yes sir. She’s here, but she’s refusing to cooperate. She said she’ll only come out when her Daddy gets here.”

A wave of euphoria washed over John. They had truly found her. Not only that, but she refused to see anyone but him. She was finally coming home.

“Roger, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell her Daddy’s coming.”

That last line felt so good to say after ten long years of obsessively tracking her abductor. As he hung up the phone and returned it to the officer, he glowered at the man he’d spent many nights imagining what he’d do if – no, when - he got his hands on him at last. Junior Keaton stared at John with a playful grin on his face.

“Be careful now, John.”

Something about his smile, his tone of voice… it didn’t sit right. John was already wary about the ease with which they’d caught Junior; he practically turned himself in by sitting in the open, at a café, without so much as a pair of sunglasses to hide his face. Ten years of hard detective work only to have some barista call it in? It didn’t make sense.

“What sort of game are you playing here?”

The corners of Junior’s mouth turned down in feigned offense. “Why, I’ve just given you your daughter, safe and sound. From the sound of it, the fine officers on the other end of the line have confirmed what I told you. I’m in custody, and you’re about to be reunited with your bubbling little girl… if I were playing a game, I’d have to say that I’m pretty bad at the game. Wouldn’t you agree?”

John narrowed his eyes. While he couldn’t trust a word his high school classmate said, he trusted the officers who checked the old barn and found Katie. He trusted the cuffs around Junior’s wrists.

“If she’s been hurt in any way, I swear to…”

“Oh, I’ve taken good care of Katie. I’ve been like a father to her. The only father she’s ever known, since hers couldn’t be bothered to be in her life.” Junior cackled at his last line, testing John’s already stretched self-control. “But, as I said before Agent Lanton… be careful. I’d suggest someone other than you being the one to pick Katie up.”

“She asked for me specifically. I’m not falling for your mind game bullshit this time.”

“Hmm… she asked for you? Specifically, you say? Peculiar, I figured it would just kill her to see you again after all this time; I didn’t think she could handle the emotional toll. Not everyone is able to handle emotional hardship, as you well know.”

John opened his mouth to respond, then stopped and shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “You know damn well that situation is nothing like this. You took my daughter away from me for 10 damn years over a harmless high school prank!”

Junior shrugged with an exaggerated ‘I’m not so sure’ look on his face before smiling. “Harmless to some, harmful to others. Pot-ay-to, pot-ah-to.”

“You’re a sick, sick man, Junior. I’m going to take Katie home, and I promise you, she’ll never have to see you again.”

“It seems we finally agree on something.” As John turned, Junior added, “If you’re going to ignore my advice and go to Katie, I’d make a note to explain what’s happened. She deserves that, at least.”

John squinted his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. He stormed out of the interrogation room, slamming the door behind him. He was done playing Junior’s games. Junior had strung John along, providing clues that would get detectives tantalizingly close to finding the girl. They’d locate Katie’s clothes, food that was half eaten and lukewarm, cups with ice not yet melted. Each time, Junior just escaped with Katie before the authorities could arrive.

All of this was over the prank, as Junior’s letters had made clear years ago. No one even remembered that he’d outed Junior and his boyfriend Tommy. It was just high school kids being immature; it wasn’t this big of a deal. Junior and Tommy might have been embarrassed, but that was nothing compared to kidnapping an infant and holding her for years. Junior was sick, going to such lengths to get payback for a prank which, while tasteless, didn’t call for all of this.

According to John’s GPS, the barn where Junior had Katie chained was an hour and fifteen-minute drive from the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office. John cut the drive to 45 minutes, his lights and sirens cutting through the I-77 traffic like a knife through butter.

John’s Ford Taurus skidded to a halt on the dirt driveway between a local deputy’s cruiser and another Taurus. Kerry, John’s friend and an agent with the Charlotte Field Office, met him as he jumped out of his car.

“She’s terrified, John. We can’t get near her; she insists that she’ll only see you.”

John's heart raced; anxiety sucked the air out of his lungs. He'd looked forward to this moment for so long, but now that it was here, was he truly ready?

Kerry pulled on John’s arm to turn him until he faced her. "I have to warn you, though, what you’re going to find in there isn't the little girl you remember."

"I'm aware of that. She's been through hell, unimaginable things, all because I couldn’t find her sooner. But that's my baby girl in there… and she needs me." He pushed past his fellow agent and into the open doorway of the barn.

Whispered discussions between agents and officers came to abrupt stops as John entered, all eyes were trained on him. He noticed the pitying stares. They were the same stares he'd endured for 10 years. When Katie was first taken, every tip and update that came in, every close encounter... the stares were ever present.

They always bothered him before, though he never let on that they did. Today, the stares didn’t affect him at all; his mind, his sights, were set on the only thing that mattered. The only thing he thought about for years: Katie.

His eyes were not yet adjusted to the dark room when he first heard her voice. Like his vision in the dark room, his mind needed to adjust to what he heard next. It didn't make any sense.

"You’re here! I knew you’d – wait. No... no, No, NO! Not you!"

John couldn't make out her face yet, but he saw her body move and heard the chains rattle. She seemed to reach for something and... eat it? Hide it in her mouth? He wasn't sure.

"Katie, baby girl, Daddy's here."

"No, he's not! He can't be here if you are! What have you done to him?”

John squinted at her, furrowing his brow as he tried to contemplate what she was saying. Could she not see him clearly? It’s been so long, of course she couldn’t recognize him.

“It’s me, Katie. It’s your father. I’ve been looking for you for so – ”

“I know you’ve been looking for me! Daddy told me all about you, he warned me about you!”

Katie scrambled over to the splintered wood of the barn’s wall, wrapping her arms around the knees pressed against her chest as she laid on her side, back facing John. John glanced at Kerry who could only return his gaze with a confused shoulder shrug. The officers were still staring at him but ready to act should this be a trap of any kind. John took a first tentative step forward since Katie’s screams stopped him in his tracks.

“John,” Kerry hissed in an urgent whisper, “be careful!”

He nodded, though he wondered why he’d need to be careful. This was Katie, after all. A scared 12-year-old girl, chained up by a monster, was about to be rescued by the one person who loved her most in the world. Why should he be worried?

He edged closer to Katie, careful not to approach too fast should she panic again. She was already scared, no need to make matters worse. He’d have plenty of time with her soon enough; it was best to take this slow.

He was expecting some sort of reaction when his steps grew close enough for her to notice the sound of hay compressed underfoot. The slats of light shining through the sidewall illuminated her body enough for John to see that she began sobbing, her body heaving up and down. His heart was breaking; he wanted to break down then and there and hold her, let her know that she was safe now.

Why wasn’t she making any noise, though? Shouldn’t he have heard her sobs by now?

When he got close enough to reach out and touch her, he heard the first gurgled convulsions. He lurched forward, arms extended to grab her small body. Turning her over, he saw white foam streaming down the side of her face.

You’re about to be reunited with your bubbling little girl.

Her eyes were the same ghastly shade of white with just a hint of her pupil visible below her top eyelid.

…it would just kill her to see you again…

“No… no! Katie! Get help now! She’d dying!”

All at once, the barn erupted into a flurry of motion. Officers ran up to John and Katie, cutting the chains with a bolt cutter before lifting the girl from the morose agent who didn’t have the strength to get up off his knees. He could hear the call to 911, the attempts to console him, and the lies that she would be ok. John knew what she put in her mouth in the moments after he entered. He knew the cyanide killed her long before he could reach her.

After sobbing into his hands for what seemed like an eternity, John rose to leave with no intention of going back to the office. There’d be paperwork to do, and he couldn’t have cared less about paperwork. The corner of an envelope poking out of the hay caught his eye, located near the indent in the hay where Katie took her own life.

I’d make a note to explain what’s happened…

John picked it up, numb and no longer caring that Junior’s words would be intended to inflict even more pain. He slid his finger under the sealed flap and tore through the envelope, revealing a yellow piece of notebook paper with clumsy writing on the front.

Dear John,

Poor Katie, I genuinely liked her, and she did feel like a daughter of sorts to me. But her ability to cause you pain was much more important than any attachment I felt towards her.

You seem to think your prank was harmless twenty years ago, but for Tommy, it was anything but... His father put him in the hospital when he saw the video you posted - woulda killed him too if I didn’t step in.

Tommy never recovered. His physical wounds healed, but his emotional scars never did. He spiraled for 10 years before that cyanide pill ended things.

And now, you’ve suffered for 10 years - until a cyanide pill ended things. You said you wanted us to be even, right?

Well, now we’re even, John.

JUNIOR