Birthday Surprise

As the curly, blond, young-looking teenager stood outside the antique shop, she was trying to see if there was anything she could afford to buy her Mom for her birthday. It was almost dinnertime and she knew she needed to find something quick so she could catch the next bus home. Several items stood out, including a pretty bracelet of twisted gold and silver as well as a heart within a heart necklace. She craned to try to see the price tags, but they weren’t visible from outside. She doubted she had enough to purchase them anyway. It was hard enough for her Mom to run the farm alone since she was old enough to sit up on top of a horse. Sighing, she turned and leaned up against the scratchy brick exterior not really caring if it scraped her bare arms and back not covered by her tank top.  

Pushing off the wall, she was chewing the inside of her cheek as she stared down at the broken sidewalk. She was lost in her thoughts when a dark van pulled up alongside her and several men hopped out, dressed in gray suits with dark sunglasses. They roughly grabbed her by the arms at which she cries out in surprise and fear as she’s shaken and dragged toward the vehicle. Doing her best to fight back, she stomps on the instep of the dark haired mans foot causing him to loosen his grip, but not let go. He cursed as he limped trying to keep his balance.  

“Quit struggling,” said the blond man with a scar on his upper lip. “You need to come with us and we know that you know why.” She racked her brain, trying to recall anything that would cause this to happen. There wasn’t anything! Before they could gag her, she let loose a scream that would rival Hollywood’s best horror actress. Many people opened their windows to check what was happening. Several men rushed out of their front doors causing the men to throw her to the ground and dive into the van as it sped away. She hit her head as she landed hard on the cement, but her side and hip took the brunt of the impact. Gingerly touching her temple, she looked at her hand with the fingers covered in blood. Sighing, she thinks ‘This is all I need today.’

Police officers and paramedics arrived within minutes thanks to a station being right around the corner. This little, unknown town rarely sees any violence so when it does happen, all emergency services come out of the woodwork. Three of the five officers for the town were taking statements from anyone and everyone who witnessed or heard the attack. Sheriff Mann and his son, Nick, went straight to her and set up a perimeter. Someone was nice enough to bring out a folding chair for her to sit on so she wasn’t on the ground as the medics checked her over.  

“What in blue blazes happened here Jade Simonsen?” asked Nick, his voice raising with emotion as he used her full name as his dark brown hair fell over one eye. He had always done a poor job of hiding his crush for her since high school.  

“You’re the police,” she said wincing. “You tell me. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“C’mon, you have to have some sort of idea why these fellas chose to try to kidnap you,” he frowned, thinking that she was hiding something important from him.

“I just want to go home,” Jade said softly. “It’s Mom’s birthday tomorrow and this isn’t the present that I wanted to give her.” Sheriff Mann, who’d been listening, nodded.

“Try to come down to the station as soon as you can in the morning to fill in the rest of the report,” he ordered. “Make sure to tell Moira everything. You know the calls are probably already started.”

“I promise,” Jade said. Her and her Mom’s relationship was atypical for most Mother/Daughters in this age. They were best friends as well.  

“I’ll give you a lift home,” Nick told her. Smiling, Jade just nodded her acceptance. She didn’t feel like walking or catching the bus back to the farm.  

Gently helping her into the squad car’s front passenger seat, he pushed the door shut and jogged around to the drivers’ door. Once inside, he let out the breath he’d been holding. Starting the cruiser, he pulled out onto the street. Shadows were lengthening as he pulled out onto the main road that led out to her place. She was almost home when Nick started acting strange and eyeing his rear view mirror constantly. Taking a peek for herself, she saw the dark outline of a large vehicle, but it was running without its lights on. Fear bubbled up in her throat and she felt as if her heart were about to explode from her chest. Nick went to radio in for backup, when the van behind them rammed their rear end. Nick managed to keep the car on the road, but barely just.  

Knowing she wasn’t supposed to, Jade reached down to the radio and pressed the button to talk. “Officer in need of backup on Rt. 32 almost to the Simonsen’s place. We’re getting attacked from an unknown car. Please hurry!”

Before she could replace the radio, an even larger jolt than before hit the car causing her to drop the mic. This time, though, Nick wasn’t able to keep control of the cruiser. As one of the wheels hit one of the ruts in the road, the car swerved and ended up rolling down the hill into the ditch. When Jade opened her eyes, she was thankful that she always wore her seat belt. Nick was out cold and she couldn’t tell if he was alive or not. She needed to get help. Freeing herself, she was able to squeeze through the broken out window and could see her house not far in the distance. She knew her Mom kept guns ready for predators, so that was her best bet.  

Jade heard the van squeal to a stop and started running in the ditch so they couldn’t see her well in the almost fading light. She was halfway home when Nick’s siren sounded and the deep raspy voice from before began talking over the loud speaker.  

“We have the cop,” he said. “Come up to the road and start walking back in this direction or he’s a goner. You have thirty seconds.”

Jade knew she couldn’t abandon Nick to die as she hung her head as she slowly trudged up out of the ditch. With one last hopeful glance at home, she saw the porch light come on. Could her Mom have heard? Trying to stall, just in case the police could make it in time, Jade began slowly limping back toward Nick on the right side of the road. She was inwardly betting that they wouldn’t kill her outright since they had tried to kidnap her just hours earlier. They wanted something. She had no idea what, though.

As she inched closer, two large silhouettes became clearly visible in the van’s headlights. She was almost to the police car when three shots rang out. Instinctively, Jade flattened herself to the road and watched as the two men in front of her dropped their guns and collapsed to the ground. “Nick!” Jade’s scream tore out of her throat before she could think of other possible gunmen. “I’m here and okay,” came the weak reply. Wondering where the shots had come from, Jade turned to look behind her towards home. She thought he was dead, but there he was, right in front of her on the road, smiling at her while being illuminated by the glow from the headlights of the criminal’s van. He looked just like the pictures in their photo album except his hair was grayer and lines showing the passage of time were etched at the corners of his eyes. He still had the same charming smile, though, which he wore now. Without hesitation, Jade was on her feet and running and launching herself at him.

“Daddy!”

“Pumpkin,are you alright?” They spoke at the same time. After a long embrace, he pulled her away to check her for injuries and she was able to see the shield hanging from his belt. Another set of feminine hands joined his to check for wounds and Jade smiled. Enveloped in a threefold hug over ten years in the making was a dream come true. Tears of joy left trails down through the dust on her cheeks as she realized this was the best birthday present ever for her Mom.