Emma shifted, hoping to ease the terrible pain in her head. The gun shifted with her head and she winced.

"Make the call, Emma." The man hissed and she pulled her phone from her jean pocket. Would Karman hear the panic in her voice? Would she call the police?

Her heart beat frantically as she dialed her daughters babysitters number. One ring... Two..

"Hello?" Karman's bubbly,perky voice carried through the phone and Emma held back tears as she clutched the phone.

"Karman, it's Emma. I'm running a bit late, would you mind to stay later?"

"Not a problem. I don't have school tomorrow so that's fine. Plus Elise has been amazing."

Emma smiled as she pictured her beautiful little girl dancing around the kitchen, her curly blonde hair trailing behind her.

"Great, Thanks so much."

"Do you know what time you plan to be done?"

"I'm not sure, I'm really behind. Just make sue Elise gets in bed on time and you'll make sure to check on her?"

"Yeah. She'll miss having you tuck her in, but its no problem for me." Karman said something inaudible and a tear slid down Emma's cheek.

"I'll see you when you get home."

No you won't, because I'll be dead....

"Yes, Thanks, Bye."

"Bye."

She turned off her iPhone and set it in her lap.

"Drive, Left." The man grumbled in her ear, the gun pushing hard against her back as she stepped on the accelerator.

Please Lord, keep me safe, keep sweet little Elise safe.Tears slid down her cheeks as she followed the mans orders.

A woman's scream brought Chase Johnson to his feet.  He glanced at the clock, 11:39.

To late for people to be on a leisurely walk.

The voice sounded as if it were in his backyard. He grabbed a lightweight jacket and opened his back door right as a teenager with bright red hair ran past his porch.

"Elise?" She yelled.

Elise.. why did that name sound so familiar?

He didn't know, but he planned to find out. He followed the teenager to the other side of his house and snagged her jacket before she ran. She let out a highpitched scream and he clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Are you trying to wake the whole neighborhood?" He asked as he released her, she turned toward him, her green eyes skimming over him. Karman? Perhaps the babysitter of Emma Monroe's daughter?

"Are you trying to give me a panic attack? I nearly died!"

"Died?"

" I suffer from post-traumatic stress, and let me tell you, you pulling that stunt didn't exactly make me feel safe." She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she scanned his yard.

"It's Karman, right?" He asked.

"Yes.and you are Emma's nice cop friend, correct?"

"Ex-cop." He corrected.

"Right." She scanned his yard again and took a step away from him.

"Lose something?"

She glanced at him with wide eyes. "I swear I only turned for a minute. I had to grab the phone and than she was gone, I've searched everywhere." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Emma's never going to forgive me!"

He raised an eyebrow."Emma's not home?"

Emma had told him that she got done with work at nine every weeknight. In case Karman had any trouble while she was babysitting.

"She called shortly after ten and said she was running late. She didn't know when she'd return."

Something rustled in the trees behind them and Chase turned to find a little girl in pink pajamas standing by a pine tree. Her curly blonde hair the same as her mothers. She grinned and than ran straight towards Karman, her smiled broadening as Karman wrapped her in a hug.

"There, all is well."

Karman looked down at the little girl before speaking,"Elise we are going to have a very serious talk when we get back to the house." She picked Elise up and turned towards Chase. "Thanks for being willing to help Mr.Johnson. Now I have to go call Emma and leave her another message." She sighed.

The way she said 'another' set him on edge.

"Another message?"

"Yes, I called thirty minutes ago asking when she'd be home, twenty minutes ago just to check in and ten minutes ago frantically telling her that Elise was missing, now i'll have to tell her it was a misunderstanding."

"She hasn't called you back?"

"No." She eyed him,'Why?"

"She just doesn't seem to be the kind of person that doesn't answer their phone."

She frowned. "She's not, she's always answered on the first ring-up until tonight. She did say she'd been super behind and busy."

Chase glanced at his neighbors house, perfect for the single mom and her sweet daughter. Two story brick building, flowers pooled across the yard. Toys had been sitting in the corner of the wrap around porch, an old wooden swing sat in the other corner.

"Wouldn't she be concerned about her daughter?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Because I'm a teenage babysitter? Or because Elise is the only family she has left?"

"She just seems over protective of Elise, it's odd that she doesn't answer her phone when her daughters babysitter has been calling her for the past hour."

She shrugged and Elise wrapped her arms around her neck, running her fingers through the curly red hair. "After Alex said she was smothering Elise, she backed off a little. Accepted my application and only checked my references a hundred times before hiring me." She smiled.

Alex, ex-husband? Boyfriend?

"Who is Alex?"

"A friend... well Emma's ex-fiancé. Whether she'd consider him a friend, im not sure."

He glanced back at the Monroe's house. "I'll walk you two back." He grabbed Karman arm and she tensed, had she been abused? She'd said that she suffered from post traumatic stress... but she didn't say what from.

"What exactly do you suffer stress from?"

She glanced at him. "I was kidnapped when I was five, I wasn't reunited with my family until last summer. My parents were so excited when I was returned for my sixteenth birthday. Me on the other hand- I didn't know what to think. I'd been living a lie for eleven years and after being thrown back with my real family I didn't know how to act."

She acted as if it was nothing but he knew how difficult it'd been for her to go from her only life to a whole different one.

"Your sixteen?"

"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen in December."

He nodded as the cool breeze of May blew around him.

He walked up the three steps to the Monroe house as his phone rang, he pulled it from his pocket and answered it.

"Johnson."

"Johnson? Since when did we become so professional?" Parker Hiltons voice pounded over the phone.

"Since I got bored of saying my first name."

"Right." Parker muttered. "Look I hate to intrude on your evening but I just witnessed something very interesting."

His gut clenched as Parker talked, Karman walked inside and set Elise down, she motioned for him to come in whenever he wanted. He held back as his partner talked. Partners in Trusting Hands the team he'd formed to keep people safe. Parker had been the first one to step forward and volunteer to work there, although he had a big mouth and a nasty attitude. He was determined and he'd do anything to keep the clients safe.

"Go on." He urged as he watched Karman hand Elise a juice box.

"I was just driving down old Fern Lane when I saw this car going all wacko, So I put on my blinkers and pulled them over, what I found next was surprising. A woman with a deep gash in her head,  a huge slit down her arm and some bad bruises on her face."

"That certainly is interesting."

"You know whats more interesting? The fact that when I asked to search the car a crazy mand jumped out and attacked me."

"Are you okay?"

"Stop interrupting! Your ruining the story."He barked.

"Continue on."

"Now sure it's interesting that I was attacked but heres the best part, the woman that I found? Blonde, blue eyes and guess what her name is? Emma Monroe."

Chase's mouth opened and he clenched his fists, Emma had been attacked?