Page 69 of Spies Don't Fall for Their
“Letme guess.Thenthe shoe was stuck, too.”
“Yep.Andthen her other shoe.Andthen a soccer ball, a water bottle, a tennis racket, and a stuffed pig with wings.Itell you,nothingwas falling down from that tree.SoIfiguredI’dclimb up and rescue all the items.”Ichuckle. “Itturned out that somethingcouldfall down from that tree.Brokemy leg right here.”
“Didyou get a boot as cool as this one?”Zoeasks, holding up her booted foot like she’s modeling footwear.
“Cooler.Minewas pink, andIputBenTenstickers all over it.”
Zoelaughs, andIsoak in the sound.Isoak in just being with her. “Iremember that show.”Sheglances over at me, then looks at the back yard again. “Youall seem pretty protective ofCharlie.Isthat an older brother thing?Sinceshe’s the youngest?”
“Yeah,”Isay. “Itprobably is.Butit’s probably also because she was kidnapped as a kid.”
“What?”Zoesays. “When?”
“Shewas three.Mydad was director of theCSA, our personal information was leaked, and some bozo thought it would be smart to kidnapCharlieto use as leverage to get their demands met.”Iswear,Ican almost feelZoe’sconfirmation that having people you care about makes you vulnerable.Icontinue so she’ll understand why it doesn’t. “Butwhat it really did was made every intelligence and law enforcement agency in theUSband together to go after them.”
“Ican’t believeIdon’t know anything about this.Howdid it happen?”Shepauses for a second, then asks, “Areyou okay to talk about it?”
“Ofcourse,”Itell her. “Itwas a long time ago—Imean,Iwas five at the time.Charliewas three, andBlakewas eight.Wewere at a park, and the three of us were kind of off to the side of the playground equipment, playing with tractors in the wood chips.Ournanny was there, too, and she was by whereMiles,Emerson, andJacewere climbing on the equipment.
“So, me,Charlie, andBlakewere all scooping up woodchips and making big piles with them when a woman walked by with a dog on a leash, headed toward a walking path by some trees.Blakewas obsessed with dogs back then, so he got up to ask the woman if he could pet the dog, andCharliewent with him.Thewoman was already near the trees, and there were a lot of bushes around there, too, soIcouldn’t really see them.
“Andthen after a moment, something made me get up to go see the dog, too.SoIleft the tractors behind and walked over there.Assoon asIrounded the bushes,Icould see the woman and the dog andBlakepetting it.Charliewas maybe twenty feet away, looking at something on the ground by a shrub.Probablya bug.
“ThenInoticed two men step out from the trees nearby.Thetaller guy reached down, wrapped one arm aroundCharlie’smiddle, put the other hand over her mouth, and just picked her up.
“Hejustpicked her up.Iremember the shock and horrorIfelt.Thatanyone could just come and lift her up and she had no choice in the matter.Iwas stunned and frozen for a moment.Theroad wasn’t too far away on that side, and the men were running with her right toward a van.Istarted screaming and chasing after them.”
Ishake my head just remembering it again. “Butthey were so fast.Andmy legs were so short.Iran with all my energy, but they were so much quicker.
“Andthen they were gone.Iremember whirling around and saw thatBlakewas right on my heels, and the nanny and my other brothers weren’t far behind.Noone else was at the park that day.Ididn’t even seethe woman with the dog again.Butwe all saw the van pull away, takingCharlieaway with it.”
Myarms are on the railing of the deck, andZoeplaces a hand on my forearm.Thecomfort from that touch might be the only thing that makes me continue. “Ihad nightmares every night for months after and less frequently for a lot more years.Everytime, the bad guys were there, so easily pickingCharlieup.Orsometimes it was me.Orone of my brothers.Thelocation sometimes changed, but always, someone was picked up just as easily asIcould pick up one of the little toy tractorsI’dbeen playing with.”
I’msurprised that all the emotions of the moment came flooding back.Ihaven’t told this story often, and it’s been a good long while sinceIlast did.AndI’vedefinitely never shared the part about the nightmares or how it made me feel.
Ithits me how comfortableIam talking toZoeabout stuffInormally wouldn’t talk to anyone about.Inthe past year and a half,Iwouldn’t have guessed that would ever be the case, but things have changed between us.We’lllikely always be competitive, but only about stupid things.Notabout the things that matter.
Iclear my throat. “Anyway, spoiler alert, we got her back and she was unharmed.Butshe’d been gone for a full twenty-four hours, and we had all felt pretty helpless during that entire day.I’mpretty sure we’ll be overprotective ofCharlieuntil the day we die.”
“That’sbeautiful.”
Iturn toward her, leaning my side against the railing. “Beautiful?Thatisn’t a wordI’veheard used before in relation toCharlie’skidnapping.”
Sheturns to face me. “Well, not the shared family trauma, obviously.Buthow bonded you all are.Youall know without a doubt that your family has your back and that a lot of other people do, too.It’sbeautiful.”
Igaze atZoefor a long moment, knowing that she has maybe never experienced that.It’shard to imagine what it would be like to grow up in a world where that wasn’t a given.Yet, that is her reality, and it sends every protective instinctIhave in me into overdrive.Iwant to be that for her.Theperson who she knows, without a doubt, has her back no matter the situation.Theperson who will always be there for her.
“Plus,” she says, “it explains a lot.”
Icock my head. “Likewhat?”
Shelifts a shoulder in a shrug. “Likeyour need to be strong.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Ledger, she was kidnapped when you were at an age where you could’ve been picked up and carted off, too.Youcan’t tell me that didn’t affect the choices you’ve made.Forone thing,Imean, look at you.You’rethe least pick-me-up-and-cart-me-off personI’veever met.”
Mybiceps flex involuntarily.
