Taken?

Now that Angus was incapacitated, Rob carefully emptied the man's pockets into the remains of the pillowcase which he had placed on the floor beside him. He particularly wanted to find the keys that would open the locks and handcuffs. If he left them in Angus' pockets it would be no time at all before he would be released from the leg clamp, if he were to awaken. Rob located two key rings in his pockets, plus Rob's own key ring, the one used when his car was hidden behind the garage. There was one small key loose in his shirt pocket that Rob deduced would belong to the handcuffs, so he kept it in his hand as he carried the pillowcase loaded with the other pocket contents over to the kitchen table.

The little key unlocked the handcuffs from the ring under the kitchen table, and Rob immediately took them over to where Angus lay on the floor. After rolling him onto his side he was able to pull both hands behind him and secure them with the handcuffs. He checked him once more and saw that his pulse was strong and he was breathing regularly, and then gave each of the locks a test pull to be sure they were secure. As soon as he was satisfied that everything was fine with his captive, Rob picked up the flashlight and the key rings and headed for the bedroom area.

The hallway was dark and as he swept the wall ahead with his light he could see that the first door was open with a bit of light coming from it. He looked inside and could see an empty bed and a coal oil lamp burning where it sat on an otherwise empty dresser. This apparently was Angus's room so he continued along the hallway. The next door had no lock on it and when he opened it he could see that it was a bathroom. There was one last door at the end of the hall and when he got there he could see it had a deadbolt lock as well as a standard doorknob.

Rob begin looking through the keys on the two key rings he had taken from Angus, looking for any that were marked Weiser, like the lock on this door. He finally found a likely candidate and tried it in the lock. His heart was racing as he turned the key and then the knob to open the door. Inside the room he could see two single beds, each with the form of a sleeping person under the covers. He turned on his flashlight and walked to the closest bed. As he flicked the flashlight across the pillow he could see that it was Katy. He knelt beside the bed and shook her shoulder. Her eyes flew open, and she got a look of alarm on her face. Rob turned the flashlight to shine on his own face and said, "Katy, wake up. It's your dad, and I'm here to take you home."

Katy sat bolt upright in her bed and screamed, "Daddy! How did you find us? I'm so glad to see you."

At the instant that she had first screamed his name Rob had heard movement behind him, and turned to see Erin jumping from her bed, her fists raised as she threw herself at him. He managed to catch her as he stood and as she shouted, "Leave her alone! You bastard, leave her alone!"

Rob held her as she struggled to hit him, saying, "Erin, Erin, it's me, Rob. I've come to take you home. Erin, calm down, you're safe now." He released her with one arm and brought the flashlight up to shine on his face so that she could see it was indeed him. He could see in the reflected light that she had a look of shock on her face and her mouth was opening, but there weren't any words being said.

Finally she was able to say, "Rob, where did you come from? How did you find us? This isn't a dream is it?"

"It's not a dream, honey. I found you last night and he's had me locked up in the living room all night. I knocked him out this morning and now he's handcuffed, and I have his leg locked into his own shackle. He can't bother any of us now."

While he had been restraining and speaking to Erin, Katy had got up and was now clinging to his side, her head on his chest. He could hear her crying and when Erin began to cry as well, he joined them. He couldn't believe that he had finally done it; he had found his family and they were safe. They spent the next couple of minutes holding each other, crying tears of joy that this ordeal was over.

As they became comfortable, they began to move apart, wiping away their tears and smiling as the flashlight played its beam erratically across their faces. Finally Rob stepped back and said, "How about you two get dressed. I'll leave you the flashlight and go get a coal oil lamp for you."

As he left the room his wife and daughter hugged each other, and then reached for their clothing and began to dress. Rob entered Angus's room and picked up the lamp. As he brought it into the room shared by his wife and daughter they were already almost fully dressed. He placed the lamp on their dresser and told them, "Pack all of your things, as you won't be here very long now. I'm hoping we can get on the road within an hour at the most."

"How did you find us, Daddy? We don't even know where we are and he wouldn't tell us."

"Well, it all started with that phone call you tried to make from Grand Marais. It got me and the police looking in the right direction. Mainly though, it was a cash register receipt that our friend Angus dropped in your bedroom. It took a long time, but once I found out where it came from, it wasn't too hard to track you down." Rob gave his daughter a hug and then said, "You two get ready. I'm going to go make sure he doesn't pull any fast ones."

When Rob reached the living room he found that Angus was still unconscious, so he went and poured a glass of water from the kitchen tap. When he got back to his handcuffed captive he splashed the water on his face. Angus started to shake his head and tried to move his body. In a few moments he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. Finally he focused on Rob and said, "Let me go! You can't do this! Erin is going to be my wife! I have waited almost 20 years to be able to get this place for her and I. You have to let me go!"

"You may as well get used to the fact that you aren't going to have her. Once we leave here you're never going to see her again, either. You'll probably spend the rest of your life in prison for what you've done." Rob walked back to the kitchen and placed the glass on the counter. He stood there and watched while Angus struggled against the handcuffs. It didn't appear that he realized yet that he was also attached to his own leg restraint. As he stood and watched Angus, Rob could hear the two dogs scratching at the door. That had begun when Angus first started speaking. The door jiggled back and forth about half an inch, but it appeared the homemade lock would hold them.

Rob glanced at his watch and saw that it was after 6 a.m., and thought that with any luck at all they would be home by supper time. He knew they had a lot of driving to do, and he would have to deal with the police here in Canada before he could leave for Minnesota. As he was thinking of this, Erin and Katy emerged from the hallway, each with their suitcase. Erin came to him and put her arms around his chest and said, "I still can't believe you're actually here. This seems like a dream. For weeks and weeks I had hoped for this day, but I never thought I would see it. He had me convinced no one could ever find us here. Where are we exactly?"

"You're at his parents' former summer home on Lac Des Mille Lacs, about 12 miles west of Upsala, which is in Ontario, Canada. He gave you both Rohypnol so you wouldn't be able to remember anything about coming here from Duluth. I don't understand how he thought he could get away with it. I think he must be crazy."

"I'm sure you may be right. Angus was in my class for the last two years of high school. He seemed a bit odd then, and is much worse now. The whole time he's had me here he's been utterly convinced I would eventually marry him. I told him over and over again that he was wrong, but nothing I said would get through to him." Erin gave Rob a hug and then turned to Katy who was staring at Angus as the man struggled with his handcuffs.

"Poor Katy. The only reason she's here is that when I was most upset I would call her name, and your name too, Rob, and one day Angus disappeared and left me locked in my room with some food and the bucket. He told me he would be back by dark. When he got here he had Katy with him. He said he brought her to make me happy. It was the worst moment of my life, realizing he had kidnapped our daughter just to try and make me happy enough to marry him."

"I can hardly imagine how that would make you feel. When it finally became apparent that the same person had taken both you and Katy, we couldn't figure out why he would do that. You wouldn't have believed the trouble I had convincing the police that I wasn't responsible for your disappearance, and Katy's too for that matter. The fact that your suitcases were missing, along with clothes and stuff, really made it look like you both chose to leave. I don't think they really looked very hard when you were taken because they thought you had left me."

"I've been wondering how he got you to go with him. What exactly happened the day you disappeared?"

Erin put her arm around Rob's shoulder and rested her head on his chest as she spoke. "That morning he showed up at our door with two cappuccinos. He said he had heard that was where I lived, and he wanted to drop in for a short visit, to reminisce about high school. I guess the drug was in my cappuccino, as I don't really remember much except sitting in the kitchen with him. When he came to the door he behaved so rationally that I thought the crazy Angus I remembered from high school had grown out of it. I was certainly very wrong. From sitting at our table, to waking up on that bed back there, is a blank."

"What about Katy? How did he convince her to go with him?" Rob was really curious about that.

Katy had been listening to them and answered his question. "He came to the door just after you left for work and told me he could take me to my mother. I let him in the house, and once he got in he threatened to hurt me if I didn't take the two white pills that he gave me. After that I don't remember much until just after we got here. I was so surprised to see Mom here."

Erin pulled him closer and gave him a big kiss, which caused Angus to thrash even harder, and scream at Rob to leave Erin alone. "I'm just so happy that you kept searching. Angus was becoming more and more desperate to convince me to marry him, and I don't know what he would have done next."

The two dogs, locked in their room, were getting more and more excited, and were jumping against the door with enough force to rattle the latch holding it closed. Rob decided they needed a bit of assurance that the dogs wouldn't break free, so he had Erin and Katy help him slide the heavy wooden table against the door. Even its' heavy weight wasn't enough, as it slid a bit when the dogs hit the door with the most force.

Rob gave Erin his car keys and said, "How about you bring the car up by the front and we can get ready to leave. I'm going to put our friend here on his bed. He'll be more comfortable while he waits for the police to arrive." As Erin walked out of the door, Rob approached the struggling Angus with the rolling pin in his hand, and warned him to calm down or he would have to hit him again. When he stopped struggling Rob unlocked the cable from the eye bolt, and quickly wrapped it around his free leg several times.

"OK, Angus, you can get up now, but if you try anything I'll yank on this cable and pull your feet out from under you. I want you to walk to your room." Angus was able to struggle to his feet, and there was enough slack in the cable to allow him to hobble his way to his room. Once he had Angus on the bed he unlocked the shackle from his leg and removed the cable. With Angus lying quietly on his right side Rob released the handcuffs from his right wrist, and then pulled his left arm to the head of the bed and reattached the free hand cuff to the bottom rail of the headboard. Once he'd done that he quickly stepped back and told Angus to get comfortable.

"You should be safe there until the police arrive."

"You think you've won, don't you? Erin is going to be my wife and you won't stop me." Angus was hollering again, and trying to yank his left hand out of the handcuff.

Rob left the room and went back to the room that Erin and Katy had shared. He picked up the coal oil lamp and brought it back to Angus's room, where he set it back in its' place on the dresser. As Angus continued to yell and struggle Rob said, "Maybe what I should do is just drop that lamp on the floor and walk out of here. It would save everyone a whole lot of trouble, wouldn't it?"

Angus kept up his struggle with the handcuff as Rob left the room. Erin had pulled the car up to the front of the home, and she and Katy were putting their suitcases in the trunk. Rob took one last look around the living room. He saw his belt lying on the sofa and put it back on. This belt would be a good momento of his night in Canada. He took one last look at the door holding back the two dogs, and went out to join his wife and daughter. He put his arm around Katy and said, "How are you holding up? How are you feeling?"

Katy put her arms around her father and hugged him tight and said, "I'll be fine. I just hope he never comes back to bother us again. I don't know if I could stand it if we had to go through this one more time."

"I'm sure we're all safe now. When this is over he'll be in jail for a long time. Let's get in the car and get out of here."

The three of them got into the car with Rob in the driver's seat. Erin was beside him and he reached over to take her hand. She gave it a good squeeze and said to him, "Angus will do this again if he gets the chance. Do you think he'd be able to get out of it by claiming he's got mental problems? I certainly hope he never shows up at our door again."

Rob put the car in gear and moved ahead a few yards before he stopped, looked at Erin and said, "I'm going to go back and make sure he'll never want to bother us again. I'll let him know we'll never accept having him anywhere near us again."

Rob put the transmission in park, and got out of the car. He opened the trunk and was rummaging in it when Erin turned to her daughter and asked, "What's your father doing? Can you see, Katy?"

Katy turned and glanced through the opening created between the trunk lid and the car, when the lid was raised. She said, "He stuck an old rag from his toolbox in his pocket, and then he took some gloves and the tire wrench thingy, and went in the house."

As Rob entered the home he was putting on an old pair of leather work gloves that he kept in the trunk for those occasions when he had to work on his car or change a tire. As he entered the hallway he pulled the door closed behind him.

For the next several minutes the dogs continued to growl and jump at the door of their room. They had managed to push the table back almost 4 inches and rather than tiring, their efforts seemed to be growing in intensity. The improvised lock holding their door securely closed was functioning well. When Rob returned through the hallway door he turned his attention to the dogs' door. After pushing the table back in place against the door he straightened the spoon and removed it from the hasp. He tossed it, and a pair of handcuffs, on the table, and quickly left the building, not bothering to close the front door. When he got back to the car he tossed the tire wrench into the trunk and closed it.

As he got in the car Erin said, "Are you sure you had to go back in there Rob?"

"I just wanted to make sure he knew he could never bother us again. He understands that now." Rob put the car in gear and slowly made his way up the lane. Just as he made the turn onto the access road he glanced in his rearview mirror, and saw the two dogs run from the house. He stepped on the accelerator and headed back to the highway.

Erin and Katy both sat quietly as Rob drove down the gravel road and finally made the turn onto the highway. The strain they had been under was now gone and both of them took turns asking Rob a multitude of questions about his search for them, and how their friends and family had reacted to the whole thing. As Rob drove he did his best to answer their questions, but also kept looking in his rearview mirror. They were about 5 miles down the highway when he noticed a plume of black smoke appear above the trees.

As they approached Upsala Rob asked them if they were hungry, and they were emphatic in their replies. He pulled into the gas bar and restaurant that he'd eaten at the night before, and they went in for breakfast. As Erin and Katy were looking at the menu, Rob got up and went to the bulletin board by the cashier's counter where he removed his poster, placed there the night before. He brought it back to the table and showed it to Erin and Katy. "I must have put up 700 of these since Katy disappeared. Don't be surprised if people recognize you wherever you go, for a long time to come."

While they waited for their order to come Rob called Sergeant O'Brien of the Ontario Provincial Police. He told him that he had found his wife and daughter, that they were safe, and how the police could locate Angus Blair. Before saying goodbye he told the Sergeant they would stop at the office so that he could get official statements. His next call was to Jim Randall and when he got through to him he handed the phone to Erin. She excitedly told her brother that she and Katy were now safe, and should be back in Duluth that evening. Rob's last call was to Detective Maki, and when he got through to him he said, "I've got them. I've got my wife and daughter back. They're with me now, so you can notify everyone involved that they can stop looking for them."

Detective Maki was excited at Rob's news and said, "I'm so happy to hear they're fine. I don't mind telling you that I never thought there would be a happy outcome to this whole business."

Before he left the phone Detective Maki agreed to notify the media and state police, and would call the Grand Marais police to let everyone know that the search for Katy and Erin Walsh was over. By this time their meals had arrived, and the three of them ate as a family for the first time in almost four months.

When they arrived at the Ontario Provincial Police area office Rob took Erin and Katy in with him to see Sergeant O'Brien. The Sergeant took the three of them to a quiet conference room, and had them get comfortable with a cup of coffee before he began to take their statements.

Sergeant O'Brien began, "What was the situation at that summer home when you left? Can you describe things as they were at the time you drove away?"

Rob explained that he had gone back to talk to Angus Blair just before they left, and had removed his handcuffs, and warned him against ever bothering them again. He said he had taken his tire iron with him for protection. Erin and Katy confirmed this to the Sergeant.

"Just after you called we had a report from the Ministry of Natural Resources that they were attending at a fire at the Blair summer home. They had a fire crew complete with helicopters and a water bomber, just 5 miles away, and were able to get the fire under control within an hour. Their men were able to set up hoses and a pump at the lake and they put it out before the place was destroyed. They told me there was a body inside and as soon as the place cools down we're going to send investigators up there. It appears your Mr. Blair is no longer with us."

Rob, Erin and Katy looked at each other as Sergeant O'Brien told them what had happened, and Katy summed up their feelings when she said, "Well, I guess we won't have to worry about him any more."

The Sergeant looked at Rob closely before saying, "You say you took the tire iron in with you? I'm going to have to take that, as we're going to have to test it. You're not being accused of anything, but until we know more, I'm going to have to take your explanation of what happened as only one possible version of the evidence."