The Abduction

Lyssa had met Ruth Ormand one day while working as a volunteer for a school fund raiser being held at their local fair grounds. It was a fund raiser for her granddaughters school to raise money for new band uniforms. The uniforms the kids currently had were more then twenty years old, most of them having some sort of mending repair somewhere on them from twenty years of use.

Ruth had sat on the school board for fifteen years. Her only son had been a band member when he attended school in their small town of Charlotte before he had been killed by a hit and run driver when he was seventeen years old. He and a friend were riding their bikes back to their homes after band practice that day. They were getting ready for their homecoming game that Friday night, so it was practice every night after school leading up to the game.

A dozen or more eye witness's saw the accident, all reporting the same facts to the police officers who had been called to the scene. A old Chevy pickup, red in color with the tailgate missing had hit the boys. The description of the driver was of a man wearing a dark colored ball cap, having a full beard, wearing a green plaid shirt, probably flannel considering it was late October. They had all guessed his age to be somewhere between late forties to late fifties, nobody had recognized him as being a local resident.

Within ten minutes of the accident being reported the city police had contacted all County and State Police Posts with the APB (all points bulletin) to be on the lookout for the truck that had fled the scene. All major highways and secondary roads leading out of Charlotte were being covered yet they never found the truck.

Ruth's son had died instantly at the scene and for that she had always been thankful, his friend hadn't been so lucky.

Paul had massive head injuries along with numerous broken bones throughout his body. Four days after the accident the doctors declared him brain dead, he had no brain activity at all.

His parents had decided to end all life support knowing that their son would never come out of the coma he was in and if by some miracle he did, he would be a vegetable the rest of his life and they didn't want that for their son. Two days after life support had stopped he passed away quietly.

Ruth and her husband had both been only children, both of their parents had passed away years ago. When their son had died it had ended their family line with no other relatives left living besides Ruth. Her husband had passed away three years after their son had died from a massive heart attack.

Lyssa had been one of the volunteers who had helped set up the huge barn and grounds for all the activities that had been planned for the day.

They had a huge yard sale where all residents and business owners had donated things for the yard sale, all of the proceeds of the sale would go towards the purchase of the uniforms.

They had contracted a small amusement company that had set up a small carnival at the rear of the fair grounds. They had two game booths with the usual carnival prizes that all proceeds went to the school as well.

The local golf course had arranged for area golfers to pay a fifty dollar entrance fee for a chance to win a new Dodge Durango from the local Dodge dealer. Twenty five dollars of the entry fee would be donated to the school with the rest going to cover the costs of the carts being used. Anyone who shot a hole in one in a regular eighteen hole game would get the new Dodge Durango.

Bingo was scheduled to start at six pm with all sales for cards, specials, and refreshments going to the school. To end the day and thank all those who had volunteered to help and all those who supported the fund raiser by coming they had a fireworks display at ten thirty.

Lyssa had worked closely with Ruth for months preparing for all the events and had become good friends over those months. The school had ended up raising more then fifty thousand dollars. They were able to buy all new uniforms as well as make some very needed repairs to the bleachers, refreshment stand and the outdoor bathrooms got updated. There would be no reason for local government to ask for higher taxes the following year to make those repairs.

Ruth's husband had owned a small tool and die business that had employed around a hundred and ten employees from the area. Her husband had a good business head and through some very good investments they had become very wealthy over the years.

Ruth made annual donations to various charities in the small community and was especially proud of having set up what she had called Safe Haven for all area children of working parents or those children who needed a safe place to be if their home environments were less then loving.

She hated anyone to refer to the children as "latch key kids." Safe haven was not that at all, it not only provided a safe place for children of low income families to be until their parents got out of work, who might not otherwise be able to afford child care, but also for those kids who were neglected at home.

She had three regular nurses who were on staff along with many others who donated eight hours of their time a month to Safe Haven. Even children who were ill were taken care of in a special section of Safe haven. Parents would not have to miss work to take care of a sick child.

She had two women who ran the kitchen, both were dieticians, they made sure that the three meals a day that was provided to each child was healthy and good for them. She had arranged with the local dairy to provide for free the daily deliveries of milk. Area grocery stores donated vegetables and canned goods each month, the area farmers all donated pigs, cows and chickens that were all slaughtered and packaged then kept in the three huge freezers Ruth had donated herself.

Ruth was so protective of the children who came to Safe Haven that during the slaughter of the animals each year members of the food and drug association, USDA inspectors and national health departments were there to oversee that everything was done correctly and above the national standards.

The first five years after she had established Safe Haven she used to hold a fund raiser once a year in New York to raise funds to pay for those who worked there and the upkeep of the building and facilities. She was tired of all the fund raising and all that it entailed so she came up with what she called "Contracts From The Heart".

She asked each person or company to sign a five year guaranteed donation contract to give a set amount that they offered each year for five years. At the end of the fifth year to thank them for their support and to try to get them to continue with that support for another five years she would throw a huge thank you party for all those who were contract donators.

For the past three years she had arranged for a ten day cruise to various parts of the world for her supporters. They had taken an Alaskan cruise, one to Aruba and last year, the Greek Isles.

She had met Lyssa when she volunteered to help with the preparations for the school fund raiser. They had hit it off immediately, she loved Lyssa's straight forwardness and the genuine love she held for all children and animals. Another thing she liked about Lyssa is that although she had very little, what she did have she was proud of and not ashamed of either.

Lyssa was fifty four years old, fourteen years younger then Ruth who was sixty eight. Her hair was a medium blond color spattered with gray. The whole effect made her hair look like it had been streaked professionally at a salon. Ruth was positive that Lyssa had no idea how attractive her hair was or Lyssa herself for that matter.

She had the prettiest blue eyes that seemed to twinkle when she smiled. Her smile and natural kindness always won over all the children who stayed at Safe Haven. She was heavy set but that still didn't detract from her attractiveness.

For the past ten years she had been working in one of the towns restaurants as a short order cook. She lived on the outskirts of town in one of three trailer parks that were located just outside of the city limits. She had bought her used trailer on a land contract fifteen years ago after her divorce. The many times that Ruth had been there her place had always been neat and tidy. Hanging on her walls were many pictures of her grandchildren and her two daughters along with different hand crafted things that Ruth later found out Lyssa had made herself.

Ruth had asked Lyssa to meet her for lunch the following day after the fund raiser, she had a proposition for her that Ruth was hoping she would accept. If Lyssa accepted the proposition it would benefit both of them immensely.

Lyssa didn't know what Ruth wanted she just told her when she asked her that she would tell her tomorrow. Ruth's maid ushered Lyssa into Ruth's sun room. It was her favorite room in the whole house. It was so relaxing to sit there and look out on the large woods and small pond at the back of her property. The room was painted in pale shades of greens and yellows. Live plants were spattered throughout the room with big overstuffed chairs placed in strategic places to offer the best views of the outdoors.

"Sit down Lyssa and take a load off your feet," Ruth said smiling up at her friend.

"So my friend what's up? What's so important that you couldn't tell me last night?"

"I have a proposition for you Lyssa one I'm hoping you will accept."

"Your being very slow getting to the point my friend, are you coming down with Alzheimer disease already,"she said with a wink.

"I'm getting old dear, and I'm getting tired. I find myself bogged down with so many everyday things that I'm having a hard time making time for everything else that is important to me. I can't keep up with everything unless I get some help."

"Of course I'll help, what do you need me to do?"

"I want you to come work for me Lyssa. I want to hire you to be my personal assistant. It would help me out tremendously and get you out of that greasy restaurant."

"Are you serious Ruth? What would you have me do? I wouldn't have a clue how to be a personal assistant."

"Nonsense my dear, you will be perfect for the job. I would need you to keep all my appointments straight, sort out what are the most important that I would need to deal with personally and you deal with the lesser important ones for me, that would free up so much valuable time believe me. I would also let you take over anything to do with household needs such as arranging for plumbers, electricians, paying the monthly bills etc. So what do you think?"

"Ruth it sounds wonderful, are you absolutely sure you want me as your assistant?"

"Lyssa you're the only one I could depend on and trust, but more importantly, you're my friend and we get along fabulously!"

"Oh god Ruth I have wanted to get out of that kitchen more and more each day. I find it harder and harder to make myself go to work. I'm so sick of the grease, heat, and feeling like a french fry when I get home from work. Ok, I accept when do I start?"

That was six months ago, Lyssa had become a valuable employee to Ruth. As far as Ruth was concerned she was irreplaceable. Ruth had convinced Lyssa to move into her home three months ago. Lyssa was always there till late at night so Ruth decided it would be better for the both of them if she moved into one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Ruth had contractors come in and knock out a wall or two giving Lyssa her own bedroom, bath and a small living room. It was nice having someone else living in the house again. She just couldn't bare to sell the house, it was way to large for one person but all her memories were here, she couldn't leave them behind.

Lyssa decided to keep her trailer just in case she found herself without a job at some point in time. She paid her monthly lot rent along with her small electric and gas bills and still had quite a bit of money to sock away in the bank. She had the water heater shut off, the gas on the furnace was off during all the warmer months and she had a plumber empty all the pipes and lines so they wouldn't freeze in the winter months.

"Lyssa how many RSVP's have we gotten back so far," Ruth asked her.

"All of them. The last two came in this morning. I've already confirmed with the airline two hundred first class reservations and the hotels have been confirmed as well so we are all set in that direction. I finally got the buses reserved for the sight seeing trips that have been arranged. So far everything is going perfectly."

"Are you sure you won't come with me tomorrow? I would really like for you to meet Bomani Lyssa you two would get along wonderfully, besides he's good looking, single and I stress the word "single", and has piles of money. Oh, I almost forgot he also comes from royal blood."

"Ruth you know I have no interest in meeting any man, why do you keep trying to set me up with your friends?"

"Because, it's not healthy for you to be alone my dear, you have so much to offer a man and so much love to share with someone."

"Share? Relationships aren't based on sharing my friend, they are usually built on lies and deceit, with someone doing whatever it takes to get the end results they are looking for."

Ruth found out about Lyssa's failed marriage one night during a thunderstorm. They had lost power and were relaxing with a couple of drinks by candlelight in her sun room watching the storm outside. She had a generator but Ruth enjoyed the beauty and power of a storm. She learned that Lyssa too enjoyed storms, the wilder the better she had said.

"I don't know about you but the wilder the storm the more my adrenalin pumps,"Lyssa remarked to Ruth.

"Lyssa may I ask you a personal question?"

"You know you can ask me anything Ruth, isn't that what friends are all about?"

"Ok, why did you get divorced?"

Straight and to the point that was Ruth alright. Her failed marriage was not something she liked to talk about but Ruth deserved to know. She had made life much easier for her and she knew Ruth would never tell a soul.

"I was a fool Ruth, I married for love and I assumed he had also. I was head over heals in love with Ryan. At first I couldn't believe he had chosen me over all the pretty girls that threw themselves at him. He seemed so loving, caring and sincere that I believed all his lies right from the start. He was none of those things, I was nothing more then an easy mark for him. Three months after we were married he lost his job. He told me they were cutting back and he was low man in seniority so he was one of the first to go. I later found out that he just walked into work and told them he quit."

"I felt bad for him, I knew what it was like to lose a job with no warning so I felt sorry for my husband. When he told me that they had denied his unemployment I couldn't believe it. I told him they couldn't do that after laying him off. He told me not to worry that he had asked for an appeal and a hearing had been set three months from then. He said he would look for other work and again I believed him. He'd leave every morning to look for a job and still be gone when I left for work in the afternoon. At night he would tell me he applied everywhere and hopefully would get a job soon.

Another month had passed and he still hadn't found work. I was really starting to worry then as I hadn't yet told him I was pregnant for Jasmine. I was a little over two months along but being big to begin with my pregnancy didn't show yet. I was four months pregnant when I finally told him. He wasn't happy at all. I had assumed it was just because he was worried about not being able to provide for his family especially with a child on the way.

A couple of weeks later a friend from work said her husband had run into Ryan at a bar he stopped at with friends after work one night. He had told her that Ryan was making out with some pretty young thing who worked at the bar. I was devastated when she told me that and at first I didn't believe it. I confronted Ryan about it when he came home that night.

He didn't even try to lie about it Ruth. I was crying and asking him why when he told me to get real. He said I was so stupid to even believe that he had loved me for one minute. I was in shock Ruth, I didn't understand anything. I asked him why he had married me and he told me because he knew I would support him as long as I thought he loved me.

Then to turn the knife in a little bit deeper, he said he had to take a few drinks before he could even fuck me. His words exactly, said it was never making love because I turned his stomach, it was only fucking to make me think he loved me. I walked out the door and never looked back. I'll never make the same mistake again."

"I'm so sorry Lyssa. Nobody deserves to be treated that way. I hope you nailed him for child support, bet that pissed him off royally."

"Nope, didn't want a dime from him, didn't want him to have any reason to come into our lives. I did write and tell him when Jasmine was born and he wrote back, a nice short note that said, "what makes you think I care."

"Shit Lyssa, he was worthless from the get go. What about Jasmine, did she ever want to see her father?"

"No. Even when he tried to contact her a few years ago she told him to get lost."

Many nights Ruth had thought about that conversation after Lyssa had poured out the horrid story to her. No wonder she never wanted anything to do with another man. Yet she felt that Lyssa really did want to find love, at least Ruth knew she thought about it. If she hadn't, she wouldn't read so many of those paperback romance novels she was always reading.

Ruth knew that Bomani was interested in Lyssa. He had been at her house one day late last summer for lunch while he was in the states on business. He was sitting in the sun room out of sight of Lyssa but still able to see her when she had stopped to drop off a list of business donations that had been made for the school fund raiser. After Lyssa left he had asked Ruth who her attractive friend was.

Ruth had mentioned to him on the phone when they were talking about her upcoming thank you party that Lyssa was now working for Ruth and would be coming on the trip with her. He had been thrilled to hear that and told her he was looking forward to meeting her.

Bomani was in town to go over some final details on the upcoming party. He had helped Ruth with many of the overseas details. Bomani was also one of Ruth's contracts of the heart supporter. They were meeting for lunch the following day and he had suggested she bring Lyssa along. Ruth was disappointed that Lyssa wouldn't go with her, she knew that if the two of them met there would be fireworks between them.

The baggage handler had just loaded the last of their luggage into the waiting taxi that would take them to their hotel. They arrived three days before Ruth's guests would be arriving to make sure that everything was set and on schedule down to the last little detail.

From the moment they landed Lyssa was filled with excitement. She had never been anywhere outside of her own state and to be standing on the dusty tarmac of the airport terminal in Cairo Egypt was one place she never dreamed of being. She had never seen so many people in one place at one time.

"I can see you're excited Lyssa. As soon as we unpack at the hotel we shall go get a bite to eat."

Lyssa was grateful that Ruth had insisted on going shopping in New York before they left for their trip. The light cotton clothes were needed in the heat of the city. Ruth had also explained to Lyssa that the Egyptian people frowned on foreigners showing to much skin so they made sure they dressed accordingly.

The suite Ruth had reserved for them was beautiful, her bathroom was as big as her bathroom and sitting room combined. Thank god the room s were air-conditioned they would have a nice place to retreat to when they got tired of sightseeing.