Weak in the Knees Ch. 04

For weeks after the birthday party, Diego had started to notice this feeling of being watched when he was out with Nadya. He would get that prickling on the back of his neck when they were at the park or playing in the splash pads. He could never quite pinpoint where it was coming from, but he couldn't shake the feeling either.

He didn't want to shrug it off as just being uncomfortable in this rich world of Zach's because it could be something serious his nervous system was warning him about. At the same time, though, he didn't bring it up with Zach because he was afraid of looking crazy without any sort of proof.

Zach was dealing with so much as it was, and Diego didn't want to add to that. Diego heard when Zach called his previous neurologist to give him and their office a piece of his mind about dismissing his concerns and symptoms without even looking into it, and he noticed times where Zach was looking worn out or having a new symptom that freaked him out. He didn't want to tell Zach his concerns if it was nothing and possibly make things worse.

As Diego was walking home from school one day not long after the rough wake-up from his PTSD nightmares, a van pulled up beside him on the road and a woman in the passenger seat asked him if he needed a ride. He politely declined and she insisted, the sliding door opening ominously to reveal a dark interior with at least one other person in the back. She swore they had a business opportunity for him, so he got in the van with a fair amount of trepidation.

The van pulled away from the curb and proceeded toward the Lennox estate at a stately pace while the woman in the passenger seat introduced herself as Sophia. "We have an unusual proposition for you. We understand you're set to lose your education benefits at the end of the month from the VA and things have been... stressful at your current place of employment. We are prepared to offer you enough to finish your degree in exchange for some information and leaving the door unlocked and the alarm system disengaged on a particular night."

Diego was able to connect the dots rather quickly. "You're going to kidnap someone?"

"Very good," Sophia congratulated him, pleased. "Your part will be minimal and will not be traceable to you, so you may very well continue your employment there afterward, if you play your cards right."

Diego looked sick at the thought, his mind racing with the ramifications and possibilities. He did not have enough information to go to the police. He considered whether he should tell the family, but he didn't want to make them unnecessarily paranoid until they had more information. "I'm going to have to think about this," he answered noncommittally.

Sophia nodded as if she had expected nothing less and handed him a prepaid cell phone. "There's only one number in the contact list. Text it when you've made your decision." Just then, the van pulled up a block from the estate and the sliding door opened again. Diego got out and adjusted himself, glancing at the license plate number for the van and committing it to memory.

When Diego got inside the house, Zach was laying on the ground while Nadya crawled over him like he was a jungle gym. Zayne was in the kitchen making dinner while Brinxton wasn't home quite yet. They had no idea that anyone could be targeting them this way. And he knew from experience that the Lennoxes, though rich and business savvy, were also kind and trusting. When Zach looked over at Diego and smiled, his gray eyes filled with happiness, he knew that Zach would never suspect him of ever trying to harm them.

It also occurred to Diego then that the person they could get the most money for would be the tiny one-year-old. He almost decided to tell them what had happened when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked it and it was an amber alert for a missing child nearby and the look of panic on their faces as they all got the same alert decided it for him. He wouldn't subject them to that fear just yet. He was going to talk to the police in the morning.

Zach always hated seeing the amber alerts, ever since Nadya was born. It made him glad that they didn't have any sort of custody issues going on, but it always made him hold onto her a little tighter. He picked her up and moved over to the couch where he let her drink from her bottle while she laid against his side.

The next day, the cops were mostly unhelpful. They agreed it sounded bad, but until they actually moved to do something, there was little they could do about it, or would do about it. According to the cop Diego spoke to, there were threats made against rich kids a lot that never actually amounted to anything.

"We could arrest them if you agree to do what they ask as they are in commission of the crime though," the detective told him. "But that's up to you. There would be some risk, obviously, but we would be nearby to get them."

Diego considered that, then agreed to do it. He asked, "Should we tell the parents?"

"It's not a bad idea," the detective agreed. "So long as the parents aren't going to go searching for the people themselves or anything."

"Wouldn't that just cause them to worry unnecessarily?" Diego asked, concerned that he had misstepped.

"Well, it's not entirely unnecessarily. Someone is actually after their child," the detective pointed out. "They're in a difficult situation. It could definitely lead to some sleepless nights and hard times, though. Stress is hard on the body. It's up to you, though we'll have to tell the parents once the arrest is made."

"Okay," Diego said resolutely, "I'll tell them. I was afraid they would think I was seriously considering it when I didn't refuse right away, but I suspected nothing could be done until an attempt was made."

The detective nodded his head. "Let me know when things get set up and what night they ask you to do it. We'll have officers nearby in plain clothes to intercept."

The detective left Diego with his card, which included his phone number, and sent Diego on his way home. By the time he got there, though, Zach was in the middle of a work emergency and just handed Nadya off with a whispered "Thank you". The emergency lasted through bedtime routine, so Diego took care of it himself and ended up going to sleep long before Zach collapsed, exhausted, several hours later.

Because of the late night and all of the extra effort Zach had needed to use to get things done the previous day, he didn't wake up until nearly time for Diego to go to school. There just wasn't a good opportunity to tell him anything about the encounter until several days later and by then he had texted Sophia that he was in, as the police had told him to do.

Sophia set up the night, which coincided with a night that Diego knew Zach tended to work late and therefore would be exhausted by the time he got home. Diego knew from experience that movement around his room when he was that tired didn't wake Zach up easily. It would take a bit, like Nadya crying for a bit through the monitor for Zach to be able to get up. Some of those nights, Diego would go in and feed her or change her before she woke Zach up because Diego knew how out of it he was.

Diego passed the information along to his police contact and tried several times that day to tell Zach what was in the works, but there never seemed to be a good time. Just after putting Nadya down for bed, Diego decided to bite the bullet and knocked on Zach's door. He heard Zach give out a small groan as he got out of the bed and opened the door, but Zach smiled when he saw who it was.

His smile didn't last long, however, when he saw the expression on Diego's face. "I have something very important to tell you. I've been trying to tell you for a while but there didn't seem to be any good time to do it. There's no easy way to say it, but someone is planning to kidnap Nadya."

It took a moment for that information to sink into Zach's tired brain, as he stared at Diego in shock. He stumbled over his words for a moment before finally saying, "Planning to when?"

"Tonight," Diego informed him. "I've contacted the police and they told me they have to catch them in the act and that I should play along until the cops get them in custody. They also told me I should tell you but like I said, there just hasn't been a good time to bring it up."

"How long have you known?" Zach asked. "Did they contact you to help them?"

"About two weeks. They grabbed me from the street on my walk home from school and offered me money to help them," Diego said, laying it all out there. "I would never do anything to hurt Nadya, or you, but I didn't want them to try this without me and succeed."

Zach turned away from Diego, but Diego could see Zach calculating everything in his head before he did so. Once Zach got over to the bed, he sat down on it hard, causing the metal frame to clang under his weight. "Two weeks. Two whole weeks? Fuck."

Diego looked like he was beside himself. "I am so sorry! If this means I'm fired, I totally understand."

Zach looked up at Diego. He was angry, of course. Livid, in fact, but despite him normally being the type to react first before thinking about it, he knew that if he did, then whatever was going on between them stopped. Plus, despite this, he still couldn't picture the house without him, and Diego had gone to the police.

Finally, Zach shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was tense, like he was holding back emotion. "No, you aren't fired. I don't want to do or say anything out of anger, which I'm completely right in having. Right now, we need to focus on keeping Nadya safe, and helping the police."

They didn't say much else as they went into their rooms. Zach shut off the light but sent a text to Zayne to let him know what was happening and that he and Brinxton needed to not react if they heard anything. Zayne wisely didn't argue over it, and he had Brinxton go over and lock the door to their room as a precaution. Despite how the kidnapping was supposed to go, not a single person except Nadya was asleep that night.

Still, when one of the kidnappers opened Zach's door to make sure he was asleep, it took everything in Zach to stay still. He was barely keeping his body from shaking from the anxiety and fear of what was going on. He only succeeded in staying still by holding onto his pillow, hugging it tight to his body, like that was how he normally slept. He let out a sigh once the door shut again, and then they opened Nadya's door.

It felt like everything happened faster than Zach could keep up with after that, from them disconnecting Nadya's Owlet device, to taking her out of the room and towards the front door. Zach sat up and listened to what he could from where he was. He could hear it when the police intercepted them, but the kidnappers weren't unarmed. Zach was on his feet as soon as he heard the gun go off the first time, and was bounding down the stairs the instant he heard Nadya screaming in terror.

Diego had also been pretending to sleep after he texted his police contact to let them know the kidnappers were in the house, but when he heard the police intercept the intruders, he bolted out of bed, fully dressed, and rushed down the stairs on Zach's heels. The police officer in the living room did not have enough reaction time to catch Zach before he ran through the door, but managed to stop Diego with a stiff arm to the chest.

Zach was fast, but not fast enough to get out there before the van pulled away with Nadya inside. He tried to run after them but his legs wouldn't let him run fast enough and he ended up falling down onto his hands and knees in the street, tearing up the pajama pants he was wearing and scraping the skin underneath. Some of the cop cars gave chase while one of the cops came over to check on Zach, who had sat down on the ground and was looking in the direction the cars all went with tears streaming down his face.

"Mr. Lennox?" one of the cops called out and knelt down near Zach. "I know this is a stressful situation, but you're injured. Can we get you inside and get those wounds tended to while we ask some questions?"

Zach looked at the cop, his expression lost for a moment before he finally nodded his head and let the cop help him to his feet. Inside the house, one cop was already in a quiet discussion with Diego, taking notes as they conferred. Diego handed over a strip of paper and they wrapped up their conversation. Diego hesitantly approached the couch where the paramedic was tending to Zach's wounds. Zach was staring off into space, barely reacting when the paramedics asked him questions, so it took a moment for him to shift his eyes to where Diego was standing.

"Zach, I'm so, so sorry. I gave the police the license plate number of the van and they're trying to find them that way," Diego said in apology.

"You saw the license plate?" Zach asked, his voice a little hoarse from screaming Nadya's name and crying.

"Yes. I tried to give it to them the first time I talked to them but they were confident that they would catch them at the house," Diego answered.

Zach just nodded his head at that, not knowing what to say. The paramedic finished cleaning up the scrapes and put some bacitracin on the wounds before he covered them up and left the two of them there. Zach buried his face in his hands and let out a sigh. He looked so broken to Diego right then. Diego wanted so badly to go to him and comfort him, but he wasn't sure if he would be welcome.

He sat on the couch near Zach, careful not to touch him so as to avoid forcing contact and asked plaintively, "How can I help? Do you want a hug?"

Zach lifted his head and looked at Diego, thinking that he had done as much as he could right then, but he was yearning for comfort, especially from Diego even if a part of him was still upset that he hadn't told him about this until the last minute. All he could do was nod though, his voice lost to the grief that was threatening to boil over. Diego scooted closer and hugged Zach tentatively but warmly, ready to let go at the first sign that Zach was uncomfortable.

Zach never showed any signs of that though. Instead, Zach practically melted in the embrace and broke down, telling Diego that he felt like he had failed Nadya by not catching up in time. "No," Diego responded tearfully, "I failed her by agreeing to this stupid plan from the beginning."

"You just did what the cops asked you to do," Zach replied with a shake of his head. "They want money, so I have to hope that Nadya is okay right now. I've never wanted so badly to be middle class or even poor than I do right now so this never would have happened."

Diego had never considered that being poor would afford someone a privilege before, but it made sense. He squeezed Zach's shoulders gently and calmly stroked his hair. Zach closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact between them. He normally would have been all over the place trying to figure out what he could do, but Diego had a way of calming him that no one else had ever had before, even Kali.

"Mr. Lennox?" one of the detectives said as he came over to them. "My name is Detective Sawyer. I specialize in kidnapping cases like this. Now, I know Mr. Martinez here gave us the license plate number, and we are looking for that now. Most kidnappings happen by people the victim knows, though for ransom reasons that isn't always true. Still, can you think of anyone who might want to harm you or your daughter?"

Zach lifted his head to look at the detective, considering the question before he shook his head. "Not really. I don't make a lot of enemies. I keep my head down, stick to my work, and spend most nights at home now."

"No disgruntled employees? Angry lovers?" Detective Sawyer asked.

"Zach is a pretty well liked boss," Zayne said from where he was in his wheelchair. "Lennox Construction is known for good employment packages, and we haven't had a ton of problem employees."

Zach agreed with that. "The last person we fired was for being drunk on the job, and he was mostly apologetic and sad when it happened. I offered to help him get into rehab, which he accepted. Before that we've only let go a few people recently, mostly for problems with their work that we had to fix. Everyone was fairly accepting of their dismissal though."

Then Zach thought about the second part of that. "I've only really had friends with benefits. I don't -- I didn't do many relationships. Just one in high school that ended when we went to college. Most of my sex buddies dumped me when Kali got pregnant and I stuck around, but they weren't angry enough to hurt Nadya."

"Well, if you can think of anyone, let me know," Detective Sawyer said.

A few of the cops stayed at the residence, including Sawyer, in case they got a phone call, and it didn't take long for their family and close friends to come over to the house for support once the Amber alert had gone off. Zayne had sent a text letting them know the Amber alert was for Nadya. Brielle flitted around making tea and coffee for everyone with Aspen's help while the others tried to keep Zach calm. Zach stayed next to Diego through most of it.

Diego was still blaming himself for what had happened, but he was also trying to be as supportive of Zach as possible. Zach spent most of the time they had to wait on and off crying while the others tried to be there for him. Zayne took Diego aside at some point to try and tell him that this wasn't his fault either, because he could see the guilt on his face.

"All it would have taken is hiring the wrong person, and we might never see Nadya again," Zayne pointed out. "You didn't take them up on it because you were greedy. You did it with the police to try and save her, and with the information you gave them, it's just a matter of time before they get her back. Besides, I don't see Zach blaming you, so don't blame yourself."

As the sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon when Detective Sawyer's phone rang. "Sawyer. Got it, on my way." Then he turned to Zach, who was already on his feet. "They found the van and they are going in. We'll take Nadya to the hospital as soon as they have her to make sure she is okay. You can meet us there, but I'll need you both down at the station after to ID the people who did this, understood?"

Zayne and Brinxton offered to drive them over to the hospital, as neither Diego nor Zach were in any condition to do so. It took about an hour, but Detective Sawyer came walking into the ER holding Nadya, who looked dirty and upset, but otherwise unharmed. Nadya started yelling for her dad as soon as she saw him, and practically leaped into his arms where Zach fell to his knees holding onto her and sobbing onto her shoulder.

The nurses and doctors had to examine Nadya from Zach's lap, because she wouldn't let anyone take her from him. Diego's heart nearly exploded when Nadya was safely in her father's arms again and watching her cling to him gave Diego very mixed feelings: guilt foremost among them, but also relief that she was okay.

"She seems to be fine physically, Mr. Lennox," the doctor finally told Zach. "But I would be worried about the psychological effects. She's young, so she may end up just forgetting what happened, but if you see evidence of it becoming a long term issue, then play therapy might help a bit. I'll give you some numbers just in case."

Detective Sawyer took them to the station afterward, where Diego was shown a few lineups where he picked out the people he saw in the van while Zach looked over photos to see if he recognized anyone from his own life. Diego had just come back into the room when they showed Zach the last set of photos.

Zach stopped this time and looked at one of the photos in surprise. He put his finger down at the edge of the photo. "That's Reese Morgan. He's...well, he was part of society until his dad was arrested for fraud and embezzlement. They had to liquidate everything and his mom started divorce proceedings. We had sex a ton in college, but then I got feelings and wanted more, and he didn't. We parted on okay terms but he asked me recently to lend him a significant sum of money to start a business venture. I didn't like the idea though and opted not to. I told him at the time that I would give him the money if he could come up with a better idea. I didn't think it would garner the money he thought it would. He was angry but...fuck, I didn't think he was angry enough to do this."