ngdawg

Marj got the call at 2am. Barely a whisper, the voice told her to go look in the other bedroom, come back and listen to instructions. Although she had been in deep sleep, the voice scared her enough to be completely awake now. She dropped the phone, ran to the room and turned on the light. He was gone. The window was open, screen missing. Marj tried to scream but clasped her hand over her mouth, muffling the gutteral sob eminating from deep within.
The phone back in her hand, Marj cried, "Anything you want, please. Just give him back to me."
"You know the cemetary behind First Baptist? There, 20 feet beyond the gate. Bring 400 hundred 100 dollar bills, unmarked, in a black backpack. Drop it 24 hours from this minute. Come alone or the deal is off and you will never see him again." The voice was gone.
She didn't sleep any more that night. Quickly making her way to her office, she opened a desk drawer. Four bank books, two different banks. She could go to each, take money out of each and do as instructed. She opened a second drawer. The shimmer hit her eyes as she lifted the weapon. It was a gift from her father, a .44 magnum with custome pearl handle and an engraving along the barrel. "For service above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant Francis Murray. 4 August 1974." She checked. Yes, it's loaded.
Now to wait.
Two am could come not fast enough. She tried to sleep, but couldn't. She kept walking into the bedroom, as if to be assured this was all a bad dream. The bed, empty, seemed to cry out to her. Marj sobbed and slowly closed the door.
At twenty minutes to the hour, she took her backpack filled with the ransom and put it in the front seat. She went back to the office, took the gun out of the drawer, looked at it and for a second, thought to put it back. She thought again and put it in her purse and walked out. Starting the engine, she took a moment to compose herself. The gun, now next to the backpack, shown like a diamond. Would she even bother to use it? Marj took it in her hand, staring at it. Maybe she didn't need this-all they want is the money. She stepped out of the car for a moment, gun in hand. She wasn't sure what was out there, but decided to hide it in the trunk just in case.
One minute after two and Marj stood in the cemetary. It was chilly, damp and pitch black. Clutching the backpack to her chest, she waited. "Drop it where you stand", the whisper told her. She looked around, but saw no one. The backpack dropped to her feet. "Good. Now, you will find him next to your car." Marj ran like hell to where she parked. Thank God, I put that in the trunk, she thought. She stopped suddenly, looked down. There he was, tied to the door handle. His big brown eyes looked up at her and his body shook with excitement. As she stooped down to pick him up, he jumped on her and whimpered.
"Oh, my sweet, sweet Sugarbear. Let's go home". She stroked his head, hugged him tight and headed home.