“I’m not the noisy one,” the girl said with as much sarcasm as she could muster, casting an imperious glance at her dork of a brother.
“Brush your teeth and get some cereal. And try not to make too much noise while I’m on the phone!”
Madison was already doing as she was instructed. Kay looked over at her and smiled. All of the child rearing books she’d read said the first child was the overachiever, even more so when it’s a girl. Madison was no exception. She was bright and industrious and liked to be in on all the adult conversations that went on in the house. She generally didn’t have to be told things twice and was responsible — for a ten-year-old. Madison scrunched up her face and gave her brother a withering stare, failing to understand why he wasn’t the same way.
Kay moved over to the small table by the door so the kids could get up, and in and out of the bathroom. The motel room wasn’t big, but it was clean — something Kay insisted on. But then, everything around Disneyland is clean and neat. She liked that. She got out her cell phone and dialed her husband’s cell phone. It was about 8:30 a.m. and she knew that he’d just gotten off work and should be home by now.
When he answered, she said, “Hi, honey. How was your night? Are you home, getting read for bed?”
“Hey, babe. Not home yet. I had to stick around for a bit, but I’m on my way home now. Another long night. How’re the kids? Are they enjoying it down there?”
“Having a ball. Loving the rides! We stayed up last night to watch the fireworks, so we’re getting a bit of a slow start this morning,” she said as she glanced over at Brian, who was lying diagonally in the bed with one leg under the covers, one out, one arm on the bed, one over the side, and pajamas in disarray like his hair.
“You aren’t going to believe this, but just before I left work today I heard that the police found one of the HP techs dead and washed up on shore a few miles south of the plant,” Dave told her.
“Oh my god! Do you know who it is?” Even though there were over thirteen hundred people working at the plant, Dave knew a lot of them, at least by sight. More appropriately, they knew him. As the shift manager, he was the one who had to authorize maintenance and other activities on a daily basis. That meant he interfaced with a lot of people.
“I didn’t know her well, but I’d seen her around. I think she was married to a guy in Engineering or something. She washed up on shore at Mendocino Beach last night or this morning, but I guess she’d been in the water for a while.”
“What happened?” Kay asked, sounding dumfounded, and unsure as to whether or not she should be concerned.
“I don’t know. They’re not telling me. It’s mostly just scuttlebutt right now. I’m sure we’ll know more when I go back in tonight. They just found her. I have no idea if she fell in or what. It’s really weird. I’m sure there’ll be a big to-do about all this. Good time to be on graveyards. Let the day shift guys handle all that.”
Dave yawned and shook his head, trying to stay awake long enough to get home in one piece and alive. The drive home after graveyards was always brutal on him.
“So, have you been on Splash Mountain yet?”
Kay looked over at the two kids, fighting over the Cheerios and the milk now that Brian was up. “Are you kidding? We hit Splash Mountain as soon as we got in the park. I can’t keep them off that ride. I’m sure we’ll do it again a few times today. The kids love it and fight now to see who can sit in the front.”
“Hey, I love that ride, too. Wish I was down there with you!” Dave really did enjoy Disneyland and Kay didn’t know who was more juvenile at the park, Dave or the kids.
“We’re going to hit the park again for a few hours this morning, then head back this afternoon. We’re going to stop and see Nana in San Francisco, and should be home Friday. Then you have a few days off, right?”
“I was scheduled for a seven off, but Danny called in sick and I may have to cover his shift for a day or two.”
“Oh, honey, I hate it when you have to work overtime. Especially when it’s graveyards!” Dave was never at his best when working nights. He didn’t get enough rest trying to sleep during the day, and tended to get grumpy.
“Yeah, me too. Can’t be helped. Hey, it’s good money. We can use the overtime to pay for Disneyland.”
“Ever the optimist!”
“I’m getting into some traffic so I should get off the phone. I’m sleepy enough as it is. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you!”
“Love you, too. Bye!”
Just as Kay hung up the phone, there was a knock on the motel room door. She went over, looked out the peephole, and saw a well-dressed man standing there. Not thinking anything of it, she opened the door. After all, she’s just around the corner from the ‘Happiest place on Earth.’ Jansen pushed the door open, and walked into the room uninvited, followed by Stone, who Kay hadn’t seen standing nearby. She stumbled backward, stunned, and momentarily hesitated, not knowing what was happening or what to do. Then, frightened, she turned and ran to her children, instinctively standing between them and the strangers. The kids just looked up, their eyes open wide at the sight of two strange men in their room. They sensed the tension in their mother’s posture, which is what probably frightened them the most.
The two men moved quickly into the small motel room, as Stone closed the door. Kay could see both men had guns drawn. They weren’t pointing them at her, but let them hang loosely by their sides. It was as if they knew they weren’t going to need to use them, but had them out to intimidate her. Kay glanced nervously at them, indicating the tactic was working.
Jansen moved further into the small hotel room, glancing around to make sure they were alone. As he did that, Stone went over to the kids and pulled them away from Kay. As she started to protest, Stone let go of them and pulled her aside and away from her terrified children. He spun her around roughly and held her with one arm across her breasts, which were heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Kay was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, and he could feel her panting with fear, which excited him. He pulled her in closer and put his mouth close to her ear, breathing into it, causing Kay to panic and struggle momentarily against the strong arm around her.
“What do you want?” she asked in a quivering voice.
“We need you and the kids to be quiet. Do you understand?” Stone hissed in her ear.
“Just don’t hurt my children!” Kay pleaded as tears of fear form in her eyes.
“We’re going to take a short ride. You need to tell your kids to behave.”
Kay said nothing.
Stone tightened his grip on her and repeated the question, “Do you understand?”
Not knowing what else she could do, Kay glanced over at her children and said, “Yes…” in a trembling voice.
He then moved his hand down and over her right breast as he whispered in her ear, “I said, do you understand?”
Kay instinctively pulled back but couldn’t break his hold. All she could do was nod her head — emphatically. She didn’t know what was going on or why this is happening. She was freaking out, mostly from a lack of understanding and fear for herself and her children.
“Get the kids ready!” Jansen said angrily.
Stone slowly let go of Kay but gave her a look of lust and control she would not soon forget, then gave Jansen a scowl but did what he was told.
Kay could sense a tension between the two of them. She didn’t know if that frightened her even more or not, but was just glad he wasn’t holding her anymore.
Stone picked the kids up, threw them on the bed, then ripped off small sections of duct tape and taped over the kids’ mouths so they couldn’t scream. Then he rolled them over onto their stomachs in turn, yanking first Madison’s and then Brian’s arms behind their backs, tying their wrists with nylon zip ties so they couldn’t move their arms. He put a hooded sweatshirt over each of the kids to cover the fact that their wrists were bound. It was February and having a sweatshirt on wouldn’t be seen as unusual, even in southern California.