Blindside

Flintstones bandage on his head. Katie said, “You did great, Sam, you didn’t give up.”
    “No, ma’am, I didn’t.” There was a flash of pride in that exhausted little voice, and that was good. Sam looked like the little boy he was, wrapped in two very big blue blankets, a pair of Jonah’s black socks on his small feet. Sam looked up at Jonah. “I want to go home, Doctor.”
    Katie patted Keely’s head, and walked swiftly to where the boy stood. She picked him up and held him close to her. “You’re just fine, Sam, just fine. Now, if Jonah is through torturing you, I’m taking you home with me. You’ll be safe there until I can get your folks here.”
    “We’re in Tennessee?”
    “Yes, we are. Eastern Tennessee. Jessborough is the name of the town.”

    “Where’s Tennessee?”
    “We’re sandwiched among lots of states. Where do you live, Sam?”
    “I’m from Colfax, Virginia.”
    “A nice state, Virginia,” Katie said and turned to Jonah. “It’s not too far away from here. He’s okay?”
    “Yep, he might come down with a cold from his run in the rain, but he’s a strong kid. He’ll be just fine. Give him a nice big glass of juice. He needs the sugar. I don’t want to take any chances that he’ll crash.” He patted Sam’s head, ran his fingers through his damp black hair. “His clothes are still wet. What do you want to do?”
    “If you could wrap his clothes up in a towel, I’ll wash and dry them.”
    Katie realized she was rocking Sam, sort of stepping from one foot to the other, swaying, just like she did with Keely. She smiled. “I’m going to squeeze him in next to Keely and take both of them home. You like hot chicken noodle soup, Sam?”
    He didn’t say anything, but she felt him nod. She and Jonah looked at each other. Neither of them knew what the kid had been through, at least not yet.
    “You be careful, Katie, it’s coming down thicker than confetti on New Year’s,” Jonah said. “Take good care of my patient. Keely, you keep a close eye on Sam, too, okay?”
    Keely allowed Sam to sit next to her mother, his head on Katie’s leg. She pressed close to his other side. “I’ll keep him warm, Mama.”
    “Sam,” Katie said, lightly touching her fingers to his pale cheek, “you’re a very lucky boy.”
    Sam, who felt dopey and stupid, said, “That’s what my mama was always telling my dad.”
    “I’ll call your daddy right now if you’ll just tell me his name and phone number.”

    Sam said against the wet denim on her leg, “My dad’s name is Miles Kettering. He’s really cool. He can fix anything. He fixes helicopters for the government.”
    His father was a government contractor? Could that be why he was kidnapped?
    “What’s your home phone number, Sam?”
    He was silent, thinking, but he couldn’t get it together, and she knew his brain was closing down. “It’s okay. I’ll call information. Colfax, Virginia, right?”
    Sam managed to nod before he closed his eyes. He felt her strong leg supporting his head. She still felt wet through the blanket she’d put under his head. He felt the sway of the truck and the little girl’s body pressed close against him. He was warm. He was safe. He was asleep in the next minute.
    Katie pulled the blanket more closely around his shoulders, and whispered to Keely, “He’ll be okay, sweetie. You just stay there, keep him really warm.”
    After a moment, Keely said, “I would have saved myself, too, Mama.”
    “I know you would have, Keely. Now, let me get information in Virginia and find Sam’s daddy.”
    When the phone rang, Miles jumped nearly three feet. He’d been telling the agents again how the government contracts worked, who his competitors were, and how much money was involved. Agent Butch Ashburn, the lead on Sam’s kidnapping, nodded to the other agent, Todd Morton, who’d just swallowed a doughnut too fast and was choking.
    “Showtime,” Agent Ashburn said.
    Savich, who’d just gotten to the Kettering house, laid his hand on his friend’s arm and said, “Everything’s set, Miles. Just answer the phone. Keep calm, that’s more important than I can say.”
    Miles Kettering forced his hand to reach for the phone.He didn’t want to touch it, didn’t want to because he was afraid that Sam was dead. So many children were kidnapped and so few survived. He could hardly bear it.
    It had been a day and a half. This was the first word. His hand shook as he lifted the phone.
    “Hello?