Part 382: A Reverse Kidnapping???

If there was any time when Seth might accidentally crap his pants, it would be at the moment where he realized he was staring at his good friend’s kidnapped daughter.

The baby girl was giggling at the sight of the man she had played with so many times. She even held her up hands and squeezed them rapidly into fists; her personal way of telling Seth she wanted him to pick her up. The young man slowly turned and looked toward Sayid for some instruction on what to do. The Iraqi was too busy keeping his eyes on the where the Latina woman walked off too. “Sayid,” Seth hissed quietly, “What . . do we do?”

“Very calmly, I want you to pick up the child,” he replied, slowly putting down the two cases of beer.

“Oh, God, Sayid, they will think I am kidnapping her baby,” Seth said with clenched teeth, “ They won’t know Bridgett doesn’t belong to her!”

“No, they would think I was kidnapping the baby because I am from Iraq,” he said, with his best fake smile, “If you are holding her, you are just being polite.”

Seth took a deep breath as sweat started to roll down his back. He calmly leaned down, sitting the bag of jelly beans and the Hard Lemonade on the floor. “Snuggle-puss!” Bridgett repeated, kicking her feet and making the shopping cart rock.

“Hold on, BreeBree,” Seth leaned up, “I’m trying to keep from having a heart attack.”

Seth gently picked her up, under her arms and brought her closer. The baby girl then put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. She then leaned back, giggling at him. “Eckimo and budderfly?” she smiled.

“Okay,” he said, nervously.

Seth and Bridgett rubbed their noses together and then flickered their eyebrows together; in their usual fun time “Eskimo and Butterfly” routine. She laughed and laid her head down on his shoulder. The singer looked toward his Iraqi friend; silently telling him he needed no further proof. Despite her jet black hair, this was indeed the lost Bridgett Carlyle. Sayid then gently tugged his sleeve, making him follow his friend as he quietly left the line. Seth gently put his hand on the back of her head because his brain was on fire and it was telling him he’ll have to make a run toward the jeep.

Sayid calmly led the way through the main aisle exit to the door. As they got farther away from the line and closer to the door; the words they were fully expecting to hear finally rang out in the line.

“OH, MY GOD!!! THEY ARE STEALING THAT WOMAN’S BABY!!!” a cashier screamed.

One of the bag boys immediately rushed Sayid but the Iraqi countered with a punch toward his jaw; sending him spinning. Another grabbed him by the arm but he brought him down with a swift kick to his groin. “SETH! RUN!” Sayid ordered.

More and more citizens tried to help out the “kidnapper” from having Seth rescue Bridgett. The young man grunted as he slammed his elbow into the manager of the store and ran for the door. The moment it slid open, the boy-scout master saw what was happening and tried to get near him. Seth immediately grabbed a nearby shopping basket by the handle and swiped it upside his head. The moment the poor man fell onto a nearby recycling basket, the other boy scouts then started to throw things at Seth. “WATCH IT, YOU LITTLE TURDS!” he screamed, protecting Bridgett from the debris.

The singer then ran into the parking lot. The baby girl in his arms was laughing the whole time. He quickly ran toward the Jeep then heard Sayid’s footsteps right behind him; not to mention the loud footsteps of many citizens trying to help out. “MCKAY!!!” Seth screamed.

McKay leaned up from his slumber and looked out his drivers side window. He blinked three times when he saw something that didn’t make sense. Seth and Sayid were running toward them with a child in their arms and a mob of people right behind them. “MCKAY!!!” Sayid screamed, waving his arms, “WE GOT BRIDGETT!!! START THE ENGINE!!! LETS GET OUTTA HERE!!!”

McKay didn’t understand what was happening but he heard Bridgett’s name being called. He immediately turned on the engine for his Jeep, and backed up. He quickly unlocked the doors as Sayid jumped into the passengers side and Seth scrambled into the back with the baby girl in his arms. The Australian turned around looked at the girl who Seth quickly placed to the side. “Bridgett?” McKay gasped.

“MAC KAY!” the little girl laughed, recognizing her adoptive father.

“Where did you . . .how did she . . .she was in the damn . . .WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER HAIR???” the Australian screamed in shock.

“Questions later!” Seth screamed, as he quickly grabbed the child’s seat in the back trunk of the jeep, “I was wondering why you kept this damn thing. Must be fate, huh?”

Before McKay could answer, someone slammed their hand on his driver’s side window, cracking it. People started to grab the jeep and rock it back and fourth. Seth quickly jolted from left to right, locking both doors. Sayid locked his hand then tried to roll up his window. It wasn’t fast enough because it allowed an old woman to shove her cane at the Iraqi’s face, nearly hitting his eye. “OW!” he screamed, “MADAME, PLEASE!”

He quickly shoved the cane back and got the window all the way up. Despite the rocking back and forth, Seth managed to get the child’s seat in place and secure Bridgett with the seat belts. “WE’RE GOOD!” he screamed, “LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!”

McKay floored the accelerator and the Jeep zoomed out of the mob of people. The boy scouts were still throwing stuff at them when they sped away in the parking lot. Sayid looked into the side mirror and must to his dismay; he could see the old woman flagging down a police man. McKay twisted the steering wheel and then got into the highway, turning right and heading down the road. The cop then quickly started to follow them, turning on his lights. The Australian seemed almost oblivious to all of it; he couldn’t help but stare into the rear view mirror and see the bright smile of hid god-daughter staring back at him. “I can’t . . .I can’t believe we got her back,” he laughed with tears in his eyes.

“Can we celebrate later?” Seth said, looking back, “I don’t think that cop likes us.”

“We’ll get to Hal’s. He’ll verify that it wasn’t a kidnapping; it was a rescue.” Sayid said.

“Just hang on, guys. We should be there within a few minutes.” The Australian assured them.

McKay weaved in and out of traffic; dodging car after car. When they heard the sound of the siren, they quickly came to a stop to let the police pass. Luckily, it allowed the jeep to pass. Seth turned back and looked again. At that moment, there were three police cars. He took a deep breath, wondering how the man could have called for backup so soon. Sayid looked around and started to worry. None of the sights he saw looked familiar but then again, he wasn’t paying attention. McKay then noticed it too. He didn’t recognize the Red Cloud gas station, nor the Royal Package liquor store. His eyes jumped open with he saw a sign for the major freeway.

The freeway where he came FROM to get to Hal’s.

“SON OF A . . .” He screamed, twisting the steering wheel abruptly, “We’re going the wrong way!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY?” Seth screamed in disbelief.

“Gimme a break!” the Australian apologized, “I don’t live around here!”

“Wheeeeeeeeee!!!” Bridget laughed as she held her arms up during the u-turn.

McKay got the jeep straight and then headed back down the road toward the right direction. In front of them were now five police cars. The Australian gritted his teeth as he headed straight for them. Sayid quickly put on his seat belt, wondering how they planned on beating a game of Chicken with five police cars. The Australian took a gamble that they wouldn’t try to swipe a car with a child in it. The five police cars then dove to the right and left side of the jeep. Seth covered his eyes, unable to look at the chaos in front of him. What he didn’t know was that Bridgett was copying him; covering her eyes as well.

McKay then grabbed his cell phone and shoved it toward Sayid. “Call Hal,” he told him, “Tell him what is happening. I know he’s got a police band radio in his living room. He’s going to have to call these bastards off, otherwise we ain’t gonna make it.”

Sayid quickly dialed the number and put it toward his ear.



Hal flipped the burger and then placed it on the plate that Libby held out. She kissed him on the cheek and then walked over to serve it to the others. The cop laughed as she joked she was going to get him an apron that read, “Kiss the Cook,”. Hal placed some more hot dogs on the grill and then heard his cell phone ringing. He calmly picked it up and flipped it open. “Mancuso.” He answered.

“Hal! It’s Sayid. We’re in big trouble, my friend,” he spoke with haste.

“Yeah, tell me about it. You guys better get those beers over here soon, cause you are never going to believe who showed up here.” The cop joked.

“No, Hal, listen to me! We have Bridgett!” Sayid replied.

The homicide detective nearly dropped his spatula. “Wha . ..what did you say?” he coughed.

“We have Bridgett,” he screamed as Hal could hear he was being jolted from side to side, “ We . . .kidnapped her from the kidnappers! Now . . .we’re being pursued by your fellow officers!”

“OH, my God, “ he whispered, as he turned around and ran toward his house.

“HAL! GET ON YOUR POLICE RADIO!” McKay screamed over the phone, “You need to tell these guys to leave us alone! Tell them we didn’t kidnap her!”

“Way ahead of you, McKay!” Hal said, as he stormed through his porch door and ran into his bedroom.

He quickly flipped off the phone and tossed it on a nearby recliner. He didn’t say a word to Alexander and Mandy who were resting on a nearby couch. The young blonde then forgot about her worries, curious why Hal was so abrupt by entering the room. The cop collapsed on his knees next to the bookcase that contained the police band radio. He quickly clicked it on and jacked the volume up to hear what was happening. “All units, all units,” the radio hissed, “We are in pursuit of red jeep, west bound on Olympic, approaching Overland. Suspects have kidnapped a child; proceed with caution.”

“Units in pursuit of red jeep,” Hal spoke over the radio, “This is Hal Mancuso, Detective Sergeant, badge number 10854. Break off your pursuit of the vehicle; I repeat, break off your pursuit of the vehicle!”

“Get off the line, un-identifed caller,” the emergency operator spoke, “You are in violation of FCC regulations-“

“FORGET REGULATIONS!” Hal screamed, “Run my damn badge number! You need to break off that pursuit NOW! It’s not a kidnapping; it’s a rescue, you idiots!”

“Red jeep?” Alexander’s eyes flashed, “Uncle McKay?”

“Hal, what is going on?” Mandy asked.

Hal rubbed his hair as he stood up. He stared at her with a wild disbelief of his own. “McKay, Seth and Sayid are being chased by police cars, “ he coughed, “Cause they got Bridgett back and they believe they kidnapped her.”

“WHAT?” Mandy screamed.

“But . . .how . . .how did they . .” the young man by her side tried to ask.

“I don’t know, Alexander but that’s not important right now.” The cop whispered, “I have a bad feeling . . .they aren’t going to make it.”



McKay grunted as one of the police cars rammed him from the side. He tried his best to keep the vehicle on the road but it was difficult. Seth squeaked as the car hit them again. Sayid then grunted as the police car rammed them from his side. “They are trying to box us in!” he said.

“If they slow us down, we’ll be arrested and Lord knows what will happen to Bridgett,” McKay hissed, “Our only chance is to get to Hal and let him vouch for us.”

“If we make it,” the Iraqi pointed out.

“Seth, how is she?” the Australian asked.

Seth was gripping on his seat and he slowly turned to his side to look at the baby girl. She was swinging her hands from side to side laughing. “Bang, bang! Bang, bang!” she repeated.

“She’s having the time of her life,” the singer replied with hysteria, “I wish I could say the same for me.”

Two of the police cars then rammed them from the sides at the same time. McKay grunted as he could feel them both slowly down and as a result, slowing him down with it. “That’s it! They got us!” Sayid screamed.

“HANG ON!” McKay grunted.

The Australian then stomped his breaks, letting the police cars go forward. He then floored his accelerator and rammed the middle section of them, sending them both to the side. He continued onward but more cop cars were approaching them. Sayid gazed into the side mirror and much to his horror, he saw them pulling out shotguns. “They arming themselves,” he whispered, “I fear they are now about to shoot out our tires.”

“We ain’t gonna make it.” Seth replied.

McKay then blinked when he heard the screeching of tires from up ahead. A white SUV was barreling toward them, then twisted around and then started to come toward them in reverse at full speed. The white car then swerved and within seconds, rammed a telephone pole; cracking it at it’s base. The long shape then began to fall on the street. “MCKAY!!!” Seth screamed in distress.

“MAC KAY!!” Bridgett laughed, imitating her favorite playmate.

The Australian floored it and did his best to keep ahead of the cops. The moment the pole fell down, they managed to get ahead of it. The transformer exploded in an array of sparks and electricity. McKay hit his brakes and stopped. Sayid and Seth turned around; looking at chaos. The cop had stopped; fearing what would happen if they rammed the pole and got amid the electric wires. Seth then looked over toward the wrecked SUV, wondering who their savior was. The occupant then got out of the vehicle and quickly began to limp toward them. “Oh, my God, Sawyer!” Seth gasped in amazement.

Sayid and McKay both looked at the redneck as he limped toward them. Seth quickly reached back and un-hooked the hinges for the plastic trunk cover. Sawyer got to it and jumped in. The moment he did, McKay floored the gas pedal and they were off again, leaving the cops in the dust. Sawyer grunted as he leaned up toward the guys by the back seat. “Well, now,” he laughed, “I was gonna apologize for being late to the shin-dig but it would seem I was right on time!”

“God bless your redneck ass, Sawyer,” McKay laughed.

“You, my friend, are out of your mind.” Sayid smirked.

“What can I say? I get crazy when my friends are threatened,” the redneck then looked down toward the baby girl, “Well, hey there, Iddy Bitty.”

“Sawjer!” Bridgett laughed, grabbing his nose.

“Are we there yet?” Seth screamed, nearly having a nervous breakdown.

McKay twisted the car around and finally managed to get to the suburbs where Hal’s house was. They zoomed through the streets and got down to the cul-de sac where his house was. They came to a screeching halt at the entrance to the drive way, where the majority of their friends were waiting in the front lawn. The moment they came to a stop, Mandy ran toward the vehicle and then saw her daughter in the back seat with Seth. “BABY!!” she screamed.

“Mommy!” Bridget screamed back.

Mandy unclasped her seat belts and pulled her out of the child seat. She cried heavily as she held onto her baby. McKay got out as Taylor ran to him, worried sick from the look of his severely dented Jeep. Everybody then paused from their celebration when they heard cop car sirens in the distance and getting closer. “Get inside!” Hal said, “I’ll hold them off.”

McKay and Seth escorted Mandy, Bridgett and the rest into the house. Sayid rushed to the back to help Sawyer with his busted knee. Hurley then came over to help them as well. The redneck put his arm around both men as they got him up the stair way. The large man looked back and then back to Sawyer. “Dude, where is my car?” he asked.

“I put it to good use,” Sawyer laughed.

“Dude, did you wreck my car?” Hurley demanded.

“What the hell do you care about it?” the redneck countered, “You can afford a thousand of them!”

The group made it safely inside. Mandy was on the recliner, hugging her baby girl and weeping from the joy of having her in her arms again. Alexander and Taylor were right by her side. The two men sat down Sawyer as he grunted, massaging his knee. Tony walked over to the window, pulling Marita back with him. “Talk to me, baby,” he whispered.

Marita knew what he needed to hear. She looked at the window at Hal who was arguing with six uniformed cops. They were screaming and yelling at him; saying they were going to storm the house any minute. “I think they are going to come in here and take the baby.” Marita whispered.

“NO!” Mandy screamed, standing up and holding onto her child, “They aren’t getting her! Now that I’ve got her back! They got to understand she’s mine!”

“They don’t have time to understand, Mandy,” the blind man pointed out, “All they care about right now is three men took a baby from a grocery store and probably wrecked seven cars in the process.”

“Five,” Seth corrected him.

“Then if they storm the house, then . . we’ll all be arrested.” Dutch whispered.

“And Bridgett will be taken away and placed in social services until we get this mess cleared up. Lord knows how long that will be,” Tony pointed out.

McKay took a deep breath. “I ain’t gonna let that happen,” he said, getting up and walking toward the door.

Sawyer smirked, then grunted and followed him. Dutch quickly followed as did Sayid. Tony smiled as he motioned for Seth to follow him. The singer rolled his eyes as he got up to follow the men toward the door. Alexander smiled, kissed Mandy and Bridgett on the cheeks; then followed his friends toward the door. McKay opened it first and stepped outside. He could immediately hear the cops arguing with Hal. “I am the senior officer on the scene!” the detective coughed, “You will stand down, mister!”

“Those men are under arrest for endangering a minor and-“

The cops stopped when they saw the gathering of men outside the door. Hal then turned around and saw his friends up at the top of the stairs that led to his porch. McKay looked at the police officers with a slight bit of distain and sweat rolling off his forehead. “I am sorry for all the trouble I put you through,” he whispered, “However . . .that girl is there belongs to us. She was kidnapped four months ago and now we have her back. I am afraid you will have to go through us if you think you are taking her away now.”

“You’re going to burn for this,” one officer threatened.

“Did you not hear him, Slim?” Sawyer said, leaning his arms on Tony and McKay, “ He just got his god-daughter back from a bitch who kidnapped her. You really think he gives a damn about what you are going to do to him NOW?”

The cops are stared at them. Sawyer had his smug grin all over his face as he leaned back up. “I’ve been to Hell and back with these boys,” he said proudly, “I know what they are capable of. You want Bridgett? Go ahead and try . . . . .cause we’ll die before we give her up.”

Alexander patted him on the back, approving what he said. From the window, Mandy stared at the men in her life; proud of every single one of them. Libby smiled with Marita as they all watched from the window. Hal smiled back at his friends and then looked toward the officers. “Call Detective Ficco and Doster like I told you and let’s clear this up.” He grunted.

One of the younger officers finally did as Hal suggested. The older ones glared at the men for the wrecks they caused. They didn’t care about the circumstances of why but only because they did it. However, McKay, Alexander, Tony, Seth and everybody else stood firm. They spoke the truth that if the cops truly wanted to “get” Bridgett, there would be one hell of a fight for her.


Later that evening, the news crews had gotten involved for the celebrity status of the survivors. The fact that Bridgett’s disappearance had made National news brought the attention as well. Detective Ficco and Detective Doster had arrived and taken command of the situation. They discussed the situation with Hal and after having a female forensic cop check Bridgett out, it was confirmed she was indeed the same girl. Mandy was worried that her jet black hair would damage the hair that she actually had but she put in a call to Jack to ask. Turns out, it would have been damaging to wash it out. It was safer to just let it go ahead and grow out.

Hal had more paper work to fill out; to prove he wasn’t aiding and abetting. The young Mexican girl was taken into custody. She would be interrogated soon. Hal promised Mandy since she was arrested in his jurisdiction, he’d keep her up to date on whatever she was going to say. With any luck, she would lead them to Sabrina.

It was around ten o’clock, when the ruckus had died down. Mandy was on the couch, holding the sleeping Bridgett in her arms. Seth was nearby on the couch with her, his head back and eyes closed. She gently reached over and stroked his arms. “Thanks, snuggle-puss,” she giggled.

“You’re welcome.” He smirked.

“Snuggle-puss . . .dan-dan?” Bridget asked with a sleepy tone.

Seth smirked as he knew “dan-dan” was her baby talk for dancing. “Tomorrow, BreeBree,” he chuckled with closed eyes, “I don’t think I could handle it in my present condition.”

Hal came into the room and everybody leaned up. He yawned and then thanked Libby who immediately brought him a cup of coffee. Sawyer rubbed his eyes and then looked to his cop friend. “Well?” he waved his arms.

“The good news is you guys are not going to be arrested,” he sighed, “The bad news is you will have to pay one hell of a fine.”

“Why is that the bad news?” Hurley smirked.

“Thank you, Hurley,” McKay immediately chuckled.

“Will they find Sabrina?” Shannon asked.

“We don’t know. But they are going to interrogate the Mexican girl and I promised Mandy I would keep her updated on whatever they find.”

“All and all, nice days’ work,” Seth laughed.

“Thank you . . everybody,” Mandy said, sniffing, “Sayid . .Seth . .Sawyer . .McKay . .Hall . .everybody, thank you.”

“No thanks are needed, Mandy,” McKay gently stroked Bridgett’s hair, “Sawyer was right. We would have died before we gave her up.”

Bridgett leaned up under his gentle touch. She rubbed her eyes and smiled at her godfather. Her mother kissed her on her soft cheek and sniffed. “BreeBree?” she whispered, “Who do you love?”

The child pointed toward her mother. Then she pointed toward McKay. Then Taylor, then Alexander, and then Seth. Slowly, one by one, she pointed around the room. It wasn’t so much that the child was bright but that she remembered everybody that ever cared for her. It was what made fighting for her safety so much more worth it.