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Did you ever wonder where Frieda was when Fin's middle man threatened to kidnap her and force Fin to do a job? Here is the answer. You can also read Fragments, Kidnapped, Middle Man and Break in. They are all connected. :)

"Leave immediately!" Coldham Fintan Noose III told his wife Frieda. She was surprised. The urgency of Fin's tone, as he was nick named, made it clear he wasn't requesting it on a whim. He told her Damien, his middle man, had sent out people to kidnap her, so that Fin was forced to do a job for Damien he wasn't willing to take on. Fin also asked her to leave her phone behind and to seek help from someone nobody would think of.

Frieda went calmly. She waddled more than walked, because she was in the last few months of her first pregnancy. Frieda was of course concerned, but hoped she managed to get away before the thugs arrived. She used the elevator as usual.

Frieda sighed a breath of relief when she was on the road. Before buying a new cell phone Frieda went to a gun shop. She hated weapons, but since her father was a high ranking member of the Colombian mafia he had deemed it necessary his daughters were able to defend themselves. Roberto Pianas had taken Frieda to the shooting range when she was thirteen. Frieda was a satisfactory shot and had a weapons license. She bought a Glock 12, her preferred gun, and ammunition. Afterwards she took care of the phone.
Resting at a cafe she thought about whom she could ask for help. Frieda dismissed her friends Agnes and Logan. If the kidnappers were any good they knew Frieda, Agnes and Logan had studied together and that Logan was a former work colleague of Frieda's. The same went for Bailey Mumford-Nuss and Reggie Smith. Reggie had been Fin's mentor and Bailey was his girlfriend.
After long deliberating Frieda got the phone number of her former professor. Frieda believed nobody would think about her.
"Hello?" Professor Phyllis Bligh answered. "Professor Bligh, it's Frieda Pianas Noose. You might remember me..." Phyllis Bligh, a tall African American, had never forgotten Frieda. How could she, when Frieda had been victim of racism at the college and there had been a hearing with Professor Bligh as a witness. Besides Frieda had been one of her favorite students. "Of course I do!" Professor Bligh had wondered what had happened to Frieda. Unfortunately way too few students kept contact.
Phyllis Bligh combined Frieda was married, based on the double name Frieda had given earlier. "Mrs. Pianas Noose, is this a social call?" Phyllis sounded stricter than intended. She was busy, having to go to the next lecture soon. "No, I'll have to ask for a huge favor and it could be dangerous for you." "What has happened?" "To make a long story short, somebody is trying to kidnap me and I need a hiding place. Would you allow me to stay with you for a while? I hope the issue is resolved within a few weeks." Phyllis didn't hesitate. She agreed immediately.

When they met in the evening Phyllis was surprised to find Frieda was pregnant and it had progressed quite far. Phyllis hoped Frieda wasn't going to give birth while she was staying with her. During dinner they caught up, but Frieda was elusive about why somebody wanted to kidnap her and what made her so sure her situation would improve soon. When Frieda had enough of Phyllis inquisitiveness she said: "Look, I appreciate you are helping me, but it is better for you the fewer you know." Phyllis wasn't happy with that answer but was all what she got. It let her wonder what Frieda's husband was doing for a living. Professor Bligh wasn't used to have people around her. Having been divorced for sixteen years and living alone slightly longer it was a major lifestyle change for her. Frieda tried to not inconvenience Phyllis, was tidy, and it was nice to have a dinner waiting when Phyllis returned after a long day.
One evening Frieda approached the subject of regular doctor's check-ups. She asked if Phyllis could contact her doctor and to arrange house visits. Frieda didn't want to change doctors at the last moment. Frieda feared, though, when she went to the surgery the kidnappers were waiting for her, so she couldn't take the risk. Normally her doctor didn't do house visits. Thanks to Professor Bligh's stubbornness she made an exception.

Fin kept her regularly updated. Frieda missed Fin and looked forward to the calls, but she was getting frustrated about only hearing Fin and his friends hadn't found Damien yet. There was a break through after Frieda stayed a bit more than two weeks with Professor Bligh. To Frieda's disappointment and anger Damien had escaped, but the other kidnappers were dead. Frieda had hoped she could return home now. They agreed it was still too dangerous. Damien had to be desperate. Frieda was glad to hear Grey Hall was still on the case and if he was able to locate Damien he would kill him.

Frieda was getting restless and tried hard not to be short tempered or grumpy. She had enough of being pregnant and wanted to sleep in her own bed with Fin beside her. She missed the physical contact. Frieda started to despair and believed she was going to have to live forever at a random place.

Finally Frieda received the news Damien had been terminated. Damien's death had come just in time. There were only four weeks to go until the baby was due.
Frieda had mixed feelings about the whole affair. She was glad she could spend time with Professor Blythe and know her better, but was sad about Damien's demise and over overjoyed to be reunited with Fin, who felt responsible and guilty for a while about Damien.

©2014

Kidnapped

This one is to clear up any confusion caused by "Fragments".

"Why me?" I was asking in despair. I've never hurt a fly and found myself suddenly kidnapped. I was very short before my due date, which made things not easier. I found an answer to my question, when I was forced by my kidnappers to speak to a total stranger on the phone. The kidnappers believed the stranger, who was called Fin, was my husband. A mistake. My real husband is a soldier and was at the time on tour in Afghanistan. Fin confirmed it was a case of mistaken identity. The kidnappers' target had been Fin's wife, who was also pregnant and Latina like me. I was of course scared. For the child's sake I tried to stay calm. Fin promised me to try and get me released as soon as possible. I hoped the police was arriving soon. It took more than two weeks and the cavalry arriving wasn't the police, but mercenaries or so I thought.

There were four guys, who were guarding me twenty four hours a day. Two were okay - they took care their partners in crime didn't get out of hand - but the other two I was worried about. One of them liked to rough handle me and pushing me around a bit when I had to go to toilet, which was often due to the baby squeezing my bladder. The other stared at me, when he thought I wasn't watching. He never dared to touch me, but alone the looks sent a shiver down my spine. There was also their boss Damien, who came sometimes to visit. He was self-assured and from what I understood Fin, to whom I've spoken a second time, was going to organize something for Damien. Since I had seen my hostage takers faces I was sure they would kill me as soon as Fin had done their bidding. What if I couldn't rely on Fin and he hadn't contacted the police or would not do the job Damien had asked him to do? What if the baby was arriving earlier than thought? I started to get insane with worry. Besides I was bored like hell. There was nothing to do. My body ached in every position due to my huge tummy. At least the unborn was active. A good sign I thought. My hostage takers also fed me regularly. They weren't prepared for a pregnant woman. They brought take aways. The portions were too large and too few. In the last trimester I had started eating five or six small portions instead of three square meals a day, because I couldn't eat so much in one go. The Chinese food caused me heartburn. Since the kidnappers weren't Latin American origin, they didn't consider to bring me something Mexican, which I really craved.

More than two weeks had passed. Damien had arrived to discuss some issues with the other guys. They were looking up in surprise, when a truck approached. Damien sent one of his henchmen to the front door to check the situation out. It was the one who liked to stare at me. The situation was tense. Everything went haywire. When the guy opened the door, pistol at the ready, he was shot. At the same time we were attacked from all angles. Three men entered via the roof, one of the two windows and the back door. They all had machine guns and mowed my kidnappers down. I screamed in shock.
To my dismay Damien dived behind me and before I could react had me in an iron grip and a loaded gun pressed to my temple. He tried to escape through the back door. I was of course frightened, but also thought I couldn't stand being a hostage any longer. Seeing my chance I stomped heartily on his foot. Damien cried out and released me. I jumped out of the way clumsily. Machine guns trained on the ring leader, but he escaped unharmed through the back. I thought my nightmare was finally over, but suddenly I felt something wet dripping down my legs. At first I thought I had peed into my panties, when the attack started. Pain settled in nearly immediately. I realized I was in labor and wanted to cry. There was nobody to support me. At home in Wyoming I had chosen my neighbor to be my birthing partner and close friend, since I knew my husband wasn't going to be at the birth. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" A female in a courier uniform asked in Spanish. "Yes... No." I replied. She was tall and had black hair, olive skin and brown eyes. It seemed she was married, because she was wearing a gold ring on the left ring finger. Her name was Nicola. "I... My labor has started." "We'll better get you checked out at a hospital. Antonio, can you call round which hospital is nearest? I think Fin mentioned something like the Mercy and Baptist and maybe the South Miami Hospital." Nicola's calmness and Antonio's quick nod, re-assured and soothed me. Another wave of contractions hit me. I groaned with the pain. "Take a deep breath. Yes, that's good." Nicola guided me through the contraction. Antonio in the meantime called the hospitals. He looked exotic. Antonio was not that tall, in his mid-thirties and had light brown hair, almond shaped black eyes and caramel colored skin. He paced impatiently up and down, while waiting for the different hospitals replies. The Baptist was willing to take me. It was the furthest away. We drove there. The midwife was very good, but told us it was too early, so I wasn't admitted. Grey, who was driving and another person, who had helped free me, said he would bring us to the house of his friend. He was African American and very inconspicuous. We went to Miami Beach. Finally I met Fin. To my surprise he wasn't Hispanic. He was taller than Nicola, light ash blond and had blue grey eyes. Based on the Spanish Nicola and the others spoke I thought they were Colombian Americans. Antonio had a slightly different lilt and Fin's accent was there, but difficult to place. Antonio updated Fin what had happened. To my amazement Fin's eyes turned blue, when he heard Damien had escaped, then suddenly grey. I hadn't seen that in any other person so far. To my surprise Fin also apologized, admitting it was his fault I had been kidnapped. He looked contrite and said he was also sorry that the stress of being a hostage and the shoot-out had caused the premature labor. I absolved him. The baby might would have been born earlier than planned anyway. I only hoped she was healthy. Nicola promised to stay with me during the birth. She told me she had one small son herself. While Antonio regaled me with growing up in Ibiza - that explained his accent -, Fin took Grey aside. Antonio stared at them. There were some tensions, which I didn't have an explanation for. Nicola noticed I was following the men. She rolled her eyes and simply said: "Male and their blood lust." She shut up, when Antonio shot her a poisonous glare. I assumed it had something to do with Damien escaping. I didn't want to know too much. The guys asked me if I wanted to go to the police. There were some more tensions. Sensing they would prefer if the police could be kept out, I decided I owed them and wouldn't press the matter with law enforcement. They were visibly relieved.

To take off my mind from the pain, I decided on a name for my daughter.
I knew I was expecting a girl. My husband and I hadn't been able to agree on what to call her. Being grateful I considered naming her after Fin, but his full name was Coldham Fintan and that was unsuitable. I also didn't consider Grey, so I choose Nicola Antonia Barreintos after rolling the names around my tongue.

Finally the contractions were only a few minutes apart and we went back to the hospital. I got an epidural, because I felt wasn't going to be able to cope with the strength of the contractions. Finally I held my daughter in hands. From the time when the waters broke till the last push 9 hours had passed. Nickie was red and wrinkled, but for me she was the most beautiful baby ever. I thought Nickie looked a bit like her father. Thank goodness my daughter didn't suffer any negative effects from being born too early. We could leave the hospital a day later.

The kidnapping marked me. I had flash backs and nightmares for a long time. My trust in strangers was gone. For a while I saw hostage takers around each corner or behind every bush. If I wouldn't have had Nickie I would have buried myself at home and been a reclusive. She forced me to go out and encounter people every day. Slowly I returned to my old self.

My husband didn't notice the changes. He was either on tour or too concerned with himself and getting used to Nickie.

Every year on Nickie's birthday a gift arrived for her anonymous. I guessed they were from Fin.

I never saw him or any of my rescuers again beside Nicola, who stayed in contact.

©2014