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and rip her child from her desperate hands. They wouldn't see how much she needed her son, or how much he needed her. They would only see an unfit mother and a child in need of protective services. It was all rules and regulations with these so-called "civil servants." Her thumbnail dug into the already torn skin on her wrist. She never should have called them. She should have handled this herself.
    Sergeant McConnell turned toward her. "Holly, this is Special Agent Grant. She is here to help you get your son back. Please give her your full cooperation.”
    Agent Grant slid aside the flipped tips of her retro bob hairstyle, and produced a smile. Her hazel eyes didn’t feel as piercing and judgmental as Holly had expected, but she was still not comforted. She was beyond comforting. The shock of losing her son had left her a hollow shell.
    " Agent is so formal. Please, call me Angela.” She offered her hand. "I know you're scared, but I need you to be brave.”
    Holly nodded.
    " As you know, your son is not the first to be taken. Sergeant McConnell told me you've been watching the news.”
    Holly swallowed.
    " You have to get that out of your mind. Each of these cases has been different, and you're already off to a good start. You called us right away, and we were able to respond quickly. We've learned some things about how this kidnapper works and are going to do everything we can.” She looked Holly in the eye. "I believe we can get him. Do you understand this?”
    Holly scratched her wrist and nodded.
    Agent Grant took a seat in a kitchen chair that had been moved into the living room, looked at her watch, and waved to one of the officers waiting patiently behind her. He placed a laptop on the black formica coffee table between them, turned it toward Holly, and stepped back.
    " I'm going to ask you to do something now, Holly, something hard. You don't have to do it. But, if you do, you could help us get your son back. You do want to get your son back, right?"
    A shiver caused Holly's body to quake.
    Agent Grant looked up at the officer. He pulled out a plastic evidence bag with a large piece of brown paper bag in it. He laid it on the coffee table and slid it across. Glued to the paper bag was a photo from an ink jet printer. It was a picture of children's blocks, two sets of two numbers stacked on four sets of three numbers.
    Holly's eyes widened. "What’s this?”
    " This note was tucked between your fridge and the wall.”
    " Yes. That's where I keep my paper bags. I wasn't hiding it. I've never seen this before...”
    " We're not implying that you have.” She pointed to the plastic bag. "Do you see those numbers? Do you know what they are?”
    She looked around at all the faces staring at her, then down at the note. "I don't know.” She paused. "Sh- should they mean something to me?” As she stared, a terrifying thought pecked its way through the fog of shock surrounding her brain. Why would this image of blocks be glued to one of her grocery bags? Her eyes flitted up. "Did the person who took my son make this? Was he in the grocery store?" The thought of him stalking her and her son sent a streak of terror rippling through her gut.
    " Stay calm, Holly."
    " Has he been following us? Has he been watching us?"
    " I know this is hard, but I need you to answer my question."
    Holly struggled to reign in her thoughts. She had to be strong. "I don't know. I don't know what the numbers are."
    Agent Grant pointed with her pencil. "The top two numbers are a time. The bottom four are an IP address, a location on the Internet. The man who has your son is going to post something there at 9:00 a.m. And...”
    Holly's eyes shot reflexively to the clock on the living room wall. It was ten till nine. "What’s he going to post?” Her eyes snapped back to agent Grant's. "What’s he going to post on the Internet?"
    " If he does as he has the last three times, he will post a video of your son.”
    Her belly tightened, followed by an