Longing by Yvon Bacon et al

Jack was nauseous from the blood; there was so much blood as it gushed out of Noah’s hand. It was the same nightmare- they were children playing in father’s study with the antique swords from the wall. Their slow movements quickened and Jack’s blade fell to his brothers hand- the blood was horrifying and the guilt remained imprinted on Jack’s mind like the enormous scar on the back of Noah’s hand which stretched from his knuckles to his wrist.
Awoken by the buzzing of the alarm clock, Jack fell into his morning routine. He stirred out of bed and pressed the snooze button such ferociously that it sent the nightstand rocking. After his morning workout Jack spent a few moments in front of the mirror appreciating the muscles he worked hard to build, and then he showered and made his way to the bedroom again to gently and lovingly awaken Jackline, his wife of nearly a decade.
Jack loved his wife, but secretively his favorite part of his day was waking up Jojo, his 7 year old daughter, an image of perfection beneath the cast light of the window, she had a way of stretching with such exaggeration that It brought a smile to Jack’s face. She was his greatest accomplishment and he would never forget it.
By the time Jojo was awake, father and daughter made their way downstairs towards the smell of breakfast- this morning it was eggs in a basket and bacon, Jojo’s favorite, because it was her birthday.
“Do I have to go to school” cried Jojo
“Yes you have to go to school” said Jackline.
“But here is something you can show off to your friends” Jack said smiling as he opened the baby blue package of the Tiffany’s box and gently placed a heart cut diamond necklace around his daughter’s small neck.
Jojo yelled “oh daddy, I love it!”
“Happy birthday sweetie” replied Jack. “Now go get ready for school.”
Jack and Jackline sat in the front seat of the newly bought Hummer while Jojo hopped onto the back. Jojo bounced with anticipation, hardly able to wait to get to school to show here girlfriends her birthday present and make them jealous. Jack could not believe how the school Jojo attended had changed from the days when he had been a student there. The school was among the most prestigious in the country and had a growing population as more members of Silicon Valley become rich- so the school was perpetually under construction. Consequently Jack was unable to easily reach the entrance of the school with ease, and dropped Jojo off nearly a block away.
Jack was home. He pressed the remote button for the front gate and drove up to the two-story mansion he had inherited from his parents. He began to think of how he owed everything to his parents- his father had been a pioneer in the production of processors and after his death Jack inherited the business and overnight became the CEO of a multinational corporation. It was the ringing of his Blackberry that interrupted Jack’s thoughts as he pulled into the garage.
“Can you pass me that honey” Jack said to Jackline as he pointed to the device. Jack turned the device over with one hand as he put the vehicle into park with the other. “Hello” Jack uttered in his casual business voice.
“I have your daughter” said a gruff digitized voice. “If you ever want to see her again you’d better get 3 million dollars- you’ll get another call about the drop- and if you call the cops you will get her back piece by piece” and the phone was hung-up. Stunned, Jack let the phone drop from his hand to the floor.
“What’s wrong” Jackline compassionately inquired; sure her husband was overreacting to a deal gone wrong.
“Jojo is gone” were the only words Jack could utter before he broke down.
Perplexed by the ambiguity of the statement Jackline took a moment in silence before the severity of the situation hit he and she began to sob uncontrollably and repeat “how, we dropped her off… she was there… so close…not Jojo!” Jackline placed one hand on her husband’s leg to balance and then bent and picked up the Blackberry from the floor of the vehicle. Jackline yelled “ we have to call the cops”
“No, we can’t or they will torture her” Jack yelled panicked.
Lowering the phone, Jacline struggled to say “what are we going to do?”
Jack knew exactly what he had to do. He exited the vehicle and went strait to the bedroom, grabbed his briefcase and proceeded to the wall-safe that was located behind a family portrait. He looked at the image of himself and his parents, his wife and daughter and even Noah was in the portrait, he may have been adopted, but Jack always pushed for him to be accepted- even against his fathers wishes.
As Jack placed the last of the money into the steel case Jackline silently came into the room. She held an open, unmarked box in one hand and a blood stained heart-cut diamond necklace in the other. Before another word could be said the Blackberry began to ring.
Jack answered the call and placed the phone to his ear. “Tonight; the center of the Golden Gate Bridge, come alone”, were the only words uttered by the digitized voice before the call ended.
“I will get her back,” said Jack with complete determination in his voice as he placed his fathers black 9mm Glock in the inner pocket of his blazer.
Night fell and Jack’s anxiety over what he had to do grew, but he knew that he had to make the world safe for his family once again. The pillars of the steel structure hummed as he drove past each. The mayor had the instillation of surveillance cameras started as a precaution against jumpers. The center of the bridge was the only portion not to be supervised; but was also the only portion of the bridge that people never jumped from Jack supposed it was even too high for jumpers.
It was a large, black SUV, pulled into the emergency lane with its four ways on. Jack pulled up behind the vehicle, turned off the engine and patted his jacket pocket before he stepped out onto the vacant structure. The wind always intimidated Jack, it always had, even as a teen when he and Noah trained for track by running against its force.
The door to the SUV opened slowly and out stepped a tall slender figure. Dressed in black, including gloves and a ski mask, the broad shouldered man moved to the back of the vehicle and removed a pale shell of what Jack remembered Jojo to be. His blood boiled, but without a word he threw the briefcase towards the kidnapper, but because of the wind, it was carried into the empty traffic lane. The kidnapper abandoned his victim and focused on the cash.
The next movements would haunt Jack for the rest of his life, not because of the result, but because of the simplicity with which they came. For without thought, as the man in black turned away from Jack to pick up the briefcase, Jack slowly reached into his pocket and grasped the cold metal of his fathers gun and with surprising ease, raised the weapon and fired the clip of bullets into the back of the figure. This seemed to Jack to have happened in slow motion; however, the clip had been emptied before the masked man fell and slumped over the briefcase.
Instinctually Jack went to Jojo, lifted his daughter into his arms and told her “it’s all over, everything will be okay”. Then, without knowing why, Jack moved towards the body. Thinking back Jack would believe that this was to collect to briefcase or at times he would explain that it was to cause the man more harm. What Jack would never admit was the familiarity that he felt for the figure that stepped from the vehicle or how he knew those movements and the look of jealousy in the eyes. An understanding of what had occurred rushed to Jacks mind as he approached the figure and saw the scared hand grasping the handle of the briefcase.