Diplomats

*** Book 2 in the 'Natalie Mysteries' Series ***

When Natalie DeLeon witnesses a young girl kidnapped in a park, she can't sit idly by. The mother, however, denies having a child, then jumps into the nearby river. The case takes a turn when someone wants to kidnap Natalie, getting the FBI involved. They find indications that the group is in Las Vegas, and the case is taken there, quickly becoming not only a mission to find the young girl, but a place for sweet nuptials.

Excerpt

"Don't take her! That's my daughter!" The woman screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to pull a young blonde-haired girl from a tall, dark-haired man with olive skin. She had hold of the girl's arm, but didn't have the strength to get the girl back.

I'd been studying for my finals at a park, watching the scene unfold with the little girl. However, I was also in total shock, not knowing what to do.

I had to act. I couldn't sit by and watch. I finally pulled my legs out from under the picnic table where I sat, and ran for all I was worth. The man yanked the child away from her mother and took off. The child screamed and her pink dress blew in the wind as he held her at the side like a football.

I chased him, even though I was almost too far away. Just as he was ready to put her into a car, she dropped her tiny doll. I tried to get to her in time, but the man hopped into the driver's seat and left, his car tires squealing down the street. I just happened to have a pen with me, and jotted down the license plate number on the palm of my hand.

As I watched the old dark car drive off, I whipped the cell phone out of my pocket and called my handsome fiancé, Peter.

"Hey, Natalie," he said. "Where are you, sweetheart?"

I caught my breath and spoke as fast as I could. "Peter, this is an emergency. I'm at Voyageur Park and a young girl was just kidnapped. I saw the whole thing and have the license plate number of the getaway car."

"I'm ready to take it." His tone turned professional. Peter was a Green Bay Police detective with a Ph.D. in psychology.

"It wasn't a Wisconsin plate with America's Dairyland on it, but was red, white, and blue." I read the blue-inked number off my hand. "The plate was KV5644, and the car was a 4-door dark blue sedan with no identifying features on it. It looked like the make and model had been removed."

"Red, white, and blue?" he asked. "Was it a veteran's license plate?"

"I don't know." I closed my eyes to think about what it looked like. "There was some sort of license plate cover on it, so I didn't see where it was from, but there was a blue stripe that went up and down on the left side, then across the top, and a red stripe across the bottom and a small partial red stripe on the right. I think there was a letter on the stripe on the left edge too."

I sighed, looking out over the Fox River, dividing the Green Bay area of Wisconsin. I was in De Pere, on the east side, which was a small town south of Green Bay.

"That's not a vet's plate," he said. "Do you happen to know what letter was on the stripe?"

"I'm not sure because I was focused on the main letters, but I know it was there."

"Is anyone from the child's family in the area?" Peter asked.

I turned back to look at the woman. "Yes. I think it's her mother, because she was yelling to let her daughter go and trying to save her."

"I'll get there as soon as I can," Peter said. "Don't go anywhere."

"Yes, sir." I ended the call.

It was so horrible to watch someone get kidnapped. I headed toward the woman and saw some man walk past the playground where the woman was sitting. Her hands covered her face and she seemed extremely distraught. I know I would be. As I got closer, I saw my class notes blowing all over the ground, close to the picnic table where I'd been working. I ran to get what I could, following the trail of papers closer to the Fox River. Maybe I'd be able to get them all before they floated up the river.