Grace's POV
I placed the bedroom, trying to stop my hands from shaking. It was him. He had abandoned us, and- no. I didn't wanna think about that. I shook my head, trying to block out those thoughts. I had been adopted at seven, when my dad put me in foster care, but I could never forget what he looked like or how he sounded. I hated him, but I had forgiven him, with God's help, but I still didn't want to face him. It had been nine years, but I still didn't want to have anything to do with him. Luke knocked on the door, and I jumped. I opened the door the rest of the way, and he looked exhausted.

"Officer Lane is here. She wants to talk to you about what you've been planning for the last week." I exhaled, following him to the living room, where a kind looking officer sat waiting.

"Grace?" I nodded, shaking her hand, and we all sat.
"Luke told me that you know where Hope is, and you know how to get her out?" I nodded.
"Yes, and I also know who one of her kidnappers is. He- he's my biological father. He put me in the system after my mom died, and he asked for a closed adoption, no rights to him ever again. That's what he got." She nodded slowly.
"So, what is this plan that you have to get her out?" I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, and finally spoke.
"I know where they're keeping her, and if I get to close for comfort, then maybe I can get to where she is. From there, I can give you our location, and then you can bring in the cavalry, so to speak. I know how to get things past him, since I- well, you know." Officer Lane nodded, processing what I had just said. She started to say something, but unfortunately spoke first.

"Look, we are wasting time. I know that this probably isn't a preferable plan, but I know him better than most of you do. He's going to go ahead and execute his plan early, since we know more. He can't threaten us, so he'll just act early. We can't just send in the special forces, because we'd just lose them. Can we do this in-" I looked at the clock, calculating time in my head.
"A half-hour? We can't sit around twiddling our thumbs, waiting for something to happen." Officer Lane walked out of the room, talking on her radio, and five minutes later, she came back.

"We're a go. Chief will have fifteen officers and a few paramedics standing by. He wants you to leave in fifteen, if you can." I nodded, and she gave a stiff smile.
"I don't normally say this, but I will be praying that this works out for you." I nodded, and stood, heading to my room. I scribbled down instructions for Luke and Moriah, who was just arriving home with Joel, who had recovered. They could explain all this to him. I grabbed my small cell phone, which, thankfully, was a flip phone. Not that popular, or useful, but it would get the job done. I slipped it into the one place I knew he wouldn't find it. It was going to be uncomfortable, having my phone and foot sharing a shoe, but it could save Hope's life. I knew someone would have to stay behind and distract them, and that person might not make it out. I knew that would have to be me. Hope had a life, career, family and boyfriend waiting for her. Me, I had my speaking 'career'. It had touched people in ways unimaginable, but I knew Hope was not gonna die tonight, not if I had anything to say about it. As we drove, I explained the plan to Luke, Moriah, and Joel, who couldn't be convinced to stay with Libby, Courtney, and the kids. We arrived, and Officer Lane was in plainclothes, and ready. It was a go. I went around the corner and out of sight. I was terrified, but I went ahead and flopped down, banging the door to the warehouse intentionally. The sound echoed, so if they weren't in there, they still would hear it. There he was. My biological father. He came toward me, and I screamed. They knew not to actually come, but they made it sound like they were. He punched me in the head, and I was dazed, but not unconscious. He dragged me in, through several halls, twists and turns, and threw me in a small room, where another young woman was. I heard him yelling and cursing at someone else, and I was steady enough to sit up, and talk to the other person.

"Are- are you Hope Smallbone?" I asked. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded.
"Yes. You must be Grace. How long has it been since the call I made?" I shook my head, clearing it.
"A week. Your brothers are waiting. They know the plan I have, and they're waiting with the police." I said, lowering my voice to a whisper. She choked back a sob as she answered.
"J- Joel and Luke are waiting? How did you do this?" I nodded, putting a finger to my lips. I pulled my phone out of my shoe, and called Joel. I still heard banging and cursing, and I heard one of them yelling something about 'going ahead and blowing the place now.' He answered in the second ring.

"Joel? I found Hope, and we're a go for phase two."
"Roger that, Grace. You know what to do next?" I rolled my eyes.
"Yes. I'm going to knock them out so that Hope can get out, and then I'm coming."
"Roger that. Over and out." I hung up, turning to Hope.
"Listen, I wasn't entirely truthful with Joel. I am going to distract them so you can get out, but they'll probably light the fuse once they know you've gotten away. You have to run. Take my phone. Run. Run like your life depends on it, because it does. You have people to get back to, a life. They need you more than they need me. I'm just an orphan with a cruddy background." She choked back a sob again.

"So you- you'll probably die tonight? Is that what you're saying?" I looked at her, smiling sadly.
"Fire and Fury. Look it up when you get home. Skillet did the song. One more thing." The men were messing with the lock, and I gave her the phone.
"Run."

Hope's POV
"One more thing. When you get home, just don't forget about me. I don't want everyone to know what I did, like I'm a hero, but don't forget about me. I'm an orphan, so I would like you to use my story to get people to adopt more." I nodded, promising her I'd do that. Grace told me to run, so I took her phone and did just that. The door opened, and she smashed a board over two of their heads, and punched another on the face. When I got to the end of the hall, I stopped and looked back at them, fighting Grace, and one of them opened a door to a closet full of dynamite, and lit a match. She turned to me, and mouthed, 'Go.' I ran, years blinding me, and I made it out to where police were. I didn't stop, though, and then strong arms caught me, holding me back.

"No! No, let me go!" I screamed, fighting.
"Hope! Hope, it's me!" I heard a familiar voice, and looked up to see Colton, and I melted into his, Joel's and Luke's embrace. I tuned out the police yelling, and we were about sixty yards away from the warehouse. I forgot what happened, but then we heard and saw it. The warehouse exploded, and the three of us hit the ground. When I looked up, the three men were being wrestled to the ground by police, but Grace was nowhere to be seen. Colton saw my horrified look, and didn't even say anything. He just pulled me closer, and Joel was talking with a couple officers, who were also horrified. I just didn't even care. A teenage orphan I had just met sacrificed her life so that I could continue to live mine. As I realized that, I couldn't do it. I just cried, standing there with Colton's arms around me. Why did this have to happen?! She could've run too! But, she chose to give her life to save me. As I stood there crying, I just completely fell apart. I couldn't keep living like I had knowing someone had died so that I could do that. Then, I realized something. She did the same thing as Jesus did on the cross. She gave her life so that I could live, and Jesus gave his life so that I could live as well. I hadn't known until now that I had taken that for granted like that. Then, I pretty much just sobbed. I couldn't just live my life like nothing had happened. Then, we heard yelling, and I saw a firefighter carrying-