“I’m surprised you came.” Everyone listening through the earpiece heard a man talking from a distance. It feels a bit unnerving even if they’re just listening to it go down. They can’t imagine how Fatima feels about this interaction.
“Who are you?” They heard her ask loudly and a pause was heard.
“The money?” They heard the man ask and Nikki worriedly looked at Grian.
“What if they find the tracker?” she whispered but Philippe held her shoulder to calm her down. She took deep breaths as they listened again. “Exact amount, three hundred thousand dollars.” Her voice was firm and confident.
While they were listening, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. The police scanned the man and asked Grian to look for who it was. He approached the door and looked outside and found William standing there, worried. “I called him over,” Grian said and let him in. He breathed heavily and looked around and found many guards.
“Is she okay? Where’s Fatima?” he quickly questioned and Grian guided him to the living room where the others were. He suddenly heard a familiar voice on the laptop. “What do you want from William?” He heard Fatima’s voice ask. He was confused as to why he was mentioned.
“I never needed him, only you, Fatima…” the voice was too disturbing to forget, it was his mother. His mouth agape as he held onto the couch for support. Everyone looked at William in both worry and confusion.
“Are you in on this too?!” Grian jumped to conclusions and grabbed him by the collar. William was still shocked to hear his mother’s voice and was too stunned to move. “Grian!” Philippe screamed and tried prying him off of William.
“Answer me!” Grian demanded as his eyes filled with fury. Philippe pushed Grian’s wound lightly and it made him let go and stumble back from the pain of the gunshot. “What the fuck, Phil!”
“Calm down okay!” Philippe shouted and while they were fighting, Nikki was listening to the recording. “Guys!” she screamed.
“I think we forgot one thing,” his mother said and they heard someone taking the earpiece from her ear. They stood there in silence, not knowing what to do. They heard the earpiece get crushed and their way of communication got cut off.
“What do we do now?” Nikki asked in a panic and Grian grabbed the laptop. “Christopher and their team can still hear what’s going on. We have another earpiece and tracker in the duffle bag,” he informed the others and Philippe let William sit down.
NEAR THE WAREHOUSE CHRISTOPHER was inside the van and still listening to the conversation, only this time, their voices are a bit muffled and unclear but it’s manageable to listen to. His hands started shaking slightly from the thought that something bad might happen. A moment later, they heard her mother speak.
“Honey, we’re not that dumb.” Christopher’s eyes widened and looked at the detectives near him. (I knew it! That evil witch,) he thought to himself.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be taken care of.” Their eyebrows furrowed. Struggling is heard at the other side and they hear a loud scream of help from Fatima. The police exited their cars and started to surround the entrance of the warehouse, unaware of another exit. They couldn’t hear anything from the other side anymore other than running. They suddenly heard a loud boom outside and Christopher looked outside the window and saw the warehouse explode. His eyes widened and he opened the van door.
“FATIMA!” he screamed as he started running to the warehouse but the officers grabbed a hold of him and they struggled with each other. “Let me go!” he screamed.
“Sir- it’s unsafe, get back inside the van,” the officer from his left commanded as both the officers dragged him to the van. “No!” he screamed. They put him back inside and locked him up with the detectives.
“We need to get out of the car,” one of the detectives says.
“Stay there till Mr. Denver calms down,” the officer said and Chris kept trying to get out of the van. “Let me out,” he demanded but the officer ignored him and walked to the warehouse again. He looked at the state of the place and saw a few injured officers and the news coming to the scene to report what happened.
After things calmed down, the police went inside the warehouse and found it empty. No bodies, no items, or whatnot was found. The only thing left is the chair that is in the middle of the room, unharmed by the explosion. They scanned the place and found the conclusion that they escaped.
A couple of minutes later, they heard Fatima’s voice saying, “Let me out!” Christopher sighed in relief when he knew she’s alive but she’s still in danger. The detectives listened in on the live feedback. A moment later, the officer approached the van and said no one is inside and they are needed now. Christopher didn’t argue and let them leave him inside the van alone. He anxiously waited as they worked.
“I got their location,” one of the detectives informed the officers. They were one step ahead of the kidnappers. They figured they might find out about the earpiece so they put an extra one in the duffle bag together with the tracker they installed. It’s only a matter of time now.
While Christopher is inside, he suddenly receives a phone call. He looked at the caller’s name and saw it was from Hannah. He sighed and decided to answer the call. “I’m surprised you answered,” she said as soon as he picked up. He furrowed his eyebrows as he listened.
“You know… I hate Fatima,” she said slowly.
“Are you in on this too?” he asked furiously and she laughed loudly.
“I came to the conclusion that it’s not worth it. I met her mother and a bunch of other people I don’t really know. I know their location. I got them to trust me and I figured I can help with the investigation,” she said proudly but sassily.
“What?” he questioned in shock.
“How can I trust you?” he asked and she laughed.
“It’s all up to you. I’ve sent you the location. You can go if you want and trust me, or not go and risk her life,” she urged him and he clenched his jaw. “I’m going,” he said and she smiled but frowned.
“Make sure to bring the police with you, okay?” she said in worry but he ignored her and hung up.
“Chris? Chris- Chris! Fuck! That idiot,” she screamed as she got up from her bed. (Is he really going alone?) she thought to herself before going to her closet and changing clothes so she can go to the warehouse and inform the police.
Christopher sneaked out of the van and proceeded to run away. He had his car parked nearby so he unlocked it and went inside. He sighed heavily and looked at the location on his phone, it’s hours away from here. As he was checking, Hannah started calling him again and he ignored it and proceeded to end the call and started the engine of his car.
He looked at the location once more before putting on his seatbelt and driving the car away. He turned to the left and started driving fast but not enough to surpass the speed limit. Driving this late at night is nerve-wracking but the pressure of saving Fatima adds even more pressure than what he’s already feeling right now.
HANNAH ARRIVED AT THE warehouse and saw that a lot of people were checking out what happened as the media flocked. Soon enough, the reporters spotted Hannah and surrounded her. “What do you think of the situation at hand?” One asked and she tried getting away.
“Are you involved in any way with the kidnappers?” Another asked and her eyebrows furrowed and she stopped walking. “What? Are you stupid?” She pushed everyone away and she ran to the nearest police officer she could find.
“Where’s Christopher?” she asked, running out of breath.
“I can help with the investigation, I know where they’re taking her,” she said as she caught her breath. This time, the officer paid attention to her and so did the detective that overheard her. “But where’s Chris first?” she asked and they went to the van and found him nowhere to be found.
“Fuck…” she murmured and the detective approached her.
“What do you know about the situation?” She turned around and looked at him and she handed him her cellphone with the recording she took. “Every plan they had is there,” she said.
[Recording Start]
“We can flee the country in case anything goes wrong.”
“We need her mother as bait first, then we transfer her to the first location in the mountains here.”
“After a few days, we’ll be able to export her to the island.”
“This can be very dangerous.”
“Relax, our identity can be changed.”
“It starts tomorrow…”
“How can we even trust that woman.. Hannah was it?”
“She hates the woman.”
[Recording End]
After that one stopped, another recording started. The detectives listened carefully and as all the recordings ended, they turned to Hannah with a questioning look. “I left a recorder at the place I met them so I got all of that. I hate Fatima but I don’t want her harmed, okay!” she said in a high-pitched tone and the detectives looked at the location listed on her cellphone and were impressed by how much information she got.