Chapter 3 Calling the Police
1344 Words
Will's sister lived just five blocks away from us. She was a single mother with a daughter three years older than Angela. The two girls were close, and Angela often complained about being bored at home, begging to go to her aunt's house.
I couldn't imagine how Angela would react once she realized she would never return to the home she had known for ten years. She would be devastated.
Sitting in the cab, I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed. It took a long time before I managed to calm down, staring blankly out the window.
It felt like overnight, I had lost everything—our savings, our home—and now, we had no choice but to move.
"How did this happen? What did I do wrong?" I asked myself bitterly.
How could an ordinary person like me cross paths with the mafia? Why would they target us for extortion?
As a stay-at-home mom living a quiet life, my world had no overlap with anything like organized crime. If this was Will's doing, wouldn't they have contacted him first?
Something wasn't adding up.
A sudden realization hit me. I quickly pulled out my phone and opened the photo of the contract that had saddled me with this enormous debt.
"Pacific Lending Company," it read—definitely not a legitimate business. I did a quick search online, but nothing useful came up. The company's address was just a P.O. box in Boston.
There wasn't even a payment account listed on the loan contract. Will had said they'd contact us again, and we had gathered all of our assets—just over one million dollars, now sitting in Will's account.
"It's safer with me," he had said. After all, I was the one who owed the money. Worst case, if Will divorced me and turned that money into non-marital property, I would be left not just penniless but burdened with massive debt.
I shivered. I trusted Will, but the thought of losing everything still left me uneasy, a creeping sense of danger rising from deep within me.
I shook my head, trying to dismiss the thought. I must be overthinking it.
The most important thing now was to figure out if this mafia group even existed. What if we'd been conned by a bunch of small-time crooks?
There was no way I could rest easy without knowing for sure. Who would willingly hand over a million dollars without investigating first?
Will and I had both been too panicked to think straight these past few days. But in a modern society, I couldn't believe that the law and the police wouldn't be able to protect us.
For the first time in days, a glimmer of hope flickered inside me.
I drove straight to the nearest police station.
"You're saying someone extorted you for a million dollars?" asked a tall, muscular woman in uniform.
"Yes. They kidnapped my daughter on August 30th and forced me to sign this fraudulent debt contract," I explained, recounting the entire story.
She examined the photo of the loan agreement on my phone. "Pacific Lending Company," she read aloud. A pot-bellied officer nearby overheard and came over to take a look.
"Ma'am, please wait here a moment," he said before both officers disappeared into a small office behind a glass door.
I could see them talking for a long time and making several phone calls.
I felt a bit flustered. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Will!
Hurriedly, I answered, but before I could say a word, Will's furious voice exploded through the line.
"Are you out of your mind? You went to the police?!"
"I... I..." His shouting stunned me into silence.
"Do you have any idea what you've done? The mafia will know the second you step foot into a police station. You think they don't have any contact?"
Will's anger burned through the phone.
"If you piss them off, do you know what they'll do to us? What they'll do to Angela?"
I gasped, my blood running cold, my hands trembling. "Did they call you? Is Angela okay?" I stammered, barely able to get the words out.
But before Will could answer, I hung up and immediately called Will's sister.
"Maria?" I forced myself to sound calm. "What's Angela doing right now?"
"Stella?" Maria sounded puzzled. "Angela's probably playing in the yard with Silvia."
"Probably? What do you mean, probably?" I practically screamed. "Isn't anyone watching them?"
Maria seemed startled by my outburst. "Hold on, don't worry. I'll go check." I listened as she opened the door and headed outside. The seconds dragged on like hours.
"Silvia? Angela?" I heard Maria call out, but there was no answer.
My heart sank. "Stella? Are you still there?" Maria's voice was distant. "They're not in the yard. Maybe they went to the store to get some ice cream. I'll go look for them. I'm sure it's nothing."
I raced back to Maria's house, speeding the entire way.
When I arrived, I saw the gate to the yard was open. I rushed inside, and just as I reached the house, Angela came running out.
I scooped her up into my arms, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
"Thank God you're okay," I whispered between sobs, kissing her cheeks over and over.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Angela asked, looking at me with her big, innocent eyes. "Mommy, I'm fine. There was this nice man with an ice cream truck, and he said Silvia and I were smart and cute. He even wanted to teach us how to make ice cream. He had the coolest ice cream truck!"
My heart froze. That was no "nice man."
"I'm just glad you're safe. But promise me something, sweetie. Don't ever go anywhere with strangers, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy. Because strangers can be bad people, right?"
"That's right, my smart girl."
After that phone call at the police station, Will hadn't contacted me again. Wasn't he worried about Angela's safety? Maybe he had already spoken to Maria.
A message popped up on my phone. Will: I've already given them the money.
I turned off my phone, feeling numb and lost.
"Mommy, Daddy said we're moving. Is it true?" Angela asked, her voice pulling me from my thoughts.
I paused, unsure why Will had told her that so soon. But she was going to find out eventually, so it might as well be now.
"Yes, we're going to live in an apartment in the city. How does that sound?" I tried to sound as relaxed as possible.
"Cool! I'll miss our old house a little, though. Can we go say goodbye to it tomorrow?" Angela asked, looking up at me with pleading eyes.
I held back my tears and forced a smile. "Of course. Tomorrow, we'll go together."
The next morning, after breakfast, Angela insisted on going back to the old house to say goodbye. I drove her there, my heart heavy.
We had already handed the keys over to the real estate agent, but I had secretly kept a spare. It was meant to be a keepsake. Now, it was our way back in.
The new owners probably hadn't had time to change the locks yet.
Holding Angela's hand, we walked across the yard, everything still looking just as it had. The lawn was as pristine as ever, and the cute little mailbox Angela had decorated still stood proudly by the gate.
"Hey, the door's open," Angela said, noticing the front door was ajar. Maybe the new owners were inside?
We cautiously pushed the door open and stepped inside.
We wandered through the living room and the kitchen on the first floor. Angela took pictures of every room and stood in the center of each one, solemnly saying her goodbyes.
There didn't seem to be anyone downstairs. Maybe someone had forgotten to lock the door after their last visit.
After a while, Angela and I headed upstairs.
- Writer
