“I don't want anything to happen to Joyce. She is very precious to us.”
“We are not supposed to let our conversation with the kidnappers graduate into much explanation. That may endanger Joyce's life."
“It won't even be nice if we wait for the kidnappers to call for the money.”
“But how do we do?”
“I just don't want Joyce hurt.”
These were the thoughts running in the mind of Mr Tom.
So, he thought of letting Dr Lawrence, the head of the hospital, know about the situation.
“You will have to be on Mr Mike's phone to quickly take the calls that come onto his phone.”
“Both of them need attention, as in the case of a coma. That is why we can't endanger their lives by interrupting their treatments.” Dr Lawrence advised Mr Tom Giggs.
Mr Tom then thought about involving other family members on what their thoughts could be about the situation, so that he would not be the only one making decisions.
The head of the IT department of one of Mr Mike's firms, Mr Trace, was asked about the situation if he could help in any way.
Within seconds, Mr Trace provided an on-point solution. “Involve the medical team to help you try his fingers on the fingerprint option of unlocking the phone. That should work.”
Immediately the information was passed to Mr Tom, he also saw it as a nice idea.
“That was so thoughtful of him.”
When he did as suggested by Mr Trace with the help of the medical team, the phone was unlocked.
With that, they were able to beat the time.
The kidnappers had sent a USDT wallet address where the 10 million dollars would be sent with a message to respond with proof of payment before the deadline.
Mr Mike's personal accountant was involved, and he was asked to find a way to get the money across to the kidnappers before the deadline, and he did.
======
“Yes we got it.”
“Our biggest hit ever”
“What a catch we have this time.”
These were the words of Anelka when he got the credit notification of the $10 million dollars.
“What is that?” Karae and Akuna unanimously asked Anelka.
“We’ve got the money. What a catch we have this time. This man is rich."
“Oh-oh-oh ooooooh. This is unbelievable!” Akuna exclaimed.
“What news this is! This is a dream, someone should wake me up.” Karae could not contain his joy.
“We must celebrate this.”
“Let me get Brandon”, Karae went for him in the underground inner chamber where celebrity victims are kept.
Brandon had volunteered himself to be on guard for Joyce such that even if others wouldn't be available, he would.
“Brandon, guess what?”
“What is that? I don't like guessing."
“I can't just tell you. You have to guess.”
“Jee’s father has sent the money”
“Jee” is the coined name for Joyce. It is the custom of the 5-man gang members to agree on a name that is not the original name of their victim should they have reason to discuss the person.
“You are a wizard. You are a hundred percent on point.”
“Sure.” Brandon was not so happy that Joyce was the victim of the celebration, but he just had to play along so that his colleagues would not suspect his affection for her.
Immediately, he exited the underground chamber. He locked up Joyce to celebrate with his colleagues.
As soon as Newton heard from the family members that the money requested by the kidnappers had been sent, he instantly put a call through to Anelka.
“Hello boss. How are you doing today?”
“I am good. You?”
“Is there an update about Jee?”
“Sure. Check your balance”
“I trust you boss.” Newton ended the call in a very happy mood.
Interestingly, Brandon has been giving Joyce special attention since she was brought into their camp.
While he tries to hide it from his colleagues. Anelka seems to be way smarter than his games.
“Brandon, don't get carried away with this girl. Don't lose guard!"
“How can I boss?”
“You must be professional with your job.”
“You know how important this catch is to us?”
“The first pay is way fatter than our two-year effort on this job combined”.
Unknown to Brandon, Anelka also had an interest in Joyce, but he was being careful to show his affection.
The careful warning he gave Brandon was a mild way of trying to redirect Brandon's attention from Joyce so that he could have unhindered access to her.