CHAPTER NINETEEN: TENSION RISING
1600 Words
“Natasha! Natasha!!” William yelled as he walked around the house, searching for his daughter. He searched her room through the window and she wasn’t there. She wasn’t on the front lawn of the house either.
“Natasha! Where the hell are you?” he kept calling, looking around. “Natasha, you are making me really worried now! Come out already. It’s not safe for you to be out here on your own.”
Nothing.
Glancing around, his gaze met an old lady sitting in the next compound. She was staring straight ahead at him as he moved about, looking for his daughter. The old woman sat under a tall tree, enjoying the cold breeze that blew in her face.
William walked towards her. “Afternoon, Mrs Peterson. I’m looking for my daughter. Have you seen her around? You see, she came home a while ago to the sad news that her mum passed away, and she ran off. Ever since then I haven’t seen her. It’s been fifteen minutes already, and I’m really worried that—”
Gasping, she covered her mouth. “Oh good heavens, William! I’m so sorry about your wife.” She looked at him with pitiful eyes.
“It’s okay, Mrs Peterson, it’s just—” he said, hiding his grief behind a straight face.
“Such a wonderful lady, your wife,” she stared with a pained expression. “It’s a pity that she didn’t get to finish her—”
“Have you seen my daughter around?” he bluntly replied, trying to sound as polite as he could. He was in no mood for a little chit-chat—and especially not with Mrs Peterson.
She was taken aback a little by his abruptness, but then she answered, “Saw her a little while back; the poor girl was crying her eyes out.”
“Did you see where she went?”
“I thought I saw her go down that way.” Mrs Peterson gestured towards the garden.
“Thank you,” he said and left in a hurry.
“Accept my condolences,” she sympathized, looking at him with sad eyes as he hurried away.
William entered the garden. His eyes were immediately drawn to an area on the ground where the grass had been uprooted. He noticed Natasha’s footwear and baseball cap lying around the mess.
As William bent to pick them up, his eyes were drawn to the footprints on the damp soil. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he edged towards the footmark to examine it.
His eye widened when he realised it wasn’t Natasha’s. He knew for sure that Natasha’s tiny foot couldn’t create this large a print. Then he noticed the path created on the damp soil by someone being dragged away. He immediately knew that his worst fears had come true.
Oh, God! No!
His hair stood on end at the sudden realization.
Natasha has been taken!
###
“Sir, you are looking at this from the wrong perspective,” Alex stated. “From what you’ve described to me, I don’t think it was T-Murek that kidnapped your daughter.”
William frowned at his response. “He has already made two attempts to kidnap my daughter, but failed. What makes you think he didn’t decide to push his luck and succeeded this time?”
“Sir, whoever or whatever it was that took your daughter, I’m certain it wasn’t T-Murek.” Alex took out an A2-sized file and showed it to him. In it was a photograph of the masked man with the letter ‘C’ carved on his mask. “I’m sure ‘cause a similar kidnap like this one was recorded a year ago.”
William watched in silence as Alex continued. “A young lady by the name of Loretta was kidnapped from her home, precisely January 31st—last year. She was taken by the same masked figure whom I surmise took Natasha today. The two deceased detectives, Murphy and Leonard, were assigned to her case after she was presumed to be missing.”
Alex took out another picture and placed it in front of William. “I believe you are already acquitted with this kid. He attends the same college as your daughter.”
William stared closely at the picture of Kevin. Recognition crossed his face. “I know this kid.” His brows waggled. “He brought my daughter home to me right after she went missing from the hospital. But what has he got to do with this?”
“He’s got everything to do with what’s been happening; your daughter’s kidnap, the two officers who lost their lives, the torture of the little girl found in the park… everything. All these deaths revolve around this kid.” He pressed his finger down on Kevin’s photograph.
William turned to look at him, momentarily confused. “You’re not making any sense right now. Are you saying he has something to do with my daughter’s kidnap?” he leered.
“Sir, you’ve clearly misunderstood what I’m trying to say. I’m not accusing the kid or anything. All I’m saying is that your daughter’s kidnap revolves around this kid.” Taking a moment to catch his breath, Alex went on. “It all started when Loretta was engaged to be married to Kevin a year ago, but then two days before their wedding, she was kidnapped. T-Murek tortured her to death and made him watch as he rips her apart. Sad thing is, the day she was tortured was the day they were supposed to get married.”
“I don’t understand, why tell me all this? What has this got to do with my daughter?” He groaned with impatience.
“It’s possible that the masked figure that kidnapped Loretta over a year ago also kidnapped your daughter for the same reason. He targets the people he cares about; relatives, friends, colleagues …even girlfriend.”
“What a load of crap.” His face hardened. “My daughter has no affiliation with this kid. Why would my daughter be involved in all this?”
“That is where you might be wrong,” he countered. “I strongly believe they are in some sort of intimate relationship that you might not be aware of.”
Silence fell
“That is not possible,” William uttered, his mood slowly changing.
Or is it? He doubted that any of what Alex had said was true—but were they entirely impossible?
“Natasha tells me everything. If they were in any sort of relationship, I would know about it.”
Alex leaned forward, eyeing him. “Before T-Murek left Kevin in that room to watch Loretta’s remains, he had promised to torture him when he turn twenty five. Do you know what today is?”
“April 24th,” William answered.
“That is exactly two days to Kevin’s twenty-fifth birthday,” Alex pointed out. “The k********g of your daughter today wasn’t just a mere coincidence. It was all planned out from the very beginning. The two failed attempts made by T-Murek to kidnap your daughter were deliberate; T-Murek did that to scare the boy. 24th April has always been the day he kept aside to kidnap your daughter.”
He felt his own throat catch. “But how do you know all this?”
Alex leaned forward. “I’ve been a detective almost all my career, and over the years, I’ve learnt to trust my instinct. That’s what has gotten me this far. After Mr Logan showed me to the warehouse Loretta had been tortured in, I revisited the prescient in Fallout where the original case had been filed. I was granted access to the files on Miss Loretta, so I went through detective Murphy and detective Leonard’s reports. And here’s what I’ve been able to gather so far. T-Murek wants to recreate the event that’d led to Loretta’s torture—the only difference is Natasha would be the one who’d be tortured this time.”
William trembled all over at Alex’s words.
“The masked man kidnapped your daughter two days before Kevin’s birthday, just as he’d kidnapped Loretta two days before her wedding with Kevin. T-Murek wanted her death to be significant, so he tortured her on the day they were supposed to get married. That’s exactly what he intends to do with your daughter—he wants to torture her on Kevin’s birthday, which is just two days away.”
The door suddenly burst open and in walked Derik, and by his side, a teenage boy bounded with cuffs. The room was left in sheer silence at their presence.
“What is the meaning of this?” William fumed.
“Sir, I’m really sorry for interrupting, but this is really important.”
William looked at him with scorn. “What’s more important than finding the kidnaper that’d taken my daughter?” he retorted.
Derik froze in shock. He understood why William was acting hostile towards him. “Natasha… has been… kidnapped?” he mouthed, his eyes wild. He couldn’t believe it.
“She was taken just a few hours ago,” Alex enunciated.
“We have to get her back.” His expression turned pensive. “We have to…”
He trailed as he turned to the teenage boy standing beside him. “This is Jeffrey.” He paused to study their reaction. “And he is T-Murek’s son.”
A chilly silence fell over the room, and everyone shifted their attention to the boy.
- Writer
