Catch and Release

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Zoe stood bolt upright as the unknown man stepped forward. “Who the hell are you? What do you want? Where’s my son?”

The man crossed his arm over his body and slapped Zoe across the face with enough force to knock her to the ground. With a heavy accent, he calmly said. “Questions, questions, questions. Why is it that you Western women always feel the need to talk so much? Women have no place speaking to a man in such a manner.”

Zoe looked up at him, tears flooding her eyes as the side of her face burned from his slap. “Screw you,” she said, and drove her foot up between his legs. It was a good attempt but ultimately proved useless. The man slammed his thighs together, catching her foot before it could reach his groin. He clenched his hand into a fist, extending the knuckle on his index finger. He pulled his elbow back and slammed his fist into Zoe’s upper middle thigh, causing her to scream out in pain. He released his grip on her foot, leaving her leg to fall to the ground, limp and useless. Zoe cradled it with both hands.

The man stepped forward and crouched down by Zoe’s head. “Now, make sure you listen because I’m only going to tell you once.” He placed a piece of paper in front of her face. “This is a set of instructions. You will follow them to the letter. As long as you do so, your son will be returned to you in due time. If you don’t follow them, or if you contact the police or any law enforcement agency, then your son will be returned to you piece… by… piece. Do you understand?”

The feeling started to return to Zoe’s leg. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Surely this isn’t real. This can’t be happening. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to stop them from welling up again, and turned her head away. The man wrapped his hand around her jaw, forcing her to face him. “Do you understand?” he yelled, his patience clearly running out. Zoe opened her eyes, pursed her lips, and spat in his face.

The man let go of her jaw, grabbed the front of her shirt, and with one hand easily lifted her slender body off the ground and slammed her hard into the wall, hitting her head on a stud. He punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, leaned in close to her ear, and whispered. “Bad move” as he spun around and threw her into a chest of drawers. He stepped over to her, kicked her in the ribs, and said. “Stupid American w***e! Do as you’re told, and you might just live through this.”

Zoe struggled to see straight. She was seeing brightly colored spots, and her vision was darkening around the edges. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the mysterious man leaving her son’s room.