A Friend For Ransom

After we unlocked the sound-proof basement I never knew we had, we met the captured kids and their families. Mom and I had the courage to call the cops. My dad, Larry and Ace were soon arrested.

Misty-eyed Hazel hugged Callie. "I missed you so much, cuz!"

"Me too!"

"We just don't know how much we can thank you kids." A policeman said. "We've been after this one for years."

"I guess I don't catch up with the news." I said.

"Me neither." Hazel admitted still hugging Callie tight. "And I'm supposed to be the gossip-er."

I giggled. The rest of my friends were chatting with the kids before they were returned to their homes by police. "Say, did you ever suspect your dad being the culprit?" A policeman asked.

"No. He was nice to us." I looked down. "Did something happen before he got fired?"

"Welp, he got fired all right. But do you know his job?"

"Uh... he told me he worked in a soda company."

"Well he lied. He was a policeman all his life."

"Oh! The irony!" Maria cried
mockingly. We chuckled.

"Well not really all his life. He used to be with me in all of our patrols. That's when I noticed him bullying the civillians of this subdivision for no reason at all. He jailed a two-year-old once because, while playing ball, she accidentally hit him. As he continued jailing and/or torturing people, he was fired. I guess this was a revenge thing. We never thought he'd be responsible for the kidnaps."

"Didn't you have his address printed somewhere?" Katie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He was good at covering up. He deleted his facebook account and soft copies of all his information. He burnt all of the hard copies too. Considering he also uses one of the most common names, not only in the Philippines, but in the world."

"It must've been hard for you." Margaret said.

"No." He replied, smiling at her. "It must've been hard for you." She looked at him, confused. "Even though you were injured, traumatized and isolated, you had the responsibility to care for the other kids. You're all our heroes! For that we give you all our gratitude."

He then did a salute.

We all did.

Then he took off.

"No medals?" Elliot asked. "Not even a piece of candy?"

"Oh shut up, Elliot! They don't need to give us anything." I scolded. "What's important is that we saved the day."

I then pressed the "save" button. "Well, that story's a wrap!" I announced proudly.

"Hey, did you use that 'adventure' to... I don't know... woo Josh?" Elliot asked.

"Nah, he's not my guy." I wrapped an arm around Elliot. "You are."

He blushed. "You're not too shabby, sis." He admitted. "Not. Too. Shabby."

"Not bad yourself." I said, grinning.

"But who became the leader of the Six Swifties?" He asked me.

"Maria herself asked Margaret to be leader."

"So I accepted, knowing that my friends got my back."

"Very true."

"What you gonna call it, Ellie?" Margaret asked me as she sat beside me on my bed.

I smiled, knowing the perfect title. "A Friend For Ransom."