The Hostage

Blocked

Eileen went to the kitchen and hurriedly got the coffee ready for Samson as he began to get to work at his computer desk. Samson's computer desk was long with numerous screens, each of them using a variety of software to hack into the phones that sent Eileen the messages. 

Samson looked at the phones whilst he was reaching into bags of chips and soda cans. The phones that sent the messages were not giving much information it was stressing him out. He leaned back for a bit, ran his fingers through his hair before leaning in front of the computer screen, figuring out what he needed to do. The people that sent the messages clearly planned all this out there was no doubt about that. 

"Anything?" Eileen asked as she leaned over his shoulder looking at the computer screen, scanning the various lines desperate for any sign of a breakthrough.

"I'm trying...but whoever sent you that picture seems to have a very secure phone I can't hack into it. There are a variety of reasons for this. One is, they have a very good way to secure their phone. Two, they are out of range or three, they turned off everything that can make it easy for me to track them down. Location is impossible." Samson confessed and he scratched his head sighing in frustration. "I'm sorry, I'm very stumped. It's a first this has happened."

"That can't be..." Eileen spoke before she picked up her phone and looked at it. "Almost all phones you can hack into..."

"Well these ones are tricky. I have no idea. I'm more surprised that they contacted you and that picture...do you recognise it?" Samson asked Eileen as Eileen brought up the picture of her brother and the other man up onto the mobile phone screen.

"Well that's my brother...I think that's a fellow student, I've never seen him at many gatherings." Eileen confessed as she looked at the photo. "He's as tall as Damon, almost like one of those surfer dudes I see in Australian drama shows. You know,chocolate brown wavy hair and dreamy green eyes..."

"I get the picture." Samson spoke before he leaned down and kissed Eileen. "Something is telling me that you are going to find out about your brother soon. You have to listen to what the captor says though. I can't find out where he is. He's blocked me."

"You mean...talk to the hostage?" Eileen asked, confused at where Samson was going. "Is that the only option I have?"

"Eileen think about it. Somehow they know your brother. Both of them. The captor isn't going to talk but the hostage would." Samson spoke before adding "I think you deserve to know what they have got to do with his disappearance. You need the closure. You've told me the only thing you want right now is to find the truth about your brother. The opportunity is here, take it."

Eileen nodded and looked down onto her phone, defeated. "I'll ask the hostage." 

With fingers slightly trembling, Eileen sent the photo of her brother to the hostage and asked "Did you know this guy?"

Eileen and Samson sat down at the dining table and waited for the phone to beep. When it did Eileen grabbed it and looked at the message. 

"I cannot remember him. Who is he?" The hostage asked after a few minutes

"That man was my brother Damon. He's been missing for ten years. He was last at the university in the city. He drove there." Eileen replied before looking at Samson. "He can't remember."

"He should. Or else why would the captor tell you to ask the hostage." Samson spoke before he reached over and held Eileen's hand. "This is going to be difficult but I'm here and I have other hacker friends as well that might help. Trust me, we will find out who these people are. I think though we need help from the police. We should have done that first." Samson spoke.

A few minutes later the phone beeped. Twice. The couple looked at Eileen's phone before she reached for it and opened it. 

"Captor? Hostage?" Samson asked

"Both..." Eileen spoke before she looked at the message from the captor.

"I forgot to warn you not to get the police involved. Get them involved and you won't know the truth about your brother. The fate of the hostage is in your hands." The captor messaged, almost threatening them in a calm manner. 

"The truth? But I know a lot about him. What part of him is a lie?"Eileen asked Samson wondering what the message meant.

"A lot of people have secrets. Even the nicest ones can turn out to be serial killers. Look at Ted Bundy. He was a charming and charismatic man who ended up killing a lot of women." Samson spoke before adding "Not saying your brother is a killer but saying that even those we see as nice tend to have a side or secret they don't want to reveal or show for fear of judgement."

Eileen nodded. Samson had a point because there was a fifteen year gap between her and her brother and because she was so young Damon could easily hide secrets or tell her half the truth.

"What about the hostage?" Samson asked, wondering what it was the hostage wanted.

Eileen opened up the message from the hostage

"I remember! Damon was the friend of my cousin's friend! We all studied there. I did arts as well and my classes were next door. I preferred doing graphic designs over animation because of my eyes. I remember seeing Damon talking to a girl, my sister. Jean was her name. She was in the same class as him."

"What is your name? I need to know so I can help." Eileen texted back quickly without hesitation.

"They accused me of his possible murder but I didn't! I didn't kill anyone! How can I?"The hostage messaged back without waiting for Eileen's message.

Eileen paled. She now knew who it was. There was only one man who ever was charged but was let go due to lack of evidence. Calmly, she looked at her phone and texted back, fingers trembling.

"You're  Angelo Sumile aren't you?" Eileen messaged without thinking.

The phone beeped once more from the hostage.

"Yes. Help me please! I am innocent! I can prove it. You must hurry the captor is coming back! I don't want to die. This place is dark and only remember seeing a black mask before I passed out from inhaling something. I think it was chloroform." 

With this the hostage then appeared offline. Eileen stared at the screen for a moment before putting the phone down. She sat down at the table, her fingers drumming the smooth surface as thoughts of her brother's case came running to her head. A few seconds later, her fingers stopped and silence filled the air.

"He says he is innocent. The captor believes he is guilty. I feel so confused." Eileen sighed as she sat there contemplating what to do.

"There are two sides of the story. There is always the truth and the lie. It's up to us to figure that out though. How is another question." Samson stated as he looked at the phone.

"The hostage is offline. If there are many sides to a story, well, we might as well keep neutral and figure out the whole story. This is the only opportunity I have and either the hostage or captor are going to have to face me and tell me the story." Eileen spoke before looking at Samson, who sat down beside her "but who will be the one to face me first?"