K. C. A

TWENTY-FIVE

There was only one benefit of my mother being the one to deliver the money and that was the fact that we got to ride to Winston beach in a spacious van with Detective Daniel and two other officers while the two other families were squished into the backseat of a not so spacious police car each. 

It was a thirty minute drive from the police station to Winston beach and within the entire ride Detective Daniel was drilling my mother on how to deliver the money to the kidnappers safely and tying to keep her calm at the same time. 

“...it is very easy trust me. Once they have the money, the girls should be released from the backseat of their vehicle, truck or whatever they come with.”

“And what if it does not go that way?” My mum asked the Detective. 

“That is highly unlikely. But another way it might go is that the girls would not be with them, then they may give you their location after they have collected the money.”

“What if I get shot?”

“That is why you're wearing a vest. You also have  a wire on you so that if anything begins to get out of line, I and my team would move in immediately.”

“What if it's a head shot?”

“Janelle.” My dad called in a soothing voice. “Everything would be fine, just calm down.”

I was grateful that my father had finally intervened, and hopefully he had put an end to this vicious circle of the same questions and answers between my mum and Detective Daniel. 

“Once you get there, just do whatever they say and everything would go smoothly.” Detective Daniel added. 

As planned, the van we were in and the other police vehicles stopped at a safe distance and my mother had to walk the rest of the way. Detective Daniel ensured that the perimeter of the area had been secured before he allowed my mother leave the van. 

I would be a liar if I said I was not terrified. I was uncertain about my sister being alive and now I watched my mother get smaller and smaller as she got farther away from the van and closer to the beach. I was truly afraid. 

The only connection we had with my mother was through sound and how trustworthy could that be? 

We waited for a couple of minutes for any other sound besides the movement of my mother's feet. 

“I am at the beach and I cannot see anything or anyone.” The tension in my mother's voice was impossible to ignore.

“Just relax Mrs Donald, keep looking around and moving forward, they will definitely show up.” Detective Daniel replied. 

We waited for a few more minutes that seemed like long endless hours, but finally, we heard the sound of a car driving into the beach.

“They are here. I think.” my mum whispered. 

“Alright. Remain calm and you do not have to speak to us anymore.”

Few seconds later the sound of the car engine ceased and we heard the sounds of doors opening and closing. 

“How did you get here?” A male voice asked. 

“I…um…I took a cab.” My mum replied. 

“You have the money?” A different and lighter male voice asked. 

“Yes I do.”

“How much?” Another voice asked, and this one sounded female. 

Apparently the men in the video were not the only kidnappers.