Dun dun dun.
"May I have some more coffee, Susie?"
"Of course, sir."
After watching his secretary leave his office for the millionth time that day, Jeff sighed and leant back in his chair, loosening his tie as he scanned his files. The businessman had just sat through another tedious board meeting with some financial executives who had been spewing convoluted jargon and statistics at him for two hours straight, boring him to death. He'd actually ended up zoning out at several points during the meeting, wishing he was anywhere but in that room.
Preferably at home, where he knew he was unwelcome as of late.
Jeff knew he'd been a terrible father to his sons. He'd practically abandoned them after the funeral as he couldn't bear being at home. He'd tried so hard to be there for his sons when they needed him most, but continually gave into his emotions. His grief. He couldn't bear being there without her.
There had been so many broken promises. It had caused arguments. The older two seemed to be more accepting of his absence, but the younger three...
Virgil would snap at him. Give him sarcastic responses and never look him in the eye. Gordon would shoot him disappointed glances and pretend he was okay with his father never turning up to his swimming lessons. Alan was just... Alan - naive as always. Bombarding him with many questions, wanting to know when he'd be coming home next. Wanting to play cars together.
A light chime echoed through his office. It pulled him out of his musings and looked down at his phone, confused to why it was ringing audibly. He'd turned it onto silent mode in preparation for his earlier meeting, hadn't he? Or had he?
Whoops.
Shaking his head at his forgetfulness, Jeff held the phone and saw that the caller was an unknown number. He frowned and scrutinized it closely. The number contained the area code of Southern Kansas. He answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Dad?"
"Virgil?"
"Dad, it's me."
"Virgil, are you in school? Why are you calling?"
"We need to talk."
He frowned at Virgil's odd register. Something was wrong. "Virgil?"
The line went quiet for a few moments. He could hear faint voices in the background before someone unfamiliar spoke.
"How about trading a sum for a son?"
His heart fluttered. "Excuse me?"
The voice laughed. "You heard me, Tracy."
"Who is this?" he snapped, fear beginning to surface.
"Someone who would love to get his hands on your bank details."
"My what?" he blurted. "Put my son back on the phone. Now!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Tracy. He's a little tied up right now."
His blood ran cold. It suddenly dawned on him what was happening. "Where are you? Where have you taken him?"
"Now you get the picture." the cocky voice sneered.
"What do you want?" Jeff mouthed slowly, anger seeping into his bite.
"It's simple, really. Bank details, company payroll information, business stocks. Give us what we need and we'll consider letting your son go."
A wave of nausea washed over Jeff. "Okay. Okay, I understand. I'll do as you ask, just me talk to my son!"
He heard a noise which sounded like harsh material scraping against the phone speaker.
"D-Dad?" came his son's anxious voice. "I'm sorry."
"Virgil! This isn't your fault! Don't worry about anything son, everything's going to be alright. I-I'll come find you, everything's going to be okay!"
Virgil felt a sudden lurch of bravery, "Dad, I'm being held by someone called Ritter! He's working a guy called Kenyon and-"
The phone was dropped to the floor and Jeff could hear the sounds of a scuffle. He gasped and shouted Virgil's name into the receiver several times, his heart racing. Ritter let out a craggy few breaths as he picked up the fallen phone.
"You've got one hour. We'll be in touch."
The line went dead.
Jeff stared at the blank screen of his phone in horror. They had his boy. HIS boy!
He was still in shock when his panicked secretary appeared in the doorway, her face white.
"M-Mr Tracy, I'm sorry to bother you but you need to see something!" she urged.
Jeff forced himself to his feet and practically stumbled into the open reception area his assistant worked. Susie pointed to the corporate television which was playing silently on the wall. Colourful subtitles encased in black were popping up on the screen, giving a summary of what was being said by the unseen reporters. An image of a large school academy was splashed across the picture. It was surrounded by the blue flashing lights of the numerous police cars spread around the campus.
Absorbed by the picture, Jeff was numb to the panic flaring around his body. He let out a large gasp of air when he realized his chest was struggling. Susie was immediately by his side, escorting her boss to the nearby plush seats. She was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear her words.
All he could hear was Virgil.