Chapter 24
"Who is this?"
Abby was surprised by how afraid her voice sounded.
"I think what you should ask is, who is this?"
A chill went down Abby's spine as she listened to her son's voice again. Riley was okay. She prayed that Jill was too. She had to get to them in time, save them from these terrible monsters that had kidnapped them.
She and Carter sat in silence as they listened to the recorded conversation between her and the kidnapper. The police had given them the recorder and told them to tape all incoming calls. Now, it had served a very important purpose.
"Why did he say 'of course'?" Abby asked abruptly shattering the silence that had permeated the car.
"What?" Carter asked. He was so focused on listening to the tape for any possible clues, he barely heard her question.
"He said, 'A hundred grand, of course'. Why of course?"
Carter frowned. Now that he thought about it, it didn't make much sense. "I don't know," he admitted. "There's got to be a reason."
"And what did Eric have to do with this? He left the house with the kids, and an hour later they found him beat up in an alley. What happened to him?"
Carter thought that Eric had probably been a part of the kidnapping scheme, but he knew Abby didn't want to hear that. So he remained silent.
Abby gripped the steering wheel. "I wish he was awake. I want to hear his side of this."
When the tape had ended, Carter said, "He didn't even say where to meet him. I hope we're not making a mistake."
"Even if we are, I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't try. I have to try."
They rode the rest of the way to McDonalds in silence. Abby pulled into the parking lot and left the car idling. "So, what now?" she asked Carter, nervously twisting her hands.
Carter shrugged, and was about to respond when they heard a knock on the window. They both jumped in surprise, and turned to see a teenage boy standing at the passenger window. He was wearing a baseball cap and shades, and they could barely tell what race he was, much less what he looked like.
Carter rolled the window down just a crack, and peered out. He was surprised when the kid said nothing. He simply handed Carter an envelope and departed.
Carter eagerly ripped the envelope open. Abby grabbed the first object that fell out, and stared at it disbelievingly.
It was a picture of Jill and Riley.
Both were looking directly into the camera, with small, hesitant smiles on their faces. It felt like their eyes were piercing straight to Abby's heart. They were okay. At least, they had been.
Meanwhile, Carter had unfolded the accompanying letter and began to read it aloud.
Dear Abby,
As you can see, the kids are fine and dandy.
They won't be for long if I don't get what I want.
I've decided to send you on a scavenger hunt,
just to make sure that you took me seriously
when I said no cops. Go to the First National Bank,
and drive up to the first drop window. You will
find a letter there. Once I'm convinced you're
not being followed, I'll tell you where to
bring the ransom.
Your friend,
Jack
Carter carefully folded the letter and placed it on the dashboard. Playing with the flap of the envelope, he turned to Abby at Abby.
"They're okay, Carter. They're really okay." She sat there for a moment, clutching the picture of Jill and Riley. Then, she placed the picture on the dashboard, next to the letter, and put the car in reserve.
________________________________________________________
"Do you think he knew about Eric?"
They had just received their fourth clue, which instructed them to go to the bank and 'get the money'.
"What about him?"
"That he won the money."
"You mean cause they told us to go to the bank?"
"Yeah. Why else would they think that I just had a hundred thousand dollars lying around?"
Carter frowned. "But Eric only won fifty thousand. Why would he have a hundred?"
"I don't know," Abby admitted. "But something isn't right here."
When they got to the grocery store that the note had directed them to, Carter retrieved the message from the dumpster behind the store. He read the message slowly, then said, "I don't like this, Abby."
"What?" Abby asked, snatching the note out of his hand.
"He wants us to just drop off the ransom and leave. If we do that, we don't have anything to bargain with."
Abby was silent for a moment. "But can we afford to say no?"
"We can't just give him the money, Abby. We have no guarantee that he'll give us the kids in return."
Abby closed her eyes and leaned her head up against the seat. This couldn't be happening. Now, Carter would refuse to pay the ransom, and she would never see her children again. She felt like screaming with frustration. Didn't Carter see that this was the only way?
"Then what do you propose we do, Carter?" Abby asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Go home and wait for him to contact us."
Abby stared at him. "You can't be serious!"
"Just hear me out. He wants the money, so he'll do whatever it takes to get it from us. He's not just gonna get mad and give up because we don't go on his little treasure hunt."
"No, he'll just get mad and take it out on the kids. He has our children, Carter. We can't afford to piss him off."
"But if we give him the money now, we'll have nothing. Nothing to offer him."
"But what if he hurts the kids?" Abby cried out, almost hysterically.
Carter didn't look at Abby. "This is kind of a lose-lose situation. No matter what we do, he has the upper hand."
Abby was trying to keep herself from crying. This was so unfair, that Carter had the money and she didn't. Carter got to decide whether her kids would live or die, and he didn't seem to care.
"Maybe we should just call the cops-"
"NO!" Abby yelled so loudly that he jumped. "We can't! We'll ruin everything! If he finds out, we might never see the kids again!"
"Okay. So what do you propose we do? Just give him the money and hope he turns over the twins?"
"I don't know, okay? I don't know what we should do?" Abby said, squeezing her eyes shut. "I just don't want to do the wring thing and spend the rest of my life regretting it."
Carter thought for a moment. What did he have to lose? He had plenty of money; his bank account wouldn't miss one hundred thousand. But if they didn't give up the money, there was a good chance that the twins might be hurt. He couldn't risk that.
Carter checked his watch. They didn't have much time. "Okay, let's do it then."
_______________________________________________________________
It was a grim and anxious Abby who left the drop point. She looked around as she walked towards the car, as if she expected to see the kidnapper lurking in the bushes. If she had, she probably would have killed him with her bare hands. When would she see the kids again.
"So, what do we do now?" Abby asked shakily. It unnerved her to give away so much of someone else's money.
Carter examined the note. "We go to Arbor Park."
"Oh, yeah. Of course." They drove to the park in silence.
It was a large park, but the note told them to go to the picnic area. There, they would find their next clue.
The 'picnic area' turned out to be two metal tables and a bench, in the midst of several dead trees. There was no clue.
Carter and Abby got out of the car. "You see anything?" Carter asked, walking towards the tables.
"No. Maybe it's under one of the tables." They began to scour the picnic area in search of a clue.
After ten minutes, it was obvious. There was nothing there.
"This was all just a set-up," Carter said bitterly. Why had he thought they could trust a kidnapper's word?
"Oh, no," Abby said quietly, sinking to one of the picnic tables. So it was over. No more clues, no more money. And no sign of Jill and Riley.
"Maybe...maybe there's another picnic area somewhere," Abby suggested hopefully.
"Maybe." Carter's face was like a stone. He realized that they had been tricked. Now how would they get the kids back?
But still, they drove around the park. Abby stared out of her window desperately, as if she expected a picnic area to sprout out of the ground. Carter's eyes were hard, and he focused on the road ahead of him.
They drove through the park's rugged trails for ten minutes, each of them performing their prescribed duties. Suddenly, Abby yelled out, "Carter! stop the car!"
In front of them was a large, pleasant picnic area with several freshly painted picnic tables. And sitting at one of those tables was a little boy with dark, curly hair.