"I'm scared, Oliver. What if we're too late?"
"We're not too late," he insisted.
"You don't know that."
"It's what I need to tell myself."
They'd been driving for hours without a trace. They weren't at any of the parks. They weren't anywhere near the Webbs. They weren't in the West End. They weren't even in any neighboring towns or cities. They'd simply vanished. While Annie was known for her adventures, both Oliver and Grace knew that she would never be gone so long without there being a reason. A reason, or trouble.
Grace was particularly miserable. Being in the car while Oliver drove next to recklessly aggravated her already sensitive stomach. Worse, it was bringing back the awful memories of the night Annie had been kidnapped three years before. That's not to say she believed Annie had been kidnapped… but she couldn't leave that out of the realm of possibility. It seemed to be the most logical explanation at this point.
"Why couldn't this have happened in America?" Oliver groused. "I have more connections there. Knighting be damned, I need my contacts!"
"Why is she missing at all is the bigger question."
"It's no use. I can't see a damned thing. A limo is not an adequate vehicle for a manhunt."
"Do you have to call it that?" Grace sniffed.
"Sorry."
"We've got to keep looking…"
Hesitantly, Oliver said, "I think… we need to go back to the hotel."
"Are you crazy? They're out there somewhere!"
"I know, but we're both tired. Punjab and the Asp are still searching and I'm sure Mr. Webb and his friends are, too. I've been thinking that there's no one stationed at the hotel."
Crossing her arms, she said, "Well, it's not going to be me."
"I understand, but consider this: I have some contacts here. I need a telephone. Maybe they've come back. For all we know Michael is home with the rest of his family. We didn't think this through. We need someone to wait there in case they come back. Given your condition, I think it should be you."
"I'm not sick, Oliver. I'm pregnant."
"You've been throwing up for days. I don't care if it's a temporary case, you're sick nonetheless."
"I haven't thrown up yet tonight, have I?"
"No, but I can tell you're uncomfortable."
Letting out a shaky breath, Grace said, "How do you expect me to sit still at a time like this? I'll feel so useless. I don't even like being the passenger."
"You're my eyes. I have to pay some attention to the road."
"You've just confirmed that you need me."
"Of course I need you," he barked. "But more importantly, I need you to stay well. There are a lot of people out looking right now." Coming to a turn, he moved around the corner sharply. "I'm going back to the hotel and making some calls. This is becoming more than we can handle on our own."
There wasn't much Grace could do other than pout. The logical part of her knew he was right, but the stubborn part of her didn't want to stop driving until the girls were safe in her arms.
. . .
Sleep wasn't feasible for Annie, Molly, and Hannah, try as they might. Hannah, having exhausted herself with worry, hadn't moved from the floor for hours. Sleep never came, though. How could it with the threat of snakes? Molly might have been able to doze if not for a headache. Annie, meanwhile, couldn't sit still. She knew from her studies that there was always a way out and by golly she was going to figure it out.
"Come on!" she groaned at one point, kicking the wall.
She hadn't expected the wall to answer back. "Annie?!"
She took a step back. "… Hello?"
"Annie! It's me, Michael!"
"Michael!" she nearly cried in relief. "Michael, how did you escape? How did you find us?"
"They've got guards outside the door. It wasn't that difficult. And our kidnappers aren't very good at their job. They fell asleep and I picked the lock."
"Why can I hear you! What's over here?"
"Some kind of a vent or window. I noticed the fresh pile of dirt. They must have hid the opening before they locked you in."
"Dig us out!" she begged. "Hannah's having a nervous breakdown."
"I am not," Hannah protested. Annie hadn't realized the other two girls had joined her.
"It's not a very big opening," Michael said the more he uncovered it. "I don't know if you'll be able to fit through."
"But we have to! My parents are going to be so worried."
"I can see some light now," Molly pointed. "I can see it!"
"Me, too!" Hannah cried.
As the moonlight became clearer and clearer, their hopes sank deeper and deeper. Michael was right, it was such a small opening.
"There's no way we're going to fit," Hannah lamented. "Even if you can reach in and pull us up."
Stepping closer, Molly twisted her lips. "Boost me up."
"Are you crazy?" Hannah replied. "We are not letting you get hurt again."
Annie gritted her teeth. "I'm with Hannah on this one. My mom and dad will kill me."
"And what if we're left here to die? I'm the smallest. If you two boost me up and Michael pulls me out, I think I can do it. With two of us we can find a phone and have a look out."
Hannah and Annie exchanged a nervous look.
"You agreed to lock me in a trunk and stowaway on a boat but climbing out of a vent to save us from kidnappers is too much?"
With a sigh of defeat, Hannah got down on her knees. "Step on my back…"
. . .
Grace sat helplessly as Oliver made phone calls. She missed their setup in New York. She'd been able to make a few calls from the girls' room, but she needed to be able to speak easily with Oliver. That, and since being back at the hotel, she kept getting ill. The stress only made matters worse.
"Will you get this one?" Oliver asked a couple of hours later, his focus on his address book. He'd called everyone he knew in the London area – if not the whole of Europe. It didn't seem like enough.
She stood, sluggish at this late hour. There had been so many dead ends already and the police didn't suspect they'd have any leads until morning (or later that morning).
Had she known who was on the other end of the call, she would have sprinted.
"It's me, Mrs. Warbucks. Molly!"
"Oliver! It's Molly!" she cried.
Nearly throwing his book, Oliver stood next to her and put his ear to the receiver as well.
"Annie and Hannah are locked in a dungeon," she said in a frantic whisper. "It was Mrs. Lewis and her daughter. They took us and Michael!"
"Can you speak up, dear?" Grace asked.
"No, I might be caught. We snuck inside."
"Where are you?" Oliver questioned.
"I'm not sure. They locked us in a van. We're at some kind of creepy castle."
A castle? Grace and Oliver wondered silently through a glance at one another.
"You have to come and get us!"
"We will," Oliver promised. "Just hang tight. Now that we know who's behind all this it will be easier to trace you. Do you think there's a way to get Annie and Hannah out of… did you say a dungeon?"
"I'm not sure. We came straight—"
There was a scuffle in the background, the faint sound of Michael's voice though they couldn't make out the words. More terrifying was Molly's scream that followed.
"Molly!" Oliver and Grace yelled in unison.
They remained on the line, a sort of denial setting in about the situation. That was soon broken by a man's voice on the other line.
"You'll wait for our call or the kid gets it."