Zach knocked on the door to Josua's penthouse and waited patiently with a porcelain doll at his side. He wanted to say goodbye to this man and his daughter who had befriended him during his short stay.
Josua opened the door, inviting Zach into his home. Ursula had been put in bed early because she had a fever and she was sleeping. He allowed Zach to go into Ursula's room and place the doll on the foot of the bed. He stood in the doorway and watched as Zach kissed his daughter on the forehead and then reluctantly turned to leave.
Josua wished Zach a good journey, and prayed that everything would be ok with his wife and child. He said he would light candles for them all when they went to mass the next day. With a heavy heart, Zach returned to his penthouse and told Edie he was ready to go.
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The seven hour flight was a long one for Zach and Edie. Edie slept for most of the flight while Zach stayed awake worrying about Kendall. He could not sleep even though he tried. He looked up at the screen that had been playing a romance movie earlier seeing that it had changed abruptly to a news telecast. The building they were showing looked a lot like the one he had been living in. He thought nothing of it because all the buildings in Ipanema looked alike, as if they were made from the same blueprint.
He started to try reading when he saw a picture of Josua flash on the screen. He scrambled to put on the headphones that were given to him at the beginning of the flight. He nudged Edie, waking her up so that she could see the broadcast too.
Edie groggily looked at Zach, who motioned toward the screen. She put on her headset, shocked to find that Josua and the nanny, Kiya, had been murdered only hours before.
Rio de Janeiro authorities search for 5-year-old Ursula Mendoza De Soto, who may have been taken by unknown assailants after the shooting of her father and au pair late last night. Police have reported that Josua De Soto and Kiya Scottsdale were murdered while sleeping in the penthouse of the Ipanema high-rise. Authorities have questioned former girlfriend of De Soto, Marisela Sosa, who claims to know nothing of the whereabouts of the child. The mother of the child is deceased.
Police say the alleged kidnappers are to be considered armed and dangerous. Detectives also searched other homes in the building, and questioned the neighbors who were acquainted with the family in an attempt to find the missing child or get reports of any suspicious persons who they have seen in the area, according to a statement issued an hour ago.
Rio De Janeiro Police have entered Ursula Mendoza De Soto's name in the Interpol database for missing and abducted children, they fear that she may have become part of a human trafficking organization. Ursula Mendoza De Soto is about 96cm tall and weighs about 16Kg. She has short black hair and brown eyes.
The police have also been informed that the Ursula Mendoza De Soto has a serious condition that requires her to have constant medical attention. Anyone with any information at all is urged to call Interpol at 0-800-555-5001 or the Rio De Janeiro Police Department at 55-11-5555-3213.
The telecast ended with a close up photo of Ursula and the phone numbers being scrolled across the bottom of the screen.
Edie removed her headset and looked at Zach. He removed his and just stared at the screen until the picture faded away. "I didn't realize that she had a medical condition, Zach," Edie said then turned toward Zach.
"I don't think that she does; that was just added to scare whoever may have taken her into bringing her back," Zach said, and then closed his eyes, inhaling, and then exhaling slowly.
Edie touched his arm, "You have to take care of your own family first, Zach. There is nothing you can do for that child now," she said quietly to him as he opened his eyes and continued to stare at the screen.
"She's just a baby," Zach whispered.
"Everyone is searching for that little girl. All you can do for her now is hope that someone finds her quickly and pray to God that no one violates her."
Ursula's eyes flew open in the darkness of the suitcase. She listened intently to the voices outside, the shadows were back. If she held her breath, and didn't move, they would not find her. The voices were not Zach or his friend, Edie. There were strangers here too.
'Where is Zach?' she thought while her mind raced with all sorts of terrible images.
'They've killed Zach and Edie too!'
She closed her eyes again, frightened when she felt the suitcase being moved.
'They found me and Lala! They want to kill us!'
She felt the suitcase sway and then it stopped. The voices became gradually more muffled and Ursula started to cry in silence.
'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…'
She held tightly to Lala while she mouthed the Lord's Prayer the way her father had taught her.
'My daddy is in Heaven with my mommy now, with God…'
She held her breath again when she felt the suitcase start to move again. She could not understand the voices outside, but she knew none of them was anyone she knew. She closed her eyes and wished the shadows with their voices would go away.
'Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus… '
Ursula drifted off to sleep, as she chanted the words to the rosary and the Lord's Prayer as best she could, over and over again in the darkness.
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Zach unlocked the door to his truck then held it open for Edie as she got in on the passenger side. She told him to just drop her off at the casino. Zach did just that, and then sped off to Pine Valley hospital to Kendall.
He prayed, on the way to the hospital, that Kendall and the baby were ok. He didn't care if she wanted to see him or not, he just wanted her to be ok.
Getting suck in the freeway traffic wasn't helping matters much. Then he checked the armrest in his truck and remembered he had taken his CD's with him… and they were all the way in the back, unreachable to him now. He was forced to listen to the radio, to drown out the noise of other cars and their horns while he sat in the traffic.
He had actually forgotten how to use the satellite radio system and laughed to himself, knowing Kendall was right that he had way too many CD's and there had been no point in him getting this thing put into his truck. He turned the system on after fiddling with it for a couple minutes and then remembering the controls were on his steering wheel.
He wasn't much of a fan of R&B, but anything was better than horns. As he sat and listened to the smooth silky voice of some woman and when he caught himself strumming his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the beat of the music. He glanced at the screen, 'Ashanti-Only U (remix),' and made a mental note to ask Dani if she had the CD so he could hear the rest of it, just in case he wanted to buy it.
It took him a half hour to get to Pine Valley Hospital, which wasn't fast enough. He walked quickly to the information desk, trying to remain calm, keeping his composure as the clerk there searched the computer for whatever room Kendall was in. Zach wanted to scream and toss the computer on the floor when the woman informed him that the system had locked up and she needed to call admitting.
He was grateful when he saw Anita Santos walk past him with her face buried in a chart. He called her name and she turned, surprised to see him. The look she gave him was a cold one, despite the frantic tone he spoke in. Whatever was on her mind, she kept it to herself and told him to go up to maternity on the 5th floor and speak to someone at the nursing station there. Zach quickly thanked her and ran for the elevator.
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Ursula was startled awake from a nightmare she had: the shadows chasing her with guns. She yelled into the darkened space, forgetting momentarily why there was no light. Her back and shoulders ached, and so did her bottom. She felt hot and sweaty, and felt like she was going to throw up.
She listened for a moment to hear if the voices were still there and there were none. She tried to push the sides of the suitcase apart and panicked when she found that she could not open the suitcase.
She started to cry, and bang on the sides of the suitcase. She started to scream and cry, for anyone to come and help her out of the space that had now become her prison. Lala moved around on her, making her hotter. She pushed Lala away from her, leaving her legs and arms covered in cat hair and sweat.
She screamed until her voice became hoarse and her body got tired, and all that was left was a weak whimper that no one could hear.
'Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…'
And Ursula passed out as she prayed.