“Sir… What… What do you want? Please tell me. Maybe…I can get it for you.”
He laughed at me. “You are going to help me get it. Just be quiet; I’d hate to have to hurt you.”
Hurt me? You kidnapped me, tied me up, and put a cloth over my head.
“Is this her?” another man asked. “She doesn’t seem so special.”
Hello, I’m right here. What did they mean by not so special?
“Well, she’s the one that’s gonna score us two million dollars. So, I’d say she’s special regardless.” The man laughed.
Two million dollars? Where on earth were they going to get that kind of money? Then it hit me. Alexander. They were holding me for ransom. Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen to me.
The two men left me alone in a room. My wrists were rubbed raw from trying to free my hands.
“Please untie me. I’m not an animal. I can behave without being tied up,” I yelled, trying to appeal to the men. Maybe they would feel bad, but I was kidding myself. They didn’t feel bad. Instead, one man came into the room and slapped me around. Each worse than the last. I learned then not to speak a word unless spoken to.
It seemed like days being trapped under the cloth with my hands tied. Finally, the man got me up out of the chair and walked me back to the car. “Now, be quiet. I don’t want to have to hit you again. Shhh.”
I slid into the car without uttering a sound. Where were they taking me? Had Alexander paid the ransom? Refused? My hope was he paid it because I could only imagine what would happen if he didn’t.
“Get out,” the man yelled, yanking me out of the car. “Don’t take your cloth off until you hear us leave!”
He untied my hands, and I stood there waiting to hear the car drive away. As soon as the car skidded away, off came the cloth, and it was bright outside. My eyes needed time to fully adjust. How long had I been with them? I looked around, trying to make sense of where I was at.
“Ella?” Alexander yelled from a distance before he came around the corner.
He pulled me close, and I could feel his tears. He paid it.
He pushed me back to get a good look at me. “I’m fine.”
He pulled me in close again, not wanting to let go.Please don’t ever.
I was finally pulled back into reality, standing under the water, letting it hit my skin. I felt filthy, and I wasn’t sure any amount of showers would make it go away. Honestly, I wanted to stay in here, because answering the detective’s millions of questions, I just wasn’t ready for.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Ella? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute,” I yelled back to Alexander. I knew it was time for me to get out. The detective was probably complaining about how long I was taking. He had a job to do after all, to catch my kidnappers.
I quickly turned the shower off, grabbed my towel, and wrapped it around me. I opened the bathroom door, peeked out to make sure no one was standing around, and briskly walked to my bedroom and shut the door behind me.
“Hey, I was getting worried. You were there for a long time.” Alexander got up off the bed and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me on the forehead.
“I’m okay and alive. I…I just…don’t feel like answering questions right now. I just want to sleep.”
“Well, that’s going to be a hard no for the detective. He is patiently waiting outside for you. He said it would only take a couple of minutes.”
I threw on some sweats and a t-shirt while Alexander went and got the detective.
“Are you ready to begin?” the detective asked me, wasting no time.
“As I’ll ever be,” I responded, rolling my eyes at Alexander.
I answered all his questions, but I wasn’t very helpful. I never actually saw them, just heard their voices. It wasn’t going to be much help finding them.
“Thank you for your time. We will be in touch,” he said, walking out of the house and shutting the door behind him.