YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG GUY "Why does this case matter so much to you?" she had asked him. "I will let you know when we meet one of these days." She didn't want to be an alarmist but she felt strongly that something was awfully wrong somewhere. ***Caleb woke again and the undulating movement had ceased. Maybe they were now on land, he assumed. But he was feeling pressed and thirsty at the same time. He started to move his body violently. He could hear hushed voices from nearby and wanted to attract their attention. After what seemed like forever, someone tore open what looked like a door but was concealed with a blind and the brightness nearly blinded his eyes. He had gotten accustomed to the darkness. He blinked and tried to see who it was. The person was short and stoutly built, his face was covered with a mask and his head wrapped with a headgear. Caleb imagined he was sneering at him because he saw his mouth moving. He tried to speak but the only sound that came out wa
IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE Why would Pedro have him kidnapped and taken across the Caribbean Sea to heaven knows where? Then the guy's words kept ringing in his head. "Tell that to him when he sets his eyes on you." Wait! Was Pedro released from jail? He'd dread to be in the same room with him.Caleb lay on the floor trying to make sense of everything that had happened leading up to that moment. From when he was talking to the nurse at the hospital reception and felt something pricking his neck - the same side that the broken windscreen pierced him in Mumbai, to the time he woke up to realise he was in a boat, and the moment the short guy cut him with his penknife. He could still feel the sting, made worse now that his hands were not free to massage it. "How long have they been on the run?" he pondered. He had checked his pocket for his phone and wallet when he went to ease himself and, just as expected, there was nothing on him. His phone and wallet containing his valid work ID c
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HIM... José took the bread out of the cupboard and fetched water in a glass from a running tap in the kitchen and carried it to the room. He met a motionless Caleb lying on the floor with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. He dropped the bread and glass of water on the floor and rushed over to squat at his side. "What are you doing, rich kid?" he slapped him on the shoulder. But Caleb didn't stir. He crossed his body to the other side and shook him in the head, he didn't respond still. "Listen, if this is a joke, cut the crap already. Wake up!" When he lifted his head from the floor, he found something black recoiling from the side of his neck where he had pierced him. He brought out his penknife and swatted it. The knife got stuck to its body. When he looked closely, behold, it was a snake. That's when José let out a scream to alert the others. A black snake sting was usually dangerous and he didn't know how long ago the guy had been bitten before he pa
CONTACTING THE POLICE Two days passed and Caleb still hadn't returned home and neither could he be reached on the phone. His grandfather had gone to the police station the following morning to lay a complaint, the police told him they could not officially declare a person missing until after 24 hours. It was already evening the third day and there was still no sign of Caleb. The police had assured him they would swing into action if he didn't return by the evening of the next day. So they were true to their word. The second day in the evening, they started making enquiries. By the third day when the police still couldn't establish his whereabouts, his family and friends had begun to panic. "Where was the last place he was seen?" the detective asked Abhi for the third time having earlier interrogated him on the other two previous occasions he accompanied Lord Dezani to the station. "I really don't know. We only talked via WhatsApp chat that afternoon," Abhi repeated to the police
FINDING A LEADThe inspector turned to his colleague when the call ended."What do you think?""I believe she's telling the truth.""So where do we check next?""Let's go to the hospital she was receiving treatment and interrogate her colleagues," Anderson suggested. "Maybe they heard something or know something.""You know, that's a brilliant idea, Juan," he patted his younger colleague on the shoulder. "If the young man in question rode off somewhere to go and see 'a friend', and the doctor implied we should do everything to find 'her friend', that can only mean one thing...""She's the friend he was going to see that night!" Juan completed the statement."Viola!" the inspector whistled with a snap of his finger.They got to the hospital and started looking around. That night when Caleb rode to the hospital on his power bike, he parked it under the canopy that serves as an extension of the hospital at the Accident and Emergency unit instead of the main parking lot. The reason was t
THE RANSOM CALL "I'm afraid, sir, we have reasons to believe that Caleb Dezani was kidnapped," Inspector Miguel said on the phone."Kidnapped!" Lord Dezani blurted from the other end. "How? By whom?" "That's what we cannot ascertain at this moment." "Who has my grandson? Who could have done this?" The old man kept rambling as though he was addressing the hoodlums themselves. The inspector and his colleague kept calm listening. They were used to this kind of reaction from the family members of kidnapped victims. But that didn't mean they were immune to their pain. "I assure you, sir, we will do everything within our powers to find those responsible...""Find my grandson first and foremost!" Lord Dezani said curtly."Of course, sir." When the old man didn't utter another word, the inspector said, "If we have any more lead regarding where he was taken, I won't hesitate to inform you." Then he added, "We also saw his bike parked at the hospital. If you would like for it to be broug
GIVE THEM THE MONEY "What have you done to him, please?" "Nothing yet. But if you don't cooperate with me, well, I can't tell you what the outcome might be." "Please tell me where he is." "Wrong request. You should rather ask what price it will take to see him again." "Oh my God!" Adriana yelped. "Is he being kidnapped?" "50 billion dollars!" José said and ended the call. Then switched off the phone. Fabian gave him a high-five. "That was brilliantly done," he beamed. José grinned. "I am a boss in my own right," he boasted. "Indeed you are," Fab agreed. *** Inside Lord Dezani's chambers, Abhi closed the door and kept the tray containing the tea and cookies on the mini-dining table. Lord Dezani was sitting with his back leaning against the soft sofa in the sitting room. "I believe I don't need to explain the reason I couldn't talk freely back there." Abhi nodded, "I understand, sir." "And I also like to think I can trust you." "With my life," he swore. That was the firs
I CAN HELP YOU IF..."You can't do that, sir. It's outrageous," Abhi tried to reason with Lord Dezani after the officers left. "What is outrageous is having my grandson held prisoner in heaven knows where," came his stubborn reply. "But we can at least get the police involved," he insisted. "Besides, we don't even know who these people are." "Which is why I asked you to do what I told you inside my bedroom." Abhi exhaled, he knew at this point he couldn't talk the old man into changing his mind. 50 billion dollars might not be too much money for the wealthy Dezani, but agreeing easily would send the wrong signal to these hoodlums. It would embolden them to do more or worse. He was returning to the guestroom to spend the night and his mind was racing like a tsunami. The following morning, he left for work and when it was an hour to lunchtime, he told Sofia he needed to run an errand for the boss. She didn't argue probably thinking he was referring to Caleb. No one in the company