EVILUTION

KIDNAPPED (A Bloody Fangs Story)

"Is this David Laramie?" the man said into his burner phone.

"Speaking."

"You don't know me, but I wanted to let you know me and my partner have just kidnapped your son."

"Is that so?" David replied calmly.

"Yeah, that's so. And if you ever want to see him alive again, you'll give us $10 million." There was totalsilence on the other end. For a moment, the kidnapper thought maybe their connection had been cut. "Hello, are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here," David replied in that same calm voice of his. "Very well, Where would you like to meet?"

"We'll meet at National Park at midnight. Bring the money. And one more thing, Mr. Laramie."

"And what would that be?"

"Come alone."

Another brief pause. "You can count on it."

The phone then went dead on David's end. Bruce had a funny look on his face, which prompted his partner Jack to ask him, "What's wrong, Bruce?"

"Something about his voice."

"What about it?"

"It sounded too damn calm like he wasn't worried about his kid being kidnapped."

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Who cares? Just so long as he pays us the money."

"Yeah, you're right."

"You worry too much, Bruce." He grinned from ear-to-ear. "Besides, we're about to become rich, man!"

"Yeah," Bruce replied, grinning. Bruce and Jack shared a hearty laugh before Bruce said to Jack, "Get the kid ready."

"You got it, Bruce."

With that, Jack went to the other room where they had David's young son Russell tied up.

Bruce and Jack were at National Park a couple of minutes before midnight. Russell was standing in front of them with his hands tied behind his back with a small rope. They were waiting for David Laramie to show up with their money. With it being so late, there was no one else at the park. When it was five past midnight, Jack asked Bruce impatiently, "Where the hell is he? Do you think he'll even bother to show up? You said he sounded like he didn't care that his kid was kidnapped."

"He'll show up if he wants his kid back in one piece."

Suddenly they heard a voice behind them. "I'm here."

Bruce and Jack swung their heads around to see a man wearing a dark three piece suit and a black top hat with a matching cape. He looked more like a magician than the richest businessman in the city.

"You are Bruce and Jack, I presume."

Jack leaned his head forward and said to Bruce in a half-whisper, "Dude, how the hell did he learn our names?"

But Bruce didn't respond to his partner as he kept his eyes fixed on David. He wasn't sure where he came from since he didn't see a car anywhere. But he didn't really care either.

"Did you bring the money?"

"Actually," he said in that same calm voice, "no, I did not."

"You didn't?" Bruce raised his eyebrows at him. "What's the matter? Don't you care what happens to your kid?"

"I care about my son very much."

"Then why didn't you bring the money?"

"Because, quite frankly, I didn't need to bring the money."