The Murphy Case

I sat up. My head started to spin from my abrupt movement. I almost fell backwards but I caught myself. After regaining stability, I tried to turn the knob. It was locked, of course. We had to get out of her and I had every intention of getting out of her alive. I just didn't know how quite yet. I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I backed up against the wall. A key slid into the lock and the knob turned. Theodore was standing in the middle of the doorway. The dim light casted a shadow over his body and made my eyes hurt.

"Nice to see you awake." He said, in a low, gravelly voice. His smile gave me a worse feeling than I already had. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me out of the room I had been in. I was still too drugged to fight so I complied. Theodore sat me across from Maggie.

Maggie looked barely conscious. She had bruises and blood on her arms and face. Her red hair was tangled.

"What did you do to her?" I asked, angry. She lifted her head up just enough to see me.

"Nothing she didn't deserve." He said, with a cold laugh. I got up and threw a bottle that was sitting on the table, at his head. My accuracy was poor. Theodore's eyes lit up with anger. He grabbed me in the face and punched me.

I grunted in pain. Maggie let out a soft gasp. I placed my hand were Theodore's fist made contact at. My nose. Blood was dripping off my hand. My nose was broken. Tears of pain welled up in my eyes. Maggie started to cry. Theodore pushed me back down.

"Okay, now that we got that settled, let's get down to business. Trevor, your dad put my brother in jail. He was a good man that got rid of a lot filth from the streets. Your city and your father should be thanking him." Theodore Murphy said, circling the table. I watched him circle the table, like a lion stalking a gazelle, wondering what he was going to do next. His beady brown eyes stared down at me, marking me as his prey. Maggie watched him with fear in her eyes. "You won't be returning to your families until I get mine." He said, finally. His brother, Franklin, was sentenced to life. There was no way, even in a hostage situation they would let a murderer go free. Theodore went into his pocket and instead of a needle, like I was expecting, he pulled out a small, silver cell phone. He clicked button and the phone came to life. Theodore dialed numbers on the small phone and then put it on speaker. The phone rang three times before someone answered.

"Hello," my father, Oliver Craig, answered. His voice sounded tired and worried.

"Hello, Olive." A cold smile was planted on his face.

"It's Murphy." My father said, sounding as if he had pulled the phone away from his face. "Do you have my son, Trevor, and his friend, Maggie?"

"Yes, I have your son and his little girlfriend." Theodore said, pompously.

"Are they okay?" a woman asked. I figured it was Maggie's mom because my mom was out of the picture. Theodore looked at me and Maggie for a moment and looked as if he was pondering her question.

"For now." He said with a harsh laugh.

"Please, don't hurt them." She begged. Her voice cracked like she was trying not to cry. Maggie stared at the phone longingly.

"I won't hurt them any further as long as if you give me what I want." Theodore said.

"We will do our best to give you what you want." My father said.

"I want 50,000 and my brother." His tone was dead serious.

There was a short silence.

"We can give you the money but your brother will remain in jail but we can compromise. We ca-"

"No, 50,000 and my brother. No compromise." Theodore said and hung up the phone. Then he snapped the phone in half like a twig. The cell phone laid in two silver pieces, destroyed. Maggie looked at the phone, helplessly. I was starting to formulate a plan to escape.

"It looks to me like your parents don't care enough to get you back but I will call back and see if they changed their minds." He said. "In the meantime, you and you can come with me." He gestured for Maggie and I to come with him. I looked at Maggie to Theodore again. I got up. Maggie wasn't moving.

"Get up," Theodore said, yanking her up by her arm. Her face grimaced in pain. She seemed like dead weight under the drugs. Maggie stood unsteadily on her feet. Theodore held a tight grip on the both of us and led them to the same door I came out of earlier. Then he threw up both in there.

The small, cramped room was even more small and cramped than before. Maggie was in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. She still looked out of it. I was leaning against the door. I carefully wiped blood from around my injured nose with my shirt. My nose was still sting with pain. I looked at Maggie to see how hurt she was.

Her cheeks were bruised and bloodied. She had small bruises on her arm as if she were grabbed too tight.

"Are you okay?" I asked, stupidly. "Where does it hurt the most?" I rephrased.

"My shoulder. He threw me into the wall when I tried to get away." Maggie said, slowly.

"I'm sorry." I said, looking up at Maggie. I felt that it was my entire fault that we had gotten into the mess.

"It wasn't your fault. I was the one who tried to get away." Maggie said.

"No. I meant about our entire situation." I said, sheepishly.

"That is definitely not your fault. It isn't yours, mine's, or your dad's." Maggie said. "It is his and his brother's fault. No one else's. Don't think even for a second that this is your fault." She was looking at him seriously. Maggie held my hand and squeezed it gently.

"We got to figure out how to get out of here." I said, barely above a whisper. Maggie nodded. It was going to be hard. Theodore was a strong man that was smart enough to kidnap two teenagers in a high risk area without being seen. Suddenly, I got an idea.

"Did you by any chance see where he kept the drugs?" I asked. Maggie sat for a moment thinking. She was probably going through her drugged memories.

"Yes, he went into a drawer in the counter that was behind you. The second one, I think." Maggie said, thoughtfully. I thought it over.

"Okay, I have a plan." I whispered.