CHERRY-PICKED

Chapter 3

Luke was right, as always. Carl and Anna sat on the couch across Luke and Talia. Walter and Hugo were towering behind them. Carl began to explain himself while Anna silently sipped on her hot cocoa. Undoubtedly they were exhausted. They had been away on a holiday the entire weekend. The Maksyms had no idea. They somehow felt responsible for the couple that was kidnapped instead of them. Luke could see the guilt–ridden faces as clear as day. These were good people. They would do anything to get the couple back, alive and safe. They would pay the ransom and never demand a penny in return.

"We have been hiking for the entire weekend. It was a last–minute decision by my wife. We were at our place in the mountains. There is no phone reception over there. We had no idea.", explained Carl.

"We thought you were kidnapped!", cried Alan.

"Well, I didn't.", gloated Luke trying to sound amusing.

"So, who was staying at the house in your stead?", asked Hugo.

"David and Sacra Bailey. We have been friends with them for many years. Carl and David were roommates at Stanford.", replied Anna.

"This is unbelievable.", exclaimed Carl.

"Do you have a photo of the couple?", asked Walter.

"Yes, of course. We usually let them stay here when we go on extended trips. They basically house sit for us. They take care of our dog."

"So the kidnapper has David and Sacra but he emailed Alan claiming that he has us?", enquired Anna bewildered.

"We suspect that they took the wrong couple instead, unaware of your schedule and frequent absence.", elucidated Hugo.

"Wait. So if they took the wrong people, they must have realized that by now. So, what will happen to them? Are they gonna be killed?" asked Alan more indifferent than concerned.

"Do NOT even say that out loud!", cried Carl.

"Hey, I'm just being realistic here."

"Alan, shut your trap for God's sake!", retorted Anna.

"Alan is the family plague, isn't he? Stubborn, egotistical, insensitive.", provoked Luke.

"That is my brother you're talking about.", snapped Carl.

"That's enough now.", intervened Walter.

The phone started ringing. Everyone jolted up and ran towards the hall. Luke took his own sweet time. Talia had setup a tracer with all the communication devices and was awaiting the kidnapper's call. There was an incoming video call.

"Someone is trying to video conference. Might be the kidnappers. I'm re–routing the feed to the laptop.", said Talia preparing the equipment to initiate the trace as soon as the connection had been established.

Hugo situated himself in front of the laptop prepared to take the call. He was known for his expression–less, stern face vigor that made him ideal for interrogations and negotiations. His stare could make even the most dangerous criminals flinch at the spot. This was his turf.

When the video came live, the feed was tilted. The background looked like an old abandoned gray–blue industrial warehouse. It was large, tin–roofed, windowless, grim and out there in the middle of nowhere. The corrugated tin roof was domed some twenty–five feet above them, like a shanty–town basilica. There were cardboard boxes piled–up high at the far end along with some iron girders, cantilever racks and a dozen malfunctioned forklifts. At the other end, there were drive–through racks and a lot of stacking frames scattered around. There was sufficient lighting to see the perpetrator and the victims held captive. The Bailey couple were visible in the background; arms, legs and abdomen tied to an unpainted wooden chair with thick jute ropes, blindfolded with dark cloth and mouths muffled with duct tape. The kidnapper was a male, strolling in the foreground visible only from the shoulders down till the knees. He was wearing tattered blue jeans as old as its maker, a faded gray t–shirt, a brown leather jacket and black leather gloves. He was medium build, six feet tall and somewhere in his early thirties. He was wielding a 9–mm semi–automatic pistol.