CHERRY-PICKED

Chapter 5

Luke was relaxing on his couch sipping on his freshly brewed latte. Carl and Anna were sitting in the guest room, grief–stricken. The events that have unfolded for the Maksyms is their worst nightmare. They wanted all of it to be just a bad dream and wake from it, be relieved. Sadly, that wasn't the case. This was real life. It made them realize how short life is and how they should be utilizing it to the maximum extent possible. 'Carpe Diem'. Talia was working on finding a trace to the source of the video calls. It seemed like a futile exercise, but she kept trying. Perhaps the kidnapper had made a mistake she just hadn't found yet. She was iterating over an elliptic curve algorithm to find a key within the cryptography. Walter was reviewing the paperwork from previous cases while he was awaiting updates from the sketch artist. Hugo was reviewing the security footage to see if he could get any more leads. They were all hoping that Luke knew what he was doing. He always did. He was confident that the kidnapper would release one of the Baileys. Luke was taking the last sip of his latte when the phone rang. He immediately set the cup down and walked hastily towards the phone. Everyone gathered around. The Maksyms came running, filled with anxiousness.

"Not a video call, just a call.", said Talia to the group.

Hugo sat in front of the laptop and received the call. There was radio silence for a while, then there was heavy breathing.

"Hello?", said Hugo.

"Hello. This is Sacra Bailey. I was told by the kidnapper to call this number."

"Yes? We are the FBI.", said Luke taking over.

"Please. Help me.", pleaded Sacra.

Sacra sat in Walter's office with a shock blanket around her, sipping chamomile tea. She had gone through a lot. Right now, she was the closest pitch the FBI had in identifying the kidnapper and eventually nabbing him. They have to get to him before he can escape with the money or worse, kill David Bailey. The questioning was underway.

"I'm s–s–sorry. I don't know anything.", replied Sacra under shock. "I'm not sure where he brought us. We, uh, we were blindfolded."

"Do you remember hearing anything out of the ordinary? Like trains, aeroplanes, anything?", asked Walter.

"I don't know.", said Sacra tears filled, on the verge of a breakdown. "I don't remember. It happened so fast. I'm sorry I'm not much of help."

"It's okay. It's alright. Take it easy. Can you take a look at this?", requested Walter producing before her a stencil sketch of the man who bought the minivan from Sasha, drawn by the sketch artist based on her description. "Do you recognize him?"

"No. He never let either of us see his face."

She realized that she was in no way being helpful at all. She looked down in guilt and burst into tears, wailing loudly. Anna came rushing in upon hearing Sacra cry. She sat beside her and started consoling her. Carl walked in and stood behind Anna as a symbol of reassurance. Alan walked into FBI quarters and stood in front of Hugo's bullpen.

"Why don't you take a break?", said Walter standing up. He moved over to his team and ordered, "We need to collect the money to get David back."

Carl and Anna joined them. Sacra could hear their conversation from where she was sitting.

"Well, Alan, what do you think?", asked Carl in a callous tone.

"It's not possible to get it this fast. I'm doing everything that I can, but...", stammered Alan.

"Not everything.", pointed out Anna, then she looked at Carl like he should tell Alan.

"You could contribute.", suggested Carl.