“I’ve got Carly. If you want her back, you will do as I say. I do not want you to go to her uncle. You will follow my directions. Do you understand?”
“Where is Carly? Who is this?”
“You’ll find out in due time. Now, do you understand?”
“Yes! Dammit tell me where she is!”
I heard screaming in the background. All I could think of was Carly. She must be so terrified right now. “I want you to go to the graveyard on Thompson Street. Allie Hardee, find that grave. The flowers will have your next step. You have thirty minutes to get to the next destination or she dies.” He hung up then. Carly’s screams got louder.
Zack must have heard something in my voice because he was now looking at me worried. “What’s wrong? Where’s Carly?”
I shook my head and stood. “Call Mark and get Lewis’ number. Tell him someone has Carly. I’m going out to catch that son of a bitch.”
“Alex wait-“
I ran out the door with Zack’s keys in my hand. I drove all the way to my house and picked up my gun and sped all the way to the first destination. I still had twenty-three minutes to find the grave and get to the next destination. Either the cops were out catching other guys, or I just got lucky because I broke all the laws for speeding.
After fifteen minutes of searching, I finally found the grave. For it to be a relatively small graveyard, this headstone was hard to find. I picked up the flowers and looked for something. A note card fell out and landed gracefully on the ground. I quickly picked it up as my phone rang.
“I see you found it.”
“Where are you?” I spun around in a circle and saw no one. He wasn’t here. I looked at the card. “This place holds all knowledge. It rests at the end of the lane. Rows and rows will lead you close.”
“What does it mean?” I asked him impatiently.
“It’s a riddle,” it laughed mockingly. “Figure it out. Times ticking, seven minutes left.”
I closed my phone and thought. All the knowledge. The brain? A computer? A library? A library! The public library on Washington Drive! It was at the end of the street! I threw the flowers down and booked it to the library with two minutes to spare. I ran inside and all the way to the last row of books. On the fifth shelf, a book lay open.
I grabbed it and examined the words underlined. “It was a cold and dark place. The ceiling leaked with water whiles the ground muddy.” I looked at the title of the book. My cell rang again.
“You’ve made it,” he mocked again.
“Yes, now what does this mean? Is it the title that’s important or the words underlined?”
“Ah-ah-ah, I cannot tell you. You have forty-five minutes to get to the next place where the last clue will be. If you do not make it, Carly will be dead. I will repeat myself once again. I do not want the FBI involved. If I find out they are, I will kill her.”
“Who are you and why are you doing this?”
He laughed again and I heard Carly whimper. Stay strong baby-girl. I’m coming for you. “Because I can.”
“You’re one sick, evil person.”
“You better hurry, forty minutes left.” With that, he hung up again.
“A Butterflies Journey; what the hell does this have to do with anything?” I asked myself aloud. I opened the book back to the page and studied the underlined words. Some were underlined twice. I wrote down the letters with the pencil I found and thought hard. What word had H, C, R, C, U, and H?
A light bulb went off in my head. Church! Church had all those letters! That’s where she is! Which church though? There were three just in this city! I had thirty minutes to check all the churches! I ran out of the library and into Zack’s jeep. I pressed Zack’s number and waited. He answered on the first ring.
“Alex, where are you? What happened? Are you okay?”
“Zack, I’m fine. Listen, did you call Lewis?”
“Yes, now tell me what the fuck is going on!”
I sighed. “Someone’s got Carly. He has me doing these stupid quests to try and find her. I think this is it though. Zack, I think she’s at a church.”
“Which one? There’s like, five here!”
“That’s what I need to figure out. I have less than thirty minutes to find out or she’s dead Zack.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Lewis said he trust you to get her out alive. He’s tracing all calls you receive and is tracking your GPS on your phone. Alex, be careful. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I will Zack, I will. I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too baby,” he said and hung up. I wiped the tear away and went into the first church. After a search for maybe five minutes, the place turned up empty. As pulling out of the parking lot, I saw someone tailing me. They flashed me their lights. They were FBI, with me. I sighed and sped to the next church.
When I left that one, my heart was racing. No one was in there. The next one had to be it. The clock struck eight-thirty. I had to find her in five minutes. Walking into that church, I was sure it was this one. The candles burned up ahead and people scattered around were praying. I walked down the aisle and all the way to the wooden door I knew would lead downstairs.
The steps creaked with each step I took closer. I heard whimpering and water drops. I raised my gun and walked towards the door. I opened it fast and stepped through. “FBI!”
The man turned around and looked at me. The lighting was bad, as the candle burned in the corner. Carly sat in the middle of the room with tape around her mouth and her hands and feet tied up. She looked at me and screamed. I saw her eyes widen.
He stepped closer to the light but still shed his face. “Put the gun down,” he ordered. “Now.” He raised a black, small gun to Carly’s head. She whimpered and begged me with her eyes to help.
I held up my hands and slowly dropped the gun. “Okay, my gun is out of reach,” I stated after I kicked it away.
The man stepped forward and pointed his gun to me. “Good, I see you figured out the clues. You are smart Alexandra.”
I gasped. “Ian, why are you doing this?”
He looked at me like I was stupid. “I hate this bitch. She is so fucking annoying. Do you know what it’s like to talk to her? I just wanted to ring her neck.”
“Why were you dating her then?” I whispered.
He laughed again. “So I could get close to her and plan.”
“The FBI can give you money, anything you want. Just let her go.” I pleaded and looked at Carly. Ian stepped closer.
“No, you and this bitch will both die. You were just so easy to lure. It was like baiting a fish, only you were stupid and actually took the bait.”
“Please,” I whispered. He smiled. It looked terrifying. He raised the gun again and pointed it at me. My internal clock ticked down and I knew the agent, with back-up would be in here in about a minute.
Everything flashed before my eyes. The gun he was holding went off. I gasped and fell to the floor as SWAT and FBI agents flooded the small room. Ian was shot, once, twice, before he fell to the ground. Someone untied Carly and she ran to me. I closed my eyes as the blood poured on the ground. Someone screamed for Zack to come over to me. My stomach was numb, the gun shot hitting right above my belly button.
I felt my head being lifted. I opened my eyes a little. Zack was crying, tears running down his face. “Alex baby, the medics are on their way. Come on, keep your eyes open! Alex! No!” He screamed as everything went black.