The Clock Is Ticking – Episode 58

Sequence 58

 

*****

 

Four Hours Left

 

She paced back and forth in her living room anxiously waiting for the call from the kidnappers. It was nearly three o’clock in the afternoon she had the money readily packed in a small bag.

 

Chard had finally managed to convince her to allow his friends to handle the kidnapping.

 

‘We cannot allow the criminals to come and coolly walk away with all this money. I know the most important thing here is to get your daughter back but if we don’t do anything, they will attack someone else,’ One of Investigators told Mattie. ‘Don’t worry about anything, we will do our very best to bring your daughter back home safe and sound, we always ensure to take adequate precautions,’ he said Mattie shook her head.

 

They were going to use a GPS tracking system which was equipped with a heat-sensing infrared imagining and audio scanners to track down the kidnappers. The man who Mattie had come to know as Chibuye had explained to her how to handle the next call from the kidnappers. He had told her to stay calm and to keep the caller talking.

 

This would help them to get a clear trace and the more the kidnapper talked, the more information they would get.

 

‘Mattie! Please sit down, you have been pacing back and forth for over an hour now,’ her auntie Debby worriedly said, she had arrived earlier that morning after being told about the situation at hand.

 

She abruptly stopped pacing back and forth, and said ‘I am overwhelmed by everything going on around me, my emotions are scattered, I am trying to be calm but it just aren’t working.’

 

 

Debby held her hand and squeezed it gently,’ All things work together for good to those who love God. He is not dead, he will surely vindicate you,’ she said.

 

‘God! God is silent, auntie my Trinny is missing, my sister is in a coma and I have a one day old baby to take care of at the hospital. My head feels like it’s about to explode. Nanaka!’

 

Before long, tears came streaming down her face, ‘Auntie I will die if anything happens to my baby, I won’t survive it. When she glanced at her, her eyes held a mix of fear and anger.

 

‘You are a strong woman Mattie, this too shall pass this won’t kill you it will make you stronger.’

 

The phone suddenly started ringing & Mattie quickly composed herself wiping her face with the palm of her hand.

 

She picked her phone from the table, her call display simply listed the number as

 

‘Unknown’, she knew it was them.

 

‘Answer it,’ Chard said.

 

‘Your first step is to get proof of life, find out if Trinity is still alive,’ Chibuye said. Mattie shuddered at the thought of her child being dead she would never forgive herself if anything happened to her child, this whole kidnapping left her helpless it made her feel like she had failed her daughter. She answered the phone and put it on speaker.

 

‘Hello!

 

‘Do you have the money ready? He asked.

 

His voice was harsh and it infuriated Mattie, how could someone be this heartless and inhuman, couldn’t he hear the pain in her voice? Did he even have any children of his own?

 

‘Can I at least talk to my daughter before I respond to that question?’ she asked ‘Who are you to make demands, I call the shots remember?’ ‘I need proof of life, put her on the line.’

 

‘Your daughter is fine.’

 

‘Well you and I have nothing to talk about until I can speak to my daughter,’ she demanded

 

‘You bitch.’

 

There was a bout of silence before he spoke out, ‘Fine I will put her on.’ ‘Good.’

 

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line and then Trinity’s voice came out- shaky and scared.

 

‘Mummy!’

 

 

Mattie’s heart moved to her throat and tears filled her eyes as she heard Trinny’s voice.

 

‘Mama Bear, are you okay?’

 

‘Mummy come and get me,’ she cried

 

‘I am coming to get you get you my darling.’ ‘I am scared.’

 

‘I love you okay and I am gonna come for you soon,’ she said in a chocked voice.

 

Sam was back on line a moment later.

 

‘Your daughter is fine and alive. But now let’s talk about the money.’ ‘I have the money,’ she said.

 

‘Listen to me carefully you must pack the money in a small black bag. At 6:30 PM, you must drive along the Great East road and when you get at Mpango, in Chongwe District, someone will be waiting for you.’ ‘Okay.’

 

They all listened quietly while Chard’s men recorded the conversation.

 

Chibuye quietly gave her a thumbs-up signal, they were getting somewhere.

 

‘Up until now, you’ve shown me that you’re willing to go to great lengths for this child so do her a favour and don’t try anything shitty. If you involve the police or anything stupid, the effects will be disastrous.’

 

‘I know what’s at stake I won’t endanger my daughter’s life.’

 

‘Good,’ he laughed, ‘I will call you again at 19 to see if you have started off, do not delay us and do not try anything silly.’ ‘Okay.’

 

The line instantly went dead.

 

‘Was that enough?’ she asked anxiously

 

‘Yes.’

 

They pressed they play back button and replied the whole conversation while isolating every miniscule background noise and doing voice analysis.

 

For the next two hours, they tried to track down the kidnaper’s exact location.

 

Finally after what seemed like forever, one of the men shouted in triumph.

 

‘I think we finally have something,’ he said

 

Everyone quickly stared back at the monitor, there was a map of an area and a red dot blinked on a secluded area.

 

‘This is where he is,’ he pointed on the dot.

 

‘Where is that place? Mattie asked

 

‘This is Chinkuli area of Chongwe district.’

 

 

‘I doubt he will still be in this place when she gets there, he might even tell her to drive to another location. He is smart enough to know that the call would be traced.’

 

‘The good news is that he is still around this area.

 

‘Some of us will head out to this location the rest of you will stay here and continue monitoring in case something comes up.

 

‘Okay.’

 

‘And as soon as Mattie starts off, you make sure to trace her movements.’ ‘Okay.’

 

‘I am going with you,’ Chard said

 

‘You are sure?’

 

‘Yes.’

 

‘You need to be careful,’ Mattie said

 

He walked towards her and pulled her in his arms, ‘Trinny and I will come back here safe and sound.’

 

She nodded.

 

He gave her a light kiss on her lips before he followed Chibuye and the two armed men out of the house.

 

‘Keep us informed and be safe,’ they said

 

*****

 

Two Hours left

 

‘I am scared,’ Mattie said

 

‘I have a good feeling about all this,’ Auntie Debby smiled, ‘I have prayed and God says it is done.’

 

‘What if they discover we are on to them and they end up murdering my baby?’ she asked

 

‘What if they find Trinny and bring her back safe and sound before you drive all the way to that place? What if you go down there with all this money and they kill you in the end?’ She asked

 

‘There is no guarantee those men will let you go once you give them the money, they might up killing you.’

 

‘New location alert,’ one of the men said as they carefully looked at the blinking

 

red dot on the screen.

 

*****

 

An hour left

 

 

The map Chibuye had received led them to a small abandoned house. The neighbourhood consisted of a few houses and trees they left their car just a few houses down.

 

With guns raised high they kicked the door open. The house looked as ramshackle inside as it did from the outside. Bottles of beer and packs of food where scattered around the room.

 

Soon, they heard noises coming from one of the rooms in the back and headed towards them. With their guns at ready, they stormed inside what looked like a bedroom and found themselves facing three men.

 

They were sitting at a table, cards spread out in front of them, laughing and talking loudly, as soon as they saw Chibuye and his friends, the suddenly moved into action.

 

***

 

TBC

 

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The Clock is Ticking

 

Ella