The day was quiet, but my mind was anything but. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ethan, where he was, and what we could do to get him back. Adrianne wouldn’t speak, no matter how much we tried to make her talk. Every minute without him was like a hole inside me.
Then, Harrison walked into the room. He had a look on his face, like he had something important to say.
“Emma,” he said, his voice calm but serious. “I have a plan.”
I turned to him, my heart racing. “What plan?”
“We need to make Adrianne talk,” Harrison said. “She won’t give us any information. But if we get her son, Luis, she will speak.”
I blinked. “Luis? But he’s just a kid… Why do we need him?”
Harrison walked closer. “Luis is spoiled. He’s important to her, and if we make her believe he’s in danger, she will talk. We need to make her think we have him.”
I didn’t like the sound of it. “But we can’t hurt him. He’s just a teenager.”
“No,” Harrison said quickly. “We won’t hurt him. We just need to make it look like we took him. We will use other people for that.”
“Other people?” I asked, still confused.
Harrison nodded. “I’m hiring a group of boys to take him. They’ll bring him to my house, and we’ll keep him here. It will make Adrianne believe that we can do something to her son. She will have to tell us where Ethan is.”
I felt a cold shiver run through me. “But Harrison, is this safe?”
“I’m not going to hurt Luis,” Harrison said. “We just need to make her believe we have control. We’ll keep him safe. It’s the only way to make Adrianne talk.”
I looked at him, unsure, but I knew we had no choice. We couldn’t wait forever for Adrianne to make a mistake. We needed answers now.
“Okay,” I said quietly, though I didn’t feel completely sure. “But we have to make sure Luis is okay.”
“We will,” Harrison promised. “Trust me. Once Adrianne knows we have her son, she won’t keep quiet.”
****************
Later That Day
The boys Harrison hired arrived, looking nervous but ready. They knew their job: take Luis and bring him to Harrison’s house without harming him.
I wasn’t part of the plan, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were doing something wrong. But I couldn’t let that stop me. We needed to find Ethan, and this was the only way we could make Adrianne speak.
The boys left in a car, their faces set with determination. Harrison stayed behind, pacing the room as he waited. I watched him, feeling a little sick to my stomach.
It wasn’t long before they returned, bringing Luis with them. He looked scared, confused, but unharmed. They brought him into the house and made sure he stayed quiet. Harrison looked at him with a stern expression, but his voice was calm as he spoke.
“Luis, stay here. We don’t want to hurt you. We’re just making your mother understand that she has no choice but to tell us where Ethan is,” he said.
Luis didn’t answer, but I could see the fear in his eyes. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t understand why he was being treated like this. I felt bad for him, but I knew this was the only way we could get Adrianne to talk.
Harrison turned to me, his face serious. “Emma, we’ll make sure Luis is taken care of. He’ll be safe, but we have to do this. We can’t waste time.”
I nodded, still feeling uneasy, but I knew Harrison was right. We couldn’t waste any more time. We had to find Ethan, and this was the only way to do it.
I just hoped that Adrianne would break and tell us what we needed to know.