Jamie looked over her shoulder, the black car was there. After what Gabriel said, the car that gave her a sense of protection now felt like a threat. Her heart raced.
“Are you sure they’re not your men?”
“Men? There are multiple people inside? You can see them?”
She started to pick up her pace as the car moved forward following her footsteps. “No … the windows are pitch black.” She glanced back at the car, “I think they know something’s up,” she said, and ran faster.
Her mind told her to run as fast as she could to a public area, but the commercial area is 5 minutes away. Then she heard a car door slammed, and another, and another. Her earphones fell off from her running, she didn’t have time to put them back on.
“They’re chasing me, Gabriel …”
She tried to take a glimpse of the men who were running after her, she didn’t recognize any of them. Three men in black suits and sunglasses were right on her tail. She looked around, there was no one else but her.
Her constant looking back slowed her down. There was no way she could outrun those heavy built scary looking men as they split up and took their positions in three different angles.
Her mind went blank. She didn’t know what else to do but to keep running.
But big strong arms caught her and she was lifted up until her feet were kicking in the air. The man tightened his arms around her from the back as she kicked and screamed.
“Shut up! Or I’ll have to knock you out!” the man yelled.
Another man came with a duct tape and taped her mouth with it, he put a black bag over her head. She screamed as hard as she could but it was no use. Her voice was muffled by the tape and she knew there was no one around.
“Turn off the phone.”
She could hear him say, the other man took her phone and turned it off but he put it back in her pocket. She was carried into the car where a driver was waiting, she could sense the four men around her, two in the front seat and two on either of her sides. She couldn’t see anything.
Her hands were quickly bound and so was her feet. The fear of what would happen to her sent her on the verge of panic. She told herself to keep calm although she struggled to control her breathing.
“Don’t try to do anything stupid … we have guns and we’re not afraid to use it,” the voice came from the front passenger seat.
She heard a click and something hard pressed against her skull, it was the gun.
She whimpered, closed her eyes tight. She had never had a gun held to her head before and the fear was real. She shrunk into her seat and tried not to give in to her emotions. Her mind was racing, she couldn’t think of anyone who would do this to her.
There was silence after that. The car ride to the unknown was ghost quiet. She could only hear the driver’s movement from his seat. These were hired professionals, she thought. They’ve been watching her for weeks and know exactly her routines. That morning was the perfect timing to finally snacth her from the street without anyone knowing. Except Gabriel.
She fidgeted on her seat on what seems to feel like forever. When they finally stopped, she didn’t know whether to feel relieved or was she going to face a much harsher reality and finally find out what will be her fate.
One of the men unbound her feet and pulled her by the arm. He was brute, she almost fell off the car because she couldn’t see a thing. “Mind the stairs,” he said.
She climbed up a few steps in the front of what seems to be an entrance. She looked down and she could see the tiles and the landing of a balcony. She immediately knew where she was.
The men escorted her into the building, tugging her arm along the corridors with the bag still on her head. She recognized the smell of the air freshener in her surroundings. When she was pushed onto a sofa, it was unmistakable, she knew exactly where she was. She kept silent, she didn’t want to speculate what was happening.
One of her captors went through a door to another room, while the other two stayed with her. One of them untied her hands with a gun pressed to her head. “Stay still, if you try anything, you’ll be shot,” he warned her.
She rubbed her wrists from the sore and kept calm.
Not long after, the man came back out, “Get her inside,” he commanded his colleagues.
The two men grabbed her by the arms and led her into another room. They sat her down on an armchair, she could sense there was another person in the room, her real kidnapper.
“Leave us alone,” a voice said to the men.
She recognizes that voice too. She sat back on the armchair and waited for them to be left alone. She had a lot of things to say to him.
Once the door closed, the bag was pulled from her head. She stared at him in anger. He pulled off the duct tape from her mouth and left a burning feeling on her skin. Just as she thought, she was in his private office.
She tried to kick him but he flinched. “Really, Eddie? You had to go through all that trouble just to get me back here?” she kicked again but he took a long step away from her.
He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her, “Just sit tight, Jamie, and keep your mouth shut unless you need to answer my questions.”
She kept her eyes on him. There were black circles around his eyes, his hair had grown longer like he didn’t have time to get a haircut, his facial hair hadn’t been trimmed for weeks. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days or even showered.
“Wow … you look like shit,” she said.
She initially wanted to go after him and punched him on the face for the scare he caused her. But the way he looked took her by surprise, almost worrying. She wondered what had happened and what made him so desperate to hire people to kidnap her.
Eddie grabbed a chair and put it next to her. He sat on it. His face was pale from sleep deprivation, his eyes were red and they looked a little crazy. She creased her brows and tried to figure out his state of mind.
“Where’s the baby?”
She was taken aback by his question, “What baby?” was her immediate response.
He stomped his foot on the ground, “Don’t play games with me! Where’s the baby, Jamie? Did you tricked him into believing you were carrying his baby? Did he get it tested?” he ranted. “Of course he did, that paranoid bastard would never just take your word for it … jeez …” he sat back and stared at her.
He shook his head, “You cunning bitch! You got yourself pregnant with the richest man on the planet? Now your wish is his command? Is that the idea?”
“What the hell are you talking about Eddie? Why am I here?”
He charged at her and put his hand around her neck, “I’m talking about your baby! I saw your picture with him on his birthday … I have people following you for weeks and no baby!” he pushed her back on the chair by her neck.
She almost choked from his grip. She coughed.
Eddie was pacing back and forth in front of her, his mind seemed to scatter all over the place.
“I had a miscarriage over a month ago,” she said with a soft voice, half reminded of the agony she nearly overcome.
The coffee table flung over and everything on it fell on the floor after Eddie kicked it as hard as he could. “Liar!” His breath shortened.
“I’m not lying … it’s the truth … she was buried in Bhorma … you can have your men check it, there’s even a death certificate from the hospital … Why are you looking for my baby anyway? Were you going to kidnap it? Ask for ransom? What is all this, Eddie?”
Eddie was not himself, she was skeptical of what he would do next.
He sat again on the chair next to her, his breathing was heavy and fast, his eyes looking straight at her, “You and your boyfriend … have ruined me, Jamie,” he pointed the gun at her, “And now you’re going to pay for it.”