As harsh as the words sounded, it was still how Summer thought.
Karen might be the wife of a wealthy man, but she was a lot easier to please compared to the typical women of the rich. In fact, most of the time, Karen was the one who always took care of the three of them. Fifty million dollars was a large sum, but Lynn could certainly afford it. But the thing was, Lynn might not be willing to do so.
Obviously, Vicky was pissed off. But she held back her anger. “If we have the money, we will surely do so! But the problem is we have not!”
“Then find it!” Summer had no time to argue with her. She looked at Lynn expectantly. “Dad!”
Lynn frowned and said, “If this is true, I will find fifty million no matter what. But we have only two hours-I don’t have enough time!”
That was a surprise. Summer did not expect Lynn was willing to do that.
“Find as much as we could.”
She flew to check her contact list, only to find that, except Jessica, she did not have other friends. As Lynn took out his mobile and started to make calls, Summer went to one side and called Jessica.
“Heya, how are things going?” Jessica answered.
“Jessica.” Summer bit her lips. “I need you to lend me some money.”
“Sure. How much do you want?” Jessica had always been there for her. So long as Summer asked, she would lend her any amount she asked for.
It was embarrassing. But in time of life and death, Summer had to put on a bold face. “How… how much you’ve got?”
“About three or four million, I guess. But let me check…” There was some fumbling; Jessica must be logging in and checking her bank account. Halfway through, Jessica seemed to have sensed something amiss. She asked, “Why do you need that much money? Did something happen?”
“My mom has been kidnapped, needing fifty million dollars in ransom.”
“Then call the police!”
“But before that, I got to save her first.”
What worried Summer most was that the kidnapper might kill Karen. Jessica had wanted to tell Summer to give up on her heartless mom. But she knew Summer too well. Unless Summer had not found it out; she would do whatever it took to save her mom.
“Alright, I’m transferring the money to you.”
“Thank you.”
Behind Summer, Vicky and Lynn were listening in on her conversation and observing her every move. Upon hearing Summer say she would first bring her mom back, a victorious smile spreading across Vicky’s face. She walked up beside Lynn and whispered, “I knew she will not give up on her mom.”
Lynn nodded as they exchanged a look.
…
As the deadline of two hours was approaching, they had not gotten even six million dollars yet. It was a long shot in getting fifty million dollars. Summer was like a cat on hot bricks.
“Summer, I remember you have a Emerson Family Black Card!” Vicky suddenly said. Summer looked back at her. She continued. “We are talking about the life of our mom now. Whether she can come back alive, it all depends on you now. We have tried our best.”
Summer almost forgot about that amid all the anxiety and chaos. “I’m going back to get it!” She did not care anymore. Her priority was to save Karen.
“We will send you back to get the card, then head straight to deliver the ransom,” Lynn said. Two hours were almost up, and to buy herself more time, Summer agreed to his suggestion. And they arrived at Leonardo’s mansion in no time.
At the time, Leonardo and “Douglas” were not back yet. Summer grabbed the Black Card and came back out. As she went, she took out her mobile and called the police. She forgot to call the police earlier before she was too nervous when she got the call from the abductor.
Vicky spotted Summer on the phone and nervously asked, “Who are you calling? Or is the abductor calling you?”
“I’m calling the police.” She was not going to give the fifty million dollars to the kidnapper just like that. As much as she wanted her mom back, she was not going to let the kidnapper off the hook with the money.
Vicky fretted upon hearing what Summer said. “Don’t call the police just yet. We can bring Mom home first. She will definitely recognize the face of the kidnapper. By then, we can let the police do their job.”
“No. I have to call the police first.”
Seeing her dogged determination, Vicky thought, Fuck it! She snatched the phone from Summer’s hand and hung up the call. She then barked, “What’s the hurry? Do you want to get your mom killed? What if the abductors kill Mom when they find out this? I admit she treats me better than she is to you. But you cannot give up on her just because of this! No matter what happens, she is still your mom who has given birth to you and raised you!” Vicky nearly believed in her own crap.
“Shut up!”
Although what Vicky said was true, it sounded like jarring hypocrisy in Summer’s ear. Not that she cared. But Karen was still her real mom.
The abductor called again, telling her the location for the exchange. “You come alone. If we find any cops or other persons coming along, we will kill her!”
Summer had the call on the speaker so that Lynn and Vicky could hear it. She sensed something strange, though.
The kidnappers had only insisted on dealing with her from the start. They did not even mention Lynn. Was it because she married into the Emerson Family and they thought she was loaded?
And that was why they kidnapped her mom? This conjecture might seem reasonable. But when putting it side-by-side with the kidnappers’ behavior, it sounded a little far-fetched.
“Why are you going it alone?” Vicky asked.
“It’s not safe,” Lynn said. “Take Vicky’s car and we will follow from behind.”
Lynn and Vicky were particularly enthused and upright when it came to saving Karen-except for coming up with the money, of course. But Summer did not give it a second thought. After all, Karen had been living with them for over twenty years.
“Can you drive?” Lynn asked Summer.
“You bet!” Summer smirked. She supported herself during her four years in the university by writing some screenplay. Sometimes the money was good, sometimes less. After deducting the tuition fees and living expenses, she managed to squeeze some money to get herself a driving license.
…
The location the abductors gave was an abandoned car scrapyard. Judging by its name it already sounded desolate enough.
Summer set the GPS. She then wrote a text message. Together with the location of the abandoned scrapyard, she sent them all to Jessica, who then would alert the police. As she went, the kidnappers could be monitoring her. So she had to depend on Jessica to call the police.
She deleted the message after it was sent successfully.