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“The officers just pulled up,” I said to the dispatcher, hanging up the phone.
The police car and Shawn arrived at the same time. Both jumped out of their cars and started asking questions.
“One at a time,” I yelled, which was very unlike me.
The young officer extended his hand. “Sir, Officer Steadman. Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
I took a deep breath. “My girlfriend left the door unlocked, so I could get in when I got dropped off. The door wasn’t closed all the way, so I went in. She’s nowhere to be found. Her phone was in the bedroom, and so was a broken vase. Something is wrong.” Pacing was the only thing I could do at this point. My body would not let me stand still. All the while, Shawn was quiet. He probably didn’t know what to say. Hell, I didn’t either.
“I’m going to go inside and inspect the property. A detective will be here shortly.”
While the officer went inside, Shawn came closer and patted me on the back. “It’s going to be okay. We will find her.”
“How the fuck do you know that? I mean, no one knows where she is. No one,” I yelled.
Shawn stepped back. “I get it. You are pissed, scared, and just want to know she’s okay. If you need to take it out on me, then do it.”
I didn’t want to yell at Shawn. It wasn’t his fault. I just snapped. Where the hell could she be? My phone started buzzing, and I walked away from Shawn to have some privacy.
I answered as fast as I could, not recognizing the number—maybe it was her. “Hello? Ella?”
A man’s eerie voice said, “No. Ella’s occupied at the moment. I’m calling for you.”
“Is she okay? Can I talk to her?”
“No, but she’s fine. If you want her back, drop off two million dollars to 8212 Rogers Ave at nine a.m. There will be a benchmarked with a yellowX. Leave it right under there. Do not stay and come alone.”
The man hung up, and my eyes were closed, trying to fight back the tears. This was my fault. Whoever took her knew I had money, but how did they know we were together? The fundraiser. That’s the only event we had attended together, but how would this person even afford to get a table at that event? A table cost five thousand dollars there. Whoever this man was, he was watching me.
“Who was that?” Shawn asked, walking up to me.
“No one,” I answered quickly.
There was no way I was going to risk her life. I had to do exactly what the man said. Go alone. It was implied not to tell anyone either. I trusted Shawn, but I had no clue who it was. They could be watching me right now for all I knew. I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Detective Daniels. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
It wasn’t like I could actually say no.
“Sure,” I said, rolling my eyes. I needed to be able to go to the bank and get two million in cash. Do they even have that much on hand at a bank? They better. It was six a.m. already.
“Did anything seem out of the ordinary tonight?” he asked, pulling out a pen and pad.
“No, we went to a fundraising event. After it ended, I went with my buddy Shawn to a bar, and she came home. I talked to her, letting her know I was coming over, and she said she would leave the door unlocked. When I got here, the door was slightly open, and she was nowhere to be found. Her cell phone was sitting on the bedside table.”
“Did you notice anyone paying extra attention to her at the event? Did she have any enemies that you know of?”
“Enemies? I’ve only known her for a few short months, but everyone seemed to love Ella. She wasn’t the type of girl to have enemies.”
I wanted so badly to say I know who did it, but I couldn't. Too risky. My mouth needed to be kept shut. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her because of me.
The detective kept his eyes on me, probably noticing the cues that would tell him I knew more than I was telling him. If he was a good detective, he would think I had something to do with it. My body language must be giving it away. Right now, I needed to make sure he didn’t catch on to it, or I would never make it to the bank in time, which meant bad things for Ella. What would the kidnapper do if I didn’t show up with the money? Kill her? Cut off a limb? My mind started racing through all the cop shows I have watched in my lifetime, of people who have been in this situation.Cut it out.
“Okay, don’t go too far. I’m sure more questions will need to be asked. Please jot down your phone number in case I need to call you.”
I grabbed the pen and paper he extended and jotted down my phone number. This was my cue to get the fuck out of Dodge while I could.
I turned to Shawn. “Okay, buddy, you can go. I’m just going to go back to my hotel room until they call me. Not much I can do standing around here.”
