Staring at the location of a totally different place, Leonica became confused.
Why was she receiving a different idea when Chief Robert has figured out where her mother was being held?
Was this all part of Irene’s plan to throw them off? Or was the building the decoy?
Benjamin’s abandoned property was on the outskirts of town, far away from civilization and general public, so if the police were to start their journey there now, it’s take them nothing less than three hours to get there.
But this location she had been given, Leonica thought as she opened Google map and typed it in, was closer.
If she left now, she’d probably get there within fifteen minutes, maybe less.
So was this the real place her mother was being held? And was her father’s building just a decoy? Or was this place the decoy and Irene was just trying to throw them off her trails, believing that Leonica would cry wolf to the entire police team and her father if she received this picture?
Well, she predicted one thing correct and that was the fact that Leonica was heading to the place, but it was just her, not the police force.
If Irene was trying to throw them off her trail with this picture, then she’d be the one to confirm that.
“Leonica?” Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her father, who was standing by the door.
She looked up from her phone and smiled at him. “Yes father?”
“Chief Robert wants to see you for a minute.” He informed.
Nodding her head, she walked towards the living area, handing the bottle of water over to her father as she walked past.
“Chief Robert, you want to see me?” Leonica asked as she walked into the living area.
Robert quickly rounded up the instruction he was giving and approached her. “Yes, I have a few questions to ask you.”
“Go ahead.”
“I asked your brother and father earlier and they stated that you were the closest to Mrs. Romero, during the last few days, did you perhaps notice anything weird? Like she being frightened or on edge?”
Leonica shook her head. As far back as she could remember, her mother seemed normal. “No, not at all.” She answered, watching as the police man nodded. “But, why are you asking this, if I may ask.”
“We’re trying to determine the kidnappers motive. If this is simply a ransom case, then they should have contacted your family by now, but they haven’t and that leads me to believe that this might not be a simple kidnapping. There might be an intent to hurt Mrs. Romero, or maybe even kill her.”
Leonica swallowed thickly, her hand tightening around her phone. She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t gamble on her mother’s life. Perhaps it was best to inform Chief Roberts, they’d know how to handle the situation faster, right? Yeah, it was best she came clean now.
“Chief Roberts, actually-” She stopped speaking when her phone vibrated in her grasp and one glimpse at the screen told her that her actions right now, wasn’t the smartest.
[Say one word to that smart ass officer and mommy dearest is going to lose a finger.]
The text read.
Leonica felt her breath hitch and she looked up, scanning the room to see if anyone was watching her. When her search discovered nothing fruitful, she glanced back down at her phone screen. Irene was watching her. One way or the other, else she couldn’t have randomly guessed that she was about to open up to the police man.
Leonica looked away from her phone once again, except this time around, her eyes scanned the surrounding space not for humans, but for any form of a device that remotely looked like a camera. “Ms. Romero?” The sound of Roberts voice snapped her out of her search and she looked his way, flashing him a small smile.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“You were about telling me something,” He reminded. “What was it.”
Leonica’s hold on her phone tightened. “Nothing, please ignore me.”
“Is that so?” He hummed, nodding his head as he regarded her with a suspicious look.
One thing he had learnt throughout his career in the police departments is that you could never trust anyone, not even the victim’s family, especially not the victims family.
So seeing Leonica, acting the way she was, was sending red flags in his mind.
“I understand. Be sure to inform us if the kidnapper contacts you in anyway or you remember something crucial.”
She nodded. “I will.” Just as she said this, Chief Roberts partner showed up, informing him that the entire preparation was ready and they could leave now.
As Leonica watched them leave, realization dawned on her. The location she received was the real location and her father’s building was the decoy.
How did she know this? Well, because the moment Robert announced their departure, a new text entered her phone, this time, the message made her understand Irene’s motive so far.
It read: Don’t play smart, don’t tell anyone. Any silly slip up, and mommy dearest gets it!
She sighed after reading the text messages and realizing that this whole thing was a trap and she was Irene’s prey.
But that didn’t stop her from wanting to save her mother. Rather it gave her an easier way to solve the problem.
Walking towards her car, she passed Robert and the rest of his team on the way out, stopping just before she reached the door.
“Chief Robert,” She called, gaining the male’s attention. “Are you sure this location isn’t a decoy?”
His brows creased. “Why would you say that?”
Leonica looked around at all the eyes watching her. She wasn’t sure what or who was Irene’s eyes, so she played it cool, shrugging her shoulder. “Just asking to be safe.”
Without waiting for his answer, she walked away, hoping that Robert Martins was as smart as he looked.
It took Leonica about thirty five minutes to reach the location that Irene had sent her, the place being an old warehouse, the type you see in movies.
It was abandoned and looked extremely rundown with over grown weeds and rusty pipe irons.
Leonica parked her car and got out, taking a second to scan her surrounding. The area was quiet, no human, animal or insect sight. It was almost as if she had stepped into a dead zone. She glanced at her phone to see if she had come to the right place, and indeed, she had.
“Leonica Romero, it took you a long time to get here, but you made it. Congratulations.” Irene’s voice sounded as she walked out of the building, bringing along two beefy looking men. Leonica gulped. Maybe Irene had turned out to be more trouble than she gave her credit for.
She looked between the two men. Intimidating, size wise that is, but she wasn’t going to waver.
“Where’s my mother?”
“Just beyond those door,” Irene pointed into the darkness behind her and Leonica squinted, trying to make out the silhouette of a figure, but failing miserably.
“Come, let me take you to her.” Irene
suggested with a smile, but when Leonica looked like she wasn’t going to move an inch, her smile faded completely. “You don’t have a choice, bitch. Walk.” She hissed and gestured for one of her henchman to get Leonica.
The man quickly closed the space between them and grabbed Leonica’s upper arm, pulling her towards Irene.
“You don’t want to do this, Irene.” Leonica warned which in turn, earned her a hard slap from Irene when she had gotten close enough.
“You are not in the position to threaten me.” Irene hissed and grabbed her chin, turning her face back to her. “When I’m done with you, no one would ever remember your name.”
She harshly shoved Leonica’s face away and although she wanted to fight back, at least claw a few of Irene’s fake lashes out, Leonica reminded herself that she needed to stay calm in other to save her mother. “Take her inside, I’ll be in shortly.” Irene ordered and watched the man drag the her into the building.
Leonica who had willingly allowed herself be dragged in, was soon shoved into the same room as her mother.
“Mother!” She cried out and rushed to her mother, pulling the tape of her mouth off and undoing the rope that was used to keep her bounded.
“Leonica!” She pulled her daughter into a hug, sobbing into her hair. “My precious daughter, why did you come here? You shouldn’t have given into that witch’s demand.”
“I had no choice.” Leonica whispered as she pulled away from the hug and stared at her mother. “Did she hurt you?”
“Not really, she just tied me up.”
Leonica nodded and looked at her mother, she was pale and her eyes were swollen, her body trembled from the cold.
“Mother,” She took off her coat and draped it around her mother’s shoulder. “Stay put, I’ll get you out of here.”
“No,” her mother quickly said and grabbed her hands, pulling her down. “Don’t do anything, let the police handle it. You can’t go against her. That child is more unstable than even her own mother.”
“I hear you gossiping about me,” Irene said as she walked into the room, hands tucked arrogantly in her pocket. “I guess even now the two of you can’t keep what doesn’t belong to you out of your mouth.” She sneered. “Why are you doing this, Irene?” Leonica asked as she pushed her mother behind herself. “What do you want from me?”
Irene gritted her teeth. She hated how Leonica still sounded so calm despite having been kidnapped. But then again, she had given herself in on a silver platter, so why wouldn’t she be calm?
“You stole everything that was
meant to be mine,” She started. “A loving father a perfect family, a rich upbringing, the perfect life, which was meant to be mine, but your stut of a mother just had to fucking step into the picture and even when I tried to get it back, you,” She pointed her finger at Leonica, her temper quickly rising at the sight of her indifferent face. “Ruined my last shot.”
“So when you ask what I want,” She stepped forward and looked Leonica in the eyes as she spat. “I want you and your mother to suffer. But I’d give you both the grace to enjoy this mother daughter reunion, before I rip the life out of you two.”
With those words, she turned around and walked towards the door.
“Irene,” Leonica called out, making said girl stop and turn to her. “Answer this, did you kill Jamil?”
“That arrogant fool,” Irene smirked. “It was his fault for thinking he could use me. So yes, I killed him.”
And with that, she turned around and left.
“Oh Leonica, what are we going to do?” Cassandra asked.
“We wait,” Leonica said as she say down and sighed.
If the Robert is smart, the police force should be swarming this place in less than two hour, so until then, they’d just need to seat tight.
If not, she’d have to result to plan B.
“Candace,” Robert called out to his partner who was beside him as they drive towards the location of Benjamin’s abandoned building. “Don’t you think Leonica Romero was acting strange earlier?” “Family members act strange in situations like this, don’t just put her on the suspect list.” Came Candace reply as she typed on her laptop, refusing to give her partner even a second’s glance. “No, not that weird.” Robert clarified. “It was like she had something to say, yet couldn’t and then later on, she told me something really weird.”
“”What was it?”
“Are you sure this location isn’t a decoy?” He vaguely repeated Leonica’s words. “What do you think it means?”
Candace shrugged. “Perhaps it was a silent message.”
Silent message? Robert thought back to the interaction he had with her earlier, her behavior and the way she looked, the way her eyes kept shifting towards her phone.
And then it clicked. His partner was right, Leonica had left him a silent message and he knew just what it was.
“Candace,” He called out as he suddenly swerved to the side, going off course. “Find out where Leonica Romero is at this moment.”