Chapter three

Nataly Andrews

The blinding lights fill the room as the door opens wide. The sun's rays are able to penetrate through the room and I struggle to partially open my eyes trying to see the figure standing at the door. 

My kidnapper's here now, I tell myself. 

I still strain to see the actual figure as my eyes finally get used to the lights and open fully. 

He's tall and slim. And on the look of things, he's not as young as I thought him to be. 

He looks old enough to be in his sixties. He has blond hair, long enough that it's tied up into a pony. I can't exactly gauge the color of his eyes, but he doesn't look like a gangster. 

He's unarmed, but considering that I'm still tied up on a chair, both hands and legs, he is still the one with the upper hand here. 

"Ma'am, what happened? How did you end up here? In my small room? ." he speaks up as he walks towards me. Surprising enough, he's concerned, he's trying to free me. Which is so unlikely of a kidnapper. 

Wait, if this is him, my captor, why would he rescue me?. Why is he the one asking me about what happened? 

I'm starting to get confused here. 

"Who are you?" I inquire. I don't understand. He doesn't seem to understand either. 

"I own this place. This is where I live."

"How am I here then?" 

"I don't know, miss, I was walking around when I heard some noise in this room.  I rarely have visitors here, and I've been away for two days. I arrived this morning. I scanned the area and there was nothing alarming, except your cries for help." 

Everything he says sturtles me. Should I trust him? 

If he's telling the truth, this only means someone else captured  me and put me here. 

I don't like taking chances. I would trust my gut, but now I don't know what to say. As confused as I am. 

Why would someone kidnap me and dump me here? In an old man' s home. 

Why here? 

I still prepare my brain for a fight, in case he's not what he says he is. For any defense and escape measure. It's better to be ready than to be caught off guard, just like last night and I wouldn't want to repeat that mistake. If it were ten years ago, when I was still a teenager, I would be easily fooled. A lot has happened since the tragic night and now, I'm just not some little doll. 

I notice that I don't have to use any schemes as the man extends his help. 

I have more questions than I had earlier. 

It's either the guy who captured me wasn't serious about the kidnapping and wanted me to free myself later or he needs to up his game. 

The latter seems true and this makes this guy more mysterious. 

Why would he want me free? 

I don't know if this is good  or bad news. 

If I catch you! 

I'm willing to use any scheme in the world to get answers from him. 

But if he's a Delavega hater, we could also work on something. After all, an enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

For now, I just have to be careful with every move I make. Someone is definitely out there watching. 

"Can I borrow your phone?" I ask after he unties me and we head out of the room. 

It feels nice to have some fresh air and freedom after being tied up for hours. 

I let in a long breath after I exhaled the air from the dark room. This place is so calm. When all this is over, I'd like to return here just to free my mind. If this man doesn't have some skeletons in his closet that are of concern to me, that is. About that, I'll just find out later. I'm not putting my trust in him. From my experience, taking chances is the last thing I would think of. But  now let's just be "friends" until I find out more, if there is. 

The home environment of this man seems attractively conducive. There's another house larger than the one-roomed that I was tied in. That one looks like the one he actually lives in. The compound has  leveled grass everywhere and it's so clean.. A lot of trees are in the surrounding, generating the fresh air and the cool breeze.  From a distance I can see a water body. Must be the lake. 

The environment makes me wonder more why someone would actually dump me here.. If they wanted to dump me, well the  road side was also an option. Maybe somewhere that doesn't make me have more questions. But here, I will definitely have to look into this too. He hasn't fully earned my trust, even though he's set me free. 

But again how would I find out if this man is telling me the truth? 

There are alot of problems at hand but first things first. I have to save my life first by contacting The Delavegas. 

"Do you mind, he shows me into the other house, directing me in. 

To me everything seems like a trap, but I go on. It's better to be sorry later. I know I can take care of myself. 

He leads me in. 

I hesitate a bit but I give in, eventually. 

It's a beautiful house that one would  choose for a vacation or a getaway weekend. 

Reminds me of one of my teenage exes from years ago, Mason. He would take me to their family cabin by the lake side, mostly on weekends or when I was having family issues, just to relax my mind. Used to work perfectly well for me and he made me feel special. I don't want to go back to the days when I was in love and believe that love was the best feeling. The cost that love comes with annoys me everyday. 

Which is why I brush off the memory when I realize it's starting to take priority in my mind. 

They almost resemble each other but this one is different. The white couches séem fancy, the red carpet on the floor too. 

There is another door which must be leading to another room. Beside it, I see a portrait mounted on the wall. Seems like a family photo but I can't see the images on it clearly, from where I'm standing. 

"What about your family?" I ask after he asks me to have a seat,before offering me his phone which was  on the table.

I lost my wife in a tragedy years ago. 

I wasn't blessed with a child but I have a god son. He visits me once in a while, and I see him as my own son. I've seen him grow since he was a young boy. "

What if! I think, but I already have too many what ifs at the moment. I'll surely be back here. It doesn't end now. 

I pause to that as I first figure out the number to dial. It's at this moment that I remember my dad used to tell me I should always have a few numbers crammed off my head, incase of an emergency in the future. From what I can see, the future is now. 

The only number I know I can try to recall is Cole's. 

He's always been on the speed dial on my phone - which I don't have right now- since he contacts me frequently. 

I close my eyes as I dial every digit that I recall. 

I should try and make an appearance before they start having second thoughts and put a bounty for me. 

"Cole , it's me, Maria,"  I say when I finally hear his voice on the other side of the phone, indicating that I dialed the right number. 

"Maria?" I can sense the surprise in his voice. 

"Where are you? Where have you been? Are you okay?" 

"I'm.. I'm okay," I answer before he goes on with his endless questions. 

"What happened? I've been trying to reach you, things are out of control here." 

Oh crap! Why isn't this news to me? What did I expect anyway? "I can't cover for you on this one, Maria. Should I pick you up?" 

"I'll be there in a while," I say. I can't talk much on the phone. 

"Who's that you're covering for? Is it her?" 

I hear someone's voice on the other end of Cole's phone. 

Before I say anything, he hangs up. 

I need to get back as soon as I can. Things must really be out of control. 

I don't know what awaits me. Neither do I know how to account for the time I have been away. But I need to figure it out very fast. 

I obviously can't tell them I was in for the hunt of a hard drive that could mean the end to them and I was planning to use it to destroy them peace by peace. 

I put the phone back on the table. "Thank you," I can't forget to say that. 

But how will I get there? 

"Should I get you something to drink?" he offers. I'm hungry but I know I don't have time for refreshments. "Water will do." 

He leaves for a while. I look back at the pictures on the wall and I'm turtled by one face that looks very familiar to me. Maybe I'm dreaming, maybe I'm just paranoid 

Before I can probe, he's here with  a glass of water. I realize that  we haven't even had the dignity of an introduction.