Jaxon - A Near Miss

I wake up at the crack of dawn and remember we have to deal with that girl. Not wanting her to be easily recognisable, especially to her captors. I head over to the mall. As luck would have it, I come across a blonde wig and a pair of brown shades. I buy both from the same shop that sells women's accessories. I meet Ava for breakfast before she checks out, at the same table.

"Hey Ava," I call out to her.

"Hi ya! What's new?" She asks all bright and bubbly. I guess its from all the excitement of last evening.

"Wanted to pass you this, make sure she wears it." I say as I pass her the wig and sunglasses.

She takes it from me and stuffs it into her handbag.

"So this is it," she says looking at me with a head tilted to the side and a curious smile on her face.

"Yes it is, but if you want we could still keep in touch. Can I have your number?"

"Sure, I'd like that." We exchange numbers.

Before she can say anything further, we hear the sound of a gun shot go off, in the lounge area.

I quickly grab her arm and pull her towards the elevator, we breathe a sigh of relief as we arrive on her room floor. I dial the emergency number and ask for the police and quickly explain what I heard. The person on the end promises to send the police to our hotel. Mary-Anne is still fast asleep and so is our mysterious hostage. Eventually, the sound of the door closing wakes her up and she sits up. She greets Ava with "Morning, everything ok."

Not wanting to alarm her, I lie easily and tell her everything is fine.

Ava checks her phone and is relieved when she finds out that her parents have just woken up as well.

"Okay I'm going to shower and dress up," says the girl.

"You think everything is alright down there?"

"Hard to tell from here, I suggest we go down at noon, it's only 10 o'clock right now." I reply Ava.

I check my phone to see if my mom and sister are up and thank God they have just woken up as well. I text them not to go down till noon as I explain there's an emergency going on downstairs. Kayla for once doesn't ask questions she just texts back 'ok'. Noon comes around fast, and before the girls leave the room I take the lift and go down. Everything looks like it's returned to normal but there are police officers everywhere and still in the lobby with guns attached to their side. I head over to the receptionist to ask a few questions.

"What happened?"

"A deranged man came in and just fired a shot at the ceiling and asked us all to get down or risk getting hurt."

"Someone sneaked out and called the police because they came just in the nick of time before the man could get away."

"What did they want?"

"Nothing much, he was mostly looking at everyone as though searching for someone."

"Dangerous."

"Tell me about it, but thank God the police came, he was arrested and put into a car."

"Thank you for the info."

"So the coast is clear?"

"Yes, I assure you everything is under control. The police have swept this place clean."

Our families gather together at the Banquet Hall again, this will be our last time before we go separate ways. Ava and I eat at a separate table away from both our families.

"Why do you think someone would want to fire a gun here?"

"Who knows, maybe they're crazy."

"Do you think it's connected to our mystery girl, I sure hope not."

"Hey, will you join us, we need to talk." I say waving at the mysterious girl.

She joins us and pulls out a chair on my left side.

"What do you want to know?"

"Start with the basics like name, age, ecetera." I tell her, keeping eye contact with her.

"Olivia Henderson, I'm eighteen and I was on vacation when I was grabbed from behind and thrown into a van."

"What did they want?"

"They took my purse and my jewelry but nothing else."

"They just kept me tied up and kept moving me from time to time."

"Strange."

"Your family rich?"

"Sorta." she admits

"Must be ransom then. Why not go to the police your family must be worried."

"My family isn't on the right side of the law exactly, so that wouldn't be the good idea, especially for daddy."

"Your family into illegal stuff?" I ask my eyebrows shooting up at the thought.

"Sorta."

"Oookay. What do we do with her?" I ask looking at Ava.

"She can stay with me until she finds a way to contact her family and return to them."

"I don't think that's a good idea." She says interrupting Ava.

"Your family might be in danger because of me, too risky," she says looking down for a moment.

"You can stay at my cabin, if you want but I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay alone." I tell her as I think of what to do to solve this small problem.

"Maybe I can stay with you, keep you company," Ava offers.

Ava looks at me and says "I'm not in a hurry to start work right now."

"Okay, will your family mind?" I ask.

"They wouldn't have a problem with it not like I'm doing anything dangerous."

"Then it's settled then."

"You will follow her home and then I will come over and pick you both up." I say facing Olivia.

"Fine with me, thank you for being so kind to me."

"You're welcome, so long as we stay alive I've got no issue."

"But if things get too out of hand, I'm taking you to the police, ok?" I tell her seriously.

She nods her head and replies "fair enough."