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The Rescue
“You will never be able to get out of this.” Ray rolled out the judgment. But his sister, Lisa was hardly worried.
She had done it a million times. And tonight, she was again sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night to meet her boyfriend.
The ever-cautious Ray had warned her not to do this tonight. Their house was hosting their aunts and cousins who had arrived with packed suitcases that day morning. The Mitchells had rented a cabin in the woods and they were going on a hiking trip together. The number of people who could catch her slipping out was high tonight.
“You worry too much. They are all asleep! And you know the drill.”
When Ray continued to frown, she asserted, “See, Jason lives just a few blocks away. I need to see him tonight before we go away for a week. I’ll be back in two hours. Just hold the fort till then, brother!”
Lisa slipped her mobile in the back pocket of her blue denim and trotted to the window of her room. It was on the first floor and she had become adept at quietly climbing down to the ground.
She covered the last two feet distance to the ground with a muffled thump and tiptoed out of the premises. She walked for less than a minute on the pavement to find Jason, her boyfriend, parked in his second-hand, deep blue Corolla.
Spotting her in his rear-view mirror, he dipped the lights twice. She scuttled the remaining few metres and got in the car.
“Good to see you, Lis!, Yellow suits you,” Jason said the moment she settled in.
“Thanks, Jase. I snuck out this top from my cousin Mer’s suitcase!”, she grinned ear to ear.
Her grin was contagious. Jason caught on and asked “All set for the feat?”.
“Oh yes! Let’s go go go!”, she exclaimed excitedly.
***
Ray went back to his room to sleep. He had to tiptoe too as his cousin was sleeping in his room. He carefully pulled up the covers and slid inside. Ron stirred in his sleep making some unfathomable noises, looked at Ray with his eyes half-open and dozed off again.
Ray heaved a sigh of relief and settled down. It took him a few minutes to drift off. He had four hours till his parents’ alarm went off waking up the whole family.
***
The car came to an abrupt halt in the middle of nowhere.
“Wh…what happened? Did we run out of gas?”, Lisa’s query drew only silence from Jason.
It took a few seconds for Lisa to realise that it hadn’t broken down. She looked at Jason, but his face was blank.
“Jase, what is it? Why have we stopped here? Our destination is still twenty minutes away.”
“I am sorry, Lis.”
An eerie feeling ran down her spine. With furrowed brows, she tried to make sense of Jason’s expressions. There was anger and determination in his eyes, with a tinge of guilt.
Before she could conclude, her door was opened from outside and a pair of hands appeared. One grabbed her right arm, while the other hand unbuckled her from the seat. Another man opened the door behind her and entered the car.
But Lisa was too occupied with her captor.
“Hey, who are….what are you doing? Jase, hel..”, before she could finish her cry for help, the man sitting behind her gagged her, pulled her hands up behind the headrest and tied them.
Her pulse was frantic and her cheeks were wet with sweat and tears. One thought kept lighting up in her head but she tried to shove it away.
‘No, it isn’t. ‘
‘It just cannot be.’
“Lisa Mitchell. You are being kidnapped.” The man sitting in the back seat of the car spoke.
“You better remember your father’s number. You’re going to need it.”
***
“Ray, where is Lisa?”, his father asked. The vein on his forehead pulsing anxiously.
“Errr..dad, I…don’t know. She must be in her r..”
“Don’t you dare complete that sentence. Do you take us for fools?”
“No, dad. I am sorry…she always came back on time..”
“Always? She…you both have done this before?”
“Err..dad..”
His mom pushed his father back to took over interrogating Ray. But when she opened her mouth, only a soft ringing came out.
Her lips kept moving, but the ringing got louder and louder.
And then, Ray woke up with a jerk. It was a dream. His mother’s alarm had gone off.
He felt relieved. He would have been grounded if his parents had found out their daughter had snuck out with his help.
And then it struck him. It was four a.m. and Lisa wasn’t back yet. Or, was she?
He jumped out of bed and headed to her room, quietly. He knocked softly, but there was no response. He reached for the doorknob with his heart thudding against his chest.
He opened the door slightly but couldn’t see anything in the dark. He tiptoed inside and made his way to the bed and pulled aside the duvet.
Then he skipped a beat. Lisa hadn’t returned.
Feeling his heart hammer against his chest, he scuttled back to his bedroom. His phone was lying on the bedside table. He dashed towards it and dialled his sister.
It was switched off.
He tried ten more times but received the same response. He was trying for the eleventh time when he heard footsteps on the staircase. Someone was coming up, and by the heaviness in the steps, it was surely his father.
Ray couldn’t breathe.
‘Damn it, Lis. Where are you?’
His father appeared in his night pyjamas on the doorway, which was already open.
“Oh good, Ray, you’re up! Ron, up and about!”
Ron was fast asleep and didn’t even acknowledge the command. Mr Mitchell turned to his son for the job.
“Ray, wake him up. I’ll wake up Lis.”
Mr Mitchell turned on his heel and headed to Lisa’s room. Ray called after him, trying to stop him from entering Lis’ empty room.
“She’s not in the room, dad!”
Mr Mitchell stopped in his path and turned to look at Ray with a crease between his brows.
“I mean, she’s in the bathroom. She’s the one who woke me up.”
“Alright. Remember, we leave in forty minutes.”
***
They didn’t blindfold Lis.
‘Why didn’t they?’, she wondered.
She could see the faces of the two men sitting on both her sides in the back seat of the car.
The one on her left was Caucasian, medium built with brown hair while the man on her right looked Latino and had long legs. They were wearing the same uniforms. Crisp white shirt, blue trousers and expensive leather shoes.
‘No discretion? Who are these people? Is this their first time kidnapping someone?’
Jason started driving at a slow speed. They were probably headed somewhere near. He turned the first right and brought the car to a halt. Lis was oblivious to this place. Contrary to her thoughts, it was a new glass building that was brimming with activity. The Latino got out first and pulled her out of the car in one swift but painful motion.
He dragged her towards the door and halted. The biometric system came alive and ran a retina scan on him.
“Welcome, Mr Slayer.”
Lis rolled her eyes.
‘Seriously, Slayer?’
The doors unlocked to let them in. There were people in formal attire everywhere running around with files in hand. Just two people looked up from their desks for a quick peep but ignored her as if this was a normal daily routine for them.
Lis could hold her questions no longer. She tried to speak with the gag in place.
“Whaa..aayyuu khakinn ummee..”
The Latino tugged at her and she dashed after him in one swift motion.
They stopped in front of a blank wall. The Latino guy pressed his hand and left his fingerprints glowing on the wall. Abruptly, it came alive and parted to present a secret pathway within. They resumed dragging Lisa and took her to a chamber that had no windows. Just one table and chair.
An interrogation room.
They threw her in the chair and she barely managed to retain balance. Then they ungagged her and opened her restraints.
“You might be wondering why we didn’t blindfold you.”, the Caucasian man spoke first eyeing her warily, “It was so you could see for yourself where you are and share the true picture with your fa…”
“Who are you? Why have you brought me here? And…and where is Jason?”, Lisa interrupted her interrogator.
“Oh, we don’t need to tell you anything. Your father already knows.“
Lisa frowned. ‘My father knows I am being kidnapped?’, she thought.
Nothing made sense to her and they were not answering any of her questions. She didn’t want to let them know she was scared, especially after his last remark. She recalled the last thing Ray told her and repeated, unsure if it will make any difference,
“You will never be able to get out of this.”
***
A million calls and half an hour later, Ray felt helpless. He didn’t know what to do. His parents had already called him and Lis twice downstairs.
He sat on Lis’ bed battling the dreaded thoughts that plagued his mind now.
‘What if Lis needs some help..’
‘What if she got lost or abducted?’
‘What if she is dea..’
He was left with no option. He mustered all courage that was left within him and got up. clutching his mobile tightly, he pushed his feet forward, heading towards his parents who were ready now and waiting.
“Oh thank God, Ray, you’re here! Everyone’s ready. Where is Lis?”
Ray looked up teary-eyed and his mother went still. Ray narrated the whole story, waiting patiently for his parents to lash out at him.
They said nothing for the next few moments. Then his father spoke,
“Where does this Jason live?”
“Just a few blocks down, dad.”, Ray responded immediately. But his father had his back turned towards Ray, his eyes moving suspiciously with the chain of thoughts. His aunt Martha was giving him a dreaded look that reminded him of his dream that morning.
The dream that was coming true now. Well, except for the fact that his parents were rather quiet making him more uncomfortable.
Ray could suffer in silence no longer. The quiet around him was gnawing at his guilt. He knew an apology was overdue.
“I…I am sorry, dad. I thought this would be like just any other time for Lis. I am really sorry.”
“Ray, son…” his father finally turned to face him. With a blank stare, he continued,
“You will never be able to get out of this.”
***
“Shawn Mitchell stole our records.”
“Excuse me! Who the hell are you? And what records are you talking about?”, Lisa could hardly control her anger now.
“We don’t have a name, but you can consider us a secret wing of FBI. Your father was amongst the first recruits twelve years back. He completed a lot of assignments for us until he went rogue”
Lisa could hardly believe her ears, but then a tiny voice in her head told her this was the reason behind her father’s “business trips” that sometimes brought him back in bruises.
Also, she pondered the employee diversity in this secret wing of the FBI. She tried to argue further, but then shut herself up.
The Caucasian continued, “Being a veteran in the system, he had access to a lot of data that he stole and shared with….let’s just say, someone whom we don‘t trust. We need those files back and we want him in our custody.”
Lisa skipped a beat.
“We have been trying to get our hands on him, but you proved to be the easier catch. And someone who will bring him to us for sure.”
This was bad. This was serious. There was definitely no getting out of this.
***
“You guys leave without me. Continue on the hiking trip. I will join you guys with Lisa soon.”
“But dad, how can we..”
“I was not looking for suggestions, Ray. Do as I say.”
Shawn stepped closer to his wife and whispered in her ear. Ray was close enough to understand what he said,
“Leave this place, Shelly.”
***
“You guys work for the government and resort to kidnapping to straighten your employees? What kind of people are you?”
“We get things done by hook or crook, Lisa. That’s our only job. And, we are not here to harm you, just get what was forcefully taken from us.”, the Latino replied calmly.
“What will you do with me if you don’t get what you want?”, the thought gave Lisa the jitters.
Both the agents fell silent. Lisa probed again. The Caucasian responded this time,
“We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it.”
***
Every person in the house went in a frenzied state, led by Shelly, Ray’s mother. She packed some more clothes, duvets and extra food just in case their trip had to be extended beyond schedule. Ray kept trying to reach Lisa, but in vain.
Meanwhile, his father, Shawn, disappeared with his mobile phone. His mother resumed her usual silent demeanour, unavailable to answer any questions that her family may have. Ray had seen these two behaviours run parallelly since his childhood. Though he still did not have any clue why his parents behaved so.
Once everyone had overpacked, they headed out to leave. Ray helped his aunt, Ron’s mother, put her luggage in the caravan, while Ron helped his. Shelly turned around to say goodbye to Shawn. The mood had suddenly turned gloomy.
Shelly settled down in the driver’s seat, while Ray sat next to her. He was filled with questions but not sure if he will get any answers.
Anyhow, he decided to try.
“Err...mom?”
“No, Ray”, his mother responded before he could form a question in his mind, ”I can’t tell you why we are leaving with extra luggage leaving your father and sister behind. But you have to trust us, it is to protect you and Lis.”
“Protect us from what, mom? And where is Lisa? I know dad knows!” Ray finally posed a question worth asking.
But the answer was an impending silence from his mother.
***
Lisa was left alone in the room for about three hours, which seemed to be an eternity to her. She was hungry, thirsty and tired.
She didn’t realise when she drifted off to sleep. A few moments later, she woke up to some bruit outside. It sounded like a fight that started a few feet away but was moving closer to her room. When everything went abruptly silent, Lisa could hear her heart pump courage in her body. Then, she heard her door unlocking. The person outside tried to unlock it for a few seconds with the doorknob jogging in its socket frantically and then gave up. It was locked and s/he clearly didn’t have the key.
Lisa had a strong feeling someone was trying to rescue her and hoped it was her dad. When after multiple trials, the door didn’t open, she started losing hope and dropped her head to her hands.
BAMMM!
The door went flying open jolting Lisa straight up. It took her a moment to register her rescuer.
She knew that face, but couldn’t believe it.
“Un…cle Matt?”
He gave her a comforting look,
“We are getting out of this, Lis.”
***
He leapt to her side and pulled her by the arm.
Lisa was too shaken to form any words. It was her cousin, Ron’s father freeing her. They shot out of the interrogation room and reached the reception area in the blink of an eye. There were bodies of men and women strewn all over. Absence of any scarlet on the floor or the bodies confirmed no casualties. They were simply knocked out. A few people were hiding behind the reception desk peeping out. When Lisa and Matt appeared, they ducked back in.
‘Did Uncle Matt knock out all these people single-handedly?” Lisa could hardly believe. At least forty people were lying on the ground unconscious. Before she could observe anything else, they had dashed out of the bureau and entered a black Nissan waiting at the main gate.
Matt drove as if he was scared for his life. Lisa buckled up quickly and held on firmly while the car jetted through the empty streets of the city in the early Saturday morning.
While the force of speed pushed Lisa further back into her seat, she formed a few questions to pose to this man who had as many secrets as her father. She decided to start shooting them,
“Uncle Matt, who are you? And who are these people that you rescued me from?”
“Lisa dear, we don’t have much time. I have to take you safely to your father first. Then we can answer any questions you mayyyy!!” a hot dog cart appeared out of nowhere in the front of the car and Matt turned the car right sharply. The car climbed the pavement and struck the fence of the City Park before coming back to the road.
Back on the street, they heaved a sigh of relief. None could muster any words to say to each other. The car pulled up in front of Lisa’s house in the next five minutes.
They got out of the car and Lisa found her father waiting on the front porch.
“Dad!” she ran to him and hugged him tightly. Her father’s embrace made her feel safe again.
She hung there for a little while and then pulled apart. It was time to get some answers.
“Dad, I want both you and Uncle Matt, to be honest with me this time. No beating around the bush and no..”
“We both worked for that agency twelve years ago, sweet pea. It was a new wing at that time and most decisions weren’t thought through. Then things went rogue and I and your Uncle Matt tried to break away. When neither of us could, we decided to take things into our own hands, by hook or crook.”
Lisa stared blankly at her father.
“So, that job of yours…”
“This agency was my real employer, Lis, but I was scared I will bring home an enemy one day. That’s why I left. But, I still brought home an enemy today. I am so sorry, Lis.”
“No, dad. It’s fine. Though I wonder how they managed to find you…us?”
“Oh they have been looking for us for more than a decade now. Once they found out I was in this city, figuring out Matt’s coordinates wasn’t difficult. That was one of the reasons they put up their base so close to our home.”
“So are Ron and Aunt Martha in danger too?”
Her father exchanged looks with her uncle. She knew the answer.
“Not for now, honey. And we shall ensure it stays that way.”
***
© Ishita Nigam Garg
She had done it a million times. And tonight, she was again sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night to meet her boyfriend.
The ever-cautious Ray had warned her not to do this tonight. Their house was hosting their aunts and cousins who had arrived with packed suitcases that day morning. The Mitchells had rented a cabin in the woods and they were going on a hiking trip together. The number of people who could catch her slipping out was high tonight.
“You worry too much. They are all asleep! And you know the drill.”
When Ray continued to frown, she asserted, “See, Jason lives just a few blocks away. I need to see him tonight before we go away for a week. I’ll be back in two hours. Just hold the fort till then, brother!”
Lisa slipped her mobile in the back pocket of her blue denim and trotted to the window of her room. It was on the first floor and she had become adept at quietly climbing down to the ground.
She covered the last two feet distance to the ground with a muffled thump and tiptoed out of the premises. She walked for less than a minute on the pavement to find Jason, her boyfriend, parked in his second-hand, deep blue Corolla.
Spotting her in his rear-view mirror, he dipped the lights twice. She scuttled the remaining few metres and got in the car.
“Good to see you, Lis!, Yellow suits you,” Jason said the moment she settled in.
“Thanks, Jase. I snuck out this top from my cousin Mer’s suitcase!”, she grinned ear to ear.
Her grin was contagious. Jason caught on and asked “All set for the feat?”.
“Oh yes! Let’s go go go!”, she exclaimed excitedly.
***
Ray went back to his room to sleep. He had to tiptoe too as his cousin was sleeping in his room. He carefully pulled up the covers and slid inside. Ron stirred in his sleep making some unfathomable noises, looked at Ray with his eyes half-open and dozed off again.
Ray heaved a sigh of relief and settled down. It took him a few minutes to drift off. He had four hours till his parents’ alarm went off waking up the whole family.
***
The car came to an abrupt halt in the middle of nowhere.
“Wh…what happened? Did we run out of gas?”, Lisa’s query drew only silence from Jason.
It took a few seconds for Lisa to realise that it hadn’t broken down. She looked at Jason, but his face was blank.
“Jase, what is it? Why have we stopped here? Our destination is still twenty minutes away.”
“I am sorry, Lis.”
An eerie feeling ran down her spine. With furrowed brows, she tried to make sense of Jason’s expressions. There was anger and determination in his eyes, with a tinge of guilt.
Before she could conclude, her door was opened from outside and a pair of hands appeared. One grabbed her right arm, while the other hand unbuckled her from the seat. Another man opened the door behind her and entered the car.
But Lisa was too occupied with her captor.
“Hey, who are….what are you doing? Jase, hel..”, before she could finish her cry for help, the man sitting behind her gagged her, pulled her hands up behind the headrest and tied them.
Her pulse was frantic and her cheeks were wet with sweat and tears. One thought kept lighting up in her head but she tried to shove it away.
‘No, it isn’t. ‘
‘It just cannot be.’
“Lisa Mitchell. You are being kidnapped.” The man sitting in the back seat of the car spoke.
“You better remember your father’s number. You’re going to need it.”
***
“Ray, where is Lisa?”, his father asked. The vein on his forehead pulsing anxiously.
“Errr..dad, I…don’t know. She must be in her r..”
“Don’t you dare complete that sentence. Do you take us for fools?”
“No, dad. I am sorry…she always came back on time..”
“Always? She…you both have done this before?”
“Err..dad..”
His mom pushed his father back to took over interrogating Ray. But when she opened her mouth, only a soft ringing came out.
Her lips kept moving, but the ringing got louder and louder.
And then, Ray woke up with a jerk. It was a dream. His mother’s alarm had gone off.
He felt relieved. He would have been grounded if his parents had found out their daughter had snuck out with his help.
And then it struck him. It was four a.m. and Lisa wasn’t back yet. Or, was she?
He jumped out of bed and headed to her room, quietly. He knocked softly, but there was no response. He reached for the doorknob with his heart thudding against his chest.
He opened the door slightly but couldn’t see anything in the dark. He tiptoed inside and made his way to the bed and pulled aside the duvet.
Then he skipped a beat. Lisa hadn’t returned.
Feeling his heart hammer against his chest, he scuttled back to his bedroom. His phone was lying on the bedside table. He dashed towards it and dialled his sister.
It was switched off.
He tried ten more times but received the same response. He was trying for the eleventh time when he heard footsteps on the staircase. Someone was coming up, and by the heaviness in the steps, it was surely his father.
Ray couldn’t breathe.
‘Damn it, Lis. Where are you?’
His father appeared in his night pyjamas on the doorway, which was already open.
“Oh good, Ray, you’re up! Ron, up and about!”
Ron was fast asleep and didn’t even acknowledge the command. Mr Mitchell turned to his son for the job.
“Ray, wake him up. I’ll wake up Lis.”
Mr Mitchell turned on his heel and headed to Lisa’s room. Ray called after him, trying to stop him from entering Lis’ empty room.
“She’s not in the room, dad!”
Mr Mitchell stopped in his path and turned to look at Ray with a crease between his brows.
“I mean, she’s in the bathroom. She’s the one who woke me up.”
“Alright. Remember, we leave in forty minutes.”
***
They didn’t blindfold Lis.
‘Why didn’t they?’, she wondered.
She could see the faces of the two men sitting on both her sides in the back seat of the car.
The one on her left was Caucasian, medium built with brown hair while the man on her right looked Latino and had long legs. They were wearing the same uniforms. Crisp white shirt, blue trousers and expensive leather shoes.
‘No discretion? Who are these people? Is this their first time kidnapping someone?’
Jason started driving at a slow speed. They were probably headed somewhere near. He turned the first right and brought the car to a halt. Lis was oblivious to this place. Contrary to her thoughts, it was a new glass building that was brimming with activity. The Latino got out first and pulled her out of the car in one swift but painful motion.
He dragged her towards the door and halted. The biometric system came alive and ran a retina scan on him.
“Welcome, Mr Slayer.”
Lis rolled her eyes.
‘Seriously, Slayer?’
The doors unlocked to let them in. There were people in formal attire everywhere running around with files in hand. Just two people looked up from their desks for a quick peep but ignored her as if this was a normal daily routine for them.
Lis could hold her questions no longer. She tried to speak with the gag in place.
“Whaa..aayyuu khakinn ummee..”
The Latino tugged at her and she dashed after him in one swift motion.
They stopped in front of a blank wall. The Latino guy pressed his hand and left his fingerprints glowing on the wall. Abruptly, it came alive and parted to present a secret pathway within. They resumed dragging Lisa and took her to a chamber that had no windows. Just one table and chair.
An interrogation room.
They threw her in the chair and she barely managed to retain balance. Then they ungagged her and opened her restraints.
“You might be wondering why we didn’t blindfold you.”, the Caucasian man spoke first eyeing her warily, “It was so you could see for yourself where you are and share the true picture with your fa…”
“Who are you? Why have you brought me here? And…and where is Jason?”, Lisa interrupted her interrogator.
“Oh, we don’t need to tell you anything. Your father already knows.“
Lisa frowned. ‘My father knows I am being kidnapped?’, she thought.
Nothing made sense to her and they were not answering any of her questions. She didn’t want to let them know she was scared, especially after his last remark. She recalled the last thing Ray told her and repeated, unsure if it will make any difference,
“You will never be able to get out of this.”
***
A million calls and half an hour later, Ray felt helpless. He didn’t know what to do. His parents had already called him and Lis twice downstairs.
He sat on Lis’ bed battling the dreaded thoughts that plagued his mind now.
‘What if Lis needs some help..’
‘What if she got lost or abducted?’
‘What if she is dea..’
He was left with no option. He mustered all courage that was left within him and got up. clutching his mobile tightly, he pushed his feet forward, heading towards his parents who were ready now and waiting.
“Oh thank God, Ray, you’re here! Everyone’s ready. Where is Lis?”
Ray looked up teary-eyed and his mother went still. Ray narrated the whole story, waiting patiently for his parents to lash out at him.
They said nothing for the next few moments. Then his father spoke,
“Where does this Jason live?”
“Just a few blocks down, dad.”, Ray responded immediately. But his father had his back turned towards Ray, his eyes moving suspiciously with the chain of thoughts. His aunt Martha was giving him a dreaded look that reminded him of his dream that morning.
The dream that was coming true now. Well, except for the fact that his parents were rather quiet making him more uncomfortable.
Ray could suffer in silence no longer. The quiet around him was gnawing at his guilt. He knew an apology was overdue.
“I…I am sorry, dad. I thought this would be like just any other time for Lis. I am really sorry.”
“Ray, son…” his father finally turned to face him. With a blank stare, he continued,
“You will never be able to get out of this.”
***
“Shawn Mitchell stole our records.”
“Excuse me! Who the hell are you? And what records are you talking about?”, Lisa could hardly control her anger now.
“We don’t have a name, but you can consider us a secret wing of FBI. Your father was amongst the first recruits twelve years back. He completed a lot of assignments for us until he went rogue”
Lisa could hardly believe her ears, but then a tiny voice in her head told her this was the reason behind her father’s “business trips” that sometimes brought him back in bruises.
Also, she pondered the employee diversity in this secret wing of the FBI. She tried to argue further, but then shut herself up.
The Caucasian continued, “Being a veteran in the system, he had access to a lot of data that he stole and shared with….let’s just say, someone whom we don‘t trust. We need those files back and we want him in our custody.”
Lisa skipped a beat.
“We have been trying to get our hands on him, but you proved to be the easier catch. And someone who will bring him to us for sure.”
This was bad. This was serious. There was definitely no getting out of this.
***
“You guys leave without me. Continue on the hiking trip. I will join you guys with Lisa soon.”
“But dad, how can we..”
“I was not looking for suggestions, Ray. Do as I say.”
Shawn stepped closer to his wife and whispered in her ear. Ray was close enough to understand what he said,
“Leave this place, Shelly.”
***
“You guys work for the government and resort to kidnapping to straighten your employees? What kind of people are you?”
“We get things done by hook or crook, Lisa. That’s our only job. And, we are not here to harm you, just get what was forcefully taken from us.”, the Latino replied calmly.
“What will you do with me if you don’t get what you want?”, the thought gave Lisa the jitters.
Both the agents fell silent. Lisa probed again. The Caucasian responded this time,
“We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it.”
***
Every person in the house went in a frenzied state, led by Shelly, Ray’s mother. She packed some more clothes, duvets and extra food just in case their trip had to be extended beyond schedule. Ray kept trying to reach Lisa, but in vain.
Meanwhile, his father, Shawn, disappeared with his mobile phone. His mother resumed her usual silent demeanour, unavailable to answer any questions that her family may have. Ray had seen these two behaviours run parallelly since his childhood. Though he still did not have any clue why his parents behaved so.
Once everyone had overpacked, they headed out to leave. Ray helped his aunt, Ron’s mother, put her luggage in the caravan, while Ron helped his. Shelly turned around to say goodbye to Shawn. The mood had suddenly turned gloomy.
Shelly settled down in the driver’s seat, while Ray sat next to her. He was filled with questions but not sure if he will get any answers.
Anyhow, he decided to try.
“Err...mom?”
“No, Ray”, his mother responded before he could form a question in his mind, ”I can’t tell you why we are leaving with extra luggage leaving your father and sister behind. But you have to trust us, it is to protect you and Lis.”
“Protect us from what, mom? And where is Lisa? I know dad knows!” Ray finally posed a question worth asking.
But the answer was an impending silence from his mother.
***
Lisa was left alone in the room for about three hours, which seemed to be an eternity to her. She was hungry, thirsty and tired.
She didn’t realise when she drifted off to sleep. A few moments later, she woke up to some bruit outside. It sounded like a fight that started a few feet away but was moving closer to her room. When everything went abruptly silent, Lisa could hear her heart pump courage in her body. Then, she heard her door unlocking. The person outside tried to unlock it for a few seconds with the doorknob jogging in its socket frantically and then gave up. It was locked and s/he clearly didn’t have the key.
Lisa had a strong feeling someone was trying to rescue her and hoped it was her dad. When after multiple trials, the door didn’t open, she started losing hope and dropped her head to her hands.
BAMMM!
The door went flying open jolting Lisa straight up. It took her a moment to register her rescuer.
She knew that face, but couldn’t believe it.
“Un…cle Matt?”
He gave her a comforting look,
“We are getting out of this, Lis.”
***
He leapt to her side and pulled her by the arm.
Lisa was too shaken to form any words. It was her cousin, Ron’s father freeing her. They shot out of the interrogation room and reached the reception area in the blink of an eye. There were bodies of men and women strewn all over. Absence of any scarlet on the floor or the bodies confirmed no casualties. They were simply knocked out. A few people were hiding behind the reception desk peeping out. When Lisa and Matt appeared, they ducked back in.
‘Did Uncle Matt knock out all these people single-handedly?” Lisa could hardly believe. At least forty people were lying on the ground unconscious. Before she could observe anything else, they had dashed out of the bureau and entered a black Nissan waiting at the main gate.
Matt drove as if he was scared for his life. Lisa buckled up quickly and held on firmly while the car jetted through the empty streets of the city in the early Saturday morning.
While the force of speed pushed Lisa further back into her seat, she formed a few questions to pose to this man who had as many secrets as her father. She decided to start shooting them,
“Uncle Matt, who are you? And who are these people that you rescued me from?”
“Lisa dear, we don’t have much time. I have to take you safely to your father first. Then we can answer any questions you mayyyy!!” a hot dog cart appeared out of nowhere in the front of the car and Matt turned the car right sharply. The car climbed the pavement and struck the fence of the City Park before coming back to the road.
Back on the street, they heaved a sigh of relief. None could muster any words to say to each other. The car pulled up in front of Lisa’s house in the next five minutes.
They got out of the car and Lisa found her father waiting on the front porch.
“Dad!” she ran to him and hugged him tightly. Her father’s embrace made her feel safe again.
She hung there for a little while and then pulled apart. It was time to get some answers.
“Dad, I want both you and Uncle Matt, to be honest with me this time. No beating around the bush and no..”
“We both worked for that agency twelve years ago, sweet pea. It was a new wing at that time and most decisions weren’t thought through. Then things went rogue and I and your Uncle Matt tried to break away. When neither of us could, we decided to take things into our own hands, by hook or crook.”
Lisa stared blankly at her father.
“So, that job of yours…”
“This agency was my real employer, Lis, but I was scared I will bring home an enemy one day. That’s why I left. But, I still brought home an enemy today. I am so sorry, Lis.”
“No, dad. It’s fine. Though I wonder how they managed to find you…us?”
“Oh they have been looking for us for more than a decade now. Once they found out I was in this city, figuring out Matt’s coordinates wasn’t difficult. That was one of the reasons they put up their base so close to our home.”
“So are Ron and Aunt Martha in danger too?”
Her father exchanged looks with her uncle. She knew the answer.
“Not for now, honey. And we shall ensure it stays that way.”
***
© Ishita Nigam Garg
