Chapter Sixteen

 Adira nodded, to let him know she wouldn’t scream. The hand gently lifted off her and she pushed him back. “Are you kidding me? Who does this?”

Ramon laid his hand out. “Your phone.”

She stared at him in bewilderment, more angry words forming in her throat, but more than that, she just wanted to punch him. She reached into her backpack and thrust the phone and battery into his palm, knowing that her tirade would have to wait. Crossing her arms, she glared at him.

Ramon passed it on to Caesar, who was standing behind him looking sheepish. “I told him it would scare you,”

Ramon gave him a stern look and Caesar shrugged before opening the back of her phone.

“What the hell is this? Couldn’t you call? With all this going on, you think it was a good idea to scare me. Really?” Adira tried hard to keep her voice low.

“You wouldn’t answer my calls. Where is the phone?” Ramon replied.

Adira opened her backpack. “Show your torch here.”

Ramon moved closer and removed a pocket flashlight.

She blinked. “I meant your phone...oh, okay, because all smartphones are hackable and blah blah.”

“Too angry to form words?” Ramon teased.

Adira ignored him and rummaged through loose sheets of paper and textbooks in her bag. “I can’t find it.” She stilled her hand as she remembered. When she had left her apartment, she had only remembered to grab her phone. Ramon’s phone was lying next to her bed. “It’s at home.”

“I have been calling you since this morning. When I didn’t get a reply, I had to resort to this.” Ramon switched off his flashlight. “You know how important it was for you to keep it with you.”

“Fine.” Adira clasped her backpack and crossed her arms again. She looked at Caesar as he had her phone turned on and was busy working something on it. “What is he doing?”

“Inserting an app that will record your messages. For evidence,” Ramon replied. “In case you’re wondering, the reason we’re not doing this with the police is because what we’re doing here isn’t exactly ethical. Caesar here has to break into the phone’s security features. We would have to get permission from the manufacturers and there would have been all this paperwork and a lot of time would have been wasted.”

“Oh.” Adira glanced at Caesar as he sat down and opened his laptop. “So this is all illegal.” She swallowed and turned back to him. “All for Sibyl, right?”

“Yes,” he said, unabashedly.

Adira looked down and nodded. “Okay. Fine. But no more mind games with me, okay?”

“Okay. If everything goes well, there will be no need to do anything else.” Ramon gestured at Caesar. “Once he messages you, we may just be able to get his location. When he does, do not agree to any of his terms. Keep asking if Sibyl is safe. Insist that you need proof. We need to know she’s fine. He’s going to ask about the flash drive. Do you have it?”

“Uh...”

“You don’t need it. Just tell me you have it somewhere safe.”

Adira had a thought. “You broke into it, didn’t you. You know what info he’s hiding. Wait, do you also know who it is?”

Ramon paused. “I have a hunch. I’ll tell you later.”

“Why not now?”

“Because your phone just got turned on.” Ramon took the phone from Caesar and handed it to her. “Now we wait.”

Adira looked at her phone and suddenly didn’t want to hold it anymore. Everything looked normal to her. The screen had a picture of a valley, the one she had found online of her town.

I wish I was back home.

“Just a few more minutes.” Ramon joined Caesar as he stood with his laptop. “Everything set?”

“From my side, yes. Hopefully he won’t be able to detect my software.” Caesar blew a low whistle. “This guy is good at what he does. I wonder where he learned all this?”

Ramon glanced at Adira and she noted the hesitation, like he wanted to tell her something.

She opened her mouth to ask when he phone alerted her of a message. Her phone slipped out of her hands and Ramon caught it before it fell. He put it back in her hands and she unlocked her phone to read the message.

“Hi, Adira. Do you have my flash drive?”

Adira looked at Ramon who nodded then turned back to Caesar’s laptop. She began to type.

“I want proof that my sister is safe.”

A minute later, she typed again. “I won’t answer your questions until I have my proof.”

Ramon frowned at her, but she didn’t bother. Suddenly, she was too angry, too frustrated. If the person behind these messages was in front of her, she would have shook him until he spoke.

“You are in no position to threaten me.” The answer sounded ominous.

Adira looked at Ramon who was smirking at the laptop screen. He motioned for her to keep going.

“How do I know you even have Sibyl?” She typed.

“I’m not a liar!”

“Then give me proof. Show her to me. Let me speak to her.”

“Bring me the flash drive and you’ll see your sister. Alive.”

“I think you’re lying. You don’t have her.”

“I don’t lie. You know I don’t!”

Adira was about to type when she read the message again and sucked in her breath. She looked at Ramon again who seemed pensive, but also pleased.

“I don’t know that.” She typed, but inwardly she wondered if she did.

What did he mean by that? How would I know whether or not he lies?

“Bring me the flash drive to Eastfield Park. Alone.”

“No.” Adira felt her heart leap as she instinctively typed. “Prove that you have my sister.”

There were no messages for the next five minutes and Adira started to bite on her thumb nail.

“I think...”

Ramon put a finger to his lips and she saw him having a silent conversation with Caesar.

I think I went too far. What if he hurts Sibyl?

Her phone made a whooshing sound and she looked down to see a video file being sent to her. She put a hand to her chest, looked at Ramon and saw him staring at her. He nodded and stepped toward her. Removing a notepad from his pocket, he jotted down something with his pen.

The video loaded and she pressed play.

A woman, with ruffled hair and ragged clothes, was pushed forward in front of the camera.

A gruff male voice spoke. “Speak to your sister.”

“K-Adira?” A flashlight shone on the woman’s face and Adira put her hand to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.

The woman was blinking rapidly, had her hair over half her face, still Adira recognized the woman she hadn’t seen in ten years.

“Sibyl!” she sobbed.

“And now proof that this video was taken right now,” The man said. He pushed a newspaper in front of Sibyl’s face and tapped on the date. “It’s today’s”

“Adira don’t-”

But before Sibyl could utter her warning, the video was cut and before Adira could click on it again, it was suddenly deleted. “What-? But...how did this-?”

“You have your proof. Now I want my flash drive. Bring it or I will kill her. Then you.”

Adira started to type but Ramon held her hand and gave her the note. She blinked away her tears and stared down at the note. Ramon walked back to Caesar and gestured to her with his hand again.

Adira read the note, then shook his head.

Is he kidding? I don’t want to piss off the kidnapper!

He frowned and she realized she didn’t have much time to make a decision. She either trusted Ramon or didn’t.

Taking a deep breath, she typed.

“If you want the flash drive, you’ll have to come get it.” She pressed send with her heart in her mouth. “You’ll have to come to my college. Meet me at seven.”

“How dare you!” The message came.

Adira started to type a reply but Ramon snatched her phone and gave it to Caesar who quickly pressed the screen, touched it several times and then removed the back of it. After taking out the battery, he checked his laptop screen and gave a thumbs up sign to Ramon.

“What was that?” Adira could feel her head spinning. “What did we just do? That was Sibyl. He has her. She spoke to me.”

“Yes, and we have the video.” Ramon inserted a flash drive into the laptop and pressed on a few buttons. “And the copy is going to my cop friend. He’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Why did you call him to my college?”

Ramon plucked the flash drive from the slot and pocketed it. “I’ll tell you everything. But first...”

“Um...I inserted the battery again to see if my hacking tool was removed and now...” Caesar held up the phone which was buzzing in his hand. “It’s ringing.”

“Who is it?” Ramon asked.

Caesar turned it around and shrugged. “Neil?”

“Why is he calling you?” Ramon asked.

Adira hesitated for just a second before taking her phone from Caesar. “Hello?”

“Adira, I’ve been looking all over for you. Where are you?”

Adira looked out and saw Neil walking across from her, behind a hedge.

“Uh, I’m...around.” Adira swallowed. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to talk.” Neil stopped and she saw him kicking something on the ground. “I feel like we haven’t ended things in a good way. I mean, we don’t have to end things.”

Adira let out a breath, and stared at Neil, remembering the time she had actually believed she had loved him and that he was the one- the prince from her fairy tales. But now, he was just some guy who belonged to someone else. She couldn’t forgive the way he had retaliated. Although, he wasn’t entirely to blame. It had been those photos.

“What is it?” Ramon cut into her thoughts. “What does he want?”

Adira looked up at him and then shook her head. Then she walked out of the narrow space and headed over to him. A quick glance showed her that sometime in the afternoon, the clouds had gathered and covered the blue skies. It was now  a dull gray day with a promise of rain later in the evening.

“I’m here. Behind you,” she spoke.

Neil turned his head and smiled at her. They switched off their phones at the same time.

“You wanted to talk?” Adira asked.

“Yeah.” Before he could utter another word, Adira heard a shrill cry.

“Neil! Where have you been?” Ruby sprinted over to them, clutching a garment bag over her shoulder. “I’ve been calling you but it keeps coming busy.”

Adira took a step back, watching Ruby hug Neil and then kiss him on the cheek.

“Hey, Adira. How are you?” She chirped.

Adira smiled and saw that Ruby had her hair styled in curls which was tied in a high ponytail. She also had on a lot of make up that looked like it was done by a professional.

Ruby took one look at Adira and frowned. “Are you going to get ready later?”

“Huh?”

Ruby curled her arm around Neil’s. “The prom. The charity. I gave you tickets.”

“Oh.” Adira glanced at Neil who didn’t look too happy. He stared at her with an apologetic smile. “I’m not going. I have stuff to do.”

Ruby broke away from Neil and grabbed her arm. “No way. You need to relax. You have to come and have a little fun.” Then she grew serious. “I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you. I don’t have a sister but I understand you must be shattering inside. But you have to stay positive and live your life. The police are doing their job. They’ll find her.”

Adira nodded. “I am busy today. Thanks, anyway.”

“Stay,” Neil started to put a hand on her, then glanced at Ruby and instead, patted her shoulder. “You shouldn’t be alone. Come with us. You’ll feel a lot better.”

“Exactly,” Ruby said. “We’ll have a lot of fun together. Come on.”

“I don’t have my ticket.” Adira tried to get herself away from them, but she couldn’t come up with a plausible lie.

“Check your bag. You put it in there. Maybe it still is,” Ruby suggested.

Adira shook her head and opened her mouth to make more excuses, when she heard footsteps behind her.

“Oh, hi.” Ruby smiled. “You’re Adira’s friend, right? I don’t quite remember your name.”

“Ramon,” he said and took her proffered hand.

“Ruby. What are you doing here?” She studied him and raised one eyebrow. “You don’t look like you go here.”

“Not at all,” Ramon replied. “I came here to see Adira.”

“Whatever for?” Neil asked, narrowing his eyes.

Adira turned her head up to Ramon, perplexed at what he was up to. For his part, he ignored her completely and kept his gaze steady on Neil.

“We’re friends,” he answered.

“That’s great. You can accompany her to the prom,” Ruby said excitedly.

“The what?” Ramon was still glaring at Neil.

“I don’t think Ramon is free,” Neil said, stepping toward him. “I think he has work and is very busy.”

“Actually,” Adira cleared her throat. “Like I mentioned. I don’t have my tickets. And they’re already sold out. Besides, I have something I need to do in the evening.”

At precisely seven…

“Yes, we are busy.” Ramon shrugged.

Neil looked at her. “Oh. And what are you both up to?” He asked cautiously.

“Just something...”

“Personal.” Ramon answered for her.

“Adira, can I speak to you, privately?” Neil asked, with a frown directed at Ramon.

Adira let out a breath. She looked at Ramon, then at Neil and couldn’t understand what she could possibly do to have them all leave her alone so she could concentrate on Sibyl.

“At least check your bag first,” Ruby pleaded. “Maybe it is in there. It would be so much fun if you would come.”

“Here, let me.” Ramon took her backpack from her shoulder and unzipped it.

Neil took her hand, nodded at Ruby and then walked her a few feet away. “What is going on with you and Ramon?”

“Um, he’s helping me with something.” Adira watched Ruby chattering away while Ramon distractedly searched her bag.

“With your sister?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Adira kept looking at Ramon. What is he up to?

“What does that mean?”

“Huh?” Adira looked up at Neil. “Oh, I’m sorry. Look, he’s just a...friend. We were just...” She stopped herself. Obviously it wasn’t a good idea to tell Neil that she and Ramon were trying to lure a kidnapper. The less he knew the better their plan would go on without a hiccup.

“Just, what?” Neil demanded and Adira grew agitated at his tone.

“That is none of your business.”

“Maybe I want it to be.” Neil scowled. “All I want to know is, are you dating him? Or anyone else?”

Adira scoffed. “No. My sister is missing. Of course I’m not gallivanting and jumping from one guy to another. What do you think I am?”

“Okay. No need to get defensive.” Neil looked relieved. “I was just asking.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re not dating him.”

“Look, I found the tickets!” Ramon announced a little too loudly. He waved them and jiggled her backpack.

Adira walked over and snatched it from him, staring at the tickets.

“Great, now you guys can come.” Ruby clapped her hands together.

Neil smiled at her and then at Adira. “I’ll be happy if you come.”

“Umm...”

“Great, we’ll see you there.” Ramon pointed at him with the tickets, then put one arm around Adira’s shoulders. “Now excuse us, we have to go get something to eat. See you around.”

He turned her around and led her away from them.

“We are not going to the prom,” Adira said. “We are waiting for the kidnapper who’ll be here at seven.”

“Yes. At the prom.” Ramon dropped his arm around her shoulder. “We’ll tell him to meet us there.”

“Why?”

Ramon removed her phone from her pocket and held it up. “Not everything will be revealed now. Patience, okay?”

“Don’t make me regret trusting you,” Adira warned.