Chapter 23: Hope
The rough blows bouncing off my punching bag echoed throughout the empty room. With each punch, I felt a fury surge past my veins that formed around my wrist, and through my elbow, and continue on. My fatigue struggled wildly for rest, but I knew strength was what I needed to acquire at this dire moment. It was the morning after the destruction of my Manhattan condo and George had instructed me to leave the scene immediately with the back up police officers that arrived minutes after. We all drove about half an hour outside the city, to one of my houses nearby. There, Amber and I stayed the night, attempting to relieve our minds of everything that had just happened.
“Amber…” My thoughts echoed as I finally took a break from my morning exercise. Sweat continued sliding down my face as the poor girl’s condition stuck in my head. I decided to check up on her as I made my way out the door. White tile enveloped the entire flooring of the house, as well as the stairs and the rooms above.
“Hey” I spoke up as Amber slowly made her way down the flight of stairs.
Even after having seemingly slept until 10:00 her eyes were still reddened and tired.
“Hey” She muttered.
The shock of the kidnapping added to the sudden fear of being defenseless against these criminals really did a number on her. I thought earlier yesterday that having police stationed at our house would help her relieve the stress of it all, but it seemed to be all in vain. Once more, I felt difficulty sweep over me. Not knowing what to do or say, or how to make things seem any better.
“Amber… it’ll be alright…” was all I could say before bringing her in for a warm hug. Only a moment later, I felt her body shake lightly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked looking down at the sobbing girl.
“W-why did this have to happen to her Marshall… why… Lea…” She replied between her sobs.
The silence continued throughout the entire house, as I did not have an answer. Finally, as Amber began to quiet down, she released herself from our hug.
“I-I’m sorry; I guess I just wasn’t ready for this sort of thing…” she muttered as her sleeve wiped off her remaining tears.
“No one is.” I softly answered as my eyes connected with hers. “For what they have done, I will make sure they get the worst of their punishment.”
“I don’t know Marshall… I-it’s not just that; I mean already… People have died, Marsh…” Amber sniffled. “…and Toby…”
His name sparked my thoughts once more.
“That’s right, Toby…”
“Hey, how is he?” Amber inquired.
“Yeah, he’s doing well. I wasn’t able to visit him because of everything that’s happened, but I’ve managed to keep contact with some of his friends, who say he’s doing a lot better.” I tried my luck with a slight smile, to which Amber too released a long overdue grin.
“That’s good to hear.” She replied more lively.
I smiled back with my thumb gently wiping off a tear.
“Everything’s going to work out for the best; trust me.” I softly added.
She moved the hair for her face and nodded.
“So you’re alright now?” I asked with a smile.
“I-I’m okay now.”
I hugged her once more for comfort.
“Good; listen, Officer Kit wanted to meet with us around noon to talk some things over with us.” I said while taking her hand in mine.
“Is something wrong?” Amber’s fear once more spiked.
“Not necessarily,” I replied slowly. “He’s only told me to arrive at noon to be briefed about where everyone will be positioned… for the switch.” I hesitantly added.
She dropped her head with an “Oh.”
I knew doing so was going to be difficult, but I needed to bring Amber’s thoughts away from this situation; I really didn’t want her to be killing herself over everything.
“It’ll alright.” I said once again. My free hand gently rose her head back up. After a moment of silence, she released a smile and then a soft kiss to my cheek.
“Thank you.”
“It’s no problem.” I replied, winking. “Now then, something tells me you haven’t eaten anything yet. Am I right?”
“I guess… I’m not very hungry though…” She said with a frown.
“Okay, no worries though. Maybe you’ll want something along the way.”
“Yeah…” She muttered.
The both of us exited the house and were immediately greeted by the officers outside. Two cars completely decked out in jet-black paint- unlike the usual blue and white colors most other cop cars had- were parked at front of my door. One of the officers offered to escort us where we wanted to go, so Amber and I entered his black tinted car and we drove off. What truly surprised me about things was that I had not even noticed the second officer in the car until I went to open the car door. The situation really must’ve been this serious for them to want four men guarding Amber and I.
The two officers sat in front while I silently sat in the back. The leathery material squeaked ever so often I made a nudge or move to another direction. Amber’s tension could be easily felt inside the car so I gently placed my hand over hers in an attempt to calm her. She smiled back at me just as we pulled into a restaurant that deemed fit.
As I opened Amber’s door to let her out, I saw that the officers were not leaving their seats. To be honest, I felt somewhat relieved that they weren’t planning on hovering over Amber and me throughout our meal.
We entered the comforting abode and asked for a two seated table. The waiter led us to one close by and handed us our menus. Amber and I quietly discussed on the options of food displayed when another waitress approached us.
“Hi guys, I will be your server today. My name is Tiffany by the-“Her lively words ended abruptly as she took her gaze away from Amber and onto me.
“Oh my God, you’re Marshall Soel!” She squealed.
I felt my heart sink to my stomach. Of all the times to meet a fan of my work, now was most definitely not the best moment. I smiled weakly back at her.
“Y-yes I am…” I replied softly.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m just such a huge fan of your movies!” She exclaimed.
“I-I really appreciate that…” I muttered.
“Hey, where’s your kid by the way? I remember some people talking about how you adopted a little girl! Where is she?” the waitress added obliviously.
The surprise initialized from her question left me without a reply. Amber too remained silent as the teenage girl’s words drifted in the air. With a heavy gulp, the situation returned to me at full force.
“I-I’m sorry… right now’s not the best time-”
“Aw, please! I just wanna say hi is all!” She pleaded.
It appeared my distress from what was happening caught the manager’s attention.
“Look, I’d really appreciate-”
“Mr. Soel, what a pleasure to meet you sir!” A Hispanic looking man exclaimed as his hand gave mine a firm shake. The only difference between him and the rest of his employees were the shirt’s and tie’s colors. His tan pants matched identically to all the others, as well as the apron tied firmly around his waist seemed like any standard garment. His deep blue shirt and black tie gave him an unnoticeable authority over the rest of the employees.
“How is everything so far my friend?” He asked with a generous smile.
I replied with a heavy sigh.
“We don’t want to start any trouble here. It’s just your waitress won’t stop bothering us about something we would really rather not talk about…”
“Tiffany, I can take this order. You won’t be needed for now.” The man said without even glancing back at the girl. The young waitress dragged herself slowly into the back room as the manager and I resumed our conversation.
“I sincerely apologize for her behavior Mr. Soel.” He said softly.
My gaze turned to Amber who was still slumped on her seat, looking down at the table.
“Amber…?”
She slowly rose her head back up and looked at me glossy-eyed. I ran my fingers across her hair and stared at her mournfully.
“I-It’s no problem…” I told the manager as I briefly pulled my gaze toward him.
His hard footsteps played in my head as I continued to comfort Amber’s broken heart.
The rest of our time at the restaurant brought on a strict silence as the two of us ate our food and quickly paid the bill. Daytime continued fading as we made our way to the car, where the two officers waited patiently for our re-entry. Noon had struck and all of us rushed to the police station to receive whatever news George had planned to inform.
“They don’t want us near the scene whatsoever.” He announced as Amber and I finally confronted him.
“W-What do you mean?” I countered.
“It means that we won’t be able to back you up when the switch is made.” George explained.
“S-So I’m going in solo?” How on earth could I confront the team of armed men who kidnapped my daughter and not expect to be killed?
“In a way… yes…” He gravely responded. His words were a mental punch to my stomach. George seemed to have seen the anxiety caused by his words, so he slowly added: “…and in a way, no.” with an insidious smile.
My trembling fear immediately died down.
“What do you mean…?”
“I managed to persuade the leader to allow three of my men to accompany you. The main reason being, eight suitcases of money cannot be carried by a single man.” He added with a chuckle. His casual grin ended only moments later as he brought my ear closer to his mouth.
“Marshall listen to me, we’re going to have a number of trained snipers dispatched all along rooftops of other buildings nearby. If anything happens while you’re down there, we can take care of ’em from above.” He whispered.
Everything George had informed me brought a deeper sense of relief, as well as fear to the entire situation. The biggest concern of mine was how Lea was doing after being apart from us for such a period of time. The menacing voice of the kidnapper explained to me about how well they were taking care of my little girl, yet he could’ve very easily been lying. Tomorrow was going to be the day to discover all the answers to my questions and finally settle things once and for all.
The night before the big switch brought forth a terrifying thunderstorm. With all of my bedroom lights completely off, only the spontaneous lightning bolts would flash through my window, allowing me a brief moment of light. With every strike, a boom of thunder rumbled high above my ceiling and the brightness would shoot out the identity of what I toyed with nervously in my hands. I ran my fingers carefully around the cold metal barrel that connected down to its handle and through the halo of the trigger. I raised the gun slowly to my face and lined my sight to its smooth top. The thunder violently roared as my finger lightly pressed on the lever. A lightning bolt struck uncomfortably close as I struggled to set the weapon down.
“I will protect her…” My thoughts screamed.
With a grunt of disappointment I lowered it down to my waist, my finger still caught beneath the trigger. My top drawer yanked open as the rain mercilessly beat on the rooftop and I gently placed the silver 9mm inside. Thoughts raced all around my head on how tomorrow would turn out and what I could do to prevent the worst case scenario. With another heavy sigh, I brought myself over to my bed and slept the night away.