Holding on

Chapter Thirty-Four

Michael's POV
It has been a week since I returned from Hawaii. I really miss being around Danny, I went to her house straight from the airport but there was no sign of her.

Henrietta told me she went missing three days ago.

"How did this happen?" I was currently sitting with her in their living room.

"She said you asked her to pick up a package from the park", her voice cracked at the last word. " tried to stop her, to get her to see it as strange but she wouldn't change her mind", she broke down in tears. I couldn't stand to see her like that so I held her while she cried.

Joseph barged into the living room and charged right toward me.

"You-you are the reason my baby is missing, if anything happens to her, you better run. Because I will find you and nothing can save you when I do", I stood my ground and looked at him. I could relate to how he was feeling, but I only continued to tell myself Danny would be fine, she was all I had. I really love her and I would do everything and all I could to make sure she was okay.

Henrietta stood up and hugged Joseph right before he broke down, he was a strong man but when you have no idea where your daughter is, it will break you no matter who you are. I felt so bad already not knowing where to start from.

"She called me, you know...three days ago", he said to Henrietta.

"What! And you're now telling me?", she stared at him in disbelief.

"She didn't say anything, she was just on the call. But I could hear two different voices asking her to hand over the phone. Then the line went dead", he sat down on the couch tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Did you call back?", I asked him and he nodded. "I tried continuously and it would go through but there was no answer", he said.

"We have to alert the police about this", I blurted out.

"We already did. They are on it", Henrietta said.

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing, there must be something we can do right?" It was more of a question to myself than the couple I was in the room with.

"But what?"

Just then Mt phone beeped with a text from an unknown ID.

Unknown: Mr. Arthur how much are you willing to pay to see Danny again?

M: Who is this and where is Danny?

U: You are making this difficult Michael, she doesn't have much time so I suggest you answer my questions.

M: What do you want with her and how did you get my number?

"Who is it? Does it have something to do with Danny?" Joseph asked me his eyes moving from my face to my phone.

Should I tell him? Bes already broken I don't want to hurt them anymore.

U: Here's a little something so you know I'm not joking Michael.

The message was followed with a video of a bloody faced Danny tied to a chair. I just stared at my phone, frozen in place. Anger coursing through my viens.

Joseph snatched the phone from my hands, I just sat there, lost.

"What the-?" he said out loud and looked at me but I didn't meet his gaze. He scrolled through the chats and dropped the phone on the table.

I reached for the phone from the table and replied to the message.

M: What do you want in exchange for her?