Strangers

Prisoner

Joe spent a sleepless night, tossing and turning in his bed or looking out the window. Or checking the news.
No news at all. Silence.

No suspects, no explanation as to who had done it. Or rather, it was clear who was behind it all, but with no proof...

The investigator had said that he would "consider" Joe's information about Alexei Ivanov, but it didn't look like it.

Joe kept remembering Taylor's words about Ivanov bribing half the police and judges in town. Apparently it was true. But if the police weren't looking for Taylor, who would?

Man glanced at his wristwatch. It was four in the morning. Sighing, he headed into the kitchen, trying not to make any noise to wake Michael, who was sleeping peacefully in his room.

To avoid being alone with his thoughts, which offered the most horrible scenarios of what had happened to Taylor, Joe turned on the TV with some soap opera on. He honestly tried to concentrate on it, but as luck would have it, the show was also about murder and kidnapping.

Joe did catch something, though. A private detective. It seemed like a good idea, and the Brit was ready to jump at every opportunity to save Taylor.

So when, three hours later, Michael walked in the kitchen for breakfast, Joe was just making an appointment with a private detective from a well-known agency.

"No breakfast today?"

"Good morning,what are you, little boy?" A little rudely, said tired Joe "make your own something."

"Okay, I was just asking."

"Can't you see there's more important things to do now than your breakfast?"

"I see, sorry Dad" Michael got a bottle of yogurt out of the fridge and went off to eat in his room, out of harm's way.

Later, Joe drove him to school, after which he went straight to the café where the appointment was made.

The detective Shawn turned out to be a man in his 50s, ex-military. He had a shaved head,a cigarette between his teeth, jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket. His handshake was firm, he drank black coffee, and he wasn't much of a talker.

"I'll do what I can Joe. I'll send you a report every night."

"All right, but if you find out anything extraordinary, let me know right away."

"Okay"

"How long do you think it'll take you?"

"Find out where she is? Not long, we're dealing with a huge gang, somebody's bound to talk. The question is if she's alive, and how to get her out of where she is."

"She's got to be alive."

"I won't give you any false hope, Joe."

"If Alexei wants her company, he'll definitely keep Taylor alive."

"Or kill her as soon as the papers are signed."

Joe broke into a cold sweat.

"Then I won't keep you any longer, please hurry."

"I'll try."

And so they parted ways, and Joe went to the office, because work was still going on.

~~~~~~~~

Taylor didn't know if it was day or night, but judging by how long she'd been left alone, it was Friday. She was just convinced of that when Beardy showed up in his new T-shirt, smelling of cologne, and looking as good as he could, having probably a good night's sleep.