Crossing Boundaries

Phone call and a plan

≈A≈

"It's a good thing she has her phone; at least we know that she's not completely isolated and defenseless," Kota said after much deliberation. He kept glancing at his phone every few seconds. It was hard for him to be away from Sang and to know nothing about what she was going through. Kota felt helpless.

"Yes but it's crucial she keeps herself safe first and not alert this Dr. Reed to the fact that she is in contact with us. He's a desperate man and there is no way to know what he will do if he feels cornered."

Mr. Blackbourne was right. An injured tiger can be a very dangerous one and Dr. Reed had nothing and everything to lose. And he had a gun. This put their situation in a bit of predicament. Mr. Blackbourne and Kota fell into silence. Both of them wrapped in their own thoughts; it didn't help to panic now.

A shrill sound pierced the quiet; Mr. Blackbourne quickly reached into his pocket for his phone. "It's Sang." Mr. Blackbourne tapped the green call button and put the phone on speaker. But he kept quiet. Voices came out from the other side. It was Sang and a man talking. Sang was trying to plead with him to let her go and the man was being obstinate about it and calling her a stupid girl. Just hearing him talk to Sang like that made Kota's blood boil. His sweet Sang was in a very vulnerable position with a man who may or may not be dangerous.

They listened in silence until they got to the point when Dr. Reed made the call. Mr. Blackbourne and Kota listened intensely hoping to glean any information passed between Dr. Reed and the person on the other side of the phone.

"How old? I don't know, around 15...Yes, I know she's very young. Like I said, I didn't know what came over me...What...what do you want me to do?...Leave her? I thought I could bring her...But...but, she knows too much; it's too risky...She was outside the warehouse when the cops arrived, she must know everything...How should I know what she was doing there...Look, you can yell at me all you want, I have to bring her; she's already too much involved...Where?...I know it's at the same place but I don't remember the address...The girl?...I checked already, she hasn't got a phone on her...Yes, of course I checked thoroughly, I know how to do my job...Okay, hold on."

There was a pause and rustle of what sounded like paper. "Here girl, write this down and don't try any tricks, okay?"

Dr. Reed rattled of some address to Sang who, by the sounds of pen scratching the paper, was jotting it down.

Kota looked knowingly at Mr. Blackbourne and took out his own phone to plug the address into Google maps. Kota whispered, "Got it" to Mr. Blackbourne who nodded confidently.

Dr. Reed hung up the phone and there was silence on the other side. Mr. Blackbourne switched off the microphone so they can still hear what's going on at Sang's end.

Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat and gave the orders, "Call North, tell him the address and to call for back-up. Whoever these people are, we need to be careful. Ultimately we want to be in and out with Miss Sorenson. The police should be able to handle this Dr. Reed and whomever he's going to meet. Under no circumstances should we alert them to us. Oh and have North pick up Luke on the way, we might need his stealth if we are to rescue Miss Sorenson." Mr. Blackbourne said all this with determination and confidence, like a man with a plan.

After Kota had placed the call to North, they steadily drove on to the destination.