The One That Got Away (On-hold and Under Editing)

❤ Sixteen - Knocked out ❤

       ❤ Chapter Sixteen - Knocked out ❤

       Katie and I paced back and forth in the Lim's living room. Hari's father, Huai Lim, was on the phone with the police. It turned out that Hari had gone for a walk this morning at around nine, and he hasn't come home since. Katie had tried to contact him but he wouldn't answer, so she asked his parents and they said that they had no idea where he was.

       The neighbors had rushed over to Hari's parents and told them that they saw Hari near a big black van and some big men in suits talking to him.

       Mr. Lim hung up the phone, pinching the bridge of his nose. Mrs. Lim stood up and went over to comfort him. I shook my head, knowing that the police wasn't going to help -- Hari hasn't been gone for twenty-four hours yet.

       I went outside to take a deep breath. The Lim's yard was nice and the garden was blooming. I tried to imagine Hari walk here, and go to the right. The neighbors said that the van stopped in front of their house.

       Blinking tears away from my eyes, I walked over to the front of their house and imagined Hari being hauled into the car by those big men. I shivered involuntarily and knocked on the neighbors' house. The mom answered, a surprised look on her face.

       "Uh, hi," I started nervously. "I'm Hari's friend. I was wondering if you could describe the men you said that you saw and if you got a hold of the plate number?"

       The woman nodded her head and told me, "I didn't see the plate number--none of us did. As for the men... they were wearing suits and shades. There were only three who came out and talked to the boy."

       I nodded my head and asked her which direction the van went. She pointed to the right, and then straight ahead to the highway. Biting my lip, I nodded and thanked the woman.

       Walking back to the Lim residence, I couldn't help but think of why Hari could get kidnapped. I opened the door to the house and saw that Katie was talking to Mr. and Mrs. Lim. Katie looked freaked out and nervous, while Hari's dad just looked plain angry. Mrs. Lim was obviously trying to hold back tears.

       "Mr. Lim?" I asked. He looked up with a cautious expression. He didn't know me very well. Katie and I just introduced ourselves a few minutes ago. Well, Katie already introduced herself as Hari's friend when she spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Lim an hour ago.

       "Did Hari have any enemies?" I asked gently. He shook his head no.

       "Did he have any problems that would lead to his kidnapping?"

       "You sound like a detective."

       "I'm just trying to help out."

       He sighed. "No, Hari's a good kid. He's also home-schooled."

       I nodded, processing everything. "How about you? Did you have any enemies that might want to take their revenge on your son?"

       Huai Lim paused and looked at his wife, who just gave him a sad look. Hari really was a mix of both of his parents. His mother had tan skin and dark brown hair with dark eyes. His father was tall and had black hair and chinky eyes.

       "There is this one guy..." he started. "A few weeks back, an artist of ours gave us a painting and we held an auction for it. There were a lot of bidders, but there was this one guy who seemed willing to do anything just for the painting."

       "Do you have any idea why?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.

       He shook his head. "He just started getting really aggressive when other people shot their bids. In the end, he didn't get it because the price became too high for him to afford, but... he was very angry."