The DA's Daughter

Chapter Four

It had only been a couple hours since the robbery and taking of the hostages, but the whole ordeal was already flooding the news. Nothing uncommon for the city, especially with speculation of the involvement of Malcolm Garcia, a man who was behind bars. He always had an uncanny ability to make people to doubt the safety of their city and most of all, doubt their law enforcement.

"We have no evidence even suggesting that this robbery has anything to do with him." It was the commissioner, who was growing tired of all the questions but knew it was best to do the press conference.

"What about the hostages? What is being done to ensure that they return alive?" Asked an eager reporter.

"We are doing our best to locate the vehicle in question. We will do what we can to make sure they return to their families."

"What was stolen exactly?" Asked another reporter.

"At this moment we are not divulging that information."

"In other words you don't know." Said the same reporter who asked the question. The commissioner did not like that assumption but the man was not wrong. That being said, he wasn't going to confirm his statement.

"Are there any more questions?" He asked with a sigh. They had been at this for the last thirty minutes and he just wanted to get back to work.

"Why haven't you released the names and faces of the hostages?" That was a question he was expecting but didn't want to answer.

"It's for the safety of the hostages and their families." He answered swiftly. It was best for them not to release any of the hostage information rather than just holding back Juliet's. It would draw more questions and curiosity regarding her.

Phillip looked out over the small group before turning and walking away. They needed to get back on the trail of these guys. From the van plates, they learned that the company belonged to a Joseph Hardy who reported his van missing that morning. That really didn't help too much but they did get his security footage from the lot. It appeared to be two lower level criminals, mostly responsible for thefts and drugs. There was some minor involvement with the Garcia clan but nothing substantial. It was really beginning to irritate him that they had no real leads because Charles' daughter was involved.

They also searched her car, no cell phone to be found. Charles had managed to call his wife, who headed to her dorm to see if it might be there. It wasn't, a small silver lining in the whole spectrum of the situation had presented itself. They were just waiting for some sort of activity to occur on it. If it got used, they would be on it within seconds. Unfortunately until then, they had nothing more to go on.

                                                                                          ** ** **

The van had been travelling for a number of hours. The destination was still unknown to the three captives. Juliet had managed to find herself a comfortable place to lean in the back of the van and closed her eyes. It wasn't very long before the guy who had grabbed her, jostled her awake again.

"Is the princess tired?" He cooed with a smirk. Juliet couldn't answer vocally but narrowed her eyes in his direction. "Don't worry sweetheart, won't be long before you're sleeping for a long time." He chuckled menacing as he looked over toward the other men. The driver had kept glancing back at the trio of hostages the whole trip, causing them all to be uneasy. The words of the goon didn't help much either. What was the point of taking hostages if you were just going to kill them soon afterward? Seemed ridiculous in Juliet's mind.

There was a sharp left turn, causing Juliet to topple over on Sandra and in turn, she, on top of the guard. When the vehicle straightened up, so did the three of them but they were all uncomfortable once again. During the topple, Juliet's phone, that was neatly in her back jean pocket, had come loosened and slipped under some debris in the back of the van. She was doing what she could to keep it hidden because honestly, she had forgotten she even had it on her. Usually it was in her purse or in one of the cup holders of her car.