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“You’ll see Sabella. I promise.”
The men have finished searching the room. The one in the lead gives me a nod. I tilt my head toward the door, indicating that they can give the green light. The driver will bring the vehicle. Two men stay just outside the door. The others will remain in position just in case.
When the kids and I are alone, I lower Sophie to her feet. “Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head. “They were mean, but they didn’t hurt us.”
I look at the boys. “You?”
Johan puffs out his chest. “We’re fine.”
“Waldo?” I ask with caution.
“Dunno,” Johan says, the set of his jaw hardening. “They grabbed him in the parking lot at the school. They put bags over our heads.”
Fury rises in me.
“They only took them off when we were outside the village,” Étienne says.
“They had guns.” Contempt sparks in Johan’s eyes. “Otherwise, I would’ve taken them on sooner.”
I take in the fuzzy hair that thickens along his sideburns. I’ll have to teach him how to use a razor soon.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s get out of here.”
The 4x4 pulls up as we exit. A man jumps from the passenger side with blankets and water. Once Johan is settled in the front and the other three in the back, I instruct the driver to go back to the road and to wait for us to catch up on foot. The terrain is too rough for the SUVs.
While we trek the short distance over the field, my priority is calling Heidi so that she can prepare for the kids’ arrival. I let her know they’re uninjured lest she calls the doctor out in the early hours of the morning.
“Oh thank you, dear God,” she says, gushing about how grateful she is in my ear.
That makes two of us.
She ends her long reply with, “I’ve been going out of my mind. I wanted to go over to Sabella, but the guards didn’t want me to leave.”
“I didn’t want you or Sabella on the road today. Once I’ve dropped off the kids, I’ll go to the new house and fetch Sabella myself. The kids can do with a warm bath and a meal. It’s been a long day for them. They must be starving.”
“They didn’t feed them?”
I clench my jaw. “No.”
“Dear God. They’re children! What kind of people do that? Who took them?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s over.” I check the surroundings out of habit, ensuring no new dangers are lurking. “Their psychologist is going to have a field day with this.”
“Kidnapping. Children? Really, Angelo. What’s next?”
“From now on, they’re going nowhere without a fucking convoy.”
She blows out a long breath. “Just bring them home. I’ll be waiting.”
After hanging up, I dial Sabella, but the phone only rings and finally goes onto voicemail. Uneasiness assaults me. Why doesn’t she answer? Like I know her, she would’ve waited with the phone glued to her hand.
“I’ve got them,” I say. “Call me.”
I open the app with the video surveillance of the new house, but all the rooms are empty. The bathroom door is closed. The camera in the bathroom shows billows of steam coming over the shower cubicle and the fuzzy shape of Sabella’s body behind the glass.
Only marginally reassured, I dial one of the guards at the new house, but I get a network error alert. The same happens when I call Gianni. The signal is often bad when there’s strong wind or storms, but this doesn’t make me feel better.
