The Mistress

" What's your name?"

“ Rachel Patrick" the light skinned brunette whose hands and feet were tied responded.

“And you?" the short man interrogated the next girl after Rachel.

“ Lori Anders"

“Can I get a bottle of water please...I'm so thirsty" Anna said when it was getting to her turn to be interrogated.

Aimee had seen Anna when some men came to take her as they had taking other girls and Henry as well. The male folks were kept in a different tent from the female. As they dragged her to the tent where other girls were, she saw that there was a factory right in the middle of the jungle and other little tents surrounding it. There were also lit fuel lanterns hanging on trees.

The tent she was taken to had enough room to accommodate all the females present (ie the eight of them) but it had poor ventilation.

“You want a bottle of water little girl??" The short bald man asked as he chuckled, “ How about you go pee in a bottle and have a drink" he added and laughed out loud as he turned to his colleagues to laugh with him but they didn't find it funny. So, his laugh slowly died out.

“Rum!!" One of his colleagues, a man in his early thirties called out to the short bald man.“ Remember the boss wants the little girl healthy...get her water" he said after Rum the bald guy had come over to meet him.

*********

The whole building was sealed from the outside so no one could get in as it was being searched by the police for evidence, only the bank manager was allowed in as his card was needed to search some certain places. Meanwhile, medical personnels were busy attending to those who were either injured or knocked out and needed to wake up.

The FBI were present as well interrogating witnesses and victims.

The manager had gotten into the bank earlier to find out it was totally empty. So, he had to call the emergency line. That was when the police came to the bank to see what was happening.

The people who had been waiting outside the bank during the robbery had to go back home as they were told the bank was experiencing some technical issues.

The police and special agents went through the surveillance cameras but there was nothing as the goons had hacked into the system beforehand.

Immediately the police arrived, the first thing the manager remembered was his mistress he left in his office. They had gotten into a hot argument before the manager walked out on her;

“What do you mean Stella?" Mr Kofi, the bank manager had asked furiously.

“I said you have to take Anna in. I don't have enough time to be a parent and take care of her...you know the kind of job I do... stripper. I'm not going to raise her well if she stays with me"

“. Stella...you know my wife doesn't know about you or Anna. I need time to explain things to her."

“ You've had enough time. I've kept her with my mother as you requested when she was still a baby all these while...six good years and you haven't told your wife. Well, now my mother is dead and I know I'll be a bad parent" “She's at the ground floor waiting for you" Stella said turning to make an attempt to leave as Mr Kofi called out,

“ There's no way I'm taking her in. I'm not sure she's my child"

“Oh really?? You've forgotten that I was a virgin before you came along...you better own up to your mistakes Kofi" Stella barked as she looked him in his eyes with so much hate.“ Or I'll just go tell your wife myself."

“No Stella, Don't. I need some space" Kofi said and angrily walked out of his office. He took the elevator and headed for the ground floor. He had seen Anna immediately he stepped out of the elevator and walked towards her,

“Anna..."

“ Dad?"

“Just wait right here okay? I'll be right back. What should I get for you?"

“ A chocolate bar" the brown eyed little girl said.

“ Oh...I love chocolates too. I'll get you two chocolate bars okay?"

“Okay"

“ Good girl." Kofi said as he patted her head and left the bank. As soon as he had entered his car to leave, he received a call;

“Hello, Kofi"

“Yes, who's this?"

“ It doesn't matter. If you love your life, keep away from the bank and don't raise any alarms else..."

“Hello... Hello???" Kofi called out but the call had ended.

-----

Kofi's mind was not at ease inside the elevator. He had left Stella in his office, what if the people who were looking for me saw her there...what would they have done to her? He kept thinking.

The elevator soon stopped at the first floor were his office was located, he quickly stepped out and ran into his office. Kofi was shocked to see Stella's lifeless body in a pool of her own blood. She had been shot by the thugs when she tried to scream.

“ Help!! Help!!!" He called out as the medical team in the first floor quickly raced towards his office. They told him she was dead as the bullet had hit a major artery so she bled to death. Kofi was speechless...who would have done this and why?

As they took her away in a stretcher, Kofi remembered Anna.

“Anna... where's Anna?" He thought to himself.

“Did you see any little girl?" He asked anyone he came across.

“ Please , help me...a little girl's missing. Her name is Anna. Did you see her?" He asked randomly.

XXXXXX

It was 4pm already and Aimee was not yet back home. Mrs Martha was very worried as Aimee had told her she'd be coming home by 2pm. She also wondered why Aimee had called her without saying a thing. So, she decided to call Aimee but she wasn't picking up. This made her more worried. She kept calling over and over till someone finally picked up the call,

“ Hello, Aimee my dear"

“ Hello, Good evening. I'm really sorry but we are still yet to figure out who owns the phone. You are a relation?"

“ Yes but what happened? Why is Aimee not with her phone?"

“ We found the phone in the bank that was attacked."

“What? How?"

“ That's all we can say Ma'am. Switch on your TV or radio to know yourself" the person said and hung up.

Mrs Martha quickly turned on the TV and switched to her favorite news channel,

“...it's a tragedy as one was killed during the silent robbery in the bank. Though nothing was stolen. According to victims, they wanted the manager who was absent to access the vault. So, the goons had taken fourteen people hostage according to the counts now. Fourteen people taken hostage including a six year old girl according to witnesses who were present during the process. The armed forces are..."

Mrs Martha quickly silenced the reporter as she turned off the TV. She didn't know what to do, she was too heartbroken to cry as she felt helpless. She grabbed her purse from the table and left the house to the crime scene, the bank. She wanted to confirm for herself as she didn't believe Aimee was taken as well.

When she got to the bank, she saw different vehicles, from ambulance to police cars to normal cars. She tried getting into the bank but was denied entrance. She asked one of the FBI agents and he said he was certain that Aimee had been taken hostage as long as her body was not found in the bank.

Mrs Martha didn't know what to do. The only thing she could do was call Joe.

“ Hello, Joe?"

“ Hey, Mrs Martha"

“. Joe..." Mrs Martha finally broke into tears as it had dawned on her that Aimee was missing.

“ What's wrong? Calm down" Joe tried comforting her.

“Joe...is there anyway you can come over now?"

“ I really wish I could...but I still have a lot to tidy up here...what's wrong?"

“ It's Aimee...she's been...she's been- " she couldn't complete her statement as she kept crying.

“ it's Okay,just calm down and tell me what's wrong? What happened to Aimee?"

“ She left...bank... kidnapped" Mrs Martha stammered.

“ I don't understand... kidnapped what?" Joe asked as he was very confused. Mrs Martha decided to pull herself together to tell Joe what happened.

“ Aimee was kidnapped along side thirteen other people during a bank robbery"

“ What???! How?" Joe said as he stood up from his couch.

“ I don't know, she's not been home for over five hours now. No calls no texts and now her phone was found in the bank"

“ Have they called or something? For ransom or anything??"

“No...not yet...not yet Joe" Mrs Martha said as tears welled up I'm her eyes again.

“Just calm down...I'll take the next flight and I'll come tomorrow. Don't do anything that will mess up your health....you know Aimee wouldn't want that. Just hold on" Joe said and hung up.