DARKER CLOUDS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"A father's rage is the blast of dynamite. His undying love is the spring of life…. two forces that are hard to defeat…"

2 DAYS LATER.

7:00 AM, tension and weariness revolve at Lance's mansion as they all wait anxiously for the call that will determine their fate. Lance is sleeping on his sofa, Josh sleeps his side, so exhausted and worried about his brother. Suddenly, the phone rings, and Josh picks it up and hurries into the waiting room where Detective Stephen is.

Josh's incoherent shouts startle the Detective sleeping on the chair when Josh says, "It's the kidnappers…"

Detective Ling raises his hands towards Josh to pick up the call. Josh is afraid, but he picks up the call, and the voice says, "Do you have the money?"

"Yes, I have the money," Josh says.

Dickson did not realize it was Josh speaking, not Lance, and Dickson says,

"Listen well, bring the money to the location am sending to you right now. Make sure you come alone, no cops, no surprises, or else you will not see your daughter anymore."

"Be there by 11 PM… Once you get there, I will give you further instructions on what to do."

He hangs up the call, and the Detective asks, "Do we have his location?"

His assistant, tracing the call, says "We have the location."

Detective Ling, ecstatic at having a lead to nab the kidnappers, asks. He points towards the location of his computer and says, "12b, state road Midtown."

He leaves the room and places a call to his assistant at the office.

"We traced the call of the kidnapper. I want you and your undercover team to go scout out that area and see what we got."

"Am sending you the location now," he says.

Josh is relieved. He walks back into the study and checks on his brother, who is sleeping. A few minutes later, he's on his way to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, waiting and hoping for the best news from the detective.

THE OUTBURSTED SPY.

Stephen would have loved to go undercover for a few hours, but he realized it could put the investigation in jeopardy. He sets his assistant as bait for the undercover investigation.

Felicia wore a pair of black skinny jeans pants that cling to her thigh.

A cream tank top that reveals all her belly. She wore a black wig, her false eyelashes protrude out as long barbie doll-like and she wears rich red lipstick that makes her lips a sumptuous delicacy. Her blush shimmers on her face.

She chews gum voraciously; she walks down the rough street into the old rusty building in her black high-heeled booth. Dressed as a prostitute for her undercover work.

She pretends she's on an appointment with her clients and catwalk up the stairs… she walks up the building and realizes there's no one around. She keeps taking pictures with the camera attached to her dark glasses.

As she was moving through the building, she saw a picture on the floor. She bends down to take the pictures. She's surprised at what she saw… the old picture of Dickson Long.

(Formerly known as Mason Birch) the wanted criminal that is thought dead.

She takes the picture and puts it in her purse and keeps scouting from room to room as she searches through. She keeps collecting samples until she enters a cleanroom.

She enters inside, holding her gun by her side. On the wall is a picture of the new Dickson Long and she takes a picture with her glasses.

She wears her glove and walks into the bathroom.

She takes the toothbrush and realizes it is wet. She extracts some fluid from the wet brush…

She goes back into the room and searches the drawers.

She found some passports and opens to see them; she takes pictures of the passport and IDs and closes the drawer.

She hears voices down the stairs and rushes out of the room, striding softly, and hides in a room opposite the culprit's room.

There she hears the voices approaching the stairs and stays quiet in the room she is hiding. She has to disappear before they see her.

She cannot risk exposing her cover. She looks out the window to find an exit.

She sees there is no way out and she hisses in between her teeth. She quickly takes off her boots and runs from the room to the hallway. The voice gets louder as they approach the stairs.

She tiptoes as fast as her leg can carry her to the back of the building with her boots in her hands. She drops her boot from the top of the building to the ground floor; she ran down the stairs until she gets to the ground floor.

Her car is some few distances away from the building. She runs to where she parks her car.

She opens the door and starts the ignition. She has to get to detective Stephen… she drives off in a rush on the old rusty road….

CANKERWORM OF SURPRISES UNRAVELLED

Felicia drives as fast as her feet could carry. She halts in front of the police station and parks her car outside the station. She is excited that they will solve soon the mystery behind the case.

On entering the police station in her undercover outfit, many of her male counterparts whistle at her transformation. She ignores them all and walks into the office.

Ling is expecting Felicia to show up anytime soon. He sits in his office, holding the newspaper in his hands. He's surprised when a lady gets in without a knock on the door.

"What do we have here, missy?" he asks.

Felicia puts off her wig, and Ling recognizes her. He laughs and says, "you know you fooled me with your makeover."

"But seriously, you look so good," he says.

Offering her a seat, he says, "tell me, what do you have on the hideout?"

She pulls out her small camera from her dark shades; removes the memory card into the computer and starts uploading the file

She looks at Ling and says; "I want you to see this."

The picture of Dickson longs appears, and Lings says, "so what do we have on him?"

"Remember, he is the man in the CCTV camera. You know they were 3 of them and the fourth one with dark shades and his identity is unknown."

"Check out what I found about him."

Name Dickson long, age:33. I found that in his ID.

"There is something else I want you to look at," she says.

She shows him the picture of the old Dickson Long. "I found it in the hallway at the entrance to the room the man is in."

Ling's eyes spark up. "Are you thinking the presumed dead could be involved in this case?"

Felicia nods and says, "yes, I think so…"

"This is getting so interesting." Detective Ling says.

"We need to find the connection between them both. Why is mason's picture in his apartment? Who is Dickson Long?" Detective Ling ponders.

"I wonder why we can't find any record about him in our database." detective ling asks.

Felicia clears her throat and says, "Ling, let's check for fingerprints."

"We have his fingerprints. Let's check in our database and let's see what comes up in the system."

"That's a good idea," Detective ling says

"Also, I got some saliva samples from his toothbrush."

"We can use that too," Felicia says.

"Oh, Brilliant! give all the samples to the lab. I want the result in 3hrs. this is getting exciting," he says.

"I also found his passport. The pictures are here on the computer." Felicia says.

"Run all results through our database and see if anything comes up," Ling says.

"Right away, Ling," Felicia says.

Ling looks at her and says, "you look good in this outfit."

"This fits you, girl. Try to be more sociable. You don't know you can catch a lad."

"I will take that as a compliment," she says, smiling as she rises to her feet.

Lings sits in his office staring at the computer and asks, "Who are you?"

LANCE'S MANSION.

Lance slept for half the day. The sedative made him relax so well. His wife sits by his side, waiting for him to wake up when the phone rings. Tension built in Sheila's body, wondering if it is the kidnappers calling once more.

She stands up in fright, swallowing hard through her throat. She picks up the call, and the Detective speaks.

"Good afternoon, sir," he says.

Sheila replies, "Detective ling, this is Sheila Stone."

"Good afternoon, ma'am, please can I talk to your husband?"

"No, Detective, he can't address you right now, but you can tell me whatever you have to say to him."

"Ok ma'am," he says

"We have the hideout of the kidnapper from the call we traced, but your daughter is not there. We will keep a watch on the building till your husband will give them the ransom."

Sheila's tensed body calms down as the detective speaks. A flood of relief runs through her spine and she says in a croaked voice, "thank you, Detective. I will inform my husband once he wakes up."

She hangs up and goes back to her husband. She lay her head on his chest and rested.

Natasha walks in, holding her youngest kid with Josh by her side. Sheila raises her head and says, "Detective Ling called. He says they found the hideout of the kidnapper from the traced call, but Emily is not there, and they will be on his trail till we pay the ransom."

"He will keep me posted about the latest event once he comes in the evening."

Natasha looks at Sheila's swollen face and says, "You also need to rest, dear; I will watch over him. Just get some rest."

Josh agrees with her, and Sheila leaves the study for her room.

Josh watches over Lance and says, "I hope they find the kidnappers soon and Emily comes back to us, so this nightmare will be over."

Lance is so tired that he refuses to wake up. I think we should call the family doctor to examine him or what do you think, Natasha? He says.

Natasha, confused and weary, says, "let's wait a little while, brother. We can't risk exposing him to the press and besides, mum must not hear about this. You know what will happen when she hears?"

Dorothy taps on the door and they both look up. She walks into the study and hugs her siblings.

"How is he doing?" she asks.

"So bad, Dorothy, that we had to sedate him to sleep," Josh replies.

"Thank god! He's asleep." Dorothy says with a deep sigh.

"He's been sleeping since midnight. I hope he wakes up soon. The Detective has given us little hope." Josh says.

"What did he say?" Dorothy asks.

"They found the hideout of the kidnappers, but Emily is not there."

"They are on his trail. We might have Emily back home sooner than expected with those criminals behind bars." Natasha says.

Dorothy sighs and says, "thank goodness."

"Let's just hope for the best."

"Dorothy turns her head around and asks, "Where's Sheila?"

"Oh, poor thing!" Natasha exclaims.

"She needs to rest. She's affected by all this ruckus."

"She has not left Lance's side since morning. I think she needs the doctor to check her too, although she is acting so strong." Natasha says.

"When this is over, I think we should have a chat with our brother."

"He's been too hard on his daughter and himself, and this has got to stop," Natasha says.

Josh says, "We can't do much on this issue, but I think all that has happened should make things right."

"We also need a vacation. All four of us should spend time together at the beach house.

"What do you think about it?" Dorothy asks.

Josh, a little irritated by her statement, says, "ok we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, let's focus on Emily's return."

They all hug each other in a tight embrace.

NIGHTFALL

By 8 PM, Lance Stone is sleeping, and his wife gets so worried. Lance's temperature has risen and his body shivers. She calls on Josh, who is sleeping on the chair in his room. Sheila taps him on the shoulder. Josh is startled, and he looks up and sits reluctantly as he sees Sheila.

She explains Lance's condition and asks him to call the family doctor. Josh picks up his phone and dials the doctor's number. His phone rings incessantly till the doctor picks it up.

"Hello doc, we need you at the mansion urgently and we want you to be discreet about it."

"Lance isn't doing so well. He's been sleeping since midnight, and he has not woken up."

"Can you please come to the mansion to check him out?"

"We don't want you to bring an ambulance. He has to be treated here in his home. We have a situation that I can't disclose right now."

The Doctor replies, "give me an hour, I will be there with you."

When he hangs up, his mouth is filled with a bitter taste. His mind is in conflict.

He has not been home for the past 4 days, and neither has he gotten good sleep for the past 8hrs. He is worried about himself, but he prays everything will be over soon.

The detective walks into the study; he is ready with his team for the rescue mission.

The doctor orders to have Lance taken from the study into the room. It is 10:10 PM and they all have everything ready to nab the kidnappers.

Some cops are waiting at the street corners of the old rusty building, ready to apprehend the criminal once they rescue Emily.

Lings walks in and asks, "Where is Sir Stone?"

Josh speaks. "My brother is in a delicate state. He went into a shock and he's unconscious at the moment."

"The doctor is attending to him. He is stable, but he's not doing so well. So, he can't take the ransom to the kidnappers."

Ling curses through his breath. "When we almost got him, this can't happen now.'

"What do you mean?" Josh asks.

"We have a criminal who's presumed dead. He is amongst the criminals that kidnap your niece. He has a record of murder, rape, serial killing, and arm robbery. We have to get him tonight. This can't be happening!" He says.

Josh calms down and says, what if I take his place? They can't recognize me. He's my twin brother. He says.

Ling runs his hand on his forehead and raises his thumb at Josh.

Sheila's eyes brightened and says, "that's true, a wonderful idea."

Josh says, "I need to change my clothes, restyle my hair and that's it. They won't know it's me."

Ling's palms are on his face. He inhales and exhales and says, let's give this a try…"

ALL DISMANTLES.

At 11:00 PM Josh stood terrified and agitated at the entrance of St Luke's chapel. He is waiting for the kidnappers to come. The detective and his squad stood some meters away in a black van waiting to nab the criminals.

He feels so cold; he paces back and forth, checking his wristwatch, wondering why they are 10mins late. His bone and spine hurt from the cold that encroaches on him. Exasperated, exhausted he can't stand any longer, he prays in his heart that this nightmare will be over soon.

His temples are shaking, while sweats run from his head to his cheek. Amidst the cold that overshadows him, his body gives away heat from his desperation.

He wore his brother's clothes and styled his hair like his brother.

He prays that no one will notice the differences between them. He had to stay strong and act like his twin brother,

The phone in his pocket rings (Lance's phone) and he put his freezing hands in his pocket.

The voice speaks, "Walk away from the chapel and come towards the road."

"Do not hang up the call," he warns.

Josh says "ok."

Josh walks down the road after leaving the chapel. He holds his left hand with his phone and his right hand; he carries the briefcase.

He gets to the front of the tree close to the central park, a car stops in front of him and says step in.

Josh obliges and enters the car. He sits in between the two goons and asks,

"Where are we going and where is my daughter?"

The goon in the black mask replies, "We are going for a ride. You will see her soon."

This fresh development disturbs the detective. "He puts off his earphone and says; I think this is a setup."

The goon picks a hood and puts it on Josh's face, covering him up, and he tells the driver, "Step on those wheels."

The driver steps onto the wheel and starts driving as fast as he could carry.

The detective hurries out of the black van and takes the nearest car parked along the street. He follows slowly behind them, but he manages to keep a trail by the GPS tracker placed on the money and Josh.

After several hours, they get to the waters, and they bring Josh out with a gun pointing at his back. They did not take his mask off, but they lead him on foot towards the boat.

Josh is terrified and wonders what they are going to do to him and his niece. He breathes heavily and sweats profusely.

They enter the boat, and Josh hears several voices speaking to each other. He hopes the detective will find him and Emily before they execute their plan.

The boat sails, and Josh's spirit splinters all over his body. He prays hard for a miracle.

The turn of event surprised detective Ling. Parking his car 30mins later at the shore of the lake, he had to call the locals for a boat to get them past the lake.

His team scouts the GPS of the entire area from the office. They find a hidden island after the lake that is abandoned with an old warehouse that was previously used by the farmers.

Josh's tracker had no signal because of poor reception, so Ling had to rely on the IT experts.

Ling and his men, desperate to rescue Josh and Emily, Ling get into the boat, pick up his wireless radio talkie, and says, "Attention all unit, we have a hostage situation. Request for backup at LANPADRDAS ISLANDS."

"I repeat, we have a hostage situation request for back at LANPADRDAS ISLANDS immediately."

THE REUNION

The boat stops at the front shore, and they help josh out of the boat. They take the briefcase from his hands and remove his head mask.

The one-eyed goon bows and says," Welcome to your worst nightmare."

Josh stayed frozen at the sight of this peasant with a covering over his left eye.

Josh asks, "What do you want to do with me and where is my daughter?"

The one-eyed goon laughs and says, "Do you think this is only about your daughter?"

"Welcome to hell," he says and laughs wickedly.

"Let's go, the show is about to begin." He says, sneering at him.

Josh is disturbed and hopes the detective will get to them sooner.

They lead him through a narrow path with tall coconut trees and some old, thatched houses. After, few minutes, they get to the door of the warehouse. They opened the door and entered the warehouse. The one-eyed man shouts excitedly, "Honey, we are home. Come, say hello to your daddy." He laughs aloud.

Emily struggles to scream from where they tied her, but her voice dies in her throat. The goon takes Josh up the stairs and takes him to where Emily is being tied. He removes the handkerchief they use in gagging her mouth and Emily sobs, "Dad, am so sorry…"

Josh looks up at the one-eyed goon and shouts, "Give me my daughter! You guys have the money."

The one-eyed goon hits him in his stomach twice. Pain soars from his intestine to his brain, all his strength blew off him and he lands on the floor.

The goon placed his leg on his face and says, "I trust you will behave. The next time you talk to me like that, Mr. I will blow your head off. Mr tycoon."

"Tie him up, the show is just getting started." the one-eyed goon orders his other counterparts.

The 2 tall goons tie his hands and legs. Blood was oozing out of his mouth and Emily cries. Her tears fall like an avalanche of water all over her face.

The 3 goons sit him on a chair, and they jeer at him as they tied him up to the chair.

DICKSON'S PARADISE

Dickson Long is over-excited everything is going to plan. He leaves his hideout and gets ready to go to the island. It's a long drive from here, but he can still play around for a while before he leaves for the island. He gets into his car and starts the ignition.

His mind wonders how he will finish them.

He smiles wickedly and uses his hand to caress his hair. He's gonna have the time of his life, he's gonna take her slowly while her father watches.

This is exciting. No one will find them there, so he can take her as many times as he wants before killing her.

He touches his neck tenderly as he imagines slitting the throat of the damsel right before her father's eyes, and he smiles wickedly to himself.

The big boss orders their bodies are to be dumped where people will see. He imagines the scandal and what the headlines will show. This is going to be a spectacular show.

He drives off into the road; he hits the road with much enthusiasm. He is happy and ready for his exploit, but he has to stop at the liquor store to get some wine.

He already got some flowers for the damsel and some sexy lingerie. He imagines how she will look in them.

As he drives off humming to the song playing on the cd player, he is unaware of a car on his trail as he drives.