“Do you know if they have anything good?”
“I suppose,” I tell him. “They know about Janette’s death.”
Dad’s eyes widen in surprise as my words sink in to him. “They do?”
“Mom gave Eric the police report,” I explain. “But I don’t think they are after you.”
“Are they gonna tell Jan?” he keeps pushing, the reality hitting him hard. I watch as he adjusts his shirt collar uncomfortably.
“I don’t know,” I answer as sincerely as I can.
“Petra?” I hear Carice calling. Then I turn, my eyes alighting on her. “Eric wants to talk to you.”
Oh, that’s Eric on the phone? Now that’s interesting…
I walk over to where she’s standing, and she gives me her phone.
“Yes?” I take a few steps away from Carice, so that I can be left alone to talk with him.
“Petra, how are you?”
“Hi, Eric. I’m doing well, thank you,” I say, impatient to know what he’s up to.
“Look, we just got the results from the lab, and um, it seems like your mom was, in fact, poisoned.”
“Oh my gosh,” the words roll off my tongue. “But how?”
“That’s the problem––the lab found some traces of nanotechnology in her bloodstream. We don’t know yet how she got it, but it’s inside her body and those nano-particles had the opportunity to attack her organs at any moment. They essentially just needed to be activated.”
“Can they be activated from the outside?” I ask.
“Yes, which makes me believe your mom didn’t escape as she told us, but was freed instead. This is definitely not just some random plant you can buy and use to poison someone, it’s a highly illegal bioweapon.” My heart freezes at his words—this was premeditated. Mom was destined to die if she ever tried to talk to me. “Do you know anyone who could have access to it?”
I ponder his question for a moment. “Well, Maud is a scientist, and she works at a lab. I’m not sure what kind of projects she works on, so I don’t know if she’d have access to this kind of technology or not.”
“Who’s Maud?” Eric asks immediately.
“Oh, um, one of Alex’s sisters. She’s very reserved and quiet, so I don’t know too much about her.”
“Is she coming to the funeral?” he keeps enquiring.
“Emma’s trying to persuade my in-laws to come, so we’ll see.”
“It’d be great if I could talk to her. Either way, it’s the first time in my career that anyone has been killed with nanotech. What a year to be alive.”
“Are you gonna do another press release about it?” I ask him, already worried he’s gonna do a new one. “I don’t think the public needs to know those details.”
“Well, Tess was quite well known in her country. I’m sure the public wants to know of what it is that she died from.”
“They already know it was from a cardiac arrest, they don’t need to know the gritty details,” I argue. “If the news gets out, Maud might not come over.”
Eric remains quiet for a few moments as he considers. “True, I won’t do any press release until after her funeral. I have to go for now.” And to my great surprise, he just hangs up without even saying goodbye.
Chapter 2
The Netherlands, December 5, 2021
Tess Hagen
The creaking sound of a door opening quietly wakes me up. My head is still as dizzy as when they had initially knocked me out, meaning I must have slept a lot since then. My eyes can barely cope with the brightness of the room, so I squeeze them tight again, before slowly reopening them. I find myself lying on a twin bed that is leaning against a wall. I want to spread my legs wide to stretch but I learn quickly that my ankles are tied together, which is clearly meant to prevent me from running. I silently chuckle at the whole thing––while Eric prosecuted Alex for kidnapping my daughter, I should’ve known sooner or later he and his family would truly kidnap someone for good. I just didn’t realize this someone would be me. Petra didn’t need to be kidnapped. The girl is so deluded that she’d let him carry her away without protesting. They can only kidnap those they can’t control. And those include me and Carice. Oh gosh, I hope they didn’t do anything to her. Well, if she advised me to get a gun, she most likely has a better security team than me. A gush of air leaves my lungs as I realize how naïve I was to have not invested in full-time security agents. I thought two big dogs sleeping in the kitchen would be enough. I do have cameras outside and an alarm though. How weird that neither went off. They must have turned it off somehow. As I hear footsteps approaching I gain some courage and look at the man who stands in front of me.
“Where am I?” I ask, my voice laced with anger but still pretty feeble. I notice the man is dressed all in blue like in a hospital, carrying a tray with food, plastic cutlery, and a small goblet with a few pills inside. Oh, if they think they can drug me, they’re very mistaken. I’ll pretend to swallow the pills and put them under my tongue.
Since he doesn’t answer, I take in my surroundings—it looks like I’m in a bedroom, yet it’s as minimalist as it gets with only a bed, a nightstand, and a desk and a chair. I look for a window and find one but very small and way too high for me to reach and to check outside. As he puts the tray on my nightstand, I ask, “What’s your name?”
“Winter,” he answers with a pleasant smile.
“Winter?” I repeat, barely able to believe it. Of course he won’t give away his real name. Winter has to be some kind of nickname.
Winter nods, not telling me anything else, so I try a more sympathetic tone. “Do you know how long I will stay here, Winter?”
“I don’t know, miss.” He sounds very polite but I’m not sure if he’s lying or not. “I’m just here to bring your food and medicine.”
I give a quick glance at the food, and notice it’s vegetarian. At least there’s that. Since he looks friendly and approachable, I extend a hand to shake his. “Tess Hagen,” I say as we give a quick handshake.
Suddenly, another squeaky sound startles me and I see another man entering the bedroom, followed by two others, who are armed. The one in front I recognize instantly––it’s the guy who was in my living room with Margaret.
“Did you sleep well?” he says after striding closer to us. There’s some sarcasm in his tone, despite his stern expression.
“What do you want from me?” I ask instead. “Where am I?”
“You aren’t asking the questions here, I am,” he snaps just as fast. “Now,” he pulls the chair from the desk to sit in front of me and I narrow my eyes at the iPhone and piece of paper in his hands. “You will repeat this script as a voice message to your daughter.”
As he gives me the paper, I read the message and my heart instantly falls on my knees. “What time is it? She’s already married?”
“No questions!” he growls.
“I can’t do that.” And I hand him the paper back, avoiding his dark eyes.