Chapter 24

"Wake up," said a voice, "Zuri, wake up." 

My eyes fluttered open. Blurry images began to settle in my vision. 

"Are you all right?" asked the same voice. "How are you feeling?" 

The haziness slowly but steadily dwindled away, and I could see the face more clearly. 

Fred. 

I blinked a few times. Then the memory of the preceding events hit me at once. 

"Kol!" I cried, sitting up hastily. "Kol, he—” 

Fred squeezed my hand tightly. "Relax, look at me." 

I shook my head, my breathing becoming laboured. My chest felt tight and no matter how fast I tried to breathe it did not seem enough. 

"You're hyperventilating," said Fred, rubbing my back. "Relax, calm down, Zuri. Kol is not dead. Nothing has gone wrong. Are you listening to me? Kol is not dead." 

I shook my head, not a single word registering in my brain. 

"Zuri, stop," he said loudly. "I told you to listen to me. Kol is not dead. Calm down." 

His voice cut through the fog in my brain and the words slowly drew an understanding in my mind. 

Kol is not dead. 

That is what he said. Kol was not dead. 

Kol is not dead. Kol is not dead. 

I placed a hand on my chest, consciously controlling my breathing. 

"Breathe in and out, slowly and deeply," said Fred. 

I followed his instructions for a few minutes and my breathing normalised. But my racing heart did not calm down. My heart was still in my mouth.

"Where is he?" I asked. "Where's Kol?" 

We were still on that road. The only difference was that B had been arrested and officers were moving about here and there. 

Fred sighed. "Everything went according to the plan. Detective Tyler's team broke into Kol's house as soon as we informed him that B was here. But…" 

"But what?" I snapped. 

"Kol was not there," said Fred, his shoulders dropping. "They searched every inch and corner of the house, but they did not find Kol." 

My lower lip began to tremble. "You said…you said he is alive." 

"Yes, he is alive. But he's missing." Fred gave me an apologetic look. "We are currently organising search parties. We'll find Kol soon." 

"If he's missing, how do you know he's alive?" I asked, almost shouting at him. "How?" My voice broke down.

"If B had killed him, why would he take the trouble of hiding his body? Besides, he did not have that much time to kill and hide," said Fred. "Our guess is that B has hidden Kol or left him some place isolated where he will die before anyone finds him. Makes his job very easy." 

"Get it out of him," I said, "please, somehow, get him to tell you where Kol is." 

Fred sighed again. "We're trying but he refuses to open his mouth." 

My shoulders slumped.

"Don't worry, Zuri, we are going to find him," said Fred. 

I slowly nodded. "We have to." 

"We are heading to the police station now. We will begin his questioning and force him to tell us Kol's whereabouts," said Fred. "Do you want to go home?" 

I glared at him. "I'm not resting until we find Kol." 

Fred gave a defeated nod. "Come with us." 

He led me to his car and helped me get in. As he closed the door after me, I held myself back from bursting into a fresh set of tears. This was not the time to cry. 

I had to think rationally. Where could B hide Kol? What place could he use as a hiding spot? 

The car started to move, and I rested my head against the window. 

Time was running out for Kol. 

They had searched the house thoroughly but had not found him. Where could have B shifted him? Which place was close enough for him to take Kol, abandon him there and then come after me, all in one hour and fifteen minutes? 

The more I tried to think of Kol, the more my mind wandered. All my thoughts were replaced with flashbacks of being alone on that street and seeing B walking towards me, whistling carelessly. I could see him grinning. I could feel those chills again. 

I closed my eyes, willing those thoughts to go away. 

You are safe now, Zuri. He's never coming back to haunt you again. Forget him. 

Worry about Kol. He's not safe yet—

My eyes snapped open. 

"Kol," I said suddenly, drawing Fred and the other officer's attention towards me, "is in B's car. He probably left him in the back trunk or something." 

"Car," said Fred, his eyes growing wide. "You're right. It's possible." 

"He has to be in there," I said, "B walked to get to me when he could have played more safely by being in a car. Besides, that guy is not from this town. He does not have deep ties, connections, or knowledge of this place. Where else could he hide a person? It has to be his car." 

Fred immediately called up the other officers in charge and ordered an immediate search for B's car. I gave him the description of the cars that B had used to tail me around.

I leaned back on the seat, a newfound hope cursing through my blood. 

All hope is not lost, Kol. We're getting closer to you.

I could not let another person that I cared about die. I could not let Kol die like this. He deserved to live a more fulfilling life. He deserved to die a dignified death at a respectable age.

Blake was deprived of all of these things. We could not let Kol be the next victim of this injustice.

***

Midnight sweeped in and Kol was still not with us. 

I was pacing around in the waiting area while Fred and Detective Tyler were inside with B. He had refused to utter a single word and was not budging whatsoever. 

Different police teams were on the search for B's car. All the traffic police force on duty tonight had been issued an order to lookout for the car. All routes between Kol's house and the road we had lured B to had been checked thoroughly more than twice. But the car simply refused to be found. 

If Kol's life had not been on the line, then we could have taken more time and leisurely searched the entire town. But Kol was cramped up in that car, probably tied and gagged and fighting for life. 

We had to find him before he suffocated. 

I saw Fred coming down the hallway and stopped pacing.

"Did he say anything?" I asked as soon as he reached me. 

Fred shook his head dejectedly. "He finally started talking but all he's uttering is rubbish. No direct answers, always beating around the bush. The taunts, oh Lord." 

I clenched my palms into fists. "Absolutely no clue? Not even a single one?" 

Fred licked his lips. "He's not afraid of anything, Zuri. Not even death. He feels like he's accomplished his life's goal by killing Kol. That was his revenge for his brother. Now he wants to die himself and go be with him." 

"A was his brother?" I stood stupefied. "That's why he's so passionate about taking revenge?" 

Fred nodded. 

"But he failed. Kol's not going to die," I said. 

"Their names are Roger and Robert Kay." Fred looked up at the wall clock. "And…" 

I was quiet, waiting for him to go on. 

"He wanted to hurt you more than he wanted to hurt Kol. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't kill you," said Fred. "But he's still satisfied because you're going to mourn another death today. That's punishment enough." 

Hurt Kol to hurt me. 

"He told you this?" I whispered, my mind racing a thousand miles per minute.

"Exact words." Fred sighed and sat down on the nearby chair. "That piece of—” 

"Fred," I said, interrupting him. "I know where Kol is." 

Fred's eyes widened. "What? How? Where?" 

"We have to go. I'll tell you on the way," I said, rushing outside. 

Fred followed close behind me, calling out orders to the nearest officers. 

We got to his car and hurriedly got in. 

"Where to?" he asked, wearing his seatbelt.

"My house," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. 

Fred stared at me for a second but quickly regained his composure. 

As we started the drive towards my house, I saw the other police cars following behind us. 

The drive was not going to be long. My house was just five minutes away from the station.

"B was not as unprepared as we thought he was. He was late because he was tying all the loose ends together to the best of his abilities. He told you himself that he wanted to hurt me more than he wanted to hurt Kol. The whole purpose of taking Kol captive was to lure me into his trap. When he failed to do so, he put his substitute plan in action. He knew that there was no hundred percent guarantee that he would truly end up killing me on that road," I said.

"He wanted a backup option to exact his revenge on me if killing me failed. So, he bundled up Kol in his car and abandoned that car outside my house. This way, I would come home dejected about not having found Kol and then suddenly see him right outside my house." I took in a deep breath. 

"But it would be too late because Kol would have died by that time," said Fred, "and you would live in guilt for the rest of your life." 

I bit my lip hard, drawing out blood. "That's never going to happen. Kol's going to be fine." 

Fred nodded. "The ambulance along with the rapid response team is already on the way as well." 

We turned the corner onto my street and my gut twisted. 

Exactly seven seconds later, we saw B's car. Right outside my house. 

As soon as Fred stopped the car, I dashed out. 

Just to make sure, I checked the front seats and the back seats, but Kol was not there. 

By this time, the officers were already opening the trunk of the car. 

My knees had turned to jelly but I managed to walk back around to the back of the car. 

The first thing I saw was Kol—bound, gagged, unconscious and bleeding. 

I tried to touch him, but I was shoved back by a crowd of people. Police, paramedics…everybody was rushing around, hovering over Kol. 

They took him out of the trunk and placed him on a stretcher. 

"He's alive. Quick!" One of the paramedics called out. 

No sooner had those words fallen in my ears than I burst out crying. I felt like I was finally breathing after having been deprived of air for hours. I finally felt alive again. 

We are here, Kol. You have to pull through now.