THE BAIT

THE BAIT


Michael’s POV

I sat in the prison’s communication chamber with a dozen questions wavering in my mind.

The only way she might agree to speak or set eyes on me was if she didn’t figure out who I was if she was told that she had a visitor.

But what if she wanted to know who her visitor was?

She was entitled to such information and knowing that I was the one who came to see her would mean turning her back away from me. But then, you can’t always predict Savanah.  

I heard a rattling noise clicking toward me and the hairs on my neck went up. She’s here!

I had never imagined that a time would come when I’d be forced to sit in the same space with her and possibly talk to her.  

What do they say about desperate times? They call for desperate measures.

The warden led her toward the only desk in the tiny room and they appeared in front of me. The first thing I noticed was her cuffs. They were long chains that were attached to her legs and when I looked up, I saw her standing in front of me, her face as hard as rock.

“You have five minutes,” the warden told me and walked out of the room.

With both her hands cuffed and stretched out, Savannah settled on the chair directly opposite me. She seemed to have aged a decade in the last couple of months.

The expression on her face proved that she already knew I was the one she was meeting hence there was no reaction of surprise.  

“Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon or did you get so bored that you had to come see me,” she said while I was still studying her.  

I looked her straight in the face. There was that vile expression on her face and those eyes still harbored their contempt. Looks like it’ll take more than a prison to break such a woman.

“You didn’t come here to look at me or compare mental pictures in your mind. Why are you here?” She demanded while holding up my gaze.  

I cleared my throat loudly. “Hello, Savannah. I never thought we’d be crossing paths again,”

“Yeah until you woke up one morning and decided to pay me a visit,” she retorted and rolled her eyes.

“From the look of things, life here hasn’t been good but what do you expect from a prison?”

She narrowed her gaze. “Aren’t you tired of gloating?”

“I’m not here to gloat. I’m here to help you,” I replied.

Savannah rolled her eyes again.

“I was speaking with some of my lawyers this morning and they said your sentence can be lessened,” I blurted.

I was expecting a reaction from her but Savanah sat there like a rock. Maybe she thought I was lying about reducing her punishment.  

“If you help me, I can help you. You could get away with a 50-year sentence or less compared to life imprisonment. It all depends on the level of your cooperation and the information you are willing to divulge to the state to aid our investigation,”

Savanah broke into a dry laugh.

I waited for her to finish before I continued. “There is a chance that you might even be walking away with a 30-year sentence if…

“Yes, Michael. If what?” She nodded repeatedly. “Tell me what I must do to free myself from this pathetic situation,” she flared and rattled the chains in her hands.  

“If you tell us where to find your parents,” I said.

The corners of her mouth stretched until an impish grin sat on her face.

“You think if I knew where they are, I wouldn’t have located them a long time ago before you arrested me?” She replied.

“I don’t trust you but maybe if you cooperate with the police. Give us names and possible locations and maybe we could track them and if we do, that might give you an edge and your sentence will…

“You want me to sell out my parents’ location in exchange for less punishment,” she interjected.

I nodded.

I know it sounds complicated but the Savannah I know is a selfish person who might give up anything or anyone for herself.

She sighed and threw her back against her chair. “I must confess it’s quite a tempting offer but unfortunately,” she looked me straight in the face. “I have no idea where they are,”

I positioned my hands on the table. “You have to be completely honest with me, Savanah. This might be your only chance to reduce this suffering,”

She swung her head from left to right and didn’t utter another word.

I knew she wasn’t going to speak again but I don’t know whether she was lying or telling me the truth about her parents’ whereabouts. While my security team and I are still trying to figure out the identity of the mercenaries who raided my home, I had a deep conviction that Savanah’s parents were behind it.

\~~~

I pulled the car to a halt in the parking lot and threw my head on the steering wheel. I promised Madison that I was going to resolve everything in three days. Visiting Savannah was a futile endeavour but I shall not break my promise.

I stepped out of the vehicle and saw a group of construction workers walking around the house with bricks and ladders. The house looked full and busy.

Madison emerged from the living room with a bright smile.
When I left the house that morning, she was asleep.

“You’re back,” she said after walking up to me.

I moved closer to her. “Yes. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
 She was discharged barely twenty-four hours ago.

Madison turned to the house. “I just felt the need to commence the renovations. We can’t leave the rubble lying around for that long so Ferdinard and I contacted some workers to start patching up the house,”

I sighed and turned to look at the men climbing the roof. Some of them were already working on the broken walls. “This was supposed to be my chore, my love. You should be resting,”

“I’ve had enough rest already,” Madison waved her hand. She came closer to me and looked into my eyes. “I just figured out it’s best if I get up and do something. When things break, we fix them. When challenges come, we rise to them. We don’t sit back and wait for fate or bury ourselves in regret,”

“Oh, my dear!” I cupped her face with my hands.

She placed her hands on mine. “I’m no longer scared, Michael,”

I laughed. “You don’t have to act so tough with me,”

She wrapped her arms around me. “I’m not acting. This is the time we stand firm and fight. This isn’t the time we give in to fear. This is my home. You’re my home and I’ll fight for my home,”

I hugged her more tightly.

“From today, you don’t have to carry this burden alone,” she said and pulled away from the hug. “Look at me,” she gazed up.

I looked down on her with a smile.

“You shall carry me along on all the investigations going on and update me on your whereabouts while we’re working on this case,”

“Okay,” I nodded repeatedly.

She smiled. “And lest I forget, I had Georgia and Dan deliver letters of apology to all our guests. I wrote to each of them, apologizing for the accident that left them terrified. We attached flowers to the wounded and Dan and Georgia are already out to deliver them,”

I hugged her tightly. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. How thoughtful of you,”

“Now, tell me where you’ve been too,” Madison demanded while we were about to enter the house.

“Excuse me, Young master!” I heard Ferdinand calling out to me.

We stopped and then turned around. Right beside Ferdinand was someone else, someone I recognized.

“You have a visitor,” Ferdinand said when they reached me.

I nodded and shook hands with the man who came to see me. Ferdinand left.

“I’ll leave you two,” Madison said and tried to walk away.

I held her hand. “No. Please, stay,”

She remained right next to me. I turned to my visitor. “What do you have for me?”

He cleared his throat loudly. “She took the bait,”

Bingo!

I know she was going to take it and I’m so glad we went ahead with the plan.

Madison turned to me with a confused expression. “Who took the bait?”

I smiled. “I’ll fill you in, my love but first, we must celebrate. All our problems are about to end,”