Page 57 of Unexpected Packages

Thankfully, Clare had a lot to say, and as we ate dinner and enjoyed a few drinks, I began to relax. I even laughed several times, and a few minutes before we were getting ready to leave, my cellphone vibrated, and I saw Alex’s daughter’s name pop up.

I unlocked my phone and pulled up the message. As I stared at the words Nica had typed, every muscle in my body tensed.

Lexi, did you hear????? Dad was kidnapped!!! OMG!!!

Then there was a link, and I clicked the link. A video of a man on his knees, his face badly beaten, holding a paper in front of him began to play. The sound was off, but even if it was playing at full volume, I wasn’t sure I would have heard it.

“What’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet.” Clare leaned over and looked down at my phone. “Oh, my god! Is that Alex?”

My phone pinged again, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t react. I just stared at the image of Alex as the man’s mouth behind him moved as if he were speaking, a gun pointed at the other side of Alex’s head.

“Hey, can you turn that up?” A man next to Clare spoke and for some reason it grabbed my attention. I lifted my head to the television and saw the bartender hitting the volume. There was the same video playing, although only a piece of it and a reporter talking about local residents being taken hostage.

The room spun around me, and I grabbed the bar to keep me on the stool. Clare’s arm was around me as we listened to the short news report. When it was over, Clare turned to me. “Who sent that link to you?”

“Nica, Alex’s daughter,” I said and then hit her contact information and put the phone to my ear as I clambered off the stool and gathered my jacket and purse.

“Lexi!” she said almost immediately, and I heard the tears in her voice. “Did you hear? Did you see it?”

I was rushing out the door, hoping that the cold air outside would somehow reach my lungs. “I did. Nica, how did you hear about it?”

“Someone from where Dad works called my mom a little while ago, and then I found the video.”

“I just saw it on the news, Nica. He’s going to be okay. You have to believe that.” I said the words, but I didn’t believe them myself. I stared at the traffic passing by, wondering how this could be happening to Alex when life was so normal here.

“What if he’s not, Lexi? What are we going to do if he doesn’t come back?”

The thought made my knees buckle, and I was thankful that Clare was suddenly at my side, holding me upright.

“Wait, my mom wants to talk to you.” She handed the phone off, and then another voice came on the line.

“Lexi? Hi, this is Veronica’s mother, Annie. I’m sorry we’re speaking under these conditions. I assume she told you what’s going on.”

“Yes, she did. I just saw it on the news, too,” I replied numbly. “What do you know?”

“Nothing much. Jake called and said that Alex and the group he was traveling with had been taken hostage. The video just surfaced a few hours ago.”

“I can’t believe this.” I clenched my eyes closed.

“He’s alive right now, Lexi. We have to believe he will remain that way.”

“Yes,” I said on a shudder. This is why I had broken it off with him, and here I was dealing with it all over again.

“Look, I’ll get your number from Nica and let you know if I hear anything else, okay?”

“Thank you, I would appreciate that, Annie.”

“Hold strong, Lexi. I know Alex, and I know he’s going to get back.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

Nica was back on the phone. “I’ll talk to you later, Lexi. I have to go.”

“Nica, he’s going to be alright. We have to believe that. Your mother is right; your dad is a strong man. He’ll find a way to come back to us.”

I heard her sob once. “I hope so, Lex.” Then the phone cut off, and I stared at the screen.

“Oh, Jesus, Clare. I can’t lose Alex. I can’t do this again! This is what I was afraid of!” The tears exploded from me, and she held me tightly to her. After I calmed down, we began to walk toward my place.

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