Melanie Charlstone had recently completed her 31st birthday. But there wasn't any celebration this time. The reason being quite simple. She was far from her hubby. She was on a business trip and the only consolation for her was that she was returning the very next day.
She had a long talk with Jerry, her husband, over the phone. A little bit of flirting and teasing over the phone had aroused both of them. It was almost two months that she was away and from Jerry's voice over the phone she could say he was also on the very last edge of his desperation. But that was true for her also. Somehow she just wanted to reach home and throw herself on Jerry. She was sure Jerry would take on it from there.
Sitting on the plane she felt like a teenager falling in love for the first time. She was counting the seconds, then the minutes and at last the hours. Finally when the plane landed she was the first one to come out of it.
It was 2:00 am in the morning. The airport wasn't that busy. Waiting for her luggage she remembered what Jerry had told her and smiled to herself.
"Baby I will be there at the airport...few hours of drive...then home at last and then ...two months of lost time will be made up by remaining at home all day...yes dear I have taken a couple of days off."
The thought of Jerry's naked body against hers made her blood circulate rapidly all over. Strangely enough, even after a long tiring flight she felt fresh and charged up. Such was the ecstasy of her homecoming.
After collecting her luggage she started looking for Jerry. She tried to call him from her cell but there wasn't any network coverage.
"Hey Melanie!"
As Melanie turned around in response to the voice she saw Rick Strawe standing behind her.
"Hey Rick! Wass up? You here at this time?"
"Ya. I am here to pick you up."
"Me?"
"Ya. Jerry got stuck into an emergency meeting tonight. He won't be returning till late afternoon tomorrow."
"But he told me that he was on leave for a couple of days."
"Oh that he was but you know a new project has come up and his presence was damn required in the office. He said sorry to you."
"That's all right but I am not able to ring him also."
Melanie showed her cell phone to Rick.
"That you will know yourself when you move outside."
Melanie followed Rick who was carrying part of her luggage. The moment she came out of the airport she knew what was wrong. It was the weather.
"Oh the weather the airhostess told me the weather isn't good outside. That's why the flight was also late by an hour. Silly I forgot!"
"Anyways we need to go to that car there. It won't be a problem I hope?"
"No, not at all."
It wasn't raining very hard but it was hard enough to drench them. By the time they reached Rick's car they were half wet. Rick sat on the driver's seat and Melaine made herself comfortable behind him.
"I could have gone home on my home. I am really sorry for this Rick. It's so late and....how is Eli doing?"
Elina Strawe was Rick's wife. Rick Strawe worked with Jerry, in the same company but in a different department. Rick along with his family, Elina and a five year old daughter, Mary, lived near their house. Melanie was always very much formal with Rick. Same was true for Rick as well. They only talked during get togethers, parties etc and that too if need be. Else it was always a "how r u- I m fine" kind of a relationship.
"Oh Eli is fine. She has gone to her parents along with Mary. They will be back in a week's time."
"Ok."
Rick drove on. The roads were deserted. Rick asked about Melanie's business trip. Apart from that nothing more was exchanged between them.
The car took a turn and was about to enter a dark street when suddenly a speeding car came from behind and stopped in such a manner that Rick had to apply the brakes. Both he and Melaine came forward with a jerk.
"What is the matter?" Melanie asked Rick.
"I don't know."
Rick got down and shouted at the car's driver.
"Hey you what's your damned problem?"
The same moment another car came and positioned itself behind Rick's car trapping it in between. Rick saw it. He tried to move inside his car but was late. By then two masked guys came and held him on gunpoint. Sensing trouble Melanie started shouting for help. Meanwhile she also dialed Jerry's number but still there wasn't any network coverage.
"Shout once more and I blow his head off." One of the men said in a commanding voice holding a gun against Rick's temple.
"Come out."
Melanie came out with shaky legs. As soon as Melanie came out another masked man came out of the second car and forced them to wear a mask each. Not that they had any other options with a revolver over Rick's temple.
The men asked them to walk straight. So they did with rain wetting them further. At last the men made them get into one of their cars and they drove off.
Neither Melanie nor Rick could believe what was happening to them. More importantly they couldn't guess why it was happening with them. Why the hell were they being kidnapped?
After driving for almost an hour the car came to a halt. For Rick and Melanie it was not an hour, it was eternity. They were guided inside a building and then to an elevator. Strangely enough they were moving downwards. Some kind of a basement they guessed. The elevator stopped finally. This time they were almost dragged roughly out of the elevator. After walking for about five minutes they were suddenly asked to sit. They did and realised it was a soft couch. They heard few sound of boot steps and then there was silence. With their mask on they could neither breathe nor speak properly. And now their hands were being handcuffed as well.
Rick suddenly started to fidget while he was being handcuffed. A hard blow came across his face. Fortunately he was wearing a mask else he was sure the blow would have been more damaging. His head reeled a bit. He gave up.
"Once more and you leave your head with us."
Sounds of boot steps came again as if people were entering the room. Then again after few seconds of whispering the boot steps seemed to fade away. There was a silence for about five minutes. The voice came after that.
"Hello to both of you." The voice said. Both of them heard the voice.
"Your handcuffs are unlocked. You can open it up with a jerk if you want to." Both Rick and Melanie did as they were told and both the handcuffs were on the ground.
"You can also remove your masks."
They did that as quickly as they could. After a pause the visions were clear in front of them. They were inside a small room with two cameras over them. Far from their reach.
"My men told me that your names are Melanie and Rick."
Melanie thought how out of fear they were calling each other's names.
"So how do you do?"
"What do you want from us?" Rick asked keeping his temper under control.