Chapter 2 - UH-OH
The first thing Mason noticed was that Leo stopped crying unusually fast.
Not because he was calm.
Because he was watching.
The toddler sat against the van seat, breathing hard, eyes moving everywhere.
Door.
Handle.
Window.
Men.
Kyle glanced back.
“Why’s he staring at me?”
“He’s two.”
“I don’t like it.”
Leo blinked.
“Uh-oh.”
Kyle looked at Mason.
“He say ‘uh-oh’?”
“Drive.”
Their original plan was simple.
Take Owen Vale.
Move him to a second vehicle.
Call Spencer Vale.
Demand encrypted access to an investment account belonging to his company.
Not a traditional ransom.
Mason believed Spencer had hidden money from a fraud scheme.
Mason’s brother had lost everything investing with Vale’s fund two years earlier.
Mason blamed him.
Maybe correctly.
Maybe not.
But the plan depended on having the correct child.
They drove to a temporary staging point near Brookfield Wildlife Park because the zoo parking lots connected to several public roads and tourist traffic would cover vehicle movement.
Kyle stopped beside an overflow parking area.
Both men got out.
Then argued.
“He looks younger than the photo.”
“He’s two.”
“Owen has brown eyes.”
Mason froze.
“What?”
Kyle pulled up the photograph.
Brown eyes.
The child in the van had blue eyes.
Mason stared through the rear window.
Leo stared back.
Then smiled.
“Ah-ah!”
Mason’s stomach dropped.
“Wrong kid.”
Kyle swore.
“What do we do?”
“Put him back?”
“And get seen?”
“He already saw us.”
“He’s two!”
Inside the van, Leo noticed the rear door was not fully latched.
A thin line of daylight.
He stopped crying.
“Uh-oh…”
The men kept arguing.
Leo dropped onto all fours.
Crawled.
Fast.
The door shifted.
He pushed.
Mason suddenly turned.
Leo froze.
Then gave him the largest innocent smile he knew.
“Ah-ah!”
Mason stared.
Leo blinked.
Mason turned back to Kyle.
“What if we leave him at the zoo entrance?”
Leo pushed the door again.
It opened.
He crawled out.
Grass.
Sunlight.
Noise.
Freedom.
Then moved as fast as four small limbs could carry him.
Behind him, Kyle looked into the van.
Empty.
His face went white.
“The kid.”
Mason spun.
Leo was already halfway across the grass.
“THE KID!”
Leo heard them.
He giggled.
“Hee-hee!”
May you like
And crawled faster toward the place he already knew.
The zoo.
