The Kidnapping

by Costa, César; B. Rosa, Bianca;

  “I need to rest, I need to sleep. Like this I won’t last much longer.” Moaned Deputy Mendonza.

  “I know that, you know that, yet you still won’t go back home and get some Zs, my friend.” Said superintendent Marcos Fontes.

  “I know, Fontes, but it can’t be helped. I’m pretty sure I’ll only get a wink again after we find her.”

  “How’s the car plate search?”

  “Nothing yet, I’m still waiting. There’re thousands of car plates and limiting to Rio only doesn’t help. The car could be from any place of the country.”

  “Well, all we have to do is wait, we’ve talked to everyone we could. Parents, friends, classmates, neighbors and even a witness of the moment she was kidnapped showed up. We’re doing our job, results we’ll surely come our way.”

  “I’m afraid we could be too late, Fontes.”

  “Chin up, Mendonza, everything’s gonna be alright.”

  “I can’t sit still, I’ll go out and make some rounds through the streets, who know, I might see some weird action going on. As soon as the search results arrives, I want you to call me, and if some other clue shows up, also call me.”

  “Sure, but don’t you want me to come along?”

  “No, I’d rather you’d stay here.”

  The Deputy grabbed his coat, the car keys and headed to the door. He stalled for an instant and turned back, meeting the superintendent’s eyes.

  “Thanks for the help, Fontes.”

  “I’m here for, my friend.”

  Mendonza was going crazy, he couldn’t think of anything else other than the kidnapping. And the media insisted on reminding him every single moment. It was in every newspaper, in television flashes, in reports full of emotions with the girl’s parents, crying and begging. Mendonza was tired of all that, the media nauseated him. They explored the suffering of others without a shred of delicacy. He was desperate to solve this case, to get rid of all that angst, so he could sleep and not feed the cruel and cannibal media anymore.

  Everything started when the girl went out in a Saturday morning and didn’t return by the end of the day. The mother, worried, called her a number of times, but her daughter’s cellphone was either turned off or out of service area. Her parents, appalled, contacted the police and they went to their residence and ran the preliminary analyses. They helped them call all her friends, traced every possible variable and started working on two investigative lines. The first hypothesis was that the girl had ran away from home, and the second, more likely, was that she’d been kidnapped.

  Deputy Mendonza was informed of the case only on Sunday, as he was away traveling to Resende in order to work out some familiar conflicts, and as soon he was aware of the problem, he leaded the searches. Two day after her disappearance, the runaway hypothesis was abandoned and the police started working solely with the kidnapping one. Soon, the media was on the move. They started following the girl’s parents chasing more news and ballyhoo. The first one to possess a picture of the despaired and crying parents, begging for their daughter’s life, would get a nice reward from the stations.

  In the meantime, the State Safety Secretary, Josias Camaroa, begin to press Deputy Victor Mendonza for the case to be solved as fast as possible. In his eyes it didn’t matter if they found the girl dead or alive. He just wante the word ‘kidnapping’ out of the headlines, since it stained the image of the Fluminense Capitol City. Daily and successive calls happened to the Secretary’s cabinet to Mendonza’s particular cellphone. They were on their fourth day of searches, and even with the life given by Henrich about the car and three numbers of the car plate, the Rio de Janeiro’s police couldn’t lay hands on anything concrete.

  The Deputy’s brain was on a rush. At each car he laid his eyes he saw a black Golf. He was going crazy, he needed to solve that situation before the girl died, or before he went nuts. Victor Mendonza decided to go back to the square where everything started. Maybe retrace the operation’s steps would give him a new angle of the facts. The Deputy parked his car, got off and headed to the local. He looked around, trying to visualize what happened. He stared at the staircase where Henrich was sitting and watching everything happen and, to his surprise, there he was. The boy waved. Mendonza headed there and greeted him. “Hello, Henrich, I wasn’t expecting you around here.”

  “Hey, I’m always around here. Actually, I don’t have a place to go.”

  “Do you live in the streets? You didn’t mention that back at the station.”

  “Would that weight on the case?”

  “Actually, no.”

  “My self-pity is enough; I don’t need the pity of others.”

  “I understand, my boy.”

  Henrich lowered his head and stared at his own feet. “Hey, Henrich, since we’re already here, could you show me exactly where everything happened?”

  “Sure, sir. Right over there.”

  The lad got up and climbed down the stairs, Mendonza following him hurriedly. Both men went to a bank, about 80 meters ahead. Henrich stopped and signaled that spot.

  “She was right over here, I guess she was about to use the ATM. Suddenly, the car parked over there at the corner and two men jumped out. They ran over to her who, when she saw then, had no reaction. The grabbed and dragged her towards the car. There should’ve being half a dozen of people around, but no one had the courage to do anything.” Finished the lad, crestfallen.

  “I understand, but trying to intervene could make things worse.”

  “Sir, even if I wanted to do something, I was too far away. I wouldn’t get to her on time.”

  “That’s true, Henrich. Don’t be ashamed of yourself, just showing up and report what you saw took you a lot of courage. Most people would rather not get involved.”

  “When they secured her, the car made a risky maneuver and came in opposite way, passed by the staircase and I saw the car plate.”

  “Yes, we’re working with that data, but we’re still to receive any results.”

  “Sir, do you think you’ll find her well?” asked Henrich, looking worried.

  “I do pray so, my boy. I do pray so...”

  Chapter 9 – A Day Full of Emotions

  The following day, the routine repeated itself for the youngster detective. Alarm clock. Six in the morning. Disgruntled Carolina. Eyes rubbing. Head scratching. Bathroom. Relief. Shower. Fifteen minutes. Out of bathroom. Uniform. Teeth brushing. A glass of milk. Out without breakfast. A case to solve. School. Friends. Questions. Evasive answers. Angsting hours. Angst. Class. Class. Class. School bell. Freedom!

  Carolina, once again, darted through the street so she wouldn’t be followed by her friends. She didn’t need small talk, she needed to think. She revised that afternoon’s timetable, but not without calling her mom and apologizing over and over again and telling she had another project to work on, which, once again, wasn’t one hundred per cent lie. After eating a reinforced lunch, first step: visiting Maycon Alves.

  He was a successful man of the IT area. He had a beautiful two-story house with an ample garden. The girl felt awkward about opening the gate and advance through the grass until the front door. Besides the awkwardness, a twinge of fear for not knowing whether there were dogs and for not knowing what to expect about the guy. Finally, she rang the bell. After a few seconds, a woman in her thirties answered her, slightly disheveled and clumsy, opening the door with too much energy, almost hitting her own nose.

  “May I help you?” she inquired.

  “Good afternoon, my name’s...”

  “Sorry, sweetie, we don’t want to buy anything.”

  “Uh, I’m not selling anything.”

  “Oh, ok then. What is it?”

  “I’d like to talk to Mr. Maycon Alves.”

  “What happened? Some kind of problem?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “So, what is it?” the woman manifested some annoyance by that point.

  “The issue’s with Mr. Maycon Alves.” Insist
ed Carolina.

  The woman let out a suffering sigh and finally said “I’ll get him, wait a bit.” Then shut the door on the detective’s face.

  Wait. Carolina was growing to hate that word. Could it be that every person had to make the other one wait? Could it be she did that to her friends? She swore to herself to never make anyone wait like that. Like, ever again. She heard heavy footsteps on the other side and, right afterwards, the clumsy woman appeared one more time.

  “Mr. Maycon asked you to come in.”

  The detective entered and was led to a big living room with lots of computers. She was caught off guard by a sitting Maycon wearing only his underpants. He turned around and smiled. “Maria said that it was a pretty girl, but not how much. I gotta say the word ‘pretty’ doesn’t do you justice. Sit down...”

  “Carolina.” She answered, feeling spooked.

  “Carolina...“ he dragged on.

  “Carolina Mendonza.”

  “Mendonza...” he dragged on again, reflective. “To what do I owe such honor?”

  “I want to know about your friend, dr. Herminio Paschoal.”

  “Why so much interest in Herminio?”

  “Because he’s missing and I’m trying to find him.” She decided to be as direct as possible and get out of there as soon as possible.

  “And why do you think I have any information, or even if I had, why would I tell you?”

  “I don’t think anything, I’m just asking.”

  “Who plays with fire end up burnt, little girl!” and Maycon grinned.

  “You?!” Carolina, scared, got up and tried to leave.

  Maycon, however, also got up brusquely and, grabbing her arm, said “Don’t be afraid.”

  “Well, I am!”

  “If I wanted to do you any harm, I’d have done it already.”

  “I’ll scream!”

  Maycon laughed out loud. “Sit down.”

  Carolina did so.

  “Tell me what you want to know.” He ordered.

  “Everything.”

  “All that I know is that Herminio was getting involved with the wrong bunch. That never works out. I warned him, but he didn’t listen to me.”

  “So his disappearance has something to do with those people?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Do you think he’s...”

  “Dead?” Maycon laughed again. “No, no. Dead, I don’t think so.”

  “How could you know?”

  “Let’s say I have a hunch.”

  “Do you know where he could be hiding?”

  “Sincerely? No.”

  “But... In the end, do you have anything useful to tell me?”

  “How old are you?”

  “Fifteen...”

  “What a shame!”

  “Shame?”

  “Forget it. Anyway, I don’t think I can help you any more, Carolina Mendonza.”

  “And if you could, you wouldn’t.”

  “Bullseye!”

  “Waste of my time, then. I wish you well, Mr. Maycon Alves.” Carolina also answered with sarcasm.

  The girl stood up, staring back at Maycon’s debauchee grin. At any moment she had the courage to show her back to her strange host. The equally strange maid followed her back to the exit, with an unfriendly face, and shut door with all her strength just after the girl passed the threshold, yelling at her to close the gate once she was out.

  A shiver spread throughout the girl’s body. For a doctor, Herminio Paschoal had very unique friends. She couldn’t imagine herself having those types of friendships in her life and thanked the heavens for the wonderful friends she had. She resumed walking through the street. The next stop was Soraya, the hooker - she thought and giggled by herself. Carolina crossed the bridge and headed to the nearest bus stop. Now, she was sure of it, the dentist got himself involved in something illegal, stuff was getting steadily more complicated, but she still didn’t feel comfortable bothering her uncle. She promised herself that, depending on the next dialogue, she wouldn’t act solo anymore.

  The bus stopped four blocks away from Soraya’s address. It was 3h37 pm and the sun was blazing hot. She already slightly discouraged by the time she arrived before the door number 321. ‘Great, there’s no bell.’ She thought. The girl clapped her hands loudly three times a called for Soraya. Once, twice, three, four, five times. She was about to give up when she heard a snap on the front window and it opened. A head appeared yelling “Wait a minute!” And soon the window was closed again. And there was the blasted word ‘wait’ in Carolina’s case. And she waited.

  “Sorry for the wait.” Said Soraya. “I was in the shower.”

  “It’s fine, I’m getting used to it.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing. Your name’s Soraya, right?”

  “Yeah. And who are you?”

  “I’m Carolina Mendonza.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t remember where we...”

  “Oh! No, no. We’ve never met before.”

  “Ah, I see. And what did you want?” Soraya asked a tad confused.

  “Just talk. Is that possible?”

  “Who sent you here?”

  “No one. Why do people keep thinking I’ve been sent by someone?”

  “So, it wasn’t Denise?”

  “Ah, Denise. Nope, not her.” Carolina didn’t even feign the bore.

  “So, who?” Soraya looked at both sides of the street.

  “Can we go in? The sun is really hot out here.”

  “Hum... Sure, come in!” said Soraya, distrustful. “Please don’t get me anymore involved in the story.” Begged the lady.

  “You’re already involved.” Carolina fished the opportunity in the air.

  “I said I didn’t want to get involved.” Soraya almost teared up.

  “Too late.”

  “Who’s out there with you? It’s Mozer, isn’t it? Please, send him away, don’t do that to me.”

  “So, tell me, where’s Herminio?” inquired the girl in a threatening tone.

  “How can I know? You’re the one that gave him a huge scare. What did you want? That he stayed still waiting to get done in?”

  “How much are you involved in this, Soraya?”

  “As if you didn’t know!”

  “I’m just the courier, I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “You know, Herminio was working to Richard, doing his stuff for him. But Richard has no limits. I’m so sorry of getting Herminio in the game. Shit, it was good cash. I just had to make the dude fall for me and do my whims. Richard said it’d only be five times, but he started to go overboard. Herminio tried to get away, but once your inside you can’t get out whenever you want. Please, Carolina, tell Mozer to go away, take him away with you.

  “Is there anywhere you can hide, outside Rio de Janeiro?”

  “I have a cousin in Angra...”

  “Get your things ready and get out of here, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Right. Thank you, thank you so much!”

  “Now, I gotta go, I can get out alone.”

  Carolina stood up and headed to the door, opened it and walked into the path walk with her heart in her throat. She’s trembling all over. She couldn’t believe she acted so tough without showing the huge fear she was feeling. What could Soraya have done if she found out it’s a bluff? When she distanced enough from the house, she ran without looking back until she was out of breath and arrive at the nearest bus stop. She had enough excitement for one afternoon. She’d visit Dulcidio tomorrow, because her nerves flared to the max and she certainly wouldn’t be able to keep face enough to follow through another conversation like the previous one. She wave to the bus and had barely enough strength to climb the stair.

  During the long trip in the vehicle, she pondered about everything that happened in the last two days. What started as a joke ended up so much more complex. She decided it was time to get uncle involved, even if he was too busy, she was before something beyond her
expectations it wasn’t safe to act alone anymore. What would her parents think if they found out about what she’s investigating? Certainly, punish her for real. When she noticed, the bus was approaching her stop. Carolina got up at once and pushed the lever.

  Chapter 10 – So Close to the Truth

  “So, they made a U turn and passed through here?” asked Deputy Mendonza.

  “Yes, the made the turn in the middle of the street over there and passed here.” answered Henrich.

  “And afterward, did they take right lane? Or the left one?”

  “Right lane.”

  “Can you accompany me?”

  “I’m doing nothing anyway.” And Henrich shrugged.

  Both men entered the Deputy’s car and Victor reenacted the same maneuver the ruffians did that morning, four days ago. Passed through the location the lass indicated. There were no crossings, he had to go straight. He turned right, since the street was in the middle of construction and there were no other places to go.

  — “Has this construction been here for more than four days?”

  “More than four days?” Henrich laughed out loud. “It’s been here for over a month!”

  “This is it!” Mendonza did a conversion maneuver in a risky way and returned. “Thank you, I think we’re closer to the truth.” And Mendonza left Henrich by the square and left screeching the tires.

  For the first time the Deputy felt a sliver of hope. It was now or never, he couldn’t waste time. And with that thought, he headed towards the house of the Judge Mathews de Barbosa Lima. He needed to convince him to issue a warrant for yesterday.

  ***

  Carolina arrived at home, said a quick ‘hi’ to her mother and locked herself in her room. Her heart still thundered in her chest. She tried to recover from all the adrenaline. She couldn’t believe she was about to find out a smuggling scheme, but she was still unsure of how the dentist was related to all that story. She decided to turn on the message program one last time, but this time around Maycon, the “secret friend”, wasn’t there. The girl scratched her head. What did she let slip by? Why weren’t the pieces fitting together at all?