Walter came home from work, the sound of his infant son’s cries filling the house. Abby, sitting in the kitchen, looked exhausted, tears streaking her face.
“How long has Logan been crying?” Walter asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“I’ve tried everything!” Abby sobbed. “I fed him, changed him, burped him, bathed him—nothing works! I even checked his temperature. I don’t know what to do.”
Becoming parents just a month ago had turned their lives upside down, and Logan’s constant crying had left Walter feeling helpless.
“We’ll figure it out,” he reassured her, leading her to Logan’s room.
When Walter approached the crib, his expression faltered. Instead of Logan, there was a dictaphone playing his cries, next to a note. He hit stop, and his heart dropped as he read the chilling message:
“I warned you that you’d regret being rude to me. If you want to see your baby again, leave $200,000 in the storage lockers near the pier. If you contact the police, you’ll never see him again.”
Abby gasped, her face pale. “What does this mean? Who would do this?”
Walter’s mind raced. He remembered an encounter with the janitor at the hospital. He had tripped Walter, causing him to drop a gift. In anger, Walter had snapped at him.
“You’ll regret this!” the janitor had threatened.
“It must be him,” Walter said. “We need to go to the police.”
Abby hesitated, clutching the note. “No, the kidnapper said not to. What if they hurt Logan? Maybe we should just pay the ransom.”
“We can’t take that risk,” Walter said firmly. “We need help to get him back safely.”
Reluctantly, Abby agreed.
As they drove toward the police station, Walter’s phone buzzed with a text:
“This is your last warning. If you go to the police, your kid goes into the bay. Deliver the money now.”
Abby broke down in tears. “Walter, we can’t risk it! Just pay them!”
“We’ll figure this out,” Walter said, trying to comfort her. “Let’s get you home first.”
Once Abby was settled, Walter withdrew the money from the bank and followed the instructions, placing the cash in a storage locker near the pier. But instead of leaving, he parked nearby, scanning the area. Minutes later, he saw the janitor taking the bag.
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