General Fiction posted January 6, 2018

Chapters:

2 3 -4- 5...

Exceptional

a 500 word kidnapping story

A chapter in the book Short

The Last Case

by Bill Schott

The irony was not lost on him.  Oscar Wolf had thirty years on the force, training younger cops to become detectives, and he was passed over for lieutenant again.  Now he was closing in on the kidnappers’ hideout, led by Benny “Babyface” Baker, his first rookie.

 “Sergeant Wolf!  Lead these two officers around to the flank to prevent an escape.”

“Will do, Benny.”

“That’s Lt. Baker, Sergeant!”

“Roger that, L.T.”   With that, Sgt. Wolf grabbed two police officers and started running around the right side of the old country house.  In the rear it was discovered that the backdoor was wide open.

“Cover me!” Wolf shouted, as he bolted directly up to and then through the opening.   Gun drawn, cocked, and pointed at each piece of furniture and corner, he quickly shuffled through the back room, through a kitchen and into a hallway.
 
There were three doors in the hallway which led to a main living room. All were open and, once each room had been turned into and scanned, he moved past them to the front of the house. 

 

Sergeant Wolf felt a wave of familiarity pass over him. He recalled so many failed attempts to save children in this very similar situation.  This would not be one of those.

Near the front window, in the huge living room, was an over-stuffed lounge chair.  In the chair he saw sitting a small child, a girl, shivering.  She was wrapped in some type of linen. It could have been a tablecloth.

Across from her, on the floor, in the opposite corner, was a man.   He was wearing what looked like a warmup suit, long in need of laundering.  His face was so pale it seemed to give off light, which shone past his sunken, dark, hollow eye sockets.  Head back against the wall, he seemed lifeless.

“Are you alright, Sweetheart?” 

The silent girl smiled.

Looking over at the man on the floor, he saw a wicked grin on his face.  The sergeant aimed and fired.  Then he turned back to the child.

Picking up the girl, he noted she was light as a feather. Once outside he quickly walked to the squad cars just behind a row of trees.

“What’s this?” 

“It’s the girl, dumbass!”

Lt. Baker gave Oscar a long stare before speaking.  “Sergea -- uhm -- Oscar,  we got a call from HQ. This isn’t the house. The girl and her kidnapper are under police control on the other side of the county. We had bad info. There’s nothing here but this abandoned farm house.“
 
Looking at the bundle in his arms, Sergeant Wolf saw the faces of dozens of failed rescues, taking turns looking up at him with hopeful expressions.

“Hey, Lieutenant!” came a yell from the front of the house.  “There’s a dead guy in here; smells like he must have kicked weeks ago.  Looks like the sergeant put one in his pump though.”

“I think it’s time to pull the pin, Oscar.  I’m sure that guy won’t complain, but there will be a report.”

With a sigh, Wolf nodded, then tossed the empty sheet to the ground.


 

Writing Prompt You are challenged to write a story about a kidnapping. Maximum word count is 500 words.

Recognized