The wrinkled man closed the door tightly and let out a deep sigh. Just when he was thinking of how he would find Laura, there she was at his door. It was surprising, both pleasantly and unpleasantly.
It took his all to knock Laura out cold and tied her up because he didn't want to do it. He initially wanted to warn her to get out of here, but a part of him wanted to preserve his life. He felt hate for himself for doing this.
Laura's father and he were good friends since childhood, and they had maintained their friendship throughout the years. As a result, her father trusted him fully and vice-versa. If he found out he handed her daughter to these kidnappers, he might kill him.
The old man found a stool and sat down. The breeze blew against his skin, and the smell of grass and horses calmed his nerves down. The weather appeared blissful.
Suddenly, the old man felt uneasy. Just as he was about to take his rifle, a bullet struck his knee cap, causing intense pain in his leg. "Arrgh", the old man screamed as he fell off his seat.
His trousers were immediately dyed red. Without looking for who shot him, he crawled towards his shack. "Take another step, and the next bullet goes inside your brain", a voice caused him a fright.
"I found her, please. She is inside my shack, you can go confirm. I beg you, spare me my life", the old man begged pitifully. "Where is she", Alec asked as he lowered his gun.
"She's inside, as promised", the old man said, thinking that Alec was one of those people that was after her. Alec ignored the old man and headed to the shack and entered.
He saw Laura tied to a pole, still wet from the water that was poured over her. Laura had never felt so relieved seeing Alec. She had completely forgotten about him as she was desperate to save herself. She was now fully convinced of Alec's goodwill.
Alec immediately untied her and led her to the small plane. After making sure she was comfortable, he approached the old man and pointed his gun at him.
"Where do you store your fuel?"
"It's right there", the old man immediately replied, pointing towards a smaller shack just next to the main shack. Alec took ten gallons of fuel and headed back to the aeroplane and refilled the tank.
After topping it up, he climbed to the passenger seat and kept the remaining fuel at the back of the plane. "I cannot fly", Laura said tiredly. Alec was dumbfounded on hearing that.
"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Laura looked at him with questionable eyes. "Wait, you want me to fly this plane? I need to remind you that I have no experience in flying a plane", Alec said with agitation.
"Anyone can fly a plane, it's not as difficult as driving a car. You know what... just take the wheels, I will teach you along the way", Laura replied. Alec didn't object, as he switched seats with Laura and sat on the driver's seat.
Nervousness kicked in as he held the rectangular steering. Laura smiled weakly as she noticed Alec's reaction. It's normal to be anxious on your first flight. Don't worry, it would be fine, trust me. I'll guide you along the way", the woman assured.
This didn't help reduce his nervousness though, but he felt he needed to get him and Laura out of here. It wasn't a bad thing to learn new skills anyway.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Two black jeeps screeched to a halt at a grassy field, and four men came out of the jeep and walked to the old man who was dressing his bullet wound. The old man's face changed immediately he saw the jeep pulled over at his ranch.
"You said you have the package. Well, where is it?" The middle-aged man asked without expression. "Sirs, I know I told you on the phone that I had the woman with me, but the thing was that... I... I lost her", the old man stuttered.
"What do you mean you lost her?!" The middle-aged man's voice pitch increased with every word. "I swear I had her just right there, but a guy I thought was one of you took her away and shot me on my leg. If I knew that guy wasn't one of you, I would not have released her to him, I promise", the old man said with a pleading tone.
The middle-aged man sighed deeply and kicked off a stone with anger. "Describe this 'guy' that took her", the middle-aged man asked fiercely. The old man cowered as he spewed out all the information he knew regarding Alec.
"He is about five feet tall, has slightly dull skin, a long nose, and blue eyes. He appeared to be in his twenties. I also noticed he had the personality of a seasoned thug. That's the much I can describe", the old man said and gulped his saliva.
The middle-aged man turned away from him and addressed the three men. "Hunt down this person with that description. As of now, we don't know who, or where this person comes from, but one thing we know is that he's hindering the mission, so he has to be taken out", the middle-aged man said calmly before heading back to his jeep.
The old man felt relieved seeing them about to leave. "Thank you for sparing me sirs", the old man shouted over. Then, the middle-aged man stopped, causing the old man's heart to skip a beat. "I would like to thank you for giving me this useful information, we really needed it. As a reward, I want to give you something. Here", the middle-aged man said and entered the jeep.
The old man was confused. Why were they giving him a gift when he didn't complete the job he was tasked with. When one of the men approached the old man, the old man smiled weakly and shakily raised his hands to receive the gift.
When the suited man raised his long-range gun at his forehead, the old man's face instantly changed. "You are finally going to meet your wife in hell", that was the final words of the suited man before pulling the trigger, ending the old man's life.