"We'll send someone to pick them up" said Griffith to the man on the other end of the line.
He was comfortably seated on his bed, in the latest addition to his collection of penthouse suites, smoking a Cuban cigar.
The woman he had brought home with him last night was in the bathroom, taking a shower. He never had the same woman twice...well... except his wife.
After he dropped the call, he fished his drawer for another phone with a secure line.
"Fuckers are alive" he said into the receiver.
"how in the world..." Glint replied
"The house at the arrow. I'll inform the others. Irene's gone to get them they'll be waiting for us when we get there"
"you sent a fucking torture expert to go get little children?"
"she's the most gentle and innocent looking one we have....at ease Glint she's not going to hurt them unless instructed to. She knows what disobedience would mean" Griffith said.
"well looks like your prayers were answered.... they're not dead afterall" he taunted Glint.
Glint gave him no reply.
"but no guarantees they're going to remain so for long" Griffith said dramatically and chuckled then he dropped the call without giving Glint a chance to return a reply.
Just then, the woman walked out of the bathroom. He didn't even know her fucking name. He never bothered with names either as it was just a one time thing, they were never going to meet again.
He didn't spare her a glance when she came out of the shower. As she dressed up, he reached into the same drawer he got his secure phone from, pulled out a wrap of crisp bills and threw them to the woman's side of the bed, where she sat strapping her shoe. She picked it up without a word and bagged it.
"Some other time then" she said after she was done dressing up and was about to leave. Griffith just grunted. The woman kissed him on the cheek before walking out.
Griffith didn't turn to let his eyes follow her out. After she had kissed him, he picked up his phone to make some more calls.
*******
"Hi kids you can call me Irene" the woman in suit said, flashlight a blinding paparazzi smile.
She was leaning forward with her hands on her knees, flashing the smile with every word she spoke.
"Nice to meet you" Annie said shaking her hand, holding her siblings to her side. The woman extended her hands to Jon who took it, but Bertha didn't. The woman retracted her hands awkwardly, then straightened up.
"I'll be right back" she said as She dusted her skirt free from lord knows what, and went back to where the chief stood. Then they began a conversation.
Bertha pulled on her sister's tee-shirt sleeve. Annie eyed her.
"I don't like her" Bertha said plainly.
"we don't have to like her Bertha...if she can help us, who needs liking her" Jon countered, shrugging his shoulders.
"Jon's right you know...we have nowhere to go and the police say they can help" Annie added.
"let's go back to Auntie Cat and Auntie Sam" Bertha whined.
Annie eyed her irritatedly.
"sure, you can go right back, just find a gps and stick it to your butt then grow wings. Now you see those wings, they're very important because last I checked, we have no money, and you can't just walk all the way back"
"geez Annie you don't have to be mean about" Jon said softly, widening his eyes and rolling them"
Annie's face softened.
"sorry Bertha I didn't mean that" she said apologetically. Bertha gave her no response.
Annie watched the woman. After she spoke with the police chief, she stepped out to make a call, heading in the direction of the ladies room while the chief went back to his office after reassuring the children that they would be properly taken care of by the woman.
Annie followed the woman to the restroom.
******
Flint search party members had thinned considerably. All that remained were police officers. By midday, it was obvious there was nobody both in the ravine and the surrounding areas. The divers packed their Gera and headed home.
Flint and the officers went door to door, house to house, producing the latest photo of the Hart kids, and displaying it to the occupants after polite greetings.
Each door they had tried for the past two hours produced the same result.
The day was beginning to get dark.
"it's about time to wrap up" Doyle said to him as they walked down the front stairs of the last house they checked.
"one more and we're done" Flint replied already heading towards the next house.
Doyle hesitantly stood for a moment, then trudged along with him.
Flint made his last attempt for the day. He knocked on the door. A red haired woman opened.
"why are you here?" The woman asked in surprise.
"who's that cat" came another voice from inside the house.
"it's the police" Cat said, angling her head towards Sam.
"what?" a little shuffle came from inside then another red haired woman appeared at the door.
"good evening ma'am" Flint said with a slight bow to each of the women.
"sorry to trouble you, but have you seen any of these children" Flint said producing the photo he had been showing all morning.
"we dropped them off this morning at the station.... what's going on" asked Catherine.
Flint felt a spark of hope surge through his chest.
"where... how did you find them"
"by the river bank... Catherine found them, they were unconscious....we took them to king's cross station this morning I'm Sammie...you can call me Sam" one of the women replied.
"may I come in?" Flint asked.
"Sure" they said and stepped aside for him to come in.
The moment Flint was through the door, he flipped open his little notepad.
"start from the beginning.....tell us everything" he began then stopped as if to remember something.
"forgive my manners.... I'm Flint this is my partner Doyle" he said gesturing to the second man.
Catherine and Sammie just nodded.
Doyle just lifted his hands in a hello gesture.
"let's go from the top...start from how and where you found them"
Catherine and Sammie began to offload all they knew and what the children had told them.
********
By the time Sam and Catherine were done, the Sun had vamoosed from the sky.
"are they going to be alright" asked Catherine skeptically.
Flint studied her. She seemed to be the worrying type and he could tell they were telling the truth. So far, there weren't any loopholes in their story.
"you took them to the police so they're fine" he said assuredly.
"we best get going now... thank you for your help and co-operation.. here's my number" he said scribbling on a piece of paper and getting up.
"thanks for stopping by and say hello to Annie for me please and here's my number in any case you might need anymore info from us" Catherine said walking him to the door.
Doyle and flint walked out the door and the front steps with Flint having a light spring to his step. His day had just gone from plain bad terrible to awesomely better in the twinkle of an eye.
From being totally puzzled, he had a near perfect account of what transpired that night. Now all he had to do was to confirm some parts of the story from the children.
He bade Doyle good night and headed to his car.
He revved the engine and pulled out of the Hart estate.
At night, without the onlookers and the media, the property looked abandoned and eerily quiet like there was some invincible phantom meeting going on. It was very dark, except for the occasional beam of light emitted from the rechargeable flashlight of the officers stationed to patrol the property.
As Flint pulled out of the property, he thought of heading to king's cross but decided against it and headed home.
These two days had been hell stressful for him. He hadn't set his eyes on the love of his life. As he drove home, he thought of a home cooked meal and his wife's beautiful body that always found a way to drive him crazy.
********
Annie and her siblings walked through the streets after they had eluded the Russian woman. Annie could tell she was Russian from the way she spoke she always found a way to include lots of r's in her sentences.
When she followed the woman to the bathroom, she overheard the woman on the phone.
It seemed like she was reporting to her boss and it sure wasn't the police chief they were standing with few minutes ago.
She pressed her ears to the door as she struggled to hear some words correctly.
The woman's voice was overshadowed by the sound of running water.
She had turned on the wash sink tap and it drowned her voice but Annie could still make out a few words.