Christopher was given a note that's as delivered directly to the police station and his heart was pounding as he opened it.
There were very clear instructions on where the money should be left, and how he should deliver it.
In the envelope there was a lock of blonde hair that he recognised immediately. It was clear that they didn't lie - they had Emilia.
As per the young FBI agent's advice, he followed the instructions to the dot.
Christopher didn't sleep for the two days straight. The money was paid but Emilia still wasn't near him.
His mind kept replaying their last encounter. The kiss and a sweet taste of her lips. Her demanding the divorce because of the kiss.
He promised himself that he was never going to jeopardise that relationship again if Emilia comes back to him. He will do anything to repair what he broke and he will try to rebuild the friendship they had.
He laid across several plastic chairs with his arm over his eyes. The bright light made his headache worse.
"Mr Hayden." A young agent's voice sounded above him.
"If you don't have any new information for me, you can fuck off." Christopher said without even looking at the source of the voice.
"Well… we did find something."
Christopher shot up into a sitting position.
"What did you find?"
The woman, named Rosalind Summers, had the kind of a face that only meant bad news.
"What's the matter?"
"They've send the video footage…"
"What is it?"
"The good news is that she's still alive."
"Show me." Christopher rushed into the room. His eyes immediately were draw to the screen of the computer.
"It seems to be a live footage." The detective said with a pale face.
"Jesus Christ. What did they do to her?"
"Did you manage to triangulate the IP address?" Someone else asked in the room, but all Christopher could focus on was the person on the video. It was Emilia. Her body hung off the pipes, motionless. He could barely tell if she was still breathing. Her face had a dark streaks of blood on it.
"The IP address is rerouted. What we can trace back leads to middle of the ocean."
"You must be able to work out where she is! It's some kind of a warehouse! How difficult can it be?!" Christopher started yelling, powerlessness washing over him.
"It's a warehouse. It can be any warehouse." The police detective said defensively. "We're talking about 1500 warehouses across the country that are big enough to fit the criteria."
"But not all of them are empty or abandoned!" Christopher had tears in his eyes. He needed to know that Emilia was truly alive.
"There's no guarantee that that warehouse isn't in someone's name." Agent Summers pointed out. "But you're right. We should stand idle. We can collated the list of all warehouses that fit the criteria. We can estimate it's size and use global imaging to see how many warehouses will match. And then, they can be searched individually while we look for more clues."
"Do it."
Agent Summers nodded before she went to make a call. As she returned, her phone pinged. She furrowed her brows again.
"There's 357 warehouses which fit the current criteria. Detective, can you send your people and start searching."
"It's a waste of resources." The detective grumbled but he complied. L
Rosalind Summers sat down in front of the computer in complete silence, studying the image with care. Minutes and hours passed. Christopher was pacing up and down the room. Agent Summers was analysing everything that she saw. And increasing number of places off the list were crossed out.
Christopher couldn't stand it. He long stopped wearing his suit jacket and tie. His shirt was in disheveled state. His hair was ruffled.
By the end of the day, Christopher joined the search party and drove from warehouse to warehouse searching like a madman. As police officers took shifts, Christopher refused to rest until Emilia was back.
And even between the shifts, when the officers returned to the local stations, he kept going on his own.
Agent Summers was sympathetic to him and updated him accordingly but there was not much to update him on.
It was the middle of the night when Christopher drove to yet another location when Agent Summers called him again.
"Yes?"
"I believe that the warehouse we are looking for is in Midlands. I have managed to recognise the trees outside to be the ones found in Wyre Forest, West of Birmingham. You are the closest to the location right now. I am contacting the local police too and they should be there shortly. Please, wait for the back up before you enter. We cannot be certain that the site will be safe."
"Send the location." Christopher answered. They both knew that he wasn't going to listen to the advice given.