When I was done picking up the groceries, I slowly pushed my shopping cart towards the counter. I couldn't help but look around in search of Aiden.
Through the glass walls of the store I saw him moving towards his car, holding two shopping bags, one on each hand.
"Ma'am?" Because she has voice snapped me back to reality. I raised my head and looked at her with a small smile.
"Oh, hi there, sorry I got carried away," I apologised as I began to place my items on the slab so she could check the price and compute it.
A sheepish smile formed on her face as she leaned forward. "You know, I totally understand. He's hot isn't he?" She whispered, looking between me and him.
I felt a bit flustered. "I- uh- I'm married," I replied politely.
Her face instantly dropped and I could see something that resembled regret. "Oh, sorry I didn't know."
I shook my head, waving it off with a small smile. "No, it's fine. He's actually a work colleague of mine, we're working on a project together. I was just kind of surprised to see him here you know."
She nodded politely but didn't say another word, probably in fear of saying something inappropriate.
The scanner kept beeping as she checked the price of all the items I picked and then the total price displayed. She extended her arm and I gave her my ATM card.
She put the card in the machine and after I put my password I had successfully paid for everything. I reached for the bags and carried them then spun around I left the store.
I was mindlessly walking towards my own car when from the corner of my eyes I saw Aiden drop his shopping bags just by his car all of a sudden.
My eyes follow the line of his vision and it landed on a group of men, three men, trying to drag a little boy into a white van.
"Hey!" Aiden yelled and then rushed forward. The men froze when they noticed him approaching.
One of them attacked Aiden with a punch to the face making him fall to the ground. The cast on his left arm did no good for him as it only made him vulnerable.
I was watching the fight and see you, the two men focused on Aiden while the last one was still trying to drag the kid into the car.
Without hesitation, I whipped out my phone and dialed the police. "Hello? I'm witnessing a kidnapping in front of Sonia city mart! They're tryiyto kidnap a little boy!"
My voice was shaky and rushed and I could tell that the man on the other line could sense my panic too. "I'll need you to calm down ma'am, are the kidnappers armed?"
"No they are not armed, but there's three of them. My friend is trying to fight them but he has a broken arm and he can't really do much. Deal with a car, a white van."
There was silence for a while before the line screeched again. "Okay I'm currently sending police officers towards that area. I need you to do something for me, do you see a plate number? Can you tell us what the plate number is?"
Still trying to stylishly hide behind the cover of my car, I craned my neck to look at the plate number.
"THG21x3."
"That's wonderful, just stay put don't try to do anything we're on our way."
After he hung up, I still couldn't help but feel the need to do something. The two other men were kicking Aiden and beating him to a pulp on the floor while the other one had successfully dragged the kid into the van.
"Let's go!" He yelled, sliding the back door shut. The other two men that were beating Aiden up retreated and hurriedly jumped into the car. They revved the engines and drove off.
I rushed and got on one knee in front of Aiden. He was mouth bleeding and looked battered. "Oh my God, are you okay?"
"Andrew, I have to help Andrew."
I looked at the car which was speeding away from us and then back at Aiden. "Who's Andrew?"
He forced himself up and winced in pain, holding his left arm. "The kid!"
Without leaving time to explain, he moved to his car and grabbed the shopping bags throwing them into the back seat. "Aiden wait-"
It was too late, he had started the engines and gone after them. I stood in the parking lot spinning around in confusion.
Then I followed suit, putting my things in my backseat and then starting my car and going after him. I put a call out.
"Hello? The kidnappers have left the supermarket, I'm currently chasing them with my car."
The surprise in the man's voice was almost priceless. "I thought I told you to not do anything?"
"I'm sorry but I cannot any child, I couldn't just stand and watch. Besides my friend went after them I have to follow him."
"Please don't make any contact with these kidnappers, where are you right now."
I turned my head around trying to recognize the streets. "Downtown, near the business district."
From the distance I could see the white van speeding down the road. Aiden and I kept trailing them.
"Now we're heading towards Beverly high," I said since I was still on the phone.
"Copy that, I see a white van and two cars chasing after it, a black car and a grey car is that you and your friend?" His voice returned and I felt relief wash over me.
"Yes it is officer."
The blaring of sirens immediately met my ears and I looked through the side mirrors to see two cop cars racing towards us.
Upfront, the white van suddenly screeched to a stop and their door slid open, they practically threw the kid out of the car and onto the pavement before driving off.
This brought Eden and I to a sudden stop and the cop cars behind us also stopped. Eden was the first to jump out of his car and then I followed suit.
"The both of you should stay in the car!" The officer said as he got down from his car but we paid him no attention.
The boy was crying and eating crowds down pulling him into a hug. "It's okay, it's okay now shh."
As I watched him console the boy, my mind flashed to my children. His children. As much as I hated to admit, it was his blood running in their veins.
"Those bastards," the man said, placing his arms on his waist as they white van sped off into the far distance.
***
The three of us were at the station, the boy was seated but he still looks slightly traumatised by what happened. Aiden was beside him trying to comfort him.
As for me? I was seated opposite Aiden, which meant that we constantly kept making eye contact. "You only knew this kid for less than a day and yet you risked your life too save him, that's pretty nice of you," I said.
He smiled, "You risked your life too when you followed us."
"How could I help it, I couldn't just let a child be kidnapped. I have children of my own too, can't imagine what his parents would feel if they found out he was kidnapped. Plus I didn't want anything to happen to yo-"
"Bianca what happened?" Liam's voice rang, snapping me back into reality. Ava also happened to walk in at practically the same time.
The two of them looked between the two of us. The entire station suddenly felt extremely awkward.
"This kid was almost kidnapped," I said.
Ava squinted her eyes, recognition flashing within them, "It's that kid from the other day, what a tiny little-"
"Ava, not here, not now." Aiden sounded pissed.
The chief of police returned, silencing everybody. "Well I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news."
All attention shifted to him. "The bad news is, there's no car with that licence plate number in our records, they use the fake, which means that they're not new to kidnapping victims."
"And the good?" Aiden prompted.
"The good news is, with the pictures that she took we were able to identify at least one of the men which is one step closer to catching the culprits."
The chief of police left us after breaking the news. "See you at work tomorrow Aiden, I hope your arm heals."
He smiled. "It will."
I could feel Liam and Ava gaze on me as I grabbed my bag and left the station, with Liam following behind me.
When we both neared the car I could see the scowl on his face. "So the two of you are in talking terms now huh?" he asked.
"Not really, today was just really dramatic," I replied absent-mindedly as I tried to open the door.
I felt a sharp pain shoot through me as he grabbed my wrist and yanked me backwards. "Don't lie to me Bianca I saw the way you looked at him!"
My chest tightened as panic clawed against my chest, his eyes were practically set ablaze and I couldn't recognize the man before me.