Three Minutes

A Story by Aranel Earwen

A mother rushes against the clock to pay the ransome for her daughter.

Carol helped a customer at the Crest bank in Phoenix where she had worked for the past thirteen years. She was growing very impatient. She looked nervously looked at the clock; 12:14. She felt as if every muscle in her body was aching with grief. She glared at her customer and cleared her throat, urging her to hurry, but the customer didn’t bother to change her speed. “I’m sorry but could you hurry?” Carol said it as more of a command than a question. The woman glared at her and took as long as she damn well pleased. Carol tapped her foot getting so impatient she didn’t care who knew it. A few minutes later the woman gathered her things and stomped her way out of the bank. As soon as she left, Carol’s phone began to vibrate. It read ‘BLOCKED’. Not giving the woman a second thought, she closed her counter and headed for the break room. “Sheri, I’m on break!” She called as she ran through the door to the break room and locked it.

Her cell vibrated twice since then, it was to vibrate three times and then she would answer it. Carol bit her lip and waited. Buzz. Carol flipped her phone open and held it in front of her; her hands were shaking. She brought it to her ear. “H-hello?” the line was silent except for her breathing, “Please, I will do whatever you want, just tell me what you want and I will do it,” the line was silent. She sounded surer of herself and more confident that she would do anything they wanted she whispered, “Please.” The other side of the line was silent. Carol was about to speak when the voice on the other line spoke.

In a raspy, robotic-like tone it branded itself into Carol’s brain, “Listen closely. You are to deliver 1.5 million dollars in a dark grey duffle bag at 4702 Graham St. at the Falcon park. Be there at five or you will regret it for the rest of your life. You remember the rules? One minute late and you will regret it for the rest of your life. If you contact the police, you will regret it for the rest of your life. You do not obey me to the last detail, you will regret it for the rest of your life.” The line went silent.

Carol took this as her time to respond, “But how am I supp-“The voice on the other line cleared his throat, “Yes, sir.” Carol swallowed and held back tears.

“That’s my girl,” Carol wrinkled her eyebrows at the idea that she was his little puppet. “When you get to the park you will receive another call with further instruction.”

“How do I know my baby is alive?” There was a long pause and then a shuffling on the other line. There was a popping noise as if someone was slapped hard and a scream from a little girl. Carol collapsed to the ground. Tears flowed smoothly down Carol’s bright red cheeks. She covered her mouth with her free hand to keep from screaming. Her body burned like she was being consumed by the flames of a wild fire but she wouldn’t and couldn’t die. The phone shuffled some more and she could hear the deep voice breathing. She got close to the phone. There was no fear in her voice just rage, “Your turn to listen closely. I will not rest till I find my daughter and I will not rest till you are-,” there was a click. Carol crumbled into herself and sobbed. There was a knock on the door that forced her to make herself presentable.

“Carol? You okay hun’? Break’s over; open the door,” Sheri called out to her. Carol made her way to the door and returned to her counter at station one. “Hey, who were you talking to?” Sheri leaned against the counter and saw her tear soaked face, “Have you been crying? What’s wrong?”

“I am fine.” Carol said coldly, looking down at the keyboard in front of her, “Next!” She yelled. The next three and a half hours felt like ages to her. Customer after customer, each one not knowing that the money they were depositing was going to help save her daughter’s life.

It was ten till four when last man had just left. It was Sheri’s turn to lock up the bank but Carol sent her home assuring her she could lock up. Carol acted fast so she could comply with her daughter’s kidnapper’s demands in time. She found a grey duffle bag with a post-it with the words ‘Use me!’ on it under the counter at the second station. It was Sheri’s station. He lips pressed in. She pushed the idea that Sheri had something to do with this out of her mind to the best of her ability and made her way to the banks vault in the underground cellar. Once in there she was pushing as many stacks of money as she could into the bag. Once it was filled with the amount required she zipped it up and closed the bank as she normally would.

It was a quarter till five. She sped to the park ignoring all the other drivers on the road. She pulled in the parking lot three minutes early. Her phone began to vibrate once she pulled into a parking spot. She waited for it to vibrate three times and answered.

“You are here. I will wait for you to take the keys out of the ignition.” They were watching her which sent chills down her spine. She turned the keys, “Good. Get out of your car and walk towards the back woods. There is a tree marked with a red dot. Find it and leave the duffle on the based behind the tree. You will get another call once you have done this.”

“Do you have my daughter?” The line was silent. “Yes, sir.”

“You have seven minutes. Do not draw attention to yourself.” Carol did as she was told and walked quickly past the playground full of kids and talking mothers, past the group of young college boys tossing a football to one another, and past the various couples laying in the lawn enjoying the evening without a clue of the people around them and straight to the woods. She searched around the trees and found the one with the red dot on it the size of a small fist. She placed the bag down and her phone buzzed. She answered, “Walk back to your car.”

“Not until I have my daughter! Give her to me!” the phone clicked and the line was cut off. Her jaw dropped and a tear rolled down her cheek, “God what have I done?” She bolted out of the woods and to her car. She got in the driver’s seat and began to cry while she rested her head on the steering wheel. She looked up and let out a scream. She quieted down when something him her rear view mirror caught her eye. In the back seat of her car laid a girl no older than six. She had blonde matted curls that matched Carols. She wore a white gown. There was a red splotch on her cheek that had begun to bruise. Carol choked on her breath and turned around to see if her daughter was really there. The seat was empty except for a grey duffle bag. She looked at the clock 5:03. She was late. Her phone buzzed three times.

“You will regret this.” Click.