Chapter 193

• It was a long, restless night. I slept between Jess and Gloria, feeling comfort in having them close to me. I woke up before dawn. The kidnapping had been unsophisticated. From the details we had, it sounded like a couple guys in a car had just put Kat inside, gotten Jess's phone number from her, and made the ransom demand.
• My mind raced, charting out possible worst case scenarios. Had they raped her? Would they get spooked and kill her? It wasn't unheard of, even in these types of tourist scenarios. Would they hold out for more money? Once the first gray light of dawn had appeared, I had thoroughly convinced myself this wouldn't go smoothly and braced myself for the worst.
• And three hours later? Kat sat on my lap as a hotel car sped us to the airport. The ransom and release seemed suspicious to me. Either it was all so run-of-the-mill that the cops and kidnappers ran it like a carnival game, or the cops were in on it. We made the cash drop at the appointed time in a public market, and ten minutes later Kat was being whisked to the resort in a police car. That was it. It was surreal and terrifying.