It was one of the costumes from the Snowman Festival. There had been at least six of those guys running around at the festival. But this snowman was in a cabin in the middle of the night.
I also heard kids’ voices. Could they be the mayor’s kids? When the door closed, I inched closer. The porch light seemed to be automatic, so I went to one of the side windows.
Slowly I inched up and peeked into one of them. It was Zoe and Joseph! They were jumping up and down because of the food. The snowman put a felt hand into the bag and got out some candies. The kids actually looked happy.
So this was where they were? Kidnapped by a crazy person dressed like a snowman? It could’ve been anyone.
Isla was involved, but was she the mastermind? She had dropped off the food, so she definitely knew what she was doing. The question was, who was in that snowman suit?
Maybe it was one of her friends and she was paying them off.
At least the kids weren’t hurt in any way. I began to back away slowly. I took out my phone to tell Sterling where I was and what I found out.
But suddenly a face appeared before me.
I almost screamed.
“So you’ve been the one following me around. I knew I wasn’t being paranoid.”
Isla looked at me in the moonlight with one eyebrow raised.
I jumped back, arms up and ready to fight. It was the Krav Maga training.
“Wow, take it easy.” Isla jumped back herself. “I don’t want to fight. Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Eleanor’s.”
Her eyes grew wide.
“Really?”
“You might want to tell me what you’re doing with these kidnapped kids.”
I talked a mean talk, but I was actually very scared. What if Isla had a gun? She did kidnap these kids after all.
“I know it looks bad, but…”
She stuttered, nervous, and I realized that I had the upper hand.
“Keep talking or I’ll call the police,” I said roughly.
“Okay, okay. I was just helping. I didn’t actually kidnap the kids. I found out about it, and I was talked into helping. I mean, it was for the mayor’s own good. He treats his children like shit. He treats everyone like shit. But I didn’t know it was going to go this far, with the money and everything. I just wanted to make sure that the kids were okay and well-taken care of.”
“That’s why you brought them the food?” I looked at her, still not completely trusting the story. “How much are you getting out of this?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Like I said, I didn’t know that there would be money involved. It wasn’t even my plan.”
“Then whose was it? Who’s the guy in the suit?”
“Please don’t tell the police,” Isla begged. “God, it wasn’t supposed to get this serious.”
“How is kidnapping not serious?” I asked. “If you tell me, I’ll try to help you, but the police are on your trail. They will find out.”
Her eyes got even wider. “No, please don’t. I’m on a scholarship. I can’t be a criminal.” Isla began to cry. “I can’t deal with any more pressure these days.”
“Do you have any idea how serious this is? There are dozens of armed policemen ready to take the kidnapper down. We have to put a stop to this.”
“Okay, okay I’ll tell you.”
She let out a big sigh.
When Isla told me the name of the kidnapper, I wasn’t completely surprised. Why hadn’t I realized it sooner? Of course. No wonder the snowman suit was required.
“I really didn’t think it would go this far,” Isla said. “As far as I knew, it was supposed to be a prank to retaliate against the mayor.”
“Yes, but Eleanor is in absolute panic.”
“I just feel awful. Of course she would be. It’s so stupid of me. I just wanted to make sure the kids were okay.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, “Now just go tell your snowman to call the thing off.”
When we headed back to the house, we noticed all the lights were off. We heard an engine start. A car was driving away!
“Oh no!” Isla cried. “They’ve gone to the Canoe Creek.”
“I didn’t know there was another car.”
“It’s rented,” said Isla. “Just for the occasion. It was parked on the other side of the house.”
“I see,” I said. “Let’s go stop them. Otherwise, you’ll be in big trouble. I’ll take the kids to the police and I won’t mention your name if I can avoid it. If you’ll just help me now.”
Isla nodded.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s drive.”
She got into the passenger side of my car.
“Tell me the best way to go to Canoe Creek,” I said.
She gave me the directions and told me what the plan was.
“Zoe has been instructed to take the money from the mailbox at the Canoe Creek. Then she would go back into the Canoe Creek. There’s a secret passage in there. There used to be a speakeasy in the basement, and there’s a tunnel connected to the speakeasy from the forest in case the patrons needed to sneak out.”
“And this little girl is going to do this? Wouldn’t she be scared?”
“Well, Zoe is a tough little girl. She’s very bright, and was taught what to do as a sort of game. She was supposed to be dropped off in the woods, get the money, go into the Canoe Creek, and head straight into the tunnel.”
“You know what?” I said to her. “The police know about your plan. They’re going to catch them right at the tunnel’s entry in the forrest. And the men will be armed.”
“Oh no.” Isla exclaimed. “I’m so stupid for not talking them out of this. Now the kids are really in danger too.”
I looked ahead in the darkness. “I don’t see their car.”
“Their headlights could be off.” She sighed. “It could be too late. They could be there already.”