Jansen’s POV
After the three of us sat down at the dining table, Rose brought food for me and Jessie. Her demeanor and way of speaking were friendly and gentle. She wasn’t like Kelly and her friends. So, why did she end up in this place? A mysterious desert island. So, how did they buy food and other things?
Oh, I finally realized. Yes, why have I been oblivious to the little things that are plastered in front of my eyes?
“Why are you guys silent? Didn’t you want to talk to me?” she asked, looking at us and smiling. Her smile warmed our lonely feelings.
Jessie looked at me and asked me to speak. Before speaking, I cleared my throat once. “Rose, you must already know why we’re here. Kelly and the others must have told you everything. We hope you can help us get off this island because our parents must be panicking and looking everywhere and we have school to go to. If you are willing, I will ask my dad to give you a big reward. I promise. Please take us away from here,” I pleaded with a sad look on my face.
Rose looked stunned. Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes stared at us unblinkingly. Then she looked down at the food on her plate.
“Sorry, I can’t help you guys. If they find out I help you get out of here, they’ll hurt me. I’m sorry for your situation, but there’s nothing I can do. Please forget about your wishes. Please,” she replied. When she said that, she didn’t look at us but at the food on her plate. There was something she hid she couldn’t say.
“One more question. Where did you buy all these ingredients? Is there a village around here? Or maybe some fishers sail from this island to other islands?” I asked curiously. Hopefully, what I was thinking was right. Rose was silent and answered nothing. Her fingers were squeezing each other.
“Why are you silent, Rose? Is there a village around here? Please take us both there. We promise we won’t let them hurt you, but before that, I need to see my dad and tell him everything. Please,” I pleaded. I saw Jessie cry. Since arriving on this island, she had always held back her tears because she didn’t want to make me worry more. However, several times I saw her wipe away tears.
“Can I trust your promise?” Rose asked. At that moment, her eyes looked at us.
“Yes, let’s get out of here together. They’re not good people,” I replied.
Rose let out a long breath and nodded once. “Okay. Maybe it’s time for me to sacrifice and act.”
“R-rose, do you want to help us?” I asked to make sure.
“Yes. Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you guys out of here right after they ask me to make a video call. We can get ready tonight,” she replied.
Jessie got out of her seat and walked toward Rose. She hugged Rose tightly while sobbing. I could see Rose’s eyes welling up and clear liquid running down her face.
“Thank you, Rose,” Jessie said.
“Thank you. I have a question that you haven’t answered. I hope you don’t mind answering it,” I said.
Rose turned and looked at me. “There’s a village at the back of this forest. My family lives there. There are many people in the village, but not everyone knows about this house or Zac, our boss. Tomorrow I’ll tell the entire village about Zac and his men. And we get all our food from other islands. The fishers sail to another island.”
“It turns out my guess was right. We can finally leave this island,” I said to Jessie. It turned out that the mysterious man was named Zac.
Jessie was still hugging Rose. “I wish morning would come sooner.”
Suddenly, Rose and I laughed at her words. I also wanted to leave this island immediately. I didn’t know how Mom was doing and I hope she and my future sibling were okay.
“Ok, now let’s finish this meal, then get ready. I’ll sleep in your room if you don’t mind,” Rose said.
“Of course not. Rose, maybe you can stay at our house. Lily, the butler at our house, said that she was short of staff. What if you work as Lily’s staff?” Jessie asked.
“Jessie is right,” I replied.
“Umm, we can discuss that later, after we leave here. Let’s finish our food quickly,” she replied.
The next morning,
Rose woke us up early in the morning. After that, she asked us to put all our luggage on the front porch. Then, she asked us to sit at the dining table and eat our breakfast while pretending that nothing was happening so that Kelly wouldn’t get suspicious. And sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Kelly made a video call. Rose answered the call and pointed her cell phone at us. After that, Kelly ended the video call.
“Done. After we eat, we’ll walk out of the forest,” Rose said.
“Yes!” Jessie and I replied.
After clearing the table and checking the entire house and locking it, we walked to the village at the back of the forest. The feeling of happiness I felt couldn’t be put into words. I wanted to hug Mom and Dad immediately, be at home and enjoy the food Lily had cooked.
Jay Lee’s POV
“Sir. Sir,” Nick exclaimed as he opened the door to my workroom loudly.
I looked up and stared at him in surprise. “What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I have good news,” he replied with an excited look on his face.
“Tell me quickly.”
“The police captured the two kidnappers last night. They are now at the central police station. Unfortunately, one kidnapper and their alleged leader escaped. Let’s go to the police station now,” Nick said.
I hurried up and asked Nick to wait on the first floor. I ran up to the second floor and told Piper about it. Her face turned radiant. She wanted to come with me to the police station. Finally, the three of us rushed to the police station in the city center. Feelings of joy and emotion were mixed. Hopefully, this was a good start to finding the whereabouts of the twins.
Arriving at the police station, Tom, the chief of police who was handling the twins’ case, greeted us. He escorted us to a secret room next to the investigation room. Through the large glass in front of us, we could see the faces of the two kidnappers. A woman and a man. Their bodies were injured in a car accident after a chase with a police car.
From the room, we heard Tom’s question to the kidnappers: “Do you recognize these two kids? Did you kidnap them?”