When Walter returned home from work, the sound of his baby son’s piercing cries greeted him as he stepped into the house. His wife, Abby, sat in the kitchen, looking utterly defeated, her face a mask of exhaustion after trying to calm their baby.
Walter wrapped his arms around her, trying to offer comfort. “How long has he been crying?” he asked softly.
“I’ve tried everything, Walter,” Abby sobbed. “He’s been fed, changed, bathed, and burped. I even checked his temperature! He won’t stop crying, and I don’t know what else to do.”
Since becoming parents a month ago, their lives had turned upside down. Nothing unsettled Walter more than hearing Logan cry like this.
“Let’s figure it out together,” he reassured her, leading Abby to the nursery.
But as they approached the crib, Walter’s hopeful expression dropped when he saw the empty space. Instead of Logan, there was a dictaphone playing the sound of their baby’s cries. Next to it was a note. Walter silenced the recording, his hands trembling as he picked up the paper.
Abby’s face paled as she saw the look of horror in his eyes. She grabbed the note and read it aloud:
“I warned you. You’ll regret being rude to me. If you want to see your baby again, leave $200,000 in the lockers near the pier. If you go to the police, you’ll never see him again.”
Abby gasped, her voice shaky. “Who would kidnap Logan? What does this mean? Did we offend someone?”
Walter’s mind raced, and suddenly, he remembered the janitor at the hospital. A few days after Logan’s birth, Walter had insulted him after the man accidentally knocked over a gift he’d brought for Abby. The janitor’s parting words echoed in his mind: “You’ll regret this!”
“We need to call the police,” Walter said, his heart pounding. “I’m sure it’s him.”
“But the note says not to!” Abby protested, tears streaming down her face. “What if they hurt Logan? We should just pay the ransom!”
Walter hesitated but stood firm. “We can’t trust him, Abby. He wouldn’t know if we went to the police. They could catch him before anything happens to Logan.”
Reluctantly, Abby agreed, and they drove to the police station. But as they parked outside, Walter’s phone buzzed. It was a text message:
“This is your final warning. If you enter that police station, your son’s going into the bay. Deliver the money as instructed.”
Abby’s face crumpled in terror. Realizing they were being watched, Walter decided the only option was to pay the ransom. But first, he drove Abby home as her nausea worsened, leaving her to rest while he went to the bank to withdraw the money.
After securing the cash, Walter drove to the pier, following the instructions in the note. He placed the money in the designated locker and parked nearby, waiting. Soon, he spotted the janitor approaching. As Walter prepared to confront him, a group of tourists obstructed his view. By the time they passed, the janitor had disappeared.
Frantic, Walter scoured the area, eventually spotting the man again, now carrying the bag of money. Walter rushed toward him, slamming him against a nearby locker.
“Where’s my son?” Walter demanded, his voice thick with desperation.
The janitor, terrified, stammered, “I don’t know anything about your son! I was paid to collect the money and drop it off here. I swear!”
Seeing the fear in the man’s eyes, Walter realized he was telling the truth. He opened the locker, but it was empty. Someone had cut a hole in the back to steal the money.
Defeated, Walter returned home, dreading how he would explain the situation to Abby. But when he arrived, he was met with another shock—Abby was gone. Her belongings were missing, and she wasn’t answering her phone.
At first, Walter feared she had been taken too. But slowly, the pieces began to fit together. Abby had insisted on paying the ransom, had rushed home with an excuse of feeling ill. The awful realization dawned on him: Abby was behind Logan’s kidnapping.
Desperate for answers, Walter devised a plan. He contacted a doctor at the hospital where Logan had been born and paid him to make a fake call to Abby, claiming Logan needed urgent medical attention due to a rare genetic condition. The ruse worked, and the doctor informed Walter that Abby would bring Logan to the hospital.
The next day, Walter watched from a distance as Abby arrived at the hospital, with his brother, James, carrying Logan. The police were ready. As soon as they stepped inside, officers surrounded them.
“You’re under arrest for kidnapping,” an FBI agent announced, taking both Abby and James into custody. Abby screamed, insisting Logan was sick, but Walter stepped forward, his voice cold and steady. “Logan’s fine. And he’s coming home with me.”
As she was led away in handcuffs, Abby spat out one final, devastating truth. “Logan’s not even yours! He’s James’ son!”
Walter froze, the weight of her words hitting him like a punch to the gut. His brother couldn’t meet his eyes, confirming the betrayal. The pain stung deep, but none of that mattered now. Walter had Logan in his arms, and he wasn’t about to let him go.
“I’ll adopt him if I have to,” Walter declared firmly. “He’s my son, and I’ll raise him, no matter what.”
With Logan safely in his care, Walter walked out of the hospital, determined to give him the loving home he deserved. Despite the betrayal and heartache, Walter knew that from that day forward, Logan’s future would be filled with the love and stability he had always promised to provide.