Walking into the O'Daniel's residence, Ethan was perplexed by what he saw.
They had a huge mansion that sat on an enormous piece of land. From the get go, Ethan could see dozens of staff walking around and doing their work. From the gate, they were received by the family's personal butler who walked them to the front of the house.
It was evident why the O'Daniel's were living in The Heights District, the were literally the definition of wealth. You couldn't strike up a conversation about defining what being rich meant without using them as an example.
As they walked into the living room, Ethan was blown away by the interior of the house. The furniture in that room alone costed atleast more than what he earned in whole year. Let's not get into details over what type of seats, carpet and etcetera that was in that room.
Use your imagination, think of all the luxurious furniture that you can find in such a palatial home. And now with that image in your head, you have a picture of what Ethan and Cole were seeing.
"Mrs O'Daniel will see you shortly," the butler informed them as they took their seats and as he left.
Ethan was looking around, marvelling at the house decor and that's when the thougt hit him,
"Who would kidnap a man from here?" He asked in a whisper, looking at Cole.
"I had the same question in mind boss. It doesn't make sense at all," Cole replied.
Almost immediately, they heard footsteps approaching and knew that it had to be Mrs O'Daniel. Turning to the direction where the footsteps were coming from, they saw her, accompanied by a young man who they presumed to be the son.
"Detective Ethan, right?" Mrs O'Daniel asked, as she stretched out her hand to greet him as he rose to his feet.
"Mrs O'Daniel, nice to meet you," Ethan responded, shaking her hand and that of the son. Cole followed suit and they all took their seats.
"Call me Layla. I believe your colleague already met my son Asher," Mrs O'Daniel responded.
"Yes I did," Cole chimmed in.
"It's good to officially meet you Mrs O'Daniel ---sorry, Layla. As you might have heard, I'm the lead investigator in your husband's mysterious disappearance." Ethan announced to which Layla and Asher shook their heads in acknowledgement.
However, Layla didn't seem that happy with Ethan introducing himself as the lead investigator.
"It's good to finally meet you, but I have one question. Without taking any offense, I asked for one, if not, the very best in your department's history by the name Alex Kane. It's not that I'm underestimating you, but I wanted Alex Kane on this case. So, where is he?" She asked, trying her best not to sound offensive.
The 'not offense' part had a lot of offense and both Cole and Ethan took offense. Ethan had to answer Layla even though he knew that his credibility as a good investigator was questioned by her. It was as clear as day that she didn't expect anyone else, other than Kane, to solve the case of her husband's disappearance.
Trying his best to act offended, Ethan cleared his throat and answered,
"I gave Alex Kane a personal visit and told him about your request. I'm sorry to say that he was very clear that nothing is going to bring him back on the force. And we can't wait forever for him, because your husband is missing and time is of the essence." Ethan stated.
"And what is the purpose of your visit?" Asher inquired.
"Do you have any leads?" Layla added.
"We do have some leads, though of very little help at the moment. So far, we have managed to locate and identify your husband's car just a few blocks down the road, next to a car wash. The was nothing inside the car nor any sign of your husband's presence. The car will undergo vigorous screening to see if there's any trace of evidence, even though it was cleaned thoroughly," Ethan updated them.
Both Layla and Asher looked at each other in shock when the heard that the car was just a few blocks down the street.
"If you don't mind me asking, did one of you pay for that car to be cleaned? I know it's an unnecessary question but protocol demands that we ask," Cole said with a stern look on his face.
"What?" Asher gasped in shock, "you think that were behind that? We didn't even know that his car was close by,"
"We need to ask to cover all bases of our interview." Ethan emphasized as mother and son denied knowing of the car's presence down the street and paying for the cleaning.
"And it's well over three days since your husband went missing, have you gotten any calls for a ransom?" Ethan inquiried, looking at the case file.
"No, nothing. We've been waiting for such a demand but no communication has been made," Asher answered, looking stressed.
"And this is why I wanted the very best. Alex Kane could have uncovered something by now," Layla mumbled, despite her voice being low, it wasn't low enough for her words not to be heard by Cole and Ethan.
Cole clenched his fist in anger, but from the glaring shot that Ethan stared at him with, he controlled his emotions.
Ethan's phone rang and he excused himself and after a few minutes he was back in the living room.
Looking at him, everyone knew something was up the moment he sat down. No one could tell if it was good news or bad news from the look on his face.
"Layla, you might just get the investigator you so desperately want on this case," Ethan announced, looking at his phone and leaning back into the couch he was seated on.
"Alex Kane?" She questioned.
"What do you mean?" Asher joined in.
"What was the call about?" Cole also didn't wait to ask his question.
"It appears that Layla isn't the only one who wants Kane on the case. A demand has been made," Ethan declared as everyone waited for him to spill the beans.
"A demand? What kind of demand and from who?" Cole inquired, a bit surprised by the turn of events.
"We have reason to believe that whoever has your husband, has made contact. And their demand is that they want Alex Kane on the case," Ethan answered as the entire room went silent.