When Walter got home from work, the first thing he heard was the heart-wrenching cries of his baby son. His wife, Abby, was in the kitchen, looking completely defeated. Her exhaustion was clear as she tried in vain to calm their little boy.
Walter wrapped his arms around Abby from behind, trying to offer some comfort. “How long has he been crying?” he asked gently.
“I’ve tried everything, Walter,” Abby sobbed, her voice cracking. “He’s been fed, changed, bathed, and burped. I even checked his temperature! I don’t know what else to do. He just won’t stop crying.”
Since they’d become parents a month ago, everything in their lives had turned upside down, and nothing upset Walter more than hearing Logan cry like this.
“Let’s figure it out together,” Walter said, leading Abby to the nursery.
With a hopeful smile, Walter approached the crib, but what he saw inside was shocking—there was no Logan. Instead, a dictaphone was playing a recording of their baby’s cries. Next to it was a note. Walter quickly pressed the stop button to silence the cries and picked up the note with trembling hands.
“What’s going on?” Abby’s voice trembled as she saw Walter’s horrified face. 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 face turning pale. “What does this mean? Who would kidnap Logan? Did we upset someone?”
Walter’s mind raced back to a janitor at the hospital. A few days after Logan was born, Walter had had a heated argument with him after accidentally knocking over a gift he had brought for Abby. Angrily, Walter had insulted the man. He remembered the janitor’s ominous words: “You’ll regret it!”
“We need to call the police,” Walter said urgently, his heart pounding. “I’m sure it’s him.”
“But the note says we’ll never see Logan again if we do that,” Abby protested. “We should just pay the ransom!”
“We can’t trust him,” Walter insisted. “He wouldn’t know if we went to the police. Besides, they might catch him before anything happens to Logan.”
Reluctantly, Abby agreed, and they headed to the police station. But as they parked outside, Walter’s phone buzzed with a new 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 fear. Walter scanned the area, realizing they were being watched. With no other option, he decided they had to pay the ransom. But before he went to the bank, Abby’s nausea got worse, so Walter took her home first.
After dropping Abby off, Walter withdrew the money and drove to the pier. He carefully placed the ransom in the locker and then parked nearby to keep watch. Soon enough, he spotted the janitor approaching the locker. Just as Walter was about to confront him, a crowd of tourists blocked his view. When they finally moved, the janitor had disappeared.
Desperate, Walter searched the area. After a tense few minutes, he saw the janitor again, now carrying the bag of money. Walter followed him, waiting for the right moment. When the janitor stopped at another set of lockers, Walter sprang into action, slamming him against the metal doors.
“Where’s my son?” Walter demanded, his voice trembling with fury.
The janitor, terrified, stuttered, “I don’t know anything about your son! I was just paid to collect the package and drop it off here. I swear!”
Seeing the fear in the janitor’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 and stolen the money.
Walter’s heart sank. How could he face Abby now that their baby was still missing? Worse, he feared Logan might never come home. When he returned home, another shock awaited him—Abby was gone. Her belongings were missing, and she wasn’t answering her phone.
At first, Walter feared Abby had been kidnapped too. But as he pieced things together, the horrifying truth became clear. Abby had insisted on paying the ransom and had rushed home after feeling sick. Slowly, it dawned on him: Abby was behind Logan’s kidnapping.
Desperate, Walter came up with a plan. He approached a doctor at the hospital where Logan was born and paid him to make a fake phone call to Abby, claiming Logan needed urgent medical attention for a rare genetic condition. The trick 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 younger brother, James, holding Logan. The police were ready. As soon as they stepped inside, officers surrounded them.
“You’re under arrest for kidnapping,” an FBI agent announced as they took Abby and James into custody. Abby screamed that Logan was sick, but Walter stepped forward and said coldly, “Logan’s fine. And he’s coming home with me.”
As Abby was led away in handcuffs, she spat out one final bombshell. “Logan’s not even yours! He’s James’ son!”
Walter froze, the weight of her words crashing down on him. His brother couldn’t even meet his gaze. The betrayal stung, but none of that mattered now. He 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 that, Walter walked out of the hospital, determined to give Logan the life he deserved.
