Strangers. I wanted to throw up. A lady holding my shoulders, a glass of water pressed into my hand. The announcement again and again. The security guards on walkie-talkies.

Madam, we have closed off all the entrances and exits. We will check everything. Don’t worry.

Fifteen minutes. They say that if a child goes missing in public for more than that, it is too late.

Was it too late? How long had it been?

Where is she? Where is my baby?

I started shaking. My voice, a blood curdling scream.

Alba was gone. My child was gone.

Five

Survivor

After 48 hours, there was no message for a ransom. No phone call, no letter, no fax, no email, no SMS. Nothing.

Omar went through all the names on his handphone. He pored over their client lists, sat with the company accountant to figure if there were rogue debtors, people who had tried to undercut quotes, anyone who seemed doubtful or suspicious. Competitors? Yes, there were many. But they had heavy subsidies and he was used to playing the game on both sides. They received government concessions not just because the Minister of Transport was an old friend of his father’s, but between him and Fairman, there was more than enough to go around, more than enough favours to pull and more than enough resources to run an office of twenty staff.

Over the past two years, TMF Sdn Bhd had done well. Over ten million in profit, continuing contracts in Vietnam, Nigeria and Sudan and the possibility of a new highway that would connect KL better than ever, a penthouse office at The Luxe in the heart of KL, a business partner he trusted. He had an apartment in Bangsar, a wife and child he loved dearly, more satiety than he’d ever experienced in his life.

And then, a nightmare. Del was falling apart at the seams, she was unravelling by the hour. She had done nothing for two days, and stopped eating. She became a creature on the couch, unmoving.

“Darling, please. You cannot be like this. Stay strong, Del. Please,” he had pleaded with her that morning. Next to her limp body, an empty vodka bottle on the carpet, an overturned glass. She had drunk herself into oblivion.

“Darling, let’s get you to the shower…come on.”

She was a dead weight, she would not move. Her body fought him, her hands pushed against his gentle touch. Then she struck out at him and screamed, her face contorted into a grotesque mask of pain.

“Leave me alone! Go away! Leave me alone!”