The footsteps of the kidnapper and the small child he has taken are clear in the sand. They are not far ahead but I must hurry because he moves quickly and there are many other people wandering on the beach, creating confounding trails of footprints. There is not much time.
The trail leads around a dune. Her backpack is resting against the slope. As I reach for it, I realize that it is a trap. The kidnapper is aware of me. I carefully probe beneath the backpack and find the live grenade. The pin is out and the backpack is resting on the strike lever. If I had lifted the backpack it would have been triggered. Probably a shortened trigger. I reach through the sand and grasp the grenade and strike lever and draw it out. I have a twist-tie in my pocket. I thread it through the pin hole and twist it, just once, over the top. I was weaponless but now I have a weapon. But I am on a crowded beach and using the grenade would have terrible results. I have no clear idea how I might use a grenade to stop the kidnapper.
Perhaps there is a clue in the backpack. I unzip the backpack and for a moment I see it all before me: the trembler switch, the old strobe flash, a single pair of blue and yellow wires leading to the blasting cap, and a single stick of dynamite resting in a box filled with gravel. And then I don’t see anything.
* * * *
Her hair is auburn; straight, drawn back and held in place with a silver barrette studded with turquoise. A few loose strands play across her forehead. Her eyes are blue and they sparkle as she smiles. Her skin is light olive; clear and flawless. Her lips and eyebrows are thin, her nose elfin. Her oxford shirt is white, beneath her jacket of powder blue. A thin silver chain necklace dangles outside her shirt. Her long, pleated skirt is the color of the buds on an apple tree in April. She has the build of a swimmer. There is great energy about her, but she is serene and focused.
I have waited for a long time for a moment alone with her to discuss my worries, and my wait is about to be rewarded.
“It looks like I have all the information I need to finish the paperwork,” she says. “You don’t need to sign anything. I’ll take care of getting all of the forms filed. Please let me know if you have any other questions.”
