Karl had something to eat then spent the rest of the afternoon talking with members of the Embassy staff, trying to find out more about Melody. She seemed to be a very introverted child and only came out of her shell around people she knew and trusted well. Apparently Standish had gained her trust and was one of the girl's closest friends, but then he had always managed to get kids to trust him. That was one of his special gifts.

He saw some photographs of Melody and it was immediately obvious to him why Standish had taken the child and why no ransom had been made. He knew that the man and his accomplices would be using the girl for their own enjoyment until they got bored of her, at which time they could make plenty of money selling her as a child slave. Karl and Standish were at different ends of the spectrum as far as their desires towards children was concerned. Whereas he would look for signs of willingness on the part of the child before attempting to form a physical relationship, Standish was prone to take the child first and bring them around to his way of thinking.

Melody was small even for a 10 year old and looked younger than she was. She also had an innocent face and in all the pictures he had seen was wearing very feminine clothing. No jeans and t-shirts for this girl, definitely not a tomboy. Her blond hair was long and cascaded in light waves down over her shoulders and her deep blue eyes seemed to focus intently on him as he examined the pictures. From what he could tell the girl had yet to enter puberty or at most had just started.

He sat down for the evening meal with a few of the other journalists who had taken up temporary residence in the building.

"So have any of you seen the ambassador yet?" asked Karl. "I've been here all day and I haven't seen any sign of him."

"I saw him briefly when I arrived but I didn't get a chance to speak to him in any depth." replied Grant Duncan, a TV reporter with one of the US network stations. "He looked devastated which is only to be expected under the circumstances. Apparently he's been locked in his office in contact with Washington and discussing the options available to him. I've seen some shady looking people hanging around as well, probably the Feds. From what I've heard he's a longtime friend of the President so I expect there are quite a few people around here who we don't know about."

They continued their conversation during the meal, picking up new pieces of information from each other as they talked. Karl's thoughts were already turning to whether he had any messages waiting for him through his secure account.

As the kitchen staff came around organising desserts Karl made his excuses and left, slightly bemused by the way everyone was doing things as normal, as though there was no crisis taking place. He walked back to his room, surprising himself by not getting lost, and locked the door behind him to prevent any unwelcome visitors.

Again he connected to the internet but was disappointed to discover there were no messages waiting on his anonymous e-mail. Switching over to his normal account he found five messages left by his editor within the last three hours, each one getting more agitated about the lack of any report.

"Alright you fucking slavedriver." he muttered at the screen. He disconnected then loaded up his wordprocessor and began the account of what he had so far discovered. His report was vague and basically said that all anybody could do now was to wait for the kidnappers to get in contact and say what it is they wanted. Of course he was pretty sure that the only person who would be hearing from them was himself.

When he was finished he logged on and sent his report back to London, hoping it was in time to appear in the early edition. 'Well that's me done for tonight. I think I'll find out if there are any bars around here.' Karl thought to himself, but then noticed he had a message waiting.

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TO: CSG_Omega@anonserve.com
Subject: Melody Swanson

KJ

Long time no see. Good to hear from you again. Come to 'Bar de la Rosa' at 10:30 tonight, and bring some company. I'll be driving a blue van so don't worry about any suspicious looking men. They're with me.

The girl is alive and having plenty of fun with us.

Until Tonight,

RS

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"Yes!!" he said triumphantly.

Looking at his watch he noted it was coming up to 7pm so there was plenty of time before they were to meet. He picked up the phone in his room and dialled through to Grant, inviting out for a drink later that evening, an invitation that was readily accepted........(cont)