‘Two Pizzas Please,’ Cop Thinks Girl Got Wrong Number until Strange Noises Appear in the Background — Story of the Day

Linda, a talented cop demoted to a 911 operator's position, hates what she's doing until a young girl's call asking for a pizza delivery shakes her. The girl has been abducted, but Linda is stuck in her chair at the 911 center. Can she race against time and save the innocent child before it's too late?

Gazing out the room's window, 32-year-old Linda drained the fourth cup of coffee, but her anxiety was no better. She could hear the other operators, their fingers aggressively clicking their keyboards, and the annoying ringing of the incoming calls.

Linda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. How could he do this to me? He really thinks I belong here? She mulled angrily, crushing the paper cup in her palm. She was supposed to be out there, on the streets, instead of being stuck in this damn call center. But who's gonna tell my supervisor?

Linda was demoted and assigned the operator duty after her aggressive behavior in the last case. Apparently, her supervisor thought she needed a little 'restraint,' and he had the 'brilliant' idea that the 911 operator role was the best disciplinary action against her. "This is what you get after going all Hulk on a criminal, Linda," he had said.

Linda opened her eyes and composed herself. All thanks to her supervisor, she hated what she was doing from the bottom of her heart. She had joined the police force to serve the public and catch those malicious criminals out there, not to attend these 911 calls, most of which in recent days, to Linda's dismay, had turned out to be prank calls by reckless teenagers.

That morning had been no better. After a slew of pointless calls, one of which included a woman asking for assistance in removing a squirrel in her backyard, Linda was just done. She needed a break, she had decided, and she had gotten herself 'a' coffee for the fourth time from the coffee machine. Now, the coffee was over, and even her break was nearing an end.

"Long day, huh, Linda?" Her co-worker, Mandy, asked with a smile as Linda returned to her chair.

"This stupid job is driving me insane," Linda replied bitterly. "I swear—anything's better than playing receptionist and babysitting a bunch of unruly teens."

Mandy laughed. "Hang in there, woman. It won't be long before you're back to chasing the bad guys."

"Hopefully…or I'll end up in one of those mental institutions!" Linda scoffed, rolling her eyes in frustration as she wore her headset.

Right then, her line rang with an incoming call. Linda sighed.

"911. What's the address of your emergency?" she asked curtly, accepting the call.

For a moment, the line was silent. Then, a voice appeared through Linda's headset.

"I'd like to order two pizzas, please," it said. It was the soft, shaky tone of a young girl.

Linda's irritation escalated, her hand poised over the disconnect button. "You've reached 911, girl. This is the police. This is not where you order pizzas. I'm gonna hang up," she said rudely.

"No, don't!" the girl pleaded, prompting Linda to stop.

"I'd need the pizzas, please. I need them soon!"

Linda's brows furrowed in confusion as her gaze ran to the screen before her. The caller information on her screen suggested the number belonged to a certain Henry, and the approximate location was somewhere near a highway. Something was off. She could feel it in her gut.

Linda's police instincts kicked in. She tried to concentrate on the background noises, but she couldn't really make out the sounds. However, one thing was clear: she sensed fear in the girl's voice. It was as if the girl was…scared.

"Is this an order for a certain Mr. Boket? Henry?" she asked, playing along as a pizza operator.

"No…" said the girl. "I don't know who Henry is."

"Alright. Then who is this order for?" Linda asked.

"Li-Lisa," said the girl, breathing heavily. "Kenning."

"Alright, Lisa. Now I need you to answer my questions carefully, alright? Just answer with a yes or no, OK?" Linda urged, sensing the girl was in danger.

"OK," Lisa replied shakily.

"Are you alone?" Linda asked.

"No," Lisa replied quickly.

"If it's a man, say yes," Linda instructed her.

Lisa agreed. "Yes," she said. "Yes."

"Do you know who he is?"

"No, but I don't like pepperoni…"

"Do you mean you don't like the man with you?" asked Linda. "Is he scary? You don't feel safe around him?"

"Yes."

"OK, kid. You gotta relax, alright?" Linda tried to calm Lisa, but her own heart was racing. "I'm gonna need you to tell me your address, Lisa. Don't worry, stay calm, and help will be on the way."

"I can't tell you…" Lisa replied quickly.

Linda sighed. She had to try some other way. "OK, how about this—Tell me if you know any landmarks or anything you remember so I can get you the pizza. I need you to be smart, Lisa."

"I think I—" Before Lisa could continue, a man's loud voice boomed in the background. "Who the hell are you talking to, huh? Hang up!"

Linda heard noises in the background — of a vehicle door being yanked open and Lisa's terrified gasp at the man's voice.

"I-I was just hungry. I was ordering pizza!" Lisa's voice was faint, as if she was no longer holding the phone close to her ear.

Linda's anxiety just escalated. "Hello? Can you please tell me what kind of pizza?" she asked, hoping she could manage to make Lisa stay on the phone line.

"Please take me to my mommy," Lisa said to the man. Then there was a shuffling sound as if the man had snatched the phone, his voice clearly audible. "We'll stop by Wendy's on the way to your Mommy's!" he said angrily. "Now shut up, and be quiet!"

"Hello? Can I have the address? I need it for the pizzas!" Linda cried, but the call was disconnected. The location tracker disappeared from the screen. Linda lost contact with Lisa.

"Dammit!" Linda slammed her fist on the table. The last thing she had heard on the call was a vehicle door slamming shut. The man was probably driving Lisa somewhere, but Linda had no idea where.

Linda immediately contacted the highway patrol.

"Hi, this is operator #620 Linda. We have a situation. I just had a brief call about a potential abduction. The caller, Lisa, was scared, and I heard a man in the background. I don't have the exact location, but we have the cellular location," she added, reading out the approximate address on her screen. "Do we have any units available? I'm assuming they were in a car. He might be moving now."

"We have a unit. But that's not enough information. We need to know what we're looking for. Do we have the vehicle's plate?"

"Look, just dispatch a unit to the area and let them do their investigation. We have a young girl in danger. It's serious!" Linda said anxiously.

"Well, Linda, you have to understand that we can't do anything unless we have enough information. Call back when you have the details," said the officer and hung up.

The line beeped, and the call was disconnected.

"Screw this system!" Linda muttered angrily and tossed away her headset in rage. "They want to talk about their goddamn protocols when a young girl is riding in a vehicle with a strange unknown man?"

Linda buried her face in her palms. Lisa's life was on the line. She couldn't just sit and wait for Lisa to call 911 again. She had to do something before it was too late.

Linda wore the headset again, her fingers moving quickly over her keyboard as she ran Henry's number through the database. When his details popped up on the screen, Linda almost couldn't believe her eyes.

"Jesus, this has to be the most insane thing I've seen today," she mumbled to herself.

Henry was a heinous criminal who had served ten years in prison before being recently released. He was booked for aggravated assault and battery. Linda's hand went to her mouth in shock.

She wasn't just dealing with any man here. This guy was a terror, and the mere thought of Lisa being stuck with this man sent shivers down Linda's spine.

Linda noticed Henry's address and license plate number on her screen. He owned a pickup truck, she noted. However, his address was nowhere near the cellular location the system had detected. What the heck was going on? Where was this man planning on taking Lisa?

Linda's nerves were on the edge. She thought of Lisa's panicked, terrified voice and the man's sinister tone. A thought now occurred to her: she didn't know if the man with Lisa was Henry or someone else.

But the call had come from his number, so it had to be Henry…unless someone had stolen Henry's phone. Her mind went blank for a moment. With the details she had in hand, she eventually decided to contact the highway patrol again.

"Hi, this is Linda. I have information about the man and his vehicle…" She read out the license plate and the details she had about Henry, adding that she wasn't sure if the man was him.

There was a pause before she heard the reply: "Alright, noted. A unit is en route."

Linda finally heaved a sigh of relief. At least, they acted.

"Please ask your officer to call me," she further asked.

"Why is that needed? Your job is done," the officer on the other end of the line said.

"Just do as I say!" she insisted. "Please," she added. "I-I need to find the girl."

The line beeped, and the call was disconnected. Moments later, Linda's line rang.

"This is Officer Gomez. I was asked to call you."

"Have you located the vehicle?" Linda asked desperately.

"We're on the way. We'll let you know once we have any leads."

"This involves a young girl, so please, we need to be quick," Linda pleaded. "The suspect is a male ex-convict. His name is Henry...sending you his details and identification. The girl who's with him doesn't know him, and she isn't aware that she's been kidnapped. We don't know if he's armed."

"Alright, we got that. We'll let you know once we know something."

The line beeped once again, marking the end of the call.

Linda took a deep breath, feeling slightly relieved, but the trouble was far from over. All she wanted to do was save Lisa. If something happened to that innocent girl, Linda would never forgive herself. Her heart raced as she awaited an update from the officers.

Meanwhile, Linda's fingers moved over her keyboard again as she read through Henry's details, hoping to find anything that could aid the cops.

It was then a strange line in his file caught her attention.

"Holy Christ," Linda muttered under her breath, her hand over her mouth. "So it could be personal, I see."

Linda read the name of the prosecutor who had convicted Henry, and things started to make sense. Prosecutor Kenning, the man behind sending Henry to prison, had the same last name as Lisa.

Linda quickly pulled out her phone and looked up Prosecutor Kenning online. And there it was…The information she was looking for. It all made sense now — why the number Lisa had called from was Henry's, why the man in the vehicle with Lisa was none other than him, and why he had abducted Lisa.

Lisa was Prosecutor Kenning's only daughter. Henry had mostly abducted her because he wanted revenge.

Linda could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she contacted Officer Gomez again. "I have another lead," she said, panic-stricken. "I believe the motive behind the situation is revenge. The prosecutor who sent Henry to prison was Lisa's father. We need to be all the more careful now. We still don't know if the suspect is armed."

"Alright, we got that."

"Please call me back with an update."

As the line beeped once again, Linda's heart raced.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mandy asked, but Linda couldn't reply. She just said it was nothing serious and turned her attention to the screen again. But her mind was plagued with worries and the worst-case scenarios. What if the patrol officers failed to trace the vehicle? What if…What if she failed to save Lisa?

This was the first time Linda had come to realize how an operator's job was probably more demanding than being out on the streets. Dealing with the guilt of being helpless while trying to help the person on the other end of the line required a lot of guts.

Catching those bad guys and putting them behind bars had been her purpose in life. But somewhere, Linda feared she would fail to do so this time. She had started to feel weak. She was stuck in a goddamn chair while Lisa was in danger out there.

There was still no way she could figure out exactly where Henry was taking Lisa. It was just her guess that they were in his pickup truck and heading somewhere. But if that was a possibility, a unit was already after the pickup, so she had secured one route.

Linda called Henry's number, but it was not answered. She wondered what to do now. She needed to know if Lisa was safe. A couple of minutes went by, but there was no update. Linda's heart was pounding.

Suddenly, her line rang, making her flinch. Linda immediately answered.

"Hello? Please send help! My cat is stuck on a tree!" a woman's panicked voice appeared through Linda's headset.

Linda's anger flared. It was another of those useless calls.

"Ma'am, I can't help you right now. Please call back later," she groaned and canceled the call.

Linda buried her head in her hands again. Seconds later, her line rang again, distracting her. Linda's heart skipped, thinking it was an update from the officers. But it was the same woman who had called earlier asking for help with her cat.

"Please call back again later, I said!" she screamed and disconnected the call.

"Hey, you alright?" Mandy asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Linda said. But she was not okay.

At one point, she left her seat to get herself another coffee.

"Ouch! Ah!" She almost burned her fingers, not realizing she had overfilled her cup while pouring the hot coffee because her thoughts kept returning to Lisa.

Linda returned to her seat, but there was no update from the patrol officers yet, and time was running out.

"If anyone gets a call from the girl named Lisa, forward the call to me!" She instructed everyone before she sat down.

By this point, Linda's anxiety was on a whole new level. Being a 911 operator was challenging. You never knew what unexpected problem someone landed into, and you had the duty, the responsibility to save the person on the other end, to help them out. In some way, it was no different from what the officers did out there on the streets by hunting down the bad guys.

The coffee helped her calm down a little. Linda realized there was no point in panicking. She had to be clever and think like Henry.

Linda took another sip of her coffee, all ready to take the next step. She dialed the number Lisa had used to contact her — Henry's contact number. Again.

Linda had a plan, and she was going to follow it. If everything went well, she would have a better idea of what the heck Henry was planning on doing.

A few rings went through, but no one was answering. Just as her heart sank that the call would go unanswered, a man's voice appeared through her headset.

"Hello?" he asked in a gruff tone. Linda recognized his voice. He was the same guy. It was Henry.

Linda took a deep breath and composed herself, assuming the role of a pizza operator. "Hi, this is the pizzeria. I'm sorry, I didn't catch the address of your order. Can you please provide it so we can proceed with the order?"

"I never ordered any pizza," said the man rudely.

Linda's gaze immediately went to the screen with the location tracker. It was moving, but then it stopped. She zoomed in on the screen. It was a motel on the state border. She had to keep the conversation going to check if the tracker moved again.

Linda took a deep breath before she continued. "It was an order for Henry, right?"

"I'm telling you, I didn't order anything! Must be some other Henry!" he answered furiously, and there was Linda's answer. The man behind it all was indeed Henry.

"Oh, I apologize for the confusion. Maybe it was the wrong number. Can you just tell me where you are calling from so we can update our records?" Linda asked.

The man paused as if sensing it was a trap, and Linda's heart skipped a beat. Maybe she should have used a better lie.

"Why? Do pizza places keep a record of addresses these days?" he asked roughly.

"Who is it?" Linda heard Lisa's voice in the background, and a wave of relief washed over her. The man hushed Lisa, but at least she knew Lisa was safe.

Linda continued the conversation, trying to come up with another excuse. "Oh, right. The thing is, it won't take long, sir. If you could just tell me—"

"I said I didn't order any damn pizza! Who are you?" he asked angrily, as if he knew Linda was not calling from a pizza place. Had he guessed she was a cop?

"I'll, uh, cancel the order, sir," she said shakily, mustering some strength. "But I—"

Before she could continue, the line went dead. The location tracker disappeared from her screen once again. Linda lost contact with them, but this time, she had a more precise address.

She immediately contacted Officer Gomez.

"Hey, this is Linda. I have an address…" She notified the cop about the motel. Now, all Linda had to do was patiently wait. Officer Gomez and his team would soon have Henry under arrest.

But a fear lingered at the back of her mind. Her call had alerted Henry. He didn't buy her story completely when she insisted she was calling from the pizza place. What if…what if he decided to escape the state border before Officer Gomez made it to the scene?

"Holy Christ!" she muttered angrily under her breath. That would ruin everything; all the efforts she and the others had put into freeing Lisa from Henry's clutches would be in vain.

Another line rang in the room. It was regarding Lisa, so the operator immediately notified her.

Linda dashed to the operator's desk.

Linda's heart dropped when she learned it was Lisa's mother sobbing on the line. Mrs. Kenning said Lisa was supposed to be home that afternoon from school, but hours had gone by, and she was still waiting for her daughter to return.

Mrs. Kenning had already contacted Lisa's friends and teachers, and they'd said that Lisa had long left the campus. But nobody, not even Lisa's neighbors, had seen her return home.

Linda closed her eyes for a moment. She had no idea how to inform Lisa's mother that Lisa was abducted due to her father's actions. But Linda knew she wouldn't be able to hide it any longer. So, she got on the call and patiently explained the situation to her.

"Ma'am, I need you to relax, alright? I know the situation is tense. But we're gonna find Lisa. Do you know anything about a certain Henry that could help our search? Please, think carefully. Your husband might have an idea."

Linda heard whispers on the other end of the line. Lisa's mother was talking to a man, and then a man's voice appeared. "Hello, I'm Lisa's father. I-I know about Henry."

"Sir, we are going to find Lisa. I don't want you and your wife to panic. We have a team heading to the location where he's taken Lisa."

"She's just twelve, officer," Mr. Kenning said. "I would've never guessed I would be the reason behind the pain my little girl is experiencing…"

As Mr. Kenning continued to speak, he revealed that he'd recently received threats from Henry, but he hadn't taken them seriously. It was something that came with his profession, so he didn't reach out to the police.

"Henry swore revenge when he was convicted. I didn't think he'd go after my family."

"If you had reached out to us back then, the situation today would be different, sir," Linda said. "For now, I'm transferring the call to another operator. Please pass on any information you think can help us to my colleague, and we'll keep you posted. I need to get back to my line in order to know if we have an update."

Linda's heart sank, and her anxiety escalated even more now. It was every parent's nightmare — what the Kennings were going through. She wished no parent had to face a day like that ever. It was devastating, to say the least.

Linda returned to her chair and pressed a few buttons, connecting her with the highway patrol again.

"What's going on?" she asked Officer Gomez.

Linda could hear strange noises in the background. "We searched the motel, but it turns out Henry and Lisa left before we arrived. The motel doesn't have cameras outside, and only a few are inside the facility. Shows they were here for a while. We are checking the cameras on the highway."

"He must be heading out of State with her. Have we secured the freeways?" she asked impatiently.

Linda heard Officer Gomez sighing on the other end of the line.

"Linda, we've got officers inspecting each and every vehicle along the highway. And yes, we have closed the nearest highway exit. You did your best, but your job is over. Don't forget that you're not working as a cop out here."

Linda's frustration seeped through her words as she snapped at Officer Gomez. "We need to act fast! If we don't catch up, they could disappear!"

"Right, and we've done what we could, Linda. We've got this under control. Stay focused on your end!"

The line beeped, and the call was disconnected. Linda tossed away her headset in anger. How dare he? She understood the protocol and knew the hierarchy, but every instinct in her body screamed to be out there, actively contributing to the search.

Mandy shot her a sympathetic glance, probably understanding the internal struggle Linda was facing. However, Linda knew she was a 911 operator, not a cop in the field.

She took a deep breath, reminding herself of her role. The officers were trained for this, and she had to trust their expertise. Linda shifted her focus back to her screens, but her mind raced with what-ifs and worst-case scenarios.

Minutes passed like hours, each tick of the clock heightening her anxiety. At one point, she just gave up. She couldn't wait for them to tell her what the heck was going on with the search.

Linda called Henry's number again. "Come on, pick up!"

The first call went unanswered, but Linda didn't give up hope. She called Henry again and again. The rings went through, but he wasn't answering. Then, at one point, it said the number was out of range.

The sinking feeling in her chest intensified; he might have destroyed the phone or discarded the SIM card, making tracking nearly impossible.

On the other operator's line, Lisa's parents called again, asking for an update. Linda sighed in frustration. A sense of helplessness loomed over her. And it was then it suddenly hit her — the mention of Wendy's. Henry had said they were heading to a Wendy's.

She quickly pulled up the maps on her computer, her eyes scanning for the nearest Wendy's to the motel. She noticed it led to another highway, which the cops hadn't blocked. That was Linda's last straw.

"This is it. He must've taken the other route," she muttered to herself. She couldn't wait anymore in the room and gave fake consolations to Lisa's parents that their daughter would be found soon — because even she had no idea how the situation would unfold.

Without hesitation, Linda stood up, leaving her workstation behind. Her colleagues glanced at her with surprise, but there was no time for explanations. Linda grabbed her jacket and rushed out of the room.

As she hurried to her car, Linda called her supervisor, her voice urgent. "Sir, I've got a lead about a young girl's abduction. I'm heading out to the location now. I know I was supposed to be handling 911 calls, but I have to do this. I'm just…" she paused, "keeping you posted."

There was a moment of silence before Chief Reynolds responded. "Linda, this is against protocol. You're not supposed to—"

"I don't care about the goddamn protocol right now. I'm not letting them slip away," she declared, determination in her voice, before ending the call.

The drive to Wendy's felt like an eternity. Linda's mind raced with thoughts of Lisa, the man who took her, and the possibility of catching up before they vanished. She had the necessary information about the pickup — about how it looked and the license plate — after investigating Henry.

Linda had no idea if she'd succeed in finding him and Lisa. But she had to try her best. As she clutched the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white, Linda floored the gas pedal, driving as fast as she could. "Please, please, nothing should go wrong," she told herself. "I'm coming, Lisa. I'm coming."

After what felt like the most strenuous twenty minutes of her life, the GPS indicated she was finally on the bustling highway packed with cars. Linda had to be alert now. She had to patiently look for the pickup truck among the dozens of vehicles surrounding her.

The vehicles, to her bad luck, seemed like they were moving at a snail's pace. Linda tilted her head to inspect the cars in front of her. But she couldn't spot the pickup anywhere. "God, how am I going to spot it in this jam?" she wondered, panicking.

The sun had started setting, so it was getting darker. Linda knew she was racing against time, and the thoughts of failure gnawed at her. At one point, tears welled up in her eyes. If she failed to help Lisa, she would probably never recover from it.

As she was lost in her thoughts while scanning the highway for the pickup, her attention was drawn to the adjacent lane. Linda's eyes widened in horror. "Oh my god!" she gasped. There it was, the pickup truck.

Linda clearly saw the driver's face. It was Henry. And beside him, the girl whose cheeks appeared to be wet with tears must be Lisa! Linda had to ensure she didn't panic or create a scene because Henry might try to harm Lisa. She still didn't know if he was armed.

Without a moment's hesitation, Linda reached for her radio, urgently calling for backup. "This is Officer Turner. I've located the suspect vehicle on Highway 23. Requesting immediate backup..." she said, filling them in on the details.

The dispatcher's voice crackled through the radio, "Copy that, Officer Turner. The backup is en route. Proceed with caution. Over."

Linda nodded to herself, her eyes never leaving the pickup. She needed to keep the suspect in sight until backup arrived. To her utter relief, the jam began to ease. Linda changed the lane as soon as she could, ensuring she was behind the pickup truck but at a careful distance so that Henry didn't spot her.

But as if sensing her presence, the man glanced in his rearview mirror and locked eyes with Linda. Panic flashed across his face, and in an instant, he made a sharp turn onto an unpaved road, kicking up dust in his wake.

Linda's adrenaline surged. She slammed her foot on the gas pedal, weaving through the traffic to follow the fleeing suspect. "The suspect has evaded onto an unpaved road off Highway 23. Need backup immediately."

The dispatcher replied, "Backup is on the way, Officer Turner. Stay on the line."

As the pickup truck plunged deeper into the woods, Linda gritted her teeth, knowing the chase was about to get even more challenging. The dense foliage, towering trees, and uneven terrain made navigating through the woods a daunting task. The truck's tail lights flickered through the trees so she hadn't lost track of it. Not yet.

Unfortunately, the trail twisted and turned, and soon, Linda's smaller vehicle struggled against the combination of mud and tree roots. The tires spun, flinging mud in every direction. With a frustrated growl, Linda felt the wheels sink into the mud, rendering her vehicle immobile.

"My vehicle is stuck," Linda relayed through the radio. "I can't go ahead with it, so I'm on foot now. We're currently in the woods. The suspect is out of sight, but I will continue the search."

The forest swallowed the truck, muffling the sounds of its engine and leaving Linda to rely on the occasional rustle of leaves or distant snaps of twigs. Linda couldn't wait. She climbed out of her vehicle, deciding to go after Henry on foot. She was advised to wait for backup. But she knew it would be too late by then.

However, as she stepped into the mud, she felt as if she was stuck. It seemed impossible that she would catch up with Henry. And then another horror came true: Linda felt the suction of thick mud around her feet. She tried to move forward with all her strength, but it was futile. She just kept sinking.

At one point, she was knee-deep in the mud, but her determination burned stronger than ever. Lisa's tear-stained face echoed in her mind, urging her to keep trying. While Linda fought against the mud, a distant crash sliced through the air. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound, her heart pounding with anticipation.

Linda tried to kick off her shoes and began wading through the mud barefoot. She felt stuck at each step, but she kept moving. She was neck-deep in mud when she could reach a nearby tree trunk. With all the force she could muster, she pulled herself out of the dirt and onto the dry land, landing on her knees.

Her heart raced, her breathing was labored, and she was tired. Gasping for breath, Linda rose to her feet. She knew she couldn't stop. She turned toward the direction in which she'd heard the crashing noise and started walking.

The sound of snapping twigs and rustling leaves accompanied Linda as she pushed through the thick bushes. It finally opened to a clearing, and the sight before her made her heart pound.

Without hesitation, Linda assessed the situation. It appeared the suspect had lost control, perhaps startled by wildlife, and ended up careening into the lake in the middle of the forest. The water lapped at the sides of the pickup, gradually pulling it under.

Instinct kicked in, and Linda wasted no time. She sprinted towards the water's edge. Without a moment's hesitation, she dove into the lake, cutting through the cool water with powerful strokes. The sinking pickup loomed ahead, and urgency fueled her movements.

Reaching the partially submerged vehicle, Linda saw Henry slumped over the steering wheel, blood trickling from his head injury. The gravity of the situation hit her, and she quickly assessed the man's condition. Then, her attention was drawn to the gun lying on the floor of the pickup. Lisa, in the passenger seat, was unconscious, too.

Linda was focused on helping Lisa. She managed to break the window on Henry's side and yanked his door open. Water rushed in, and she tried to pull Lisa out, but Lisa was strapped to the seat. Linda couldn't locate the belt's buckle, so she pulled out her knife, her fingers closing around the cold blade.

With swift, determined motions, she cut through the stubborn seatbelt that bound Lisa. Releasing her from the seat, Linda pushed Lisa out through the door on Lisa's side. By now, the vehicle was deeper into the water.

Linda was about to leave the vehicle from Lisa's side and swim to the shore with her when she felt a tug from behind. Henry grabbed her feet and pulled her back into the sinking vehicle.

The woman fought against Henry's grip, her training and instinct kicking in. Panic threatened to take hold as the struggle continued. In the midst of the chaos, her mind raced. She needed to break free and reach the shore before it was too late.

The struggle reached a critical point as the pickup continued its descent into the lake's depths. Her training and determination clashed against Henry's desperate resistance. The icy water enveloped them, the lake's surface shimmering above them.

The brave cop fought with all her strength. But at one point, it all went blank for her. She didn't know if Lisa had made it out of the water or not, but her own eyes closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Linda didn't know how when she opened her eyes, she could feel the hard surface of the earth underneath her. She ran her fingers on the ground, realizing she was not in the water any longer. The moon was shining in the evening sky above her. She was lying on the surface, her uniform sticking to her cold body.

Then, she was a blur of faces around her, which became clear as her eyes adjusted to the surroundings.

"You did a great job, Linda," Chief Reynolds kneeled beside her. "You saved the girl. You did it."

As two paramedics rushed to her side and wrapped a blanket around her, Linda saw Lisa. The girl's parents were by her side and hugging their daughter. Linda almost teared up.

"What about Henry? How did I end up here?" Confusion fogged Linda's mind as she recalled her struggle with Henry.

"The cops pulled you out of the water, Linda. Lisa had gained consciousness and managed to swim out on her own. The rescue team found Henry…but it was too late. He drowned. We did find his body, though."

Linda closed her eyes for a moment, a wave of relief washing over her. It was over. She had saved Lisa and survived the worst. She did her duty in the end. She saved a young girl's life and fulfilled her responsibilities as a cop and a 911 operator.

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Amelia grows worried and suspects something is wrong after one of her pupils starts skipping classes. Concerned about the boy's well-being, she drives to his house and discovers the appalling conditions he and his sister are forced to live in... Full story here.

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