It was a long, restless night. I slept between Jess and Gloria, feeling comfort in having them close to me. I woke up before dawn. The kidnapping had been unsophisticated. From the details we had, it sounded like a couple guys in a car had just put Kat inside, gotten Jess's phone number from her, and made the ransom demand.

My mind raced, charting out possible worst case scenarios. Had they raped her? Would they get spooked and kill her? It wasn't unheard of, even in these types of tourist scenarios. Would they hold out for more money? Once the first gray light of dawn had appeared, I had thoroughly...