“I need the money as soon as possible. Can’t you speed things up?”
“Hang on a minute.” There was a short pause. “Mr. Denison?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t promise, but I’m going to do everything I can to assemble the money before ten a.m. tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Can’t you get the money together sooner than that?”
“I’m afraid not. That’s the absolute best we can do.”
“Okay, then. Call me as soon as you have the money.” Denison hung up the phone.
“That’s bullshit,” Acne Scars said.
“You heard him. Trust me, I like this even less than you.”
Mr. White pointed at Bell. “So we’re taking her?”
“Take?” Denison asked.
“Yeah,” Acne Scars said. “We’re not staying here until tomorrow, so she’s coming with us.”
“Take me,” Nicole said.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Acne Scars said. “If you’re not partners, they got no reason to get the money.”
“I’ll go,” Denison said.
“You need to be here in case the bank calls with questions.”
Mr. Black and Mr. White pulled Bell off her stool. She started to struggle. “Do you want to get slapped?” Mr. White asked.
“You don’t have to take her,” Denison said. “I’ll pay.”
“I know you will,” Acne Scars said. “One hundred thousand. You go to the bank in the morning and get the money. You do what you’re told, you’ll get this one back before lunch.”
Bell looked at Nicole. “You did this. This is all your fault.”
“You better not hurt her,” Denison said.
“You don’t screw around, and she’ll be fine. Keep your mouth shut and get the money,” Acne Scars said.
Bell started crying.
Mr. White and Mr. Black pushed Bell down the hall, Acne Scars and Stein close behind them. Denison crumpled to his knees. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”
Nicole knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry, James.”
The front door slammed. Nicole ran down the hall and looked out the window just as a blue minivan drove away. She went back to the kitchen. Denison was standing at the island with his smart phone in his hand.
“They won’t hurt her, will they?”
“Not until they have the money.”
Denison seemed to be having trouble taking in the information. “Not until…Not until…I’m calling the police.”
“Don’t do it. That’s the surest way to get her killed. Think about it. The cops find them or put a tracker on the money. Who’s the first person to die in the gunfight? The hostage.”
“What do we do?”
“Why don’t you call your security guys; see if they can help?”
“Yeah, okay.” He called Manifold Security Company and explained the situation. “They said they couldn’t do anything illegal—that we should call the police, and they would walk us through it. So that’s that. You sure I can’t call the police?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“What should I do?”
“You know they aren’t going to let her go, don’t you? We’ve seen them. As soon as they have the money, we’re just loose ends. They’ll try to kill us all.”
The color drained from his face. “Jesus.”
“Look, I know Fred. He’s not a psycho. He’s just an opportunist. He won’t hurt Bell. He’ll want to treat her right to show good faith.”
“But will the others do what he says?”
“You saw what happened. It looks like the guy with the acne scars is calling the shots, but he wants Fred to think he’s in charge. The other guys will probably follow his lead.”
“Probably?”
“That’s all we’ve got. Bell is safe until they have the money. We’ve got until then to take her back.”
“How?”
“Let me call Bryan.”
The blue minivan was on Lighthouse Boulevard when the heavy clouds that had blown in earlier cut loose, and the hard rain started banging off the top of the minivan and filling the gutters on the sides of the street. Grissom and Stein were in front, Grissom driving. Johnson and Billings were in the second row. Bell sat in the back row of the minivan by herself, whimpering, her wrists cuffed behind her back.
Grissom turned on the headlights and the windshield wipers. “Can’t see a thing,” he said.
“The turn is just up ahead,” Stein said.
Johnson glanced back at Bell. “Will you stop crying, already? We’re not going to hurt you.”
“Let her cry,” Billings said.
“She’s getting on my nerves.”
“Why? Remind you of your wife?”
“You’re the funny guy.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Knock it off,” Grissom said. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
Bell lay down on her side and scrunched her eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. This was crazy, like something out of a tabloid. This kind of thing never happened to people like her. Being kidnapped. Held for ransom. It was all Nicole’s fault. If she hadn’t come into their lives, none of this would have happened. Bell shifted her weight. She’d been right from the very beginning. She’d tried to warn her dad. But she couldn’t blame him. Nicole had fooled her too, even though she’d had her guard up, and Skip reinforcing every doubt. Nicole really was a sociopath, devious in every word and deed. Bell felt a vibration in the pocket of her sundress. Her phone. She’d forgotten all about it. How could she keep them from finding it?
She pulled at the fabric of her dress, inching along with her handcuffed hands, until she reached the top of the pocket. She dug down in her pocket and gripped the phone with one hand. If she could just get the phone into her underwear, maybe they wouldn’t find it. She brought her knees up to her chest so that she could pull the hem of her dress up above her panties. As long as neither of the guys in the second seat looked back, she had a chance. She got a finger from one hand under the elastic of her panties and pulled them away from her skin. Then she pushed the phone in with the other hand. She could feel the phone rubbing against her bottom, but the plastic cuffs cut into her wrists, and she couldn’t push the phone any farther and still hold onto her panties at the same time. She gave the phone one more push and let go of her panties. The phone popped out. Damn it. She felt around on the seat behind her. Where was it? She shifted onto her back. The two guys in front of her were still facing forward. She craned her neck to look over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see the phone. The minivan braked hard. She banged against the seat back. Then she heard a quiet thump, like a small object falling onto the carpet. She rolled back onto her side and felt over every inch she could reach, but she couldn’t find the phone. Tears trickled down her cheek.
Nicole stood in the den, holding Denison’s hand and looking out the window at the sea. She had her phone up against her ear. She was trying to call Bryan, but he hadn’t picked up. Lightning struck the water in the distance, illuminating a flash of choppy waves through the storm. She waited for the thunder. One, two, three, boom. Less than a mile. The strike was closer than she thought. She glanced at the screen on her phone. She still had a connection. She put the phone back up to her ear. “Bryan?”
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“Can’t wait.”
“What do you need?”
“Remember that guy I told you about? The fat fuck who recognized me?”
“You didn’t buy the gun, did you?”
“They took Bell. They want one hundred K.”
“How many are they?”
“Four.”
“Good thing you didn’t buy that gun, it would have just got you shot. Time for you to leave.”
Nicole moved away from Denison. “What?”
“Time to let them go.”
She dropped her voice. “I can’t do that.”
“You willing to die for her? It’s all swirling in the to
ilet. Get out of there.”
She stood in the dark kitchen looking back into the den at Denison. “You told me to come here,” she whispered. “You told me to play it straight. Goddamn it, Bryan, they’re in trouble because of me, and I need your help.”
“Nicki, you know as well as I do that nobody can count the number of ways a rescue can go wrong, and there’s only a few ways it can go right. This is a losing proposition. It’s time to cut your losses. You’ve had a good run. It almost worked out.”
“I won’t leave them. If you won’t help me, I’ll do it alone.”
“You sound serious.”
“I am serious. They’re real people to me.”
The line was quiet except for Bryan’s breathing. Nicole waited for him to speak. “Bryan?”
“Okay, baby. Okay. This is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but you’ve convinced me. Forget I ever objected. I’ll line up some muscle. Tell Denison it’s going to cost a few dollars. I’ll call back with the details.”
“Thank you.”
“Keep a close watch on Denison. If he turns on you, you’ve got to run.”
“He won’t turn.”
“Just the same.”
She went back into the den. “Bryan’s on his way. He’s going to line up some help.”
“What’s he going to do?”
“Specifically? I don’t know. But he’ll know what to do. He always does.”
She took Denison in her arms and whispered in his ear. “I know this is hard. Harder than even carrying the emotional load of Stacey’s death because you haven’t finished carrying that, and you have to carry this new weight on top of it. But you have to stay strong for Bell. You can’t fall apart. She needs you right now. She’s depending on you. We’ll go to the bank in the morning. Make the arrangements. Bryan will get here and figure out what to do.”
She let go of him. He gripped her shoulders and stared down into her eyes. “I don’t know if we’re doing the right thing. My God, my little girl, all alone with those bastards. Afraid for her life. She’s not like you.”
“She knows you’re going to do everything possible. She knows you won’t give up on her. That’s what’s going to keep her going.”
He dropped his arms and looked away. “I know it’s not your fault. I know you had nothing to do with this. But this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been here.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
“I think I need to be alone for a while.”
She watched him walk away. What a fucking mess. She was sure about Stein. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he hurt Bell. But the other guys? Particularly Acne Scars. What were his limits? Was he willing to go to any extreme, or would he back down if he feared for his life? And would Mr. Black and Mr. White follow his lead in a crisis? She looked back out the window into the storm. She hadn’t been completely honest with James. She knew exactly what they were going to do after Bryan and the hired guns arrived. They were going to gear up, find Bell, and take her back. And they were going to kill anyone who got in the way.
At the rental house on Rainy Street, Stein led Bell down the stairs into the faux basement, where he cut her hands free. She shuffled into the space, her head down, as if she were in a trance.
“Cooperate, and everything will be fine. If you yell or bang to attract attention, we’ll have to tie you up and gag you. We don’t want to do that. We want you to be comfortable, but that’s up to you. You’ll be going home tomorrow. So cheer up. I’ll bring you some food in a little while.”
Bell looked around the room. The floor was a concrete slab, and the walls were white painted plywood. An overhead light hung from a cord plugged into a ceiling outlet. There were no windows, and the utility door was chained and padlocked. A card table, two folding chairs, a camp cot, and a sleeping bag had been set up in the middle of the space. A toilet and a sink were located next to the plumbing lines that came down from the kitchen. As soon as she heard the door lock at the top of the stairs, she shuffled to the utility door and tugged on the padlock. Locked tight. This was really happening. She glanced at her watch: 10:30. Twenty-three hours to go. She looked up the stairs to the basement door. Her legs felt rubbery, but she was afraid to sit, afraid to let down her guard for even one second. If only she had her phone. If only…Stop that. No more feeling sorry for herself. She had to keep her wits about her, save her energy. She didn’t know what might happen, and she had to be ready.
Grissom and the others were already sitting around in the living room when Stein came up out of the basement. “All set?”
Stein nodded. Grissom took a beer out of an open six-pack and handed the six-pack to Johnson, who did the same before he passed it along.
“So far so good,” Johnson said.
“I don’t know,” Stein said. “It all seems a little weird. Sally is a player without a doubt. But the princess and Denison? Maybe he is her dad.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re not backing out now,” Grissom said. “We’ve gone too far.”
“I didn’t say we should back out. I spent two years in jail. I’m going to get my money back. What if the princess isn’t in the game? That’s all I’m saying.”
“Then she shouldn’t be hanging out with players,” Grissom said. “Look, if what you say about them is true—as long as she’s undamaged goods—we’re going to be fine.”
Billings set the half-empty six-pack on the coffee table. “Tomorrow we’re going to get paid and then we’re out of here. No harm, no foul.”
Stein nodded. “You’re right. No harm, no foul. This is really happening. Tomorrow this will be all over with.”
“Easy money,” Johnson said.
Bryan sat in his car in front of the Buy-N-Loan pawnshop, filling the magazine of the used Glock he’d just bought. Bell kidnapped by the guy who recognized Nicole. What a mess. Nicole should just walk away. No matter what happened, Denison was bound to blame her, at least a little bit. He might not hate her, but he certainly wouldn’t want her in his bed. And if Bell were raped or murdered, Denison would definitely associate all that misery and pain with Nicole. There was no upside here. Still, he knew why she couldn’t leave Denison. He’d told her to work her magic and she’d worked it on herself. Intimacy was a powerful drug, more addictive than heroin. He got out his phone. “Zeb?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you get me a couple of gunslingers?”
“Gunslingers?”
“This is on a different job.”
“Sorry, my go-to guys are out of pocket. How long can you wait?”
“I need them now.”
“Good luck.”
Bryan took a list of phone numbers out of his wallet and called the top number. No answer. He called the next one down. “Billy? It’s the Traveling Man.”
“What’s up?”
“I need a couple of gunslingers.”
“How soon?”
“Right now.”
“Awful short notice, but I might have somebody. Let me call you right back.”
Bryan watched the traffic in front of the pawnshop and waited. His phone rang. It was Billy. “What you got for me?”
“I’ve got you one guy, but he’s a crazy SOB.”
“Crazy in a good way or crazy in a bad way?”
“He’ll keep his word, but once he’s off the leash, you can’t call him back.”
“What’s his pay scale?”
“Ten grand per gunfight.”
“Per gunfight?”
“I told you he was crazy. Some kind of ex-military psycho. Don’t hire him if you can’t pay him.”
“How soon can he get to Cricket Bay, Florida?”
“He could probably get there by tomorrow.”
“No sooner?”
“He’s got to travel a ways.”
“Put him on a plane. Include the tickets in your fee. And one more thing. Where can I get a brand-new tool kit?”
“You’ve never asked me for gear befo
re.”
“I’m asking now.”
“How big a kit you need?”
“Full package for three.”
“It’s going to cost you.”
“No problem.”
“I got a buddy close at hand. He’ll give you a call.”
“Trustworthy?”
“Family.”
“Let me give you my wife’s number. She’s on the ground.”
Bryan ended the call and then speed-dialed Nicole. “Zeb couldn’t help, so I got ahold of Billy. Gunfighter and a full package are on the way. Billy’ll get in touch with you about the details.”
“Great. What about you? When do you get here?”
“I’ll be flying out this evening. I should be there before the gunfighter.”
“Why can’t you come sooner?”
“I’ve got to finish up this little job I’m on.”
“I need you now.”
“Nicole, me being there won’t make any difference until the gunfighter and the gear arrive. So take a deep breath. How’s Denison holding up?”
“He’s a mess.”
“Maybe you’ll get lucky, and they’ll take the money and go.”
“Fat chance. And Bryan, I’m sorry I barked at you. Thanks for helping. I know it’s not the smart move.”
“I’ve always got your back. We’ve dealt with tougher situations. See you soon.”
“Love you.”
“Love you.”
Bryan tossed his phone into the passenger’s seat. If the gunfighter was half as good as his reputation, they might have a chance. He put his car in gear. He needed to put the Cricket Bay fiasco out of his mind and focus on tonight’s card game. That was today’s business. He had the counterfeit money and an extra gun. If Stanley didn’t double-cross him, this would be some of the easiest money he ever made. Pull the switcheroo and drive straight to the airport. Should he make a reservation? No, better to play it fast and loose. Next, he needed to pack up his motel room and take a nap. Then he’d be ready for the evening.
Nicole found Denison sitting on the unmade bed in Bell’s room, looking at a laptop computer screen. His hands trembled. His eyes were hollow, and his face was gray. She sat down beside him, but he didn’t say anything. “Bryan called back. Everything is in motion.”
The Kidnap Victim Page 10
