Outside Forces

by R E Swirsky

CHAPTER 47

  Wednesday 02:22 Paris, France

  The note to Nathaniel had been short and to the point. He recalled word for word what was written as he sat near the fire in the hotel lobby, contemplating what to do.

  Sorry I missed you in Canmore on Friday. Sad to hear about your friend’s hiking mishap on Saturday, but I have details not mentioned in the paper. It’s urgent you call me to discuss. And if you see your friend from Silvertip, tell him we need to talk.

  The note was from a Michelle Crowder at an Alberta phone number.

  “Who the hell is Michelle Crowder?” he whispered.

  The cryptic nature of the note got his attention and terrified him. He wiped his brow, not realizing he had broken a sweat.

  Only four people knew he was in Canmore Friday, and they were all members of the Order. Even his secretary believed he was on the plane to France with Diane. Whoever wrote this note made it very clear they knew he was in Canmore, they knew who he was with, and they knew why.

  It was nearing two-thirty in the morning in Paris, early evening back in Alberta.

  He took a quick detour back to the front desk to obtain the password to the Internet, and in a few moments, he was in the business centre off the lobby, staring at the results from a web search on Michelle Crowder.

  “Shit,” he said. His heart sank, his chest pounded, and he couldn’t think of anything worse that could have happened. Michelle Crowder was a reporter from Okotoks, Alberta—a food and restaurant reporter, but she was still a reporter.

  “Geordie’s going to have my balls ripped off,” he whispered.

  He signed off the computer. There was no reason to put it off. He dialled the number from the message.

  “Hello, this is Senator Diamond calling.” He tried to sound cheery. “You left an urgent message.”

  “Senator Diamond!” The woman sounded surprised. “I didn’t expect a call back so quickly,” she said.

  “Normally I don’t take calls when I’m on vacation.”

  “Yes, I’m sorry to bother you, Senator, but I’m guessing you received my message?”

  “I did. What friend of mine are we talking about?”

  “Oh, uh…” she stammered. “I thought I wrote the name…uh.…”

  Sure you did, he thought. “Look. It’s the middle of the night here. I have no friends hiking in the Canmore area. If you can keep it short and tell me what this is really about, I might be able to set you up in the right direction. You may have me mixed up with someone else.”

  There was a muffled whisper.

  “Hello,” A male voice came on the line. “I’m Richard Crowder, Michelle’s husband. I’m not going to dance around this one. We’re calling about the hiker who died on Saturday near Canmore.”

  “I’ve been in Paris since Saturday. What hiker are you referring to?”

  “Senator, we know what happened on the mountain.”

  Nathaniel reeled. He wanted to stop the conversation, but had to let it play out. “I honestly don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

  Retain plausible deniability. They could be recording the call.

  “Cut the bull. My son was kidnapped a few hours ago in connection to this.”

  Nathaniel’s thoughts went directly to Metcalf’s interrogation, the one Antonio had played for him less than a half hour ago. Could this really be the bloody boy’s parents calling him? How could they make a connection to him so fast? Was it the same boy? “Not Michael…” he said before he could stop himself.

  “Yes, Senator. Michael is my son and he’s been kidnapped. It has to do with what happened on the mountain.”

  Nathaniel stayed the course, denying knowledge again. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. What mountain?”

  “Come now, Senator. My wife and I saw you and Kaito Hui on the patio at Silvertip on Friday. It was probably about that time when Kaito’s son was over helping kidnap Lucy Carter so she could be thrown off that mountain on Saturday.”

  And there it was. It came down like a hammer blow to his skull. The much anticipated but dreaded breach was laid out as plain and simple as it could be by a member of the public unknown to anyone involved in the operation. It was the worst possible outcome. How could these two possibly have gained so much knowledge in such a short time? His light-headedness returned.

  “Have you called the police?”

  There was a pause before the reply came. “No. We haven’t.”

  That was somewhat good news, but it was also concerning.

  “Why not?”

  Michelle Crowder responded. “Senator, this is a very delicate situation.”

  She didn’t have to tell him how delicate it was.

  “We believe that whatever happened this weekend is purposely being covered up.” She paused, perhaps waiting for a response from him. He didn’t give her one. “Lucy Carter died when she fell off a mountain near Canmore on Saturday. Her father, Harvey Metcalf, insists that his daughter simply fell while hiking and there is nothing more to it. We don’t agree. There is so much more to this.”

  “Oh?” He played dumb. “I think I read about her, yes. Poor girl. But the papers said it was accidental.” How could these two possibly know what Metcalf was insisting about the death of his daughter? That’s what he and his team have been trying so bloody hard to find out for two days now.

  “That’s exactly what they want everyone to believe. It’s not really what happened, Senator.”

  “What proof do you have that it was anything but an accident?”

  Michelle laughed before replying. “Proof, Senator? I don’t want to sound offensive, but we can start with a photo I have of you and Kaito Hui up at Silvertip on Friday.”

  Nathaniel’s heart pounded fiercely. Some of the conversation with Kaito came back. A photo of him with Kaito was incredibly unnerving, but it wasn’t proof of anything.

  “We also overheard you two talking about the mountain she fell from,” Michelle added.

  He had been very upset with Kaito at the time and did talk about the mountain. This was bad. “I’m very sorry, but you must have misheard our conversation, Michelle.”

  “No, Senator. I apologize again, but my husband and I both believe you and Kaito are involved. The only thing we are asking is for your help to find our son so he can be returned home unharmed. Whatever happened up there is really none of our business.”

  “I am not involved,” he replied harshly. “And I don’t know where your son is.”

  “Please, Senator. Harvey Metcalf won’t take our calls anymore and we don’t know where else to turn.”

  They called Harvey? Seriously? Something didn’t sound right about this entire call. He backtracked the conversation.

  “You said this girl was kidnapped and Kaito’s son was there?”

  “Yes!” both Michelle and Richard replied together.

  “Now how would you know that?”

  “How?” It was Richard that responded. “Because our son, Michael, was hiding under Lucy’s bed. That’s how. It’s a long story, but he saw what happened.”

  He wished Kaito was listening to this. This was exactly why operations are never to be rushed. The site was not clean, and at least one witness existed. He wished Kaito could see how quickly the facts could spread by one single witness. It was more bad news, but the puzzle was slowly coming together.

  “He saw them take her?”

  “Well, he didn’t exactly see anything. He was hiding under her bed, but he heard everything. He was there, Senator.”

  It still didn’t explain why he was kidnapped. If he was hiding, no one would have any reason to kidnap him. But it did finally explain Lucy’s two boyfriends.

  “It may help to explain why your boy was kidnapped if things actually happened as you are suggesting.” Keep denying, but play along and probe for more.

  “Come on,” Richard said. “Why else would anyone kidnap our son? We think it was Harvey Metcalf’s doing.”

 
Another huge jump.

  “We know both Huis were involved with the kidnapping. We’ve got photos of the dad following Metcalf’s daughter around campus, and his son was present when she was taken.”

  More photos? The bad news bag was getting pretty full. These two were revealing troubling information, but it still didn’t explain the connection back to Metcalf. Sure Michael was Lucy’s boyfriend, but wasn’t that all Metcalf knew about Michael? There was no other way to probe this than ask a direct question.

  “Why would Metcalf want to take your son?”

  Richard then explained the two phone calls in detail, including the secret romance her son was having with Metcalf’s daughter.

  “…and in one of the calls, Metcalf confessed to Michael that he knew she had been kidnapped on Friday and told him to stay out of it.”

  “He actually said that?”

  “Yes, and he finished by telling Michael to make sure he stayed home,” Richard added.

  “A couple of hours later, Michael was abducted,” Michelle said. “They came right in the back door and took him from our home. Who else could it be?”

  “Okay. Let’s say I believe what you are saying, but I do want to make it perfectly clear that no matter what you heard on Friday, I had nothing to do with any of this. I knew none of the details about what happened to Metcalf’s daughter until you told me what you think you know just now. If, and I say that with no disrespect, this is all true, I will help in every way I can.”

  A welcome sigh came through the phone, but he wasn’t sure if it was sincere. A polite thank you followed from both of the Crowders.

  “It’s the middle of the night over here, and I’m going to need some time.”

  “We understand,” Michelle replied.

  “Good. I’ll call you when I find out something.”

  “We just want Michael back. Please, Senator. Our son wasn’t involved in any of this.”

  Now where had he heard that before? “I’ll see what I can do.”

  The conversation ended quickly. Things were escalating out of control. Something had Metcalf scared, causing him to kidnap Michael while Kaito remained staked out on his doorstep. And Nathaniel was holding Johnny upstairs. Things were on a crash course headed for implosion.

  He called Randal, who seemed annoyed at being woken in the middle of the night. Nathaniel didn’t give a rat’s ass if he was annoyed. If he didn’t get this fixed in a hurry, he wasn’t sure how many more sunrises he was going to live to see himself.

  “I’m sending Johnny home.”

  “When?” Randal asked. His voice was rough and strained.

  “Now. You need to get moving. Johnny’ll be waiting for you in room 363.”

  Minutes later, he was banging as quietly as he could on Johnny’s door until the door cracked open. Johnny was standing there in his underwear with one eyeball poking out to see who the hell it was waking him in the middle of the night.

  “What the fuck, man? It’s fucking three a.m.”

  “Get packed.”

  “What?”

  “Open the door.”

  “I’m sleeping. It’s the middle of the fucking night. I’m going back to bed.”

  “Open the damn door, Johnny. You’re going home.”

  Johnny closed the door, removed the night latch and let Nathaniel inside.

  “You’ve really turned into one fucking asshole, Uncle. You know that?”

  “Just get packed. Your ride will be here within the hour.”

  “This is bullshit.”

  “I said, get packed.” He looked around the room. Johnny certainly took advantage of the room service offer. The place was a mess—trays, bottles, and glasses covering every surface.

  Johnny strolled slowly to the washroom and closed the door.

  “Let’s go!”

  “Fuck off, already! I’m cleaning up before I leave, okay?” A few minutes passed. The toilet flushed, and the water to the sink was turned on and off.

  “Randal’s on his way. He’ll be here in a few minutes,” Nathaniel called out to the closed bathroom door.

  “Whatever…” Johnny replied as he brushed his teeth.

  “I’m leaving now. I’ll call you tomorrow when you’re back home.”

  Johnny didn’t reply.

  Nathaniel left the room to catch as much sleep as he could.