“Oh, my,” I whispered.
“Figured you would like them,” he replied, sticking his feet in the water and handing me my first cookie. Jack laughed at me as I groaned at the cookie’s nummy-ness.
“Thank you,” I said after I was done. I wanted to eat another but I chose to ration them out. Jack, on the other hand, ate all three of his. The man ate whatever he wanted and never had to worry about gaining an ounce. I, however, had struggled with food issues for two decades.
“You are welcome,” he replied and giggled.
“What?”
“The little fishies.”
For several minutes we sat in silence, looking out at the calm water. The sun was warm and I turned my face towards it and let the feeling of serenity wash over me.
I opened my eyes in the cell and before that sense of serenity rushed out of me, I spoke.
“I don’t blame you, Jack.”
He raised his face to me. “You have to,” he said, his words dull.
“No, I don’t,” I insisted. “It’s the situation. You weren’t expecting those terms.” Who could expect that? All along we thought a ransom demand would be made and then we’d be free. Now, it looked as if we were meant to rot in this hell. I shuddered at the thought. “Please, Jack.” I felt myself losing the struggle with my emotions. I didn’t want to appear even weaker in front of our captors but for Jack’s sake, I was willing to sacrifice myself. “I don’t blame you and I need you to be strong for me.”
“I will always blame myself for them hurting you but I will not let it beat me down until we are free of this hell,” he said after a few moments.
“We will be freed,” I said. “You have to see your children again.” He nodded and I was confident I’d gotten through to him.
I was exhausted and in pain. My hands were above my head and when I slumped in my cuffs, I jarred the one that was burned. My pain tolerance, which was normally high, weakened with the ordeal and I wanted to cry again. It took a lot of energy and focus to move my mind beyond the pain. When it dulled a bit, I looked up at my hand and my stomach churned. There were raw parts and blistered parts and even a few bloody spots among a scattering of charred skin, a definite combination of second and third degree burns. I tore my gaze away from my hand; it didn’t help my struggle to keep staring at the damage.
If there had been a clock in the room, its ticking would have driven me crazy. Instead, not knowing how much time had passed had the same effect. CNN had to show the video, right? If they knew Jack would be harmed, they had to comply. They just had to. My stomach boiled, however, at the thought of them not showing the video. I didn’t want the world to witness Jack in such a state. It would be humiliating, no doubt, and I prayed none of the children would see it, not even Millie.
The pain in my stomach worsened and I knew vomiting was inevitable. When the time came, all I could do was lean over and try to aim for the floor. I was partly successful. Only a little bile came up but the dry heaving on my still painful ribs and head was too much and I must have passed out from the pain because the next thing I knew, a hard boot was prodding my thigh.
“Sleeping Beauty is awake and just in time,” William said. I was confused and looked at Jack. The frightened look on his face said all I needed to know.
The video had not been shown.
Vivienne set up the video camera as the male captors pulled on black ski masks. Landon removed Jack from the handcuffs and pulled him to his feet. He held Jack’s arms behind his back and then the beating started. First William and then James would hit Jack who tried to fight back but was in no physical condition to do so. Hard punches landed on his bearded face, his chest and lower abdomen. I wanted to scream at them, tell them to stop but my voice was paralyzed. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. Soon, Jack was bleeding from both the nose and mouth. Landon twirled a dazed Jack around and shoved him hard into the wall, then landed three hard punches to Jack’s lower back. When Landon stepped away, Jack dropped hard to the floor. He was moaning and breathing hard. William pulled Jack roughly to his knees and spoke into the camera.
“You have one hour or this becomes even worse. We won’t stop at just bumps and bruises.”
Vivienne turned the video camera off and gave it to Landon who left the cell. William pulled off his ski mask and stalked over to me. I couldn’t help but try and shrink back against the brick wall. He removed my cuffs and yanked me up to my rubbery legs.
“Your turn,” he sneered and threw me hard towards the floor near Jack. I kept my burnt right hand close to my body and put my left one out to break my fall. When I hit, it was at an awkward angle and I heard a sick crack from my wrist followed by sharp pain. The landing also knocked the breath out of me and I struggled to breathe for several moments. I was a foot or so away from Jack and I looked to him for help. He was so battered but his eyes were calming and I was able to catch my breath. His eyes moved from my face to something behind me and his eyes widened in fear. Before I could turn around, I felt a hand around my ankle and I was pulled away from Jack.
James yanked my left arm straight and the pain in my broken wrist caused me to cry out. He kneeled on my elbow to keep me from moving. It hurt and I couldn’t help but struggle. I froze, however, when I saw what William had in his hands – a sledgehammer. He raised it above his head and like a strongman at the carnival trying to ring the bell, he brought it down hard on my left hand. It came down across my knuckles and wiped the pain out of my wrist. The sledgehammer came down a second time and smashed into my index, middle and ring fingers. The third hit landed square on the top of my hand. I had never screamed that loud ever and pain ricocheted around in my throat.
William stepped back and James stood.
“You bastards,” I heard Jack say. My whole body started to shake from shock. My right hand had been burned and my left broken. I turned my head towards Jack but again, he wasn’t looking at me. “Please, no,” he begged with fear in his voice. I thought they were going to go after him with the sledgehammer but that wasn’t the case.
This time, my right arm was stretched out and James immobilized it. I was in such shock I couldn’t even scream as my burned hand was smashed three times. James got up and pulled me into a sitting position and slammed me back against the wall. He extended my left arm and Vivienne approached one more time with her butane torch. I found my scream as my broken hand was uncurled and then the flame held to my palm. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room a second time. The smile on Vivienne’s face was so sadistic but I couldn’t turn my gaze away from her. It was all so unbelievable despite the immense pain I was in.
“That’s enough, Vivi,” William said and she stepped back. The two maniacs exchanged a kiss. “The network has one hour to show the first video. If they don’t comply this time, the sledgehammer will get another workout.” He and his henchmen left the cell. A heavy silence was left in their wake.
I was dazed. I felt the pain but also didn’t feel it. My heart raced and I heard the jackhammer sound of it in my ears. I shook hard and the cold we’d been feeling every day in the cell penetrated my core.
Penny… Penny… Penny… I heard my name over and over but the room swirled around me. A face appeared in front of me. It was a familiar face. Kind of. There was a dark brown beard and matted wavy hair. A bloody nose and a split lip. Those were not usually found on the face. I looked at the eyes. They were brown, dark brown. I knew those eyes. Penny… Penny… Penny…
With a piercing series of stabs, the barrier between pain and numbness crumbled and I felt as if my hands were being ground against the millions of sharp razor blades I was pissing and then dunked in hot lava. I wanted to scream but when I sucked in my breath to do so, it stuck in my chest along with my breath. I couldn’t breathe. Despite the pain in my hands, I reached out to grasp at… What? What was I trying to grab? Air? To shove it down my airway? I saw stars before my eyes and when the black pool of nothingness reached out for me, I eagerly fell in.
&nb
sp; * * *
Chapter 12
Danny sat on the floor of the small half bath, his stomach in spasms. The more he thought about what he watched, the more painful his stomach churned and he bent over the toilet again and dry heaved for a good five minutes.
“Damn,” he whispered and wilted back against the wood wainscoting. When Danny closed his eyes, the horrible images reappeared. When he first saw the man, he didn’t even recognize him but as soon as he spoke, he knew it was his brother. The relief at knowing Jack was at least alive diminished with both his appearance and the words spoken. Jack looked awful, greasy and gray with a full beard. His eyes were so dull. According to Millie, he was wearing the same clothes as the day before Thanksgiving.
I am not being held for ransom. No money or valuable goods will be exchanged for my freedom. There will never be an opportunity to negotiate my release. Jack’s voice was weak when he said those words; they didn’t register with Danny right away. It wasn’t until Millie reacted did he understand what was said. They had everything ready for a possible ransom payout but that was futile now. Whoever held Jack had no intention of exchanging him for money.
“Why?!” Millie had screamed. “Why are they doing this?!”
Danny had no answer.
The video originally played on CNN but within five minutes, the other news stations picked it up. What they hadn’t picked up, nor did CNN show, was the second video. That video was shown to Danny and Millie on Agent Reynolds’s laptop. After watching both videos over and over, Millie had a complete meltdown and a few minutes later, Danny ran to the half bath and started vomiting. It was all just too much.
Danny’s movements were slow as he got to his feet and rinsed his mouth out. He knew he had to go back out into the living room to find out what the next step was but he was afraid. He pulled out his cellphone and sent a text to Carlos, the band’s bassist. He and his wife Tracy were watching the kids and Danny wanted to make sure they kept them away from the television and internet. Danny had no idea how he was going to explain this new development to the kids.
When he walked out to the family room, only Millie was there. She sat on the edge of the couch, her focus intent on the large padded ottoman in front of her. The room was toasty from the fire on the hearth but Danny was cold. He sat on the ottoman. Millie didn’t even appear to notice him. She was shaking and her face pale. He reached over and took her hand. She looked at him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just don’t know what to think or do or…” Millie’s voice trailed off.
“I don’t know either.” Danny’s phone beeped. It was a text from Agent Reynolds. “They want us in the conference room if we’re up to it.”
The family had returned to Voorhees the day after Thanksgiving. To try and shelter the children, it was decided to set the FBI up in the studio conference room and keep the main house as normal as possible. That was a difficult thing to do, however, with Crystal and her histrionics. By the end of the first week, everyone was glad to see her return to Atlantic City. A junior agent was assigned to her but the main agents in charge of the investigation, along with their superior, made the studio’s conference room their headquarters.
Both Danny and Millie found the two main agents focused. Both in their thirties, Betsy Reynolds was the senior of the two and her intensity both intimidated those around her but put Danny at ease as that intensity morphed into extreme focus and professionalism. To the point but also human, everyone knew exactly where she stood. Robert McLey, a few inches shy of his tall and brunette partner, was just as focused but with a quiet manner. Because of this, the children took to him first but eventually, they also grew to trust Agent Reynolds.
Danny appreciated how hard Agents Reynolds and McLey worked the difficult and frustrating case. He did not, however, appreciate Senior Agent Kolecki. She was rude, narrow minded, and insisted on interviewing all the children individually in those first couple of days. Danny and Millie fought, and lost, the demand they be allowed to sit in on the interviews. Each child came out of the interview in tears and deeply affected. Little Sofie had been traumatized the most and since her interview, she had not spoken.
Danny had given Kolecki a piece of his mind but the bitch had not been swayed at all. She reiterated her belief that this was a case of a rich, spoiled celebrity faking his disappearance to run off with the ‘help.’ At that point, Danny was glad Kolecki was a woman as that was the only thing that kept him from decking her. He was not a violent person but he found himself struggling with violent thoughts when it came to her.
It didn’t matter what anyone said to the wiry, silver haired woman. She was convinced her theory was the correct one. She pegged Jack as a stereotypical rocker who lived fast and loose with a woman in every city and covered in tattoos. It was Millie’s turn to scream at the woman, telling her Jack was a boring individual who had remained faithful to Crystal since meeting her in high school and would never get a tattoo because of his Jewish beliefs and out of respect for relatives who both survived and were murdered in the Holocaust.
Agent Kolecki waved Millie off and then began her character assassination of Penny. Where the woman had been rude in regards to Jack, she was vicious with Penny. She had the FBI technicians pack everything up from Penny’s room and take it to be analyzed along with the contents of the built-in desk Penny used in the kitchen. Kolecki refused to believe Penny was a victim even though there was no evidence found to indicate she wasn’t. Crystal latched on to this thought early and every chance she had, was cursing Penny for her supposed involvement in the kidnapping.
And then the video came in. They knew Jack was alive but they had no idea if Penny was. Kolecki was quite smug when Danny asked about her. “If she wasn’t involved with the kidnappers, why isn’t she shown on the video?” she questioned.
“Danny?” Millie called his name and he tore himself away from the memories of the awful investigation that had gone absolutely nowhere. “Shall we go?”
“Yes,” he replied and together they walked through the chilly air to the studio. Danny was shocked when he walked into the conference room. Agents Reynolds and McLey were packing up their things. “What’s going on?”
“In light of the video and knowing for sure that we’re dealing with a kidnapping,” Agent Reynolds explained and stopped packing, “Director Allen has formed a task force.”
“That should have happened right away,” Danny said. Although McLey and Reynolds tried to talk some sense into their superior, she had cut them off at almost every pass. A lot of time had been wasted in the first couple weeks of the investigation.
“We don’t disagree with you,” said McLey and motioned for Millie and Danny to sit at the table. “The Director has relieved Agent Kolecki of her duties. Betsy and I will be in charge and the Director is assigning some of the best agents to us.”
“Then why are you packing up?” Millie asked.
“We’ll be working out of the Philly office,” Bob continued. “With a much larger team, we’ll need the resources there. The security detail that’s covering the neighborhood and your family will stay in place and don’t be afraid to call us no matter what time. We want to make sure your family is both safe and reunited.”
“The Director has also authorized our best psychiatrist to help with the kids should Dr. Abraham need assistance,” Reynolds said and Danny saw her face soften. Both agents had earned the trust of the kids. Due to the situation, however, Danny and Millie decided to just go with Dr. Abraham since he was a family friend and they trusted him.
“What happens next and what about Penny?” asked Danny.
“We start all over,” McLey replied with a frustrated sigh. “We look at what clues we have more thoroughly along with all the tips.”
“And Penny?” Danny reiterated.
“You know we’ve always considered her a victim and we will continue with that belief unless something tells us otherwise,” Reynolds said.
“We don’t even know
if she’s alive,” Millie noted in a shaky voice.
“She is,” Danny insisted. “She has to be.”
. . .
The house was quiet. Millie stood at the wide bow window that overlooked the sloping front lawn. Parked at the curb was the white van and even though she knew it held people who were there to protect the family, Millie still felt afraid.
“You should have put the security gate in, brat,” she whispered. “The kids would feel safer.” She paused a moment. “I would feel safer.”
Carlos and Tracy brought the children back after lunch and Danny and Millie gently told them about the first video. Sasha was allowed to watch the video since he was the oldest – but not the beating video – but the younger kids were barred. Everyone was relieved that they at least knew their father was alive. When they asked about Penny, Millie and Danny were truthful. We don’t know.
The only child not to react was Little Sofie. She was locked in her own world. It was almost like she was regressing since being interrogated by Agent Kolecki. She stopped speaking and had so many bathroom accidents Millie needed to put a diaper on the four-year-old. She stopped feeding herself and wouldn’t fall asleep unless Millie was next to her. She clung to Millie and Danny and if they needed to meet with the FBI, she would only let Sasha touch her.
None of the kids returned to school after the kidnapping under the advice of Agents Reynolds and McLey. Millie was torn with this. She wanted the kids to be safe but she thought they would benefit from being on a routine they were used to. Depending on how the investigation went, they would try to send the kids back to school after the holidays. Millie hoped this hell would be resolved by then.
After telling the kids about their father, she had made a big spaghetti dinner for the kids using the homemade sauce Penny canned and then got them all into bed afterwards. Millie had no idea how Penny ran the house so smoothly; she had barely been able to get the kids fed every day and Danny moved into the house to help. Somehow, together, they were providing for their nieces and nephews. As opposed to after the car accident, this time was so much harder. Before, they knew Jack and Penny would heal and everything would return to normal, for the most part, but this time, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, just scary darkness.
Deceptions Page 12
