Freeze Frame

by Judith Rochelle

  She leaned her forehead against his chest. “I do. I’m just so scared for Mari and for the Wrights.”

  “I know. But let us get to Pelley and see what we can find out.”

  But Pelley had little information to give them. Tall and lean, with a thick shock of reddish brown hair and a neatly trimmed moustache, in his Armani suit he looked every inch the high profile executive. Even the worry lines creasing his forehead seemed to be etched in symmetrical fashion.

  They had decided to play this low-key, not rattle anyone’s cage yet. They needed to find out for sure if Pelley was somehow involved—not as farfetched as people might think—and a full court press wasn’t liable to get them much information. Maybe just the opposite.

  “I’m very familiar with your agency,” Pelley told them, “although I must say I didn’t expect to meet you quite this way.”

  “Have you tried your boss’s cell phone and the place he’s supposed to be staying?” Mike asked.

  “Yes. I tried his cell just before you I got here. Nothing. But let me try again.”

  He picked up the cell phone lying on his desk and speed dialed a number, holding the phone to his ear while the connection went through. After a minute he frowned again, disconnected and put the phone down. “No answer. I have to admit, that’s weird. Eli always has the phone on, even when it’s charging.”

  He rubbed the edges of his moustache between his thumb and forefinger, eyebrows drawn together. Despite those signs of worry, Mike felt the man was far too cool under the circumstances. His boss was out of touch for no known reason and he was far too calm.

  “What about the home where they’re staying?” Mike asked. “You said it belongs to a business associate? Rand Prescott? Did you call and see if they were there? Maybe the help there knows something. Maybe Eli Wright called from San Diego to change their arrival time.”

  Neither he nor Mark believed that was the case but again, it was the line they’d decided on.

  “Let me find out.” He pulled a scrolling telephone file toward himself and flipped through the cards until he found what he wanted. Mark and Mike waited while he dialed the number, then listened to Pelley’s side of the conversation as he questioned whoever answered. When he disconnected the call, he gave a good impression of someone suddenly very worried.

  “Nothing,” he told them. “They’re a little concerned themselves. They thought they’d get a phone call if the flight was delayed for any reason.”

  “Where’s Prescott now?” Mark asked.

  “I don’t know but I’m going to call his office and find out.”

  “Is it usual for your boss to be off the radar like this?” Mark asked, his voice tinged with curiosity. “A man who runs this kind of operation can’t just simply drop out of sight.”

  Pelley shook his head, frowning. “Not really,” he answered in an even voice, “although it’s happened a couple of times before. What worries me, though, is we can’t get in touch with the two private security guards who were with him. I haven’t heard from them and I can’t reach them, either.”

  “Do they work for Wright International or did you hire them from a firm?” Mark asked.

  “They’re on our staff. I called the man who runs the San Diego office and he’s headed into the city to see what he can find out.”

  He met the eyes of both men with a direct look but Mike had the feeling that it was a look he practiced every day. He was sure the man did an excellent job, whatever that job was, or he wouldn’t be Wright’s executive VP. But he wasn’t a man Mike would have put much trust in. He shrugged mentally. Maybe Eli Wright saw something different in him.

  All they had told Pelley when Mike called him was that Katherine was worried about her sister and could he, Pelley, get in touch with his boss and find out what was going on. It was time to feed him another nugget of information and see what his reaction was. “Are you aware the plane never left San Diego?”

  Pelley’s eyes narrowed. “I am now. I called the airfield. They told me they’d already spoken to you and to some woman.”

  “Mari Culhane’s sister,” Mike told him. “Someone—not necessarily the pilot—called and said they wouldn’t be needing it and to tie it down.”

  “That’s certainly not a good sign. I wonder why neither of the real pilots has called in.”

  “How big an office do you have in San Diego?” Mike asked.

  “A small one,” Pelley told him. “We don’t have a major facility there in any of our divisions, so it’s mostly just a place to process paperwork and take care of clients in the area.” He looked at his watch. “I’m trying to reach Harry Lombard who runs the place. His wife said he’s already left home, he’s not at his office yet and for some reason he’s not answering his cell.”

  “Would Wright have contacted him?”

  “You bet. He provided a young man to drive the vehicle and two security guards to trail them.”

  Mark frowned. “If he hasn’t heard from them, why isn’t anyone more upset?”

  Pelley shrugged. “It seems no one but the secretary was in the office all day, Len—the kid driving them—had another errand to run after he delivered the Wrights back to the airfield and the security guards would have gone on to their next assignment.”

  The two Phoenix agents exchanged a look.

  “Kind of a loose way to run an office, isn’t it?” Mike asked.

  “It’s just a satellite operation,” Pelley protested. “Besides, things like this don’t usually happen so no one would be expecting any trouble. If there has been any,” he added quickly.

  “Why don’t you give us this Harry’s numbers,” Mark said. “We’re heading out to San Diego ourselves and we’ll want to talk to him.”

  “All right but I’ll keep trying from here and call you as soon as he and I connect.”

  Pelley scribbled some numbers on a business card and held the card out. Mark took it and tucked it into his shirt pocket.

  “That’s the office, the house where they’re supposed to be and Eli’s personal cell phone. I’m going to keep trying from here.” He rose and extended his hand. “Please keep in touch, gentlemen. I’m hoping Eli just decided to play a little hooky in San Diego and didn’t want anyone to bother him.”

  Mark frowned at him. “A man with his responsibilities?”

  “Everyone needs a break now and then,” Pelley pointed out. “And he’s very comfortable leaving things in my hands. I’ve been with the company for fifteen years and I think I know it as well as he does.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Mike told him. He handed him a Phoenix card. “Our cell numbers are on the back. Call us the minute you hear from anyone.”

  He and Mark were silent while they took the elevator down to the underground parking lot. Neither of them spoke until they were in their SUV and out on the Interstate.

  “Am I being prejudiced here,” Mike said, “or is there something off-key about Ron Pelley?”

  “You’re not prejudiced,” Mark told him. “He’s hiding something. I just wish I knew if it had to do with the disappearance or was totally unrelated. A man like him is in position to do some major financial shenanigans where the company is concerned.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that he may not be involved in this. But he’s not off the hook with me.” Mike pressed a number on his cell. “I’m calling the airport to tell them to get the plane ready. We’ll head out there as soon as we check out Ryan Post. Do you need to pick anything up?”

  “My wife,” his friend laughed. “She’ll kill me if I go off and leave her. And Kat will put out a hit on you if you do the same.”

  “Crap. I wish there was somewhere to stash her while we do this. I don’t know exactly what we’ll find.”

  “Kat may be your best weapon,” Mark reminded him. “She can ‘see’ things for us that no one else can.”

  “You aren’t worried about taking Faith along?”

  “Are you kidding? Without her you guys never would have f
ound me. And don’t forget she shot one of the terrorists without batting an eyelash. No, I like having her in my corner. And fortunately, she’s between books right now and her next tour doesn’t start for three weeks.”

  Mike sighed heavily. “I’ve seen the way you guys interact with your wives and the missions they’ve helped with. I just—”

  “You just don’t want to admit you’re in love with this woman and your protective instincts have kicked in.”

  “Love?” Mike snapped a glance at him. “Me?”

  “Yes. And this time, don’t be such a jerk about it.”

  * * * * *

  They had all used the very crude and primitive facilities that passed for a bathroom and cleaned themselves up as best they could with the trickle of water from the one faucet in the sink. But dust and dirt still clung to them and the oppressive heat created trickles of perspiration on everyone’s body. Eli had talked quietly with the others, doing his best to keep them calm while he tried to figure out what to do.

  Maybe I can talk them into just keeping me and letting the women go.

  But his gut told them that suggestion wouldn’t fly. If they wanted money, the more bargaining chips these men had the better.

  After debating whether the food was drugged and should be left alone, they decided to go ahead and eat.

  “We especially need the water,” Mari pointed out. “Otherwise we’ll get too dehydrated and it will sap our strength.”

  “You’re right,” Eli agreed. “We’re going to need that strength and I can’t see any reason why they’d put drugs in our food. They needed to do it before to get us here without any problems. But now we’re here, where can we go?”

  “Do you think people are looking for us yet?” Sydney asked, panic curling around the edge of her words.

  “Absolutely. When we don’t arrive at Waikiki, or check in with anyone, they’ll be all over this.” He made himself sound as confident as possible.

  Eli knew his wife was trying to maintain a calm front for Lissa and Mari and he could do no less. He smiled at her, this woman he loved so much and silently cursed that somehow he’d been the one to put her and the others in such jeopardy. He was sure he was the target. These days anyone with the kind of financial resources he had was fair game and he should have provided better protection for all of them.

  The Phoenix Agency had contacted him three or four times about training their security people and he’d kept putting them off. There hadn’t seemed to be any sense of urgency to get it done and before today he’d been satisfied with what his own people could do. But Phoenix had the best reputation in the business. Others who used them said they trained men as if they were going into combat, prepared for absolutely anything.

  If they got out of this alive—and he couldn’t allow himself to believe anything else—that would be the first call he made.

  “We’ll be fine,” Mari chimed in. “And I can guarantee you, when my sister doesn’t hear from me, she’ll call out everyone but the National Guard.” Her smile too, was forced. “Maybe them too.”

  “I’m good, Daddy,” Lissa told him. “We’ll get out of this. You can handle anything.”

  “Thanks, kiddo.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “But somehow I have the feeling all of this is my fault.”

  “Oh, no, Eli,” Sydney said quickly.

  “Mr. Wright, that’s ridiculous,” Mari added. “You even had security guards with us.”

  “Yeah. Fat lot of good they did. I should have—”

  Before he could finish they heard the shifting of the wood outside and the door slammed open. Two of the men who had brought them stood there, now in filthy fatigues with what Eli was sure were AK47s pointing at them. The women scrabbled back into a corner and Eli placed himself in front of them.

  Here goes nothing.

  “Whatever you want,” he said, “take me and let the women go. I can be very valuable to you by myself.”

  The man on the left spat on the dirt floor. “You are all valuable.” His eyes moved to each person in turn, then back to Eli, gesturing threatening with the gun. “I am Pedro. I am in charge of you.” He swept the gun from side to side. “All of you. You will do exactly as I tell you.” He jerked his head at the man with him. This is Enrique. He will also be your…friend.”

  Eli tried to ignore the cold knot that had settled in his stomach. “And if we don’t? What will you do, shoot us? We’re no good to you dead.”

  Pedro lifted his lips in what was a caricature of a smile. “I don’t need to kill you, señor, to make my point. I can hurt you very, very badly. Starting with the women. Is that what you want me to do?”

  Sydney stepped forward to stand beside Eli? “What is it you want us to do? Why are we here?”

  “You’re going to be television stars,” he told them. “We’re going to make a little video here to send to some people. We want to make sure your friends know we’re taking good care of you. No one pays for damaged goods.” Raising his voice he yelled, “Come on, asshole. We haven’t got all day.”

  In a moment a man in jeans and t-shirt, carrying a video camera and a newspaper, hurried into the hut. Enrique took the paper from him and gave it to Eli.

  “Hold this so the front page shows,” he commanded. Roughly, he yanked each woman to stand in a line with Eli and Sydney. “No talking,” he warned.

  Eli wanted to punch the man in the nose but he had the women to think of.

  So. This was definitely a kidnapping and they were arranging to send a proof of life. Eli had read stories about enough other high profile, wealthy people who had been taken, held until the money was received and in many cases set free. In some, not. At the moment he had no choice but to go along with whatever was happening. As long as whoever was paying the ransom demanded proof of life, the kidnappers had to keep them alive and in relatively good condition.

  Lissa flinched as Pedro tugged at her arm with his less than clean hand, pulling her into place. Sydney and Mari stepped up without being touched. Pedro pushed Eli into the middle and gave him the newspaper.

  “Smile for the camera,” he taunted.

  Eli could see how pale all the women were, as well as exhausted but he was proud of each of them for holding their heads up high and refusing to let their dignity be taken from them.

  The man with the camera took shots of them as a group, then zoomed in on each person individually and finally on the newspaper with the banner showing the date. When he was finished, he nodded at Pedro and walked out.

  “There are guards outside,” Pedro informed them. “Your best bet at the moment is to do everything we tell you to. We’ll see how much people think you’re worth.”

  He backed out, the other man with him and slammed the door into place.

  “Daddy?” Lissa’s voice was unsteady. “They really aren’t going to kill us, are they?”

  Eli pulled her against him, hugging her. “Not if I have anything to do about it.”

  “But what can you do?” his wife asked, her own voice slightly shaky.

  “My sister will start shaking some trees, if she already hasn’t,” Mari told her. “Believe me. These guys won’t know what hit them.”

  But first they have to find us, Eli thought but refrained from saying it out loud.

  Everyone was doing their best to hold it together and he didn’t need to shatter their fragile composure by pointing out the obvious. He was a resourceful man, with personal strength that had allowed him to grow Wright International to its present size. He’d have to figure out if any of those skills could get them out of what was a steadily deteriorating situation.

  Chapter Six

  “Do you have the video?” the man known as Rip asked the person on the other end of the phone call. His nerves were fraying and he wanted this damn thing over as soon as possible.

  “I’m insulted you even ask,” Nando answered. “We’re getting ready to email it in a minute.”

  “This has to be timed just right,” R
ip reminded him. “Hit all the key people as simultaneously as possible.”

  “Just be sure to play your part,” Nando ordered.

  “Get off my back, okay? I have more at stake here than you do.”

  “Just making sure there are no slip-ups on your end. You know what you have to do. This has been discussed over and over. The plan is made. Follow it.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this over with.”

  Rip snapped the cell phone shut and tossed it onto his desk. Waiting for the two men from the Phoenix Agency hadn’t done a lot for his nerves and their conversation was even worse. He just hoped he’d pulled it off. At least he wasn’t the only one they were focusing on. And maybe they’d think him the least likely one, if he was lucky.

  Shit!

  Never in his life did he think he’d be in bed with a drug dealer cum kidnapper. But a rampant taste for high-priced call girls and any form of gambling had put him financially between a rock and a hard place. Little did he know his habits had been carefully noted and he’d been targeted. Since when did drug dealers become entrepreneurs in the world of crime? Rip thought they just sold drugs and killed people.

  At that last thought his stomach cramped. If Eli Wright or any of the people with him were murdered, the police wouldn’t stop looking until they had their answers, no matter who they caught in their net. He could only be invisible for just so long.

  Shit!

  Once he got out of this he was taking his share and leaving for an isolated island someplace, no matter what.

  Picking up his mug of coffee, he went to stand by the huge window facing east, looking at the view below and waiting for the next step in this disaster to take place.

  * * * * *

  Mike made sure Kat was fully settled in the cabin before heading into the cockpit. She’d been checking her cell phone constantly just in case somehow she’d missed a call from Mari.

  “Your phone’s rung several times,” Mike pointed out. “Is it possible some of them were from her and she somehow got cut off?”