Precious Stones

by Darrien Lee

  “It’s not enough. Every second that man has my daughter pisses me off even more. I need you to find a name that goes with that gold SUV. Call me as soon as possible with any updates.”

  Before Neil could respond, Ramsey disappeared out the emergency room doors.

  Kyle looked over at Neil and said, “He’s going to kill somebody tonight. I can’t say I blame him, either, because I would love to get my hands on him too. I just pray whoever took Neariah is not a pervert or murderer.”

  Neil shook his head and said, “I’d better get back out on the streets. I might get lucky and find the SUV. Call me when Tori gets out of surgery, and keep me posted on Keilah too.”

  The two friends hugged before going their separate ways.

  Outside in the parking lot, Ramsey’s mind was moving a thousand miles an hour. He climbed inside his vehicle and sat there, contemplating calling his parents and Keilah’s family. He wanted the opportunity to get his daughter back and spare them any unnecessary heartache, but in his heart he knew they had a right to know. Unfortunately, if he informed them about what was going on, they would want to be involved, making it harder for him to find and eliminate the kidnapper. No, this needed to be handled delicately, and there was only one person close to him that he could trust to be discreet, and lethal, and to strike quickly if needed without leaving a trace of evidence.

  Ramsey picked up his cell phone and dialed his brother-in-law’s number. When he answered, Ramsey didn’t waste any time asking for help.

  “Keytone, it’s Ramsey. I need your help.”

  “Sure, man, whatever you need.”

  “No, you don’t understand,” Ramsey replied. “I need you on the company jet en route to D.C. in thirty minutes or less.”

  “Whoa! Slow down, Ramsey. What’s wrong? You don’t sound too good.”

  He sighed and said, “It’s bad, bro. Somebody attacked Keilah with a stun gun at the zoo and kidnapped Neariah.”

  Keytone was silent on the other end of the phone for several seconds, and then in a chilling voice, he answered, “Don’t you worry about a goddamn thing. I’ll call you when I land. Just have me a piece locked and loaded so we can turn D.C. upside down until we find my niece and bury the bastard that dared to put his hands on either one of them.”

  Ramsey hung up the telephone, sped out of the parking lot, and drove back to his home, where he checked his firearms and ammunition. As he sat in the family room, he noticed Neariah’s favorite doll sitting on the sofa. He also noticed that Target was sitting by the door, staring at it, waiting for Keilah and Neariah to walk in.

  “Come here, boy,” he called out to his shepherd, who trotted over to him so he could pet him and then hurried back over to the door. Tears stung Ramsey’s eyes, but he fought them back and concentrated on the task at hand.

  He’d called the hospital several times to check on Keilah and Tori. Now he called Kyle, who let him talk to Keilah, who was still hysterical, causing her blood pressure to rise and therefore putting their unborn child at risk, so she was finally sedated to calm her down.

  Kyle stepped out of Keilah’s room into the hallway and said, “The detectives told Neil they got footage of the attack from security cameras in the parking lot. Neil said it was a little grainy, but they’re going to run it on the news and hope someone comes forward with information. I told him to e-mail it to you. You should have it by now.”

  “Thanks, Kyle,” Ramsey answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Ramsey, have you thought about offering a reward? You know how people are about money. People will turn in their mother for a nice chunk of change.”

  “What do you think is reasonable, without going overboard and without appearing cheap?”

  Kyle thought for second, because he knew his best friend was dying a slow death every second Neariah wasn’t home. “I say start with a hundred thousand dollars for information and capture. I know you’ll pay whatever it takes to get Neariah home, but we don’t want a lot of idiots coming out of the woodwork, either. All they will do is waste valuable time and personnel,” he pointed out.

  “Can you handle it for me and get it out to the media ?” Ramsey asked as he rubbed his weary eyes.

  “You bet. I’ll have it on the wire in ten minutes.”

  “Thank you, Kyle. Give the girls my love, and let Keilah know I’m working hard to find Neariah.”

  “She already knows that, bro.”

  “I’ll check back in with you a little later. Call me if anything changes.”

  Ramsey walked over to his laptop and powered it up. He saw the e-mail from Neil, but before watching the footage of the attack, he took a deep breath. He hit the PLAY button, and as he watched, he saw the gold SUV enter the parking lot and park down from Keilah. He also saw what looked like Tori’s vehicle pull in. What happened next seemed like it was on fast-forward. He cringed when he saw Keilah fall to the ground and the man grab Neariah. Watching Tori hang on to the speeding vehicle was just as hard, especially when her small body was thrown into the parked car as the SUV exited the parking lot. The video was a little grainy, but he watched it over and over again, looking for anything that he might’ve missed the previous time. Then he picked up the phone and called his parents for added strength. He had thought he could handle it on his own, but he was wrong.

  “Daddy?”

  “Hello, son. How are you?” Marion asked.

  “Not good, Daddy. Something’s happened, and I want you and Mom to know about it before you see it on the news.”

  Concerned, Marion put his cigar down and sat up in his recliner.

  “What is it, Ramsey?”

  “Keilah was attacked this morning at the zoo, and Neariah was kidnapped. Keilah is at the hospital, but the doctors said she’ll be okay. I can’t deal with this alone, Dad. If anything happens to my daughter, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Say no more,” Marion replied as he stood. “Your mother and I will be there as soon as we can. Give me name of the hospital Keilah’s in so we can be there for you.”

  Ramsey gave his father the name of the hospital and all the information about the video of the assault and what the police had done so far. Before hanging up, Ramsey told him that no one in Keilah’s family knew except one brother, who was presently en route to D.C.

  “Son, Keilah’s family deserves to know what’s going on.”

  “I don’t want to worry them, and I’m trying to get Neariah back before they have to know.”

  Marion took a breath and said, “How would you feel if you were left out of the loop? I strongly urge you to call them. They will want to be here to help as well.”

  Ramsey looked at his watch and realized that Keytone would be landing shortly and said, “I’ll think about it, Dad. Call me when you get to the hospital.”

  Marion assured him he would, and Ramsey grabbed his keys and headed out the door and to the airport.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Across town, Michael and Madeline settled on her sofa to watch a little TV, but they were interrupted when a breaking news story about an AMBER Alert issued for a small child was aired. Michael handed Madeline a glass of wine and watched as a picture of the missing child appeared on the screen and then the video of the assault and kidnapping was played. Michael studied the entire video clip, and then he whispered, “Son of bitch.”

  “What is it, babe?” Madeline asked when she saw Michael’s strong reaction to the news story.

  He sat his wineglass down and said “I have to go.”

  She jumped up and asked, “Where are you going?”

  He pulled her into his arms and gave her a loving kiss on the lips. “I have to take care of some business I forgot about,” he said with a smile.

  Concerned, Madeline said, “I know something’s wrong. Does it involve Lieutenant Colonel Biggs?”

  Michael let out a breath, walked over to the desk, and pulled out a pen, a sheet of paper, and an envelope. He wrote a short note on
the paper, sealed it in the envelope, and then wrote a name and a number on the envelope. Before handing the envelope to Madeline, he said, “No, sweetheart, but if I’m not back home by dawn, contact this man at this number and give him this note.”

  “You’re scaring me, Michael,” she answered as she stroked his cheek.

  He smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Okay?”

  “I don’t know where you’re going, but if you get yourself hurt, I’m going to be very upset with you.”

  “I know. Trust me, babe. I love you,” he announced as he closed the front door behind him.

  Madeline stood there in shock. He had said something she had been feeling about him since they had met. In her heart she knew Michael was her match, and she loved him as well. Praying for his safe return was all that mattered to her right now. In the meantime she would calm her nerves with the wine and hope he would be back soon.

  Michael sped across town, then pulled into a quiet neighborhood he was very familiar with. He calmed himself and said a prayer before walking up to the door and ringing the doorbell. The door slowly cracked open, and Michael could see that Kevin looked disheveled.

  “What are you doing here?” Kevin asked.

  “Aren’t you going to let me in?” Michael asked.

  “Why? So you can attack me again?”

  Michael hesitated and then said, “I’m not going to attack you. I’m here to apologize.”

  Still talking through the crack in the door, Kevin pointed out the obvious. “You could’ve called if you wanted to apologize. You didn’t have to drive all the way over here.”

  “That’s true, but I felt like I needed to do it face-to-face. Come on, Kevin, this is ridiculous. Are you going to let me in or not?” Michael asked.

  “It’s really not a good time. I’m busy.”

  “If you have company, it’s cool. I just need a few minutes, and I’ll be out of your way. I promise.”

  “Wait here for a second,” Kevin replied as he closed the door.

  Michael didn’t know what Kevin was doing behind closed doors, but he would find out once he got inside the house. He’d see if his gut feeling was true. If he was wrong, no harm done. He would just make up an excuse for his unexpected visit. But if he was right, he was the best person to get close to Kevin and make things right. Getting the police involved without confirmation could bring the situation to a tragic end.

  At the airport, Ramsey met Keytone as he exited the plane. He gave Ramsey a hug and asked, “How’s Keilah? Is there any word on Neariah?”

  “Not yet,” Ramsey answered as they quickly climbed into his vehicle. Ramsey tightly gripped the steering wheel. “I saw surveillance footage from the zoo, and it looked like Keilah was targeted. He walked right up and hit her with that stun gun.”

  With calmness in his voice, Keytone asked, “Do you have my piece?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the console.”

  Keytone checked the weapon and asked, “Do you think it’s about money?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I had Kyle offer a hundred-thousand-dollar reward on our behalf, so hopefully somebody will come forward with information on where to find her. My mind is going in a million different directions right now.”

  Keytone looked at Ramsey and saw the stress and anguish on his face. Keytone was living through his own hell, knowing his sister had been hurt and niece had been kidnapped, but all he could think about right now was the job at hand. Finding Neariah and the man who had kidnapped her was his number one priority, so he had to be his brother-in-law’s strength in his time of weakness.

  “Where are we going to first?” Keytone asked as he checked the clip in the nine-millimeter handgun.

  “I figured we should go back out to the zoo to see if we can find any evidence the police may have overlooked. Then I want to put a plea out with the media for anyone to come forward if they know someone who has a child all of a sudden, one that they didn’t have before. The police are trying to see if they can clean up the video more to make out the license plate on the perpetrator’s vehicle. The police detective on the case is monitoring the Crime Stoppers tip line and our home telephone number. He said he would call if they get any calls.”

  “Cool. How’s Keilah?”

  Ramsey shook his head and said, “She’s messed up. They had to sedate her.”

  “She’s been through a lot. You both have. Once we get Neariah back, you guys really need to call it quits. Do you feel me?” Keytone asked.

  Ramsey nodded and said, “Right now I can’t think past getting my daughter back.” At that moment Ramsey’s cell phone rang. He answered quickly and prayed for good news.

  “Ramsey, it’s Kyle. We might have a break.”

  “What is it?” Ramsey asked as pulled into a gas station and put his phone on speaker so Keytone could hear the conversation.

  “A call just came in at your office from a woman who said she needed to talk to you and that it was urgent.”

  “Who was it?” Ramsey asked.

  “She wouldn’t give her name or any information. She said she would only talk to you.”

  “Does it have anything to do with Neariah?”

  “I don’t know,” Kyle replied. “She seemed pretty upset.”

  “Did she leave a number?” Ramsey asked with urgency in his voice.

  “Yes, I have it.”

  Ramsey looked over at Keytone and said, “Get a pen and notepad out of the glove compartment.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Kyle asked.

  “Just one of my brothers-in-law,” he answered. “Okay, what’s the number?”

  Kyle recited the number to Ramsey and instructed him to call the woman as soon as they finished their conversation. In the meantime he would research the number to put an address and name to it.

  Before hanging up, Ramsey informed Kyle that his parents were on the way to the hospital to be with Keilah, so he could concentrate solely on Tori. After disconnecting the call, he dialed the number of the unknown female caller and anxiously waited for her to answer. His wait wasn’t long, because she picked up on the first ring.

  “Ramsey Stone?” she asked.

  “Yes. How can I help you?”

  “I’m not sure, but my boyfriend gave me an envelope to give you if he wasn’t home by dawn, but I’m afraid to wait that long. I think he might be in some kind of trouble, and I’m worried he might get himself killed,” she explained.

  “Who’s your boyfriend?” Ramsey asked.

  “Michael Monroe. He left my house about an hour ago, saying he had to take care of some business, after seeing a news report about a kidnapping. What’s going on, Mr. Stone?”

  “Get her name,” Keytone whispered.

  “What is your name?” Ramsey asked her.

  “My name is Madeline Savoi.”

  Keytone jotted down her name next to her telephone number while Ramsey spoke to her.

  “Madeline, Michael and I know each other. This is very important. I need you to open the envelope and tell me what it says.”

  With her hands trembling and tears spilling out of her eyes, Madeline opened the envelope and began to read the letter to Ramsey.

  Ramsey,

  I think I know who has your daughter. If my suspicions are correct, I feel like it’s my responsibility to get her back safely to you and Keilah. If for some reason I’m unsuccessful, have the police go to the following address, 742 Oak Street.

  Michael

  “That’s it,” Madeline said as she held the letter in her hand.

  “Madeline, do you know who lives on Oak Street?” Ramsey asked.

  “No, I don’t. Please, Mr. Stone. What has Michael gotten himself mixed up in?”

  Ramsey put his vehicle in drive as Keytone punched the address into the GPS system.

  “I’m not sure, but I appreciate you calling with this information. I’ll call you back as soon as I find out.”

  “Please make sure
Michael doesn’t get hurt,” she pleaded with Ramsey before hanging up the phone.

  “This might be the break we’ve been waiting on, bro,” Keytone stated as Ramsey sped down the highway.

  Kevin stood back and allowed Michael to walk inside. When he entered the living room, he noticed several suitcases near the door and boxes with items packed inside.

  “Are you going somewhere?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah, I need a change of scenery.”

  Michael sat down and asked, “Where are you going?”

  Kevin nervously said, “I’m going back home for a while. I need some time to get my head together so I can decide what I want to do with my life.”

  Michael looked around and noticed that Kevin had even taken the pictures off the wall and that all the doors to the bedrooms were closed. “That might be a good idea. You haven’t seen your parents in a while. The trip will be good for you.”

  Kevin walked over to the front door and put his hand on the doorknob and said, “I really have a lot of packing to do, so if you’re here to apologize, thanks, but I have things to do.”

  “Why are you acting so weird? Are you going to get me a beer or something?”

  “I would, but I’m all out and I still have a lot of packing to do.”

  Michael stood and said, “Okay, I’ll get out of your way, but I am sorry things went down like they did. I really was confused about who I was and didn’t mean to drag you into my turmoil.”

  Kevin opened the door and said, “Me too.”

  Just as Michael took a step toward the door, his suspicion swere realized, as he heard the faint cry of a baby.

  “Is that a baby?” Michael asked as he turned and walked toward the bedroom.

  Kevin nervously said, “Yes, I’m babysitting for a friend of mine.”

  “What friend?” Michael asked as he quietly entered the bedroom. Kevin had a small portable crib, diapers, and all the works for the baby set up in the spare bedroom.

  “You don’t know her. She’s a neighbor,” he answered.