by Barbara Gee
The hours dragged as midnight approached. Tuck was conflicted. He knew a video link meant more suffering for Madison and that was the last thing he wanted, and yet contact with Jimmy was the only way they could get any more clues.
It was the worst situation Tuck could imagine, and by the time his phone buzzed with a text from Jimmy he once again felt a murderous rage that he was barely able to control.
You ready to make a deal, Agent Simon?
Tuck clenched his jaw. It’s not my call, Jimmy. You know that.
Don’t try to bullshit me, Tucker. The FBI will forget about me if you get off my case. They know I’m just a small fish in a big ole pond.
They won’t. They want you stopped, and no one believes you’ll let the girl live, even if we try to make a deal. She could be dead already for all we know.
Only one way to find out, Agent Simon. Here’s the link you’ve been waiting for. Hope you enjoy another night of free entertainment. You can thank me later.
With a heavy heart, Tuck forwarded the link to Emma. He closed his eyes and sighed. I’m sorry, Madison. So very sorry. Please don’t give up. We’re trying to find you, please hang on.
“There’s our guy,” Marcus announced when the video started. “He’s wearing a different hat tonight. What does it say?”
All the agents squinted at the video that was projected onto the wall, trying to get a good look at the image on the hat. It was a blue hat this time, with yellow letters.
“I can’t make it out. If the camera doesn’t get any closer we’ll have to wait and enhance the footage later,” Tuck said.
“Welcome back, Agent Simon,” Jimmy drawled, the camera moving to show his face. “Nice of you to join us. So I reckon you’re wonderin’ if our little gal survived the night.”
Stepping aside, Jimmy swept his arm in a grand gesture toward Madison, whose arms were once again tied above her head. Her feet were unrestrained, but that was obviously because it wasn’t necessary. All her weight was on her left leg, with her right one hanging limply. Thankfully she had been given a shirt to wear.
“Little worse for wear, wouldn’t ya say, Agent? Her face ain’t so purty no more. Looks like she got beat up or somethin’.”
The men surrounding Jimmy laughed at his attempted humor. Tuck stared at Madison as the camera zoomed in. Her face was purple and swollen, completely unrecognizable.
“She’s a little out of it right now. High on Vicodin. Mighty nice of me to give her that, eh Tucker? It’s her second dose, too. I her fairy god-father, that’s what I think, cuz I’m so good to her.”
“Son of a bitch,” Tucker muttered.
“Too bad you can’t get my charges dropped, Agent. I made sure this little gal here knows you’re the one responsible for her gettin’ beat. I told her that straight up. And you know what she did, Agent? She spit in my face. Or tried to. She’s a little thirsty and dried up, no spit left in her mouth, far as I can tell. But she made me good and mad, so we had to teach her a little lesson before it was video time.”
Jimmy laughed the high pitched cackle that grated on Tuck’s every nerve.
“We had ourselves a little contest, ya see. I let the boys bid on her. I gave fifteen minutes to the highest bidder. Told ‘im he could do anything but kill her.” Another cackle, another long look at the camera with his cold, dead eyes.
“I shoulda video taped it for your enjoyment, Agent Simon, but I wanted to give the lovebirds some privacy. Plus we had a delivery come in right then that needed some attention, and there was plenty to keep the rest of us busy. Ain’t that right, fellas?”
Loud whoops and guffaws followed the question, and many of the men rubbed their crotches lewdly and high fived each other. Tuck had an awful feeling that he knew which business enterprise Jimmy was referring to. Most likely a load of terrified illegal immigrants had arrived, and he had probably allowed his men to pick and choose girls to abuse.
Sadly, with the kind of men Jimmy employed, that kind of thing was often a more effective way of keeping them happy than extra money.
“Anyways, back to the subject at hand,” Jimmy said, giving a shrill whistle to settle down his men. “We did have a taker for our little gal here. She’s too skinny for my own likin’, mind you, but Zeke here was eager enough to do the honors. And I’m sure you made the most of your time, huh, Zeke?” Jimmy swung his head around to leer at one of his men.
Tucker’s eyes narrowed when the guy in the blue hat spoke.
“That I did, Jimmy.” He smiled suggestively and tipped his hat. “That I did.”
“Wait,” Jeff said indignantly. “Does that mean the guy we thought was trying to save her actually raped her?”
Tuck tried to push past his dread and horror to concentrate. This video was their only hope, and he knew that if they couldn’t figure it out tonight, they would have no more chances. Maddy wouldn’t last long enough for a third session.
“Zeke tipped his hat again. What does it say?”
“I still didn’t catch it,” Tim said, and the others admitted they hadn’t either.
“We’ll have to wait until we can replay it, Tuck,” Emma said.
“Damn,” Tuck rasped as Jimmy continued to rant.
“Zeke is signing again,” Jeff pointed out.
“Kim is waiting out front. I’ll go get her as soon as we’re ready for a replay,” Emma said.
Jimmy taunted Tuck for a while longer, which was fine with Tuck as long as it kept him from hurting Madison.
“So here’s what we’re gonna do, Agent,” Jimmy said, turning to walk over to Madison. “We’re gonna have a little more fun with our gal here, and then we’re clearing out. We already got things packed up and ready to roll. And we’re gonna leave her here, waitin’ for ya. I’ll even make sure she’s still alive when we pull out. But I doubt she’ll last long once I’m done with her.”
Jimmy approached the camera again, his piggish little eyes hard and soulless. “You good enough to find her in time, Agent Simon? Or is she gonna die here all by her lonesome, waiting for the FBI agent who never comes?”
He walked back and grabbed Madison’s hair, forcing her head back so her face was inches from his. “Whatcha think, sweet cheeks? Think your FBI agent is gonna get here in time?”
Madison’s swollen lips slowly parted and Emma sat forward, gripping the edges of the table, her knuckles white. “Don’t say anything, Madison,” she said as they all watched helplessly. “Whatever you say will only make it worse.”
As if she heard Emma’s plea, Madison stayed silent and closed her eyes.
“Learning your place, huh, bitch? Learning it’s best not to challenge Jimmy Callahan?” The evil man laughed briefly. “Pity it don’t matter no more. Your FBI agent brought this on you, sweet cheeks, and you can think about that while you’re layin’ here waitin’ for him to come save you.”
Rearing back, Jimmy struck her in the side of the head, then shook his hand. “Damn, that’s one hard head you got there. Someone bring me a bat or somethin’.”
Every agent watching the video uttered an expletive at that point. Tuck rubbed his gritty eyes, dreading what he was about to see more than anything he’d ever dreaded in his life.
“You okay, Tuck?” Emma asked softly, squeezing his arm.
“Just keep watching, everyone,” Tuck implored them. “This is our only chance.”
“There!” Dan said excitedly, pointing at the screen. “I saw the hat. It says ‘Big Al’s’ and there’s a drawing of a pipe wrench.”
“I’m on it,” Emma said, typing furiously into one of the computers surrounding her.
“Good catch, Dan,” Tuck said, angry at himself for missing it because he was looking at Madison to see whether the blow to her head had caused her to black out. He quickly scribbled ‘Big Al’s’ on the pad of paper in front of him, then returned his attention to the video again, trying not to be distracted by his worry for the brave woman.
“Zeke is still signing,” Jeff said.
“Kim’s gotta be able to get more this time. He’s turned more to the side and we can see more of his hand.”
Tucker’s heart was pounding and a small seed of hope took root. Then someone tossed Jimmy a wooden baseball bat and the crushing dread came back. He once again went to stand at the back of the room, his chest heaving with equal parts anger at Jimmy and fear for Madison.
Jimmy hefted the bat, slapping it in his palm. “Come on, girl, stand up straight. Show some respect. You’d think your leg was hurt or somethin’.” Again the hideous laugh, a sound Tuck knew he’d hear in his dreams for years to come. Then Jimmy whipped the bat into the side of Madison’s right knee, the same leg he had already broken with his kick the night before.
Madison gave a soft cry but kept her eyes closed. Tuck and his colleagues watched in furious silence as Jimmy walked all the way around Madison, studying where to place his next blow.
“You know what the strongest bone in the human body is, Agent Simon?” he asked. “Do they teach you that in FBI school?”
Tuck jumped when Tim’s phone rang. The Special Agent in Charge gave Tuck a meaningful look and answered, leaving the room quickly so as not to disrupt their concentration.
Jimmy was standing at Madison’s left side now. “It’s the femur, in case you don’t know,” he continued. “I wonder if I can bust a femur with one blow. What do you boys think?”
The men in the room called out encouragement, except for Zeke in the blue hat. His expression looked pained, and he began signing again. And then Jimmy took a huge backswing and slammed the bat into Madison’s left thigh. All her weight had been on that leg, and when it collapsed she was left hanging by her arms.
She let out a low groan, and then her eyes rolled up in her head and she was out. Tuck was thankful and prayed that she would stay unconscious for the rest of whatever it was that Jimmy had planned.
“What do you think, Agent Simon? She had enough?” He’d barely finished speaking when he hauled the bat back again and landed a solid blow to her abdomen. “What about now?”
“You don’t want to kill her, Jimmy. If she’s already dead the agent won’t have to fret about gettin’ here in time.”
It was Zeke who had spoken. Tuck held his breath, praying that Jimmy listened to the man who he was now fully convinced was trying to help Madison, at great risk to his own safety.
Jimmy chuckled. “What’s the matter, Zeke? You turning soft on her after your special alone time with her?”
“It was a good time, boss,” Zeke replied convincingly, although Tuck no longer believed Zeke had harmed Madison. He was wisely keeping up the pretense while trying to keep her alive.
“Alright, then, boys. Let’s go ahead and call it a night here. We got lots of miles to log tonight. Cut her down.”
Zeke moved toward her but another man beat him there. Taking out a wicked looking k-bar knife, he sawed easily through the thin rope binding Madison’s arms to the post. She crumpled to the floor, her broken legs bent unnaturally.
“It’s been fun, sweet cheeks,” Jimmy drawled, reaching out with the toe of his boot to push at her limp body. He reached down and backhanded her across the face one more time, laughing evilly as her head rolled limply to the side. Then, in a final act of cruelty, he stomped on her right arm, a vicious blow that had Tucker drawing in a hissing breath through clenched teeth.
Jimmy approached the camera again, a sheen of sweat coating his face. “I gotta admit, Tucker, breaking bones gets me off, skinny or not.” He threw the bat to one of his men and rubbed his hands together contentedly.
“We’re all done here, Agent. Your turn now. Question is, will she still be warm when you find her, or cold and stiff? I’m guessin’ she’s bleedin’ inside, so you’re gonna wanna hurry.” He gave Madison one last look, then looked into the camera lens and blew a kiss.
“She’s all yours, Tucker. Consider it a gift. And next time I ask for a favor, I suggest you comply right quick.”
The video ended, leaving them all in a state of shock. Emma was wiping at tears.
“That man deserves the worst our justice system can give him,” she said angrily. “Where the hell is he?”
“I’ll go get Kim,” Jeff said.
“Where’d Tim go?” Dan wondered.
Tuck had forgotten about the phone call Tim had received. He left the conference room, searching for his boss. Tim met him just outside his office.
“I got an update from Langley,” he said, walking quickly. “Come back to the conference room and I’ll update everyone.”
“Were they able to fill in the letters?” Tuck asked urgently.
“No, but one of their tech guys thinks he’s traced the general origin of last night’s video feed. It was routed through a bunch of servers, but not enough. He’s emailing a map of the area he thinks it came from.”
Tim updated the rest of the group and brought up his email account on one of Emma’s computers, while Emma continued her search for a business called Big Al’s. In a minute Tim had the map projected on the wall.
“Get me the zip codes in that area,” Emma requested. “I’ll focus my search on that section. I’m not getting any currently licensed businesses called Big Al’s, but it might be closed. I’m searching for old ones now.”
Jeff brought Kim into the room, and Emma started the video for her. Tuck could tell the woman was horrified anew by what had been done to Madison, but after seeing the video once, she did a good job of blocking that out and focusing only on Zeke’s hands.
“It’s much better this time,” she said, her eyes on Zeke and her pencil moving quickly across the paper. “But he’s saying something different.”
While she worked on the new message, Tucker leaned over the table and stared at the letters Kim had written after the first video.
A L _ I _ _ T _ U B _ _ _ _ _ _ K
“The first word could be Al’s, like on the hat,” he said.
“Hang on, I think I found something,” Emma said. “I’ve got an Al’s Kitchen in Kingsville, an Al’s Hardware in Hutchins, and a Big Al’s Plumbing in Steuben Creek. None of which are still in business.”
“It’s gotta be the hardware or the plumbing, to go with the pipe logo,” Dan said.
Tucker grabbed for a pen and filled in the blanks on the paper he had been staring at, then he separated the words.
A L S - I N - S T E U B E N - C R E E K
“That has to be it,” he said, turning the paper so the others could see it. “Emma, get us the address for Big Al’s. Jeff, look up the number for the police department in Steuben Creek. We’ll need backup.”
“Got it. It’ll take us over an hour to get there by road, think we can get a chopper?”
Tuck looked at his boss and Tim didn’t hesitate.
“We’re leaving now, men. Emma, track our GPS and have a chopper meet up with us as soon as possible. It’ll probably take at least thirty minutes to scramble one up, and we’ll be that much further on our way if we drive until then. Kim, I’d appreciate if you’d stay here with Emma and continue to work on the signing.”
“No problem, sir. I already know he’s talking about them moving to another location.”
“Figures,” Tuck said. “I’m sure he’ll be long gone by the time we get to Steuben Creek, but getting to Madison is the most important thing right now. I just hope he left her behind like he said he would. Emma, I think you should call in a medical helicopter for her. Steuben Creek is a pretty remote area and a long ambulance ride to a hospital with a trauma unit isn’t going to cut it.”
“I agree. Get the Medevac on its way,” Tim seconded.
“Okay, I’ll make the call. And I sent Al’s address to the cars’ GPSs,” Emma said, displaying her technical skill and efficiency once again. “Be safe, guys.”
The five agents all made a dash for vests, guns and ammo, then split up into two cars. Tuck slid behind the wheel with Tim riding shotgun, and Dan drove the other car with Jeff and Marcus. They left Charlott
e in a hurry and headed southeast, lights flashing, sirens screaming.
Chapter 9
Tuck drove down I-77 with single minded purpose, praying that Emma would be able to get the two helicopters scrambled up soon. Every single minute counted for Madison, and the knowledge weighed heavily on him.
“She’s a tough girl, Tuck,” Tim said. “If Jimmy left her with a fighting chance, she’ll be alive when we get there. She’s not the type to give up.”
“Maybe, but I can’t help but wonder whether he’s just playing with us, making us think we need to hurry when really she’s already dead.”
“Shit,” Tim said. “He’s just enough of a bastard to do it, too.”
Their bleak thoughts were interrupted by Emma calling to tell them they would be meeting up with a helicopter in fifteen minutes.
“We’ve requisitioned the heli-pad of a small hospital,” she said. “I’m programming it into your GPS. I’ll let the other car know.”
“And the Medevac copter?” Tuck prompted.
“They’ve called up the crew. They’ll probably get there within ten to fifteen minutes of your arrival. There’s also a fire department with paramedics on staff about twenty minutes from Steuben Creek. They could beat you guys there by at least ten or fifteen minutes, which could make all the difference to that poor girl. Shall I send them in?”
Tuck’s mind churned through the scenarios. “We can’t send them in unaccompanied,” he said finally. “Jimmy likes coming up with booby traps. He has access to lots of bad stuff, and he enjoys using it.”
“How about we send the local law enforcement guys in first, ahead of the medical team?” Emma suggested. “They could check for traps.”
Tuck considered it, then looked over at Tim and shook his head. “I just don’t think we can risk it. Jimmy’s last trap was pretty sophisticated, and I doubt the county deputies are trained to spot laser trips. They’ll have to wait for us. Marcus worked EOD in the military. We need to let him do his thing and give the all clear before we go in.”
