The Kidnapping

by Aiden Vaughan

  “What the hell?”

  “If you come with me, I’ll show you. It’s quite a mess. But don’t worry, uh, what’s your name? Okay, Rudy. I’m a member of Boy Scout Troop 968 and I am working on my environmental merit badge. I’ll be happy to help you clean it up!”

  Daniel then started walking Rudy out to the street, chattering away about good ways to clean up the environment and saying that they could get the mess cleaned up in no time at all. The diversion was working. Jason, who was listening carefully, peered around the edge of the duplex entryway, which jutted out a little. As soon as he saw the two of them heading toward the street, he quickly and quietly entered the unit.

  Once he got more into the unit, he started to look for staircase doors. Finally he found what he was looking for—a door that when opened, led to a narrow staircase that headed down. Just inside the doorway, there was a light switch. He turned on the light. The stairway went halfway down and then reversed direction. This was exactly what he remembered from when he had climbed a staircase blindfolded, on his way to take a shower. At the bottom of the stairs was a hallway and at the end was a bolted door. He went to that door and slid the bolt latch open. When he opened the door, he immediately looked for the overhead light bulb. Seeing it, he pulled the chain. Then he could see the entire room.

  A brief wave of nausea shook Jason’s body. No question about it. This was the room in which he had been held captive. There were the two columns in the middle. The chain had been removed from one of the columns but he could see marks from where the chain had been wrapped around it for several days. Over in the corner was the mattress and at the other end was the chair and table on which was still the pile of comic books he had been given to read. Going over to the table, he opened the top comic book in the pile. It had the writing and the Three Musketeers ad. Suddenly it hit him. The word didn’t say FENCING, as he originally had thought. No, it was the owner’s name: F. ENCINO.

  “Getting homesick for your old haunts?” A shiver of fear came over Jason’s body as he heard that sardonic, mean voice again of his kidnapper. “I’ve got a loaded gun pointed at you. I want you to very slowly turn around and put your hands up.” There was a clicking sound as a bullet entered the chamber of the pistol. As Jason turned around he could see a slim but muscular man with short, dark hair, mustache and trimmed beard. “If you think your friend will help you out this time, forget it! After Rudy finishes tying and gagging him, he will be joining me down here to do the same to you. This time we will have a nice long session together.”

  “Is that what you like?” Jason said defiantly. “Attacking and tying up teenaged boys.”

  “Shut up, you little shit!” his kidnapper snarled.

  “Why do you hate me so much? I don’t even know you.”

  “You Hunters think that you are so special and so superior to the Encino side of the family.”

  “You aren’t even a relative of mine. And Victor is just a second cousin. Yet my parents have insisted on keeping the communications up. How is that being superior?” Jason demanded, not backing down or acting intimidated.

  “Why didn’t your family ever share your fortune with your other relatives like real family should?” his kidnapper asked.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about. We are not rich like Silicon Valley CEOs or even your Mr. Ricardo. Both my mom and dad work hard just so we can have a normal family life. Even the cash you saw in the safe deposit box was just working capital. It belongs to the clients or the owners of the antiquities. The business handles it for them. We are no different than the tellers at the banks, who handle large amounts all the time but don’t get to keep it.”

  “You think you are so smart! How do you know all of this stuff?”

  “When you kidnapped me, you unnecessarily tortured me and put me, my family and friends through a week of hell so you could create a diversion from the real crime which was robbing my dad’s safe deposit box. In doing so, you outraged our entire community, the police, and especially me and my friends. The only way that we could right the wrong that was done to us was to figure out what was really going on, and then track down you and the other lowlife criminals responsible. Instead of four thugs against a tied up teen, the odds are different now!”

  “You sure talk big for a kid about to be taken down again. But after a few days of extended torture, I’ll have you telling me everything about your family and the hidden wealth. You will beg me to let you talk about it by the time I’m finished.”

  “You keep saying that, like there is some hidden treasure in a clock tower, but there is no hidden wealth. Everything secret the business had was in the safe deposit box. You saw what was taken out of the safe deposit box. You tell me what was in it.”

  “Just a few gemstones and one medium-priced necklace. One of them was a total bust. All it had was some marbles and a newspaper article.”

  “And that’s what you kidnapped me for, a few gemstones and a newspaper article? That will give you something to read during your thirty-year jail sentence. We have your partners on videotape robbing the safe deposit box. They were so sure they could get away with it that they didn’t even try to cover the camera. We have the bank employee’s name. As soon as he is arrested, how long will it be before he gives your names up to the police?”

  “That guy doesn’t know who we are. As soon as my van is repaired, Rudy and I are hightailing it out of here. We’ll take you with us, and after a few days of fun, you and your friend will be food for the worms. We have our cut of the money so we’ll be heading to South America and no one will ever find us or you.”

  “You will never get away with it. Too many people already know about you.”

  “Maybe, but at least I’ll have the pleasure of watching you…”

  Whack! Whack! Suddenly there was the sound of two aluminum bats. One hit Frank on the hand and knocked the gun away, while the other bat knocked him to his knees and to the floor. Then Chauncey and his friend, Reggie, proceeded to bat Frank into a submissive, fetal position. “You stupid, lowlife pig!” Chauncey yelled, his voice full of anger. “This is the last time you will be attacking kids in our community. If you even think about moving from that spot I will bat you into hell!”

  Frank’s only response was a whimpering sound. “You’re not so tough when you have to face someone your own size, are you?” Chauncey taunted. Then he went over to Jason and asked, “Are you all right, Jason?”

  “I’m okay but somewhat shaken. You are standing in the room where I was kept in captivity for five days. It was my personal chamber of horrors. I am so grateful you guys were able to get here right away. I was running out of things to say that could stall him,” Jason said.

  “It’s not exactly the Hilton in here is it?” Chauncey laughed. “Oh, Reggie, I’m sorry. Reggie, this is my good friend, Jason Hunter. Jason, this is Reggie Adams”

  After they shook hands, Jason said, “Thank you for your help. As you can see, things were getting rather intense in here.”

  “When Chauncey told us what this was for, we were honored to help. Now, every kid in town can relax a little and not worry about lowlife perverts trying to take them out. Here is his pistol, by the way. I emptied out the bullets, including the one in the chamber. We don’t want this going off by accident,” Reggie said.

  “How do you know so much about guns?” Jason asked in awe.

  “My father was a sergeant in the Marine Corps. He taught me a few things!”

  Then remembering his friend, Jason asked, “How is Daniel doing? Is he okay?”

  “I think that they slugged him and that other Rudy guy was starting to tie him up when my other two friends decided to change the odds. That guy will be singing soprano in prison,” Reggie chuckled.

  Just then they heard the sounds of sirens outside. “After we got here and I could see that we would have to go inside and fight a little, I thought I had better call the police,” Chauncey explained. “Somehow, I thought the neighbors might
get upset seeing four muscular guys running into a house with baseball bats. I also told the police to send over someone from the missing persons unit, too.”

  “Chauncey, you really saved the day. Thank you, my friend,” Jason said with gratitude.

  “Not a problem, especially after we talked about your experiences with these kidnappers. I was really hoping I could get in a few shots on them. It felt great! Now, tell me, my man, are the monkeys off your back and the demons back in their holes? I told you that good would triumph over evil in this situation and it did!”

  Just then, Lt. Garcia, followed by Sgt. Malone, came down the stairs and entered the basement. “Is everything all right down here? Is anybody hurt? What do we have here?”

  “Lieutenant, welcome to my personal hellhole of captivity,” Jason said. “This is the room where I was held those five days, and lying down there on the floor is one of my kidnappers, Frank Encino.”

  “From what I am starting to hear, you have been very busy being a detective the past few days. I must say that you were very reckless to go in here on your own. Why didn’t you contact us right away when you found out about this place?”

  “I wasn’t sure until less than an hour ago. We didn’t have any conclusive proof until then and things just got out of hand. But I wasn’t alone! Meet two of my guardian angels, Chauncey Jackson and Reggie Adams.” Everyone shook hands all around.

  “It looks like you made mincemeat out of Mr. Encino there. I assume this was provoked,” Garcia asked with raised eyebrows.

  “Oh, yes, Lieutenant,” Chauncey said, in his most respectful voice. “When Reggie and I arrived down here, Encino there was pointing a loaded gun with a round in the chamber at Jason. He was threatening to re-kidnap him, torture him and kill him. I think that more than justified a few swings of batting practice.”

  “I only wish I could have been here to fire a few rounds into the son-of-a-bitch,” Garcia said.

  Reggie added, “Officer, here is his gun. I dressed down his weapon. On the floor was a plastic bag. I put the weapon parts and the bullets in there.”

  “Thank you, Reggie. Could I interest you in our deputy program? You kids have been unbelievable on this case!” Then Lt. Garcia turned and issued orders to Sgt. Malone. “I want this room sealed off. Cuff the suspect and get a medic down here to check out Encino. Also, read him his rights and put him under arrest, along with the other lowlife upstairs.”

  Turning to the three young men, Lt. Garcia said, “Gentlemen, let’s go upstairs and see how the others are doing. I am going to need statements from all of you.”

  When they arrived upstairs, Jason saw Daniel sitting in a chair, rubbing his head. Quickly going to his friend he anxiously asked, “Daniel, how are you feeling? I heard you got slugged. What happened?”

  “Everything was going as planned, with me being the environmental Boy Scout, when all of a sudden a gun was pointed at the back of my head. It was Frank Encino. Apparently he was walking back to the duplex after leaving off his van. He was little more then a block away but he saw both of us and figured he needed to take quick action. The two forced me into the house at gunpoint, and then Frank slugged me with his pistol. When I woke up I was in a daze and could sense that Rudy was starting to tie me up with rope. Then all of a sudden, I heard words then wham...wham...wham! And Rudy was out cold.”

  “I assume that these two gentlemen over here were your protectors.”

  “Yes, meet Mariano Rodrigo and Kololo Asasopo. Guys, this is my friend, Jason Hunter.”

  Jason shook hands with them and said, “I take it you are more of Chauncey’s A-list team? I can’t thank you enough for coming today to back us up.”

  “It is nothing, man,” Mariano said. “When Chauncey told us what you two guys were doing, we had to help someone acting so bravely. We were the backdoor team and when we got inside, we saw what that stupid cholo was doing to your friend. We told him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen and then he called Kololo a ‘stupid pineapple head.’ Not a friendly thing to say to a nice Samoan boy. Now he’s a crushed pineapple head. Some people just have no respect!”

  Looking to where Mariano pointed, Jason saw Rudy, curled up just like Frank was in the basement. He was groaning like he was in major pain. “I am so happy to see you get what you dished out to me, Rudy. I hope you and Frank have a wonderful life in prison for the next thirty or forty years!” Jason gloated.

  Soon the EMT team arrived and began checking out Rudy upstairs and then going down to see Frank. Then they took the two suspects to the ambulance, accompanied by Sgt. Malone. They were going to take them to the hospital ward for prisoners.

  Before leaving, the head EMT came over to Daniel and said, “I understand you were hit in the head. Let me take a look at you.” After briefly examining Daniel and asking some questions, the EMT said, “I think you might have a minor concussion. Lt. Garcia, his parents need to be notified and they should see he sees a doctor as soon as possible, in case it is more serious. I can’t take him with me right now because I don’t think he wants to go to the prisoner ward with these two.”

  Jason went and sat down by Daniel. “I really feel bad that you were hurt, Daniel. I suppose that we should have thought it through more thoroughly before jumping in. But the good news is that the case is essentially solved! I think we now know who all of the conspirators were and that basement was definitely the room where I was kept captive. The cloud of uncertainty and doubt that has been hanging over me, lately, is starting to melt away. I am starting to feel free again! This is all because you believed in me and encouraged me to fight back. Thanks so much, friend!”

  Lt. Garcia then organized a search team to completely go over the duplex. He requested a tow truck to get Frank Encino’s van so that it could also be searched for evidence since it was used in the kidnapping. Turning to all the boys he said, “We need everybody to clear out of here. We have patrol cars to take you all to police headquarters so we can get your statements. It should only take a few minutes each for Chauncey and his team. Jason and Daniel, I think we have a lot of talking to do. Your parents need to be notified also, Jason, to let them know what is going on.”

  CHAPTER 36

  THE POLICE FOLLOW UP

  (Saturday Afternoon)

  Because all the teenagers that they were going to question had arrived at the Encino residence by bicycle, the police decided to send a police pickup truck over to bring their bikes and baseball bats down to the police station. The six teens were then taken by squad cars to headquarters.

  Daniel and Jason talked to their parents by cell phone, and both sets of parents agreed to come down to the station right away. Jason decided to use his ‘perk’ from before, and asked his parents to please stop at the sandwich shop on the way over and get a couple family-sized sandwiches and drinks for everyone. “When you hear what my friends did for me today, the least we can do is give them some lunch.”

  About forty-five minutes later, everyone had arrived at the police station and Lt. Garcia again enlisted Sgt. Nuñez to help him with the questioning. Everyone was pleased when Bill and Edith Hunter arrived with the sandwiches and drinks. While the police started questioning Chauncey and his other three friends, Jason and Daniel were updating their parents on what had happened.

  “I am really upset that the Encino family had something to do with your kidnapping,” Bill said in response. “And to think that this whole awful sequence of events was based on the false assumption that we were secretly wealthy and had hidden treasure somewhere. I wonder where they got that idea?”

  “And I’m really upset at you, Jason, for putting yourself and Daniel in so much danger when you didn’t have to,” Edith added. “This detective business is getting out of hand! And then there is the part about you going over to the Encino’s without telling us.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” Jason replied with a downcast look on his face. “I know we took a risk, but everything was falling into place so fast, we just acted on it. Do
give me credit, though, for at least having my backup security, which turned out to be the difference.”

  “Maybe they were,” Edith continued, “but you were also putting them in danger. A little bad timing or more bad guys and the outcome could have been very different. I don’t even want to think about it!”

  Jason replied, “I understand that you are upset and angry with us. If you are going to ground me, can you have Daniel’s parents ground him in the same place for several days, so we can get caught up in our gaming?”

  Everyone laughed at that. “You don’t miss a trick, do you Jason?” Melinda Holmes said.

  “I guess I should take some of the blame,” Daniel said. “I was the one who pushed Jason into doing this investigation in the first place.”

  “But don’t forget the result of what we did.” Jason continued. “My kidnappers are captured and going to jail. We know why the kidnapping was done, and what they were really after. Now we know how I was manipulated into their trap that day at City Park. Thank cousins Frank Encino and Victor Encino for that. Most of the case is already solved, and when the other two conspirators are caught, we should learn the rest. I feel free again, and soon all of the other kids in town affected by this will feel the same way. Daniel, you shouldn’t blame yourself at all for what happened this morning. You got slugged in the head trying to implement my scheme to look at the basement. You were just a victim of bad timing.”

  “No one is questioning your courage, determination, or desire to discover the truth. You are an amazing person, Jason. That’s why we don’t want to lose you a second time!” Gary Holmes exclaimed. “But you and Daniel need to be very careful about taking chances that risk your lives!”

  “I think that Daniel and I are now ready to place everything into the hands of the police and the bank authorities. We’ve done what we can. The only remaining questions revolve around the other guy we saw on the bank tape. He was the real mastermind behind this. Frank Encino is too much of a hothead to be the cynical planner that manipulated our family and the authorities. After meeting Frank face to face, I think I should be a little grateful to that man. I’m sure he was the one that told Frank to stop treating me so harshly after the first couple of days. Frank’s plan was to torture me as much as he could get away with, I’m pretty sure. He told me he had wanted to take out his hatred of the Hunter family on me.”