“Is not! Amy just helps take care of me when my mom has to work.”
The man’s eyes flashed back and forth from Amy to Zage a couple more times, then he said, “Aw shit!”
Amy chose that moment to sit up a little bit, “Wha’s happen’?”
The guy said assertively, “We’ve kidnapped you and your son here. You’d better hope somebody cares enough about the two of you to pay the ransom!”
Amy looked blearily around and her eyes caught on Zage. “Tha’s not Mikey! Mikey’s nineteen years ol’!”
The man looked suspiciously at Zage for a moment, then turned back to Amy. “Don’t try to bullshit me! That’s your son.”
“Naaww! Tha’s Zage!”
The man looked uncertain. He didn’t say anything else, just went to the door and exited. A moment later Zage could hear him locking the multiple deadbolts, then going up the stairs. Zage turned back to look at Amy, but her head had fallen back on the bed and she looked like she might be asleep again.
Suddenly, Zage felt terribly alone. He stifled a sob, thinking about all the times he’d thought that he was more mature than children his age.
He didn’t feel mature now.
He crept across the bed and, putting his head on Amy’s shoulder, snuggled up next to her.
He felt relieved when her arm slowly came up around him…
***
Jamieson had just about worked out in his mind how to make the call to Donsaii when Roger came back up the stairs. “We don’t have the mother,” he said, “just some kind of babysitter.” He shrugged, “At first I thought that was a disaster, but then I realized that whoever’s paying probably cares just as much, if not more about the kid, than they do about the mother. You should be able to milk them for the same pay off.”
Jamieson almost told him angrily that the mother was the one they really wanted. He stopped himself in time though, realizing just how stupid it would be to tell Roger anything the man didn’t absolutely have to know. Telling him that the mother was the important one would leave only a few small mental steps to figuring out that the kid belonged to Donsaii. Jamieson didn’t really think Roger was smart enough to figure it out, but there wasn’t any reason to take the chance. “Yeah,” he said, “give me some time to figure this out. I’ll stay here and guard them, why don’t you go out and grab some take-out. Enough for both of us and for them.”
“Why don’t we just have it delivered?”
“Because, you idiot, we don’t want to have anybody coming out here that doesn’t absolutely have to be here for some reason.”
The flash of anger that crossed Roger’s face made Jamieson regret insulting him, but he didn’t regret it enough to apologize. After some grumbling Roger headed out to get some pizza.
Jamieson sat down to think again.
After a while he spoke to his disposable AI, “Contact Ell Donsaii. Say it’s about her son.”
***
The Lieutenant had asked Ell and Shan a long list of questions, then moved on to find out what the other officers had learned going over the crime scene. Shan turned to Ell, “What can you tell me?”
“Sadly, not much more than what the Lieutenant told you. Amy’s car was surrounded by three vehicles and forced off the road, stopping right next to a van. They Tased her, drugged her, then dragged her and Zage into the van and drove off. The van didn’t have any windows, so we have no idea where they went.”
“Wait! Surely you know where he is from his GPS tracker?!”
Ell shook her head, “Panel van without windows. They’d covered the openings to the front of the van with foil of some kind. No GPS signal could get in, either to his or Amy’s trackers. They haven’t seemed to consider the possibility that Zage might have an AI HUD in his contacts, so we’ve been able to see what’s going on, but they wrapped both he and Amy in blankets before taking them out of the van. So, we didn’t see what kind of place they were being moved into. The move was quick enough that their GPS didn’t acquire satellites to give us a location then either. Right now they seem to be in the basement of an old building, probably a residence. They certainly aren’t getting a GPS signal down there.”
“So you’ve been able to see what Zage’s doing now?”
“Yeah. I’ve given him some tasks to do which seemed to take his mind off of what was happening, but while we’ve been talking to the Lieutenant one of his captors came down and scared him.”
Shan frowned, “How do you know what’s been happening while we’ve been talking to the Lieutenant?”
“I’m pretty good at multitasking,” Ell said matter-of-factly. “Anyway, right now Zage’s snuggled up to Amy and seems to be getting some comfort from that.”
“Amy’s talking him through it?”
“No, Amy’s been drugged. She’s just starting to wake up, but right now she’s still pretty loopy.” Ell sighed, “It looks like those guys thought Amy was me.”
“Aw, man! So this is another attempt to kidnap you?”
Ell shrugged, “Looks that way.”
“Any idea who it is this time?”
“No. Well, actually, I recognize one of them. An ex-Navy seal, ‘Dirk Jamieson.’ He’s a guy Steve once tried to hire for the security team. He’s been wearing a mask, but I know it’s him. He’s been hanging around the farm, watching the place, and Steve’s team confronted him the one time he came on the property.” Ell shrugged, “So, I’ve heard a recent recording of his voice from that night and seen his face. It probably wouldn’t hold up in court, but I know it’s him.”
Shan frowned, “So… this guy… what would he be doing? Just a regular kidnap for ransom? He wouldn’t be trying to get you to do… science stuff like your previous kidnappers, would he?”
“Seems unlikely. But, we’ve got to consider that he might be a hired gun for someone else.” Ell sighed, “I hope he’s just a guy going for ransom. If so, we should be getting a call pretty soon.”
“A call over PGR that we won’t be able to trace!” Shan said dispiritedly.
“Yeah, my own invention, coming back to bite me in the ass.” She held up a finger for a pause, then focused grimly on Shan, “I’m getting a call about Zage from someone who might be the kidnapper. I need to talk to him, but Zage has also called. Can you talk to the kid?”
Shan nodded, then spoke to his AI, “Put in a call to Zage… Zage, Mom can’t talk right now, but I can. How are you holding up?”
“Dad!” Zage said, sounding tremendously relieved. “Did Mom tell you that Amy and I’ve been kidnapped?!”
“Um, yeah… Did the, uh, guys who’ve got you say what they want?”
“One of them said they wanted ransom. That’s what mom said she thought they’d want… Mom said you guys should be able to pay them?”
“Um, yeah.” Shan almost said something about how hard it could be to work out a ransom negotiation, but bit his tongue. No reason to get Zage worried about that. “We probably can.”
“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have kidnapped somebody whose parents are really rich?! Do you think they just made a mistake?”
“Um, maybe.” Shan couldn’t think of anything more to say, even though he thought it would be helpful to Zage to keep talking.
Zage rescued him, “Mom had me doing some stuff. It took my mind off of… things,” Zage trailed off. “Can you tell me some stuff to do? Like how to fight? Mom wouldn’t know about that kind of stuff.”
If only you knew, kid, Shan thought, thinking about the terrorists and kidnappers Ell had taken on in the past. To Zage he said, “Tell me about what Mom’s had you doing. I don’t want to be telling you to work on the same things.”
Zage showed Shan the twisted coat hanger Ell had had him make and the bent and insulated piece of coat hanger wire that he could use to short out a socket. Zage walked to the closet and showed him the one inch diameter wooden closet rod standing in the corner to be used as a club. Then went to the corner and explained how Ell had taught him th
at he could cut a hole in the sheet rock. “But she said not to work on that right now. Scraping at the sheet rock makes quite a bit of noise so I’m supposed to wait until Amy’s awake and can make some other noise to cover it up.” Zage’s eyes swept the room, then he said, “I’m sure you’ve got some better ideas?”
Shan had been feeling awed by what Ell and Zage had accomplished in the few minutes Ell had been able to talk to him earlier. Being confronted by Zage’s expectation that he’d have a better idea left him feeling inadequate. “Well, uh, let’s talk about how to fight. That closet rod’s a lot better weapon than the wire, because it’ll hit harder. So if you need to attack them and you get a choice, that’s what I’d go for. The best place to hit them would…”
Zage interrupted, “I punched one of them in the nose when he was getting me out of Amy’s car. That seemed to work pretty well ‘cause his eyes watered and he couldn’t seem to see very well for a while.”
“Yeah, getting hit anywhere in the head is pretty rough. The nose can be really bad. But, you’re short enough that you might not be able to reach their heads. If you’ve got that stick, you could always hit them on the shins or the kneecaps. That hurts really bad. I wouldn’t hit them in those spots with your fists though, it might hurt you worse than it does them.”
“Oh,” Zage said thoughtfully.
“Hitting them in the crotch should hurt them pretty bad too.”
“In the… penis?!” Zage said, sounding appalled.
“Well, actually, in the testes,” Shan said, realizing his biologically fascinated son would probably understand the medical terms better than any slang.
“Oh,” Zage said thoughtfully. “Yeah, I got hit in the testes once. It was awful!”
“You might be able to break their fingers, or the lower parts of their arm if you get a good swing with that stick. If you have to hit them with your fist though, your best places would be the crotch or the nose. Also, remember you can kick harder than you can punch, so if you get the chance you’d rather kick them.” Shan thought for a second, then continued, “But you might not be able to kick high enough to hurt those guys.”
Zage got up and went over to the closet. He pulled out the wooden closet rod and swung it a few times as if to get a feel for it.
Shan blinked. Zage was swinging the rod so it almost whistled. Looks like he’s inherited his mother’s speed, Shan thought with some satisfaction. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be hit by a stick going that fast!
Zage said, “Thanks. What else could I be doing?”
Shan’s mind spun for a second, then he said, “See if you’re small enough to climb under the bed. If you need to hide, it’d be good to know if you can get under there.” Frustratedly, he thought, That’s got to be the lamest suggestion ever!
Evidently, Zage didn’t think so. He clambered off the bed and slid under it. “I fit pretty well,” he said, “but I’d think they’d look under here right away if they couldn’t find me.”
Shan tried not to sigh, “You’re right, but there might be some situation where you want to do it, so it’s good to know it’s possible. Give me a minute to think of other ideas.”
Zage was waiting impatiently for his dad to tell him what to do next when Amy sat up and said, “I’ve gotta pee!” Then she looked down at herself, “Where are my clothes?!”
Zage said, “The kidnappers took them. I think they’re afraid we might have stuff in them we could use to locate ourselves and talk to people.”
“Kidnappers?” Amy said, still looking bleary. Apparently forgetting about the kidnapper question, she evidently started thinking about Zage’s location comment. She started to reach up toward her head, and said, “But…”
Zage interrupted her, both shaking his head and waving his hand, “No!” He walked around to her and leaned up close. He whispered, “Don’t say anything about the AI ports in your ears or on your teeth, or the HUD in your contacts. We don’t think they know about that kind of tech and they might have microphones here in the room that they can hear us with.”
“Okay… But I’ve got to… go to the bathroom. Are there any clothes for us?”
Zage said, “There’s a coverall wrapped up in the blanket with you and some underwear beside you on the bed. I’ll turn my back so you can get dressed.”
Zage turned his back to Amy and moved away from her, then he whispered to his dad, “Dad! There’s no bathroom down here and… now I have to go too! What are we going to do?!”
“Wait until Amy’s dressed, then pound on the door until they come. They’ll probably take you to a bathroom upstairs…” After the pause, Shan continued excitedly, “If they do, get as close to any windows as you can. Osprey might be able to pick up a GPS!”
“How would he do that?” Zage asked, sounding puzzled. “I’ve been thinking about it and realized that since they took all my clothes I don’t have anything that has a GPS receiver for Osprey to pick up my location with.”
“Um, you have one implanted in your neck,” Shan said, sounding uncomfortable.
“I do?!” Zage asked, astounded. “When did I get that?!
“When you were a baby.”
“Really?! Why?!”
“Um, because we were worried about something like this. Unfortunately, because they put you in that metal van, GPS didn’t work. But if you get upstairs near a window, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be able to figure out where you are and come after you.”
Behind him, Amy said, “Where’s the bathroom?!”
“There isn’t one down here. We should bang on the door so they’ll come down and take us to it.”
Amy rushed to the door and started pounding on it, shouting that she had to pee.
***
Jamieson’s disposable AI said, “Ell Donsaii’s answering your call.”
“Disguise my voice…” Jamieson said to the AI, then, “Hello?”
“Hello Mr. Jamieson, tell me what you want.”
How the hell does she know it’s me?! There was no doubt it was Donsaii. Jamieson’d heard her voice on news clips a million times since he’d first applied for a job with her security team all those years ago. For a moment, he considered trying to say he didn’t know who “Jamieson” was, but then decided just not to acknowledge her use of his name. “I have your son.”
“Tell me what you want,” she said, not sounding flustered at all—though her tone was icy.
Cold-blooded bitch! Jamieson thought. “Would you like him back?”
“That’s a stupid question.”
Jamieson had expected begging. Or maybe threats from the woman who’d put down all those terrorists. At least questions about whether the boy was okay or where he was. Calling his question “stupid” wasn’t something he’d expected and left him feeling uncertain. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I want you. When I have you, I’ll turn the boy loose.”
“Sure!” she said instantly, actually sounding as if she were pleasantly surprised. “How, when, where?”
Stunned by her immediate acceptance, Jamieson suddenly felt worried. He remembered how she’d taken out the terrorists, and that Wang had told him that she’d dismantled the three previous teams that’d tried to kidnap her. Uncertainly, he said, “My partner will be holding your son until I have you restrained.”
“Sure, how, when, where?” she said as if she were impatient to get the exchange in motion.
Shit! Jamieson thought, feeling even more uncertain. “I’ll call you back,” he said, suddenly wanting more time to plan this out. Then, wanting the upper hand, he said, “You’d better be ready.”
“I’m ready now. How, when and where?!”
“I’ll call you back!” Jamieson barked, frustrated. “AI, disconnect this call.” What the hell! The fact that the conversation had gone so far from what he’d scripted in his mind left him disconcerted. He’d expected to have to threaten her with harm to the child to get her to agree. He’d expected demands to see that the child was okay. He’d
thought he might get shunted to an FBI negotiator. He’d even thought she might deny the child was hers.
Immediate agreement to show up whenever and wherever he wanted… Not part of any expected script.
She sounded eager to become his captive.
So, I Tase her as soon as I set eyes on her. I shoot her with the trank dart. I keep Tasing her until I’m sure the tranquilizers are working. He thought for a minute. I’ll use steel handcuffs on her ankles and wrists. No cheap plasticuffs for this. Then I drive her and the kid directly to the Wang handoff—get her off my hands before she wakes up and does anything.
But where can I get her to turn herself over—a place where no one could have followed her?
***
As Amy continued pounding on the door and demanding to be let out to the bathroom, Zage wondered whether he should get the closet rod. When the guy opened the door, maybe Zage could attack him? Maybe he could hurt the guy bad enough to slip past and run upstairs? He stepped over to the closet, cracked the door and slipped his hand inside to grasp the top of the rod.
It did no good. A minute or two later an angry voice on the other side of the door said, “Shut up!”
Amy stopped yelling and said more quietly, “I have to pee! So does Zage. You’ve got to let us out to the bathroom!”
The guy said, “That’s what the trashcan in the closet’s for.”
“What?!” Amy said, her voice louder and edging towards hysterical.”
“Pee in that. It’s lined with plastic.”
“That’s… disgusting!”
“Better than peeing down your leg, and all you’re going to get. Now shut up or I’m going to come in there and beat the crap out of you!”
“But…” Amy said, her eyes darting toward the closet where the trashcan was while she tried to think of something to say that would make him see reason. By the time she’d turned back toward the door, Zage could hear the man going up the stairs. “Please…” she said.
Zage said, “He’s already most of the way up the stairs. If you want him to hear you, you’re going to have to scream again.” He pulled open the door of the closet to look at the trashcan and stepped on the pedal to see that the plastic liner was still in place. If Amy wasn’t going to use it, he was.
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