The Trident Conspiracy: A Gripping Vigilante Thriller

by KJ Kalis

  “That’s interesting. And to answer your question, yes, the FBI is tracking down the owners of the building, whoever they are. The timing does seem a little fishy, don’t you think?”

  Jess nodded, looking at the space around her, imagining what Abby must have gone through. Did they let her take the hood off while they moved her through the tunnel? If they didn’t, the poor girl had to be terrified trying to crawl on her belly, the hands of the men grabbing at her to pull her through. Jess would have been. A wave of guilt passed over her.

  This was supposed to be me.

  She had an urge to tell Detective Saunders everything — about the fake bank papers, about how bringing Abby was a last-minute thing and about Chase and his work, but the artificial female voice of the kidnappers telling them not to tell the police rattled in her mind. They could be watching her right now. She would never know it.

  Jess glanced back at Detective Saunders. He was watching her, sizing her up. “Why did you want me to see this?”

  “Well, I have to be honest, my intention was to show you the hole, not to take a dive through it, but yes, I wanted you to see this.”

  “But why?”

  The question hung out in the air for a moment, as if Detective Saunders was wondering what to say next. “First, you seem like a person who’s more comfortable with the facts than conjecture. I get that. I’m the same way. The other issue I have is that if these people took all this time to commandeer the garage and tunnel into the vault and didn’t take any money, why would that be? In my mind, that means the target was your family and I’m wondering why.”

  Jess felt the heat rise in her face and was grateful for the shadows of the garage, hoping that Detective Saunders wouldn’t see her expression. She couldn’t tell him anything. Not one bit of it or it would put Abby’s life in danger, “I’m not sure.”

  “Ms. Montgomery, I’ve been on the job for ten years. Something isn’t right. What’s going on here?”

  Jess’s eyes darted back and forth, looking for the exit, not wanting to answer his question. Abby’s life depended on her keeping her mouth shut. Jess pointed, “Over there. I’m going to go out that door. I need a ride back to Chase’s house. That’s where my car is. Can you drop me off?”

  Detective Saunders squinted for a second, “All right. I’ll drive you. We can finish our talk on the way to your brother’s house. I have some questions for him, too.”

  I’ll bet you do, Jess thought.

  9

  Sitting in the detective’s cruiser on the way back to Chase’s house, Jess stared out the window. Though it was even close to lunchtime, every bone and muscle in Jess’s body ached from the strain of the morning. At least a few of the pieces were starting to come together, but it wasn’t enough to help she and Chase find Abby, not without someone helping them. So far, the only hope the two of them had was Detective Saunders. Unfortunately, he had more questions than answers, questions that Jess couldn’t answer for him. If someone was going to tell him about the demand for the ABG, it wasn’t going to be her. She wouldn’t be responsible for what happened to Chase’s family.

  Stopped at a red light, Jess saw the people in the car next to her -- a man, woman and a couple of kids in the backseat. She blinked, thinking of Chase’s family and wondering if it would ever be whole again. Her eyes moved from the family in the car to a young couple walking on the sidewalk, holding hands, passing a few storefronts — a silver and turquoise jewelry dealer, a coffee shop and then a bookstore. It was one of the things Jess liked about Tucson the most, the small town feel even though it was a sprawling city. At least, it used to be until this morning.

  Jess looked back at Detective Saunders. He was focused on the road. He hadn’t said anything since they got into the car except asking where Chase lived. Jess wasn’t sure how to interpret the silence. Was he trying to freeze her out to guilt her into giving him more information? Or maybe he was just giving her some space to process everything that happened in the last few hours? She hoped it was the latter and not the former, though at some point, she knew she and Chase would have to give him answers of some sort whether they liked it or not.

  The cruiser snaked its way back into Chase’s development, hugging the corners of the curves as they passed a few other roads in the subdivision before making their way to Chase’s house. “That’s it right there,” Jess said, pointing. “That’s my car.”

  As Detective Saunders pulled the cruiser up behind Jess’s car and put it into park, her phone buzzed again. Charlie. Distracted by what’d happened, she’d forgotten to text him back. “Everything okay, Jess?” the text read. Once she got rid of Detective Saunders she’d have to deal with Charlie. She sent a quick text back, “Yeah, everything’s okay. Sorry for the radio silence. More later.” At least she hoped that bought her some time.

  Though she wished Detective Saunders would just drop her off at Chase’s house, she heard his door open at the same time as hers. It wasn’t actually a surprise that he’d want to follow her in. At least he was a man of his word when it came to questioning Chase.

  Before Jess could walk Detective Saunders to the back door, Chase charged out through the garage, his eyes wide. “I just got back here. What happened? Did you find Abby?” he stammered.

  Jess shook her head, “No, not yet.” She glanced at Detective Saunders and then back at Chase, “Detective Saunders, you remember my brother Chase?”

  He nodded. “I had a couple of follow-up questions and wanted to update you on the information we have right now. What we know is that your daughter was definitely targeted. Why, we’re not exactly sure.”

  Chase squinted at him, “How exactly do you know that?”

  “Well, we made a significant discovery just about forty-five minutes ago. No money was taken from the bank, not a dime.”

  “Nothing? They didn’t take any money at all?”

  “That’s correct. And the act was about as intentional as it gets. They spent a lot of time working on their approach and escape plans. We can tell from the way that they exited the building.”

  Chase looked back and forth at both of them. Jess chewed her lip for a minute, the thought passing over her that she wasn’t sure how Chase would deal with the escape route the kidnappers dragged Abby through. It spoke of such intentionality and planning that it was scary. “Listen, Chase, what Detective Saunders wanted to show me was how they managed to get out of the bank with Abby. It looks like someone, whoever has her, accessed a dry sewer between the bank and an abandoned mechanic’s garage about a block away. They used some sort of jackhammers or chisels to break through the wall between the bank and an abandoned space between buildings. They hid the hole behind a rack of cash in the vault.”

  Chase furrowed his eyebrows together, frowning, “What you’re saying is they grabbed Abby on purpose? That’s what you’re saying? They had this whole thing planned from the beginning. It was never about the money?”

  Jess squinted, a little confused at Chase’s questions. He knew what the kidnappers were actually after, the ABG. Was this a ploy to get Detective Saunders to back off? Jess wasn’t sure. “That’s right,” Jess said slowly, “Detective Saunders feels like the kidnappers are targeting the family.”

  Chase blinked for a second and then stared at Jess, “Wait, they didn’t know Abby would be with you this morning. How could they?”

  Jess nodded. As usual, her brother put the pieces together quickly and easily. “That’s right.”

  “So, you were the actual target, Jess?”

  Hearing the words come out of her brother’s mouth gave her a lump in her throat the size of a boulder. She wasn’t the cause of all of this, Chase’s research was, but knowing none of them would be standing here if she hadn’t invited Abby out for breakfast settled on her.

  Jess glanced at Saunders. He seemed to be soaking in their conversation, looking for nuance that wasn’t there. His eyes were narrowed, his lips open just a little, enough that Jess could tell he was memorizi
ng everything they said.

  Before any of them could say anything else, Chase looked down at his phone, which he was holding in his hand. It was ringing. He held it up so Jess could see. It was the unknown number again. Jess opened her eyes wide. What were they going to do? Detective Saunders was standing right there with them. Her heart started to beat a little faster. This was exactly what they were trying to avoid. If the kidnappers found out that Detective Saunders was with them, they would kill Abby. There was no question in her mind they’d do exactly as promised and then Jess and Chase would have no chance of getting her back. Jess looked at Detective Saunders and put her finger up to her mouth, telling him to be quiet. He cocked his head at her, suddenly realizing there was more going on that he knew. Chase answered the call.

  The same computer-generated female voice they’d heard earlier crackled through the air, the high pitch sounding like it almost belonged to a child, the words stunted and clipped. “We hope you’ve been making progress on getting us what we asked for, Chase,” the voice said sweetly. “You currently have six hours left before time runs out. Remember, no police or we kill Abby. If you do not cooperate, everyone will pay the price. We will be in touch.” As the call ended, Jess heard another chirp on Chase’s phone. Jess watched as Chase tapped on the screen, his hands shaking, his color becoming ashen in the bright sunshine as he opened it and held it up for Jess to see. It was a picture of Piper and Abby. It looked like they were walking together somewhere, both of them smiling, Abby’s dark wavy hair cascading out behind her, a broad smile on Piper’s face, her purse tucked under her arm.

  “That looks like a picture I took of them downtown a couple of months ago!” Chase’s face went slack, “What does that mean?”

  “I think you could fairly say that whoever is targeting your family has just expanded the threat to include everyone,” Detective Saunders said dryly. “Now, would someone care to tell me exactly what is going on here?”

  Jess’s mouth was suddenly dry. “I think we better get inside of the house. Detective, you should probably move your car out from in front of the house in case they’re watching us.”

  Detective Saunders looked at Jess and gave a brief nod, “Okay, if that means I can get some of my questions answered.”

  While the detective was outside moving his vehicle, Jess ran up the driveway trying to catch up to Chase. He’d charged back inside the house. He and Piper were in the kitchen, leaning over the counter. Piper barely looked up at Jess when she walked in. Apparently even the kidnapping of one of their family members hadn’t softened her attitude towards Jess. “Jess, can you tell Piper how they got Abby out of the bank?” Chase said.

  “Yeah,” she sighed, looking down and realizing there was dirt all over the front of her shirt and her pants. She tried to brush it off, but scooting on her belly through the tunnel had ground it into the fibers of the fabric. “The kidnappers broke a hole through the wall between the bank and some sort of an empty void between buildings. Then they broke through the floor and accessed a dry sewer culvert. When I walked through the culvert…”

  “Wait? You walked through the culvert? What are you, some amateur detective now?” Piper said sarcastically.

  Chase covered his wife’s hand with his own, “Honey, I know you’re upset. We all are. You need to hear this. It might help you understand what happened to Abby.”

  Piper’s eyes widened, her face in a grimace, “I don’t want to understand what happened to Abby! I want her back. Why aren’t the police and the FBI investigating? I don’t understand it! You and your sister,” she pointed a long-manicured finger at Chase, “the two of you are always in cahoots. And you,” Piper turned her ire at Jess, “you are always figuring out ways to worm your way into our family. It’s not your family! It’s ours! Can’t you understand that?!”

  Jess’s face burned with the pain of the words. She always knew that Piper didn’t really want her around. Piper hadn’t been that obvious until today. Until now, Piper had reluctantly agreed to let Jess be part of their life, at least a little bit. Jess turned and walked outside, slamming the door behind her. She wasn’t going to sit in the kitchen and let Piper scream at her. Abby was her family, too. What Piper didn’t realize was that Jess was the actual target. Not Abby. Walking out into the garage, her eyes stinging with tears, Jess realized Piper probably would be happy if she knew that Jess had been the one the kidnappers wanted until they saw Abby. Jess imagined Chase giving Piper the news, “Oh honey, Jess’s been taken by kidnappers. I’m worried about her…”

  Jess imagined Piper’s response, “Oh, that’s nice. I have lunch with my girlfriends at noon today. See you later!”

  Jess sat down on the back bumper of Chase’s car, wiping the tears from her face and bracing her hands against the cool metal. She had the urge to storm out of the garage, get in her car and go home. If Piper was going to be that cruel, then maybe they could figure out how to get Abby back on their own. After all, Chase had what the kidnappers wanted, and it wasn’t Jess. It was the ABG.

  But something kept Jess seated on that bumper.

  A moment later, Detective Saunders walked up to the garage. Jess noticed he’d pulled his shirt out of his pants, covering his badge. “All set. I put the car around the corner at a clubhouse or something.”

  Jess knew where he was talking about. The development that Piper and Chase lived in had a small clubhouse with a pool, a weight room and a party room. A few years back, they’d had Abby’s eighth birthday there, the room decorated with balloons and streamers and a big cake. It had mostly been a fun afternoon. Jess remembered she and Piper circling each other at opposite ends of the room like fighters preparing to do battle, but not coming out of their corners.

  “Where are Chase and his wife?”

  “In the house. You can go through the back door.” Jess pointed over her shoulder, sniffling a bit.

  “Okay. Will you be out here in case I have follow-up questions?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Saunders turned back, “Are you okay?”

  “Okay enough.”

  Jess heard the back door close behind Detective Saunders as he went in the house. Being so far from the kitchen, she couldn’t hear what was going on. Was Piper being nicer to Detective Saunders then she’d been to Jess? Part of her wanted to get up and go in the house to see what was going on, but part of her didn’t. Piper’s comments had cut Jess to the core. She didn’t want to worm her way into Chase’s family. She just wanted a relationship with her brother and her niece. Jess stared down at her hands. Her knuckles were white from gripping the bumper. Jess didn’t have her own family, not yet. She’d never found the right guy, though she thought she’d been close a couple times. Her work made it difficult for her to concentrate on a relationship much past the initial stages of flirting and eating out. Just the mental brainpower it took to do what Charlie needed her to do sucked up most of her time and her energy.

  From the edge of the garage, Jess heard a noise. She looked up to see Roxie, Chase’s beagle mix standing at the edge of the garage, panting. Roxie came over and nuzzled Jess’s hand, looking for a back scratch. Jess happily obliged. It was the most normal thing she’d done in hours. The little dog looked up at Jess with watery brown eyes as if asking her if everything was all right. “No,” Jess whispered to Roxie. “Things are most definitely not all right.”

  A few more minutes passed by with nothing happening inside the house that Jess could hear. She got up and started to pace, hoping her mind would kick into gear and help her figure out something, anything that would help them get Abby back. But it didn’t. She sat back down on the bumper, wondering if she should stay when the back door closed behind her. It was Detective Saunders. He had a scowl on his face.

  “Your brother said he doesn’t want my help. He doesn’t want any help at all. Said this is a family matter and that I should leave.”

  From the look on the detective’s face, Jess could tell he was angry, the skin pulling his
features taught, his lips thin. Jess held her hands up, “I’m sorry. It’s his daughter. I don’t know what else to say.”

  “I think this is a mistake, to be honest. And I might leave peaceably, for the moment, but I don’t think the FBI is going to be quite so cooperative since the kidnappers broke into a bank vault to get to you.” From his back pocket, he pulled out a business card and handed it to Jess. “If you change your mind, give me a call. Day or night.”

  Jess nodded, looking at the card as he walked away, “Detective Jamison Saunders” it read. She stared at the letters as Saunders disappeared down the driveway. Jess’s eyes followed him as he turned down the street, walking on the sidewalk to the clubhouse where he’d parked his car. She felt her heart sink a little bit. Detective Saunders, Jamison, had been fair with her. He’d let her give him the information at her own pace without pressuring her and he even let her crawl through the escape route without pulling on both of her ankles and yanking her out of the hole and slapping handcuffs on her before she got too far. He seemed like a patient man, but she wondered what would happen if his patience ran out.

  Before Jess could think about it much more, she heard the back door open and close behind her, watching Chase come down the two wooden steps into the garage. “I’m so sorry about that, Jess. It’s just, Piper, she’s under so much strain right now.”

  Jess jumped up, heat running to her cheeks, “From what? She’s always treated me this way, Chase. She doesn’t work, so exactly what kind of stress is she under? And she wasn’t in the bank robbery this morning. I was. It would be nice if she could show a little bit of compassion at least once in a while.” The words came out in a tumble. Jess hadn’t meant for them to do so. She’d always been careful about not pitting Chase between the two main women in his life — Piper and Jess. Piper didn’t seem to have any problem with their younger sister, Rachel, but dealing with Jess was an entirely different issue.