In Shadows

by Sharon Sala

  “Good luck,” the trucker said, eyeing the motorcycle. “You have the best chance, that’s for sure.”

  Jack called 911, reported the accident and the location and then started his bike back up and began slowly winding his way through the piled-up cars until he reached the exit and took it. He wasn’t all that far behind Shelly, but the fact that he’d lost sight of her made him nervous. He wouldn’t rest easy until he knew for sure she was safe inside their house.

  Ten

  Shelly saw the wreck happening behind her and sped up, grateful she hadn’t been caught in the chaos. When she finally reached her exit, she left the 610 with relief. It wasn’t long before she began seeing Aerocare helicopters and hearing ambulance and police sirens.

  “God bless all who are in need,” she whispered, and then stopped for a red light, which gave her a moment to think about Jack. “I know you are in need, too, my darling. I am praying for your safety.”

  The light finally turned green and she accelerated through the intersection. Only after she drove into their neighborhood did she allow herself to relax. She made a conscious effort every day not to become a statistic, but twice a day on the 610 Loop was always stressful. Today had been a horrible reminder of how swiftly life could change.

  As she drove through the streets, she began noticing a couple of new for-sale signs. It was the same Realtor as the one showing the house just north of their house. And as she drew nearer, she noticed there was a car parked at the curb in front of the vacant house. She frowned. Getting new neighbors was always stressful.

  The windows in the car were dark, but she didn’t think anyone was inside.

  “Likely interested buyers,” she decided, and hit the remote as she turned up her driveway. She braked, waiting for the garage door to go up, and then pulled inside.

  She was still rolling forward when she caught a glimpse of something in the rearview mirror, but then when nothing appeared, she decided it had simply been a glimpse of a passing car out on the street, and hit the remote to lower the door. As soon as it was down, she got out and went inside.

  Her routine never changed as she pushed the door shut behind her, and paused in the hallway to disable the alarm. It wasn’t until she heard the squeak of a hinge that she realized the door from the house into the garage was opening again.

  Thinking she hadn’t pushed it all the way shut, she was turning around when a man appeared in the doorway. Before she could react, he hit her in the face with his fist. Blood spurted from her mouth and nose, but she didn’t feel it. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.

  Adam turned and pressed the button to raise the door back up for Yuki, who had already pulled their car up and was running inside.

  In less than a minute, Shelly McCann was gagged, her hands and feet tightly bound, and her body wrapped up in blue plastic tarp. She was beginning to come to when Yuki scooped her up into his arms and carried her to their car.

  The door to the back of the Jeep Cherokee was already up. He dropped her inside and slammed it shut, then leaped into the passenger seat. Adam was already backing out as Yuki buckled up.

  “Drive!” Yuki shouted.

  Adam glanced up, saw that the garage door was still open, and cursed, but there was no time to go back and close it. And then he saw a neighbor from across the street running out of the house toward them with her cell phone to her ear, looking at them and screaming.

  “Dammit!” Adam said. He rolled down the window enough to fire off a shot, and saw the woman hit the grass facedown as he sped away. Her arrival was nothing but a little hitch to his plan, because he finally had the bait he needed.

  * * *

  From her living room window, Barb Hightower noticed Shelly coming home from work, just as she did this time every day. She was about to turn away when she saw a man come out from the bushes behind Shelly’s house and roll under the garage door as she was driving inside. Her heart started to pound. Shelly was inside that garage with a bad man! She was about to run for her cell phone when she saw the garage door going back up, and the dark car that had been parked at the curb next door was now pulling into her drive. The driver braked, killed the engine, and when he ran inside the McCann house, too, Barb ran for her phone.

  By the time she got back to the window, one man was heading for the driver’s side of the car, while the other was carrying something wrapped up in blue plastic to the back. It wasn’t until he dropped it inside that Barbara saw long blond hair fall out of the tarp.

  “Oh my God, oh my God,” Barb moaned, and was already calling 911 as she bolted out of the house, screaming for them to stop. The driver’s-side window began to slide down. She saw the gun a fraction of a second before the shot was fired, and dropped facedown in the grass as the car accelerated and sped away.

  By the time she looked up, they had already turned a corner and disappeared from sight. Still screaming for help, she got up on her hands and knees to look for the phone she’d dropped. But when she found it, she soon learned the dispatcher was still on the line and had already dispatched the police.

  “Ma’am, ma’am, are you alright?” the dispatcher kept asking.

  Barb took a deep breath. “Yes, yes, I’m okay. They shot at me but missed. I just witnessed two men kidnapping my neighbor Shelly McCann. They carried her body out of the house wrapped in blue plastic tarp and dumped her in the back of their SUV. I didn’t know it was Shelly until I saw her long blond hair hanging on the outside of the tarp.”

  “Did you know them?”

  “No, never saw them before. They were driving a late model gray Jeep Cherokee.”

  “Can you describe them?” the dispatcher asked.

  “They were late thirties or early forties, and both were Asian. One was taller and slimmer. One was a bit shorter and heavyset. You have to hurry! Shelly is such a dear. I can’t believe this has happened!”

  * * *

  Jack made good time once he got off the Loop, and sped toward home. It didn’t take long before he began meeting rescue vehicles—ambulances, fire trucks and police cars. He saw the choppers flying overhead and saw that a few were from television stations, but the majority were from Aerocare companies.

  By the time he finally drove into their housing addition he was beyond anxious. It had taken longer to get here than he first thought, but when he finally turned down their street and saw police cars everywhere, his heart sank. He didn’t want to believe it, but they were at his house.

  The area was roped off with yellow crime scene tape and not an ambulance was in sight. Then he saw Barb Hightower sitting in a chair on her porch. When he realized she was crying, the feeling that swept through him was pure panic. He rolled the Indian to the curb and killed it, then got off running.

  Barb saw a stranger coming toward her and jumped up in fear. She was about to call out to the police across the street when she realized she knew that voice, and he was calling out her name.

  “Barb, Barb, what’s going on?” Jack asked, and then yanked off his helmet so she could see his face.

  She paused. “Jack? Is that you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. What happened to Shelly? Where is she?”

  Barb let the door swing shut and grabbed his arm. “Oh, honey! I am so sorry to tell you, but I witnessed her being kidnapped.”

  “No,” Jack groaned, as his legs went weak. “Did you see the kidnappers?”

  “Yes. They were driving a late model gray Jeep Cherokee. I couldn’t get a tag number because the driver shot at me as they drove away.”

  Jack grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but Shelly...they had her rolled up in one of those blue plastic tarps... You know, those cheap ones like you can get at Walmart? I didn’t know it was her until I saw her hair. It was hanging out the end.”

  Jack shuddered. “Faces! Did you see their faces?�
�

  “Yes...they were Asian.”

  “Would you know them again if you saw them?”

  “The big one for sure because I clearly saw his face. The slimmer one, yes, maybe.”

  Jack pulled up the email on his cell phone that Lamar had sent him, then opened the attached file to the picture of the two men at the border crossing.

  “Do you see the men anywhere in this picture?” he asked.

  Barb peered at the screen and then pointed. “Those two. It was those men. Do you know who they are?”

  “Yes, I do,” Jack said, and then hugged her. “If I can save her, I will have you to thank.”

  “Oh lord,” Barb said, and was in tears all over again as she watched him running back to the motorcycle. Within seconds he was speeding away.

  Jack was sick to his stomach. He knew the level of depravity hidden within Adam Ito’s cool demeanor, and he knew Shelly was going to be tortured. There was no time left for secrets. He needed the Bureau’s help and reluctantly pulled over. He was so scared and so mad that he had to take a couple of deep breaths before he could speak in a calm enough manner to be understood, and then he made the call.

  Charlie answered on the third ring. “This is Special Agent Charlie Morris.”

  “Charlie, it’s me.”

  He couldn’t see his friend’s face, but he heard joy in his voice.

  “Oh sweet holy Jesus! Jack! You’re alive!”

  “Yes, but there’s nothing to celebrate. Adam Ito just kidnapped Shelly.”

  “No! Oh my God! What can I—”

  “Shut up and listen. I need a list of every piece of property he owns in this city, no matter how inconsequential. Email it to my personal computer. A neighbor witnessed it go down. It’s the same two men who were in the file I sent you.”

  “I should have known that was you! The other guy is his brother,” Charlie said. “We’ve already had Fred compile that list. I’ll have him send it directly to your personal email. You also need to know that we have men out checking every address on the list, looking for them. What else can I do?”

  “Find out which locations have already been checked, because the kidnapping happened less than thirty minutes ago and he might backtrack on you and head for one that’s already been cleared. That’s all, just find them, but know that if I find them first, you only get what’s left of him. Oh. One more thing. You have a leak somewhere in the Bureau. When Dumas and his men came in with the goods, Ritter was with him...and he was looking for me.”

  The tone of Charlie’s voice deepened in anger. “Ritter—as in your snitch?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know? Maybe it was just an accident and—”

  “No. I saw him first. When he saw me, it was as if he expected me to be there, which means someone with access to that information told him. Make sure Wainwright hears about this.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Charlie muttered. “I’ll inform him myself.”

  Jack ended the call, put the helmet back on and pocketed the phone before he took off. He wanted to get back to his apartment first and gather up some equipment. With the Bureau checking the properties, he needed another plan.

  Back at the Bureau, Charlie was on his feet and shouting.

  “McCann is alive! Ito! Ito!” He barked out orders to the agents around him, then bolted out of the office to fill Wainwright in on what was going down.

  * * *

  Shelly regained consciousness in the dark, choking on her own blood and wrapped up like a burrito. It didn’t take long to figure out she was in the back of some kind of speeding vehicle. She knew it was a hot day, but in the back of this vehicle, wrapped up in plastic, she was smothering. Whoever had done this was going to get a surprise when they discovered her dead body. Her nose was throbbing. That man had probably broken it when he’d hit her, and despite the gag, she could also taste the blood in her mouth. Her heart was racing and her panic was rising—the thought of not being able to breathe was horrifying. All she could think of was Jack. She didn’t have to know the details to understand this had happened because of him. It was what he was trying to fix...maybe even what he’d been trying to prevent.

  Oh God...this will destroy him, knowing I died because of his job.

  He would have survived his own ordeal, only to wind up having to bury her. She hoped God was listening as she began to pray.

  * * *

  Adam Ito was driving too fast and he knew it, but they needed to get off the streets. It was only a matter of time before every cop in the city had, at the least, a description of their car and maybe the tag number. And that witness had been on the phone when she came out screaming, which could mean she’d seen them come out of the house with the woman’s body. And that meant she could possibly identify them.

  None of this had gone as he’d planned, but it was the first time he’d pulled any kind of job without paying people to do it for him and protect his identity. He was getting a dose of how small-time criminals worked. Sometimes they pulled it off. Most times they got caught.

  “Where are we taking her?” Yuki asked.

  “One of my properties out near Houston Hobby Airport, but it’s not in my name. It’s listed as belonging to one of my shell companies.”

  “What if the Feds know about it?” Yuki asked.

  Adam glared. “Just shut up and ride. Everything is going as planned.”

  Yuki glared back. “You planned to shoot at a witness and alert the whole neighborhood to our crime?”

  “Don’t piss me off right now!” Adam shouted.

  Yuki’s heart was pounding now. This was the brother he remembered from his youth. The one he’d hid from. But he wasn’t afraid of him in this moment. He was too angry.

  “You would be wise to remember that while I am your younger brother, I’m still the one who’s stood by you all these years. I’m still the one here helping you now. And I haven’t been a small, helpless child for many years. You’ve needed me this whole time, and you still need me now, so how about you don’t piss me off?”

  Adam was shocked, but he was also calming down. Yuki was right. Adam needed him. But when he didn’t need him anymore, that might be another story...

  “I’m sorry, brother. That was just frustration talking. You are correct. I did not plan for a witness. Now, no more fighting between us. We have to stick together. I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

  “Of course,” Yuki said, but he wasn’t going to let down his guard again.

  * * *

  It took an hour for Adam to reach his destination.

  Planes were landing and taking off beyond the chain-link fencing between the warehouses and the runways. He circled to the back of his building, put the car in Park and jumped out running. When he reached the keypad, he punched in the code, then got back in the car as the doors swung outward. He drove between the gap, stopping long enough to go back to close the doors, then drove all the way to the far end of the building.

  “Get her out!” Adam said.

  Yuki popped the hatch from the front seat, then went around to the back to lift her out. But when he felt the heat emanating from the back of the vehicle and realized how limp she was, he began tearing away the plastic from around her head and shoulders.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Adam said. “I told you to get her out!”

  “The heat...all that plastic. I don’t think she’s breathing,” Yuki said.

  Adam saw his plan falling apart before it began, and started pulling at the plastic, trying to free her.

  Her clothes looked as if they’d taken her out of a swimming pool. There wasn’t a dry thread on her, and her skin was dripping in sweat.

  “Shit,” Adam muttered, feeling the woman’s neck for a pulse. His relief, when he found one, was huge. “She’s alive. Get her and follow me,” he said, and then hurrie
d into what had once been the warehouse office.

  The door was unlocked, which didn’t really matter, because all of the windows facing the interior of the warehouse were missing their glass. It was a wide-open space, but the shabby furniture that had been there when he’d bought the property—a chair, a cot and an old desk—still sat untouched.

  “Put her down there,” Adam instructed, pointing at the floor inside the door, “then untie her hands and secure her to the bed.”

  “She needs water,” Yuki said.

  “And I need answers!” Adam snapped.

  “If you want her to talk, then give her water. Otherwise, we can sit and watch her die,” Yuki said.

  Adam gestured to a bathroom. “Fine. See if the water is still on.”

  Yuki stopped inside the small room, then jumped when a rat ran out between his legs. Those disgusting creatures gave him the creeps. He tried the light switch but noticed there was no bulb in the fixture anyway. He turned around to the sink and tried the taps, but nothing came out.

  “No water,” he said, as he walked out.

  “Go check the car. See if there are any bottles of water.”

  Yuki went back to the car and began searching. He finally found one unopened bottle of water that had rolled beneath a seat.

  “Found one,” he said, and handed it to Adam as he returned.

  Adam opened the bottle and started to pour it on her face when Yuki snatched it out of his hands.

  “Inside her, not on her!” he said.

  Adam said nothing but stood and watched as his brother lifted the woman’s head just enough to pour a little water into her mouth.

  It dribbled back out.

  “Lady! Lady! You need to swallow,” Yuki said, and tried it again. This time, when he poured a tiny bit into her mouth, he saw her tongue move and watched the water go down.

  Little by little, he got almost half of the sixteen ounces in the bottle down her throat before he began to see signs of waking.

  “She’s regaining consciousness!” Yuki said.