Jason opened the refrigerator door and took out a couple of chilled sparkling waters. He handed one over to Daniel then said, “What happened to you on that first day? Did you actually get to see any of the gaming company?”
“Yes, everything started out like the dream prize that it was supposed to be. I was brought to the company headquarters and I met with a couple of the developers, they took a few photographs, and showed me around the facilities. After we did that, one of the employees took me aside and told me that we were now going to go to their special game development facility which was at another location. We walked out of the back door and into a parking garage. There were two men there, who turned out to be Feraducci’s goons. One of them came up to me and said, ‘The location we are taking you to is top secret. We are going to have to blindfold you for the trip.’
“This seemed totally ridiculous to me, and I said so. One of the men gave the game company employee a look, and he quickly left the area, leaving me alone with the two goons. They quickly came up to me and grabbed at my arms. I fought back as hard as I could, protesting loudly at my treatment, but soon they had overpowered me, and handcuffed my wrists behind my back. They told me to shut up, but I continued to yell out for help, in case someone else was in the garage. But apparently this was well planned. No one came to my assistance, and they put a blindfold over my eyes and taped my mouth shut. They then dragged me to a car, I was put in the back seat, and driven I guess to the warehouse we just left from. I was bundled out of the car, brought up to the rooftop and placed in a helicopter. Eventually I ended up at the Feraducci house.”
“After I was brought inside, I was taken to a bedroom, where I ended up spending most of my time. I was released from the handcuffs, blindfold, and gag, and told to just relax. ‘We have no intention of harming you,’ the man called Benito said. ‘Eventually you will be returned home, but not until after we talk to you and have you answer some questions.’ I was then left alone in the room. There was a television in there, and a game player, but no access to the outside and they had taken my cell phone when I was kidnapped. Later they brought me food, and after eating I was brought to see Mr. Feraducci.”
“What did Feraducci talk to you about?” Jason asked.
“First he wanted to reassure me that I wasn’t going to be harmed or held for ransom. Mostly he tried to pump me for information about you, but I wasn’t very forthcoming. After about fifteen minutes, he gave up, and I was returned to my room, where I spent the rest of the day. I’m sorry that I couldn’t warn you about the bogus game prize scam before they nabbed you.”
“I think that the main reason you were kidnapped was to grab your cell phone to get to me, and then he wanted you there for his plea about Nicolo.” Jason replied. “That’s how they got to me. They sent me a text message on your cell phone saying that I was included in the prize for the second day.”
“Another crazy day in the life of Hunter & Holmes,” Daniel said as he gave Jason some knuckles. “Good to be back with you, Jason!” The two then settled back for the remainder of the ride home.
The limousine arrived at Daniel’s home first. The driver got out and made sure that Daniel had his overnight bag, his cell phone, and the packages that contained a new game system and a large selection of games. When everything was delivered, Daniel told Jason that he would call him after dinner so they could talk. The driver then brought Jason to his house.
Jason’s mom Edith was there when he arrived. “How was your game-fest?” she said to him after giving him a hug to welcome him home. “Did you play some interesting new games?”
“Oh yeah, Mom. The realism in these new games is incredible! Even so, I sure am glad to be home!” he said with a huge smile on his face.
Chapter 10
A Meeting with Jaime Orlando
(Tuesday Evening and Wednesday)
After dinner, Daniel made good on his promise and called up Jason. Jason invited Daniel to come over to his house. “My mom is making this fabulous chocolate cream pie. It’s not panini but I think you will like it.”
Daniel laughed and said, “Anything without strings attached sounds great to me! I’ll be right over.” Daniel soon arrived in his new mini SUV. Jason went outside to greet Daniel and check out his new car.
“This vehicle is awesome, Daniel! It’s perfect for you. Does it have a good sound system?”
“Oh yeah, AM-FM radio, CD player, and a jack to plug in my mp3 player. I really like this mini-van, Jason. It gets good mileage and is capable of hauling my musical equipment around. It is easy to drive and the back seats fold down if I need more room for my gear.”
“That sounds awesome. Finally you have your own wheels. You are growing up, dude!”
“Yeah, despite all of the grief that we faced, those DCC chips sure ended up paying off!”
Gradually, the subject got around to their encounter with Enrico Feraducci and his grandson, Nicolo. “You aren’t actually thinking about going to that recital are you, Jason? That guy gives me the creeps.”
“I know what you are saying, Daniel. My moral indignation meter is yelling ‘drop it, drop it’ and when you think about it, it seems almost ridiculous that the two of us were actually kidnapped to prevent another crime! Yet in my gut and in the back of my mind, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that there is a talented young kid who is danger from some sort of a predator. As much as I resented the way we were tricked into that meeting and literally kidnapped off the street to get there, Feraducci’s story rings true to me and hits an emotional chord inside me!”
“Are you sure you want to get more involved in this, Jason? This whole set up sounds like trouble with a capital T.”
“I guess Feraducci hit a sore spot when he kept calling us young men of honor.”
“I can’t believe you are falling for this, Jason! Even Feraducci himself said that we were under no obligation to do anything, and if we did decide that, he would respect our decision and leave us alone. Who cares what he thinks about us!”
“You are absolutely right, Daniel, we are under no obligation, but that’s why I think that we should go to the recital and meet this kid, Nicolo. I really need you to come with me, Daniel, because you can tell me whether or not he is as talented of a musician as Feraducci claims he is.”
“Here we go again, Jason!” Daniel said with some chagrin in his voice.
“Come on, Daniel. It’s not like we are overbooked with things to do.”
“I think it is a big mistake to get any further involved than we already were. Clearly we are not dealing with nice people here. Aren’t we talking about the Mafia?”
“But this kid Nicolo is not involved with the Mafia. His mother has made a point of making sure he has little or no contact with that side of his family.”
“Jason, I really think that you are nuts to want to get involved! I know I don’t want to have anything more to do with this! I can think of a dozen ways for a kid to make friends other than having his grandfather kidnap someone and tell him that it’s a moral obligation to help!”
“I don’t think you are being fair to Nicolo, Daniel, but I can’t make you do something that you don’t want to do. Let’s drop the subject for now. I think I will talk to Jaime Orlando about this, and find out what he knows about the attacks on kids in San Matthias. Now let’s have some pie then try out some of those new games we paid such a high price for!”
The next morning Jason put in a telephone call to Jaime Orlando. Jaime was a local television news reporter who had set up an information sharing arrangement with Jason. Under their agreement, they could call each other and talk about something they were investigating and share sensitive information completely off the record and confidentially. This arrangement paid off great dividends when Jason was trying to find out what had happened to Tim Wilkinson at the Camp Chinquapin boot camp.
“It’s good to hear from you, Jason,” Jaime said after answering his phone. “What’s new in the world of Hunter & Holm
es?” Jason told Jaime that he wanted to set up a face to face meeting, so they agreed to meet for lunch at a sandwich shop downtown later that day.
After they both got their food, sat down, and got caught up on their recent activities, Jason asked Jaime what he knew about attacks on kids in the town of San Matthias. “This is a story that has been just under the radar for the past several years,” Jaime replied. “It seems there is a person or persons who has been going after young kids with the intent of molesting them. The reason that I say it is just under the radar is because the attacks only occur maybe about once a year. Obviously when they occur, the local community is up in arms and outraged. But there has never been any continuity to the crimes, so gradually the hue and cry dies down. There seems to be enough difference between the crimes that the police don’t see them as a pattern. One of the reasons is because the crimes have been equally divided between young boys and girls.”
“Have you heard anything about one of these crimes occurring lately?” Jason followed up.
“I haven’t heard about any attacks on kids lately, but usually the crimes are not reported to the public, due to the age of the victims. The only way the media would be informed about a specific crime against a kid would be if there was a fear that the criminal was going to strike again immediately or if the kid was murdered. Then the news media would be used to put out warnings for people to be more vigilant, or to try and get more information about that specific crime.”
“Do you know anything about a young boy named Nicolo Feraducci? He is supposed to be a musical prodigy?”
“I don’t know anything about people’s musical abilities, not being gifted in that area, but I do know a very good music critic and writer with the local newspaper who is pretty knowledgeable about young talent in this area. You said that the boy’s last name was Feraducci. Does he have any connection with the Feraducci crime family?”
“Nicolo is Enrico Feraducci’s grandson. But since his father was killed a few years ago, his mother has made sure that Nicolo has had virtually no contact with the Feraducci family. That’s why they moved to San Matthias.”
“Jason, if you are getting involved with this boy and he has a Mafia connection you need to be very careful!” Jaime said with some emotion in his voice.
“My only interest is in young Nicolo. I’ve been asked to meet him and find out if he is in any danger. I am concerned for him because I heard that he had been attacked in the same way as some of the other kids had, late at night, and in a very intimidating manner. It seems that this mysterious predator really enjoys striking fear into his young victims!”
“Again, I urge you to be very careful, Jason. Predators and mobsters do not sound like a healthy combination at all!”
“Thank you for your concern, Jaime. I feel really torn in this situation. Logic tells me to drop everything. My sense of righteousness tells me the opposite. It’s just not in me to sit by when I know that a teenager is in danger or being abused in some way! My whole being gets up in arms and I feel that I have a moral obligation to act! The risks that I face seem like nothing at all when I think of kids like Eric Acosta, Tim Wilkinson, and Cody Johnson and the great joy that I felt when they were rescued from the horrible situations they were placed in!”
“Yes, you were extremely brave, righteous, and you have to realize very lucky! Jason, you are an amazing person. I have never met a teenager like you before. But I worry that eventually you are going to get into a situation that you can’t resolve or escape from. My worst fear is that some day I will have to report on the news about your untimely demise!”
With those two very emotional statements, Jason and Jaime both looked at each other with a new sense of respect and regard.
“Thank you for caring, Jaime!” Jason responded first. “I don’t know what to say in reply except that I will be as careful as I can.”
Jaime reached out across the table and grabbed one of Jason’s hands. “My young friend, I wish I could be there with you to watch your back and help you fight these incredible villains that you keep running into. Barring that, you know that I will do everything I can to help you!”
“Anything you can find out about Nicolo Feraducci would be a great help to me now, Jaime.”
“You’ve got it, Jason,” Jaime said getting up from the table. “I’ll get back to you tonight with whatever I can find out.”
Chapter 11
Crisis in San Matthias
(Thursday)
As he promised, Jaime Orlando called Jason back Wednesday evening with a report on Nicolo Feraducci. “Jason, this kid is the real deal. My critic friend raved about his abilities as a musician. He said that he attended one of his recent recitals and when he closed his eyes and just listened he could swear that he was hearing an adult professional perform. Now as to the other issue you brought up, be sure and check the news first thing in the morning. A report has just come in that another kid has gone missing in the San Matthias area, this time a young boy aged 13. There is a preliminary search going on right now to make sure that the missing kid isn’t at a friend’s house or somewhere else in the area but the word right now is that this is a formality. If the boy’s parents and the authorities worst fears are realized, the boy will be reported as missing under suspicious circumstances by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you for the information, Jaime. I appreciate the heads up on the missing kid. It sounds like something really bad is going on in that little town.”
“I am pretty sure that Captain Garcia and the missing persons unit from the Silicon Valley Police is going to be involved in the investigation. You might want to get in touch with Captain Garcia with the information that you have.”
The next morning, Jason checked out the morning news on Jaime’s television station. There was a report about Benjamin Kessler, the young boy Jaime had mentioned on the telephone last night. An all out search was now going on to look for Benjamin, who was last seen riding his bicycle to a local convenience store in San Matthias, where he was going to pick up some milk and bread for his family. The Kessler family lived on the outskirts of the town on a ten acre property that was partially farmed. When Ben failed to return from his errand after a couple of hours, Ben’s mother started to look for him and call his friends. Ben did have a cell phone, but he had forgotten to take it along on his errand.
None of Ben’s friends had seen him that afternoon and he had never arrived at the convenience store. He hadn’t stopped at any of his neighbors’ houses. Ben often took shortcuts through narrow back roads and trails when riding into town. The current thinking of the authorities was that Ben had been grabbed by an unknown person or persons waiting on one of those back roads. But no one was sure why someone would be hiding out there waiting for a kid to come along. So far the police had found no signs of a struggle or any witnesses who had seen Ben riding his bike that afternoon.
At the end of the news story Captain Garcia was interviewed about the case. “We are doing everything that we can to assist the local authorities in this case. If there is anyone out there who knows anything or saw anything unusual or suspicious, please call our police hotline.”
The television reporter then asked, “Do you think this is the work of a predator or is this a kidnapping? Is there any possibility that young Ben ran away from home?”
“I do not want to comment at this time on your first question. It is too soon to speculate about what happened until we have more specific information. All indications so far are that this is not a runaway case. Young Ben seemed to be happy at home, had friends, and was doing well at school. If he was going to run away, he most likely would have taken at least some personal belongings with him and certainly more money. There were no signs that Ben did any of those things.”
That morning in San Matthias Captain Garcia was interviewing neighbors who lived in the vicinity of the Kessler farm. Three of them had responded to the call for information about that afternoon. Matthew Smith lived on the property imme
diately to the south of the Kesslers. Smith had fifteen acres which he used to grow garlic, herbs, and tomatoes for the local produce stands. A grizzled looking man in his late fifties, he had been out in his fields that afternoon. He vaguely remembered seeing Ben bicycle by his property, but couldn’t remember the exact time. He hadn’t noticed any strangers in the area. Salvatore Butera lived about a mile away in a small house on the edge of town. He worked in the local auto parts store as a salesman. Butera was in his early twenties, of medium height, and had pronounced Italian features, jet black hair and eyes, a Roman nose, and darkly tanned skin. Sal told Captain Garcia that he couldn’t be absolutely sure, but he thought he saw Ben riding down the road to Camarata Lake. “It could be that he decided to grab a quick swim or saw something down that road.”
Sal’s friend Angelo Ciurro, who was a couple of years younger, lived farther out of town, in a small house on several acres in nearby foothills. Angelo had a swarthy build which made up for his short height. Like Sal, Angelo was deeply tanned and had a thick barrel shaped chest and arms. He had medium dark features which were distorted by some permanent scars, the result of a terrible accident when he was sixteen. Angelo was working underneath a car with Sal, when Sal accidentally fell into and released the jack holding up the car. The crushing weight of the car severely damaged one side of his face and caused some brain damage. As a result, Angelo tended to talk in clichés because he had great difficulty processing original thoughts.
Sal felt guilty for what had happened to his handyman friend. Whenever possible, he would refer people who needed odd jobs or repairs to Angelo to help him get by. Angelo’s story was that he had seen Ben riding his bike on one of the side roads that eventually led to the shopping area where the convenience store was located. “I don’t know why that boy was riding his bike on that road at that time but my daddy always told me everything happens for a reason.”
Family Matters Page 7
