My Granddaughter was Stolen!

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  "Penny agreed to help me. I told her nothing sir. I lied and said we're looking to meet some political friends out here. She jumped right in and told me about these guys who visit here occasionally. I asked her if she would find out if anyone is home so we could talk to them. I told her I'd pick her up at 10 am."

  "Damn fine work Wade. I'll wait her in the lobby for you to return. My might get lucky today."

  Wade picked up Penny at her office. She had her laptop and her name tag on. If someone was home she wanted them to know she was a Sunriver employee. Wade paid particular attention to where they went and parked in the driveway. No cars were seen and the place looked quiet. Penny had to go around the corner to the door. Wade couldn't see her. He let down the passenger window and listened. A few minutes later she came back shrugging her shoulders. He said, "Let's go pick up my boss and continue our house hunting."

  They spent the morning until lunch time looking at different places. Brad, when they stopped to look at a piece of property with a house for sale, he would try to sense vibrations. From the map his strongest sense came from the direction of the house with nobody home.

  Much to Penny's chagrin, they dropped her off saying, a need for a few calls were needed. They would see her around three if she wasn't busy. She brightened up at that news and as youth would have it, bounced into her office.

  Brad said, "Let's go back to that house you were at earlier." Brad made ready Rockies leash. Brad would let Rocky go to sniff the house dragging the leash as if he escaped.

  Wade described the house and parked about 200 yards away; on a blind corner. Brad had Lisa's slippers and Amy's handbag. Rocky got a good sniff and away he went following instructions. Brad had a bad feeling that with Rocky running around he would leave dog prints in the snow. That would or could lead to problems if a smart man was guarding the two females. Unless, of course, it snowed very soon.

  In no time Rocky came back with an affirmative sign that Brad felt too. Now they needed a plan to enter the house silently. Brad and Rocky walked back to where Wade had parked. He told Wade that for sure the two females were there or had been there. Brad decided that 9 pm would be a good time to check the place out.

  Also he would keep this information in hand until verified. No use in raising the hopes of Samuel and have it fall flat. That meant they had about eight hours to wait. Wade took Brad's advice to stay with Penny and keep searching for other likely places.

  -IX-

  Ray Small sat in his office space, feet up on his old gun metal gray desk, chewing on a toothpick. His fifties style hat pushed back on his head. In the dead of winter its cold in DC and Ray had on long handles and his tan raincoat. He really did look like a PI of old. Nancy had finally placed him as she was on old time movie fan. She thought Ray Small was a look-a-like of Sterling Hayden. The major difference was in their height. Hayden was tall at six feet five inches and Ray was barely five foot ten inches.

  Be that as it may, Ray was darn good at his job. But now, as he sat thinking, not a clue had surfaced as to who the perp was. He thought, now this sucks, as his daughter says. Here I'm working with some hot shot investigators and before I even get started I’m stuck. His only lead was the fact Father Wilmar knew the perp. Ray picked up the list of members that had been provided by the good Sister Goodly. He thought that going over a list of about 500 members would not be so hard. However, it appeared a lot of political men were good Catholics. He was glad the FBI was working on that end of things.

  Ray decided while it was still daylight he would go back to the church and look around again. He went out to the church alone. His usual partner was off on leave. Ray preferred to work alone anyway. He got lucky and found a parking place not two blocks away. The sidewalks were fairly clear as he walked down to the church. As he approached the church he exchanged his used cigarette for a toothpick. He nodded to the men in blue and went around the side of the church to the door. Crime tape was still everywhere. Snow was stacked up on the sides of the walkway.

  Ray could see where a team of evidence seekers had dug around in the snow. He saw nothing and went around to the front and went inside. The only person that was there turned out to be Sister Goodly. Her door stood open and she was shuffling some papers around her desk. He knocked on the side of the door and she asked him in.

  He sat down on a hard wooden chair and said, "I'm looking for a needle in a hay stack Sister. Is there anything you forgot to tell us?"

  "I make a poor witness Mr. Small. It doesn't take much nowadays to fluster me. This listening to a man who murdered Father Wilmar scared the devil out of me. His quiet unassuming voice haunts me all the time. I doubt I slept a wink last night. What if he thinks I can identify him? Am I next then?"

  "I doubt he will ever be back here Sister. He'll lay low as they say in the movies. He's probably a respectable business or politician family man. Guys like him, after they have committed a crime, go home and sleep like a baby."

  "I hope so Mr. Small. You know, now that you mention quiet and unassuming I do remember when he walked it sounded like he had, what do you call those metal things kids put on their shoes many years ago? All I can remember is horseshoes on the heels. Well, anyway he sounded like a horse walking on pavement."

  "That is very good to hear Sister. That really helps me a lot. I'd guess the man was saving his heels with metal to make them last longer; or he walks on the outside of his shoes and makes the side of the heels wear out faster. Thanks and I'll get this information out right now."

  Ray hurried to his car and called Nancy to give her the news. His news was greeted with enthusiasm and big thanks. Now, he thought, what the hell do I do with the information? Do I hang out at the senate building and listen to people walking? What he did do was tell his captain and the captain assigned a bunch of policemen to ask at any and all government buildings and court houses to see if anyone remembers a guy with shoes making a horse sound.

  Nancy fed the information to the FBI and they too flooded the building looking for the, what came to be known as "The Horse Shoe Man."

  Agent Jones was more diligent than Ray when it came to the church member list. He was on the phone constantly with a running list of potential suspects. Anyone not professional was struck off immediately. That is, not political or legal or high level businessman. Jones only took a few minutes for lunch and was back at till he dropped exhausted.

  Wendy Jones was equally busy doing voice recognition from the tape. The one thing that was nice is the perp had a distinct quiet voice, but that could be on purpose. She kept at it till she too dropped from exhaustion.

  Billy was doing what he did best: searching on the computer for clues to opposite party radicals who thought they knew best. Billy remembered very well a few years ago they had a similar case where a group of political radicals were assassinating high level politicians. The Master and Sujin successful ended that case. The mastermind went deep sea swimming.

  Billy was searching news reports about the Chief of Staff Felix Whilhelm resigning. There were lots of politicians looking for photo ops and Billy listened to a variety of reports. One report, in particular stood out like a sore thumb. It was the Speaker of the House, Dean Hollis. He was a diehard republican from way back. He said the country needed a change and it was a good start with Felix retiring. The Speaker Hollis was a man of few words and with that statement he walked off down the steps of House of Representatives.

  Billy gave that some thought about the speaker. Then it hit him that the third in line for President of the United States was the Speaker of the House. "Holy bat shit," he said out loud to nobody. It was common knowledge the Vice President was not well and really not expected to live much longer. If the current President Samuel Bates resigned, potentially, the Speaker could assume the Presidency. A little scary, but a real possibility he thought. Now I wonder if anyone thinks like me. He called his boss in Bend, Oregon.

  Brad listened to what Billy had to say. He thought at first it was reaching out
there a long ways, but it needed some serious thought. He told Billy to keep at it and do a deep background on Dean Hollis and a thorough one at that. Wife and kids included. Begin with his university.

  Not so far from Billy was Mike tucked in nicely at his suite at the Hilton. He had everything in place and all he had to was wait for Donald Hedgewire to contact him. In his brief case Mike had signed documents. Those documents gave him the power to negotiate with prospective investors on their behest.

  This wasn't the first time he played this role. Mike was a natural at acting any part. He had the unique ability that upon meeting Mike Henshaw, you thought he was a long lost friend. Within minutes a stranger was sharing personal information that should have been held close to the chest.

  At just before noon his room phone rang. He listened and was told by Donald that a car would pick him up out front in ten minutes. Mike acknowledged and adjusted his already straight necktie while looking in the mirror. Then he put on his cashmere overcoat and hat. The last thing he did was smile into the mirror and gave him a small salute.

  Indeed a car was waiting for him. Not only was it a car, but a very long car complete with a uniformed chauffeur. Mike was alone in the back seat but no sooner had they left the hotel when a recording came on. It said, in a male voice, "Make yourself at home Mr. Henshaw. You see a row of button just in front of you, push number 1 and a drink cabinet will open. Help yourself. The ride will take about an hour. We look forward to seeing you."

  Mike did as instructed and for sure a drink cabinet opened up complete with ice. Mike chose a fruit drink and closed the cabinet. Of course he sniffed it and then tongue tasted it for drugs. It appeared untouched. He looked out the window as they headed south to Virginia as he expected.

  After the freeway the limo wound around some streets until it pulled up in front of a covered drop off area. The sign said: 'The International Country Club.'

  Mike was met by a pretty lady who said she would take him to a meeting room. As they wound their way towards the back, Mike saw affluent oozing from every place he looked. Walking down a long hall way, standing by a door stood two men who combined could probably bench press the limo he rode in.

  What they didn't know was if Mike wanted to, he could lay them both out so fast they wouldn't know what hit them. Instead he kept a straight face not looking at either one of them. Inside the meeting room it was about what he expected: a long wooden table with a dozen comfortable chairs the rocked back and swung sideways. The first black suit to greet him was Donald Hedgewire. Mike shook his sweaty hand. Mike looked from left to right. At the head of the table stood, what looked like the patriarch, a silver hair senior fighting old age. To his left, and on down the line, a mix of young and old alike. All had the look and demeanor of success and good breeding.

  Donald said, "Mike excuse us for not using our names, but for the time being we just use a letter of the alphabet to identify each other. For example, at the head of the table is Mr. A and to his left Mr. B and so on. I'm the last letter F. Now please sit down and show the members your bona-fides."

  Before he sat down, with a serious look he stared at each member memorizing the faces and body builds. After sitting down he opened his grip and took out a stack of documents two inches thick. Donald was sitting to his left and they were the only two on that side of the table. This was good because Mike could study each man as they looked closely at each and every document as they were passed from A to E and then back to Mike.

  Mr. A said, after he perused the last document, "Mr. Henderson, we're an investment club and we're very exclusive. To join our group a perspective member must have at least a quarter billion to invest. What that gives you is a voting right. Let me give you an example. Let's say we have the opportunity to invest in a startup company that needs a billion seed money. Each of us members studies the perspective company and then states what he will contribute; if anything. We all have the option of in or out or in for so much. Are you with me so far?"

  Mike said, "I've the concept no problem Mr. A. What I need to know is how much influence from this 'club' can you apply to the benefit of the said company?"

  Mr. A actually broke a very small smile and said, "We, Mr. Henderson, have a great influence on every aspect of a business. Very little, if anything, stands in our way. I think I make myself very clear?"

  "Crystal clear Mr. A. I'll step out and relieve myself while you discuss who and what I represent."

  Donald went with him. In the men's room Donald said, "Good show Mike. I think they like you. Well, who wouldn't like you with access to what you state."

  "Thanks Don. I'm a wonder what influence this club might have on the political side of things; if you get my drift."

  "I can say this Mike; we're pulling out all the stops to become the most powerful club in the world today."

  "Sounds good Don. Let's go back and see what Mr. A has to say."

  A guard opened the door and the room went silent. Mike and Donald sat down and both looked at Mr. A for a response. Mr. A said, "Mr. Henderson, by a majority vote we welcome you to our club. Mr. B here will contact you later tonight about a proposal we think you might like very well."

  "I thank one and all. Mr. B, I'll see you tonight," said Mike as he packed up his bag and left with Donald following. At the door the limo was waiting. Donald opened the door and said, "I'll catch up with you this afternoon, if you're free?"

  "I'm free Donald. Call my cell."

  Mike made some phone calls of his own. Brad told him to be damn careful as he was playing with some high rollers. Mike told Brad he was being very cautious and he'd call him later after his meeting with the worthless Hedgewire.

  At almost three o'clock straight up, his cell rang. Donald said he'd be there in thirty minutes. Mike waited until five pm and called Nancy. Nancy in turn called Ray Small and told him to check out anything related to a Donald Hedgewire.

  An hour later, Nancy received a call from Ray, saying he was called to a homicide near the Hilton Hotel. In the hotel's dumpster a body was found with the ID Donald Hedgewire.

  Nancy in turn called Mike. Mike got a little nervous as Mr. B was due anytime. He told Nancy to keep the line clear and if she didn't hear from him in two hours, send out the cops," he laughed.

  Mike no sooner hung up when a knock at the door came. Mike casually dressed, answered the door with a friendly countenance. Mr. B stood with a small smile on his face. Mike stood back and he came in. Mike said, "Nice to see you again Mr. B."

  "There're some police in and around the hotel Mike. I can assure you this had nothing to do with our new relationship. Pay it no mind. Simply put, Donald Hedgewire became a liability we couldn't repair."

  "I'm not sure precisely what you're talking about, but if my math is correct, 2 + 2 does equal four."

  Mr. B cracked a big smile and said, "Let's get down to business Mike, if I may call you Mike."

  "Indeed yes, call me Mike Mr. B. I'm all ears so let me hear what you have to say."

  Mike we're always a cautious lot. Do you mind if my boys sweep your suite for bugs?"

  Mike did expect that and he said, "By all means and you can check me for a wire too if you so desire."

  An hour later and four diet sodas consumed, Mr. B left very happy. Mike was starving and he went down to order some dinner. He was sitting in the dining room when in walked Nancy, Wendy and some guy who looked like Humphrey Bogart. Ironically, the three of them sat next to his table. He had his back to Nancy and could hear every word they said.

  Mike heard all he needed to know for the time being. After dinner he went to the bar. Agent Jones was there and he sat next to him at the end of the bar.

  Both were confident no one was watching nor listening. Jones said, "He was shot in the heart. It's our guess that it's the same shooter of Father Wilmar. Or at the very least, the same weapon. Brad told us all to be damn careful."

  Mike, ever cautious, slept with his Glock under his pillow very soundly.

 
-X-

  Brad was on the phone with Park. Park was telling him that about two weeks ago a car load, limo, to be exact came to Donald Hedgewire's house. The four men were dressed like business men but didn't stay long. It wasn't long after that the daughter was snatched. Park said, "My new friend Jose said as was working on the shrubs, he heard the word 'bend' and 'sunriver' from one of the men."

  Brad said, "Darn good work Park. I doubt you need stay there any longer. Donald Hedgewire was murdered a few hours ago. Go back to the Round House and keep a vigil please. Oh, by the way, my mother is there or is coming."

  It was almost time to go house breaking for Brad and Wade, along with Rocky. Both were dressed for covert action. But first they would drive by and gander at the house. If all was dark, they would check the security first and then break in quietly. At just past nine pm they drove by the house. The place was lit up as if a party was in progress. A SUV sat under the carport. Brad didn't like this situation at all.

  He had Wade drop him and Rocky off and he'd be back after checking the place out. At this point, Brad didn’t care about leaving any footprints. As all the drapes were closed he couldn't see but he could faintly hear two men talking and laughing. Brad could feel trouble brewing and the girl's would be in deep trouble very soon.

  He hurried back for Wade and the two of them proceeded to break into the house. Meanwhile, Face Mask and his friend, Bandana Man were just then opening the lock of the prison door. Amy could hear the men laughing and she realized they were in trouble. Lisa was hiding behind her as the two men came in with evil in their eyes. Amy would do anything to protect her daughter. She said, "Stop right there." Surprisingly the men stopped and looked bewildered.

  She continued, "You can have me, but leave my daughter alone. Do we have a deal? I'll not fight you and do my best to please you."

  Mask Man said, "Well, that's might nice of you. Why don't you show us your equipment," he laughed. "Maybe my partner and I will just take turns while your daughter watches. If we have a deal, the little girl must watch and not hide her eyes. This is a learning process. Now strip it down bitch."