“I wish I could but I just can’t. Not yet. When I get something, and believe me I will, I’ll call or come on in.”
“I just hope it’s not too late when you decide to do that,” Logan said and hung up the phone.
“Logan,” the captain shouted, rushing out of his office, “We just got a tip. Someone spotted Ashton at the Southwood Mall. Cars have been dispatched. You might want to get on over there.”
“On my way,” Logan said making a run for the door with Winston close upon his heels.
Ashton hung up the phone and thought that he had just wasted his time trying to talk to Logan. He started walking toward the mall lot when he noticed a security guard watching him and talking into a walkie-talkie. Another guard was walking briskly toward the same area.
He knew he had been spotted and quickly turned and walked into a department store. He rushed down the aisles and started toward the nearest exit.
He stopped and looked out the door spotting two more security men. He turned and raced away from the door, looking for some way to escape. He passed a door marked employees only and opened it.
He saw a long hallway with several doors. He didn’t see any other options so he started down it, trying each door as he went. Several opened into storage rooms and some were locked. He reached the end of the hallway and found a steel door with a panic alarm on it. He knew he didn’t have much time so he pushed on the bar, the door opened but no alarm sounded. He was thankful for that at least.
He found himself outside in a small courtyard that had several dumpsters in it. It was surrounded by a tall brick wall. He could hear approaching police sirens in the distance. They couldn’t be far away. He looked around the corner of the wall and saw that several police cars had already arrived and the officers were getting instructions.
One of the security guards was with them so it was only a matter of time before they started a detailed search. He was trapped and he knew it. Maybe the best thing to do would be to give up and turn himself in but he needed to find out what was going on. He looked around and decided the only thing to do was hide and hope that they didn’t find him. He had nothing to lose at this point.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“He went into Hilgardners,” the guard said, pointing to the store.
“All right, listen up,” Logan said to the men gathered around him, “I don’t want this man taken down with excessive force. Let’s just round him up, cuff him, and get him to a car. Does everyone understand that?”
“What if he is armed?”
“He isn’t,” Logan assured him.
“But what if he is?”
“Then do what you have to do but remember, there are a lot of civilians inside there as well. Only shoot as a last resort and try to go for the legs if at all possible.”
The officers just glanced at each other. Logan assigned teams to cover each door along with back-up positions. When everyone was in place he went into the store and found the manager’s office.
“You the manager?”
“Yes sir. What’s the problem? Are we being robbed?” the nervous little man with a wisp of a mustache asked.
“No, but we do have a situation here. We need to clear the store. Everyone needs to vacate the premises immediately. There is a fugitive someplace in the building and we need to get everyone out for safety reasons.”
“Oh dear. I mean, it’s very busy today. I don’t think we can just tell people to get out,” he replied.
“Yes, you can and will. You do it your way or I’ll do it mine. I’m sure yours will be much more polite,” Logan told him.
“But our lost sales,” the manager protested.
“Better than losing a customer's life. Look, I don’t have much patience for this sort of debate. Just do it, okay?”
“I guess I don’t have much choice. All right then,” he said and pressed the store intercom button.
“Attention customers. Attention customers. Hilgardners is temporarily closed. This is a temporary measure only. We are asking all customers to please leave the building as quickly as possible. All customers please leave as quickly as possible. All employees are to report to the break room as soon as you have finished.”
“How long will it take?” Winston asked.
“That depends on the customers,” the little man said.
“Keep a sharp eye out men. People will be leaving soon,” Logan spoke into the hand held microphone.
They could do little at this point but wait. It took nearly forty-five minutes for the last of the employees to show up in the break room.
Logan explained what was going on and held up a picture, “Did any of you see this man?”
“I did,” an attractive blond wearing a cream colored silk blouse and dark skirt spoke up.
“Where?”
“He rushed down the cosmetic isle, almost knocking some poor lady down,” she told him.
“Did you see where he went?”
“Not really. Just towards the back of the building. I was too busy helping the lady gather her things back up.”
“Anyone else?”
Several others recognized the picture but did not see where he went.
“Alright. You can all clock out and leave,” the manager informed them. Report at your regular time tomorrow.”
Logan notified his men that the employees were on their way out and that everything should be in place and ready to move as soon as they cleared the building.
“Last one is out,” the walkie-talkie crackled.
“Roger. All right let’s do it but no shooting. I want him alive,” was his last words.
The police entered in teams, sweeping the isles and fanning out in pairs. They worked slowly and efficiently with each team reporting its findings as they inched through the store.
It was over an hour before the last team joined up with Logan who was positioned in the middle of the store on the second floor.
“Nothing,” the teams reported, when they arrived.
Logan closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Nothing? How is it possible? Did you check the vents and storage rooms?”
“Everything,” he was informed.
“And you’re absolutely sure this was the man you saw,” Logan said, holding the picture for the guard to see one more time.
“Absolutely. Without a doubt,” the guard informed him assuredly.
“Notify the back-ups. People we are going to do this all over. I want you to start at the bottom and do a complete sweep. Let’s go,” Logan shouted.
The second sweep took even longer but the end result was the same. Logan sat dejectedly on a stool listening to the report.
“Is there any other way out of this store? Anything at all?” he asked.
“Just the service corridor,” the manager said.
“You guys checked it out?” Winston asked.
“Yeah. We went into each storage room. The end of the hall has a door with an alarm on it. If he had gone out there someone would have heard it,” one of the teams reported.
“Is that right?” Logan asked the manager.
“Oh yes. It has a loud alarm that we would have noticed immediately,” the man replied.
“Check it out. Open the door and see where it leads,” Logan said.
A team quickly rushed to the corridor and opened the door. Nothing happened.
“It’s open,” a voice said.
“Strange. I don’t hear the alarm,” Logan said turning to the manager.
“Oh my. I don’t understand it,” he said nervously.
“What’s the deal?” Logan asked.
“Looks like someone disconnected it some time ago. It’s all rusted inside,” the reply came.
“I guess it was the janitors. They would forget to turn it off sometimes when they took out the trash,” the manager said looking down at the floor.
“What’s out...never mind, I’m on my way down” Logan informed them.<
br />
He arrived at the steel door and pushed it open. He saw a row of dumpsters and the brick wall with the opening that led to the parking lot.
“He’s gone,” Winston said.
“You’re right. All he had to do was wait for us to disperse and walk off. Man, the Captain is going to be hotter than a boil when we tell him,” Logan said.
“What do you mean ‘We’? When you tell him,” Winston said backing away.
“Nice. Real nice,” Logan said, shaking his head.
It was dark by the time they returned to the police station and they were relieved to find that the Captain had gone home for the night. Logan wrote out a detailed report and left it on the Captain's desk. With any luck he would blow a gasket and be over it before they got in tomorrow.
****
Ashton waited in the dumpster until it was well past midnight before he dared look out. He had climbed in when he saw the number of police in the parking lot. He was sure he would be caught at any time. He could hear Logan’s voice when they finally opened the door to the courtyard and he was sure it would just be a matter of time before they started to search the dumpsters.
He was shocked when he heard someone say that he must have walked off. He thought it might be a trap so he waited. Even when he opened the lid he half expected to be arrested. He climbed out of the dumpster and walked quietly to the opening and looked out. The lot was empty except for a car or two.
He could see his rented car but decided that it would be too risky to go to it. He slid along the wall, keeping in the shadows as much as possible until he felt he could go no further.
He looked around and then made a dash for the trees on the far side of the lot. He was expecting an alarm to sound but all he could hear was his own heart beating as he reached the trees. He looked back but nothing had changed. They actually believed that he had already gotten away. Amazing. Maybe he could get to his car as well.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
A low moan was the only reply.
“Carla. Honey, you have to answer me. Please Carla. I know you’re here. Answer me.”
Again a low moan was the only sound.
“You have to keep fighting. Don’t give up Carla. Think about Terry. Please don’t let them beat you. You can do it, I know you can,” Stephanie pleaded.
“I can’t,” a weak voice said.
“Yes, you can. You have to get tougher. They told me that you have refused to eat. That’s not smart. You need to eat to keep going. We can’t let them beat us,” Stephanie said with conviction.
“I don’t care anymore. They are never going to let us go. It’s over. I don’t even care anymore.”
“Stop it. Just stop it,” Stephanie shouted, “I won’t accept that. Now you pull yourself together and start eating. I mean it,” she said.
Carla felt her mouth being forced open and a spoon placed in her mouth. It was applesauce. At first she just let the spoon rest on her tongue but soon she took the bite and swallowed it. It tasted heavenly. Another spoonfull was pressed against her lips and soon she was gulping it down.
“Good,” the strange voice said.
“Is she eating?” Stephanie asked.
“Yes,” was the only reply. Carla ate several spoonfuls before asking for a glass of water.
“Good girl,” Stephanie said, “They won’t beat us. I knew you could make it. You have to keep the faith. Think of Terry or whatever it takes but don’t just give up. Understand?”
“I’ll try,” Carla said weakly.
“No don’t just try. Do it,” Stephanie demanded.
“Thank you Steph. You are such a dear friend. I don’t know what I would do without you,” Carla said.
“You just stay alive, you hear?”
“I’ll do my best. Honestly I will,” Carla assured her.
****
“Carrie?” Jim said.
“Yeah? Who is this?” she asked.
“Jim Ashton. I was just calling to see if you had found out anything new,” he said.
“I see you didn’t turn yourself in. I didn’t figure you would.”
“I did call Detective Logan but I just couldn’t bring myself to give up. I’ve got to get to the bottom of this. Can you help?” he asked.
“I don’t know much more than before. I have talked to a few sources and found out that Logan is still doing a lot of digging around. I don’t think he is convinced you did it. He has been looking into various details of yours and Larkins' stories. I think he must have found something but I don’t know what yet,” she said.
“That makes me feel a little better. Carrie, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with any of this,” he told her.
“I believe you or I wouldn’t have met with you. I meet a lot of people in this line of work and I feel comfortable with you. I’m a good judge of character and you just don’t meet the killer profile,” she told him.
“Gosh thanks, I think. What about the FBI? Did you learn anything new about what’s going on?” he asked.
“Larkins is going to make the money drop. My source tells me it will take place sometime on Friday. That’s all I have been able to find out so far. It’s easier to get information from the police than from the FBI,” she explained.
“I understand. Any mention of time?” he asked.
“I think that part is up to the kidnapper or kidnappers. It’s a wait and do as told situation,” she said.
“I guess that would only make sense. Look, I had better go. I have a lot to do and standing around talking on a public phone could be dangerous for me. Thanks for everything,” he said.
“Just remember our deal. I get first notice and exclusive rights when this is all over. You just take care of yourself. You seem like a really nice guy,” she said.
“You’re pretty okay too,” he said and hung up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Pete Nelson was going over the details once more with Terry as they sat in his front room.
“Once we get the call and instructions you will be on your own. We have a transmitter on your car so we will be able to track you from a distance. We won’t get close because that would only blow the whole thing. Are you sure you don’t want to be wired?”
“I’m sure. If they meet me face to face and find a wire on me they will probably kill Carla and Stephanie. I won’t take the chance,” Terry said firmly.
“I think it’s a mistake but it’s your call. No wire,” Nelson conceded.
“Then what?”
“They are sure to run you in circles to see if you are being followed. We will stay out of the picture. Do exactly as you are instructed. If you get into trouble your emergency flashers have been rewired and will send out a signal and we will respond immediately,” Petty told him.
“I just do as they tell me?”
“To the letter. Once we figure out where you are headed we will take the appropriate action. We are set up and ready to respond don’t you worry about that,” Petty said.
“So I just take the money and do as told and at some point you will rush in and rescue us all?”
“Essentially. I mean there is a lot more to it than just that but in a nutshell you have it right.”
“Sounds vague to me,” Terry said.
“We would rather keep it that way. The less you know the less likely you are to do something that would tip them off. Believe me, this is the best way,” Nelson assured him.
“I want to get something perfectly straight. The priorities are the women first, the kidnapper or kidnappers second and the money last. I don’t care about the money, all I care about is getting my wife back, unharmed” Terry said.
“We’re in total agreement. The women are our first concern, believe me. Your friend Ashton might not survive this but we intend to get the women out first before we go after him,” Petty said.
“If, Jim is involved,” Terry said.
“He is. He is,” Agent Petty declared.
“Anyway, do you have the money cou
nted and ready?”
“Yes. It’s in the suitcases in the back of my car ready to go,” Terry told them.
“Then all we have to do is wait,” Nelson said, settling back.
****
They didn’t have to wait long. The phone rang less than an hour later.
“Get in your car and drive to the phone booth at 10th and Mattis,” the voice said and immediately hung up.
“Here we go. Everyone take your station,” Agent Petty said into the microphone.
“Good luck,” Agent Nelson said as Terry climbed into his Jaguar and started the engine.
“Thanks. Just get my wife back safe,” he said and started off.
“The transponder is working,” Petty told Nelson, watching Larkins drive away.
“Let’s do it,” he said. Everyone sprang into action.
****
Ashton sat in his car watching as the Jaguar pulled out of the driveway with Terry at the wheel. He spotted the police van and several other cars with men in them as well. He would have to be very careful in trailing Terry. He slipped his car into gear and pulled out after making sure he wasn’t too obvious.
Terry drove to the designated spot, stopped his car and went to the phone booth. Jim could see him pick up the phone from his vantage point. Terry then hung up the phone and got back in the Jaguar and drove off. Jim followed discretely. Terry seemed to be driving aimlessly around for almost fifteen minutes before he pulled into the Westlake Mall lot. He drove to the outer edge lot behind Sears and pulled up next to a dark blue van.
Jim stopped some distance away between two parked cars and watched as Terry transferred what appeared to be several suitcases to the side door on the van. From where he sat he could see no one inside or in the driver’s seat.
Terry placed the last suitcase in the van and then went to the driver’s side and got in. He started the van, looked around, and then drove off.
He must be following directions from the kidnappers Jim thought as he started his car and followed the van. They headed toward the I-649 loop around the city and soon he was headed south out of the city. A short time later Terry pulled off the loop into a truck stop and parked the van next to another identical van.
Avarice or Innocence (JOHN LOGAN FILES Book 1) Page 18
