by R Weir
“Egg McMuffin, hash browns and OJ,” stated Idelson. “I took a wild guess on what you’d enjoy eating.”
Hunter dug into the bag, pulling out the sandwich before taking a large bite. He didn’t care what it was, he was hungry.
“Most kind of you considering you’re keeping me locked here against my constitutional rights,” he replied after swallowing.
“I can hold you for twenty-four hours without charging you. I wanted to make sure you had time to cool off and there’s no more trouble.”
“Didn’t appear to be an issue for the other guys?”
Idelson shrugged. “I know them. I don’t know you.”
“Maybe you know them—but they attacked me. I was only defending myself.”
“Not what they claimed or the owner of the home,” declared Idelson. “Said you started it. The homeowner also claimed you bullied your way into his house.”
That part Hunter couldn’t argue about. Forcing his way into Sellers home was true. Still he didn’t deserve this type of treatment. He took a bite of the hash brown and washed it down with the OJ. It plainly wasn’t fresh squeezed, there likely wasn’t any in the whole state.
“Three against one. I guess I’m out voted. Have to love democracy.”
“I’m willing to let you go. But you need to leave town.”
Hunter smirked. “If I refuse?”
“Then you could be right back here. Be a smart boy and leave before you get hurt.”
Hunter didn’t care for the boy remark, but let it slide. He had enough issues without popping a cop in the mouth.
“Then I’m free to leave?”
“So long as you leave town. Hell, I’ll even drive you to the airport, just to make sure you truly leave.” Idelson grinned while pulling out his car keys.
“I have a rental to return.”
Idelson laughed. “It’s been impounded. The rental company will come and get it. Might up your fee a tad, but like you said in the diner your client can afford to foot the bill.”
Hunter finished all the food and was then led out of the cell. From there he signed for his wallet, cell phone and gun holster.
“What about my gun?” he inquired.
“When we get to the airport you can have it back—unloaded.”
“We’ll need to go to the hotel and get my stuff.”
“Already done. We checked you out, packed everything and put it in the trunk of my squad car. You couldn’t ask for better service.”
It was service alright, though not the type you feel like tipping someone over. Hunter gathered up his things and turned on his phone. As it booted up and he logged in, it dinged several times with a boat load of voice and text messages. Most were from Athena, a couple from Scanlon. As he went through the texts, he saw an urgent one from Scanlon.
It read: Where the hell are you!! They got the kids!!! Get back here as if your ass is on fire!!!!
It wasn’t the type of news to make his day any better.
Chapter 39
When he arrived on the scene, Scanlon found a mad house of activity. Fire engines, ambulances, several patrol cars, K9, SWAT and the bomb squad. He flashed his badge to the lead officer, who was the commander of his division.
“What the hell happened here?” Scanlon yelled over all the noise.
“We’re still trying to piece it together. SUV exploded outside the loading dock and we have injuries inside we’re tending to. Right now, we have one dead that we know of. And a lot of scared people who were inside getting ready for the graduation—others outside on their way in.”
“This could be related to my kidnapping case.”
The commander’s eyes lit up. “The Hawkins family?”
“Yes. Their graduation was this morning.”
The commander reacted as if he had been kicked in the gut.
“Fuck. Just what we need a celebrity getting hurt.”
“I need to get in,” pleaded Scanlon. “Has the bomb squad and K9 unit cleared the scene?”
“Not yet. They’re doing a thorough search. So far the dogs have found nothing else.”
“Let me go inside. I need to converse with the family.”
The commander thought about it for a minute, Scanlon’s eyes boring in on him. He glanced around and waved for one of the SWAT team members to come over.
“Get Scanlon tactical gear. And then let him inside.”
The SWAT member nodded and walked Scanlon to their BearCat armored vehicle. From there he put on a vest, helmet with facemask and padded pants with Kevlar. It was a tightly fitting outfit, but it worked. He was led to the blast scene, walking around what was left of the vehicle and into the loading dock area, coming upon five people being treated for injuries.
On the ground he saw Athena, a female EMT tending to the bloody cuts on her face. He then saw several others, including the Hawkins parents. Counting heads, he didn’t see the children or Keoki. He leaned down, lifting his visor to talk with Athena.
“How are you doing?” he inquired.
“I’ll live. But I have a hell of a headache.”
“Blast knocked them down and hit them with debris from the car,” commented the EMT while swabbing her face. “It could have been worse.”
“What happened?” asked Scanlon.
Athena explained the events, giving graphic detail up to the blast.
“I was out for a minute or so, I think,” she concluded. “I saw Cameryn working on Keoki when my eyes opened. He was closest to the blast and took a hell of a lot of metal. He was bleeding badly. Cameryn was applying pressure to halt the blood flow until the EMT’s arrived. They took him to the hospital immediately. He was in bad shape from what Cameryn said.”
Cameryn was standing, talking with an EMT, explaining that he was okay. He had a lot of blood on his hands, face and chest, his shirt having been removed and used to apply pressure to the wound. You could tell he was agitated, trying to get them to understand he didn’t need medical attention, continually telling them the blood wasn’t his.
“Did you get a plate on the vehicle they drove away in?”
“No. It was covered. Not that it mattered as it was probably stolen.”
“A direction they drove?”
Athena grumbled. “Hell no. I think that was what Keoki wanted to do, when he ran after the SUV before it exploded. I’m sure they’re long gone by now.”
Scanlon cursed. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of Hunter. Have you?”
Athena’s agitation increased, her hands rubbing her temples. “Not at all. Hard to say with him. But I suspect something is wrong. He mentioned someone was following him in North Dakota. I haven’t been able to try again. They’re blocking all cell calls right now. Just in case they find more explosives. They are worried they could be accidently triggered.”
“My understanding is they haven’t found anything else.”
“Fucking Valerie played me. She bluffs well. If I ever get her alone…”
Scanlon put a hand on Athena’s shoulder. “You didn’t have much choice. They obviously had explosives and proved it. Just not all over. The question is, how did they get inside with all the security?”
Athena had no idea. All she knew was the kids were gone and she hadn’t been able to stop them. Jose and Paige were being attended to, but they were both giving her the stink eye. Their anger evident. It would seem warranted. Even if they fired her, Athena had no intention of stopping. She planned on doing what it took to find the kids, while settling a score with Valerie.
Cameryn came over, a blanket now covering his torso. With bloody hand he helped Athena to her feet, taking a minute to steady herself. The EMT wanted her to go to the hospital, but she wasn’t about to leave, no matter how she felt.
“I need to go to the hospital to check on Keoki,” demanded Cameryn, though his voice was calm. “I need a ride. Can you arrange a lift Detective?”
“Sure.” Scanlon turned to the EMT who was packing up her stuff. “This lovely
lady will drive you; won’t you miss?”
“I can probably let you ride in the back once we’re done here. Might have a patient or two still to transport from this group.”
“Believe me, no one will want to go to the hospital,” explained Cameryn. “They’ll be waiting to hear from the kidnappers to see what they want.”
Scanlon nodded his head in agreement, giving the EMT clearance to take Cameryn once her partner was done working on the Hawkins parents.
Shen walked over, a few butterfly bandages on his arm and face. “What do we do now?”
“All you can do is wait for a call?” replied Scanlon.
“The hell with that,” bellowed Athena. “We need to track down every possible lead we have, starting with the man who put Valerie in the school as a counselor, Victor Quinnell. We need to track him down.”
“I thought he was in the wind,” noted Shen.
“It would seem so. Still we need to make an effort.”
“I may have another lead,” stated Scanlon. “Follow me.”
They walked over to Jose and Paige, who were finally on their feet. They had been patched up, with a few cuts but were mostly fine, other than the loss of their children.
“First off let me say how sorry I am about your kids being taken,” remarked Scanlon. “We’ll do everything we can to bring them back unharmed.”
“Thank you,” replied Jose, doing his best to remain calm.
Paige didn’t seem quite as positive. “You should have stopped them,” she stated firmly, pointing at Athena.
“I’m not sure what more we could have done,” answered Athena. “But I promise I won’t stop until they’re back—alive and well.”
“And where the fuck has Hunter been all this time?” grumbled Paige. A rare moment when she could be heard swearing.
Athena shrugged. “We haven’t been able to get a hold of him for a couple of days now.”
“He better not be out chasing tail and sleeping off a bender. I’ll have his nuts for breakfast.” Paige’s cheeks were crimson red in anger.
“I doubt that is the case.” Athena remarked, though deep down she wasn’t sure if she meant it. She knew the man well enough to consider it a possibility.
Scanlon changed the subject. “Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins, I have some disturbing news. They found the son of your housekeeper Marlis murdered.”
The faces of all of them were shocked.
“Oh my, that is horrible. What happened?” wondered Jose.
“I won’t get into the details, but I doubt it’s a random occurrence.”
“You think he was involved?” wondered Paige.
“That would be my guess. As you know there’s talk of an inside person.”
“You think Marlis was giving away info?”
Scanlon shrugged. “Maybe. But we need to talk with her. I want you to call and have her come to the house. Don’t tell her why, just say it’s important. We’ll handle it from there.”
Paige nodded. “I will as soon as we can make calls. We were told we had to wait.”
Scanlon nodded and got them all to follow him outside. Once there he talked with the Commander and got the all clear. They hadn’t found any more explosives, which didn’t make Athena feel any better. He would need a car to transport them all back to the house, where they would wait. It was likely they would need to get the FBI involved. After a few minutes of coordinating arrangements, Athena asked Scanlon if they could talk privately.
“Crazy news about the housekeeper,” stated Athena. “Never would have guessed she was involved.”
“You never know,” replied Scanlon, gesturing with his hands. “It could have been indirectly. I suspect if she were aware, she’d be dead as well. It appears Paige did get a hold of her.”
“What did you learn from the address book Cameryn sent you pictures of?” inquired Athena, hoping for a lead.
“McNair, the pilot for the failed attempt was in there. Along with a few other names. From what I can tell, the hobby shop guy could be The Train Man. Of course, getting him to talk might be another story. As of now we don’t have enough to bring him in and ask questions.”
Athena’s face scrunched up in anger. “You may not, but we do. I’m sure Cameryn can get him to talk with a little persuasion. He has a way with people.” She said while pounding a fist into her other hand.
Scanlon plugged his ears with his fingers. “I don’t want to know anything about it.”
“You got it,” replied Athena with a fiendish smirk.
She knew sometimes you had to cross the line to get the job done. The rage was flowing inside Cameryn and the rest of them, especially after the serious wounds inflicted on Keoki. Revenge on their minds for hurting their teammate and friend. The violent event would give them no pause in walking with the devil to get the answers they needed.
Chapter 40
The helicopter ride was short and uneventful to a private airfield in eastern Colorado. From there they took a small jet, north and across the border into Saskatchewan. They would land at Moose Jaw Municipal Airfield, where a pair of vehicles were waiting for them, arrangements had been made to bypass customs and security. From there they travelled east to an expansive farmhouse on hundreds of acres of land, close to the Moose Jaw river.
The house was an expensive modern two story, with ten bedrooms and six bathrooms. Designed to deal with the harsh winters, the gray outside siding sitting over thick insulated walls, with solar panels and gas generators to provide power all year long, even if the local electrical lines went out. A pair of large propane tanks for heating provided the gas. There were two satellite dishes for communication as landlines were unavailable this far out. Three other buildings spread out on all sides of the main structure, nonattached. One was a large barn for two pickups and a van on the lower level—sleeping quarters on the upper. A second smaller building was used for interrogation. The third serving as a bunkhouse, or in this case a place to incarcerate the Hawkins kids.
When they arrived, they were escorted to the bunkhouse by Valerie, Travis and Jamaal. The room they were taken to was outfitted with two beds, a full bathroom and small kitchen, with sink, a couple cabinets with dry food, microwave and small refrigerator stocked with water and sugar drinks. There was one TV with a Blu-ray player and a small selection of movies. Once inside they were shown around and given a few rules to follow.
“It’s quite simple,” stated Valerie firmly, her finger pointed. “Stay in here and don’t cause any trouble and no one will get hurt. You’re able to roam this entire area, but you will be locked in. If you try to escape, there will be consequences. The food is yours to eat and we’ll provide you various hot foods during normal mealtimes.” She paused to let her instructions sink in. “Any questions?”
“How long will we be here?” asked Olivia, her arm around her brother.
“That is up to your parents and Hunter. I suspect once they hear our demands, you’ll be released.”
“Demands?”
“Nothing for you to be concerned about. Your safe here and no harm will come to you.” Valerie’s expression became stern. “Just behave!”
They both glanced at each other and then nodded. Valerie left, the clicking sound of the door locking behind her. Deion glared at both beds and picked one laying down on it. He found it comfy, though didn’t feel comfortable thanks to the situation they faced. He wished he had his guitar to play. Strumming a few cords was a good way to pass the time and calm his nerves.
“What are we going to do?” wondered Deion.
Olivia went to fridge and pulled out a can of Pepsi, popping the top, then taking a drink.
“How the hell do I know. All we can really do is what they say, and hope help is on the way.”
Deion propped his hands behind his head. “Any ideas where we are?”
“None. Couldn’t tell what direction we went. And they took away our cell phones. I’d say we’re stuck here.”
“I’m famished,” state
d Deion. “Anything good to eat?”
Olivia opened the cabinet, finding dry cereal, chips, crackers, packaged cookies and jars of nuts.
“Nothing too healthy. But we won’t starve.”
“Toss me some chips.”
Olivia went to the other bed and laid down. “I’m not your mother. I think you can get them on your own.”
Deion grumbled, but got up and found a bag of Fritos, tearing it open he munched down a few. He then found a Pepsi of his own and brought the food and beverage back to the bed.
“No rules about us eating in the bed,” he said with a faint chuckle, munching down a few more.
“I’m not sure how you can eat. My stomach is in knots.”
Deion nodded, understanding her stress. “I’m worried to. Eating helps me forget what is going on. Hopefully Mom and Dad are okay after the blast we heard and saw.”
“I’m assuming they are.” Olivia drank more of the caramel colored sugar water. “Our captors won’t get anything if they’re dead. The question is, what do they want?”
“What else—money! And Mom and Dad have loads of it.”
Olivia reached over to grab a couple of Fritos. “Valerie wouldn’t take a million dollars to let us go, which made me wonder if money is what they’re after.”
“She’s the hired hand. Someone else is behind this.”
“It could be my biological dad who is involved. I heard Hunter was going to North Dakota to find him. I always wondered if he’d try to get back into my life.”
“Creepy if that is the case,” said Deion with a shiver of fear. “For now, all we can do is wait.”
Olivia nodded, munching down a couple more Fritos. It didn’t help her stomach any and soon she had to run to the bathroom to throw up, the acid build-up from nerve’s doing her in. Deion followed her, trying to provide comfort. A comfort he wished he had to share, since he was just as scared, the young man doing his best not to show it.
***
Valerie walked to the main house, ready to check in. She’d done her job well, getting the kids. Now it was time to see what the next move would be. Once inside she came across the male assistant and advisor to the man running the show. A nerdy, paunchy glasses wearing man always dressed in a business suit, a person she didn’t care for. He had no sense of humor, rarely cracking a smile for fear of breaking his chiseled almond features. But she had to deal with Norvin Kilberg frequently in order to speak personally to the man that hired her.
