The Airnapped Child

by Sandra Ryan

  She gave a small nod

  "Now please go pack your things, I would just run out and get a few supplies. There is a vacant apartment on the other side of town. We should move as soon as I come back."

  Heather nodded again. She knew he would not tell her where exactly they were headed. It was a safety measure; he had told her when she asked.

  As soon as she heard the door click shut she pulled out her phone. It was time she made some calls.

  ******

  Holly was about to step out of the office when her phone started ringing.

  "Hold the call, Judith," she said as she stepped out. "I will return the call as soon as I am back from lunch."

  Judith nodded and picked up the receiver. Holly walked past her to the elevator. She was waiting for the door to open when she heard Judith calling out to her. She looked behind her to find Judith running towards her, her heels making her wobbly.

  "I think you would want to take this call now."

  "Really?"Holly asked. "Who is it from?"

  "Heather Kline," Judith replied. Holly then turned around and headed back to her office.

  "She is on hold, I suppose?"

  Judith nodded.

  "I need this call recorded and traced, can you do that?"

  "I could record it. We would have to get across to Olga to run a trace.'

  "Fine," she said and picked up the phone.

  "Hello, this is Holly Hackett speaking. May I know who is on the line, please?"

  "My name is Heather Kline. I have some information that would prove useful to your client, Samuel Clark."

  "First, how do I know that you are who you say you are, and how are you even aware that we are representing Samuel Clark?"

  "Well, I can see you did not ask who I am, which means you already know of my relationship with Sheridan Cox. So, as for being who I say I am, you have to take my word for it. I mean, why would anyone even try to impersonate me?"

  Holly could barely make out what she was saying. It was as though the other woman was whispering.

  "I heard about you from Sheridan. Someone informed him that you went by the police station to bail out Samuel Clark. That was how I became aware of who you are. Now, are you ready to listen to what I have to say or do you want to keep asking me further questions."

  "I'm assuming you are the one with the child?"

  "Yes. And I can assure you that he is unharmed."

  "How can I confirm that that is true? I need evidence, a photo or something to show that the boy is alive."

  "That would not be necessary. As a matter of fact I am looking at him right now. He is sleeping so soundly. He is such a peaceful boy, barely makes a fuss, and does not keep anyone up at night. He just takes his bottle and goes out like a light. He is just the ideal baby, if there is anything like that."

  The woman gave what sounded like an embarrassed laugh. Holly could tell she was just trying to make conversation. Was she that lonely? Holy wanted to keep her on the line for as long as possible so they'd be able to run a successful trace.

  "I'm afraid I have to request for pictorial evidence before we can go ahead with this conversation."

  The woman sighed, "I cannot do that. It is too risky."

  "Why not? I assume you are calling to arrange for a ransom?"

  The woman on the other end laughed quietly.

  "You really have no idea what is going on. In fact, it would shock you if you realized the depth of what you have waded into. The elements you have come in contact with. I am almost sorry for you and that man, Samuel Clark. He was just sucked into something he had no idea about. But that's how the world works, isn't it? The powerful commit all the crimes and get away with it while the poor are made to suffer. Such a farce!"

  "Well, you do seem to have information that I am not privy to. Care to share that with me?"

  "Nope. As a matter of fact, I shouldn't even be talking to you. I'd be in a lot of trouble if he comes back and finds out."

  "Who? Sheridan? Anyway, why did you call? If you wouldn't tell me anything and wouldn't show me the picture of the child why are you calling?"

  "Because the baby is sick! I have tried all I can. I am at my wits end, yet he is not getting better. Now he is saying we should move from where we are and I am not sure if the child can survive it." The woman was beginning to sound incoherent.

  "Listen to me Heather, what exactly is wrong with the baby? Can you get him to a doctor? Is he safe?"

  "He has been running a temperature for a while now. I do not know a lot about babies but I have tried my best. I don't know what to do. He will be here at any moment and we will have to leave."

  "Heather, you cannot let him do that. You have to protect that child. You can pack up and run. Do something! Do not let that child die on your watch. His mother is waiting for him. Do not do this to her."

  "Oh, I know what you are doing, lady. You are trying to make me turn on Sheridan. I won't do that. I'm just telling you so maybe you could give me a recommendation or something."

  "I can't give you a prescription. I have not seen the child. And I am not a doctor even. You need to take him to see a doctor. You can get in a car right now and drive to a hospital. You do not even need to stay. Just drop the baby and leave."

  "I'm sorry I can't do that. This is a mistake. Calling you was a mistake. I have to go now."

  "Heather! Stay with me. Help me get that boy to his mother. She is counting on you. All the excellent care you've given the boy would be a waste if he eventually dies. Listen to me..."

  "I'm sorry," Heather said and hung up the phone.

  Immediately she hung up Holly got up and began marching outside.

  “Were you able to trace where the call had come from?” she said when she got to Judith’s desk.

  “Olga is running a trace right now. I’ve sent the recordings over to her,” Judith indicated that she was on the phone with Olga. “We’ve been able to narrow the area down to Wilson’s avenue but we haven’t been able to get a specific location.”

  “That’s fine. I would head out to that area right now. Just send me the exact location when you have it.”

  “Will do,’ Judith replied, going back to the phone. Just then the elevator opened and Samuel Clark stepped out.

  “Samuel, what are you doing here?”

  He had a surprised expression on his face, “You called me, remember?” she still looked on at him without the slightest indication that she heard him. “You said you made some discoveries concerning the case and you needed me to come in so we could discuss it?”

  “Oh shoot! Yes. Olga and Penny informed me of some startling discoveries they made concerning our case and I wanted to inform you of them personally. But I can’t right now, something’s come out and we can’t talk right now.”

  “What? Do you have a lunch date I am interrupting? I do not mind sitting here and waiting for you. I’m sure Judith has some magazines you could lend me to read in the meantime.”

  “No, I am not going on a date. This is something a bit more serious and the more time I spend here with you, the possibility increases that this lead might disappear. Also, I do not know how long I would be out for. Don’t worry, I would call you as soon as I am back and we would talk.”

  “Leads? Does this have to do with my case?”

  Holly nodded.

  “Then I am coming with you,” he said, his chin set in defiance.

  **********

  Nathan Benson swiveled his chair to face the grandfather clock on the wall. It was funny that one of the things he loved the most about his office was the swivel chair and the fact that he had the ability to turn whichever way he wanted to. He almost felt like he had the most control whenever he was doing that. A lot of people did not know that when his father handed him the company he had been broke and the company was mired in neck deep in debts. A lot of people did not know also that his father had been so frustrated that he had taken his own life. He had come home one day to find the old ma
n hanging from the rafters in the basement. What he had left him was just a note and millions in debt. It had been him who had cut the rope and brought him down, then laid him on his bed where the cleaner had found him the next day, making it look as though the old man had died in his sleep.

  Next Nathan had taken to cleaning the mess his father had created in his business. It had taken him a lot of sacrifice but he had managed to pay off all of the debts and had even managed to set the company on a path to recovery. That was why the call he had just gotten from his accountant was pissing him off. After his father, the company had gone through a few years of prosperity, stocks had risen and investors had pumped money into the company. Then about two years ago they suffered a massive setback; one of the drugs they were developing failed to get through the trial stage and thus did not get the approval of the FDA. The investors who had been backing the project all pulled away, and overnight the shares in the company plummeted. A lot of shareholders, frightened by the mass exodus of all of the others also began pulling out. It was a bloodbath.

  He had managed to save face with the public, allaying the fear of whoever asked. He informed them that the company was set to get back on its feet in no time. This made some of the shareholders to stay put with them, but a lot of them refused to come back. The damage was already done. Nathan began looking for alternative sources of backing. He had approached a few of his investors, they had not seemed keen on putting more money into the company when they saw the numbers. The banks also were not willing to back them. They were skeptical that they would be able to recover whatever loan they gave the company.

  Nathan was adamant. He kept trying. He was driven by the fear of ending up like his father. It was really by chance that he encountered a possible solution his challenge. But then he knew that there was no way he would ever convince his wife to go along with his plans. It was then that he had the idea of trying to put his wife out of the picture. If he took his wife out of the picture momentarily, he would have the solution to all of his problems. His plans had been going smoothly until he started experiencing wrinkles. The funds he had been expecting by this time had not materialized, and his money manager just called him to inform him that they were plunging further into the hole. The rest of the investors he had were beginning to get skittish. He knew that except he pumped some more money into the company the rest of the investors would jump ship, leaving him broke. He had come up with an idea that would eventually solve all of his money troubles although he had the fear that it may cost him much more than he was willing to give.

  “Mr. Singleton is here to see you, sir,” His secretary broke into his thoughts.

  “Please send him in,” he replied. Ordinarily his secretary just let his driver some in anytime he came around, but she must have read his mood and known that he would have loved to be uninterrupted.

  Anderson Singleton gave a single knock and came in. He went straight to the normal seat he usually sat on and slumped into it.

  “How is it going? Have you been able to have a breakthrough with the investors yet?”

  Nathan shook his head from side to side. Anderson was perhaps the only person who knew the true extent of his financial troubles. Being his driver, Nathan had spent so much time with the man that it had only been natural that he confided in him concerning a lot of things.

  “As a matter of fact, it is the reason I called you here. We are moving over to phase two of the plan.”

  “Is that really necessary at this point? We could wait just a bit longer.” Anderson was looking sober.

  “No, we cannot, we always knew that there was a possibility that it would get to this point. Do not chicken out on me right now.” Nathan’s eyes had a glint in them that suggested to Anderson that the last statement was more of a threat than a plea.

  “Very well, I would take care of this problem for you.”

  “I knew I could always count on you,” Nathan said, his face breaking into a smile.

  “Do you have their location?” Anderson asked. “How? The police have not even been able to track them down, with all the resources at their disposal even. How were you able to know their location?” he further asked when Nathan nodded.

  “The baby. He had a tracking chip installed in his arm when he was born. My wife does not know this.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ!” Anderson exclaimed.

  “Please do not judge me. That boy is the heir to a multimillion dollar empire; of course I had a tracking device installed. Every man in my position has done the same for their children.”

  Nathan did not even bother responding. He still had an incredulous look on his face.

  “Here. This is their current location. I ran the search myself,” Nathan said, pushing a folder towards Anderson.

  After going through the document for a few minutes, he stood up.

  “Anderson, I need a neat job. I do not want to have to send someone to clean up after you.”

  “How about the baby? What am I supposed to do about him? Am I supposed to take care of him too?”

  “Yes,” Nathan replied. “When I said I needed a neat job, I meant that in every ramification.”

  Anderson hesitated and then responded, “Sure thing, boss. I’ll try my best to do whatever it is that you need.”

  ***********

  “You can rest assured that is not going to happen. You are not going anywhere with me,” Holly exploded, pointing at Samuel.

  “Why?”

  “Why? Because I said so. You are not going to come with me to go see a potential witness.”

  “Who is this witness anyway?” Samuel pressed on, adamant.

  “Heather Kline,” Judith offered. Holly turned to glare at her and then turned back to Samuel.

  “Heather Kline? Do I know her?” He looked to Judith to supply the details.

  “She was one of the other women who had a child on board the plane. She just called to speak to us,” Judith supplied, ignoring the stares Holly was giving her.

  “Frankly, you would only be a distraction the whole time. Just stay her and wait or maybe just go home, I would reach out to you as soon as I am done.”

  “I am not going anywhere, Holly. I am going with you to see this woman. If she has the potential of saying something that could impact my case, I want to be there when she says it. As a matter of fact, I was on the plane with her, I could help pointing her out to you or something.”

  “The man does have a point,” Judith mumbled, not lifting her face from her laptop the whole time.

  “Fine,” Holly said, throwing her hands up in the air. “We are running late as it is. I will fill you in on the road. And wipe that smirk off your face,” she said to Judith as she and Samuel made for the elevator.

  “Your car or mine?” he asked as the elevator traveled down to the basement.

  “Yours. It is less intrusive and is also faster. But I am driving,” she said, stretching out her hand for his keys.

  “Whatever you say, boss,” he said, placing his car keys on her open palm.

  ********

  “Talk to me,” Holly said when her phone rang. Samuel was holding up the phone for her to speak, while using his free hand to hold onto the armrest of the car. Holly was speeding and swerving in and out of traffic. He was sure it was only a matter of time before the police began chasing them.

  “We’ve narrowed the call down to a building on the corner of fifth and Avenue. It appears as though the building is unoccupied save for two apartments. The rest are listed to be open for lease. However, in the past three weeks, one of the empty apartments had begun racking up a lot of bills in electricity.”

  “Which of the apartments is that?” Holly asked.

  “It is on the third floor. It shouldn’t be hard to locate. There isn’t a doorman or anything.”

  “Okay. Thank you very much, Judith. Excellent work.”

  Samuel turned off the phone. His knuckles were already turning white from gripping the armrest so tightly.
/>   ”Is there a chance you would slow down?”

  “No.” She said and zoomed off.

  When they pulled into the driveway of the building they realized that it was even more run-down than they had anticipated. There were clumps of weed growing at different places and the other building around the building were looking dilapidated. The particular apartment building that they were heading to looked like it was supposed to have been closed down for renovation a long time ago.

  “Are you sure we should be going into this building at all? I do not like the vibes I am getting from this place,” Samuel said, looking around. Neither of them had stepped down from the car.

  “We have to. We are already here. We obviously cannot come this far only to turn back and go home. We have to check out what the woman said.” Holly was looking around too. This was not one of the instances where she thought that Samuel was making a big fuss over nothing.

  Holly had filled Samuel in on the events that had transpired the last few days. His eyes had widened in shock when he realized how the crime must have been carried out. He told Holly that he did not remember the woman, Heather, or the man that had been with her. (The couple tried to stay as forgettable as possible. Samuel remembers their faces a little bit.)

  “How do we know we are not walking into an ambush? This could probably be a ruse by Heather to lure us out and then murder us, effectively making it such that nobody would know exactly what went on since right now we are the only people that have caught up to them.”

  “I don’t think that is what is happening here. She did not even know I was going to come here. I did not also let her know that I was tracing the call. And the woman I spoke to did not sound conniving. She sounded agitated, almost as though she needed help. No, I do not think this is an ambush.” Holly shook her head vigorously then undid her seat belt.

  “Wait!” Samuel held her arm as she was about to climb down from the car. “How about the cops? Why don’t we get them involved? They’d be in a better position to handle this effectively.”

  “Look, Samuel, we do not know what we are going to find in there. We can’t even vouch for the authenticity of the information Heather gave us. We could get the police involved, yes, but not at this stage. At the point, we are not really sure of what we are dealing with,once we do know more we could get the police involved. Now are you coming or what?” she said from the other side of the car, ready to begin the short trek to the building.