Never Again, Seriously

by Forrest Steele

  After a few more tries, Shivani’s eyes opened and he moaned. “What happened?”

  “You were knocked in the head. Can you get up?”

  Shivani bent his knees and rolled to the side.

  “Be careful,” Jake said. “We don’t think anyone is around, but we’re not sure.”

  Shivani pushed himself up and sat, a look of confusion on his face.

  “C’mon, Shivani. I’ll help you to the car.”

  Jake helped him rise and held his arm while he steadied himself. “That guy’s good, Jake. No one has ever surprised me like that.”

  They snaked through the woods the way Jake had come, and across the grass toward the car. Jake pointed. “Move as fast as you can, Shivani.”

  They stumbled to the car, where Shivani collapsed into the back seat, closed his eyes, and took a breath. “Thanks, man.”

  “Are you going to be okay? Should we go to a hospital?”

  “Okay … I’ll be … no hospital.” Raj’s eyes fluttered and closed.

  “Sharon, he might have a concussion. I want to take him to a hospital.”

  Raj opened his eyes. “I said no hospital.”

  “Are you screwing with me?”

  “I need to get my car.” Raj closed his eyes again, a smile twitching before he began snoring.

  Jake trod toward the front of the house, pistol raised. He pounded on the door and waited. He turned the knob with light pressure and pushed the door open.

  The kitchen and living area were empty, as were the two tiny bedrooms. Out the back door, he looked around before stepping on the small concrete porch. Nothing.

  Jake returned to the car and threw himself into the driver’s seat, slamming the door. “He’s gone, and he took Rachel with him.” He lowered his head into his hands and muttered, “This is bad.”

  “Who is this guy?” Sharon shrilled. Her voice modulated to a reedy quiver. “He seems to have come out of nowhere. Do you think he had anything to do with the company? He couldn’t know about the money and my sister otherwise.”

  “You’re right,” Shivani said. “He just about has to be associated with the company.”

  Jake said in a bitter tone, “I don’t think that’s important. If you’re playing detective, why don’t you figure out where he is with Rachel?”

  “I don’t think he’s far away.” Shivani’s voice was calm, reasonable. “He got spooked by my spying on the house, must be wondering who I am. But he still wants the money. That’s why he has her. The only thing to do is canvass motels while we think about it more. I saw a black Honda CR-V behind the house. It must be his; otherwise it wouldn’t have been hidden.”

  Sharon brushed a tear away and sighed. “We’ve got a lot to do. There aren’t any motels in Ray City. We’ll need to check along the interstate exits in both directions. Should we take two cars?”

  “The old car I bought is off the road on the other side of the trees. I’ll take it and scout around here and hope I get lucky. Who knows, they might come back to the house for something. I owe this guy a beating. Assuming I don’t find him, I’ll meet you at my motel in Valdosta in an hour, and we can begin our search there. Lots of places along the interstate exits.”

  “I don’t want to leave you if you’re not okay,” Jake said.

  “I’m fine. Just needed to rest a bit. Really.”

  Jake nodded. “You’re an adult. Do what you want.”

  Sharon dialed her phone. “It’s going to be dark soon. He thinks we’re in Lake Creed and expects us back here with the money by four tomorrow. We have to find him by then. I’m calling him. I’ll tell him we’ll get the money from the bank tomorrow morning and be on our way.”

  Chapter 26

  With a listless Rachel in the seat beside him, Arthur Temkin parked the CR-V behind a convenience store and searched on his phone for places to stay. He was disturbed about the guy who’d been watching the house. Who was he? Were there more? Time to hide and let the crooks stew for a while and think about his choices. Killing her was a bad idea, especially now. Wherever they stayed, someone would remember them, and possibly his car. From the beginning, he’d tried to limit his odds of getting caught. But if he didn’t kill her, she’d remember him and might put the cops in touch with that drug dealer, Gary. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? What a mess—kidnapping or murder. The cops might already be looking for him—though he doubted the crooks would involve them yet.

  It would be best not to be caught in the first place. He had to have that money so he could hide—the sooner, the better.

  He searched for accommodations in locations away from the interstate. He finally settled on a nondescript-sounding motel in Lakeland, only ten minutes away.

  Rachel’s phone rang, and she stirred, then drifted off again. He removed it from his pocket. The screen displayed the number the pair had been using. Let them sweat. He needed time to decide what to do.

  Malcolm Weaver arrived in Ray City in late afternoon. On the third try, he found someone in town who directed him to Sharon’s sister. The glossy BMW, his claim to have some important information for her, and his businesslike manner did the trick. What a bunch of rubes. They were practically salivating with curiosity, though the second one was clearly suspicious too. She scowled and asked, “What kind of information?”

  Malcolm replied it was confidential business information, and the woman chuckled. “Sure.”

  As he drove away, she stood staring at his car, arms folded.

  Famished, he stopped for dinner before going to Rachel’s home. In the driveway, he left his lights on to illuminate the front of the darkened, ramshackle house and exited his BMW sans hardhat. He approached with his pistol pressed against the back of his leg. No one answered his knock, so he opened the door and stepped in. He hit a light switch, pistol ready. The house was empty; he opened the back door. He peered left and right and back toward the wooded area behind the house. Through the leaves was a car parked along a road beyond the woods. Its lights were on, and when another car passed, he thought the parked car might have police markings. Time to leave. He strode out the front door to find another police car parked behind his in the driveway, headlights on. An officer on the far side of it pointed a gun in his direction.

  The officer bellowed, “Sir! Drop your weapon and turn around! Walk backward to the sound of my voice!”

  Malcolm snorted. “You’re with the spies. Fake uniform and all.” He raised his gun. “I shouldn’t have taken that protection off my head.”

  Six loud reports came from the far edge of the house, behind him and to his right, the bullets felling him. The officer behind the car came around and kicked the gun away, bending to inspect an exit wound on Malcolm’s left side.

  “Hamer, call a bamalance.”

  Hamer mumbled a few words into his shoulder mike and trotted over, his semiautomatic rifle pointed down. He shined his flashlight on Weaver.

  “He ain’t gonna make it, Lewis. I was wrong—didn’t think this call would amount to nothin’. Guess you’re glad you called for backup.”

  Lewis cut his eyes to a silver Malibu crawling by and shook his head. “You can count on the rubbernecks showing up. Like blowflies to a corpse.”

  Around ten p.m., Shivani parked the Malibu at his motel. Jake opened the window and gestured for Shivani to sit in the passenger side of the Camry.

  “You say you feel fine, but you look iffy to me.”

  Shivani walked to the driver’s side.

  Sharon got out. “Don’t start, boys. You both could use a break. I’ll drive. Jake, I’ll pull the seat forward, so you won’t be cramped sitting behind me.”

  “Go ahead,” Shivani said, putting his fedora on his head. “We can take turns every couple of hours.”

  Instead of getting back on the interstate, Sharon drove into an access road leading to several motel
s. A parking lot surrounded the first one, and she drove slowly through it, all three of them scanning for the black CR-V.

  Sharon pointed. “Look. Is that it?”

  Passing by them, illuminated by the streetlights on the access road was a black CR-V. It continued out of sight before they could leave the parking lot. Sharon followed in the direction it had been going. “There are three more motels over here. I can’t see the car. What should we do?”

  “Nothing to do but check them out, one by one,” Shivani said. “If it’s them—and I doubt it is—they could be coming back from having something to eat. They won’t be turning around and leaving right away. Don’t hurry. We need to be patient and not miss anything.”

  Sharon groaned. “We can’t let him get away with my sister. I hear what you say, but what if they come back the other direction while we’re in a place where we can’t see them?”

  Jake patted her on the shoulder. “We don’t have a choice, sweetie. The odds are very much against that happening. All we can do is be patient and careful, like Shivani told us.”

  “That’s the car,” Shivani gestured as they approached the next motel. He pointed to the lighted parking lot. “Take it easy, don’t get too close, and let’s figure out what’s going on.”

  Sharon drove into the lot and eased past the car, which had parked in a space near a door along the building. No lights illuminated any rooms. Shivani indicated a space in the second row behind the CR-V but several spaces to the right of it. He told her to go around and pull in from the opposite side, so they could see better and be prepared to leave.

  As they watched, there was no sound except for the Camry’s air conditioner. The driver-side door of the CR-V opened. An elderly man got out and shuffled around, opening the passenger door. The overhead light glinted on a walker as he removed it and unfolded it for his passenger, a woman about the same age.

  Sharon said, “I can’t take this. We’re looking for a needle in a haystack. They could be anywhere. There’s got to be a better way.”

  Shivani tapped his forehead and cried out in pain. “Are baap re—sorry, that means, ‘oh, my god.’ That hurt. Forgot I had a headache.”

  “What?” Sharon and Jake spoke in unison.

  “I should have thought of this before. Sharon, perhaps you can help.”

  “What?” Sharon leaned toward Shivani, her eyes bulging.

  “What if the kidnapper wanted to find a place to hang out away from the interstate? You know the area. How many places could he go?”

  Sharon tilted her head back and drew in a breath, eyes still on the road. “There are a couple up in Nashville, and there’s one over in Lakeland.”

  Shivani cleared his throat “Nashville?”

  “Yes, Nashville, Georgia.”

  “Which one do you think he would choose?”

  “I don’t know,” Sharon wailed. In a few seconds, she spoke in a shaky voice. “The one in Lakeland is okay. I know that.”

  Jake said to Shivani, “He doesn’t know Sharon and I are here. He doesn’t know who you are or why you were at Rachel’s house. He’ll think you’re less likely to check small hotels in the sticks, if you look for him at all. Let’s start with the one in Lakeland and then the other two.”

  Sharon said, “I know the best way to Lakeland. It’s not far. No need for GPS.”

  As the Camry rounded a curve on the two-lane highway, the headlights lit what looked like groves of young trees.

  “What are those?” Shivani gestured toward the groves. “Peaches?”

  “No, they’re getting into olives around here, believe it or not. Proud of them too.”

  Jake leaned forward. “How long?”

  “They started around 2011, I think.”

  “No, how long ’til we’re there?”

  “Twenty-five minutes. Less than thirty, anyway.”

  Shivani turned to them. “When we get to the motel, I’ll knock on doors, pretending to look for someone else. It’s close to one a.m., so they might be asleep.”

  Sharon raised a palm. “If he comes to the door, he’ll recognize you.”

  “I don’t believe so. Especially with the hat. I can change my posture and demeanor so much even you would hesitate to say it was me, from a distance. If he answers, I’ll recognize him. I’ll apologize for the mistake, back away, and go around the corner. You wait. If you don’t see him come out, drive around the building the opposite way and pick me up.”

  “What if he does recognize you?”

  “I can handle that.”

  “What if he comes out after you leave and looks around?”

  “We’ll have to improvise. Jake, you’ll keep down. Sharon, there’s a ball cap under your seat. You’ll sit still, head over your phone. I’ll be watching, so don’t worry.”

  “Sounds sketchy,” Jake said. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “I don’t like to brag, but I’m a man of many skills. Rachel will be safe, and so will you.”

  Jake dropped back into the seat. “Hmf.”

  The car slowed, and Jake heard the strain in Sharon’s voice. “Okay, this is Lakeland. You turn left here and bear right at the fork to stay on 221.”

  When they reached the motel, Sharon drove into the motel lot, and Shivani pointed. “Over there. Drive past the CR-V and park at the far end of the lot.” As their car crawled past the room doors, Shivani said, “This has to be it, the one with the light on. Room 108.”

  After Sharon parked, Jake said, “What now?”

  “I’m going to knock. Don’t come unless I motion for you. As I said, I’ll pretend I’m looking for someone but forgot the room number.”

  Jake watched, his hand on Sharon’s shoulder, as Shivani knocked on the door, then pounded. After a moment, Shivani studied the card reader on the outside of the door and removed a black box the size of a deck of cards from his pocket. Dangling from it was a thin cord with a plug on the end. He inserted the plug into the bottom of the card reader and turned the handle to open the door. He called out and opened the door, stood with his head inside the door frame, his body outside. Then he vanished from view. In a moment, he emerged with his arm around a wilted, staggering Rachel.

  The kidnapper stepped from a vending alcove with two cans of soda in his hands. When he saw the pair, he threw the cans and charged. Shivani ducked and pushed Rachel aside, and in one motion threw a metal disk, followed by a second one, almost too fast to see. One stuck in the attacker’s forehead, less than a half-inch deep, and the other in his breastbone.

  Hesitating only a split second, the kidnapper aimed a flying kick at Shivani’s head. Shivani ducked and turned. The attacker landed on his feet, perfectly balanced. By then, Shivani had launched a spinning back kick that connected above the ear and sent the man to the ground, motionless. Shivani checked his pulse and shook him. No movement. Satisfied, he helped Rachel to her feet and brought her to the car, putting her in the back seat next to Jake.

  Sharon opened Jake’s door, tears on her face. “You ride in front and let Shivani drive. I want to hold my little sister.”

  They drove away from the motel. With Sharon’s arms around her, Rachel shuddered, sobbing. Sharon murmured, “We’ve got you. You’re okay now.”

  She drew back to study her sister’s face. “Did he do something to you?” The sobbing became a wail, and Rachel rocked back and forth, both of them swaying in Sharon’s embrace. “Are you hurt?”

  “Not hurt. He made me do things—”

  “Baby, don’t talk about this now. Just think about how it feels to be with me.”

  To Shivani, she said, “Go back,” before she realized he had already turned around and was speeding toward the motel.

  The CR-V was gone. Shivani reentered the room and came out, shaking his head.

  Sharon rasped, “I’m going to kill him. Slow and pain
ful.”

  “So, you recognized him?” Shivani asked.

  “Yeah, that’s Arthur Temkin, the chief financial officer of Global Source Enterprises,” Jake said. “At least he was. I didn’t recognize him at first. Around the company, he always slouched and walked like a penguin. His fighting shocked me. Yours too.”

  “He’s skilled.”

  Jake scoffed. “But you’re better.”

  “Just so.”

  After they had driven a while, Jake broke the silence. “Where should we go?”

  “Back to my motel,” Shivani said. “We can shower, and I’ll retrieve my stuff. He still wants the money. He’s going to try to find us, and he’ll be more careful. If he’s trying to outthink us, he may decide we’ll go east, away from the interstate, trying to throw him off.”

  Shivani glanced at Jake. “I think we go north on the interstate and find something, perhaps an upscale place. I don’t think he saw my car, so even if he comes that way, he won’t have any idea where to start or what to search for. Then we can sort out what’s next.”

  “I don’t disagree.” Jake thumbed in the direction they’d come. “What was all that?”

  “All what?”

  “For starters, I assume you have some kind of hacking device for the door lock.”

  Shivani nodded.

  “What if the lock had been the old mechanical kind?”

  Shivani fished an object from his pants pocket. It resembled a small gun but with a needle in place of a barrel. “Works most of the time. I have some graphite to lubricate and make it even more likely.”

  “What did you say when you opened the door? What are those little things you threw? Where did you learn to fight like that? Why didn’t you kill him?”

  Shivani chuckled. “I’ll answer the easy ones first. I called out, ‘Housekeeping.’ As to killing, I would only kill if I had no option. Who wants a murder investigation?”