“You.” I grunted to Tanya. “On the floor, face down. Hands on the back of your head.”
She whimpered quietly but did as she was told. Kyle struggled to breathe, grabbing frantically at his throat. I gave him a final aggressive squeeze then let him go with a push, shoving his skull into the carpeted floor.
The hallway was wide but dimly lit. A rug ran up the middle of the walkway, stained with a couple of muddy footprints.
“Whatever you want, just take it,” Tanya said with her face squashed in the carpet. “I have jewelry upstairs, but that’s about all I have. My purse is in the kitchen. Whatever you want, just take it and leave us alone. Please don’t harm us. Please don’t kill us. I beg you.”
I ignored her and kept my focus on Kyle. He was breathing more easily but now had beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and I could tell he wasn’t entirely surprised to see me.
“You know what I want.” I snarled at Kyle. “You know why I’ve come here.”
Kyle looked to Tanya first, face down on the floor, and then back to me. “It’s not here. Not yet.”
“Where is it?”
“I’m getting it, ok?” He responded, relaxing a little and rubbing his throat. “I just need another two days and I’ll have it all. Just two more days. I promise.”
“You don’t have two days. You’ve got exactly five minutes before I pull this trigger.”
“What’s he talking about?” Tanya questioned, face down.
“Not now, Tanya.” Kyle didn’t take his eyes off the gun this time.
“Kyle, what’s he talking about!” Tanya raised her head.
“Not now!” he responded.
“Kyle! What sort of trouble are you in?!” Tanya’s voice was starting to crack, whether from fear or anger, I couldn’t quite tell.
“Yeah, Kyle.” I grunted. “What sort of trouble are you in? Why don’t you tell this good woman what sort of trouble you’re in?”
“I’ll get it.” He pleaded to me. “I promise. Just two days and I’ll have the money.”
“The money?” I questioned. “What money?”
“All of it. The whole five grand. A guy told me that he can get my money back in two days. I’ll have more than enough to pay you back then. I promise. I’ll have it in cash.”
“What five grand?” I leaned forward. “You think I’m here for money?”
A look of complete confusion washed over his face. “What?”
“What are you talking about, Kyle?” I leaned in closer, gun still in my hand, pointed at his head.
“The money that I was lent to pay the lawyer. The five grand. I’ve got it. I just need two more days to pay it back.”
I lowered my gun, just a touch.
“And what did you need a lawyer for, Kyle?”
“What do you care?” Kyle looked over at Tanya, a pleading look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you didn’t want me using a loan shark again, but the lawyer was so sure he would get the money back, then I could pay back the loan and we’d be on easy street.”
Tanya looked ready to explode, gun or no gun.
“First you pawn the only thing of value we own and now you’ve brought debt collectors to our door. What if Millie had been at home?” She looked ready to jump up and knock him out herself.
I stepped between them and gestured for her to lie back down on the floor. This was my show.
“If it wasn’t for your dirt bag ex-husband,” Kyle began.
I interrupted Kyle by waving the gun in his face. “Tell me why you needed a lawyer.”
He glared at me for a moment.
“I needed a lawyer to try and sue Chase Martin, her ex, for losing our money.”
“You tried to sue Chase?” Tanya raised her head again, but kept her stomach on the ground. “And you didn’t tell me?!”
“Don’t move.” I pointed the gun at her. “Keep talking, Kyle. How are you getting the money back to pay for the lawyer?”
“A guy called me. Unknown number, deep voice. Said he would get my hundred thousand dollars back from Chase in two days. I can pay you then. I can even pay interest.”
“How was he getting the money back?”
“He didn’t say. He just said that he would transfer it to my bank account on Saturday morning.”
The thoughts crashed through my head.
“You’d better have the money by then.” I tried to cover my tracks. I didn’t need them to know that Millie was missing. That would only complicate things further.
“What?” Kyle was confused. “I thought you didn’t know about the money? And wait, I know you. You’re the guy from the truck stop. From the gym there. What the…?”
“It’s not just money, Kyle. It’s never just money. I’m keeping tabs on you.” I waved the gun in the air. “You’ve got until Monday to pay the money, or you’ll lose everything. More than you can possibly imagine.”
He didn’t look convinced by my attempt to cover my tracks. In truth, neither was I.
It had to be the kidnapper that contacted Kyle. That’s the only way the money would’ve been deposited back, which meant that the kidnapper wasn’t motivated by greed, nor money. This wasn’t a kidnapping gang; this wasn’t a random attack. This was the work of someone on that list of names.
I had a lead but time was running out to chase it.
“Look after him.” Turning to look at Tanya, I waved the gun in Kyle’s direction. A look of recognition also washed over her face. “Make sure he sees it through, or there’ll be trouble.”
Chapter 22
Four hours until midnight, and the adrenaline from my encounter with Kyle and Tanya was still pumping through my veins as I drove my truck back to my house. My vision was focused, my mind was clear, and my heart was still pounding. My plan was to get inside, try and calm myself down with another beer, and then stake out the park around 11pm, before putting up the cameras at 1am. I needed a full stomach for the night ahead, and I had half a left-over pizza in the fridge. Perfect to get me through the night.
My greatest fear was how Chase was going to handle the drop. He might’ve been good at fooling people in business and sales, but he wasn’t prepared for this type of situation in real life. He hadn’t trained for this position, and the longer that the days went on, the more nervous he was becoming. I had to make sure that he didn’t panic. He didn’t want to part with that million dollars, and I had a feeling that he was going to make sure that he didn’t lose it. He was motivated to have both Millie and the million dollars back, and he was unreasonably confident, which meant that he was in the position to do something stupid.
My focus had to be on getting Millie back unharmed, but to do that, I had to keep Chase in check. I was going to talk to Chase at midday tomorrow, take him through the plan step-by-step, and ensure that he wasn’t going to go off-script. Casey and I would follow the kidnapper once Millie was safe, and that was our chance to nab the perpetrator.
The phone rang as I pulled into my driveway.
I groaned in frustration; I didn’t have time for a phone call right now.
“Jack.” It was Chase. He was desperate. “Things have changed. The kidnapper sent another message using another phone number. It’s bad.”
There was an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before, now he had my attention. I was concerned but it only served to make me more alert.
“How bad, Chase?”
I heard Chase take a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was shaky.
“The message says that the drop has changed to tonight. Midnight. They want the money on the park bench in four hours or they’ve threatened to hurt Millie. What are you going to do, Jack?”
“Let’s not panic.” There was no way this could’ve been a coincidence. Not even an hour after I had left Tanya’s house, and the kidnapper was panicking. Either Kyle told someone, or he is one mighty fine liar. “What does the message say exactly?”
“It says, ‘The drop has changed to midnight tonight
. Same location. You bring the money, place it on the park bench, and walk away. You’ll see Millie once you’ve walked away from the bag. The girl gets hurt if you involve the cops or anyone else.’” Chase’s voice was high-pitched. He was panicking. “Why have they changed it now? Why aren’t they sticking to the original plan?”
I pushed any feelings of guilt away and got down to business. Truth be told, I worked better under pressure anyway.
“This could’ve been their plan all along. To try and throw anyone off their trail. They want to keep you on your toes.” I turned my truck’s engine off. “Or they’ve seen you go to the bank and they know that you’ve got the money now. Do you remember seeing anyone watching you?”
I got out of the truck and headed into the house as we talked.
“No, Jack. Nobody was watching me. I went to a different bank, just like you said, and I watched my back really closely. I didn’t see anyone following me. There was nobody around as I went in, nobody in the bank, and nobody when I came out. I didn’t see anyone.”
I was strangely calm as I grabbed the leftover pizza. This was going to be a tough night, and I needed something other than beer to get me through it.
“Get ready for the drop. Do everything the kidnapper says. If they send you another text, call me right away,” I said. “If not, I’ll call you back in one hour.”
I hung up the phone, calm but realistic.
This wasn’t good. All at once, the investigation had lost a crucial day. Twenty-four hours gone, leaving only four hours to ensure that Millie was safe.
I could sense on the phone that Chase had wanted to talk more, and maybe he needed it. He wanted reassurance, comfort, but right now, he wasn’t my concern.
“Casey.” I called my assistant. “I need you to call Chase, keep him calm, focused, remind him of his role in the plan. I’m afraid he’s going to do something stupid.” I paused for a moment before adding the bombshell. “The kidnapper has changed the drop time.”
“Why would they do that?” Casey wondered out loud, but she moved on without expecting an answer, “When?”
“Tonight, at midnight,” I responded. “Same place, at least.”
“Did you manage to get the cameras up?”
“No. I was just on my way over there. We can still go through with the rest of the plan we had. We can still do it tonight. I’ll cover the south exit, and you cover the north. If the kidnapper wants to get out of the state as quickly as possible, they’ll take the south exit, which is what I’m expecting.”
“That seems most likely.” Casey agreed. “We’ll keep in touch using our phones, but if we get cut off for any reason, I’ve synced our phone trackers with a sat nav app so we can always trace each other’s phones if we need to.”
We both went silent. Despite the change of deadline, it suddenly felt like we were back in control of the situation.
“Any closer to figuring out who it might be?” Casey asked.
“Well, I think I can cross two more names off the list of potential kidnappers,” I admitted.
Even over the phone, I could sense Casey’s surprise.
“Who? How?”
“I stormed into Tanya’s house and put a gun to Kyle’s head only one hour ago.”
“What?” Casey was shocked. “Why?”
“I wanted answers.” I knew it was a petulant response, but we no longer had the luxury of time to analyze my mistake.
“And just after you stormed into the house, the kidnapper changed the drop time?” I could hear the tension in Casey’s voice, she was annoyed. Then suddenly she seemed to have a change of heart, “But that means the kidnapper knows Kyle and Tanya. Or is at least in contact with them. Or it could be one of them.”
I felt a small wave of relief, we had a new lead. Time was running out, but suddenly we were back on the kidnapper’s trail. I headed back out of the house to my truck.
“You’re right. Kyle told me that a stranger had contacted him and informed him that he would be getting his full investment back, all one-hundred thousand dollars. He said that the person would transfer the money to his bank account.”
“And you believe him? Or did you think he was covering up the kidnapping? Protecting himself, or Tanya.”
“I believed him. People tend to tell the truth with a gun to their head.”
That was true. The average person isn’t trained to deal with life or death situations, and even though Kyle was a former soldier, he wasn’t expecting to answer his front door and have his life threatened. He didn’t know me, and he didn’t know how dangerous I could be. He assumed the worst, and rightly so.
Kyle had thought that I was a debt collector, and he recognized my face from the truck stop. And I have no doubt that after I left, Tanya recognized my face as well. She would’ve remembered me from the previous morning at the bar, and that would’ve scared them both. They knew that I was on their tail, and that I’d been following them.
They would’ve panicked.
“And so that means that everyone else on that list has probably been told they’re going to get their money back?” Casey reasoned. “If what Kyle says is true, then the kidnapper would’ve contacted the others. Do you want me to get in touch with them, find out what they know? Do we even have time for that?”
That thought hadn’t gone through my head, but she was right. If Kyle was contacted, then every one of the people on that list would’ve been contacted too. But there was only one person I needed to track down now.
If the investors were getting their money back, that included Ben.
And he didn’t say a word to me about it.
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around. How far away are you from the office?”
I heard the sound of Casey picking up her car keys.
“I can be there in ten minutes.”
“I’ll meet you there,” I said as I started the engine of my truck. “This investigation isn’t over yet.”
Chapter 23
Just under four hours until the drop.
Four hours with the life of a young girl on the line. The stakes couldn’t have been higher. I raced through the back streets, pushing hard, and every time I passed under a streetlight, the flash of light reminded me of the clock ticking down. As I bounced along the road, I put a call through to Ben. He answered after one ring.
“Why didn’t you tell me that someone had contacted you about getting the money back?”
I was angry, but calm and calculated. I had to be.
“Jack…” His voice trailed off.
“Ben, you lied to me.”
“Jack, listen.” As he went to continue, two of his dogs started yapping in the background. “Quiet!” he called out to his dogs. “Jack…”
He said something but I couldn’t hear him over the barking.
“I can’t hear you, Ben.” My patience was growing thin and my anger rising.
“Jack, I didn’t plan this. It wasn’t me.” The dogs continued barking. “Quiet back there! Shut up. Keep it down.”
“Who was it Ben?” I yelled into the phone. “Who set this up?! Tell me, damn it!”
“I can’t hear you Jack. These dogs are too loud.”
I could hear a rustling in the background as Ben tried to get a hold of the dogs and calm them down.
“Who?!” I yelled into the phone. “Who was it, Ben?!”
“I don’t know, Jack. Look, I’ve got to go and feed these dogs.” He hung up the phone quickly. Too quickly, like he was using it as an excuse to avoid an unwanted question. To avoid facing the truth.
There was no use calling him back. He wouldn’t answer now. He was attending to his dogs. He loved those dogs. Two beagles. Such beautiful animals. He used to enter the beagles into shows, winning awards for Best in Show. They were his life away from policing, probably the only thing that got him through some very hard days. The dogs even had their own social media accounts. Sometimes, his wife complained that he loved those dogs more than he did he
r, which was probably true, in part. Or perhaps entirely.
Ben had a rough time over the past few years. He lost his father three years ago, his sister, who was my wife Claire, not long after. While still grieving over the lost members of his family, his partner in the police force was shot by gang-bangers in a shoot-out on Chicago’s South Side. Nineteen bullets. They said there was practically nothing left of his skull afterwards and they had to identify him through DNA. One of those losses was hard enough, but he suffered each of them just as he was starting to recover from the last.
His dogs, his daughter, and escaping to the river to fish, were about the only things that kept him afloat. But even then, he was a leaky vessel in a constant sea of choppy water.
Did I think he could kidnap a child? Once upon a time I would have said no. Without a doubt. But now. Maybe. Nobody knows what another person is capable of when they’re pushed to the edge. And Ben was a man on the edge.
I screeched my truck to the sidewalk in front of my office just as Casey was doing the same. She leapt out of her vehicle, as did I.
“Time until drop?”
“3 hours, 45 minutes.” I looked at my watch. “We’ve got time to solve this before the drop and we have to, because I have a feeling that Chase is going to do something stupid. I can’t trust him to follow instructions. That million dollars is worth too much to him.”
“I called him, like you asked, and you’re right, he’s jittery. I did my best to calm him down, keep him focused on what he needs to do, but I’m not sure he was really listening. I got the feeling his mind was on something else. I think he’s planning something himself.”
I nodded, that was my concern too.
“To be honest, I don’t think he really trusted me,” Casey continued. “I couldn’t get a clear answer from him about anything. Do you know if he has the money ready?”
“He does. Everything is ready to go. He’s been instructed to place the money on the park bench at midnight, walk back to the playground, and then they’ll release Millie.”
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