The Chauffeur

by A. P. Hallmark

  “Yes, of course. I’ll have my Sector phone with me at all times.” Her voice quivers. “Jason? You will find her, right? Please find her.”

  “We will, Sue,” I say, pulling her into a hug.

  “Can I tell Sam? I mean, he and April are very close, and I think he’ll want to know,” she says, looking up at me.

  “Of course, but with everyone else, it’s business as usual, all right? I’ll check in with you periodically and call me if you hear anything.” She puts her professional look and smile back on her face, and I return it, hoping I’ve alleviated some of her fear and concern.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Dad says, putting his phone in his breast pocket. It startles us when my mother jumps out of her seat, rushes to the door and exits before we even turn to leave. My father and I just look at each other. Mama bear is in the house, and there’ll be no stopping her now.

  “Uh oh,” Dad says.

  I pity Helen and Kathryn. I just hope they stay alive long enough to tell us where April is.

  As we head toward the elevator, I stop by Sue’s desk with a last-minute request.

  “Sue, I need a favor. Will you call the house and ask Rita to pack me a bag? The brown leather one. I need a couple of changes of clothes—jeans, sneakers, T-shirt, you know, something comfortable and easy to move around in. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

  “All right. Have it sent to headquarters?” I nod, affirming her question and make my way to the elevator where my parents are waiting for me.

  I drop my chin to my chest and silently pray, “I’m coming, April.” I have faith that she’ll hear me somehow.

  Once we reach headquarters, my father begins to give my mother instructions. The look on her face when he starts sends shivers down my spine.

  “Don’t fucking start with me, Carl,” she says. “I’m going to change, and I’ll meet you outside her room.”

  “Dad?” I ask hoping he can tell me what she plans on doing.

  “Jason, when she gets like this, there is no stopping her. But trust me, she’ll get us some answers.”

  We both take a deep breath and walk down the hall preparing ourselves for what my mother has planned.

  “I’ve placed them next door to each other so they can talk through the vents. I have the room monitored, of course, and I’m hoping they will give a lead,” he explains, turning when we hear Mom coming down the hall. I take another deep breath before she reaches us, and then enter the room to confront Kathryn.

  “Hello, Kathryn,” I say, beginning the interrogation. “Where is she?”

  “Who?”

  “Don’t fuck with us, Kathryn. I’m not in the fucking mood. Now answer the damn question,” my mother hisses. I’m stunned at the way my mother snarls at Kate.

  “Language, Grace!” Kathryn admonishes and then laughs. Okay, I think that is the wrong thing to do because, in a flash, the back of mother’s hand meets Kate’s face, snapping her head around.

  Neither my father nor I moved to help Kate off the floor when I ask the question again.

  “Where is she?”

  “What do you want with April?” my father asks.

  We stand back and wait for her to come out of the shock of being knocked off her feet. I have to admire her when she stands up straight, not a tear in sight.

  “I want to ruin the Rowes. Just like you ruined my mother and me,” she finally says.

  “Yeah, about that,” I say. “Exactly how did I ruin you again, because I was never clear on that.”

  “You might as well give us the story, Kathryn,” my mother says mere inches from Kathryn’s face. “Enough of your bullshit. No one knows you’re gone; no one knows where you are, and no one will know you are dead. We’ll find her with or without you, so it’s up to you whether you live or die.”

  Kate paces the room and then slowly turns to face us. “May I have some water please?” My eyes immediately notice the bucket of water on the floor, just like in Helen’s room.

  I’m stunned silent when my mother lurches at Kate, taking her by the arm and drags her over to the bucket. When Mom’s leg snaps out and kicks Kate’s feet out from under her, forcing her to drop to her knees, mother pushes Kate’s face into the bucket.

  “Drink.”

  My mouth falls open in disbelief and even more so when I see that my father has an appreciative look in his eyes. He turns to me and grins.

  “Isn’t she fabulous?”

  “I’ve never seen this side of her before,” I say in disbelief, watching as Kate nearly drowns.

  “This is why she’s our master interrogator—she gets the answers,” he says, in awe of his wife.

  “Grace, my love, don’t kill her yet. Jason has more questions.”

  My mother takes a coughing Kate by the hair and shoves her toward the chair.

  “Where is she, Kate?” I ask again.

  “I-I don’t know. She was to be moved to another location, and I was to receive a call with that information b-but your goon wouldn’t let me bring my phone,” she finally confesses through her gasping and coughing.

  “Who’s working with you?” Dad asks, angrily.

  Just as she opens her mouth to speak, my phone rings and I quickly turn to dig it out of my pocket.

  “Yeah?” I bark.

  “Mr. Rowe?” the caller says, apparently using a voice changer app on his phone. “I believe we have some business to discuss.”

  “Where is she?” I ask before he can continue.

  “Now—now—now. You know you aren’t getting that information out of me,” he says. “You see, I’m the one in control of this situation.”

  “We have Kathryn, so if you don’t cooperate with us, you will never see her again,” my father says, but all we hear is laughter. Hard, deep, laughter. I’m perplexed by this reaction.

  “I don’t give a fuck about that obnoxious bitch.” When Kate’s eyes get bigger and bigger, it dawns on all of us. They have cut her out, and no longer have an edge.

  “You bastard. You fucking traitorous bastard!” Kate yells across the room.

  “Oh, Kate, so glad you’re there too. It saves me a lot of time. Here’s the deal, all of you,” he begins. “Kate, keep your mouth shut. We have a valuable item of yours and should you say one single word, your precious little girl will disappear.”

  Suddenly Kathryn screams as if she’s in pain.

  “D-don’t hurt her! Please! I beg you, please don’t hurt my little girl. Please,” she cries, dropping to her knees. “Sherry, Oh Sherry, please don’t hurt her.”

  I look at my parents and shrug my shoulders. I had no idea Kate had a child. She never told me.

  “Okay, Jason, as far as your little girl goes … twenty mil. You will be contacted with the details. Better start now.” I hear a click and know the call is disconnected.

  “You better start talking, right now,” my mother says. “Now! Who has her?”

  “I-I can’t. They’ll kill her,” she cries.

  As soon as Kate refuses to talk, Grace storms out of the room. It wasn’t but thirty seconds later that a death scream comes through the vents and stops as suddenly as it began. My stomach turns at what may have happened, and my fear is confirmed when my mother comes storming back into the room throwing the bloody item at Kate, making her scream. When I look at what has Kathryn frantically smacking her lap, I choke at what lands on the floor.

  “Now, if you don’t want the other one, you better talk.”

  “J-Joe Smith.”

  Chapter 23

  ~April~

  “Wake up!” Someone shouts through a haze and then kicks the bottom of my shoe.

  Trying to clear the fog in my head, I blink and realize I’m blindfolded. My feet and hands are bound, preventing me from working out the kinks in my back.

  “Who’s there?” I ask weakly.

  “Hey, she’s waking up,” an unknown voice yells out, echoing around the room. I know that I’m in a garage or somewhere vast and vacant by the
way his voice reverberates. It’s then that I hear two separate sets of feet quickly walking toward me. The concrete floor is cold against my temple.

  “Untie her,” a familiar voice says. When I’m jerked into a standing position, the ties on my feet are cut first, then my wrists. I rub the rope burns to get the blood flow going in my hands again.

  “James?” I ask, unsure if it’s him.

  “Hello, April. It’s been a long time,” he answers, confirming my biggest fear.

  “Yes, it has.”

  “Spunky as ever. Except now you don’t have Sam here to protect you, do you?” he sneers, stepping closer. I can smell his cheap cologne. My sensory perception has kicked in, working double time, and I smell a sweet perfume as well.

  “Are you going to take this blindfold off or are you going to keep me in a shroud of mystery?” I can detect that there are at least three people here besides me, two males and one female whom I already know is Robin.

  “Take it off her,” James instructs, and when I hear footsteps behind me, the blindfold is yanked off my eyes. Blinking to clear my vision, I look around to assess my surroundings.

  The first person I see, is standing with her arms folded and her pointy-toe shoe sticking out, is Robin.

  “Bitch,” she says in return.

  When I focus on James, our eyes lock as he gives me his evil grin. You know, the one where only one side of his mouth raises? This man has always frightened me, and my instincts weren’t wrong.

  When I turn my gaze to the third person in the room, I’m not shocked to see Joe Smith casually leaning against a steel beam.

  “I know you, don’t I?” I ask. “I saw you at the MileHigh plant.” He shrugs his shoulders. Not only does he look familiar in that regard, I’m certain that I’ve seen him somewhere else.

  I return my focus to James. “Why are you involved? You wouldn’t have kidnapped me without wanting something.”

  “Oh, I want something all right,” he says, licking his lips as his lust-filled eyes scan my body. Fear renews itself on a different level. He’s never hidden the fact that he wanted more than a working relationship with me, and now that he has me at a huge disadvantage, I fear he may get his wish.

  “You fucking touch her, James, and I’ll cut your dick off and cram it down your throat,” Robin says, placing herself between James and me. “I’ve lost one man to her, and trust me, it won’t happen again!”

  I inwardly roll my eyes at her that she believes she lost someone she never had, to begin with. In my effort not to laugh, I put their conversation in the background and start looking around. I almost give myself away by showing surprise on my face when I realize that I’m standing in the middle of the warehouse where Kathryn had hidden Jason’s fuselage. I can see the camouflage cover that’s still lying in a heap in the far corner of the building.

  “I think it’s time to give Mr. Rowe a call,” James announces. Walking around Robin to face me directly with his cell phone in his hand he asks, “What’s his number?

  When I reluctantly tell him, he begins to dial, placing the call on speaker.

  “You say a fucking word, and it will be the last one you speak,” Robin threatens, as she tries to wedge herself between James and me again.

  As soon as I hear his voice, elation, panic, and despair rage a battle within me. I want to scream, I want to yell at the top of my lungs where I think I am, but the sudden thought of our baby slams into me with the impact of a train. I have to protect our little one. I can’t take any chances.

  “Mr. Rowe?” James says. “I believe we have some business to discuss.”

  “Where is she?” Jason yells into the phone. I can hear the anger, fear, and fatigue in his voice. I want to comfort him. Wrap my arms around him and console him. Oh, James, you have poked the wrong dog in this fight. You’ll be ripped to shreds.

  When the name Sherry is mentioned, Kate releases gut wrenching screams. While Kate is crying for her little girl, I continue to look around until I hear James’ ransom demand. Twenty million?

  It turns my stomach when the three of them start laughing and joking about Kate’s attachment to her daughter. What the hell is wrong with these people?

  “I should drown that little rat!” Robin says, laughing.

  “How can you say that? You would kill a child?” I exclaim. The warehouse gets suddenly quiet.

  “A child? You think Kate’s precious baby is a child?” James laughs out.

  “Why, yes. Isn’t she?” I ask, curious.

  “Fuck no! It’s her precious poodle. But you’d think it was her kid the way she dotes on it,” Robin says, gracing me with a small smile.

  “Enough!” James yells putting an end to the conversation. “Let’s move out. I don’t trust that bitch to keep her mouth shut no matter how much we threaten to off that mutt.”

  I stand in the middle of the vacant warehouse; knowing that MileHigh is just up the road. I keep my eyes peeled for an escape. Windows are scarce, and the few I can see are too high for me to reach. The only exit is just far enough that if I were to make a run for it, they would surely catch me before I could reach Jason’s plant. My eyes frantically search the area, trying to think of something and then it comes to me. I might not be able to get out, but I can tell him that I was here.

  I turn around so that my back is to them and continue to look around while I remove my navel ring. Once I get it free, I toss it to the side far enough, so they won’t see it, but out in the open just in case someone does come here searching for me. It doesn’t take long before my captors are at my side, covering my eyes and tying my hands and feet again.

  I’m lifted and laid in a different vehicle this time. It doesn’t smell the same, and the carpet feels different against my cheek. There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach because I know we’re driving past MileHigh to a place further away from Jason. I know with certainty that he will find me no matter what, and I smile in the comfort of that fact.

  I can tell we’re on the freeway because of the rhythmic bumps and the higher speed we’re traveling. There’s no doubt we’re driving away from the city. After what seems to be at least an hour, I begin to feel sleepy and allow myself to give over to it.

  Is it a dream? Feeling his arms around me? Feeling his warm skin next to mine? Hearing him tell me he loves me?

  Aware of my surroundings, tears escape at how real the dream was. I miss him, and I’m scared. I’m grateful that I told him that I loved him before he left for the office because if something tragic should happen out of all of this, I want him to remember that the last words he heard from my lips were my declaration of love for him.

  I love you, Jason. With everything that I am … I love you.

  After a sudden stop of the van, I turn my head to listen to the sounds around me. Birds—lots of birds. We must be near trees. My gut tells me we’ve traveled north because there are more trees and forest areas north of the city.

  When the door opens, I feel the rush of cold, fresh air. There are boat horn sounds in the distance and know that I’m near the water. Then, in a flash, I feel hands on my back and under my legs. It must be Joe carrying me because James is a fucking wimp who couldn’t pick up a cinder block, let alone an adult female.

  “Thank you,” I say. Weak from hunger and thirst, I lie my head on his shoulder.

  “Joe, when you untie me, may I have a glass of water, please?”

  “Sure. Let me get you inside first.”

  “You playing nursemaid, Joe?” Robin spits out.

  “The girl asked me for some water, Robin. It’s been a few hours since she’s eaten and had water. Do you have a problem with keeping her alive?”

  “Does it matter?” she retorts. This question sends a shiver down my spine. What the hell does she mean by that? Are they planning on killing me?

  I have to know.

  “Joe? Are you going to k-kill me?” I ask, fearing his answer.

  “No, I’m not. I can’t speak for the o
ther two, though,” he replies, placing me on my feet, then unties the ropes around my wrists and ankles.

  After the blindfold is gone, I again take in my surroundings. The home is lovely and very well decorated. I’m in a study or something of that nature. The shelves are lined with books, and there’s a massive, ornate desk, with two beautifully upholstered wingback chairs in front of it. Across the large room is a seating area with a huge television mounted on the far wall.

  When I look out the picture window that’s cut out between two large wall-to-wall bookshelves, I see water. I swear it’s the same lake where Jason’s summer cabin is in Michigan!

  “Robin, you and Joe go make us dinner. I want to talk to April alone for a minute.” Upon hearing that I will be alone with James, my heart rate speeds up, and I fear for my baby’s safety now. My eyes snap to Joe, seeking false hope of protection. Protection I know isn’t going to come.

  As soon as they leave, James sits behind the large desk, and his eyes roam up and down my body. I feel bile rise into my throat.

  “So, tell me April, how did you get hooked up with the Rowes?” he asks, licking his lips, his eyes landing on my breasts. Once again, my stomach starts to roll.

  “Does it matter?” I reply, folding my arms over my chest, partially in defiance and partially to cover my chest to keep him from ogling it.

  “It would behoove you not to fuck with me, girl,” he says, slowly sitting up in his desk chair.

  “That’s a mighty big word, James. You almost sound educated.”

  “I am educated, April. I’m smart. Smart enough to take your sassy little ass right out from under Jason’s nose. The Rowes seem to be the ignorant ones in this situation now, don’t they?” he says, leaning back again.

  “Oh, they’re not as dumb as you think they are.” I turn to sit in the chair across from his desk and cross my legs. I may be shaking on the inside, but I will not show this worm fear on the outside.

  “We’ll see about that. Let’s see if they’re stupid enough to hand over twenty million dollars for you when they aren’t even sure if they’ll ever see your face again.”