Turbulence

by Edward MacMillan

  “No, but I do know she has a license and it should be in the pocketbook.”

  The techs arrived and go right to work. I went to the bar and poured a stiff Dewars on the rocks and waited in the kitchen as they did their work. After about an hour, they finished what they came for, chatted with Len, and departed.

  Len joins me for a drink and says that I can start cleaning up anytime, they have done their sweep, found prints, and will be going to work to match them. He also tells me the pocketbook does have the keys for the outside door, apartment door, and the mailbox.

  “Now what? Is she in danger? Will they harm her?”

  “No, I don’t think so, not right away anyway. As I told you before, you have something they want, and now they have someone you want. Problem is, you don’t have it anymore. It will probably be in DEA hands tonight. But as long as they don’t know that, you can bluff for a while. But the next thing that’s going to happen is that you will be contacted to make a deal, and we need to be prepared when that happens.”

  “What kind of preparation do we need?’

  “What we need, Kevin, is to buy some time so that we can turn up clues as to where they have her and we can find her. Kidnapping is a very dangerous crime and as such, if the perpetrators are not emotionally stable, one has no idea of what they might do. The safety of the victim is subject to their crazy suppositions of what the victim’s significant other might do. And when you are banking on the emotional stability of someone who would be willing to kidnap in the first place, you can see how dangerous it is. Her kidnapping now complicates the case tremendously.”

  “So I guess I’ll be expected to keep everything as normal as possible until you get a handle on their contact with me.”

  “That’s right, Kevin. In the meantime, we will try to develop leads as rapidly as possible by tracing fingerprints, interrogating our sources, listening to the drug grapevine, getting a vehicle license number, and finding any witnesses to her abduction. All those things take time and you have got to give us that time to help us find her. As I said, we need any clues we can get, and you may be the only one able to come up with important locator clues because you’re the only one who is able to talk with them. I’m going to have someone experienced in kidnap negotiation give you a short course on what and how to look for clues that help identify the victim’s location. You can’t go near the precinct anymore, and this place is no longer a safe location. They will now watch you day and night. The person who will teach you will have to do it at your job location because a major office building is not watchable.”

  Len left with the assurance that he and his people will make Allison’s case a top priority, and that they will be looking at all avenues to lead us to her captors. He also told me that he thinks, based on the associates he met today and this evening, that he will have access to the best forensic labs in the country, the New York and Washington, D.C., labs of the FBI. I thanked him and implored him to do everything possible to find Allison. Of course, I promised to contact him in a heartbeat when these bastards contacted me.

  Alone with my thoughts, tears start to well and I feel a terrible pain in the pit of my stomach. I appreciate all Len is trying to do, but the one most important thing to me is we didn’t, or I didn’t, protect Allison. I should have sent the DEA for the f---ing box and the drugs, and I shouldn’t have allowed her to come into ground zero, here in New York. Just days ago, in Honolulu, I was revealing my fears to Len about my safety in New York. Now here I am, having exposed the dearest person in my life to that danger and she’s gone, and it’s my fault.

  I’m overcome with grief and fear of what terror she is facing. Poor Allison, she’s in the hands of terrible people, alone in New York without a clue of what they’re going to do with her and what the police and I are doing to find her. It must be an awful feeling. I catch myself. I can’t let these fears overcome me. I must be strong for her. She is a strong and intelligent person and knows that I will move heaven and earth to find her. She also knows that the NYPD are already on the case and that I have a personal relationship with Len.

  She will be okay right now, as Len says, and I must carry on as usual. I’ll go to work in the morning and chair the board meeting tomorrow. I must confide in Margie that I am expecting a call from the people that were looking for me while I was away, and if any unusual call comes in, locate me immediately, even if I’m in the board meeting. I need to stress upon her how important and personal it is without involving her in the details. God knows, I’ve involved enough innocents already, but I know I can trust her implicitly, even if she doesn’t know all the whys.

  Needing to talk to somebody, I decided to chat with somebody besides law enforcement and I call a friend of mine, Tommy, whose profession is a doctor of internal medicine. I first met him when I went for periodic checkups. We became friends and occasionally enjoy recreational pursuits together, such as Yankee games, especially when the Boston Red Sox come to town. We also go to Knicks and Giants games when we have the chance. Sometimes, when I’m in town, we have guy’s night out and we have a few drinks and talk.

  I had planned to catch up when I returned from my trip early on, but events overshadowed my intentions and now I needed to talk to someone other than law enforcement. Tommy was a lot like me in many ways with our common interest in sports and politics, and a shared desire to succeed professionally and to do so honestly without shortcuts. On the other hand, in our personal life he was the polar opposite. He was happily married, a one-woman-for-life kind of guy with two very normal kids.

  “Hey, Kevin, what’s up?” he responded when I said, “Tommy?”

  “Still busy, flying around the world for Harrison and Rainbow,” I say.

  “How are Jane and the kids?”

  “All fine and healthy. How about you? Staying out of trouble?”

  “Well, to tell you the truth, the simple answer is no. Do you have some time and privacy to talk?”

  “Sure, Kevin, just finished dinner and not doing anything that can’t wait, and always happy to hear from you. Hold on while I close the den door.”

  I proceed to tell him as briefly as I can about finding the drugs, the continuation of my trip, my contacting Len, up to and including the meeting this afternoon with the various law enforcement agencies, and now Allison’s involvement in the case.

  “Christ, Kevin, you’re a goddamn walking Hollywood movie. How the hell do you get mixed up like this? You know, as your doctor, I have to say that your genetics and overall good health would give you a long and bright future, but your lifestyle is apt to produce the opposite.”

  “I know, Tommy, my lifestyle decisions are the cause of most of my problems, but you’re a good friend and I don’t need to be chastised. I’m full of guilt as it is.”

  “Listen, Kevin, we are good friends. I’ll let Jane know and then grab a cab. I’ll be right over. ” Before I could object, he had hung up.

  Listening to Tommy, I was pleased that I had the sense to call him, and happier still that he came over. Although not knowing Allison at all, he immediately wanted to talk about her and what could be done to ensure her safety, as well as find a resolution of the problem. His take was somewhat in line with Len’s, but even more positive.

  He felt that a lot of the pressure was now on the cartel people because the NYPD and the FBI were now automatically far more involved because of the kidnapping. That is a federal crime of substantial proportions, and that position was not the cartel’s intention.

  “It was what Len said early on, that what they wanted was what you had taken, but more importantly, what you may have uncovered about their ‘”lost bag” program.’ The only way to protect themselves was to locate both their drugs and their transmitter, and the only place they knew was your apartment. Inviting Allison was a complete disruption of their plans. Without her there, they would have waited for you to arrive from work and either beat you into a pulp, as they looked through your apartment, or worse, bring you someplac
e where they could torture you to tell them what they wanted. The people that took Allison were not instructed to do so. They would rather have found in the apartment what they were looking for when they gained entry. Since they didn’t find anything, they made an on the spot decision to take her hostage.

  “Now all that she can be is a bargaining chip. While your original decision to hook up with Allison was detrimental, it turned out that it was the lesser of two other evils, to be jailed in South Korea and/or your career terminated. It’s the same thing here. Allison’s presence in the apartment complicated things for them, and you, Kevin, are still walking around. Even if she told them where the drugs were, they would now be gone. They need to bargain and they are not stupid. They are going to keep that bargaining chip in good health, maybe put her up in pleasant surroundings. In the meantime, this is not just a drug case. The kidnapping will invigorate the FBI and the NYPD for a massive manhunt on an accelerated basis.”

  I thanked Tommy for his assistance, especially his brilliant perspective, and promised to keep him informed. I was far more confident looking forward to tomorrow.

  Fifteen

  Sleeping fitfully, I’m a bit wobbly, but determined. I recognize that everything that’s about to happen, good or bad, is going to depend on me and me alone. Sure, the FBI, DEA and all the units of the NYPD can help me save Allison, get these guys, and restore my life, but the devil is in the details and the details are mine alone to direct. And I swear to myself, I will be ready.

  At eight-thirty Margie is ready with the board presentation. Skimming over it, I am confident that she has not only faithfully reproduced it, but enhanced it, adding little pluses that she thought of from the minutes of the last meeting. For instance, Russ and a board member had argued last month about the performances of a couple of hotels after I had made my report and left, with Russ defending the costs as non-recurring. Those costs, Margie had pointed out in the margins of this report, were food costs, which occur regularly every month, and I needed to clear that up.

  I know Len’s beeper number now and I call him, because even though he saw me late last night and it’s early morning, I have to know who, if anyone, has been alerted, before I can think of anything else. He gets back right away, was on it last night, left messages to the various people involved and followed up more than an hour ago. All law enforcement has been notified. Residents on my floor were questioned early this morning about anything unusual happening the previous afternoon. As expected, most people were at work, but one woman who works at home online said she heard loud noises from my apartment about three p.m. She then heard more noise in the corridor and the back stairs door slamming.

  So it appears Allison was taken down the back stairs. They still had to go through the lobby, but no witnesses have been found so far to confirm. I told Len about my meeting with Tommy last night and his analysis. He’s not happy about letting outsiders know about his case, but he knows Tommy and I assure him it will go no further. I thank Len again and go back to work.

  I need to go over the whole board presentation in detail, including updates on the problem American properties and the Caribbean. The board will meet at ten and adjourn by noon. I am in my office alone, when just after nine the intercom buzzes. I pick up and it’s Margie.

  “Mr. Logan, it’s him, that guy with the Spanish accent. Same one that called when you were in South Korea.”

  I push the button and almost shout, “Kevin Logan here.”

  “Si, Señor Logan, we finally talk.”

  Steadying somewhat, I demand, “Where is she?”

  “You mean your mujer bonita, si?”

  “You know what I mean. Where is she? If you’ve done anything to her, I’ll…”

  “Stop. I do the talking. You did not do as we asked, now you will.”

  “If you harm her in any way…”

  “Enough, we are very serious. We want our property and you will listen, or your mujer may not be so bonita anymore.”

  “So help me, God, I’m warning you.”

  “Do you want to make an exchange or not?”

  “Yes. Right away. When and where?”

  “I will call back.”

  “No, first I want to talk to her, to make sure she’s all right.”

  “She is not with me.”

  “I will not meet until I talk to her first.”

  “I will decide. I also have your home phone number.”

  “Coma te llaman? I want to know.”

  “José is good if you need one.”

  I call Len back and report the call. I also tell him I have not yet been contacted by the hostage negotiator and need his number. I tell him I have to do this board meeting between ten and noon, but need to talk to this guy directly afterward. He gives me the number and then calls him directly. We get him on conference and talk briefly, arranging a meeting with this George Elman at my office as soon as possible after noontime for the briefing, hopefully ahead of the next call.

  After we finished with George, Len tells me they’ve got to tap my home phone and put a special caller ID on it. He also needs me to send my apartment keys to his office ASAP. I have a spare set with me and agree to have Margie send them immediately by courier. I am most concerned though about José getting back to me about our meeting. I ask Len if I can have a beeper and he says he will bring one for me to the meeting.

  The board meeting goes splendidly, not because I’m giving the report. It’s more because the figures are as good as they’ve ever been, and there is progress to report on our expansion activity. Our newest opening this weekend in Seoul is the prime announcement, followed by the construction progress in Fiji, the ongoing talks regarding the management contract in Samoa, and hopefully, the acquisition of that former prime chain hotel on the island. Along with the very impressive financial reports from Honolulu, the board member from Rainbow is beaming. All that expansion into the Pacific is wonderful news for a possible permit.

  It doesn’t hurt for the Rainbow guy to hear the progress on negotiations for the Mexico City hotel either. It will be our second largest after Honolulu and is a major market for the airline. The question and answer session was the best part, I thought, principally because my responsibilities allowed me to show off my wide range of knowledge to some pretty powerful people and to answer all of their questions.

  When I got back to the office, Margie tells me there are two people waiting in the reception area and she has their cards. It’s Len Graham and George Elman, neither known to her in person. Len is prepared with the loaned beeper. We grab one of the small conference rooms and George leads off with a brief overview of hostage negotiations in general.

  “A hostage situation can be very complex and explosive because all of the outcome possibilities depend on the personalities involved, along with their ability to function under enormous pressure. Because this is truly a life and death situation, there is no room for mistakes, not even one that would be considered a minor one in ordinary circumstances. A misstep can be fatal, and in this particular case, it is far more delicate than usual because these guys have no compunction against extortion, assault, or murder. It is part of their lifestyle and there is no sense of morality or compassion to prevent them from committing such heinous crimes.”

  “George is right, Kevin, and as much as we don’t want to hear it, your friend is being held by the scum of the earth. The saving grace in all this is that it is very important to them that you do not screw up their program, whatever it is, because not only is Allison’s safety at stake, their very lives, as despicable as they are, are also at risk, so the stakes are extremely high,” Len explains.

  “Okay,” George continues, “Len has brought me up to date with your conversation with José. I don’t know who is going to make the calls on the time, place, and agendas of the talks, but first of all, we do not want to be dictated to. Because, even if the circumstances of where or when you meet are not critical or are even minor to the problem’s resolution, the ve
ry fact that somebody is calling the shots affects the outcome. In other words, if you are not in charge of the minor conditions such as place and time, they will see that as a weakness that will affect the major result.”

  “Most important to you, Kevin, is the place where you will meet,” Len interjects. “It is absolutely imperative that you meet in public, during daylight hours, and at a safe enough place that you cannot be restrained, such as in plain sight outdoors with people around and plenty of space to break away in a hurry if you have to.”

  “Okay, guys, I got that. When he calls back, how about telling him we will meet on Fifth Avenue just north of the Plaza near the Central Park Zoo? There’s a lot of foot traffic there this time of year.”

  “Perfect. That meets all our safety concerns because we do not want to have you, under any circumstances, become the second hostage,” George says, contentedly.

  “That’s not going to happen,” says Len. “If that is the meeting place, you can be sure you will be surrounded by my plainclothes people.”

  “My foremost demand is to speak to Allison before anything, and if I don’t get a chance before the meeting, I know that there are several outdoor open booths adjacent to the zoo entrance.”

  “Yea, I know what you mean, those semicircular half booths on a pedestal, been there forever.”

  George continues, “Next step, Kevin, is your response to their inquiries, which will be crucial to any negotiation, such as who knows what about the drugs and the device. What do you say about whether you have gone to the police or not? These are questions you must face now, not when they have you alone awaiting your answer.”

  “All right guys, what the hell do I say?” I immediately ask.

  Len furrows his brow, leans over, and says, “You must continue to have them think the drugs and transmitter are in your control somewhere. It is very unlikely they have any idea about our meeting yesterday with the other agencies. However, you’ve got to give them something that makes them think that while you’re concerned, you’re keeping the situation close to the vest. You have to give me up as a personal friend that is considering the circumstances and I’m giving you advice. “