“Okay, Len, I tell him that I have confided in you as to the possession of the contraband and of the black box, but that at the moment is all. No one but me knows where I have stashed the stuff, right?”
“Exactly. You have shared this confidence, and you may, under pressure, admit later the general area of where the storage locker is, but no one has been told the exact location. The whole point of this exercise is to give you time for a way out, and at the same time does not put you in the position of having to say no to, for instance, the question, ‘Are you going to tell me where my property is or not?’ If your answers do not contain a negative in any negotiation with these guys, the more time we can buy.” Len turns to George for confirmation. “Right, George?”
“Absolutely,” George replies. “You’re making a transaction, so both parties have to be sure that each has the merchandise in their control, period. It is of the utmost importance that you are successful in carrying that off in this regard.” One other important point George leaves me with is “If and when you talk to Allison, listen carefully for any background noise at all that might assist us in figuring out her location. I realize you only want to hear from her, but please try, it might be important.”
Satisfied that I have the basics of the hostage negotiations down and that I am reasonably prepared, they begin to leave as I’m asking Len about my apartment phone.
“Yes, it’s done, we’re all set up. Your phone is able to identify the incoming number much like the beeper. Also, when someone calls you, if you can keep the call going for as long as possible, we may be able to trace the call to a particular location. The longer the call, the better we can trace. Remember that whenever you get a call on that phone for the next several days.”
With the understanding that I could be communicating at any hour, day and night, for the next several days, if necessary, with Len, and he with George, they depart.
Sixteen
Chief Ricco from the FBI had called while we were meeting and left a message to call. I don’t know why I didn’t tell Margie, but I didn’t want anyone to know what happened at my apartment last night, and I guess I didn’t realize that Margie was going to get my calls from the good guys, as well as the bad. I brought her into my office, closed the door, and told her what happened last night.
“Oh, my God,” she exclaims, “I had no idea. I thought it was one of the people you had mentioned in the report to Len. I’m so sorry about your friend Allison. That’s terrible.”
I calm her down and instruct her that any FBI calls and those from the DEA and the NYPD are important “interrupt meeting” calls, and that for the next few days I need to be able to drop everything at any time. I give her the names of all the participants I had met with yesterday. Margie then connects me with the chief.
Chief Ricco had been fully briefed on the kidnapping and he explained that they work hand in hand with the DEA. Since our meeting, the DEA had given them a list of small retailers that were suspected of laundering drug money to help the FBI in determining what the cartels were attempting to pull off with the program I had uncovered.
Now, however, the focus has changed. They do not want to endanger the kidnap victim by pursuing the drug program, and besides, with kidnapping being a federal crime, the FBI is the prime investigative agency in the case. They need to meet with me as soon as possible and make sure that they are on top of everything that has transpired since yesterday afternoon, and to find out what my current status is in connection with the break-in, the kidnapping, and the follow up. He wants to send a couple of agents to meet with me and I warn that I could be followed and that the best place to meet is at my office toward the end of the day.
Tommy calls, asking if we could meet for lunch. I’m famished and ask where. He picks the Bull and Bear at the Waldorf. I make sure that Margie knows the beeper number, and if José calls, to give it to him and tell him that I will have it with me at all times.
The Bull and Bear is packed as usual. I find Tommy and order a drink, thank him again for last night, and wait to hear his reason for this meeting, since we spoke last night.
“I’ve been thinking all night and this morning about your friend Allison, and trying to figure where they would take her, where they would keep her, and how we could find her. But first of all, how do you reach these guys? It’s really bothering me.”
“Well, Tommy, I can save you some trouble there. That’s not a problem. They have already contacted me. So, while I don’t have their number now, this beeper will capture it when they do,” I explained as I snap the device off my belt and hold it up for inspection. After telling Tommy about the nature of the call from José, he’s ready to jump into the case full throttle.
“That’s great, because even though I had no answer on how to contact them, from what you have told me, this is a huge deal and the top guys in the cartel know it, so I felt that at some point you would hear from them. They are not worried about the paltry one million dollars of merchandise that you have taken. They’re in full panic mode about whether you have revealed their perfect and diabolical “lost bag” delivery program. I mean, that could be a real winner for them. First, in terms of the revenue generated, and second, having the greatest, safest transportation system in the world doing it for them.”
“Yeah, I agree, it’s difficult to believe they could actually pull it off. But with their resources and the unmanageable lost bag problem, coupled with our freedom- loving lack of security, it’s not only possible, it’s probable.”
“Okay, Kevin, so following that reasoning, as I touched on last night, this is so big that Allison is not going to be harmed in any way as long as they receive assurance that their plan is not going to be torpedoed by you. So, however you do it, you must assure them that you have not blown the whistle, and there is room for negotiation before you do. You certainly have some cred with them in not contacting police when you discovered it and therefore you may still have not done so. There are a thousand reasons why you didn’t. One of the primary ones may be to make some money off the circumstances. They certainly could relate to that.”
“Cred?” I said. “You’ve been watching too much TV, doctor.”
“All right, Kevin, but it’s incredible that you can still rag me when you have so much on your plate right now.”
“Yep, I know, but I have to keep myself together, and I guess that’s the way I do it. My work and my determination right now are the only defenses against falling apart, and this is a game that doesn’t allow substitutions.”
“That’s right on, Kevin, and what I’m reinforcing to you is that you shouldn’t be concerned about Allison’s hostage conditions when the cartel has so much riding on your cooperation.”
“I owe you again, Tommy,” I said as the waitress brought a Rueben sandwich to Tommy and placed the hot roast beef open face au jus before me. “You have just reminded me that asking doesn’t get you anywhere, but demanding does, especially if you have the hammer.”
“I think, Kevin, you’re talking to yourself more than me, but I can see that you’re formulating a plan that, apparently, requires the use of a hammer and it has nothing to do with carpentry.” With that, we dug into our respective meals.
“I had a problem, doctor, and you helped me diagnose, the cure,” I said as we shook hands and departed to our respective livelihoods.
Margie greets me with a question. “Did you receive a call from José?”
I hadn’t and said so. She went on to tell me that he had called and she had given him the beeper number about half an hour ago. There is no record of any call on my Motorola. Returning to the office, I am invigorated by my luncheon conversation and began to consider what Tommy had reminded me about.
Whenever one is involved in negotiations, it is of utmost importance that one puts themselves in the position of their adversary. That reasoning is of far greater value than what one plans to propose or how it is delivered. Therefore, if negotiator A knows the concerns or worries of n
egotiator B, he can threaten those concerns to achieve A’s desired negotiation results. Accordingly, in the subject case, Tommy is absolutely right about the strength of the positions. I have improved the strength of my condition as it relates to my worst fears, because I have co-opted the very people who would threaten my career or my freedom, the lawmen. In doing so, I have provided those lawmen information that assists them in doing their job. Finally, as a result of the cartel’s employees making a wrong-headed decision to pressure me, I also have received the benefit of sympathy because of the innocent kidnap victim. For negotiator B, their condition is the polar opposite. It has been reduced in the same proportion as mine has improved. They have now committed another federal crime, which automatically brings in the FBI, and while another crime is not a concern of theirs, it is they who have brought in a powerful enemy, not me.
Examining the course of the escalating problem, the more anyone besides me is added to the possibility of discovering their nascent plan to infiltrate the airline baggage system, the more danger of exposure. That increased danger of exposure is their Achilles heel. They need me to tell them what I know, or what I think I know about their grand plan, and especially whether I have blown the whistle. To get that information, they need to have my cooperation, and it will be far more difficult than it would have been if Allison was not kidnapped. So while I would still be most concerned about injury or death of someone very dear to me, their bottom line is to find out how endangered their new program is, and injuring or killing Allison produces the opposite result. That’s somewhat analogous to the South Korea problem.
I am both relieved and excited about the ammunition that I have just produced in my soliloquy. As I consider how I will implement my negotiating strategy, my buzzer goes off, and so do I, for just a brief moment.
Seventeen
I jot the number down and pick up my office phone and dial. The phone rings incessantly, maybe six times. Finally, I hear the familiar voice known as José for the time being say, “Hello.”
“Is that you, José?” I ask.
“Yes, Señor Logan, it is. But don’t bother checking the number, it is a public phone.”
“I expected that, but how do I talk to Allison?”
“You don’t, until I know you have the merchandise.”
“Well then, that’s a problem, isn’t it?” I ask firmly.
“No, it isn’t. We can deal with that at the same time.”
“Same time as we meet?”
“Yes, and I have decided on a place and time,” José says, also firmly.
“Then that’s another problem, because you’ve already kidnapped one person and I don’t plan to be another, so it must be in a public place,” I inform him.
“I’ve already told you that I will decide where and when, and you will do exactly what I say or there will be consequences.”
“Look José, we need to get on the same page. Threatening me is not cutting it. You can set any time you want as long as it isn’t dark, but I will only meet you in what I consider a safe place to be sure I won’t be endangered.”
“No,” José retorts, raising his voice. “You will meet where and when I tell you, or else.”
“Goddamn it,” I shout back. “This is going nowhere. I’ve already said you can set the time and it’s now afternoon. If you want to meet, we need to do it as soon as possible. You won’t even let me tell you where I want to meet and I’m ready to do so immediately.” A long pause ensues. “Are you there?” I ask.
“Where do you have in mind?” he says slowly, but deliberately.
“On the west side of Fifth Avenue, above Fifty-Ninth, near the park zoo entrance. There are public phones there.”
“Too open, you can’t transfer the merchandise there,” he says dismissively.
“No, there will be a taxi nearby with a valise in it, with your merchandise.”
“You think I’m stupid?” José asks. “You’ve probably notified the police.”
“Not what you think. I have a good friend in the NYPD and, of course, I have spoken with him and asked for his personal advice. He is a detective in robbery and assaults and would do nothing that in any way might endanger Allison. And no, I don’t think you’re stupid and neither am I. If you’re worried about the police, what is stupid are your people committing a federal crime. That could bring in the FBI. That’s why we have to move very fast.”
“I must discuss any change in our planned meeting place. You will not hear from me again today. But I warn you, if we agree to your choice, and if there are any police involved, you will never see your Allison again,” he threatens, and abruptly hangs up. Alarmed, I redial the number, but it rings repeatedly to no avail.
I immediately call Len and he’s not there. I dial the beeper and he somewhat brings my anxiety level back down by calling back within ten minutes. I’m still a little in shock over the final threat from José regarding the consequences of having the police involved.
“Hey, Kevin, I’ve been expecting your call,” Len says.
“Yea, Len, just got off the phone with our friend José. We have a standoff regarding my suggested meeting place, and he’s not buying it for the moment. He’s postponing any meeting today and will call me again.” Of most importance, I repeat the threat on Allison’s life if José finds out that the police are involved in any way at our meeting, outside of my personal relationship with Len.
“Also, we’ve got to put a plan together based on my promises to provide the merchandise. We have to have it stashed nearby with no police involved, and I don’t have a clue on how to carry it off,” I babble somewhat incoherently, I imagine.
“That’s our job, Kevin. We will work out the details. You need to suck it up, plan to do a good acting job, continue to ask to talk to Allison, and check on her health and whereabouts, if at all possible. Know that when you do agree on a meeting place, we will be there watching you. It’s just as well that he postponed the meeting, for a couple of reasons. One, he is considering your proposal, or getting approval for it, and that’s a plus. Two, we wouldn’t have enough time today to deliver on your promises. I’ll get back to you.”
Margie comes to tell me that there are two FBI agents waiting to see me and I stroll out to the reception area. “I’m Kevin Logan, gentlemen. Good to meet you,” I say as I usher them into the office and close the door. The shorter one is Ned Dwyer and the other is Nick Apoulas, who looks like a body builder. Both are young with cropped hair and are all business.
“As you know, we have been sent to interview you on the kidnapping of Allison Marsh,” Ned began. “It was not previously, but kidnapping has been classified as a federal crime since the 1932 abduction of Charles Lindbergh’s baby,” he went on. “Thirty-six to forty-eight hours is the critical time period we have determined as maximum in order to have the best chance in finding the victim.”
“Everything and anything leading up to and during the kidnapping, from the evidence and subsequent contact by the perpetrators, is crucial to the investigation, and we need as much information as possible,” Nick added.
I carefully offered the details of my problem that preceded the kidnapping, and while not being very helpful about the actual crime, I told them investigators concluded that there was a struggle and that the evidence, such as her personal belongings, including her purse, wallet, keys, and ID still at the apartment, suggested that her absence was involuntary. I then referred them to Len and his crime scene report and the follow-up with the residents of the apartment building. I ended with my latest contact with what we suspected was one of the Mexican cartels, but we had no hard confirmation to that effect. But most of all, I emphasized that the kidnappers, through their spokesman José, had repeatedly threatened to injure or kill Allison if I did not accede to their demands. I finished by telling them that I had agreed to have a meeting at some point, and that their final threat was that they would kill Allison if I had involved the police. I did not tell them about my location plans for the
expected meeting. I just couldn’t.
I was embarrassed that I did not know the address of Allison’s apartment, just the telephone number, and knew little else about her except that she was an employee of Rainbow Airlines, which was a partner of Harrison Hotels. I did find out, through pillow talk, that she was twenty-eight, had worked as a flight attendant for Rainbow for four years, and was originally from Indiana. I also had no information about her parents or siblings. They left right after telling me that they would get the rest of the information from Len.
I had the feeling as they prepared to leave that they were not completely satisfied with my information, not that they considered any of it inaccurate, just incomplete. That feeling came from the fact that they consistently asked me if that was all the information I had and was I sure there was nothing I left out. My vision of the FBI swooping down on me and José at our meeting place and putting Allison at immediate risk of injury or death prevented me from offering any further information. I would leave it up to Len’s discretion on how much to tell them.
The rest of the day is a blur. Nothing I am doing in my work appears to be significant or real compared to what Allison is going through, and what she will continue to bear for the rest of the day and night. God, I hope Tommy was right when he repeatedly pointed out last night and today that she is a valuable bargaining chip to be handled with the greatest of care.
As I go through the motions of closing my office for the evening, Margie rings me to tell me Detective Graham is on the phone.
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