The fat lard surprised her then, reaching his right hand around behind him.
Damn! Her mind screamed, as she looked down the barrel of a 357 being pointed straight at her chest.
She hadn’t expected that, at all. It changed the dynamics, but she wasn’t about to let the fear tapping at her insides, get the best of her. She still had the element of surprise on her side … well, two elements, actually. She too had a gun, and she could whip their asses.
He smiled slowly at her cockiness and rubbed his jawline, heavy with a few days’ growth.
“You’re gonna be my … my tool of persuasion, missy.”
“And, why would I want to do that?”
He waved the revolver like a flag and remarked smartly.
“Because this fucking gun speaks for me.”
“Sy! Damn it, man. You never said –“
The man, now known as Sy, reached out and slapped the boy forcibly across the face, knocking him backwards.
“Shut the fuck up! You do, as I say, hear?”
The alarm planted on the young man’s face created a flash of sympathy inside her towards him. There was a chance, she realized, that she might convince him to help her, and work his plight in her favor.
She didn’t let Sy’s lashing out rile her. She crossed her arms at her chest and waited to see, if he would answer her. Her calm patience won over and he acquiesced.
“You’re a real smart one, aren’t ya?”
Jessica sighed and clapped her palms tenderly together, as if in prayer.
“I think it’s only fair for me to know, why you’re doing this and what purpose it would serve. Wouldn’t you, Sy, if you were in my shoes?” She pushed.
Her tender usage of his name made his head snap slightly.
Jessica tried to remember what her self-defense instructor taught her about situations just like this.
She knew this could turn deadly and her survival would be based on the decisions she made from this point forward. She had to keep her wits about her and clam down. She knew she was going to be abducted and what she was about to hear, clarified it.
“I know that high and mighty Senator you work for, is real sweet on you. I saw the way he looked at you … touched you. It got my mind to thinking. If I had you in my custody, well … that fucking death penalty bill of his, wouldn’t go nowhere. He’d be forced to put it aside, and forget about it.”
So, that was it. He was going to use her as leverage. She was safe for now. There was room for negotiation, room for her to work on him, maybe talk him out of this, and time … time to possibly figure out how to escape, once she learned where he would be taking her.
“Is someone you love … someone you care about serving time on death row? Look,” she pressed further, “if you feel they’re not guilty, I swear, I can help you win a stay of execution and – “
“My fucking brother deserves to rot in hell!”
She was confused and her expression surely mirrored that.
“Then, why? I … I don’t understand.”
Spittle ran from the corner of his mouth and down his chin, as his eyes grew large with the rage that welled from deep inside of him. His reaction caused her to take another step back, and the young man beside him, did the same.
“Because my fucking name will be ruined. Because the name Corbat is the reason he’s pushing the fucking bill. That’s why! I already got fired because of it. I ain’t gonna allow him to use my brother as his ticket to the Governor’s Mansion. That’s fucking why, bitch!”
She knew there wasn’t going to be any rationalizing with this madman. He had blinders on and viewed passage of Bryan’s bill, as a reason why his personal life turned to shit. Yes, his family name was marred already, because of what his brother did. He had a target placed on him forever. She could understand his reasoning. His brother’s disregard for human life started it all. This was his way of trying to stop the rippling effect of ruin from growing any larger.
“Sy …”
“Shut up! Nothin’ you say, is gonna change my mind. If you don’t wanna die, you’ll keep your fucking mouth shut. I don’t wanna hear no more.”
She raised her palms in supplication.
“Okay. I understand and I’m sorry that you’re going through this.” She lowered her palms and placed her right hand over her heart, in hopes of getting him to calm down, and believe her. “Your boss was wrong to judge you so harshly. It wasn’t fair. It was so unjust. I’ll help all I can.”
He stared her down, and she noticed his breathing calming. All she could do now, was try and win maybe his trust. Try and get him to believe, that she was on his side. She tried to remember to talk to him in soft tones, use his first name often, and get him talking on subjects that didn’t make him angry. He directed his gaze towards the boy and pointed to the sack, barking out commands.
“Tape her mouth, tie her writs behind her back, and cuff her ankles. We’re the fuck outta here.”
Jessica decided not to struggle and simply stood still. She smiled tenderly, when the boy stepped forward and mouthed ‘sorry.’
She would not give up hope, she thought silently. Time was still on her side, and she knew that being a lot more cunning and smarter, was also as well.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Bryan stormed from his office, with a look that told his staff, he was a man on a mission and enraged.
Claire was in the middle of conversing with Missy, and Zachary, as his office door flew open, taking them all by surprise.
“Did you hear from her? Has Jessica called in at all?”
Heads shook fervently in response, and he did not wait for them to verbalize their thoughts either. He stormed to the back office, finding Connor’s door open.
“She’s not here! Something’s wrong. I just know it.” He pulled out his cell phone and showed Connor her last text message.
Connor read it quickly and popped up out of his chair. “That was thirty minutes ago. She should be back by now.”
Bryan turned and found the rest of his staff there, standing in wait of instructions, fear clearly mirrored upon their faces. He raised his hand for pause, as he depressed the green phone icon next to Ayden’s name.
“Hey –“ Ayden said, before being cut off.
Bryan’s voice was curt and fearful. “She’s missing. Tell me you found something.”
“I’m waiting on a fax as we speak. I managed to get the tapes. After running through the first ten minutes of the first three days of the trial, he appears in every one of them.”
“God damn it,” Bryan snapped.
“Bry, look. I’ll find out his name in the next few minutes. All felon cases tried at the courthouse now, mandates that all court visitors sign in and show a photo idea, which is scanned into the system. I’ve got them pulling day one from the archives and faxing them a.s.a.p. We’ll have a name to match the face right away. Be patient, Bry. I’m 90% percent certain he needs her. She’s safe for now.”
“It’s the other 10% that worries me.” Bryan replied and disconnected the line.
He looked at his office manager and gave an order. “Claire, I have a photo on my desk I need you to show to the guide, who headed the Capitol tour, Jessica was on today that started at noon. See, if she recognizes the man in the photo. Also, get a list from here of the names of the people, who participated in that tour.”
Claire moved swiftly into Bryan’s office, found a picture on his desk and returned.
“Is this the one, Senator?”
He nodded and she was out of the office doing his bidding quickly.
“Whoever did this, Senator, probably wasn’t stupid enough to sign up for that tour.”
Connor interrupted.
“I know, but it’s good to check everything off. More than likely he followed her from a distance, and caught her unawares up on the sixth floor. If only …”
He shook his head in dismay. ‘If onlys’, didn’t matter right now. Her curiosity wasn’t at fault her
e. The madman, who chose to abduct her was, and he had to get on his trail, while it was still hot.
He looked at the faces of his staff, still milling around him, waiting for some direction. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, as though the weight of the world was just placed upon his shoulders.
Connor came up beside him, clasping his shoulder firmly to let him know they would all work through this together.
Bryan directed his staff calmly.
“I have reason to believe that the man, who attempted to accost Jessica a few weeks ago, did so this afternoon, shortly after her tour of the Capitol came to an end.” The look of horror on their faces and gasps of dismay, made tears prickle behind his eyes. “We have some strong, solid leads, as to who this guy is. I’m waiting to hear from my former partner at Albany PD in the next few minutes, as to our next move.
I know you’re all as concerned and worried as I am. We’ll get through this together. If I hear anything positive, I promise you all will be the first to know.”
He nodded toward his office for Connor to follow him, and then closed the door behind them, when he entered. Right then his cell phone rang, and he recognized Ayden’s number. He depressed the button for speaker, so Connor could hear as well.
“Speak to me, bro.”
“Good news, Bry. That guy in the photo, is Sylas Corbat.”
“Corbat! Is he related to that wacko, who gunned down Michaelson’s son?”
“The one and the same. He was in that courtroom every day, Bry.”
“So, I was right. It is a vendetta and has something to do with his brother being sentenced and my bill.”
Missy pushed opened his office door so hard, it slammed against the wall. The doorknob left a depression in the wall. Bryan and Connor jumped from the unexpected interruption. The look of horror marring her delicate features told him contact had been made. Her voice shook with fear as she blurted out. “Senator, a man … a man is on the phone. He says he has Jessica and wants to talk to you.”
Bryan closed the distance between them and placed his palm tenderly against his receptionist’s cheek.
“It’s okay, Missy. Put the call through.” She nodded nervously and quickly darted back to her desk.
“Keep our call open, Bry, and hit the record button on your cell.” Ayden’s voice instructed.
“K,” Bryan replied and did as Ayden suggested, just as his office line rang.
His cheeks puffed as he blew out a deep breath, looked at Connor, and picked up the receiver on the second ring.
“Tell me what you want.” He ordered.
“Barking orders already, Senator? I’m the one in control right now.” Sylas sardonically replied.
“You don’t need to harm her, Corbat. Why don’t you just let her go, before you get yourself in any deeper. I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“Smart man, I see. I want the bill killed. Whatever you need to do, to make it go away. She stays with me, until I hear on the news it’s done.”
“Corbat, this bill has been argued by those before me for years. Even, if I did what you asked, which I can and will, should I leave office right after that … whoever takes my place, will, could, might pick up the cause and bring it back to life again. This is senseless. Please.”
“Yah, well, my fucking name is dirt! I got fired. The news is calling this the Corbat Death Penalty Bill. Would you want that noose around your neck the rest of your fucking life? Kill the fucking bill, find a way to keep it dead, or I kill your bitch. Plain and simple.”
The dial tone buzzed in his ear and Bryan hung up.
“There’s no getting through to him, Bryan.” Connor exclaimed. “He’s fixated on one thing … the bill not becoming law ever.”
“The only way that’ll happen is, if the Supreme Court deems it unconstitutional. You know, and I know, that’s not going to happen. There’s been strong arguments in our favor it no longer violates the 8th Amendment prohibiting against cruel and unusual punishment. No one is using hanging, beheading, or electrocution any more. With lethal injections, those bastards fall to a peaceful death. Far from what they deserve.”
“Can’t you get one of those black cloaks to make a bogus announcement it’s been found unconstitutional in New York?” Ayden piped in.
“Good ploy, Ayden, but not in this lifetime.”
“So, we find him our way. We’ve done it countless times. You can still tell him you’ll need to reach out to each of the Justice’s to consider your request, and it will take a little while. In the meantime, you’ll hold the bill up in your committee.”
“It’s the only choice we have right now.” Bryan agreed.
“I’ll pin down where this guy lives. Who his friends are? Where he worked, and we’ll go from there?”
“Thanks, Ayden.”
“You welcome, bro. And, Bry … the Captain put me on this case. You know he hates the Feds and Troopers gaining glory in his precinct. I’m on this 24/7.”
Bryan chuckled lightly. It was comforting to know that one of the best detectives on the force, minus himself, of course, was on the case. If anyone could help him find Jessica, Ayden Tyler could. He was hopeful.
“Talk to you soon,” he ended.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Her abductor was smarter, than she had given him credit for. She had hoped they would keep her hidden up on the sixth floor, so Bryan could find her eventually. That was not the case. As soon as they gagged her and tied her arms and cuffed her legs, they pulled a flat hand truck on wheels from around the corner with a long, black sack on top of it.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew they would put her in the sack and roll her out of here in the light of day. She’d go kicking and screaming, if she had too. That decision, however, was taken away from her.
Sy pulled two grey jumpsuits from the bag that had the word U-Haul embroidered on the back of them. The two men stepped into the jumpsuits and zipped them up. Sy pulled a small vial from the breast pocket of his, poured the liquid contents onto a cloth, and approached her with a devilish look upon his face.
“Time for you to go nighty night, princess.” He laughed heartily.
Before she could react, the cloth was pressed to her nose and darkness overcame her.
---
Jessica awoke, bleary-eyed and with a rhythmic, heavy pounding against her temples, that made her moan aloud. She felt dizzy and groggy, and knew she could fall back asleep, if she wanted to. She remembered she was in danger, and forced her mind to focus on the here and now.
She remembered being abducted, tied up and gagged. She couldn’t feel her fingers, as her bindings were tight enough to cut off her circulation. It took her a few moments to maneuver them, so she could sit up, and push herself against a solid rock wall with her feet. The surface felt cold against her back, and with her fingers, she could feel in some places it was as smooth as glass, and in others, jagged.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that engulfed her. She could hear the constant drip, drip, dripping of water falling into a puddle. The sound echoed and it wasn’t hard to figure out that she was inside some kind of cave.
Despite the fact it was nearly November, the temperature inside was amazingly comfortable. If she had to guess, it might have been around fifty degrees, maybe more. Her wool slacks helped to keep her comfortable, as did her matching suit coat and the lightly-knitted scooped-neck sweater she wore underneath. When she felt, a steady cool breeze blowing in from somewhere to her right, it ruffled her long hair and made her skin prickle.
“Where in god’s name did he bring me?” She wondered.
A strip of tape had been plastered over her mouth to keep her from calling out. She could feel her bag was still strapped across her chest and the familiarity of it gave her some sense of comfort.
She knew she wasn’t alone. The quick chips of noise she heard overhead along with the flapping of wings, told her the cave was occupied by a colony of bats. It didn’t much bother her,
because she knew they were known not to attack humans.
She wondered how long she had been out cold. All she could remember, was how sweet the liquid smelled, when the man named Sy Corbat, pressed the cloth against her nose and mouth. Almost immediately, her legs and arms went numb, her vision blurred, and her hearing faded. Then, puff, that was it. She didn’t remember anything else.
She tested the bounds around her wrists, again. There was no give at all and she moaned from the pain the movement created. There was no way she would be able to work the knot free, unless that is, if she kept rubbing the rope up against the jagged rocks behind her
Maybe, I can strip it away enough to snap it.
Jessica wasn’t going to just sit there. She knew that. As much as she believed that Bryan, would find her, she couldn’t sit idle and wait. She had to make good her escape, before Corbat decided she was no longer of any use to him. First though, she would wait a while. She knew that her captors most assuredly, would come and check on her.
Jessica prayed that it would be the young man, instead of Corbat. She knew she could talk and sway him to her side. It was plainly obvious, the young man wanted nothing to do with kidnapping her. Corbat was a bully, and the poor kid was fearful of him. She was too. She couldn’t let her fear consume and disable her and stop her from getting the hell out of here. She also couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She would lose it, if she had to stay in here too long in the darkness. God only knows, what kind of animals and insects made their home in here. Suddenly, she felt itchy and screamed inside her head.
“Stop it!”
She couldn’t let her mind, play such stupid tricks on her. No, she didn’t want to be in here. Yes, she wanted to be back at her office. But, as luck had it, she was someone’s prisoner. She had to stay strong and figure out a way to get the hell out of here. She had to make this work to her advantage.
She didn’t have to wait long. She heard someone entering, before she saw a soft glow of light emitting from either a lantern or flashlight. She could tell from the person’s silhouette it was the tall, thin boy.
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