Rafael sprinted the ten yards or less to where the knot of policemen stood. Officer Bradshaw extricated himself from the knot to step to Rafael’s side.
“Mr. Rivera, we have just received a disturbing message on Mr. Cantu’s phone,” he said.
He turned the cell phone around so that Rafael could read the text message. When he did so, his knees buckled and he gave forth such an anguished moan that everyone turned to look at him.
Tell your landlord that if he ever wants to see his wife alive and whole again that he will forget everything he’s seen tonight and tell the cops that he made a mistake. Tell him to bring $500,000 in non-sequential bills to MacArthur Park tomorrow at twelve o’clock noon sharp. Go to the children’s playground and look for a boy on a bicycle wearing a red sweater and give him the case with the money in it. The boy will give him an envelope, and then he will walk away. Obviously he will come alone. Once I have the money, he will find his wife alive at the location written down inside the envelope. Probably.
“Mr. Rivera,” Officer Bradshaw said, grasping Rafael’s arm to steady him. “Rafael, we will help you with this. We are here for you. We will do our best to see to it that your wife is returned to you safely.”
“Find out who this text is from,” Rafael said pleadingly. “Surely Antonio knows who sent it. If he doesn’t, you can trace it, can’t you?”
“We’ll find out where the text originated,” Bradshaw said. “Would you like for one of my men here to escort you home? It might be safer for you, you know.”
Rafael couldn’t even think straight. His mind was going in all directions imagining all sorts of horrible things that could be happening to Victoria even now. His stomach began churning, too, and he thought he might throw up. All he could think about doing was tearing around Los Angeles looking for Victoria. He wanted to kill whoever had taken her.
“Can’t we go look for her right now?” he said roughly. “I need to find her now. Now!”
“Calm down, Rafael,” Bradshaw said, laying a hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “Our best bet of getting your wife back to you safely is to follow the kidnapper’s instructions. However, you won’t be alone. We’ll salt the park with undercover officers long before you’re supposed to go there, so they will look natural. You won’t even know who they are, and neither will the kidnappers. We will start doing our homework tonight to find out just who this man is and where he hangs out. Just leave it all to us. We will do everything humanly possible to see to it that your wife is returned to you safely.”
“I hate to see you lose this bust,” Rafael managed to say. “I hate to see those young girls just dumped back into the horrible life they’re destined for. But I’ve got to get Victoria back.”
“You just leave everything to us,” Officer Bradshaw repeated. “We haven’t lost this bust yet. Now you go home and try to rest. You need to be alert tomorrow. Take a sleeping aid if you need to, so you can sleep tonight. Do you want to have a police escort home? It might be safer for you if you do.”
“Yes, please,” he finally managed to say. “I shouldn’t have left her out here alone. I should have brought her in with me. How could I have let this happen?”
Rafael was rambling and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it.
“It does you no good to blame yourself now,” Bradshaw told him. “You need to focus on how you’ll raise the two million and have it ready by noon tomorrow.”
“That’s no problem,” Rafael said absentmindedly. “Except that I’ll have to go to a couple banks to get that much. That will take a little time. Right now I’m going to ask Antonio who sent this message.”
“No, let us handle him,” Bradshaw said, laying a restraining hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “We’ll handle this.”
“Hey, Joe, ask Cantu who sent him the text,” Bradshaw called over to another officer.
In a couple of minutes the one called Joe came over to Officer Bradshaw and told him what Antonio had said.
“He says it’s from the head dude of the smuggling ring in this area. He says if we’ll cut him a really sweet deal, he’ll help get Victoria Rivera back. Says he met her a while back and liked her. Doesn’t want to see anything bad happen to her.”
“OK, tell him we’ll talk,” Bradshaw told Joe, whose nametag identified him as Joseph Frost.
“Go home now,” Bradshaw instructed Rafael. “Try to sleep tonight. You’ll need to be in top form tomorrow.”
“All right,” Rafael conceded. “You want to call me, or should I just be at the station at eight in the morning?”
“Might as well just come on down. Then maybe we can help you get the money from the banks. If the bank manager knows it’s an emergency, they may give you more than they would otherwise. Drive a different car if you can.”
“Okay, see you in the morning,” Rafael said.
He turned and went to his car. The passenger’s side window had been shattered, he supposed when Victoria refused to open it to a stranger. He started the car and then waited for his escort to signal him to go. As it turned out, he had a police car in front of him and one behind him. They both had his address and directions of how to get there.
He followed the patrol car as it turned and twisted and zigged and zagged for several miles, in an effort to lose anyone who might be trying to follow them. They took a circuitous route, doubling back several times, and even taking a couple of dead end streets, turning around at the ends of them to make absolutely certain that no one was following them.
It took an hour to reach Rafael’s home because of the efforts put forth to lose a tail, if there was one. They needn’t have bothered, because the kidnappers had Victoria holed up, and knew that all they had to do was bide their time until Rafael delivered up the money the next day. However, neither the police nor Rafael knew that at the time, and they were taking all the precautions necessary to keep him safe.
Rafael dreaded facing Lena and having to tell her what had happened to Victoria. He knew that she would freak out, and he couldn’t blame her. He was feeling very freaked out himself. But he didn’t see that he had any choice. Unless she was asleep when he got home. But that would only stall things until morning.
When he arrived at home, he thanked the officers for seeing him safely home. One of them even went into the house with him, to make certain that the house was safe. When they passed through the kitchen, Rafael found a note from Lena stuck to the fridge with a magnet.
Victoria and Rafael, My dad fell, and I have gone to be with him and my mom in the hospital. I will probably spend the night with them. I hope this is all right with you. Love, Mama.
Rafael was instantly both sorry for Lena’s folks, and relieved that she wasn’t here to have to learn about Victoria. Maybe he’d have her home before Lena even knew anything had happened.
He bade the officer good night, secured the house, set the alarm, and went upstairs to the master suite. He rooted around in the medicine chest looking for sleeping pills. He finally found some over-the-counter ones and took a couple. Then he showered and got into bed.
It was awful being there in bed without Victoria. His mind conjured up all sorts of horrible scenarios about what could be happening to Victoria. Would they rape her? Would they kill her? Would they torture her? He finally turned on the TV, hoping it would distract his mind until the sleeping pills kicked in. It didn’t really work, but the sleeping pills did kick in fairly quickly, as he wasn’t accustomed to taking them.
Rafael did sleep soundly all night, much to his relief when he awakened the next morning and realized he had actually slept. He rose and readied himself for the day. He didn’t feel like eating, yet he knew he needed something to keep his strength up for the day. He couldn’t find anything in the kitchen that appealed to him, so he took off and went to a diner for breakfast.
As soon as he’d eaten, he drove to the police station where he was to meet with Officer Bradshaw. Bradshaw should have been off duty that morning, but since this was a high priority ca
se, and he had started it the evening prior, he insisted that he be allowed to see it through that day. He had gone home and gotten some sleep, following his own advice to Rafael, but returned to the station before eight o’clock Tuesday morning, when he shouldn’t have reported for duty until two-thirty.
Dressed in street clothes, Bradshaw accompanied Rafael around to two banks, withdrawing enough money to make up the five hundred thousand that the kidnapper was demanding. It was difficult to get that much money in non-sequential bills, but what they ended up doing, was taking apart the bundles, and mixing the bills all up.
This process took the better part of two hours, so it was about ten-thirty by the time Rafael was all set to deliver the money to MacArthur Park at noon. He was so nervous his hands were shaking. Now to have to wait for an hour and a half was going to be torture to him. He stopped at a convenience store and bought an extra large pop, just to have something to sip on while he waited.
At Officer Bradshaw’s suggestion, Rafael drove over to the park, parked his car, and just sat in the car waiting for the time to come. Several times Rafael checked his watch to make sure it was running, checking it against his cell phone and the radio, because it seemed as though his watch had all but stopped.
Rafael scanned the park continuously, looking for the undercover police offices, looking for any suspicious activity, and looking for a boy in a red sweater on a bike. He didn’t see anything or anyone who looked out of place. Kids were playing, joggers were jogging, skateboarders were skateboarding, homeless people were ambling about, stopping now and then to root around in a garbage can, lovers were walking hand in hand, many were talking on cell phones, or texting, or merely strolling through the park.
Finally, it was three minutes before twelve o’clock high noon. Rafael got out of his car, reached back inside for the briefcase that he’d put the money into. He walked over to the children’s playground, but he didn’t know exactly where to stand, as the playground was pretty good-sized. He finally just stood by the sidewalk near the swings, waiting.
At precisely twelve o’clock, a boy of about thirteen rode up on a bicycle. He had on a red pullover sweater. He stopped in front of Rafael.
“Is that briefcase for me?” he asked.
“Do you have an envelope for me?” Rafael countered.
“Yep, here it is. Let’s make an even trade,” he said, reaching out both hands toward Rafael.
Rafael did the same thing, holding onto the briefcase handle until he had the envelope tightly between his fingers. The kid did the same thing. They released their holds at the same time. The kid slid the briefcase handle over one bike handlebar, and then wobbled off down the sidewalk. Rafael tried to follow him to see where he went, but with the other people in the park, and the kid being on a bike, he soon lost sight of him.
Tearing open the envelope, he quickly scanned the note inside. It read:
If you have held up your end of the bargain, you will find your wife in front of the Thornton Building at exactly three o’clock this afternoon. You can bring the whole police force with you, plus all the reporters you can find, because the only person of interest there will be your wife. If anything goes wrong between now and then, or if I learn that you have not held up your end of the bargain, you’ll find your wife in the back alley behind the Thornton Building, but you won’t like what you find. So you’d better pray that nothing goes wrong between now and 3:00.
Rafael went back to his car, and for the first time since he had discovered Victoria was missing, he put his head on the steering wheel and cried. He had three hours to wait, wonder, and worry. He needed to find Officer Bradshaw and show him this note, but he didn’t know how to now, as all the officers on duty in and around the park were incognito. He wouldn’t approach one now even if he could identify one, which he couldn’t. He didn’t dare jeopardize Victoria’s safe release.
Suddenly his phone rang. He looked at caller ID, but didn’t recognize the number. He was terrified that it was the kidnapper, but he answered it anyway. He heaved a sigh of relief when he discovered that it was Officer Bradshaw.
“What does the note inside the envelope say?” Bradshaw asked.
Rafael read it to him.
“Okay, that’s not too bad, considering the alternatives,” he said. “We tailed the boy on the bike to a waiting car, and then we currently have a tail on the car. We won’t make a move until we see your wife is safe with you, and then we’ll make our move.”
“Okay,” Rafael said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to sit out these next three hours and wait.”
“It’s tough, I know,” Bradshaw said sympathetically. “But I’ve seen cases where the kidnapper wouldn’t release the prisoner until the next day. So you’re lucky it’s only three hours.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Rafael said. “Guess I’ll just drive around for a while and try to kill time until three.”
“Go get some lunch,” Bradshaw suggested. “Even if you don’t feel like eating, it will give you something to do to kill time, and make your movements look natural. We’ve got to get off this phone now. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Okay. Thanks for all you’re doing,” Rafael said.
“Don’t thank me until your wife is safe with you,” he said.
Chapter Six
The next two hours and fifty minutes were torture for Rafael. He did drive to a fast food joint, go inside, and order a hamburger, French fries, and a milkshake. He nibbled at the meal slowly, wishing time would speed up. But after he was finished eating, he still had two hours to go. He drove around for about half an hour, and then just decided to go to the Thornton Building, park there, and wait.
The last hour and a half dragged by even more slowly than had the morning hours, if that were possible. At five minutes before three, he got out of the car and walked around to the front of the building. He scanned the street both ways, looking, looking, for any sign of Victoria walking or in a car being delivered there.
Then, at the stroke of three, he turned to look once again in the opposite direction from that he’d been looking in for the past thirty seconds or so, and there she was, right in front of him, although he hardly recognized her. But when he did, he was so relieved that he couldn’t even move for a split second. Then he grabbed her and hugged her so fiercely that passersby turned to stare at them.
When he could let go, Rafael pushed Victoria back a little so he could look at her. What he saw shocked and horrified him. Her beautiful hair had been hacked off close to her head. She had bruises on her face and a cut and swollen lip. She had two black eyes, and one was swollen nearly shut.
“Take me home, please,” she said, wincing with each word.
It was obvious that talking was painful to her.
“Of course.”
Rafael took Victoria’s arm and guided her toward the car. Once he had her safely inside, and he was in and seated, too, he turned to look at her, needing to reassure himself that she was really there beside him.
“What has happened to you?” he asked softly. “What did those animals do to you?”
Rage boiled within him that someone out there could do this to anyone, much less his beloved Victoria. He was afraid to ask the next question, but he forced it out anyway. “Did someone rape you?”
Victoria held his gaze for a long moment. Rafael covered her hands with one of his, and caressed her bruised cheek tenderly with the other. He watched as tears welled up in her beautiful but sad eyes and spill out, trickling over discolored skin.
“It’s all right, babe,” he crooned. “You don’t have to talk yet if you don’t want to. I’m here for you. I love you. I am just so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I’ve been punishing myself ever since I found you missing for leaving you out in the car all alone. Can you ever forgive me?”
Rafael’s voice had changed from comforting to pleading.
“Not your fault,” Victoria said haltingly. “Not your fault.”
“I’
m taking you to the hospital to be checked out,” Rafael told her. “You might have broken bones or something.”
He started the car and put it in gear to head for the hospital. He dared to violate the cell phone law, and called Officer Bradshaw to let him know that he had Victoria, that she had been beaten and possibly raped, and he was headed for the hospital. Officer Bradshaw asked him which hospital. When Rafael told him, Bradshaw said he’d meet him there.
Victoria didn’t protest when Rafael told her he was taking her to the hospital. She slowly told him what some of what had happened to her since he had left her in the car the evening before. It was not pretty. The story came out haltingly and painfully.
“Two men came up to the car,” she told him. “I wouldn’t roll down the window for them, so they smashed it in. They dragged me out of the car. I fought as much as I could, but it wasn’t enough. They slammed me up against the car and asked me where you were. I wouldn’t tell them, so one of them hit me.
“They told me they knew that you were in the building and that the cops were with you. That was obvious from all the cop cars parked there. They said you would be sorry you ever stuck your nose where it didn’t belong. Then they made me get into their car and took me to a house. One of the men they called Gus tied a large handkerchief around my eyes so I couldn’t see where we were going.
“A man called Butch drove. I don’t know how long or how far he drove, but when we finally stopped, we were close to a train track. I heard trains going by all night long. They took me into a house and then took off the blindfold. Off and on all night they took turns asking me stuff and hitting me when I wouldn’t answer or gave an answer they didn’t like.
“One of them cut a chunk of hair every time I gave a bad answer. They took turns raping me, too,” she said.
The last sentence was but a whisper. She hung her head, not able to look at Rafael. He was stopped for a red light when she gave that bit of information, so he was looking at her while she talked. The light turned green just then, so all he could do was hold her hand with one of his.
The Perfect Revenge: The Couplete Series Page 47