Nothing Is Negotiable

by Mark Bentsen

  She got to her knees and raised Rocky’s gun, holding it outstretched in both hands. The thought of shooting someone had never crossed her mind, but now it seemed as natural as slapping a pesky mosquito.

  “Drop it or I’ll shoot.”

  He held his hands up, as if surrendering. But then he blurted out, “You won’t shoot me.”

  “The hell I won’t,” she said through gritted teeth.

  Then in one slick move, he yanked Olivia from her stroller and held her in front of him, against his chest. Any shot she had at him was now blocked.

  She glared at him and noticed something—a scab on his chin about the size of a dime. She remembered him.

  “I know who you are. You’re a guard at the border crossing.”

  For an instant he was taken aback. He swallowed hard. “You don’t know shit.”

  She pointed the gun at his face. “I fell over some chairs and they thought Luke hit me. They yelled and you came in. Y’all scuffled and your chin got scraped.”

  His hand went to his chin and he eyed her with a smirk. He started to back up.

  “I’ll go to the police.”

  “You go to the police and your husband’s dead. I’ll promise you that.”

  He took a couple more steps backwards then disappeared around the corner, carrying Olivia.

  Bonnie got to her feet and started to follow, but heard Rocky moan. She looked at him and saw blood oozing from the wound. Crouching beside him she said, “Rocky. Can you hear me?”

  His eyes fluttered, and then opened. “Yeah.”

  “Hold on. I’ll go for help.”

  “No time,” he said weakly. “Help me to the service elevator.”

  She dropped the gun and helped him into a sitting position. Wrapping his bloody arm over her shoulder, she helped him to his feet and they limped around the corner to the elevator. She pressed the up button and pulled the radio from his belt. “Rocky’s been shot and needs help. Repeat: Rocky’s been shot. He’s coming to the first floor in the service elevator.”

  The elevator door opened and she helped him inside and he leaned against the wall. She pushed the first floor button and stepped out.

  Barely conscious, he raised his eyes to hers. “Where are you going?”

  “To save my husband. They forced me to do this and they’re holding my husband hostage.”

  “But you were taking Olivia.”

  “You must believe me. If I go to the police, they’ll kill my husband and Olivia.”

  As the elevator door closed Bonnie backed away, and looked down the hallway. The woman in the puddle of blood, appeared to be dead. Closer to her she saw Dr. Owens’s purse and Rocky’s pistol and a trail of blood leading to the elevator.

  She grabbed the purse and reached for the gun, but her hand stopped short. I’m in enough trouble already, she thought.

  Her only choice now was to run. She dashed out into the employee parking lot where Lauren’s Suburban waited with the back door open. As she dove inside, Lauren’s eyes widened at the sight of the blood on Bonnie’s blouse and arm.

  “What the—” Lauren asked.

  “Just get out of here,” she said, slamming the car door. “And don’t draw any attention. There’ll be cops everywhere within a minute.”

  As they headed toward the highway, Bonnie wiped her bloody hands on her blouse and thought about the gunman. She could identify him and he knew it.

  Luke still had a chance. But what about Olivia?

  Chapter 39

  Lauren pulled out of the parking lot and merged with the eastbound traffic. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Where do you want me to go?”

  “I don’t care, anywhere I can get this blood off of me,” Bonnie exclaimed. Half a mile down the road, three cop cars with sirens blaring passed them heading toward the hospital. Bonnie sunk lower onto the floor of the backseat. The right sleeve of her blouse was covered with dark, sticky blood. It repulsed her to think about what had happened.

  “We’ll go to the motel. I’ve got some extra clothes there,” Lauren said. “What happened back there?”

  “Everything went wrong. A security guard stopped me and knew I wasn’t Dr. Owens. He was going to take me in but they must have been watching because this guy with a gun came out of nowhere. He and the guard started shooting at each other. The guard got shot and so did some woman who stepped into the hallway. He tried to shoot me, too, but his gun jammed. Then he grabbed Olivia and hauled ass.”

  “Thank God you got away.”

  “I think I recognized him.”

  “Who is it?”

  “He was one of the agents at the border crossing south of Cardston.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive. When Luke and I came across the border Tuesday, they took us inside and questioned us. They gave us a bunch of crap and Luke got so pissed off they had to restrain him. In the process there was a scuffle, and one of the agents got his chin scraped. This guy has a scab on his chin in exactly the same place and he looks exactly the same size. It has to be the same person.”

  “Why don’t you call them and tell them you’ll go to the police unless they release Luke?” Lauren said.

  “Yeah, but they know I won’t do that. As long as they have Luke, they know I won’t go to the police.”

  “It’s all we have at this point. It will give us the advantage and some time.”

  Bonnie thought about it for a few seconds then said, “You’re right.”

  She pulled out the phone and pressed the speed-dial button. When no one answered, it went to voice mail. “Okay, I did what you told me and now you have Olivia. So now it’s time for you to let my husband go. If you don’t I’ll go to the police and tell them I know who you are. I remember you from the Chief Mountain border crossing. Your name is Coley. Call me or I’m going to the police.”

  A few minutes later they pulled into a motel parking lot.

  “Pull off your bloody blouse and put on that parka,” Lauren said motioning to a blue windbreaker on the backseat.

  Bonnie stripped down to her bra and used the clean part of the blouse to wipe away the blood on her arm. She pulled on the parka as Lauren pulled into a parking space. Bonnie followed her into the motel room, hiding the bloody blouse.

  ***

  Pete Coley sat on the back seat, holding Olivia like a sack of potatoes with his good arm. Ever since they left the hospital, she’d been crying at the top of her lungs.

  “This squalling is driving me crazy. How much farther?” Pete asked.

  “We’re here,” Sonny said as he turned into a parking lot. Immediately after Bonnie left for the hospital, they moved the Winnebago to the edge of town where they had found a small unoccupied warehouse that was unoccupied and for sale. Sonny drove around behind the metal building and parked next to the motor home. Beside it sat the black Jeep which Rita had driven back from the hospital.

  Just as Sonny parked the van Rita stepped out of the motor home. She took Olivia and Sonny helped Pete out of the van.

  There was a lot of blood on the seat where he had been sitting. That concerned Sonny because there were no provisions in the plan for injuries. Everyone had a part and everyone was needed. And Pete knew that.

  “How are you doing?” Sonny asked.

  “It’s not that bad,” Pete said, grimacing as he walked past Sonny, into the RV.

  Once inside, he sat at the table. Sonny looked toward the back bedroom and saw Rita put Olivia into the playpen. When she came back she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a baby bottle.

  “Give this to Olivia and I’ll take care of Pete,” she said handing it to Sonny.

  He took it as if she were handing him a dirty diaper. Sonny didn’t like children, especially when they were crying. But Rita was already turning to Pete.

  Olivia was sitting in the crib. Her screaming had turned to whimpering and now she clutched a small stuffed bear in one hand and sucked her
thumb on the other.

  This was the first time Sonny had gotten a good look at her. As soon as her blue eyes connected with him, he winced. The scowl on his face frightened her and her crying returned.

  He lowered the bottle in front of her face and wiggled it around.

  “Hey. Here’s your bottle,” Sonny said as if she was ignoring him intentionally.

  His harsh tone startled her and she squeezed her eyes closed and wailed even louder.

  “Goddamit, here,” he said and pushed the nipple into her lips. She turned away and buried her head in her blanket. “For crying out loud, you fucking baby.” Sonny dropped the bottle in her bed and stomped off.

  Rita gave him a disapproving look when he walked past her and scowled.

  “You do it,” he quipped. “I’ll help Pete.”

  Rita rolled her eyes, went back to the bedroom. A minute later the cries subsided and she returned. Sonny brought Rita the first aid kit. Inside were bandages, gauze, bottles of medicine, tweezers, and all kinds of other medical supplies. She pulled out a bottle of alcohol and poured some on a gauze bandage, then began to dab at the wound.

  “How bad is it?” Sonny asked.

  “Can’t tell yet,” she told him. She tossed the blood-soaked bandage into a waste basket and grabbed another. He watched until she doused a cotton swab with alcohol and stuck it into the bullet hole in Pete’s arm.

  Sonny closed his eyes and looked away and said, “I’m going to clean up the van.”

  He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a bottle of cleanser and roll of paper towels.

  “We’ve got to ditch the van,” Pete said. “I heard her tell the security guard we had a white van that said White Swan Paint Company on the side of it.”

  “Okay, then we’ll have to use the Jeep,” Sonny said.

  Rita glanced at Sonny. “I don’t like the idea of using that Jeep. Don’t you think the cops will be looking for it?”

  “No one other than Bonnie knows about it and she hasn’t talked to anyone,” Sonny said. Changing the subject, he said, “Have you talked to Rosemary yet?”

  “Just before you got here. She said the guard is still in the ER and unconscious, so at this point no one knows anything about the van either.”

  “What else did she say?”

  “She said the cops are questioning everyone. She told them she was scheduled to be off for three days and they said that was no problem. Her shift ended at three, so as soon as the police give her permission, she’ll go home.”

  “Did she say anything about Bonnie?”

  “Nothing, other than she got away.”

  Sonny noticed a red flashing light on Pete’s cell phone on the table. Rita followed his stare and said, “We have a voice mail. Bonnie probably called and left a message.”

  Sonny grabbed the phone. He listened for a few seconds and his eyes went wild.

  “Holy crap!” Sonny’s expression hardened and he shot Pete a sideways glance. “Bonnie said she recognizes you from the border crossing. You didn’t tell me she saw you there?”

  Pete took a deep breath “I told you that when they came across the border, Luke caused some kind of problem and Driver called me in there to help out. I was only in there a minute and I didn’t know she would remember me.”

  “We told you they were going to be crossing the border that morning. You should have stayed clear.”

  “Don’t give me that shit. It’s my job. How was I supposed to avoid it?” he said defensively. “How about you? You got into an argument with her in your store.”

  “That’s different. How in the hell was I supposed to know she was going to come into my store?”

  “Hey,” Rita screamed. “You guys settle down. There’s nothing we can do about it now.” She looked as Sonny. “What’d her message say?”

  “She said she recognized you because of that scab on your chin. She even knows your name is Coley. What the hell happened?”

  He looked from Sonny to Rita. “I was trying to restrain Luke when Sharp ran into me. That’s how I scraped my chin. Sharp called me by name several times and I had to take Luke out and put him in another room. I was in the room for less than a minute.”

  “This really screws things up,” Rita said.

  “You should have killed her at the hospital when you had the chance.” Sonny said.

  “I tried, but my gun jammed.”

  “What else did she say?” Rita asked.

  “She said she wants her husband released or she’s going to the police.”

  “Bullshit,” Pete blurted out. “She won’t go to the police. Not as long as we have Luke.”

  “You think that’ll stop her?” Rita protested.

  “Hell yes. So far she’s done everything we told her because she knows we’ll kill Luke if she doesn’t. She won’t go to the police.”

  Sonny folded his arms and leaned back against the kitchen sink.

  Rita turned to him and said, “We can’t chance it. Bonnie’s bound to be pretty freaked out right now. I don’t think she can take it much longer.”

  Sonny watched her toss the bloody cotton swab into the wastebasket. She pulled out a cotton ball and soaked it in alcohol. “When she goes to the police, and she will, the first thing she’ll tell them is Pete’s name. They’ll go to Cardston and everyone there knows you and Pete are good friends. They’ll come looking for you next. And that will lead straight to me. Everyone at the clinic knows I worked at the hospital in Kalispell before I went to Cardston. Over here, everyone knows Rosemary and I were roommates. And everyone at the hospital knows that Dr. Owens and Kim got me fired.”

  The room fell silent and Rita went back to Pete’s wound. Sonny rubbed the stubble on his chin and considered what Rita said. He exchanged glances with Pete. They knew she was right. They couldn’t leave Bonnie out there any longer.

  “She doesn’t trust us, so how are we going to get her to come out of hiding?” Rita asked as she wrapped bandages around Pete’s arm.

  “With the one thing she wants.” He looked from Rita to Pete. “Luke.”

  Chapter 40

  Pete called Bonnie’s red cell phone.

  “It’s about time.” Bonnie sounded pissed.

  “Okay, we’ll let Luke go. Where are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter where I am. Did you listen to my message?”

  “Yeah, we did. We’ll meet you at the Park Hill Cemetery? It’s just off Highway 2 east of town.”

  “Are you out of your fricking mind? I’m not meeting you anywhere like that,” Bonnie shouted. “You’ve already tried to kill me once. I’m not going to let you have another shot at me.”

  “Okay, then where?”

  “The mall.”

  “The mall? Now you’re out of your fricking mind. Your picture is all over the news. You want to risk being seen in public?”

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  “Okay, hold on,” Pete said as he pushed the mute button on the phone and looked at Sonny. “Just like you expected, she won’t go to the cemetery. She wants us to drop him at the mall.”

  Sonny considered it and nodded.

  Pete said, “Okay. Give me two hours.”

  “Call me when you get there and I’ll tell you where I want you to drop Luke.”

  “Okay,” Pete said. He pressed the end button on the phone and grimaced, gently holding his hand over the wound in his arm. “She’ll be there in two hours.”

  “We’ll need your help pulling this off. How’s his arm?” Sonny asked.

  Rita said, “It was a clean shot. Bullet went through. I’ll give him some painkillers and he should be okay.”

  “I’m fine,” Pete said. “A little sore but nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Okay,” Rita said, looking at Sonny. “Give me five minutes and I’ll turn on the computer.”

  “Okay.” Sonny held up the bottle of ammonia and said, “We’ll need to use the van to get to the mall. I’m going to take the magnetic signs of
f the side and clean up all the blood.”

  “Will it take all three of us?” Rita asked.

  “Definitely,” Sonny said.

  “Then Rosemary will need to take care of Olivia.”

  “How far is she from here?”

  “About ten minutes. She lives in Heritage Arms Apartments, remember? It’s where I lived when we started dating?”

  “Of course I do. When we leave we’ll take the Winnebago over there and she can watch Olivia.”

  Rita nodded and Sonny stepped outside. When he opened the side door of the van he saw a pool of blood on the seat where Pete had been sitting and unrolled a wad of paper towels. But the mention of Rita’s old apartment sent Sonny’s mind back to the day this whole thing got start.

  When Rita and Sonny started dating she lived in Kalispell, almost two hundred miles southwest of Cardston. Their relationship moved fast and he tried to convince her to move back to Cardston, but her job at St. Luke’s was too good to give up.

  She worked as a vocational nurse on the third floor and had plans of becoming a Registered Nurse. If she worked hard, she knew she could pull it off. In the fall Dr. Tammy Owens started bringing Olivia to the hospital for her treatments. To get to the dialysis unit they walked through the area where Rita worked, and before long, Rita and Tammy became friends. On several occasions she even met Olivia’s mother, Kim Townsend.

  Shortly after the first of the year, Dr. Owens told Rita she needed to hire an assistant, and she should consider applying for the job. The idea of working in Mrs. Townsend’s mansion and traveling on her private jet was the dream of a lifetime, she told Sonny. Rita felt she had a lock on the job since Dr. Owens had suggested she apply, and they were friends.

  But after a deeper background check, they found that Rita had not been truthful on her job application. She failed to mention she was arrested for cocaine possession in Canada ten years earlier. The case had been thrown out on a technicality, but it was enough for Kim. Rita didn’t get the job and Kim insisted she not be in contact with Tammy or Olivia. Soon after, she was fired from the hospital. With that, any hope of going to nursing school also vanished.