Nothing Is Negotiable

by Mark Bentsen

  “We need to get closer,” Luke said.

  Single file, they crept closer until they got to a waist-high stack of firewood wedged between two trees. They ducked down behind it and looked over the wood and could see the cabin more clearly. The front was visible as well as the right side. In addition to the two windows in front, there were two more windows on the side that were brightly lit. They could hear voices coming from an open kitchen window.

  “Get down,” Luke said in an urgent, hushed voice as he lowered himself to the ground.

  A pair of headlights burst out of the forest and lit up the cabin. The vehicle, which appeared to be a minivan, came up the gravel drive and stopped in front of the garage. Bonnie could hear a low whine coming from the garage and realized it was a garage door opener. The van pulled forward and disappeared inside. Seconds later, they heard a different, much more powerful engine rev up and saw a pickup back out and stop near the front door. The garage door started to close as the driver got out of the truck and hurried inside the cabin.

  “Who’s that?” Luke asked.

  “Too dark, I couldn’t see him,” Lauren whispered.

  From the open window they could hear voices but were too far away to make out what they were saying.

  “We need to get closer to hear what they are saying,” Luke said.

  “My hearing’s a lot better than yours and I’m quieter,” Bonnie said. “Stay here. I’ll creep up by that window.”

  She dropped to her hands and knees and crawled closer until she was behind the trunk of a tall pine tree ten yards from the cabin. Through an open kitchen window she could see a woman with short blonde hair. It was Rosemary, the nurse at the hospital. It looked like she was washing dishes.

  Bonnie could hear the low pitch of a man’s voice, but it wasn’t loud enough to understand him. A few seconds later Rosemary stepped away from the window and Bonnie ran up to the cabin and positioned herself to the side of the open window.

  From there she heard a different woman speak and it was loud and clear.

  “Have you found out anything about the trust Kim says her money is in? Is she telling the truth?” It sounded like Rita.

  “I can’t get any information,” a man said.

  “What happened to your buddy on the Kalispell police force? You said you could find out what was going on from him?” Bonnie recognized Sonny’s voice.

  “I called him, but he said when it became a kidnapping the FBI took over. And they won’t tell the local cops anything,” the unknown man said.

  “But, even if it is part of the Townsends’ will, you don’t think they’ll let the kid die, do you?” Sonny said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t pay. Remember, I worked with these types of people in the security business for thirteen ass-sucking years. In Calgary we didn’t have any clients who were billionaires, but the millionaires were just as bad. In the media they come across as real do-gooders, but the only thing they care about is their damn money. If she doesn’t come up with the ransom, I say we don’t back down. Let the kid die before we give in.”

  “You said you wouldn’t do that!” exclaimed Rosemary.

  “That’s not really what we said,” the new guy told her. “We said we would take care of her the best we could. But Kim knows if she doesn’t pay, Olivia won’t get her treatment. So, it will be Kim’s fault if she dies, not ours.”

  “You’re such an asshole.” The contempt in Rosemary’s voice was clear. “All you can talk about is how much you hate rich people, but you’re as bad as they are. You don’t have to take it out on Olivia. I was promised nothing would happen to her.”

  “I’m sure we won’t have to worry about that,” Rita interjected. “I’m sure she’ll pay. I think the FBI is making her hold out as long as possible. I bet we get a wire from the bank early tomorrow telling us she’s made the transfer.”

  “Okay. Let’s say she pays, then what?” asked Rosemary.

  “We drop off Olivia and catch our charter to the Caymans,” said Sonny.

  “But where do we drop her off? We can’t just leave her at a bus stop. I want to know how it all works and where we are going to leave Olivia.”

  “Why does it matter?” asked the new guy.

  “I know you don’t care if Olivia lives or dies. But, I do. No one’s told me anything. I’ve risked as much as everyone else and have a right to know.” Rosemary tearfully demanded.

  “We weren’t hiding anything from you,” Sonny assured her. “The only reason we didn’t tell you is because you had enough to worry about just getting her out of the hospital. Here’s how it works: as soon as the bank notifies us that the money’s been transferred, I’ll tell you to sedate Olivia. We know where there’s a church that we can get in and out of, without being noticed. We’ll leave her in a baby crib in the nursery. As soon as we leave we’ll contact Kim and let her know where she is. All she has to do is tell the FBI or the police and someone will be there to get her within ten minutes.”

  “Okay. That sounds good. I just wanted to know because I don’t want anything to happen to Olivia,” Rosemary said.

  “Good, so how’s she doing?” Sonny asked.

  “She’s okay. Right now, she asleep in the back bedroom, but it’s been very hard on her. She’s running a fever and she needs more rest. It’s not good for her to be on the move all the time.”

  “We know that Rosemary, but we didn’t have any choice,” said Sonny as if he had heard her say that a dozen times.

  “I need to get back,” the unknown man said. “I brought you a minivan like you wanted. It’s blue, complete with a car seat and diaper bag. I stole it from the parking lot at the mall.”

  Bonnie heard chairs scoot across the wood floor and she strained to hear what they were saying as they walked toward the front door.

  “Did you get an extra set of license plates like I told you?”

  “Yeah, I put them on the workbench in the garage. Have you figured out what we are going to do about Bonnie and Luke?” the man asked.

  “I’m working on it,” Sonny said.

  “When are you coming in?” the man asked.

  But, Bonnie was unable to hear anything else and a few seconds later the front door opened. She quietly slithered back to the woodpile where they waited for the man to leave. After the pickup drove off, Bonnie signaled for them to follow her and they all ran back to the forest, where Bonnie filled them in on what she heard.

  “We have to assume that they are leaving in the minivan soon. When they do we won’t be able to track them anymore since the tracking device is on the Jeep,” Lauren said. “Should we try to get back to the Suburban so we can follow them?”

  “We might not have time and we didn’t see any other vehicles on the mountain coming up here. I’m afraid it’ll be too hard to tail them. I think we have two choices. Either get Olivia now, or keep them from leaving. And we don’t have a lot of time, so we need to make a decision and do it now.”

  They came up with a simple and straightforward plan. The odds of pulling it off without a hitch weren’t good, but it was all they could do. They were out of time.

  “How long will it take you to go get the Suburban and come back?” Luke asked Lauren.

  “Fifteen minutes, twenty at the most,” she said.

  “Good. We’ll wait fifteen minutes before we start.”

  Chapter 51

  While Sonny packed in the bedroom, Rita gathered their gear in the living room. Rosemary was in the kitchen packing an ice chest when she saw something outside the window that scared her. She let out a blood-curdling scream and started backpedaling. Her feet got tangled and she fell back. When Sonny got to the kitchen she was scooting backwards across the floor.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Something’s out there,” she cried out, pointing a shaking finger at the window. “It was looking in the window.”

  Sonny followed her finger to the window but saw nothing but darkness.

 
; “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Something’s out there,” Rosemary repeated, still scooting away. “I swear.”

  “Like what?” he said, and saw the fright in her eyes.

  “Maybe a bear. Or a man. I don’t know. It’s too dark and it moved so fast,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

  Sonny had owned the cabin for several years and bears never came up to the cabin. Bears weren’t uncommon, but to be looking in the window it would have been huge, and standing on his back feet.

  “Okay, kill all the inside lights, then turn on the lights outside,” he commanded as he switched off the light in the kitchen and went toward the front door.

  Rita started turning off the lamps while Rosemary got up and ran down the hallway flipping switches. Seconds later, the entire cabin was dark. Sonny retrieved his pistol from the cabinet drawer and came back into the kitchen and waited for Rita to turn on the outside lights.

  When they came on Sonny peered out the window but saw nothing but trees and bushes. Everything looked normal and he could see nothing moving. He stepped out the front door, his pistol at his side. There the lights were brighter and again, everything was just like it was supposed to be. No bears and nothing out of the ordinary. When he turned to go back inside he heard a noise on the other side of the garage.

  Clang, clang, clang.

  The sound was that of trashcans banging against each other. The sound reminded him of something that happened before he bought bear-proof trashcans. Bears and raccoons were cleaver and could get into them if the iron bar wasn’t secure across the top of the can. He thought about the meal they had eaten earlier and tried to remember who had taken out the trash after they ate. But, it didn’t matter. Whoever it was, probably didn’t close the trashcans right. He looked back and saw Rita and Rosemary huddled together just inside the open front door, watching him.

  “It sounds like we might have a bear getting in the trashcan.” Sonny knew that most bears ran off when someone yelled and threw rocks at them. “I’m going to lock down the trashcans, but we need to get going as soon as we can, so start getting everything together.”

  “When you’re sure it’s safe, let me know and I’ll change the license plates on the car,” Rita said.

  “Good. How long will it take you to get Olivia ready?” he asked Rosemary.

  “Just a few minutes,” Rosemary said. “I need to gather her meds and clothes. After I wake her up, I’ll probably need to change her diaper, but I can be ready in five minutes.” She started down the hall toward the back bedroom.

  With Rita standing in the front door watching, Sonny went out a little further. He could see the garage, the motor home and Jeep under the bright floodlights, but no bear.

  Clang, clang, clang.

  Again he heard the trashcan lids, this time in the distance. Now he was positive it was a scavenging bear. He told Rita to wait while he looked on the other side of the garage.

  With the gun in one hand, he picked up a rock the size of a tennis ball and started for the other side of the garage, while keeping a safe distance in case something came out of the darkness. The trashcans were on the back side of the garage and though lights didn’t illuminate that area, there was enough moonlight to see they were overturned. The iron bar used to secure the tops was in the open position. Garbage was everywhere and several white plastic bags were scattered halfway to the woods.

  “Looks like it’s gone. I’ll open the garage and you can change the license plates,” he said to Rita.

  He punched some numbers on a keypad beside the garage door and the door started to open. Rita came up behind him and he pointed to a tool box on the workbench on the side of the garage.

  “There’s a screwdriver in the top drawer you can use to switch the license plates. After I clean up the trash and lock down the trashcans, I’ll come in.”

  As soon as he got to the other side of the garage he noticed one of the garbage cans was bent, like a bear had stomped on them, and one of the lids was missing. In the forest he heard what sounded like the other aluminum lids being dragged around. He knew the bear was gone for the night as he stuffed the pistol in the waistband of his pants and started picking up trash.

  ***

  Luke hid behind the storage shed and watched while Sonny picked up garbage. When he got close enough, Luke stepped out of the darkness and hit him with a heavy tree limb, dropping him like a sack of dog food.

  Luke grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him back into the storage shed. After he closed the door and latched it he looked back toward the forest. Bonnie, who had been banging the trashcan lid on some rocks, trotted up next to him and stopped.

  “Let’s go get Olivia,” Bonnie said.

  They ran around the cabin and slowly opened the front door. All of the lights were still off except one down the hallway. It was probably the bedroom where Olivia was sleeping. When they were halfway down the hall, Rosemary stepped out of the back bedroom carrying Olivia, a pink diaper bag slung over her shoulder.

  As soon as she saw them, she screamed and tried to run back to the bedroom, but Luke lunged and grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck. He pulled her to him and clamped down on her throat, cutting off her air. When Rosemary started to choke, her mouth opened wide and she gasped for air. At that point Bonnie pulled Olivia from her weakened grasp and ran back down the hall. All of the commotion woke Olivia and she started to scream.

  “Rita’s in the garage. Go out the back door,” Luke shouted.

  As Bonnie disappeared around the corner, Luke started to drag Rosemary down the hallway. He had never fought a woman before and couldn’t believe her strength. She kicked and twisted and clawed like a wild cat. When they were almost to the back bedroom, she reached between his legs and squeezed so hard he thought his eyeballs were going to pop out. In an automatic reaction, he threw her against the wall like she was a rabid rat.

  She started to run, but Luke grabbed her shoulders and again threw her against the sheetrock wall.

  “You bastard,” she screamed as she leaped at him.

  Her arms moved like a windmill; she had all claws out, tearing at his arms. Luke tried to hold her off but she was out of her mind with anger and when she started biting at anything close to her mouth, he doubled up his fist and hit her square in the nose. Her head rocked back like a bobble head doll, and she dropped to the floor, unconscious.

  By now he knew Lauren would be waiting by the garage, and within seconds, Bonnie would be there with Olivia. All he had to do now was go to the garage and take care of Rita the same way he did Rosemary. He’d tie her up with whatever he could find, disable the vehicles by firing bullets into the tires, and then they’d get the hell out of here.

  He started to run and when he was almost to the front door when he heard Olivia’s terrified cry.

  His head jerked around and his eyes searched the darkness inside the cabin. He couldn’t see anything until movement on the deck caught his eye. He stepped closer and the luminous figures became clear. Bonnie was on the deck holding the crying child.

  But they weren’t moving. Edging closer he saw why.

  Over her shoulder he saw Sonny’s face. And a pistol was pointed at Bonnie’s head.

  WTF? It couldn’t be. Sonny was locked in the storage shed.

  But this was no apparition. He had Bonnie, Olivia, and a gun.

  Luke raced to the back door while pulling out his own gun. As soon as he stepped on the deck, Sonny pulled Bonnie close to him like a human shield. In the bright moonlight, Luke could see blood streaming down the side of Sonny’s head where he’d hit him with the limb. Luke breathed hard and tried to steady the gun he aimed at Sonny’ head.

  Through a murderous grin, Sonny said, “Drop the gun or I’ll put a bullet through her head.” Luke hesitated and Sonny screamed. “Drop the gun!”

  Luke’s heart raced. He was a pretty good shot with a pistol, but he had never shot this gun before and his hand was shak
ing. And the way Sonny was holding Bonnie, only about four inches of his face was exposed. He could easily hit Bonnie.

  He had no choice. Slowly, he bent over and laid the gun on the deck.

  “Now put your hands on your head and back away.”

  Luke laced his fingers over his head and started backing up.

  “You’ve been nothing but trouble.” Sonny’s eyes were wild with rage.

  Luke caught movement in his peripheral vision and saw Rosemary stagger into the living room, then onto the deck. Her hand covered her nose and trails of blood ran down to her chin.

  “Rosie, get his gun, then come get this kid,” Sonny commanded Rosemary.

  She picked up Luke’s gun and like a Frisbee tossed it over the wooden railing into the dark abyss below.

  She turned to Luke and yelled, “You fucking asshole,” then drew back her arm and slugged Luke in the mouth with all her might.

  Luke’s head rocked back and he fought the urge to pounce on her, but Sonny had the gun. In seconds his mouth was full of blood. All he could do was watch as Rosemary pulled Olivia from Bonnie’s arms and ran off the deck.

  “This could have been so fucking easy if you would have just done what we told you. But you just couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

  Sonny redirected the gun from Bonnie, to Luke, extended his arm and tightened his finger on the trigger.

  Suddenly Bonnie grabbed Sonny’s arm and pulled it down hard. The gun fired into the deck beside Luke’s feet. Sonny pulled the gun back up, but again Bonnie jerked at his arm and this time the bullet went wide.

  Bonnie twisted to the side just as Luke plowed into Sonny, knocking both of them backwards. As the three of them fell, Luke grabbed the pistol and yanked. It came free and clattered across the deck in the opposite direction. They began to wrestle on the wooden decking, with Sonny on the bottom. Luke pushed away and scampered over and grabbed the gun.

  Luke could see the desperation in Sonny’s face as he got to his feet and eyed the pistol in Luke’s hand. Bonnie, breathing hard, got to her feet and just as she stood Sonny grabbed her and pulled her in front of him.