A Christmas to Die For_Mrs. A 1

by Kristine Frost

  She shook her head. “She is being hidden from an abusive husband who doesn’t believe in surgery—something like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but no religion will be mentioned. Her guards will have to stay inside, but the door will be locked and no one will be admitted without authorization. That’s the best I could do.”

  “It sounds like you did a pretty good job.”

  Dr. Gordon came back in the room. “We can move her now. Mrs. Arbuthnot explained the changes?”

  “Yes. Once we get her situated, I’ll get some more men, plain clothes this time, to make sure she’s safe.”

  “More men?” Dr. Gordon asked.

  “Yes. There will be two. One actually inside the room behind the curtain and one inside the door on a chair. I’m also stationing one next to this room. I’ll have one downstairs in the foyer by the visitor’s desk and one in the parking lot.”

  “Then you’re expecting those men to try again?” The doctor said.

  “No, I don’t think they will try again. I’m going to put an article in the paper that states the Mary has told the police everything she can remember. I’m hoping that will stop the attacks.

  “I hope it does,” Dr. Gordon said, “Because I can’t have this hospital turned into a battle zone.

  Chapter 17

  El Paso

  After Mary had been moved. Lepley escorted Mrs. A down to the lobby of the hospital. As they walked through the big double doors to the parking lot, they found themselves besieged by newspaper reporters and camera men. Microphones were thrust in their faces. Lepley held up his hand. “Back off, guys. We’ll give you a statement.”

  A microphone was thrust at Mrs. Arbuthnot and a reporter shouted. “Who were the girls that were kidnapped in the Cavern’s parking lot?”

  Mrs. Arbuthnot said with quiet dignity. “I’m not answering a bunch of shouted questions. You should know me better than that. I will tell you what happened when you can treat me with respect.”

  The reporters looked at each other, then took a step back. The microphones were held in front of her, but they weren’t shoved in her face.

  “Thank you,” She said with a smile. “My granddaughter and her two friends were attacked in the parking lot at Carlsbad Caverns. One girl escaped. We are not giving out her name pending notification of her family.”

  Lepley added, “We have just come from interviewing her. We are satisfied that she has told us everything that happened from the time the girls entered the Caverns until the time she woke up in the hospital.”

  Mrs. Arbuthnot said, “We don’t know why the girls were kidnapped. No ransom demand has been received so we’re at a loss to understand the motive.”

  Lepley nodded. “There was an attack on the girl just a short time ago in the hospital. Her attackers escaped. When the attacker tried to strangle her, she hit her head. At this time, she has totally lost her memory and the doctors aren’t hopeful.” He shrugged his shoulders and added, “Without my key witnesses’ memory, we don’t have much to go on.”

  As they walked toward Inspector Lepley’s car, Tom Cramer, a newspaper reporter for the El Paso Tribune, left the group of reporters that were either talking on cell phones or talking on camera and walked over to Mrs. A.

  “Ruth, I’m sorry to bother you, but this came in this afternoon. I happened to see it just before I heard about the attempted murder. Everyone thought it was a prank.” He handed her a note which had been stapled to the envelope the note came in.

  With shaking hands, she took the note and slowly read it. Duncan moved closer to her and read over her shoulder. After she had read it a second time, she handed the note to Inspector Lepley. It read:

  Mrs. A:

  If you don’t want your granddaughter and her friend to end up like the body in the cave, you’ll leave five hundred thousand dollars in unmarked bills inside the employee’s kiosk at the carousel at the El Paso Zoo. The deadline is midnight, December 20th. Get rid of the cops or you’ll be getting a hand in the mail.

  Lepley quietly examined the letter. The paper was cheap and rough. A thick lead pencil had been used to write the message.

  Duncan said, “That paper won’t show any prints. It looks like they used a heavy drafting pencil.”

  Lepley looked at Cramer. “When was this found?”

  Cramer said, “The receptionist said it was on her desk when she came back from a bathroom break. The guard on duty says he didn’t see anyone who looked out of the ordinary hanging around the desk. There are a lot of people in and out of our building. If we were the only business in that building, it would be different, but hundreds of people work there.”

  Lepley turned over the envelope. Mrs. A was written on the front.

  Cramer said, “The receptionist is new. She was hired last week so she didn’t know who Mrs. A is. I guess no one else saw it.”

  Inspector Duncan took her arm and helped her sit in the back seat. “Ruth, are you okay?”

  She took several deep breaths. “We knew it was coming. I guess we hoped it was coming, but it was a shock. I’ve had too many shocks lately.” She looked from Duncan to Lepley. “What do we do now?”

  Lepley looked at Cramer. “I don’t need to tell you that this is not for publication, do I?”

  “No, sir. I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt Mrs. A. I owe her too much, but I would appreciate an exclusive once Antonia and Allison are safe.”

  Ruth said, “Of course. Thank you for saying ‘when’ instead of ‘if’.” She looked at him, trying to send a message with her eyes.

  He nodded briefly, then said, “I’d better get my story filed.” He looked at Lepley. “Don’t lay it on so thick next time. We’re not all stupid.”

  “I’ll try to do better in the future,” Lepley said. “I’m not very good with off-the-cuff stuff. I was hoping that if the killers knew Mary had told us everything, then they would lay off her and she’d be safe.”

  “I’ll emphasize that in my article.” Cramer said as he turned toward his car. “But I wouldn’t hold my breath. In my experience, bad guys either don’t read the paper or don’t believe it if they do read it.”

  Lepley looked at Mrs. Arbuthnot. “Are you going to pay the ransom?”

  “Yes, I can get $500,000 by the twentieth.”

  “We’ll set up watchers around the drop zone.”

  “I doubt if there will be anyone around at that time. Your men will stand out and that could get my granddaughter killed.”

  “We could bug the money,” Duncan said, “But they would expect that.”

  “I don’t think I want you to do anything. I’d rather lose the money than risk my granddaughter’s life.” She sighed. “You don’t need to tell me the risks. The odds are against my granddaughter and her friend being returned. I know that. I’m not stupid.”

  Lepley said, “I’ll take you home. It’s been a rough day.”

  Even though she was fighting to stop them, the tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Chapter 18

  El Paso

  When Ruth walked in the door, Martin said, “What’s wrong?”

  “We got a ransom note. It was left at the Trib’s reception desk. The receptionist was away from her desk when it happened so they don’t know who left it.”

  “We’d better call Max.” Martin shook his head. “I don’t understand it. We’d about decided that they were taken for revenge.”

  Ruth picked up her private land line and hit speed dial.

  “Max.” The deep familiar voice said.

  “Max, it’s Ruth Arbuthnot. We just got the ransom note. It was left at the reception desk of the Tribune.”

  “That’s interesting and unusual,” Max said softly. “Very interesting and very unusual.”

  Martin said, “I don’t understand it. We’d about decided that they were taken for revenge.”

  “Yes, that’s what I thought too, even though you couldn’t think of anyone who would want revenge.”

  “How much to they wan
t and when do they want it.”

  “500,000 by December 20th.”

  “That’s even more unusual. The amount isn’t very large especially for someone in your position and they’ve given you way too much time until the ransom drop.”

  “I’ve never been in this position so I didn’t think much about it.” Ruth said.

  “What do the police say?”

  “Inspector Lepley of the FBI was with me when it was delivered. He suggested bugging the bag. I don’t want that because if the kidnappers find out, then their lives will be forfeited.”

  “Ruth,” Max said gently, “there is a good chance that that has already happened. Four days is too long to wait to get you the demand and the way they got it to you—it doesn’t sound good.”

  Ruth sagged against the back of the sofa, her arm brushing the shepherd in the Nativity on the table. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

  “Why would they send the note then,” Martin asked. “Surely they’d realize that we’d want to hear from the girls.”

  “I don’t think they gave you that option.” His voice held more than a hint of doubt. “It still seems like revenge. Have you been working on this case yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s been going forward with the audits and security checks on all her companies. We’ve been trying to trace Bob Black’s whereabouts and what he was working on besides Mrs. A’s reports to see if he had other dangerous contacts.”

  Max was silent and Ruth could almost see him rubbing the stubble on his chin. “I don’t want to raise you hopes, but I think you’ve put a crimp in their plans and that is why you got the ransom demand now.”

  “How so?” Martin asked

  “It’s simple really. Someone wanted something. We discussed this before, if you’ll remember. They were close to getting what they wanted, then you did that surprise audit, that probably concerned them, but you didn’t stop there. You hired extra security and audited every one of your companies. Did you find any more malfeasance?”

  “Some.” Ruth said, “But less than I was afraid of.

  “My guess is that all the malfeasance happened in companies that had government contracts.”

  “Are you a mind reader?” Ruth demanded.

  “No. Those contracts are the most lucrative. That kind of information goes to the highest bidder and general the payment is in the millions.”

  “I do have a couple of companies who bid out work to corporations and those contracts bring in a lot of money.”

  “It’s obvious that you don’t think like a criminal or worse like a terrorist. China, Russia, Isis, the Taliban all pay big, big money for US secrets. Your research on those government contracts could bring in a lot of money for someone.”

  Ruth looked at Martin, appalled. “I never thought of that. No wonder Paradise could maintain that kind of life style. Who do I tell about it?”

  Max said, “I imagine that the FBI has already alerted the NSA and CIA. You will probably get visits from their agents in the near future.”

  Getting back to the point, Martin said, “So you’re saying that whoever is behind the fraud at Weldon probably kidnapped Allison and Antonia to distract us, but since Mrs. A has gone ahead everything, they are now sending the ransom note?”

  “Right. I suspect that the drop will be a hoax and there will be another demand—bigger and more difficult for you to pull off.” Max said.

  “Does this mean the girls are in more danger or less?”

  “I just don’t know and I wouldn’t want to guess. I think the odds are not in their favor.”

  “Even if I pay the money?”

  “Ruth, most kidnappings don’t have happy endings. You know that. Pay the money, if that’s what you want to do, and let me have my men handle the drop. From what you said, the FBI knows about the demand, so it will be difficult to cut them out. Hopefully, they will leave it to me since they are known to the kidnappers.”

  “I’ll talk to Inspector Lepley, then get back to you.”

  When they finished talking to Max, Ruth pulled an afghan around her, staring at the big Christmas tree. “I’m not sure that I’m going to get Antonia and Allison back alive. However, I am going to keep trying. If I don’t get them back alive, I’ll make bloody sure that the person who did this gets what’s coming to them.”

  She looked at Ann. “Tomorrow, I’m going to talk to Mrs. Park. She was the woman who tried to save the girls. I have the funniest feeling that she is an important witness.” She paused then added, “Did you get very far on your file folders?”

  “No. I eliminated some suspects, but a lot of them are cases that Bob didn’t discuss with me. All I can do is put the paperwork in order and hope that I’ll be able to find something that will help find him.”

  Early the next morning Ruth was up and dressed. Her live-in cook was leaving to spend Christmas with her family. Ruth loved her cook, but Clarrie wouldn’t let her near the kitchen. As soon as Clarrie got in her taxi, Ruth pulled out pans and began making breakfast.

  As soon as they had eaten and cleared the table, Ann headed for the shower. A few minutes later she walked back in the living room. “I love the smells of Christmas. The pine and bacon are incredible together.

  Mrs. A looked up from a memo she was reading. “I’m going to see Mrs. Park. I have an appointment with her at nine, this morning.”

  Ann smiled, “Well, I have a strong feeling that you’re going to learn something important.” She reached in her purse. “Here is the number for the disposable phone I picked up last night. I’ll call you on the one I gave you and you call me on this one. We don’t want anyone listening in on our plans.”

  “Got it,” Mrs. A said as she grabbed her coat. “Don’t unlock the door. The detectives have their own keys, if they are coming back.”

  Ann smiled. “I won’t. You be careful, okay?”

  Ruth walked to a desk standing between two windows. She fumbled around a little and then pulled out some keys. “There are keys to the penthouse elevator and the penthouse. There’s always someone in the lobby.

  Ruth looked at her watch. “My taxi is picking me up at the service entrance and it’s a cabbie I’ve used for years and trust implicitly so hopefully I’ll be safe.”

  Chapter 19

  As soon as Mrs. A had shut the door, Ann went over and put the chain on then she hurried into her room. She finished her packing and then grabbed a yellow notepad and a bright red mechanical pencil from her suitcase. The small desk in the room looked out over the city. There was a large wreath in the window with a battery-operated candle positioned in the center. She reached up and turned on the candle, enjoying the flickering fake candle light against the dark, angry grey clouds—storm clouds. That’s odd. I didn’t think snowed in El Paso much If I were anywhere else, I’d think we were in for a blizzard. Maybe we’ll have snow for Christmas. Maybe that will improve Christmas. It seems a little bleak.

  She pushed the small Christmas tree toward the side of the desk. She had just begun to list each person involved in the case and their motive when she heard a metallic scratching noise. She put her pen down and listened for a minute. “Sounds like mice,” she said as she picked up her pen. She wrote for a few minutes, then stopped as the scratching continued.

  “That’s not mice.” Suddenly, she jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair. The scratching stopped. “Mrs. A wouldn’t have mice in her penthouse suite.” Suddenly, she hurried through the living room and into the kitchen.

  “Martin, Martin?” There was no answer. He must have gone on the errands Mrs. A had mentioned. She was totally alone. As she turned back toward the living room she noticed the back door. She quickly ran to it and put on the chain and then she shoved a wooden chair under the door knob. Bob says that chains don’t really keep out a determined burglar, but the chair should help a lot.

  She looked around. There were pretty copper-bottomed pans on a rack over the big island in the middle to the kitchen. The rac
k had been wrapped in glittery tinsel. Quickly, she grabbed a heavy saucepan. As she lifted it from the hook, she realized that it was heavier than it looked. “This could leave a lump on someone’s head,” she muttered in satisfaction as she balanced it in her hand.

  She raced back to the foyer and heard the lock click. Instantly, she stepped behind the door, the saucepan raised.

  The door slowly opened and the wreath hanging on it swung carelessly. A man cautiously looked around the door. Before he had time to focus on her, she brought the saucepan down on his head, and knowing she only had one chance, she hit him with all the strength she had. As he slumped to the floor, she pulled the door open. Another man made a grab for his partner, but Ann swung the pan again hitting his right hand. He let out a scream, dropped his gun, and ran down the hall to the shelter of one of the emergency stairways.

  Ann ducked back into the doorway. Being careful to keep her head out of sight, she pulled the unconscious man into the apartment, just as a bullet whizzed over her head. Either there was another gunman or the man she’d hit had more than one gun. Bending low, she grabbed the gun. No sense in giving him any more ammunition.

  Quickly she slammed the door shut and flipped the lock. When the lock turned in her hand, she realized that it was broken. She put the chain on, and then keeping an eye on the man lying on the floor, she grabbed the Sheraton chair that sat next to a table in the foyer and shoved it under the door knob.

  Holding the pan over her head, she stooped down and felt the man’s pulse. When he moaned, she hit him on the head again. For a moment, she considered pulling the lights off the Christmas tree in the living room and using it to tie him up, then frantically, she ran to her closet and grabbed a couple cloth belts off the back of the door. She raced back to the man lying on the floor. She shoved him onto his stomach. Pulling his hands behind him, she tied them together carefully making sure that he would not be able to get loose. Then using a different belt, she tied his feet. Then to make sure that he couldn’t get loose, she tied his hands and feet together with a leather belt from the jeans she had been wearing.