Hostage!: A Hugh Ranier Novella (Hugh Ranier Short Series Book 2)

by Robert E. Crull

  After the drive back to Kennesaw I spent the rest of the evening trying to decide if I wanted to furnish the house in my style or I wanted it to truly feel like a resort when I went there.

  I decided to hire someone to work with. And, another search of the interconnected web nets began.

  +++

  There was a time when all I could think about was being independent; able to do what I wanted when I wanted. I’d reached it. I’m not sure exactly when, but it felt like it had been forever I’d lived a pretty easy life. I bought a fortress because I could. I wanted it to be someplace everyone could gather at and forget about the day to day troubles of living. In a fashion, I wanted it to be a resort when all the decorating was done.

  I figured I’d hire landscapers, and a housekeeper, plus have a few folks on hand for the weekends we’d all be up there. I could care for myself, but when the house was full I didn’t want any feelings my guests were required to pitch in with the upkeep or straightening. They deserved, at least to me, to be able to relax; set the world away and enjoy. I’d done pretty well for myself, not in the rock star realm, but well enough for me.

  And, then I remembered I was trying to find a decorator to help me make the place like I wanted it to be. I must have been searching the Web for the better part of an hour and had drifted off focus; it happened regularly. Designer after designer and I had reached a point I couldn’t tell one from another. I’d had enough I decided. The search would have to wait. I’d searched until my eyes hurt. Then it struck me. I’d enlist the help of Victoria. It seemed as though she’d be able to find the right firm to handle it.

  I picked up the phone to call her then noticed it was past eleven. If I knew the Coyne’s one of two things were happening. They were either in the middle of bumping ugly’s or, they were fast asleep. I shut the computer off and set an internal reminder to call her the next day. I’d probably forget, but I had plenty of time.

  Tuesday

  I woke up with a bit of sadness. Dallas had decided she needed to be in the city for the rest of the week and the bed seemed a little empty. I had grown accustomed to her being there. Hell, I was more than accustomed, I was down right damn comfortable with her being there. I lay there in the darkness thinking about life in general. Don had brought to my attention a bit ago that it didn’t seem like I was personally satisfied. At the time he’d been right. On that morning I had more than a full cup of satisfaction.

  We’d collectively made the decision to begin our exit from full time work, and we would still be young enough to enjoy life before we ran into the need for walkers and diapers. We’d approached Laura about becoming a partner and it looked like there was a good chance she was going to say yes, which meant we’d go into training mode for the next couple years. We’d not expected it to be a quick process, nor had we designed it that way. What we wanted was for Laura to be comfortable with the in’s and out’s of running the business and how to plan for the more complex government events which came up.

  My eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room and the illumination from the alarm clock. I propped myself up in bed and reached for the cell. I thought I’d call Dallas to say good morning.

  “Hello,” came a groggy response.

  “You’re not up yet. Shit, I’m sorry.”

  “Oh Hugh, good morning. Don’t hang up.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, the alarm just went off and I was still in the space between being awake and the snooze alarm squawking. How are you?”

  “I’m good. I was thinking, I’m a little sad this morning since you’re not here to snuggle up with,” I said.

  “Aww… aren’t you sweet!”

  “I’ve gotten comfortable with you being here in the mornings and, I think it’s a shame you’re not here now.”

  “I wish I were, cause I’m in the mood for a little more than snuggling this morning.”

  “You had to tell me that didn’t ya?”

  “Just letting you know what you’re missing!”

  “I had already determined it on my own. We’ve got to figure something out so it’s not as often we wind up waking up alone.”

  “Sure. Let’s talk about it tonight when I get there,” she said.

  “You’re coming back out tonight?”

  “I decided it right now. I want to cook you a nice dinner, share a bottle or two of wine, and sit in front of the fireplace.”

  “That does sound nice. But I thought you had a bunch of meetings this week you needed to be in the city for.”

  “With the team moving out to the next County, I’m doing a lot of video conferences with design firms, so I can work from almost anywhere. Plus yesterday I had the conversation with the owners of the team since a lot of what was getting done for back office activities could be done remotely. So except for owner meetings and major press events, I can work from anywhere.”

  “That’s awesome for you. What time do you think you’ll be out this afternoon?”

  “I was thinking of maybe leaving here at three to miss the traffic. Will you still be at the office?”

  “I should be yeah,” I said.

  “I’ll meet you there then at about four or so. Sound ok with you?”

  “I look forward to seeing you then. Have a good morning,” I said ending the call.

  I got out of the bed and went to take care of the ritual. The shower was hot, the razor sharp, and the toothpaste strong. Drying off I thought about what it would mean for Dallas to be more available. Did I want more time with her, or had I simply been horny? Something I was going to have to think about and think about soon.

  I need coffee, I thought.

  Actually, that was an almost constant thought. I pulled the cup from the cabinet, placed it under the brewer, inserted the coffee pod and, hit the brew button. I looked around and had to admit the house did look a lot better since I had someone coming in twice a week. I’d gone all out when I decided to hire someone. They were taking care of the cleaning, household shopping, and the few plants that had been brought back from the edge of extinction with some care. It was nice not to have to worry about the entirety of keeping up with that house. On the days she was there, she would cook a roast or chicken. Something I could eat on for a couple days without having to cook for myself.

  Coffee in hand I headed to the garage and got in the Cherokee for the ride to work. I pulled out of the driveway, deep in thought about what Dallas had said and almost ran straight into a school bus. Thankfully, I had enough power to get out of my own way. The rest of the drive to the office went much better as I kept myself focused on the task of driving.

  I pulled into the parking lot to see the ’66 Impala in its normal parking spot. Don and I had given Laura a bonus a while back which afforded her the opportunity to finish the rest of the restoration and damage from a wreck taken care of. It looked good.

  “Good Morning Laura,” I said as I walked into the office to see her at the coffee station.

  “Morning Hugh.”

  “How are you this morning?”

  “I’m doing good. I did take the afternoon off yesterday like you suggested and did some thinking.”

  “Good for you! I’m not trying to rush you, but have you made any decisions yet?”

  “Yes,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to accept the offer.”

  “Thats great Laura,” I said reaching for a disposable cup from the stack. “So, first activity you need to do as a partner is set an appointment with the business attorney.”

  “Sure, when do you want it to happen?”

  “That’s up to you partner, you’ve got all the schedules. You know what, forget it. Have him come to us. And yes there will be a fee associated with it. Whatever he asks for is fine.”

  “Your pretty free wheeling with the funds there aren’t you Hugh,” she said with a chuckle.

  “It’s not going to be like this all the time is it?”

  “Just raggin’ on you? The way I look at it, you
guys have been doing a pretty fine job of managing the financial aspect of the business so I hope I can be as good as you two are at it.”

  “Does Don know what you’ve decided?”

  “Yeah, we talked about it earlier this morning.”

  “Good,” I said while pulling the coffee from the brewer and heading across reception to my office.

  The phone rang and since we were all partners now I supposed we’d need to answer regardless.

  “Acme Planning and Delivery,” I said.

  “Hugh, this is Rob Barner, not sure if you remember me.”

  “Sure Rob, what’s it been ten years?”

  “About that I think. Hugh I’ve got a problem.”

  “What can we help you with?”

  “Trinda, has been kidnapped,” he said.

  “I’m sorry Rob, remind me who Trinda is.” I barely remembered Rob let alone who was who in his life, and since it had been ten years I wasn’t sure things hadn’t changed.

  “Right. Trinda is my wife. We’ve been married for close to three years now. You’d probably know her by her on air name, Cathy Brandt.”

  “The news reporter for one of the national stations?”

  “Yup that’s her. She’s been kidnapped Hugh.”

  “How would you jump to that conclusion Rob?”

  “I was awakened this morning with a knife to my throat. Some tall guy with a British accent standing at the foot of my bed. He said to call you.”

  “American Jihadists right?” I asked.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “They contacted us several weeks back to take care of some business for them. We declined.”

  “Why did you decline?”

  “It was a request for business we don’t want to be in. I’m afraid I can’t discuss any more specifics.”

  “This is my wife Hugh. Her safety depends on you doing something and, from what you tell me you’re not willing to help.”

  “I didn’t say we wouldn’t help. I’m saying we chose not to do business with them then.”

  “So you’ll help?” he asked.

  “Let me discuss it with my partners and I’ll get back to you. Whats your number?”

  “Four oh four seven nine two five five five five.”

  “Give me an hour.”

  “Thanks Hugh,” he said ending the call.

  I left my office, stopped by Don’s and asked him to join me at Laura’s desk.

  “Ok, here’s the story. Laura since you’re now a partner, you’re going to get full disclosure on a former potential client.”

  “Am I going to be shocked?”

  “I don’t know. So here it goes! Don, do you remember Koothrapoli?”

  “Yeah I do. What’s this about? We decided we didn’t want to do business with them.”

  “Laura. Koothrapoli represents a group here in the U.S. called the American Jihadists. They wanted us to take out a radical member of their own organization, and we chose not to take the job.”

  “Why wouldn’t you have taken the case? Sounds like a great opportunity to clear out potential future problems,” she said with no hint of emotion whatsoever.

  “That’s one way to look at it yeah, but we thought it would put us in the middle of a terrorist war right here at home, and we didn’t think it was a good idea.”

  “So what does Koothrapoli have to do with what you’re talking about?” Don asked.

  “They kidnapped Cathy Brandt last night and have said they’ll kill her if we don’t do something for them. I’m only assuming it is the same request.”

  “Koothrapoli seemed pretty even when we met. I wonder what has happened to make him resort to kidnapping to get our attention,” Don asked.

  “Not sure. I got a call from Rob Barner a few minutes ago and got the basics and called us together.”

  “Now there is a life in danger, you guys are going to do what they want right?” Laura asked.

  “You mean ‘us guys’ don’t you?” Don asked.

  “Oh yeah, well, are we going to take it?”

  “I think we need a call with Koothrapoli and see what the hell has happened for him to stoop to this,” I said.

  “I’ll call him to see what’s up,” Don said.

  “I’ll call Barner back and let him know we’re taking his case, not necessarily the American Jihadist case,” I said.

  “Sounds reasonable,” Laura said.

  Don and I went to our offices.

  I sat behind my desk and instead of calling Barner back immediately, I started my computer and looked up Amir Koothrapoli. I was surprised by the results. The search engine showed me no less than a hundred thousand hits for Amir. I wasn’t going to learn anything more I thought. I’d already learned what I could about the American Jihadists and didn’t bother searching for it.

  I went to see Don.

  “Hey, any luck with Koothrapoli?”

  “Damn dude, you a little over anxious there, it’s only been ten minutes. How’d it go with Barner?”

  “Haven’t called him yet.”

  “And you’re asking me about what I’m gettin’ done while you’re in here interruptin’ my work!”

  “Sorry.”

  “Now go back over to your office and let me call him.”

  “Probably best, thanks.”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I know somethin’,” he said.

  I went back to my office feeling like I’d been chastised. Reality was when something like this comes up, my first reaction is to control everything which is happening. In the absence of leadership a vacuum is created that will fill itself, and I always assumed the lead role by default. Don, on the other hand, kept cool and most often talked me down off the ledge of panic.

  This was the first time one of our decisions had affected more than a guilty party, and now we had Laura involved. It seemed at the time like there were too many wrinkles with this.

  I picked up the phone and called Barner back.

  “Rob, Hugh. I wanted to let you know we’ve already started on the case.”

  “That’s great Hugh. I appreciate it.”

  “Could you come to the office sometime today to start a case package for us. We’re going to want to know as many specifics as you can tell us. We’re going to need to talk to the station Trinda works for to see what she’d been reporting on in the last couple months, there may be a tie into one of her stories which made her the target.”

  “Do you want me to call them?”

  “Not yet, we need to take this as far up the chain as we can before we start talking details,” I said.

  “I didn’t think of that. Talking to the top of the food chain will get the fact she’s missing hushed for a little while.”

  “Exactly. Listen, please do not use any wireless devices or electronic methods to communicate about this. These are some sophisticated people.”

  “Alright Hugh.”

  “Let me transfer you to Laura to collect some basic information,” I said placing him on hold.

  “Laura, please start a case file for Rob Barner. He’s on line two.”

  “On it,” she said.

  An hour or so must have passed and Don walked into my office.

  “You ready for the Koothrapoli story?” he asked.

  “Bring in Laura.”

  “Right, this is gonna take some time to get used to.”

  With Laura in tow, he came back into the office.

  “Now are you ready?” he asked.

  “Lets have it!”

  “So our good friend Amir says things have taken a turn for the worse in which the extremists of his group have been talking about fracturing from the core group.”

  “We’ve heard this before,” I said.

  “Is this the tall bald man from a couple weeks ago with a British accent?” Laura asked.

  “One and the same,” I said.

  “So anyway, it seems this splinter group has somehow found a large cache of weapons including som
e nasty airborne agents, and though the methods may have changed they’ve stuck to their plan of unleashing this stuff at Hartsfield.”

  “So what is it Koothrapoli wants us to do?” Laura asked.

  “He wants there to be an accident with the airborne at their meeting place,” Don said.

  “So he wants to unleash a caustic gas that could injure or maim thousands of people to get rid of a few guys?” I asked.

  “Sounds like it.”

  “What is it here lately there has to be so much collateral damage?” I asked. “What is he going to do with the reporter?”

  “Says she can go as soon as the splinter has been dealt with,” Don said.

  “Are there any assurances she will not be tortured or worse while he has her captive?” Laura asked.

  “Excellent question!” I said.

  “Not that it means anything but Amir vows no harm will come to the hostage,” Don said

  “I don’t get all warm and fuzzy about his assurances,” I said.

  “Me either,” Laura blurted out. “We’ve got to do something to help the woman out. She has to come out of there.”

  Since this was the first time we’d had Laura in the details of the planning process, it was our indoctrination into another side of her. She definitely was passionate about getting Trinda out of there.

  “Laura, I appreciate your passion but, we have to take all factors into consideration. One of the ways we do so is by making the people objects. She’s not a her, she’s a hostage. The terrorists aren’t people they’re targets.”

  “That’s so fucking cold Hugh,” she said.

  “Yes it is,” Don spoke up. “Let’s put all the cards on the table as we know them for right now and we’ll let you decide what to do.”

  “I’m not deciding,” she said.

  “You’ve got to make these decisions in the future, might as well start now,” I said.

  “We know we have a splinter group with a cache of undetermined weapons and know they have airborne agents which could be as simple as phosgene gas to a worst case of radiated dust. Regardless, their intended purpose is to do severe damage to a lot of people.”

  “Yes, that does seem like the story,” she said.

  “We also have a hostage,” Don said.