Ransom

by Danielle Steel

  “Are you telling me that there is no money? No investments, no nest egg somewhere, a few million in a Swiss bank account?” It seemed as impossible to him as it once had to her.

  “I'm telling you we can't buy shoes. I'm telling you I won't have money for groceries by November. After I settle this mess, I have to get a job. Right now, just orchestrating what we sell and how we do it, and how we juggle the debts and the taxes and the rest of it, is full-time work. What I'm telling you, Detective Lee, is that we have nothing. All we have left is this house, and if we're lucky, whatever we sell it for may cover the last of my husband's personal debts, if I'm fortunate enough to get a big price for it and whatever is in it. His attorneys are going to declare bankruptcy on the corporate side, which will get us off the hook. But even at that, it may take me years, and a lot of clever attorneys I can no longer afford, to dig us out. If Mr. Addison thinks he's going to get thirty million dollars out of me, or even thirty thousand, he's going to be very disappointed. Maybe someone should tell him,” she said, looking small and dignified as she sat on the couch.

  There was nothing pathetic, or even embarrassed about her. She was very real. And Rick Holmquist was impressed, as was Ted. Talk about a rags-to-riches story, and riches-to-rags just as quickly. She was a hell of a good sport about it, as far as they were concerned. Her husband had left her holding one hell of a bag, with nothing in it. And she didn't even say anything critical of him. As far as Ted was concerned, she was a saint. Particularly if what she was saying was true, and she hardly had enough to feed her kids. He and Shirley were in much better shape than she was, and they both had jobs and each other. But what upset him about what she had just told him was that her situation was even more dangerous than he had thought. The world perceived her as having hundreds of millions of dollars, which made her an automatic target, like a bull's-eye painted on a barn, when in fact she had nothing, which was going to make someone crazed and even more violent, if she got grabbed, or the kids did.

  “If someone kidnaps me or the children, they're not going to get ten cents,” she said simply. “There's nothing to pay. And no one who would. Allan and I had no family to speak of, except each other, and there's just no money anywhere. Believe me, I've looked. They could have my house, but that's about it. No cash.” She had no pretensions about it, and made no apology for it. And what Ted found himself loving about her as he listened to her, as much as her dignity, was her quiet grace. “I guess we haven't done ourselves a favor by keeping it out of the press. But I thought I owed Allan that, for as long as I could. The letter he left was so distraught and full of shame. I wanted to preserve the legend for him as long as I could. But eventually, it'll get out. Very soon, I think. There's just no way to keep it quiet. He lost everything. He risked it all on bad deals, made some terrible assumptions and calculations. I don't know what happened. Maybe he lost his mind, or his insight, or it all went to his head, or he thought he was invincible. But he wasn't. No one is. He made some terrible mistakes.” It was a polite understatement, considering the fact that he had left his wife and children penniless, and hundreds of millions in debt. He'd had quite a fall. And she and the kids were the ones paying for it. It took a few minutes for Ted to absorb it, and the implications for her, particularly now.

  “What about the children?” Ted asked, trying not to look as panicked as he felt. “Is there some kind of kidnap insurance policy on them, or you?” He knew they existed, and assumed they came out of Lloyd's of London. But he knew that people like Allan had them, in case they or some family member got kidnapped. There were even policies for extortion.

  “There's nothing. All our policies have lapsed. We don't even have health insurance right now, although my lawyer is trying to get some for us. And our insurance company told us that they're not going to pay up on Allan's life insurance. The letter he left is too damning, and makes it look like a suicide, which we assume it was. The police found the letter. And I don't think we ever had kidnapping insurance. I don't think my husband thought we were at risk.” God knows he should have, Ted thought, and Rick silently echoed his thoughts. With the kind of money he had made, and so publicly, they were at risk for everything. Even Fernanda and the kids. Maybe especially them. His family was his Achilles' heel, as they were for anyone in his position. Apparently, he didn't notice, which made Ted feel suddenly angry, although he didn't show it. But he didn't like any of what he'd been hearing, for a number of reasons, and neither did Rick Holmquist.

  “Mrs. Barnes,” Ted said quietly, “I think this puts you at even greater risk. As far as these men or anyone else knows, you look like you have a lot of money. Anyone would assume that. And in fact, you don't. I think the faster we can get that word out there, the better off you'll be. Although people may not believe it. Most people won't, I think. But right now, you've got the worst of all possible worlds. You look like a major target, and you've got nothing to back it up. And I think the danger here is very real. These men are up to something. I don't know what. I don't even know how many of them might be in it, but I think they're cooking up something. These are three very bad guys, and who knows who else they've been talking to. I don't want to panic you, but I think you and your children are in grave danger.” Fernanda sat very quietly for a long moment, looking at him, and trying to be brave, and for the first time, her facade of calm strength began to crack, and her eyes filled with tears.

  “What am I going to do?” she whispered, as the music continued to blare from upstairs, and both men looked at her uncomfortably, not sure what to do for her. She was in a major mess. Thanks to her husband. “What can I do to protect my kids?”

  Ted took a long breath. He knew he was speaking out of turn, he hadn't talked to his captain yet, but he felt desperately sorry for her, and he trusted his instincts. “That's our job. I haven't talked to my captain yet. Rick and I came straight here from the FBI office. But I'd like to put a couple of my men here for a week or two, till we check this out further, and see what they do. Maybe this is all fantasy on my part. But I think it's worth keeping an eye on you. I'll see how the captain feels about it, but I think we can commit a couple of men to this detail. I have a feeling someone may be watching you.” Rick nodded. He agreed. “What about you?” Ted turned to him, and Rick looked uncomfortable. “Addison is your guy.” The FBI was investigating him, which gave Rick the authority he needed, and he and Ted both knew that. “Can you give us an agent for a week or two, to watch the house and the kids?” Rick hesitated and then nodded. In his case, the decision was his. He could spare one man. Maybe two.

  “I can't justify it for more than a week or two. Let's see what happens.” She was a major entity after all. And her husband had been an important man. More important, Addison was a big fish for them, if they could catch him up to no good, and tie him to some kind of conspiracy. Stranger things had happened in both their lives as detectives. And Ted was convinced he was right. So was Rick.

  “I want to make sure no one is following you or the kids.” She nodded. Suddenly her life was turning into a worse nightmare than the one she'd been living since Allan's death. Allan was gone. Terrible people were after her. The children were in danger of being kidnapped. She had never felt so totally lost and vulnerable in her life, even when Allan died. She had a sense of impending doom suddenly, as though there was nothing she could humanly do to protect her family, and she was terrified that one or all of her children would get hurt, or worse. She tried valiantly to control herself, but in spite of her best efforts, tears rolled down her cheeks, and Ted looked sympathetic.

  “What about Will going to camp?” she asked through her tears. “Is that all right?”

  “Does anyone know where he's going?” Ted asked quietly.

  “Just his friends, and one of his teachers.”

  “Has there been anything about it in the papers?” She shook her head. There was no reason to write about them anymore. She had hardly left her house in five months. And Allan's fascinating care
er was over. They weren't even old news now, they were no news, and she was relieved. She had never enjoyed that, and would have even less now. Jack Waterman had already warned her that there would be a lot of bad press, and curiosity about them, when the news of Allan's financial disaster finally came out, and she was bracing herself for it. He thought it would hit them in the fall. And now this. “I think he can go,” Ted said in answer to her question about Will going to camp. “You'll have to warn him and the camp to be careful. If anyone asks for him, or strangers show up, people claiming to be relatives or friends, they have to say he's not there, and call us right away. You need to talk to Will before he leaves.” She nodded, pulled a tissue out of her pocket, and blew her nose. She always had tissues on her now, because she was always finding something in a drawer or a cupboard that reminded her of Allan. Like his golf shoes. Or a notebook. Or a hat. Or a letter he had written years before. The house seemed to be full of reasons to cry. “What about your daughter going to Tahoe? Who's she going with?”

  “A friend from school and her family. I know the parents. They're nice people.”

  “Good. Then let her go. We'll have local law enforcement in the area assign surveillance to them. They can keep it to one man in a car outside their house. It's probably better to get her out of here. It gives us one less victim to worry about.” She literally flinched when he said the word, and Ted looked apologetic. In his mind, this was a case now, or a potential one, not just a family or a person. And Rick was thinking along the same lines. For him, it was an opportunity to put Phillip Addison away and cement his case. To Fernanda, it was only about her children. She wasn't even thinking about herself. And she was scared, more than she ever had been in her entire life. Looking at her, Ted knew it. “When are they leaving?” Ted inquired, his mind was already racing. He wanted two men to check the street as soon as he could get them out there. He wanted to know if there were men sitting in parked cars, and if so, who.

  “What about you and Sam? Are you going anywhere? Any plans?”

  “Just day camp for him.” She couldn't afford to do much else. Camp for Will had been a stretch, but she didn't want to deny him that. None of the children knew the full extent of their financial ruin yet, although they were aware that things were less lavish than they had been. She still had to explain the full implications of it to them, but she was waiting to do that when she put the house on the market. After that, she knew the ceiling would fall in. In fact, it already had. The kids just didn't know it.

  “I'm not crazy about that idea,” Ted said carefully. “Let's see how it goes. When do the others leave?”

  “Will leaves tomorrow. Ashley the day after.”

  “Good,” Ted said bluntly. He was anxious for them to leave, and reduce the number of targets. Half of them were going. He looked at Rick then. “I'm putting plainclothes boys on this, or should we use guys in uniform?” He knew as soon as he said it that he was asking the wrong man. They constantly disagreed about the concept of protecting potential victims. The police force preferred to make the protection visible, in order to scare perpetrators off, while the FBI liked luring them in to entrap them. But in this case, he wanted to see what, if anything, their suspects would do, and he was inclined to agree with Rick's theories on the subject, to a point. He had already been considering it when they walked into the house.

  “Does it matter?” Fernanda asked, confused by all that was happening. Her head was spinning.

  “Yes, it does,” Ted said quietly. “It can make a big difference. We may see some action faster if we use plainclothesmen.” She got the point.

  “So no one knows they're cops?” He nodded. It all sounded terrifying to her.

  “I don't want any of you going anywhere till I get a couple of men assigned to this. Probably later tonight. Did you have plans to go out?”

  “I was just going to take the kids out for pizza. We can stay home.”

  “That's where I want you,” Ted said firmly. “I'll call you as soon as I talk to the captain. With luck, I can have two men here by midnight.” He was suddenly all business.

  “Are they going to sleep here?” She looked startled. She hadn't thought of that, as Ted laughed and Rick smiled.

  “Hopefully not. We need them to stay awake and be aware of what's happening. We don't want anyone climbing in your windows, while everyone's asleep. Do you have an alarm?” he asked, but it was obvious that they would, and she nodded. “Use it till they get here.” And then he turned to Rick. “What about you?”

  “I'll send two agents over in the morning.” She wouldn't need them before that if she had Ted's guys. And he had to pull two men off other details, and replace them, which took a little time. He turned to Fernanda then, and his eyes were sympathetic. She seemed like a nice woman, and he felt sorry for her, as did Ted. He knew how tough situations like this were. He'd seen a lot of them, both in police work and with the FBI. Potential victims. And witness protection. It could get ugly, and often did. He hoped it wouldn't for her. But there was always that risk. “That means you'll have four men with you, two SFPD and two FBI agents. That should keep you safe. And I think Detective Lee is right about the other two children. It's a good idea to get them out of here.”

  She nodded and asked the question that had been tormenting her for the last half hour. “What happens if they try to kidnap us? How would they do it?”

  Ted sighed. He hated to answer her question. One thing was for sure. If they wanted money from her, they were not going to kill her, so she could pay the ransom. “They'd probably try to take you by force, ambush you while you're driving, and take a child if you had one with you. Or get in the house. It's not likely to happen if we have four men with you all the time.” And if it did, he knew from experience that someone would get killed, either cops or kidnappers, or both. Hopefully, not her or a child. The men assigned to the detail would be fully cognizant of the risk they were taking. That was part of the job for them, and what they did for a living.

  Rick looked at Ted then. “We need fingerprints and hair from the kids before they leave.” He said it as gently as he could, but there was nothing gentle about what he'd just said, and Fernanda looked panicked.

  “Why?” But she knew. It was obvious even to her.

  “We need it to identify the kids if they get snatched. And we should get prints and hair on you too,” he said apologetically, and Ted intervened.

  “I'll send someone over later today,” he said quietly, as Fernanda's mind raced. This was actually happening to her, and her children. It was beyond belief, and she hadn't fully understood it yet, and wondered if she ever would. Maybe they were just imagining it. Maybe they were both crazy and had been doing this for too long. Or worst of all, maybe it was really happening and they were right. There was no way to know. “I'm going to get someone out on the street right away and check plates,” he said more to Rick than to her. “I want to know who's out there.” Rick nodded. And Fernanda wondered if there were really people watching her, or the house. She had had no sense of it whatsoever.

  Shortly after that, both men stood up. Ted looked down at her and could see easily how stressed she was. She looked like she was in shock. “I'll call you in a little while, and let you know what's happening and who to expect. In the meantime, lock the doors, turn on the alarm, and don't let the kids go out. For any reason.” As he said it, he handed her his card. He'd given it to her before, but knew she might have lost it, which she had. It was in a drawer somewhere, and she couldn't have found it. She didn't think she'd need it. “If anything unusual happens, call me immediately. My cell phone's on there. And my pager. I'll be in touch in a few hours.” She nodded, unable to answer him, and walked them to the front door. Both men shook hands with her, and as he walked out, Ted turned to look at her with a reassuring expression. He didn't have the heart to leave without saying something to her. “It'll be all right,” he said softly, and then followed Rick down the stairs, as she closed the door behind them and
set the alarm.

  As they walked out, Peter Morgan saw them leave, and didn't think much of it. This was his first experience with surveillance, which was fortunate for them. Waters would have smelled them five seconds after spotting them. Peter didn't.

  Rick got in Ted's car again and looked at his old partner with a dazed expression. “Christ, can you believe anyone could lose that kind of money? The papers said he was worth half a billion dollars, and it can't be that long ago, a year or two maybe. The guy must have been crazy.”

  “Yeah,” Ted said, looking unhappy. “Or an irresponsible sonofabitch. If she's telling the truth”—and he had no reason to think she would lie to him, she didn't seem like that kind of person—”she's in a hell of a situation. Particularly with Addison and his boys after her, if they are. They're not going to believe she's out of money.”

  “And then what?” Rick said pensively.

  “It gets ugly.” Then, they both knew, it was all about SWAT teams, and hostage negotiations, and commando tactics. He just hoped they never got there. If there really was something coming down, Ted Lee was going to do everything in his power to stop it. “My cap-tain's going to think we've been smoking crack,” he said with a grin at Holmquist. “Seems like every time we get together, we get into something.”

  “I sure miss that,” Rick said, smiling, and then Ted thanked him for giving him two agents for the detail. He knew he couldn't commit them for long, if nothing happened. Ted didn't know, but he had a feeling something would happen soon. Maybe Addison's arrest the day before would make them anxious, or even panic. He also had a feeling that Addison's leaving the country had something to do with it. If that was the case, something was going to happen in two days, or anytime thereafter. Maybe soon.