Red North!

by Mark Lemke

CHAPTER 18

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  Kay Street got up early.? What else are you going to do when you're getting ready for another day at Disneyland with two young kids?? Madison and Brian were anxious to get up and get going on the rides.? At ten years old, Madison was two years older than her brother, which in the world of kid-dom was everything.? She had long, dark, curly hair like her mother and was named after the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where Kay had met her husband Dave Street.

  That was thirteen years ago, before they moved out to California, and Dave got a job in the operations department at the plant.? Because Dave had a college degree and the plant needed licensed operators, he was almost immediately put into a class where he earned his senior reactor operator license.? He was referred to as an 'instant SRO,' because he hadn't spent a lot of time working in the plant, like the union guys who, without degrees, had to. They had to have seniority before they got a shot at getting a license and working in the control room.? In some cases, that caused friction between the union guys and the instant SROs.? But Dave was well liked by his crew.? He was very knowledgeable about how the plant worked and always went to bat for his guys when something happened.? So his crew overlooked his moving ahead of most of them and enjoyed having a guy at the top who backed them up.?

  Having a license was also financially lucrative, as it added another $1,800 a month to his salary.? With the SRO license, Dave was moved to the position of shift manager-the person in charge of overseeing the operation of the power plant from the control room.? It came with a lot of responsibility, but Dave did it as easily as a duck treads water.? He enjoyed the challenges and liked being in charge, where he had some control over his job and daily activities.? And the money was good-far better than the norm in the area they lived in.? But nuclear power plants run 24/7, and someone had to be there to run it day and night.? So, every other week Dave and his crew had to work 'mids'-that is, midnight shifts.? Something of a misnomer, mids or graveyards (because of how you felt by morning) were actually 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.? Most guys struggled with sleeping during the day because their families had to live normal lives.? Phones would ring, doors would slam, and shouts were made.? So when Dave had an opportunity to send Kay and the kids to Disneyland, he thought he could get some good, uninterrupted sleep for a few days.

  "Mom, get Brian out of bed so we can get going. ?He's such a dork!? The monorail will be leaving soon, and I want to ride it into the park again!"

  "Don't call your brother a dork," Kay chastised.? "Let him sleep for a few more minutes, honey.? Besides, I have to call daddy before he goes to bed.? You know how he likes to go home and go right to bed.? So while we're having fun today, daddy gets to sleep without you two hooligans making all kinds of noise!"

  "I'm not the noisy one," the girl said with as much sarcasm as she could muster, casting an imperious glance at her dork of a brother.?

  "Brush your teeth and get some cereal.? And try not to make too much noise while I'm on the phone!"

  Madison was already doing as she was instructed.? Kay looked over at her and smiled.? All of the child rearing books she'd read said the first child was the overachiever, even more so when it's a girl.? Madison was no exception.? She was bright and industrious and liked to be in on all the adult conversations that went on in the house.? She generally didn't have to be told things twice and was responsible-for a ten-year-old.? Madison scrunched up her face and gave her brother a withering stare, failing to understand why he wasn't the same way.?

  Kay moved over to the small table by the door so the kids could get up, and in and out of the bathroom.? The motel room wasn't big, but it was clean-something Kay insisted on.?But then, everything around Disneyland is clean and neat.? She liked that.? She got out her cell phone and dialed her husband's cell phone.? It was about 8:30 a.m. and she knew that he'd just gotten off work and should be home by now.?

  When he answered, she said, "Hi, honey.? How was your night?? Are you home, getting read for bed?"

  "Hey, babe.? Not home yet.? I had to stick around for a bit, but I'm on my way home now.? Another long night.? How're the kids?? Are they enjoying it down there?"

  "Having a ball.? Loving the rides!? We stayed up last night to watch the fireworks, so we're getting a bit of a slow start this morning," she said as she glanced over at Brian, who was lying diagonally in the bed with one leg under the covers, one out, one arm on the bed, one over the side, and pajamas in disarray like his hair.

  "You aren't going to believe this, but just before I left work today I heard that the police found one of the HP techs dead and washed up on shore a few miles south of the plant," Dave told her.?

  "Oh my god!? Do you know who it is?"? Even though there were over thirteen hundred people working at the plant, Dave knew a lot of them, at least by sight.? More appropriately, they knew him.? As the shift manager, he was the one who had to authorize maintenance and other activities on a daily basis. That meant he interfaced with a lot of people.?

  "I didn't know her well, but I'd seen her around.? I think she was married to a guy in Engineering or something.? She washed up on shore at Mendocino Beach last night or this morning, but I guess she'd been in the water for a while."

  "What happened?" Kay asked, sounding dumfounded, and unsure as to whether or not she should be concerned.

  "I don't know.? They're not telling me.? It's mostly just scuttlebutt right now.? I'm sure we'll know more when I go back in tonight.? They just found her.? I have no idea if she fell in or what.? It's really weird.? I'm sure there'll be a big to-do about all this.? Good time to be on graveyards.? Let the day shift guys handle all that."

  Dave yawned and shook his head, trying to stay awake long enough to get home in one piece and alive.? The drive home after graveyards was always brutal on him.?

  "So, have you been on Splash Mountain yet?"

  Kay looked over at the two kids, fighting over the Cheerios and the milk now that Brian was up.? "Are you kidding? We hit Splash Mountain as soon as we got in the park.? I can't keep them off that ride. ?I'm sure we'll do it again a few times today.? The kids love it and fight now to see who can sit in the front."

  "Hey, I love that ride, too.? Wish I was down there with you!"? Dave really did enjoy Disneyland and Kay didn't know who was more juvenile at the park, Dave or the kids.?

  "We're going to hit the park again for a few hours this morning, then head back this afternoon.? We're going to stop and see Nana in San Francisco, and should be home Friday.? Then you have a few days off, right?"

  "I was scheduled for a seven off, but Danny called in sick and I may have to cover his shift for a day or two."

  "Oh, honey, I hate it when you have to work overtime.? Especially when it's graveyards!"? Dave was never at his best when working nights.? He didn't get enough rest trying to sleep during the day, and tended to get grumpy.?

  "Yeah, me too.? Can't be helped.? Hey, it's good money.? We can use the overtime to pay for Disneyland."

  "Ever the optimist!"

  "I'm getting into some traffic so I should get off the phone.? I'm sleepy enough as it is. ?I'll see you tomorrow.? Love you!"

  "Love you, too.? Bye!"

  Just as Kay hung up the phone, there was a knock on the motel room door.? She went over, looked out the peephole, and saw a well-dressed man standing there.? Not thinking anything of it, she opened the door.? After all, she's just around the corner from the 'Happiest place on Earth.'? Jansen pushed the door open, and walked into the room uninvited, followed by Stone, who Kay hadn't seen standing nearby.? She stumbled backward, stunned, and momentarily hesitated, not knowing what was happening or what to do.? Then, frightened, she turned and ran to her children, instinctively standing between them and the strangers.? The kids just looked up, their eyes open wide at the sight of two strange men in their room.? They sensed the tension in their mother's posture, which is what probably frightened them the most.?

  The two men moved quickly into the small motel room, as Stone closed the door.?
Kay could see both men had guns drawn.? They weren't pointing them at her, but let them hang loosely by their sides.? It was as if they knew they weren't going to need to use them, but had them out to intimidate her.? Kay glanced nervously at them, indicating the tactic was working.?

  Jansen moved further into the small hotel room, glancing around to make sure they were alone.? As he did that, Stone went over to the kids and pulled them away from Kay.? As she started to protest, Stone let go of them and pulled her aside and away from her terrified children. He spun her around roughly and held her with one arm across her breasts, which were heaving as she tried to catch her breath.? Kay was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, and he could feel her panting with fear, which excited him.? He pulled her in closer and put his mouth close to her ear, breathing into it, causing Kay to panic and struggle momentarily against the strong arm around her.?

  "What do you want?" she asked in a quivering voice.

  "We need you and the kids to be quiet.? Do you understand?" Stone hissed in her ear.

  "Just don't hurt my children!" Kay pleaded as tears of fear form in her eyes.

  "We're going to take a short ride.? You need to tell your kids to behave."

  Kay said nothing.

  Stone tightened his grip on her and repeated the question, "Do you understand?"

  Not knowing what else she could do, Kay glanced over at her children and said, "Yes . . ." in a trembling voice.

  He then moved his hand down and over her right breast as he whispered in her ear,? "I said, do you understand?"

  Kay instinctively pulled back but couldn't break his hold.? All she could do was nod her head-emphatically.? She didn't know what was going on or why this is happening.? She was freaking out, mostly from a lack of understanding and fear for herself and her children.

  "Get the kids ready!" Jansen said angrily.

  Stone slowly let go of Kay but gave her a look of lust and control she would not soon forget, then gave Jansen a scowl but did what he was told.?

  Kay could sense a tension between the two of them.? She didn't know if that frightened her even more or not, but was just glad he wasn't holding her anymore.?

  Stone picked the kids up, threw them on the bed, then ripped off small sections of duct tape and taped over the kids' mouths so they couldn't scream.? Then he rolled them over onto their stomachs in turn, yanking first Madison's and then Brian's arms behind their backs, tying their wrists with nylon zip ties so they couldn't move their arms.? He put a hooded sweatshirt over each of the kids to cover the fact that their wrists were bound. ?It was February and having a sweatshirt on wouldn't be seen as unusual, even in southern California.?

  Jansen moved over to Kay, slipped his arm around her waist and hid his gun from view, then opened the door of the motel room and peered around outside.? There was a man walking from the parking lot to a nearby Denny's restaurant, but otherwise it was quiet.? He nodded to Stone, and they hustled the family out the door and into a waiting car.? Stone shoved the kids into the back seat and shut the door, before getting in the driver's seat, as Jansen pushed Kay into the front seat and slid in next to her.?

  Kay was quaking with fear; fear for herself and fear for her children.? All kinds of horrifying thoughts were racing through her mind.? She didn't really consider escaping.? The two men she was sitting between were clearly strong and appeared to know what they were doing.? It was then that it occurred to her that they weren't wearing masks or any obvious disguises, and didn't seem to care that she could see their faces.? They were either stupid or it didn't matter if she saw their faces-and they didn't appear to be stupid to her.? The man to her right didn't have his arm around her any more, so she defensively folded her arms across her chest, pushed her knees together tightly, and tried to push out all the thoughts of what might happen if she didn't cooperate with them.? She didn't know what to do or what to think.? Obviously, nothing like this had ever happened to her before.? She'd seen things like this on the news in some other city or in scenes from a movie.? But this was neither and it took her a long time to realize this was really happening to her.

  They drove a few miles down the road, away from the motels around Disneyland.? Right turn, left turn, and left again.? It looked like a residential neighborhood with rows of brown and tan houses with shrubs placed just so.? They pulled into a driveway of a nondescript, single-story ranch house, typical of the area.? It had a small front lawn with a tree in the middle of it, similar to most of the other front yards.? It also had a six-foot-high wooden shadowbox fence around the backyard.? Houses in California were typically close together and fences provided everyone with privacy, something Jansen found useful for his purposes right now.? As they pulled into the driveway, Stone pressed the button on the remote for the garage door, paused briefly in the driveway until the door was fully open, and then eased the car inside.? Kay winced and started to shake again as the door closed behind them.

  "Get the kids into the house," Jansen told Stone as he grabbed Kay by the arm and pulled her roughly out of the front seat.?

  Without saying a word, Stone moved to the back door of the car, pulled both kids to their feet, and dragged them into the house, but keeping an eye on Kay.? Stone would have preferred to haul her into the house.? He'd have found a way to keep her quiet.? Instead, he got the job of manhandling the kids.? Stone didn't know Jansen any more than Jansen knew him.? Stone had his own street creds and believed he was capable of leading this job, but the people who paid him wanted Jansen specifically for this.? He'd heard Jansen was busted out of the military and probably had some kind of axe to grind.? There were stories about him and the time he spent in the Rangers.? If the stories were true, he'd be wise to give Jansen a wide berth, though being wise wasn't his strong suit.

  "Don't hurt my kids . . . please . . .!" Kay pleaded as she watched her kids being marched into one of the bedrooms.? "Kids, don't worry!? It'll be all right.? I'm here with you.? Just be good for mommy!"??

  Stone leaned over and leered at her. ?"Don't worry lady.? You do as we say and they'll be fine."

  Jansen pulled Kay away from Stone and into the other bedroom, tossing her down onto the bed.? Kay let out a startled gasp.? Immediately, he fell on her and put his hand over her mouth.? Just then Stone came in, moved over to her, and using tape and nylon ties, trussed her up the same as the kids.

  "I suggest you calm down," Jansen said in a low, menacing voice, such that Kay immediately stopped wiggling.?"Good.? Stay that way."?

  Kay didn't like the look in his eyes.? A little-but only a little-of the tension she was feeling left her as the two men exit the room and closed the door behind them.? She was alone, cut off from the outside world, from her children, and still had no idea what they wanted from her.? She felt exhausted and started to weep.

  Out in the kitchen, Jansen got out his cell phone and selected a pre-programmed number that rang somewhere at plant.

  "Yes?" came the terse answer.

  "We've got Street's family.? We also have the NeXus report you faxed to us.? So, we're on schedule."

  "Yeah, except that the Williams woman washed up on shore this morning.? That wasn't supposed to happen."

  Jansen thought about that for a minute.? "Okay, don't panic.? Not a big deal.? By the time they connect the dots, if they can at all, it'll be too late."

  "They already know who she is, so those dots are getting close together.? We're going to have to move our timetable up.? When can you be ready to go?"

  Jansen asked, "Did you make sure Street will be on watch Friday night?"

  "Yes, it's all arranged.? He's covering for another shift manager who has mysteriously taken sick."

  "Then we're a go for early Saturday morning.? The shock of finding the woman will work in our favor.? We don't want to give anyone time to think too much about what they want to do.? I'll fly out of here, hook up with our team, and be in place soon.? I'll call as arranged."

  "Alright".

  "That is, of course, if my fee h
as been paid.? I couldn't care less what your motivation is for doing this.? Mine is money.? Pure and simple."?

  The person on the other end of the phone was quiet for a moment.? "I understand your motivation well enough.? Waxman contacted me, and your money is in place."?

  "Then we're good to go," Jansen said and terminated the connection.?

  Turning to Stone, he said, "We're on for Saturday morning.? I'm heading back to the airport.? You know what to do here."

  Stone smiled and looked at the room where Kay was.?

  Jansen read him like a book and didn't like Stone's expression.? He was really starting to dislike the guy.??

  He went over and got in Stone's face. "I don't want her hurt in any way.? You understand?? We need her safe and sound later."

  Stone looked at him.? "Yeah. . . I understand."?

  The way he said it concerned Jansen.? He grabbed Stone by his shirt, looked him in the eyes, and lowered his voice to something similar to a growl.? "Let me put it in a way even a dirt-bag like you can understand. If you so much as touch her, I will personally cut off whatever parts you're thinking about using and feed them to you.? We don't do this type of thing.? You got that?"

  Stone stared back at Jansen, realizing the man was serious as a heart attack.? He'd get his just as soon as this operation was over.? In the meantime he knew he'd have to do what he was told-and he didn't like that at all.? "Chill, man.? I got it."

  Jansen wasn't so sure, but he had things to do and had to leave.?