He had witnessed violence before, both while a young man in the navy and on two occasions as he toiled in the drug trade, but that violence had been man against man, what he had just witnessed, the sheer... obscenity of it, had overloaded his senses and caused him to faint.
As he lay in the grass blinking away tears, the front door of the cabin opened and a woman ran out. She was young, pretty, and in her right hand was a gun.
Kevin was less than a hundred feet away and suddenly realized that he had no idea where his own gun had gotten to. He had likely dropped it when he fell, and knew that it had to be nearby.
He didn’t dare move though, for although the grass he was lying in was high, it wasn’t so high that his beer gut wasn’t protruding from it like a swollen ant hill, and if the woman but turned her head slightly, she was bound to spot him.
Kevin’s breath caught in his throat when the man appeared. He had followed the woman outside and as he caught up to her, he ripped the gun from her hand. The man was bare-chested now, and Kevin realized that he must have stripped off his shirt, a shirt that was splattered with a child’s blood.
“Are you all right, Cinda?” the man said.
The woman screamed in his face.
“You’re a monster!”
“I do what needs to be done. We’re trying to get five million dollars here. I can’t let some pig fresh out of fed school walk all over me. Now, now they’ll do whatever I ask, without question.”
The woman began to cry.
“Jack... she was just a baby,”
“It had to be done.”
“How could you do it?”
“I am who I am, Cinda. I thought you knew that. I thought that you loved all of me.”
“I... I do love you.”
“One more day, baby, one more day and we can put all this behind us forever.”
The woman nodded.
“One more day...”
The big man smiled at the woman and gestured towards the cabin.
As the sound of the cabin door closing reached his ears, Kevin scrambled up onto his feet and looked around for his gun. He found the .38 lying near the window. After snatching it up, he headed toward his pickup truck on a dead run.
He was almost there when he ran headlong into his friends.
“What was that shootin’?” Bobby said, as the bearded man held Kevin by his shoulders.
Kevin opened his mouth to speak, but as he recalled Maria’s last instant, he sank to his knees and sobbed.
CHAPTER 9
They had just returned from dinner when Jessica’s phone rang. It was Brice.
“Hello, John, has there been a change?”
As Jessica listened to her phone, she clamped her hand to her mouth and sat down hard on the edge of the bed.
“Oh my God,”
Her husband looked at her with concern, but didn’t interrupt, knowing that he would learn from her soon enough whatever evil had occurred.
“Yes, we’ll be there shortly, goodbye,”
When the call ended, he saw that there were tears in her eyes.
“What’s happened?”
“Jack... he murdered the little girl, the toddler, Maria,”
He closed his eyes tight, and then took in several deep breaths before speaking again.
“Why did he do it?”
“He did it to get Brice back on the case... and... it worked. He’s on his way back there now. He also wants us back there.”
“What about Samantha?”
“She witnessed the murder, but she was unharmed,”
“Physically unharmed,”
“Yes, but emotionally? One could only guess, given her psychological make-up.”
He wiped at her tears.
“We don’t have to go back there.”
“Yes, we do,”
“Why? This much emotional turmoil can’t be good for you, for you or the baby,”
“I’ll be fine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to stop this monster.”
He lifted her up and took her in his arms.
“That makes two of us,”
***
Brice parked his car in the huge circular driveway at the Ryan estate. As he stepped out of the car and into the growing darkness, Agent Croft walked over to him. Behind them, the team of agents, cops and technicians looked on.
The two men stared at each other for a moment, but as Croft opened his mouth to speak, his face crumbled and he let out a gasp of despair.
Brice walked over to him and placed a hand on his back. “That’s a good idea, Kyle, why don’t we talk in private,” He then guided the younger agent behind a tall hedge and waited until the man’s tears had run their course.
A few moments later, Croft spoke.
“I killed that little girl with my goddamn hubris. Jack’s killed numerous people, I knew what he was capable of, and still, I had to show him who was boss. I had to be in control and... I had to prove that I was better than you.”
“Kyle, I’ve been dealing with the man for years and I wouldn’t have predicted this outcome. It takes a special sort of savagery to murder a child in cold blood.”
Croft’s face contorted again.
“Jesus, John, my daughter’s her age, and while she was being murdered, I was having her father interrogated again. What a fuck-up, what a goddamn fuck-up I am.”
“You’re not a fuck-up, you’re human. You don’t do this job, deal with the things we deal with and not make mistakes. You’ll move on from this wiser, and someday you’ll make a difference.”
Croft stared at him.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Your grandfather, Mitchell, he was there for me when I needed someone early in my career, and I’m happy to finally return the favor, besides, kid, you’re a hell of an agent.”
“Thanks, John, now you better get inside. Mr. Ryan is frantic to have you back.”
They walked inside, and after Brice assured a solicitous Brendan Ryan that he was back in charge, he sat alone in a corner and watched the recordings of Croft’s interactions with Jack, including the one involving Maria’s murder. When he was done, he walked calmly to the nearest bathroom and vomited.
CHAPTER 10
Life had always been a series of games to Samantha, and people, mere pieces on a board.
All that changed with Maria.
Samantha was back in the bare, locked room, standing in the middle of it as a maelstrom of new emotions whirled within her.
When the man Jack followed the woman outside, the man named Harry had taken her by the hand and walked her into the room. As Harry closed the door, Samantha gazed up at his masked face and, to her surprise, saw a pair of wet, blue eyes looking back.
The man had cried over Maria’s death, something she herself had not done.
For Samantha, tears were something you faked. They got you attention, made others feel sorry for you, made adults want to soothe you, often with useless hugs, but just as often, with useful gifts.
She looked down at her small hands and marveled that she could still feel Maria’s desperate grip upon them.
Despite its unique advantages, Samantha often hated being a child. While seldom was anything expected of you and much given freely, it all came at the price of dependency, of weakness.
Jack had ripped Maria from Samantha’s grasp with an ease that made her feel more impotent than ever before.
She walked over to the window and found that the board had been set back in place and that the bald man was gone.
Would he return with help?
Samantha shrugged, suddenly too weary to wonder or care about the future.
She glanced about the empty room and recalled how just minutes ago the walls had echoed with Maria’s laughter.
A moment later, she was brushing at her cheek, as an unbidden tear flowed down, soon, she was crying so hard that she was quaking, and as she lay on the floor hugging her knees to her chest, she wondered if she would ever be the sam
e.
***
The three men were back in their pickup truck, planning their next move.
When Kevin told his friends what he had witnessed, they both shook their heads in disgust. After the shock had been absorbed and the true nature of their enemy known, they reaffirmed their vows to help Kevin seek justice,
“Are you sure there are only three of them?” The bearded man said.
“No, but I’m pretty sure, besides, once we break the little girl out of there, she can tell us what we need to know.”
“All right then, how do you want to do this?”
Kevin scratched at his bald head for a while as he thought things over.
“We’ll go in sometime after midnight, after everyone’s asleep.”
“How do we get in?” asked Bobby, the clean-shaven one,
“We go in through the little girl’s room.”
“I don’t know, Kevin, removing those boards is gonna make some noise, be better if we came in another way.”
“Yeah, you’re right, so here’s what we do; you two come in from that side door in the kitchen while I get the little girl out the window. Then, I’ll join you back inside and we... finish things.”
Bobby stared at him.
“The woman, I don’t know if I could bring myself to kill her.”
Kevin nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, I know. Listen, if we can, we’ll take her hostage and hand her over to the cops. This ain’t just about revenge no more. This is about making sure that little girl stays safe.”
The bearded man chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Kevin said.
“I was just thinking, when this is all over, the cops may give us a medal.”
Kevin smiled.
“Now wouldn’t that be some shit?”
CHAPTER 11
Harry had been waiting for Cinda in the hallway, just outside the bathroom. When his sister came out, he pressed a finger to his lips, making the shush sign, before taking her by the arm and herding her into the kitchen.
“We have to go.”
Cinda stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Cinda, that piece of shit back there killed a child, practically a baby. Any man who could do that... it’s not safe, you’re not safe.”
“I love him, Harry. He’s ruthless, I know, but he’s doing it all for us. I can’t just abandon him.”
“I don’t trust him. I think he’ll kill us as soon as he gets the diamonds.”
“He won’t do that. I trust him.”
“You’re lovesick, or crazy, how can you trust him?”
“I trust him because he trusts us. He told me that he’s sending you to get the diamonds. Why would he do that if he didn’t trust you?”
“Because if something goes wrong at the ransom drop, then it’s my ass on the line, not his,”
“No, it’s because he trusts you.”
“Once I have the diamonds we’ll be safe, you could slip away, meet me somewhere and—”
“No! I won’t betray Jack. I love him and I’m in this with him until the end.”
Harry broke eye contact and gazed downward.
“Then maybe I’ll run off alone,” he muttered.
Cinda moved closer and leaned her head on his chest.
“You wouldn’t do that. You’re my big brother and you’ve always looked out for me; you would never just disappear and leave me to fend for myself.”
Harry groaned.
“You’re right, so I’ll stay and see this through.”
“Thank you.”
He gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Don’t thank me; I’m beginning to get a bad feeling about all this.”
***
At ten o’clock, the laptop beeped and Brice rushed over to it as the techs once again started their trace.
An instant later, Jack’s masked face appeared on screen.
“Special Agent Brice, how very good to see you again,”
“What are your instructions?”
“All business now, huh? Well fine, that’s just fine by me, as long as you remember which one of us is the C.E.O.”
Behind Jack, his male and female partners stood against the backdrop of the white sheet, standing between them was Samantha.
“Is the ransom ready?”
“The diamonds are right here.”
“Good, very good,”
“Mr. Ryan would like to speak to his granddaughter.” Brice said.
“No problem, but we’ll make it quick.” Jack said, and then he gestured for Cinda to bring Samantha forward. As she stepped closer to the computer, Samantha winced when she saw the large bloodstain on the floor to the right of the desk.
Her grandfather’s face appeared beside Brice’s and he spoke to her.
“Samantha, honey, we’ll have you home soon, Grandfather promises,”
Samantha looked at the monitor, and in the background, she spotted a familiar face.
“Mr. White!”
Jack glanced at her and then back at the monitor.
“Which one is Mr. White?”
He rose from his seat on the sofa beside Jessica, and walked up to the monitor.
“Hello, Samantha,”
Samantha smiled.
“I knew you’d come.”
Jack tossed his head to the side, indicating to Cinda that he was done with Samantha, and Cinda pulled her towards the back of the room.
“So, you’re Mr. White, kid thinks you’re a superhero. I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you a chance to prove her right. Hey, Brice, Mr. White there will be the one making the ransom drop.”
“Jack, the man is a civilian. Why don’t we use an agent, someone who will follow your instructions to the letter?”
“No, I want this asshole. This is the prick who threatened me when I grabbed the kid. I want to see if he’s ready to put his money where his mouth is.”
“I can’t allow that, Jack, I can’t risk... I can’t risk someone else dying.”
“You’ll do as I say, Brice, or would you rather I return the little bitch without arms.”
Brice fell back in his seat and looked at him.
“I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You don’t have to, I volunteer.”
“He’ll do it, Jack, now, how do we make the switch?”
“We don’t. This time it will be just me and Mr. White. I’ll call tomorrow at noon, just a call, no video, and the games will begin. Once he delivers my diamonds, I’ll set the girl free.”
Brice made a request.
“I’d like to see Samantha again,”
“No, Brice and you’ll never see me again either. As I said, I’ll call with instructions promptly at noon and finish our business, goodbye.”
The monitor flickered for a moment, before going blank.
Brice swiveled in his seat and stared at the head tech.
“Anything?”
“No, sorry, but he did forward a file right before signing off.” The tech grew quiet for a moment as he read, but then said, “At first glance, it looks like he left you instructions, something about the size and shape of the container that he wants the diamonds delivered in.”
“We’ll put a tracking device in with the diamonds, but I’ve no doubt that Jack will find it and disable it, still, we have to try.”
Brice turned back to him as Jessica walked over.
“Jessica, I’m so sorry, but we need your husband to make the drop. If I’d refused him, Jack might have done something... rash.”
“My husband is a better choice than you might imagine, he’s very resourceful.”
Brice shook his head.
“I don’t want resourceful, I want compliant. This time tomorrow I want that little girl home and safe, to hell with Jack and his damn diamonds.”
“I’ll follow his instructions, don’t worry.”
“I worry, I’ve done nothing but worry from the instant those children wer
e taken.”
***
12:43 a.m.
Kevin slid the board aside and tapped gently on the window. On the floor, Samantha stirred, grateful for whatever had awakened her, for as she slept, she dreamt about the nightmare that were Maria’s last moments.
Tap, tap, tap,
Someone was at the window, and as she rose up on her knees to look, she hoped to see Mr. White.
She was disappointed when she saw that it was Kevin, but none of it hardly mattered as the bald man would do just as well if he could free her from her captors.
Samantha pointed at the window and whispered.
“It’s locked from the inside.”
“Hold on, I got something for that.”
Kevin took a pocketknife out and extended the blade. Afterward, he eased his right arm through the gap in the boards and poked blindly, but carefully, until he found the right spot and eased the blade between the upper and lower window frames.
It was a tight fit for his burly arm, but after a few seconds, he flicked his wrist and freed the twist lock from its latch.
As soon as she saw Kevin withdraw the blade, Samantha pushed up on the window.
Kevin smiled at her through the gap in the boards.
“Hello there, young lady, my name is Kevin.”
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“No, honey, I just had to go get my friends so that they could help me.”
“Where are they?”
As Kevin began to answer her, shots rang out, and in their aftermath, someone died.
CHAPTER 12
Jessica closed her laptop. She was seated atop a white canopy bed with her legs crossed, while her husband sat to her left at an oak desk, working on his own laptop.
They were in a guest room at the Ryan estate, as Brice needed them nearby at all times, now that Jack had decided to involve him directly.
Jessica got up from the bed and padded over to him, to look over his shoulder at the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m studying maps of the surrounding area. Brice says that Jack usually operates within a twenty mile radius of the abduction site.”
“That’s a huge area, how can you hope to memorize it?”
“I don’t really, just the general terrain, and besides, there’s not much out here but a few small towns and farms, I’m really just trying to get the lay of the land. Brice expects Jack to put me through my paces until he’s certain that no one is following me and that there’s no electronic surveillance. At the end of that, I’d like to at least have an idea where I am.”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 5-8 (Taken! Box Set Book 2) Page 14