Aaron heard a siren get louder as a police car made a right from First Avenue onto G, passing him by and pulling even with Nannette in a matter of seconds. The officer slammed on his breaks and skidded to a stop at the Horton Plaza Mall parking entrance. Nannette gracefully altered her course without breaking stride to take three steps into the street and continue right past the obstacle.
The cop went in reverse and did a better job of obstructing Aaron’s pursuit than her escape. In those three seconds that Aaron lost, his deficit grew from ten yards to thirty.
Nannette felt the pressure ratcheting up a notch with the arrival of a squad car and noticed the Horton Plaza Mall parking structure on her left. She went straight for the stairwell and headed up three flights of stairs. Sweat was pouring out of her body as her body rose to the cardio challenge.
When Aaron finally hit the stairwell, he was deciding if he could push on as he started walking up two stairs at a time. The marshal caught up with him and the two of them climbed while Damian, who kept his distance and an eye on Nannette shouted, “She stopped climbing on the third floor.”
Nannette had turned the corner from the fruit lot to the vegetable lot in the mega parking structure and was jogging east again looking for an exit. She followed the ramp down towards the exit before finally spotting a staircase that let her back out on Fourth Avenue.
Damian couldn’t see very far into the parking structure so he decided to walk down Fourth and wait on the corner of Fourth and G. He radioed in his coordinates and asked for backup to be placed at the entrances and exits of the parking lot and mall as well as a sweep of the area.
The marshal was ahead of Aaron asking people if they saw a woman dressed in a black tank top and jeans run by them. They pointed in the direction of the staircase.
Nannette exited the lot onto Fourth Avenue and noticed the street was crowded. She saw people dressed in costumes and could hear music and see a lot of people a few blocks south. Damian thought he saw her in a crosswalk and calmly crossed Fourth Avenue, a block away from where she was.
Aaron made it out of the parking structure and climbed on top of a parked car’s hood to survey the area.
Nannette saw Aaron and started jogging east. Aaron caught sight of her and gave chase. Aaron was an entire block behind her when he saw her turn down Fifth Avenue. He said to the marshal, “Shit. She’s headed right to the Convention Center and I don’t know how we can find her in the crowd.”
The marshal slapped him on the back. “We try, old timer.” Aaron always considered himself young, but compared to a guy in his twenties, he could tell he was losing a step.
Damian had calmly made it down one block and when he looked to his left he saw Nannette running right towards him. “Stop! San Diego Sheriff!” She didn’t stop. He decided against drawing his firearm in the crowd. He was prepared to meet her in the street if she changed course and hoped backup or good Samaritans would assist.
Nannette feigned to the left towards the street, then cut back right to try to squeeze through a crowd of pedestrians. Damian approached for the feint, but kept his balance and did not over-pursue. He was able to change course, reach out his left hand, and grab at her arms.
Her flannel fell off, revealing the cuffs more clearly for the whole world to see. With his second swipe, he grabbed onto the chain that holds the cuffs together and yanked her down to the ground like a bull being pulled by a nose ring.
Aaron and the marshal saw the take-down and arrived huffing. Lactic acid had built up in Aaron’s legs to the point of nearly cramping them. “Nice tackle,” Aaron huffed as he hobbled closer.
“I played goal keeper growing up; helped me to grab that chain, I think,” Damian said, proudly holding onto her cuffs with his left hand. His right hand was kept on top of his sidearm so that neither she nor anyone else on the street could grab it. “Marshal, do you have any cuffs?”
“No Dep,” he said as he took position behind Nannette to create a triangle around her with Aaron and Damian. In case she was able to break loose, one of the three would be able to grab her again. Just a few seconds later a squad car pulled up, then another.
Damian called out, “Sheriff’s deputy. We can use a ride to the jail. You guys have some leg shackles in your squad? She’s a runner.”
One of the police officers popped open his trunk and brought out a pair of leg irons that he approached with and put on her feet. Nannette didn’t fight it. She would have to watch carefully for her next moment to try to escape. Or worse come to worst, she would avoid a life in jail because Helen Cluntz would have her killed. Nannette even thought for a minute that she could turn on Helen. It was time for her to regroup.
With the leg shackles on, she was escorted and shuffled into the back of a squad car. Aaron said, “Marshal, I think we should bring her straight to a federal jail because she will be transferred back to Washington D.C. for her federal crimes. No point having to make an extra transfer before the extradition.”
Damian said, “Let’s just take her to the county jail and process her for evasion. We can hold her until she gets to see a judge on Monday, and by that time she can be ID’d and transferred.”
The marshal said, “County sounds good, I don’t really know the procedures. The higher-ups can figure it out.”
“Thanks for your help,” Damian said as he extended his hand.
“You’re welcome,” the marshal said as he shook Damian’s hand. He turned to Aaron, slapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Gotta hit the cardio, big man. Thought you were going to have a heart attack.”
With his shirt sticking to him with sweat, Aaron nodded. “Thanks for joining the chase. I’ll start training to run down collegiate athlete murderers. It’ll be the new Cross Fit.”
Damian said, “Sign me up.”
“Perp Fit,” Aaron joked, feeling his legs tremble and his shirt sticking to him.
Damian shook Aaron’s hand and then went to sit in the front passenger seat of the squad car that had Nannette in the back. A second officer was listening to his radio and said to Aaron, “I’d offer you a ride, but we just got another call about a kidnapper running from a salon in Banker’s Hill and we need to join that chase.”
Aaron heard salon and Banker’s Hill and panicked as he pulled out his phone to call Tina.
Chapter 5
At the moment Aaron crossed Broadway in his chase after Nannette, his fiancée Tina had finished lunch and was chatting away with Peter while sitting in the salon chair with her hair freshly trimmed. They were in no hurry for the curling iron to heat up. They were too busy talking about Tina’s dream wedding at the Westgate Hotel.
The bald Hispanic man, Carlos, entered the salon looking out of place for the obvious reason of having no hair. He also did not have a delivery, nor appear to be a boyfriend of any stylist. The receptionist asked, “Hello sir, how can I help you?”
“I’m here to deliver some bad news to the fiancée of a friend of mine. I was told she was here right now. Tina Lee,” Carlos said in the most professional tone he could muster.
“I’ll go check to see if she’s here,” the receptionist said.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he peered around the partial wall behind her front desk. “I can tell that’s her. I’ll be quick.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He walked by the receptionist who thought, ‘I’ll just crush some more candy until the phone rings,’ and focused back on her cell phone game.
Peter was standing on the side of Tina so he saw Carlos approaching. He squeezed her shoulder to signal her to look to see if this was the man she thought might have been following her.
Tina looked for her purse that held her mace, but it was back where she and Peter had eaten lunch.
Peter puffed out his chest so that all 5’5” of him would show no fear. “You aren’t allowed back here without an appointment. Please leave.”
“I have one with Tina,” Carlos said as he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a
switchblade. “You want to come with me and you won’t get hurt? Or you want to get hurt, then come with me?” He looked at Peter. “You sit down in that chair or I’ll cut you both.”
Tina had treated her share of cuts in the emergency room and had saved her fiancé’s life from a cut to an artery in his chest. She knew that if they were slashed and stabbed, the odds of survival were very high, especially being less than a mile from a hospital. If she was kidnapped, the odds of survival were lower, especially without Aaron to MacGyver up a bomb or knock this asshole’s head off.
Carlos was less than five feet away when Tina decided it was time to act. With no weapons, she grabbed the hair tarp that was covering her clothing. She stood up, held it taut, and lunged towards him like she had a towel and was going to wrap up a cold kid coming out of a pool.
Carlos was surprised with the move and held his left hand up to keep the tarp from enveloping him. He was apprehensively deciding whether to stab out or evade her charge. He stabbed at the middle of the tarp. Tina could see three inches of the blade less than a foot away from her face. She instantly second-guessed her decision.
She kicked with her right foot at where she thought his shin would be and made contact. It was a sharp and instant pain, but nothing more than a nuisance that made Carlos realize that he couldn’t mess around.
Tina saw the knife withdraw from the tarp and she kicked again at his shin, connecting even harder this time. She sensed the tarp was moving towards her almost as if time slowed and movements were perfectly perceived for a moment, until she felt it against her and her head rocked back when Carlos lowered his shoulder and knocked her back into the salon chair.
After a moment of being stunned by the melee, Peter caught his bearings and was by the foot of the chair when Tina was knocked into it. He struck out at Carlos’s face with the fully heated curling iron using alligator arm strikes. Hitting Carlos’s shoulder on the first strike, Peter left a little singe on his neck on the second.
Carlos responded by slashing his knife at Peter, just short of making contact with him. Tina fell to the ground with her back and head resting against the salon chair while Peter and Carlos engaged in a comically violent short-strike fight.
In the seconds it took for Tina to gather her wits, she coiled her leg back and kicked with all her might at Carlos’ knee. She made contact and he buckled. He didn’t fall, but his knife hand went towards the ground and Peter made an all-in lunge with the curling iron that connected with a searing pain as the flesh on Carlos’ cheek burned. Carlos pulled away but Peter kept pressing forward with the curling iron, holding contact with his cheek for well over a second while Carlos tried to maintain his balance from the knee strike.
It wasn’t the pain that changed Carlos’ mind when he decided to cut his losses and run. It was him recognizing that the sickening burnt odor was coming from his face. He realized that even if he succeeded in kidnapping the girl, that other bitch tracking him would probably just kill him anyway.
He slashed at Peter’s arm with his knife causing Peter to withdraw the curling iron. He regained his footing, backed away towards the front door, started running for it, and then ran out through it. Destination, Mexico.
Peter yelled after him. “You better run you limp dick mother fucker. I’ll pull your pants down and burn your little dick off.” Peter pressed the button on the iron and made a clamped it.
Tina was in semi-shock until she yelled out, “Call 9-1-1!” The receptionist saw the scene unfold; it had only been ten seconds and she hadn’t composed herself yet. Now with the man out of the salon, she gathered herself and reported the incident to the police. She made sure to mention that the attempted kidnapper has a freshly burnt face.
Peter set the curling iron down. “Who would want to hurt you, honey? You’re so sweet. What’s going on?”
“I have no idea. Aaron and I figured that people might come after us after what happened in Washington D.C., but this is just too crazy. I want my life back.”
Peter took her hands, then helped her up off the floor and hugged her. He gently pushed her back away. “You know what he didn’t know?”
“What’s that?”
“We some bad ass bitches. Straight up…Hillcrest!” Peter said with an infectious smile, thinking that he would have the ultimate gossip to tell for the next ten years. He couldn’t wait to tell this story a thousand times…this week.
At that exact same moment, Tina thought that she had better check on Aaron to tell him what happened. She felt immediate dread about how many times she would have to relive this terrifying experience when telling the story to Aaron, the police, her family, friends, and probably even the media again. ‘Ugh,’ she thought.
“Hey Peter.”
“Yes hun?”
“For your tip, I’m going to buy you a new curling iron and a box frame for that one. You’re putting the symbol of your heroism on display at your booth.”
“You better not be kidding!” Peter said excitedly.
“The story of how Peter’s flaming stick saved the day.”
Peter laughed out. “Oh! My! God! Honey, that is too funny. When did you start talking like that?”
“Too much time around Aaron, I guess. Or you,” Tina joked with him. “I need to call him to see if he’s okay.” She walked over to the semi-private area where her purse was and looked at her phone. Six missed calls from Aaron’s new cell phone number.
She tapped the buttons to call him back. “Tina! Are you okay?” Aaron asked nervously from the back of a taxi cab headed up Sixth Avenue approaching the south side of Balboa Park.
“I’m okay, are you?”
“I’m fine. I heard there was an attempted kidnapping at a salon in Banker’s Hill. Was that you? I’m in a cab headed there right now,” Aaron said with relief hearing she was okay.
“It was. Some bald guy came in and said I could go with him or be hurt or something. Peter and I fought him off. Peter burned his face with a curling iron,” Tina said, then asked, “How did you hear about this?”
“You remember the woman from the hot tub, Nannette?”
“Of course.”
“We caught her following me. She’s in police custody.”
“Do you think this guy and Nannette were working together?”
“I’m almost sure of it. Hopefully we can catch him and figure out what’s going on. Hopefully this is the last loose end from last month’s adventure,” Aaron said with some hesitation in his voice.
“I hope so too.”
“Do me a favor?”
“Okay?”
“Just keep your phone on until I get there. Even if you talk to other people, I want to be connected to you,” Aaron requested with guilt and concern that he brought danger to her yet again.
“Okay.”
When Aaron was four blocks from the salon, he’d had enough of the traffic. He paid the cab driver and jogged up the street. The delay was from all the police officers in the area cutting across traffic and trying to peek into cars to find the guy with a fresh burn mark on his face.
Aaron got inside the salon where the receptionist was expecting him. Tina, Peter, and a police officer were in the back of the salon.
Aaron saw that Tina wasn’t hurt and let out a breath that had held in more tension than a balloon ready to burst. “I’m so sorry. Thank God you’re alright.”
“Actually, you can thank Peter.” She stood up to go give Aaron a hug. She felt a conflict of emotions. She wanted to move on with her life, to return to normal, but here they were again holding each other after someone tried to kidnap them again.
“Thank you Peter,” Aaron said once he had Tina wrapped in his arms. A few seconds into the hug, he waved for Peter to come join the embrace. The police officer patiently gave them time as they held each other in silence.
After a moment, the officer continued, “I’m almost done getting both of your statements. We can just follow-up with you later if you want to stop now.”
> Tina broke the embrace. “No. I’m fine. Let’s finish up now and then you can call me for any follow-up if necessary. I’d like to put this behind me sooner rather than later.” Peter broke off from the hug too.
The officer said, “So you told me that this guy came for you, and his goal was to take you with him, but you fought him off. That you thought you remembered him following you today, but outside of today you’ve never seen him before. Is that right?”
“Yes,” answered Tina.
“Can you think of any reason that he would want to abduct you?”
“Not him. No.”
“Someone else then?”
“Nannette, the same woman that was following him today and is now in police custody,” Tina said while pointing at Aaron.
Aaron wanted to break in and say that Nannette probably hired the guy but held his mouth shut to let the policeman write up his report.
“Do you know why she would want to kidnap you?”
“Yes. We got her fired. Indicted. She lost millions of dollars of stolen gold when it was recovered from her house because of us. And I imagine we got her placed on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list.”
The officer said with recognition and understanding, “Dr. Lee, I didn’t know that she was connected to that D.C. scandal and didn’t even realize that you were the doctor that was involved. I’ll do my best to brief the FBI but have little doubt they will be contacting you soon.”
“Okay, thanks. Anything else?”
“No.” The officer reached out his hand. “But I guess a thank you.” He shook Tina’s hand then extended it to Aaron. “Mr. Baker?”
“Yes.” Aaron accepted the handshake.
“Thank you too.” The officer said to Peter, “It looks like bravery runs deep in this group. Good job taking care of her today. You all be safe now.”
Once the officer was out of earshot, Peter said, “He was so flirting with me, can’t believe I gave him my number…”
Not quite ready to laugh, Tina and Aaron smiled at Peter’s attempt to lighten the moment. Aaron looked at his watch. “Oh shit. I was supposed to meet with Enloe. Maybe I should get going?”
Sunshine or Lead Page 5