by Marie Astor
“Nope.” He swallowed his embarrassment. “Jess tasered me and then knocked me out. I don’t remember seeing anything.”
“We could be anywhere. Even if we do manage to get out of here somehow, how are we going to find our way back?”
“We’ll think of something. Don’t worry.” Dennis did his best to sound brave, but inside he could feel his hope waning. This entire time he’d been hoping Janet would find him by tracking the phone bug, but Jess had squashed that possibility like a bug. As much as he wanted to believe they’d find their way out, the odds weren’t looking good.
Chapter 15
Later that night, Janet Maple and Peter Laskin walked into the offices of Kirk & Associates where Ham Kirk was already waiting for them. They had called Ham from Laskin’s car, right after Janet had witnessed Dennis being dragged into a warehouse, but didn’t have time to tell Ham everything that happened. The minute they mentioned that Dennis had been kidnapped, Ham told them to get to the office right away.
Janet took a deep breath, trying to steady herself to give Ham an accurate account of events. She was yet to tell Ham that she’d seen Anton Kovar in the flesh and that she’d heard Anton say he was also keeping Mila in the same warehouse where Dennis was now also locked up.
Ham rose from his seat to greet them. “Janet, Peter, thank God you’re all right!”
Janet was shaking and pale and knew there was no use putting up a front. “Ham, Anton’s got Dennis and Baxter—” she broke off, her lips trembling. “Anton’s got Dennis and Baxter,” she repeated frantically.
“Save your strength, Janet. The FBI and U.S. Marshals should be here any minute—you can tell the whole story then. I called them as soon you and Peter called me from the car on your way here. I explained our theory about the Kovars being alive—it took a hell of a time convincing them, but both the FBI and U.S. Marshals are their way here.” Ham squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll find Dennis and Mila. But, Janet, promise me—no more crazy stunts like this. From now on, the authorities are in charge.”
“But we can’t trust the authorities, not until we know who the Kovars have on the inside,” Janet retorted less calmly than she would’ve liked. “That’s what Dennis said and you agreed with him—”
“And where is Dennis now?” Ham countered. He shook his head. “I’m not denying my own responsibility in all of this. I should’ve never let Dennis talk me into letting the two of you take this on. Now, Dennis is paying for my mistake. But at least my mind is clear now and we’ll do things the way they should’ve been done from the start. Let’s just hope it’s not too late.”
Janet took a deep breath, seeing that there was no way to sway Ham’s mind. “So the FBI is taking over the case?”
Ham nodded. “Something that should’ve been done from the get-go. And Janet,” he paused, looking at her sharply, “I hope you’re going to cooperate and give the FBI all the information you have. You know, it’s the only chance Dennis has got to make it out.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Of course. You’re absolutely right. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” Ham consoled her. “You were very brave, but also very reckless. You do realize you could’ve been kidnapped, or worse?”
“Yes. I do. And I won’t do anything like this again. From now on, I’ll defer to the authorities,” Janet said meekly.
“Good girl.” Ham nodded approvingly. “The agent in charge of the investigation should be here shortly. You can tell him the whole story.”
Just then, the intercom buzzed. “Agent Lang from the FBI and Marshal Burke from the office of U.S. Marshals are here,” the receptionist announced.
“Please show them in, Anne,” Ham instructed, pulling a speck of lint from his jacket and straightening up in his chair.
A few moments later, Anne opened the conference room and ushered two men inside. Normally, Anne left the reception desk at five on the dot, and her demeanor made it clear that this unusual activity at the office at such a late hour didn’t agree with her. “Will there be anything else? Would you gentlemen like some coffee?” Anne asked, clearly hoping to hear no for an answer.
“That’s most kind of you, ma’am, but Marshal Burke and I are all right,” a man in a tan suit replied. He had brown hair and brown eyes, was of average height, and looked to be in his early forties. “Agent Andrew Lang, FBI,” he introduced himself, shaking hands with Ham.
“That will be all, Anne. Thank you staying late tonight,” Ham instructed her. “Please clear my calendar for tomorrow and then you can go.”
“As soon as I find my reading glasses,” Anne croaked. “Where are my reading glasses?” she muttered, heading for the door.
“You’re wearing them—both pairs,” Janet whispered, nearly bursting with laughter as she eyed a pair of glasses that was stuck on Anne’s forehead and another one hanging on a chain around her neck. Of course it was nerves, but this momentary diversion made her feel better.
“Janet, Peter, I’d like you to meet Agent Andrew Lang. Agent Lang will be leading this investigation,” Ham made the introductions.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” said Agent Lang as he shook Janet and Laskin’s hands with a firm grip. “Marshal Burke will be joining me on this investigation—his office was responsible for the Kovars’ custody during incarceration.”
“U.S. Marshal for Eastern District of New York, Tom Burke.” A tall, stocky man with a red, flushed face, and a small, pouty mouth shook Janet’s hand. He had to be about six feet tall and two hundred and forty pounds or so.
Janet had to force herself not to recoil as Marshal Burke’s meaty, sweaty paw closed around her hand.
“Why don’t we all sit down and make ourselves comfortable, to the extent the situation allows, of course,” Ham asked, after the introductions were over.
Ham sat at the head of the table. Janet took a seat next to Laskin, her eyes busy studying Agent Lang and Marshal Burke. Could they be trusted? Would they spare nothing to get Dennis and Baxter out? But then it wasn’t like they had a choice, was it? As much as she would’ve liked it to be different, it wasn’t as though she and Laskin could get Dennis out on their own.
Marshal Burke took a seat next to Agent Lang, on the opposite side of the table from Laskin and Janet. Janet watched Marshal Burke from the corner of her eyes as he plopped his wide bottom into a chair and dabbed his forehead with a tissue. His suit looked to be bursting at the seams and he had loosened his tie and undone the two top buttons of his shirt.
“Miss Maple, I was hoping you could bring me up to speed?” Agent Lang asked, his eyes focusing on her. “We have the background of the case, along with primary suspects, but it would be very helpful to hear the full story from you.”
“Yes,” said Marshal Burke, twirling his thumbs, “please take us through the sequence of events as they happened. I understand you both were at the crime scene?” His porcine pale blue eyes darted from Janet to Laskin.
“That’s correct,” said Laskin who’d been quiet until now. “We followed the van when a woman named Jess Hall, at least we think it’s her name, kidnapped Dennis. I was driving—”
Janet barely resisted from kicking Laskin under the table. His earlier composure had left him and he looked positively flustered now, ready to spill the beans to the authorities. That was the problem with Laskin—he was too straight and narrow. “Peter, let’s start from the beginning,” Janet interrupted. “It will be more structured this way. I was with Dennis before he left to meet with Jess and I believe I have some useful information for Agent Lang and Marshal Burke,” she said deferentially.
Janet began to give a detailed account of everything that happened while she trailed Dennis during his rendezvous with Jess Hall. Then she proceeded to summarize her and Laskin’s pursuit of Jess’s van. And then her factual narrative stopped.
“We were in Williamsburg when the van veered into one of the side streets—that’s where we lost sight of it,�
�� Janet said calmly, making a difficult but final decision to end her story right there—at least for the time being. Until she knew more about Marshal Burke and Agent Lang, she was going to follow her hunch and keep mum.
Laskin coughed, as though choking on something. Janet kicked his leg under the table, hoping he’d get her drift. Something about Marshal Burke stunk to high heaven, and there was no way in hell she was going to disclose to him the actual location of the warehouse or that she’d seen Anton Kovar in the flesh.
“Unfortunately, we did lose them,” Laskin said solemnly. “It’s a maze of a neighborhood. There was a car blocking us from making a turn. By the time the street cleared, the van was gone.”
Both Agent Lang and Marshal Burke had been taking notes while Janet had been telling her story.
“Can you at least give us a general location?” Agent Lang asked.
“I can tell you where we lost them.” Janet gave him an intersection they had passed ten minutes before they saw Jess pull the van into the warehouse.
“Very well. We will have it staked out by our team,” Agent Lang said quickly. “I’m sure they couldn’t have gone far.”
“Wait a minute.” Marshal Burke raised his meaty paw. “We wouldn’t want to waste resources prematurely. So far we don’t have any concrete evidence to go by. And frankly, as gripping and unnerving as your account is, Ms. Maple, I don’t even understand why I’m here listening to it,” Marshal Burke added, his deep-set tiny eyes staring at Janet.
Calmly, Janet repeated herself. “As I’ve already told you, I witnessed Dennis Walker being abducted by a woman, Jess Hall. We suspect Jess Hall is working for the Kovars. I also have reasons to believe Mila Brabec, who as you know was the key witness against the Kovars in the initial investigation and went missing a few days ago, was also kidnapped by Anton Kovar with Jess Hall’s aid.”
“But I am yet to see any proof,” Marshal Burke said dismissively. “What proof do you have of this Jess Hall person working for the Kovars?”
Ham raised a warning hand, but Janet ignored him. “We have evidence. There was a note from Anton Kovar—a threat—Mila Brabec found in her apartment. The bar she owns with her friend Amy, Amy and Mila’s, burned down in a fire, which is still being investigated by police. And now Mila herself has gone missing. Jess Hall was with her the night Mila went missing.”
“We’ll get the relevant information from our police colleagues,” Marshal Burke said. “As far as I know, all three Kovars died in a car accident while being transported to another jail facility—all three of them burned to ashes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe in the dead coming back from the grave. It could be someone else, pretending to be Anton Kovar—”
“I think there’s enough evidence to point to the contrary,” Janet cut in. “The night of her disappearance, Mila was out with her friend, Amy, and Jess Hall. Amy believes Jess slipped something in their drinks and kidnapped Mila.”
“It would be most useful to hear Amy’s testimony firsthand,” Marshal Burke noted.
“I’m sure she’d be happy to provide it,” Janet replied. “But we don’t have much time. We know Jess Hall kidnapped Mila Brabec. Today I watched Jess Hall abduct my fiancé and my dog. Now, is the FBI or the U. S. Marshal Service going to do anything to help them?”
“This Jess Hall must possess super human strength to kidnap a man,” Marshal Burke muttered. “Anything in her physical description we should be particularly on the lookout for?”
“I’m sure Ham has already provided you with a physical description,” Janet replied. “My guess is after Jess Hall lured Dennis into the van, she then used a taser or mace to subdue him—one wouldn’t need superhuman powers to do that.”
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to appear to make light of these grave circumstances,” Marshal Burke said in a much more sympathetic tone. “I’m most sorry about your fiancé and your dog. But while I’m most concerned with the safety of the victims, I’m just as equally concerned with identifying their abductors and capturing them. We don’t have any concrete evidence to go on, other than supposition. You wouldn’t want us to go in unprepared and walk into a snake pit, would you? We need to ascertain what kind of pushback we’ll be facing from the kidnappers before any action is taken.”
“I think it’s clear who’s behind these kidnappings,” Janet retorted. “Anton Kovar, his uncle, Petr, and Anton’s brother, Roman.”
“Did you see Anton Kovar kidnap these victims?” Marshal Burke asked.
Yes, I did, Janet thought, but I’ll be damned if I tell you. For all I know you could be in cahoots with the Kovars, running to tip them off.
“Marshal Burke,” Agent Lang interjected, coming to Janet’s aid. “Ms. Maple does have a compelling theory, even if the evidence appears to be circumstantial. There’s clearly enough to go on to proceed with this investigation. We need to get the task force on the ground ASAP.”
“Frankly speaking, Agent Lang, I am surprised you support Ms. Maple’s theory,” Marshal Burke countered.
“In my experience, Marshal Burke, it pays to explore every avenue,” Agent Lang replied.
“It certainly does, Agent Lang, as long as it doesn’t lead you astray,” Marshal Burke countered.
Agent Lang’s neutral expression did not falter. “I would like to point out that Kirk & Associates is a very reputable private intelligence agency. My colleagues have relied on the intelligence procured by this agency in the past and had only the best things to say about them.”
“I’m sure your colleagues were right. I look forward to working with Mr. Kirk and Ms. Maple,” Marshal Burke said smoothly. “Look, I’m not trying to derail this investigation. I’m simply trying to make sure we’re looking for the right suspect.”
“And I greatly value your input, Marshal Burke,” Agent Lang said deferentially. “As you’re aware, protocol requires that all the decisions in this investigation be made jointly between the FBI and the office of U.S. Marshals.”
“I look forward to partnering with you on this investigation as well, Agent Lang. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a lot of information for me to go through. I’m going to call it a night,” Marshal Burked added, heaving himself up to his feet.
“I’ll walk out with you.” Agent Lang rose from his seat. “Ms. Maple, Mr. Laskin, you’ve been most helpful. We’ll notify you as soon as we have more information to go on, and of course we expect you to do the same.”
“Of course.” Janet nodded.
Ham rose from his seat. “I’ll walk you out, gentlemen.”
Once the door closed behind Ham, Lang, and Burke, Laskin flung his hands up in the air.
“Do you know what you just did, Janet?” he exclaimed. “You just lied to the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service! And you lied to your boss. You didn’t give them the address when you knew exactly where the warehouse was. And you didn’t tell them about seeing Anton there and that he’s also keeping Mila in the same warehouse. Omitting facts is the same as lying. You could go to jail for this! Not to mention, get fired.”
“And why do you think I did that?” Janet asked as calmly as she could.
Laskin groaned—his normally pale complexion turned bright red, and his usually neatly combed hair was sticking out in spikes. If they weren’t in such dire circumstances, it’d be hilarious. “I don’t know. You thrive on adrenaline or maybe you enjoy the prospect of going to jail? Take your pick. You realize you obstructed justice, right? We both could go to jail for this!”
“Oh, relax, Peter. I did what my gut told me was right—”
“I sure hope your gut knows how to get us out of this mess. Because from where I stand we’re both totally and completely—”
“Get it together, Peter,” Janet snapped. “I don’t trust those two clowns—especially this guy Burke—he gives me the creeps. And until I know more, I’m not telling them anything.”
Laskin grabbed his head, rocking back and forth. “You must be totally and completely nuts
. And I’m nuts to go along with you!”
“Quiet!” Janet snapped, hearing footsteps behind the door. “Someone’s coming.”
A few moments later the door opened and Ham walked inside the room. “Everything all right?” he asked, looking at Janet and Laskin in turn.
“It’s fine. I’m just really tired. And so is Peter,” Janet added, in an attempt to explain Laskin’s rattled appearance. “I hope I wasn’t too forceful in the meeting. It’s just that this case is very personal to me. I should probably apologize to Agent Lang and Marshal Burke. I wouldn’t want them to think I was out of line.”
“No need. I’m sure they understood. But Janet, I really hope you understand that from now on the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service are in charge of this investigation. And,” Ham paused, “refusing to cooperate with them would be a very serious offense.”
“I understand completely,” Janet confirmed. “Now, if you don’t mind, Ham, I’m exhausted and I just want to go home and crash.”
Ham nodded. “Of course.”
“Thank you.” Janet grabbed her jacket and purse and headed for the door.
“Janet, hold on, I’ll walk you home,” Laskin offered.
“No need,” Janet shot over her shoulder, heading for the elevator bank.
This late at night the building was empty and the elevator was there in a matter of seconds. She got inside and pressed the ‘door close’ button. The doors were about to close when Laskin’s arm waved them open.
“Jeez, are you trying to kill me?” Laskin squeezed inside the elevator. “That’s a fine way of thanking your friends.”
“I didn’t see you coming.”
“Liar.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have followed me. Not if you’re going to be on Ham’s side.”
“I’m on your side,” Laskin panted, still catching his breath.
Janet arched an eyebrow. “You sure didn’t sound like it.”