Angelina's Oak

by Jesse Reiss

Chapter 12

  Angelina hung up the phone and turned around, taking a swig of water before heading back up the trail she had come down. Unlike other trails in the park that were as wide as city sidewalks and carved cleanly from the mountainside, this one was wide enough for one person and cut through progressively higher hills and outcroppings with exposed roots and natural steps here and there in the dry ground. Chaparral covered the mountainside, growing on slopes and in places even Mother Nature never would have thought possible.

  Though the temperature was in the mid eighties and cool for September, small sweat beads dripped from her brow under her baseball cap and down her bare arms. There had been no rain since March it seemed and the grass that had sprung up and thrived during the wet winter months was dead and dried up, making the entire mountain look like a citywide bonfire waiting to happen. Still, trees and bushes that had adapted to the long drought managed to grow, somehow finding moisture in the desert-like ground.

  As the tree came in sight she got a little excited, wondering what surprises she might find as she waited for her mother. She had so many questions.

  She thought about this pleasantly until she saw the tall tattooed man standing beside the tree’s canopy approximately fifty feet away, waiting for her.

  Angelina tensed at the sight of the man. He was unfriendly, she was sure of that. She froze in place, staring at him. He was muscular, dressed in a wife beater that accentuated his chest muscles and flat abdomen. Colorful tattoos splashed over his bare arms like she saw on basketball players. Long brown hair came down to his shoulders and a trimmed goatee seemed to outline the smirk on his face.

  She took a step backwards, getting ready to run. The man took a quick look around to be sure they were alone and pulled a handgun from behind his waist. “You’re not going anywhere doll. You’re coming straight here to me. Don’t think I’ll chase you because if you scream or run, I shoot you.” He spoke with a sinister voice like he had only half his vocal cords.

  Angelina stood there, frozen. She fought back the urge to scream.

  “Come on. Come over here and I won’t hurt you. Just gonna use you as leverage to get something we want.”

  ◊

  Paula left the coin shop and ran to her waiting car. “To the Sunset/Vermont Metro station, quick!” She looked at her watch. She had twenty minutes, which with traffic was a little less time than it would take to get there. Trying to drive fast in Los Angeles was pointless she knew, but she urged Jacqueline on, encouraging her to make an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street and head back the other way towards Vermont Avenue. The congested traffic on the main streets through the hundred of square miles of Los Angeles all went at one speed with the traffic lights rigged to make any trip from one point to another take the same time, no matter who drove it and during what time of day. This was such that timetables could be published for the thousands of city busses, accurately predicting to the minute when they would be at what intersection.

  Paula’s cell phone rang. She looked at the number. It wasn’t one she recognized. She would otherwise send it to voicemail, but didn’t want to miss anything to do with her daughter. She hit the receive button and put it to her ear. “This is Paula.”

  “Hi Paula. This is Lee Stanley. You remember me? I was the cop that arrived at your house the other day.”

  “Yeah, I remember you,” Paula said coldly.

  Lee was hoping he would get a warmer welcome. Maybe an indication that she would be interested in talking to him again and maybe not only about police services. Since meeting her it had been hard for him to get her from his mind. Clearly from her reception she wasn’t interested. He dropped his tone to boredom. “Well, I just wanted to check up with you and find out how you were doing and see if you needed anything. You know, routine follow up stuff.”

  Paula didn’t know whether to be thankful or outraged. She had already wrongly accused two people and this man was on the short list of suspects. She decided to take the cynical side. “Well, since you asked, Officer Stanley and since I don’t even know if I can trust you or anyone. I have fifteen minutes to deliver this damn stupid coin to some Mafia or gangster jerk-off or my daughter gets kidnapped or murdered or…or…” her voice broke down on her. She couldn’t finish her sentence.

  She let out a piercing scream and flipped the cell phone closed, which made Jacqueline jump, losing control of the vehicle. The tires squealed as she righted the wheel and jerked the car back into its lane. Paula spun and violently threw the phone against the back seat.

  There was a moment of silence.

  Jacqueline’s knuckles went white, she was gripping the wheel so tight and her chest was thumping. She realized after a few seconds that she had no cognizance of where she was or what she was doing. She could think only of Angelina, Paula’s beautiful and charming daughter that couldn’t make an enemy of Hitler if she tried. She shook her head and refocused on the car in front of her. She had to get Paula to where she was going.

  “Sorry I scared you like that,” Paula said eventually, lifting her head for the first time since she exploded at her cell phone.

  “No problem. Really. I don’t know how you can keep yourself together at all. You tell me what I can do to help and I’ll do it.”

  “Thanks. Just get me to the Metro station and wait for me outside.”

  Paula took the safety off her pepper spray in case she would need it and picked up her cell phone from the backseat, confirming it still worked. She placed the coin in her purse where she could easily grab it.

  At 3:05 they drove up Vermont to the Sunset intersection. Jacqueline pulled up alongside the bus-loading zone and Paula exited the car. She looked around her. Hospital buildings stood at three corners with a fifty-foot banner stretching down one telling her to find peace in body and mind with a man in a lotus position and insincere tranquility on his face. If I get hurt, she thought, it couldn’t be in a better place.

  She walked to the Metro entrance, trying to take in the faces around her. No one seemed threatening or suspicious. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her at all.

  She got on the escalator and took one final look around before descending into the Metro’s gaping entrance. The LA subway was designed to give one the feel of free space. Huge cavernous rooms led one to the next with escalators, elevators and large staircases, like they were expecting thousands to enter and exit every minute. If you were claustrophobic or feared earthquakes trapping you under, the subway’s size and stature removed any worry. The subway was used, yes, but nowhere near the popularity the city had hoped for. On the weekends it was sparse. LA loved its automobile like it was a family member and wasn’t about to let it go.

  Paula reached the escalator bottom, walked passed the ticket machines and took the next escalator down to the trains.

  She walked slowly down the long and wide subway loading and unloading zone. There were half a dozen passengers waiting at various points up and down the walkway. She looked for eye contact or recognition and got none. No one was interested in her. She reached the walkway end and turned around, her back to the far wall. Her heart was beating loudly. She gripped her purse tighter and stood there, watching. From here she could see anyone entering or exiting the platform and make eye contact with anyone approaching.

  After a minute standing there she felt the wind as a train approached in the distant tunnel. The light became visible and it appeared, slowly screeching to a stop as the full length came in. The doors opened and a few people got out and a few got in. The doors closed and the train rapidly gained speed as it headed onto its next destination. She started to worry she was at the wrong place or was being tricked or shouldn’t have gone straight to get her daughter.

  Then she saw him. It was James Hickey, her employee. He was off work today. He was wearing a dark green jacket and baggy jeans more appropriate for an oversized penguin. Paula let him approach, wondering if this was an odd coincidence or if he was behind this. He walked up t
o her. He looked nervous and unsure.

  “Hi Paula. I’m really sorry about all this, but you’ve got to listen to me and do as I say.”

  Paula was shocked. “You! Why should I listen to you?”

  “Paula, believe me. It isn’t me that is saying this. Look, I’ve got myself in as much trouble as you think you might be in right now. For both our sakes Paula, you’ve got to listen to me and do as I say. They are going to hurt your daughter if you don’t. Seriously.”

  “You can call me Miss Russell and my daughter is safe. You can’t hurt her.”

  “No. Your daughter is in grave danger. They already have her.”

  She looked at him like she would a kitchen pest, “How do you know?”

  “Griffith Park, by an oak tree. The man who has her sent me this picture”. He hit a button on his cell phone and turned it to show her. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth; terrified by the image she had been shown. “You don’t understand. These people are serious.”

  “What people? What sort of person is this insane?”

  Wind from the next train — coming in the opposite direction — started blowing Paula’s hair back and she looked over, watching its light appear. The screeching brakes and the tug of the wind only added to the nightmare.

  “I didn’t want to do this to you. I was sent into your shop to gain your trust so later it would be easy to get in and rob it. When I saw what nice people you all were I didn’t want to do it. I’ve been put up to this. I don’t want to hurt you or your daughter. I convinced them to not take your personal jewelry from your home and told them about this coin as an alternative. So you must trust me!”

  “Who is ‘they’?” she demanded again through clenched teeth.

  “I can’t say.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know. I hate myself too. We’re getting on this train.”

  “I don’t have a ticket.”

  “We’re getting on this train.”

  “No.”

  He pulled back his jacket showing a gun tucked into his boxer shorts that hung five inches above his sagging jeans.

  Paula looked at him with hatred and walked over to the train entrance. She stepped in and he followed, motioning for them to sit together in the back. The doors closed and the train took off to the next station.

  There was silence for a minute as James mustered the courage to confront his boss again.

  “Miss Russell, give me the coin.”

  “I first want to know that my daughter is safe.”

  “Paula, I can only guarantee your daughter’s safety if you give me the coin.”

  “Some psycho is threatening to kill her. How can you guarantee me this?”

  “I am getting off at the Vine stop with the coin and you are staying on this train. When I get above ground I will call and confirm I have the coin at which point she will be let go. There is no reception in these tunnels and I can’t leave with you. I have strict orders to follow or else…Angelina, you and I will be in far greater trouble than we are now.”

  “You told them about my daughter? You told them where I live? You told them about this coin? Why?”

  He looked at her with pity in his eyes. “Like I said, it was either that or a week from now your entire store and your home would have been robbed clean. I convinced them to not take your jewelry and promised them I could get them the coin instead. They know how to sell such an item and it is worth more than all you have combined.”

  “You think you are doing me a favor? You have a sick mind. They should have taken the jewelry and the house and my car. Nothing matters more than my daughter. You have no idea how much you are hurting me. I hope you and whoever ‘they’ are rot in Hell.”

  The pity in James’ face vanished and he held out his hand. “The coin?”

  Paula slowly reached into her purse and felt the cold pepper spray can in her hand. She could pull it out and disarm this guy in a second. He was a useless punk. And then what? She would be killing the messenger and probably guaranteeing her daughter’s death. She let the can go and moved her hand over to the pocket holding the coin. She pulled it out and placed it in James hand.

  James took a quick look at it. “Thanks,” he said and placed it in his jacket pocket. The mechanical voice announced the approaching stop as Western. They sat there in silence as a few passengers got on and others got off. No one went to the rear to sit near them.

  The train sped on again, heading for Vine.

  “How do I get my daughter back?”

  “She’ll be left there in the park.”

  “If she’s been harmed, I swear I will track you down.” Paula was surprised at the calmness and sincerity with which she spoke.

  He looked at her, regret showing in every facial and eye muscle. “I understand,” was all he could say.

  This guy is a loser, Paula thought. He is a spineless, rimless zero. If these people have the courage and guts to kidnap my daughter, this guy means nothing to them.

  The mechanical voice announced the Vine stop and James got up. He waited by the sliding doors until they opened and stood there, waiting for the last second to jump out so Paula couldn’t follow him. He looked back at her one last time. “Goodbye Paula,” and was gone.