by Leslie North
“Why? Out of some sort of friendship?”
Shaking his head, “No, he couldn’t afford me, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t take the job. In fact, it may have already happened.”
“What do you mean,” asked Jared with alarm. “What is this?”
As Jared turned to run back to the house, Davis grabbed his arm. “If you had been in the house, he would have killed you. At least this way, you have a chance to get her back.”
“Who is HE? Where is he taking her,” demanded Jared.
Releasing his arm, Davis smiled. “HE is someone who used to work for me. And the where,” Davis shrugged. “Well, I heard that her ex has a yacht berthed in Long Beach. Might want to start there.” As Davis turned to walk away, Jared grabbed his arm.
“Why, Davis?”
“Why, what?”
“Why tell me this?”
Shrugging, Davis looked at his old friend. “Her ex is a sanctimonious shit who doesn’t know how to move on. You, at least, I liked.”
“This isn’t over, Gavin.”
Tugging his arm free, Davis started walking away. “You won’t see me again.” Looking at his watch, he turned one last time to his old friend, “Hurry, Jared. They have some time on you.”
As Jared broke into a run, he prayed that his old friend was wrong. As he ran across the park, all the missed cues, the failed missions…the pieces started falling into place. As he neared the house, he slowed down. Nothing looked amiss. Not wanting to alarm Rita, he walked casually toward the front door. He could hear Casey barking in the backyard. She never barked. Reaching the door, he pushed it slowly open. It was unlatched.
Chapter 3
“Rita?”
Silence.
“Rita, honey, you in the house?”
Jared began searching the house, but couldn’t find anything amiss. Except that, Rita wasn’t answering. As Casey’s barking became more frantic, Jared walked into the kitchen. Standing outside the French doors was Casey, pacing back and forth, begging to come back in. Opening the door, she raced to his office. Inside the door, his office chair had been pushed across the room, but other than that…reaching down, he picked up a piece of paper off the floor. Flipping it over, he saw a printout of a picture of Rita sitting outside by the fire pit, laughing. Her sister had taken that picture at the last family get together. Under the pic was the GPS coordinates for his house.
“Dammit,” he swore.
Taking a deep breath, Jared steadied himself. Stepping back, he began a systematic search of the house looking for clues. Checking the bedroom and bath, nothing seemed out of place. He searched the family room and found the remnants of Rita and Casey’s afternoon game, but nothing else. Walking down the hall, the carpet runners were out of place, but that often happened when Casey raced around. Checking for Rita’s bag, he found it hanging in the entry, her wallet still there along with her cell phone. She never left the house without her phone.
Reaching for his own phone, he called the detective that they dealt with when John Tucker first tried to kidnap Rita. He got his voicemail. Taking a deep breath, he snapped a photo of the one of Rita with the GPS coordinates and sent it to him. And then he went outside to search for anything. Walking to the curb, he turned to look at the house. Not finding anything out of place, he walked the perimeter of the house. He almost missed it. Damn, I’m out of practice, he thought. The lock to the side door had been broken. A quick tug to the doorknob and the door swung open. As he walked back in, his phone rang. It was the detective.
“What is this,” he asked without pretense.
“It’s Rita; I think she’s been taken.”
“What do you mean?” Without mentioning Gavin Davis, Jared brought the detective up to speed on what he found and his suspicions that Rita may have been taken to Tucker’s yacht in Long Beach harbor. Without missing a beat, the detective asked him, “So, what aren’t you telling me?”
“My source. I received a warning, but it came too late.”
“And your source would be?”
“I can’t tell you that. Can you help me? They have at least an hour on me. I’m heading up to Long Beach now. If there’s a way to find out if Tucker is berthed there and the number, that’s a start. Even better if I can get access to any security footage.”
“You can’t do this alone.”
“Oh, yes, I can.”
“Look, you may have once been a badass, but this guy has one upped you. You’ll need help.”
“Volunteering?”
“I’ll make a couple calls. Pick me up at the station on your way to the freeway. I’m coming with you.”
“Done.” Whistling for Casey, Jared grabbed his keys and headed to his truck. He was panicked, but he knew if he let it get to him, he was done. Rita was done. What the hell was Tucker thinking? Jumping on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, he headed to the sheriff’s station to pick up Detective Drake Edwards. He had been one of the first officers on the scene after the incident with Tucker at the Nuñez family home. While the two didn’t serve together in the military, they had established an easy camaraderie and the two had become friends. As Jared pulled in front of the Sheriff’s station, Drake was waiting out front. Climbing in the truck, he gave Casey a friendly scratch before pulling out his tablet. As Jared heading to the freeway, Drake began talking.
“He has a yacht moored at the Alamitos Bay Marina. Nice looking. Fifty footer. Was able to reach Harbor Patrol and they verified that it’s still there, but no idea for how long. It’s not like an airplane. He doesn’t have to record any type of travel plans.”
“Is he there, now?”
“Not at the moment, no. Security reported some activity and they’re in process of pulling footage.”
“How did you have time to get a search warrant?”
“Yes, well, about that. I may have mentioned something about the Patriot Act and the security guard got excited. I guess it’s normally a quiet marina.”
“John Tucker is not a terrorist.”
“We won’t know that until he’s apprehended, now will we? It will take us at least two hours to get up there. I have alerts out on Tucker to surveil, but not detain. Since he had someone else do his dirty work, we need to let this play out so we can get to your woman.”
Clutching the steering wheel, Jared could only nod as they drove in silence for the next hour.
Chapter 4
Rita woke to darkness. Something wasn’t right, but her brain felt fuzzy. Shaking her head, she realized that she was blindfolded. And then, she remembered. She had taken Casey outside and turned around at Casey’s growl. A man she had never seen before was standing there. Before she could say anything, Casey had launched herself at him and bit down hard on his forearm. As he struggled to shake her off, Rita ran for the house. As she reached her phone, she felt herself start to fall. The only thing that made sense is the man must have caught up to her and given her something to knock her out. As the vehicle bounced, Rita came down hard. Ouch. Reaching for her head, she found her wrists taped together. Her ankles suffered similar treatment and there seemed to be some sort of rope keeping her from moving too far. Hello? She tried to call out, but the gag made her tongue feel like an old wool sock. Taking a couple tentative breaths, Rita concluded that she was in a moving vehicle. Judging from the echo, she was guessing some sort of cargo van. Going where, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t going to panic. She knew that Jared would find her. And she hoped that Casey was ok and that she’d taken a firm bite out of their assailant. As the van continued to bounce and lurch, Rita determined that they were in typical Southern California traffic. Before long, the driver picked up speed again, only to slow several miles later. A couple tight curves and the terrain felt different. They were no longer on the freeway, but had switched to surface streets.
A couple more bounces through some ugly potholes and the van rolled to a halt. She heard the door open and shut and the sound of footsteps walking away. They returned moments later and
she heard the back door open as someone climbed in and shut the door behind him.
“I know that you’re awake. Cooperate and things will go less painfully for you.” As the assailant reached for Rita, she braced to kick him as soon as she could, but pressure on her shin brought tears to her eyes. “I know a lot of different ways to inflict pain like you’ve never felt before. Cooperate and avoid it. Understand? Nod your head.” Giving a quick assent, Rita felt hands reach for the tape around her ankles. As her legs were cut free, additional pressure to the shin had her rethinking any further attempts at escape. Her assailant made quick work of the tape on her wrists and pulled her blindfold off. Rita blinked in the gloom of the van as large hands reached down to pull her to a sitting position. “The effects of the sedative are wearing off and you should be ok shortly. As he tugged her gag free, he pressed a bottle of water into her hands. “Drink slowly. It will help.”
As Rita took the bottle, she looked around. She was in a nondescript cargo van. She had spent the trip tied in the back and secured to cargo hooks to keep her from sliding about and probably finding something to cut herself free. A couple more sips from the bottle and the back door was opened as her assailant stepped out. The sudden bright sunlight brought additional tears to her eyes and she couldn’t see more than vague shadows. The man reached inside and scooped her up, before setting her down on the ground, steadying her as her legs buckled. When she was able, Rita looked around. She was in a parking lot. Surprised at the public location, she turned to her abductor who smiled at her behind mirrored glasses. He was still holding her up and pressure on her side from his fingers had her gasping for breath. “Behave now,” he said casually as he scanned the parking lot. Seemingly satisfied, he held her tightly to his side as he shut the van and lead her toward a marina. As they walked toward a gate, he pulled a key card from his back pocket as he escorted her through and down a short ramp. They were soon on a dock and weaving down walkways. As they turned one more time, Rita spotted a yacht with the name, “Lovely Rita.” Grinding to a halt, she stared. It couldn’t be, she thought.
“Come, now. He’s waiting.” As her assailant walked her toward the yacht, she trembled.
“Please,” she said in a whisper. “There’s still time to turn away. I won’t tell anyone. I promise, but please, don’t bring me to him.”
Tightening his grip on her, he remained quiet as he brought her to the yacht. Opening the gate to the gangway, he waited for her to walk up ahead of him, but Rita refused to move. As Rita turned to plead with him again, he reached for her. Quickly holding her hands up in surrender, she turned and walked slowly up the gangway, followed closely by the one man who could have stopped this. As they reached the deck, he put a hand on her back to guide her into the cabin. As they walked inside, she stopped short as her ex-husband, John Tucker, swiveled around in a Captain’s chair.
“But how,” she started to ask. The last she had heard, her ex was under court-appointed psychiatric treatment and forced to wear a leg cuff while he served out his time under house arrest. Quickly looking at his ankles, she turned questioning eyes to her ex who stretched and flexed his bare ankles in front of him.
Smiling maliciously, he said, “I changed lawyers. The new one is much more to my liking. Better in court and an excellent fuck.”
At Rita’s flinch, he laughed. “What’s the matter, honey? You did encourage me to move on. It just so happens that my current fling also knows how to use her body in ways you never could. Pity she doesn’t scream like you do,” continued Tucker as his eyes narrowed at her. As Rita started to back away, her assailant grabbed one of her wrists and pulled it behind her. “Put her over there,” said Tucker as he motioned to an identical Captain’s chair. “And be sure she can’t move.”
Rita was quickly pushed down into the chair. Rope was used to secure her to the chair. “Might as well gag her now,” called out Tucker as he watched his ex-wife. “While I do like to hear her scream, I’m in no mood to hear her talk.” As her assailant finished securing her to the chair, he knotted a rag, which he started to secure around her head. “Not like that,” said Tucker as he rose quickly. Walking over, he grabbed the rag and shoved it in her mouth securing it with duct tape.
“That will tear the skin,” said her assailant as he watched Tucker check his knot work.
“As I said,” began Tucker as he tugged at the ropes to make sure they were tight, “I like to hear her scream. Oh, what about the dog,” he asked as he continued to fiddle with the ropes.
“Left the dog in the backyard.”
Turning quickly, “What do you mean you left the dog,” Tucker demanded in a shrill tone.
“I told you before, I don’t harm animals. The dog was left in the yard.”
Visibly shaking himself off, “Fine, fine. I guess I can’t have everything. No bother. Much.” He said as he waved his hand dismissively at Rita’s assailant, “Payment has been made. You’re done here.” Giving the ropes around Rita’s wrists and ankles one last tug, Tucker stood up. Rita’s hands were already changing color as pins and needles set in.
“The ropes are too tight,” commented the assailant as he headed to the door.
“Once again, not your concern. Get out. NOW,” said Tucker merrily as he headed out the cabin door to begin preparations to leave. Giving Rita one last look, the assailant walked out and headed down the gangway.
Rita wanted to scream in frustration. When her assailant originally tied her up, he’d left sufficient room to avoid pinching off circulation, but as Tucker talked and fussed, he tightened them bit by bit. Rita’s hands had gone cold and while she couldn’t see them, she knew they were changing color. She kept silently pleading with her assailant to see how crazy Tucker is and help her. She knew this was a money transaction, but even he could see that she was in serious danger. The fact that Tucker didn’t care about her circulation before they even left the dock told her that he was playing for keeps and she probably wouldn’t survive whatever trip he had in mind. As she choked on a sob, she hoped that Jared got back to the house and figured out that something was wrong. If her assailant had left Casey outside as he said, then Jared would know that something was up. Casey couldn’t stand being outside by herself and would scratch and claw her way to Rita. The only time Rita had tried, it resulted in an expensive vet bill, as they had to pull wood shards from Casey’s paws. Since then, Rita always made sure to leave Casey in the house so she could wait by the door.
As Tucker prepared his boat for departure, he couldn’t help humming his favorite tune. And as he walked past the cabin, he knew that Rita could hear him as she snorted and choked through a sob. Ah yes, it was good to have his wife back and he was looking forward to leaving his imprint on her. His lawyer was a fun distraction, but she was a total pain slut. It wasn’t until he cut her open that she truly screamed for him and well, that didn’t last long. Rita would scream much louder and longer provided he didn’t go to fast and he was planning on taking his time with her. Chuckling to himself, he started the engine and backed the Lovely Rita out of her berth. It would take a couple hours to get to his planned destination and then he would rip off the gag. This was going to be fun.
Chapter 5
As Jared and Drake neared Long Beach, Drake’s phone beeped. As he checked messages, he swore under his breath. “Bad news, security reports that Tucker’s yacht has left the harbor.”
Slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, “Dammit, how far are we?”
“At least 30 minutes.” Accelerating, Jared began weaving in and out of traffic. “Slow it down, I don’t have jurisdiction here and we’ve no proof of an abduction. If we get pulled over, we’ll lose more time.”
As Jared concentrated on the road, eating up the miles as quickly as possible, he had no idea how Tucker managed to get out of his home arrest confinement. “Can you find out the status of Tucker’s home arrest? He’s supposed to be wearing a monitor and sticking close to home.”
Pulling out his tab
let, Drake pulled up Tucker’s files. “According to his file, he got a new lawyer a couple months ago. Three weeks ago, she had the judge’s ruling overturned.”
“When did he buy the yacht? Can you find that out?”
“Yes, saw it here somewhere. Here. He’s had it a month. It’s called the “Lovely Rita. And here’s something else, his lawyer has been missing for…ten days.”
“Dammit!” Jared accelerated the truck. Cops be damned, he thought. As they entered the off ramp, Jared had to slam on his brakes to avoid skidding. Taking the turn at a dangerous speed, he headed toward the marina. “What about Harbor Patrol? Any chance someone has laid eyes on the yacht so we know where they’re headed?”
Nodding his head, Drake fired off a couple messages. “If anyone has seen him, we’ll know by the time we get there.”