by David Archer
Moose nodded and began loading some of their floral arrangements inside the van, then picked up the box and laid it carefully on the floor behind the front passenger seat. He climbed into the van as Neil pushed the button to open the overhead door, then backed it out, turned around and was gone.
“Neil, get on those cameras. I need a window of opportunity, either with the nanny taking the children out somewhere, or a definite time when she and the kids are there alone. Keep your eyes peeled and let me know the second you have something.”
“I'm all over it,” Neil said.
It was time to wait. Noah and Sarah sat together in the folding chairs beside Neil, watching the minutes pass by. It would take Moose about half an hour to get to the Gomez house, but nothing could happen until they saw the box taken inside.
Suddenly, Neil pointed at the monitor. “There's Moose,” he said. “The van just pulled up in the driveway. No sign that anyone in the house has noticed him, yet.” He paused for a couple of seconds, then said, “He just got out, he's walking around the van to get to the side door. Got it open, picked up the box—there he goes, up the driveway to the walk. Up the stairs, looks like he's ringing the doorbell. Okay, somebody just opened the door, looks like Mrs. Gomez herself. Moose is talking, she's smiling, and now she's looking into the box and smiling even bigger. Boss, I think we got a winner, here. Yep, she took the box inside, and there goes Moose. He's back in the van, backing out of the driveway and out of sight.”
Less than a minute later, Noah's cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Go,” he said as he answered. It was Moose calling, of course, letting them know that the first phase of the mission had gone off without a hitch. The high-explosive shrine was inside the house.
“Good job,” Noah said. “Now go get us some wheels, and Sarah said to tell you to make sure it can move and handle.”
“No problem, I got it all figured out. Meet me at the McDonald's by the mall in half an hour.”
Noah agreed and put the phone away, then motioned for Sarah to follow him. “Get me something, Neil,” Noah said. “We need to make this happen today.”
“Sure, no problem, I'll just snap my fingers and make the nanny take the kids to the park. All in a day's work for the magic man, no big deal.” He rolled his eyes as Noah and Sarah left the building. They pulled away in the Chrysler a moment later, and Neil began to concentrate on the monitor once again.
It took them almost the entire half hour to get to the rendezvous. Sarah parked the Chrysler at the back of the parking lot. They sat there for about five minutes before a new Ford Explorer pulled in beside them, with Moose at the wheel.
Noah and Sarah got out as Moose did, and met him in front of the blue car. “How long before anyone knows it's missing?” Noah asked.
“Several hours, at least. I didn't exactly steal it; my alter ego, Jimmy McCormick, is taking it for an extended test drive. I convinced the salesman I needed to take it down to Jefferson City to show my mother, told him I was thinking of buying it as a present for her. Had to leave a five-hundred-dollar deposit, but I didn't think you'd mind. The only thing I did was switch out the dealer plates for the ones off the van. The dealer tag is in the trunk.”
Noah nodded, his eyes wide. “Good thinking,” he said. “If everything goes well, we can switch back again later and you can turn it back in without a problem.”
Moose grinned and looked at Sarah. “It's not as fast as the Chrysler, but it did pretty good on the way here. I was kinda surprised, that thing really handles pretty well.”
They traded keys and Sarah slid behind the wheel of the newer car, while Noah got in on the passenger side. As they backed out, they noticed Moose walking into the McDonald's, and Sarah waved at him.
The Ford had a full tank of gas, so they began to just cruise around town. They drove through a couple of the local parks, cruised around the University and finally parked at a small shopping center not far from Alejandra Gomez’s home. Noah had called Neil a couple of times, but the boy said there had been no sign of the nanny or children.
At just past noon, however, the situation changed. Noah's phone rang and he snatched it up instantly. “Go!”
“Boss, I'm not a hundred percent sure if this is what you want, but it may be the best you're going to get. Mrs. Gomez and the nanny just loaded the kids into a car and they're pulling away from the house right now. I've hacked into the traffic cams all around the area, give me a couple of minutes and I'll tell you which direction they're going.”
“Good, let's go for it. If I have to, I'll take out Alejandra now. Between that and the kids disappearing, we'll probably still get the prayer meeting we want.” He motioned for Sarah to start the car and pointed in the general direction of the Gomez house. She pulled out of the parking lot onto the street, and began moving, keeping below the speed limit until she knew which direction to go.
“Okay, she just turned off of North Glenwood onto West Broadway, heading west. Where you at?”
“We're at West Boulevard and Broadway, so she's coming right at us. What's she driving?”
“An SUV, a Lexus. Looks like a new one, it's black.”
Noah was nodding his head. “Okay, good, we'll pick her up. Good job, Neil.”
“You guys just be careful, okay, Boss? Remember, I have absolutely no interest in working with any other team but Camelot. Don't you go getting yourself killed.”
Noah promised to try to obey, and ended the call. Less than a minute later, they spotted the Lexus coming toward them, so Sarah pulled into a parking lot on the right. She cruised through it slowly as the Lexus went by, then pulled out behind it with only a couple of cars in between.
“Don't lose her,” Noah said. “We need a spot where I can make my move, so just hang back a bit until you see them park.”
“I know,” Sarah said. “Don't worry, Babe, this is why they pay me the big bucks.”
She kept the Lexus in sight as they cruised across a good part of the city, and then it turned right on a red light onto Stadium Boulevard. Sarah got hung up at the light for a few seconds, but managed to make the turn without losing sight of the Lexus and was only a couple of cars behind when it turned in to the Columbia Mall.
“Oh-oh,” Sarah said, “this may not be good.”
“Just keep her in sight,” Noah replied. “Let's see what's going on here.”
The Lexus made its way directly to the Dillard's entrance and stopped, while Sarah hung back in one of the aisles. The passenger side front door opened and the nanny stepped out, then went to the rear of the vehicle and opened the tailgate. She took out and unfolded a double stroller, closed the tailgate and went back to the passenger side. A moment later she had removed both children from the car and put them into the stroller. Noah and Sarah could just see Mrs. Gomez wave as she drove away.
“Get up there, now,” Noah said, and Sarah pushed the SUV quickly. The nanny was bustling about, buckling the children into the stroller, when they pulled up beside her. Noah stepped out right beside the nanny, who looked up at him and smiled.
The smile vanished a second later when she saw the pistol he flashed from under his shirt. “Get the kids and get into the car, right now,” he said. “You won't be harmed if you do exactly what I say.”
The woman looked to be in her late teens or very early 20s, and it was obvious that she was about to panic. Noah reached down and picked up the baby girl. “Get the other child and get into the car,” he said. “Please do not make me tell you again.”
The girl swallowed, but she undid the buckle she had just fastened on the little boy and slid obediently into the backseat with him. Noah passed the baby in to her and shut the door. Sarah turned in the seat and kept the nanny covered with her own nine-millimeter Beretta while Noah opened the rear hatch, quickly folded down the stroller and put it inside, along with the big diaper bag the nanny had been carrying. He got back into the front seat and Sarah slipped her gun back into her purse as she drove calmly away.
; Noah leaned over the seat and took the nanny's purse, scanned through it briefly and found her cell phone. There were no other electronic devices in the purse, so he passed it back to her.
“Please, Señor,” the girl said, with tears beginning to fall from her eyes. “Please, please do not hurt the children.”
“I have no intention of harming the children or you,” Noah said to her. “It's simply necessary for me to remove the children from the situation they're in. You will be with us for a little while and then you will be released. You have my word on it.”
“But, Señor, you do not understand,” the girl said, her eyes wide. “These children, they belong to some very powerful people, very bad people. If you let me go, they will kill me because this has happened.”
Noah looked over the back of the seat at her. “I can promise you that won't happen,” he said. “Please be quiet until we get where we're going. As I said, you won't be harmed and we’ll do everything we can to make sure you're comfortable as long as you're with us.”
He looked around the area as Sarah pulled out onto Stadium Boulevard again, but no one seemed to be paying any attention. He took out his phone and dialed Neil, who answered instantly.
“Phase Two is in hand,” Noah said. “Try to get into the security video system at Columbia Mall, especially in front of the Dillard's store. I'm sure they got us on video as I made the snatch, so I'm counting on you to wipe it out. Tell Moose we need to trade cars again, and to meet us out at the East Broadway entrance to Stephens Lake Park.”
SIX
Sarah turned left on Broadway, and followed it across the city until she got to the park. The warehouse was actually closer to the park than they had been, so Moose was already waiting with the Chrysler. There were no other cars close by, and Noah had already scouted the area to be sure there were no security cameras. They transferred the nanny and children into the silver car, and Noah remembered to grab the stroller and diaper bag. Sarah drove away while Moose was switching the license plates back.
It was only about a ten-minute ride to the warehouse, and Noah called ahead to tell Neil to open the overhead door. They pulled the car right inside and stayed in it until the overhead door was closed again.
Noah got out and retrieved the stroller, then opened the driver side rear door. He reached in and took the little boy and put him in the stroller, while the nanny brought out the girl.
“This young lady,” he said, indicating Sarah, “will show you where you will be staying for right now. Some people will be coming to pick you up and take you somewhere else before long, but until then just let us know if there's anything you need.” He handed her the diaper bag and walked alongside as she followed Sarah to the room that had been prepared for them.
Sarah showed her the refrigerator with soft drinks and snacks, then gave her the remote for the little television they had set up. “If you need anything, knock on the door. Someone will be here all the time, you won't be left alone.”
“Please, please, you don't understand,” the girl said. “The children, their mother and father, they will kill me.”
Sarah shook her head sadly. “They won't,” she said. “I can guarantee you, they won't.” She pulled the door shut behind herself and slid the heavy-duty locking bolt home, then added the padlock they had installed for extra security.
She walked over to where Noah and Neil were sitting by the computer and dropped into a chair. Noah was on the phone, speaking with Allison. He nodded into the phone and then ended the call.
“Neil wiped out the security footage at the mall,” he said, “so we should be in the clear on that. Our people will be here for the girl and the kids in about four hours. Queen Allison is sending them in one of the jets. She wants those kids out of Missouri as soon as possible, and so do I.”
Sarah nodded. “Okay, so now what? We just wait?”
Noah picked up the nanny's cell phone from the table in front of him. “I don't think we want to wait,” he said. The phone was an older one, and it took him only a few moments to find Alejandra Gomez in the contact list. He handed the phone to Neil.
Neil plugged a cord into its hands-free jack, tapped a few keys on the computer and then pushed the button to make the call. It was answered only seconds later.
“Si, Margarita?” he heard.
A voice emanated from the computer as Neil spoke into a microphone. “Mrs. Gomez,” he said in Spanish, “since I know you recognize this number, you'll understand that what I'm telling you is the truth. I have your children. They will be returned to you in exchange for ten million dollars. I will call you later tonight with instructions on where to bring the money.”
He cut off the call even as Mrs. Gomez was demanding to speak to the nanny, and then Noah took the phone and smashed it on the concrete floor. When he was certain that it was broken, he tossed the pieces into a metal barrel that had a thin layer of oil in the bottom, then balled up some paper and lit it with a lighter from his pocket. When he tossed it into the barrel, there was a whoosh as the oil caught fire. It burned for only a couple of minutes, and Noah opened a nearby window to let the smoke out.
“What did you think?” Neil said. “I probably rehearsed that at least a hundred times, you know.”
“It was fine,” Noah said. He sat down beside the kid and reached over to turn on the scanner. Moose walked in a moment later and joined them as they waited.
“Everything go okay, turning the car back in?” Noah asked.
Moose grinned. “Went fine, except I think I got a salesman all pissed off at me. I told him Mom didn't like the car, so she was going with a Chevy instead.”
“Yeah, that ought to do it,” Neil said. “Just hope he doesn't get in trouble for letting you take it out for so long.”
“He shouldn't, not as long as they don't figure out it was used in a kidnapping.”
“Hopefully no one will catch on to that,” Noah said. “The car had different tags on it, and any security video footage from the mall got erased by Mr. Wizard, here. I sincerely doubt anyone will connect that car to what happened, which means they won't connect back to Jimmy McCormick, either.”
“So, now we just wait?” Moose asked.
“Yep,” Noah said. “Neil used the nanny's phone to call Alejandra Gomez, so she's probably already sounded the alarm. That was a good ten minutes ago, and there's nothing on the police scanner yet. I have my doubts they'll even be called in, at least not yet. These people like to handle things on their own.”
“You should have given me Old Lady Gomez's phone number,” Neil said. “I could have hacked it so we could listen in to her phone calls. I was going to suggest it, but you smashed the phone too fast.”
Noah shrugged. “Just keep watching the cameras at her house, I'm pretty sure we’ll know when things hit the fan.”
An hour passed by, and Neil reported seeing a few cars coming and going from the Gomez place. Mrs. Gomez’s Lexus had returned, so the visitors were probably friends and associates who had heard about the children’s abduction. Noah nodded. “Let’s go ahead and order some flowers from the other shops in town. Do it in Spanish, so that it sounds like it’s coming from some of their own people.” He turned to Moose. “I think it’s safe for you to go ahead and take some flowers over there. If they seem surprised, just shrug like you don’t know anything.”
Moose nodded. “Hey, all I know is I get paid to drive the truck. They tell me where to deliver flowers, and I go do it. What do I do if they want the office number?”
“Good question,” Noah said. “Give them Sarah’s phone number. She can pretend to be the receptionist if they call.”
“You got it,” Moose said, and then he got up and left.
Neil watched as first Moose, and then two other delivery vans delivered flowers to the Gomez household. The occasional vehicle was still stopping at the house, but didn’t stay very long. It was just over an hour later when he reported that cars began converging on the Gomez house and staying there.
>
“Sounds like it’s about to begin, then,” Noah said. “Neil, get into the security company’s video server and make sure there’s no trace of Moose making any deliveries there. Cops and feds are going to be all over that footage in just a little while, we don’t want anything tying us to it.”
He rose from his chair and looked at Sarah.
“That's our cue,” he said, and she got up without a word to follow him to the car. Moose went to open the overhead door, and Sarah backed out and turned onto the street. She began making her way toward the house while Noah pulled out his phone and got Neil on the line.
“It'll take us about fifteen or twenty minutes to get there,” he said. “I'm going to keep you on the line and on speaker, so give me a running count on targets.”
“Will do,” Neil said. “It looks like Mr. and Mrs. Perez and their daughters, and the entire Hernandez clan have arrived. Wait, there's another car pulling up now—it's Menendez, with all of his sons. There's a lot of people there, already, at least twenty or more. Hold on—okay, there's Armando Rodriguez and his bunch. Boss, you got the whole kit and caboodle in there right now. Oh, shit, wait a minute—there’s a couple of people that aren’t on our list. What about them, Boss?”
“We try to minimize collateral damage, Neil, but it’s a safe bet that anyone associating with these people is somehow involved in the things they do. If you start seeing more who aren’t on the list than the ones who are, I might have to rethink this.”
“Damn. No, it’s just a couple people, so far. Everybody else that I see is part of one of the families.”
“They're moving pretty fast, then,” Noah said. “Keep me posted. If anyone leaves, let me know immediately.” He looked over at Sarah. “Get us there as fast as you can,” he said.
Sarah grinned, and the car launched itself forward. Within seconds she was doing more than sixty miles an hour down the narrow street, and narrowly missed crashing into a car that backed unexpectedly out of a driveway. She had two wheels up on the curb, but managed to get around it without hitting anything.