by Wes Lowe
Kenny scanned the window ledges. “No sign of Abby or Olivia.”
“They’re not in the studio, either,” said Byron, who conducted a futile search of the big recording room.
Queenie glanced upward. “There!” she pointed. “Some of the tiles aren’t seated properly.”
They stood on office chairs and started poking the ceiling tiles, pushing the lightweight panels out of their slots.
“This is pointless. Too flimsy,” concluded Queenie.
Ears perked as they heard faint shouts of, “Jump! Jump!
They rushed back to the open window. They couldn’t figure out what was happening. They heard voices but saw only pedestrians looking up toward the Vector’s roof.
Kenny’s head jolted as he realized, “They must be around the corner.”
The three dashed out of the boardroom and into the corner office where they saw their prey, Abby and Olivia, standing outside on the window ledge.
Unnerved, Abby and Olivia stared intensely down twelve stories to the ground. Noah had sent them there so they could sneak back into a different room of Skyscape while he stayed as a decoy. A few months earlier, the three of them jumped fifty-four stories from Chin’s penthouse hideout into a swimming pool so Noah figured if they did it once, they could do it again but, as Robert Burns said so many years ago, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry…”
In the original plan, they were supposed to get back into the building via a different route. Now, it appeared they might have to jump like Noah had. They saw JJ catch Noah and land on the fruit cart, but it struck them that the odds of Noah’s bizarre stunt working again were zero.
There was a tap on the window behind them. They turned to see Queenie and Kenny looking out at them.
Queenie opened the window. Concern filled her voice. “Are you crazy? What are you doing out there? Do you want to get killed?”
Abby looked at Olivia. “Do we have a choice?”
Olivia shook her head and the two women climbed into the corner office full of apprehension.
42
Not Nice
A deeply concerned Queenie secured Olivia and Abby’s hands, making sure they were safe as she helped them from the ledge into the office. Any leverage she would have on Noah would vanish if the girls were dead.
“Thank God you two are okay. What were you doing? Why did Noah jump?”
Olivia was completely frazzled and bewildered. “I don’t know what’s going on. Noah told us to fight and the next thing I know, Abby and I are standing on the ledge.”
As Queenie nodded sympathetically, she realized Noah somehow must have figured out what was going on. That meant it was time to end the charade. She steepled her fingers and pointed them at Olivia. “I suggest you get Noah back here.”
“Why? There’s no point. I don’t know what’s happened, but obviously the deal is dead.” Olivia’s jaw slackened. “I hate to think he was so petty, but it seems like it’s because of me. His male ego can’t take that we broke up.”
“Call him, Olivia. Get him back up here.”
Olivia’s shoulders slumped as her voice wavered, “I told you. There is no point.”
Queenie spoke deliberately and softly. “He’ll come. Tell him if he doesn’t, I will kill you and Abby. If he wants to see you breathing again, he must deposit one hundred fifty million dollars into the account number I give him. In the meantime, I’ll chloroform you, then put you in a special location he’ll never find. Assuming there is no problem with the funds or their transfer, I’ll text Noah your location.”
Olivia and Abby coughed sharp gasps of horrified surprise. They could not believe they had so misjudged Queenie. “Why?” was the only word Abby could utter.
Queenie sneered. “Money, of course. That, and the fact that Noah killed my business partner and brother King, my loser brother Duke, and just about killed my father Chin Chee Fok. A hundred and fifty million is getting you off cheap.”
Queenie’s statement was pounding in Olivia’s ears. It just couldn’t be. “Chin died. I saw it myself.”
“We saw him burning like a candle,” muttered Abby as she stared at Queenie.
“My father is a survivor. Now please let Noah know I’m waiting.”
“There’s no guarantee you won’t kill us,” stated Olivia. “I want a guarantee.”
“Who said anything about killing you?” Queenie handed her cell phone to Kenny, then turned back to Olivia and Abby. “Smile for the camera.”
JJ, Noah, Sam and Walrus craned their necks to watch Olivia and Abby re-enter Skyscape’s offices.
“Uh, oh. That is so not good,” uttered Sam, stating the blatantly obvious.
Noah’s cell phone vibrated. When he noticed a video was attached, he positioned the phone so all could see.
Faces paled and lips clenched as the video showed Queenie twirling one of her sharpened crane’s beaks. With Kenny holding Olivia’s arms behind her back to prevent movement, Queenie ran the pecker down Olivia’s cheek lightly. The camera zoomed in, filling the screen with a thin red line of blood seeping out.
There was also a text message. Come up now. Be prepared to wire transfer $150,000,000. Or you can come later to collect the bodies.
Noah clenched his teeth. “We don’t capitulate to threats for ransom.”
“But it’s Olivia and Abby,” cried Sam. “You gotta pay. It’s only money.”
“Sam, there is no guarantee they won’t kill them even if we pay. And, if word got out that we gave in this time, everyone with a pocketknife would grab one of us and demand payment… But I am going to do something.”
JJ corrected Noah, “We are going to do something.”
Sam and Walrus chimed in, “Us, too. Let’s charge in and get them.”
Ah, the impetuousness of youth. Noah growled, “Good intentions, bad idea. We’d be lucky to get past the front guards. They have serious firepower and accurate shots but…”
“Would this help?” asked Walrus.
All eyes turned to see the black teen grinning as he exposed a Glock stuffed into his jeans and hidden under his shirt. “Helps to have a dad with the NYPD.”
“And I brought some of my toys with me,” added JJ, showing the martial arts stars and a couple of daggers he brought from the hotel.
“I guess we’re in business,” said Noah as JJ gave him two knives and five metal stars.
Sam’s eyes widened as Noah handed him one of the knives and three of the stars. “Really?”
“You spend more time with those damned things than I do when we’re together. It better pay off,” said Noah.
Yes!
Noah composed a message on his phone.
Please don’t hurt them. I am on my way.
Hearing the ding of her cell phone, Queenie quickly pulled it out to read Noah’s response.
Queenie breathed a sigh of relief. “You may not be interested in him, but you should be thankful he’s still interested in you.”
Olivia shook her head. The chances of Queenie letting her and Abby live if Noah gave her the money was zero. Even now, their chances were slim. The best prospect of survival was to make Queenie think Noah would not deliver.
“Noah won’t do it. When Chin kidnapped me, Noah told my father not to give in. He knew Chin would never let me live whether Dad gave him the ransom or not. Like father, like daughter. The situation’s the same.”
Queenie turned cold. “I’m not my father. And do you know how stupid it was for Noah to leave? He could have gotten away with half the amount and we could have all gone home. But no, he had to play the hero and that’s going to cost him.”
43
Kill Myself?
“We need just a little something before we start. Wait a sec,” yelled Sam as he ran into the Dollar Store across the street.
Two minutes later, Sam dashed back. “Now we’re ready,” he said as he showed the dozen stink and smoke bombs he had purchased. “We’re good to go.”
Noa
h glanced into the lobby of the Vector Building and saw there were now two security guards on duty. He motioned for Sam and Walrus to enter first.
The two boys entered through the revolving doors JJ had broken earlier.
“No visitors,” announced one guard sternly.
“Aw, come on. I came all the way from Hong Kong to see Skyscape. Please. Please,” begged Sam.
Paying attention only to Sam, the guards didn’t notice Walrus setting off the stink bombs or lighting the bag with the smoke bombs.
“You can come…” started a guard. Then the two guards began hacking and gagging. Spotting the silhouettes of JJ and Noah entering through the haze, they pulled out their guns and began firing at them.
As JJ had predicted, their marksmanship was superb, even with the smoke-and-stink distraction.
Noah and JJ leapt out of the way, allowing Sam clear sight to launch the throwing stars.
One guard quickly fired at the incoming lethal objects, clipping both in mid-flight. Their fragments hit the other incoming stars and deflected out of harm’s way.
He turned his weapon on Sam and Walrus but, before he could fire, Noah and JJ launched their daggers at the security guards. There was no time for them to react and both men went down with the blade handles sticking out of their thighs.
As they screamed, Sam threw a twisting straight-arm martial arts punch on one guard, knocking him out. The second guard held his arms up for surrender as Walrus trained his father’s security pistol on him.
“Sam and Walrus, get this turkey to take you to the electrical room and find the electrical panel. Keep your cell phone on. When you hear me say, ‘Kill myself,’ cut the power.
“You heard the man. Take us to the electrical room,” ordered Sam as Noah and JJ boarded the elevator. “Gobble, gobble.”
Kids.
“What’s taking him so long?” asked Kenny impatiently. “It’s been twelve minutes and it doesn’t take that long on the elevator.
The passing of time worried Queenie, too. Was Noah bluffing? Did he have a change of heart? She didn’t think so, but the possibility was enough to set her on edge.
“It’s a classic negotiating technique,” assured Byron. He had a pistol pointed at the boardroom door, waiting for Noah to arrive. “I’ve gone through enough similar situations to know that a strategy is to wait the other person out until he feels the cold drops of sweat forming on his forehead.”
“Maybe you should get her some anti-perspirant then,” said Noah as he entered the room with an unexpected swagger. He took a seat in a chair in front of Queenie.
“I’m glad you came to your senses, Noah,” said Queenie. “You can have Olivia and Abby back in time for drinks if you wire the funds now. One hundred fifty million dollars.”
Noah spoke firmly. “You are not going to get a hundred fifty million dollars. You’re not even going to get two million dollars… The Chad Huang Foundation will pay you one dollar for the New Amsterdam Arts Center.”
“Kenny, take care of Abby, will you?” said Queenie.
Noah remained still while Kenny took out a knife and moved toward Abby.
“Do something, Noah,” screamed Olivia.
Noah smirked. “What do you expect me to do? Kill myself?”
“It’s hammer time,” yelled Walrus, pointing his father’s gun at the security guard’s head in the electrical room.
Sam, brandishing the dagger, gulped. He had been staring at a confusing labyrinth of wires, trying to figure out which ones to cut.
Hearing Noah’s cue, Sam threw his hands up.
“I give up.” Sam cut every wire in sight.
All the lights in the electrical room went out.
In the darkness, the security guard swung in the direction of Walrus. Hand smacked flesh and Walrus dropped the gun. The guard heard the happy sound of metal hitting concrete.
The guard grabbed the black teenager around the neck. “Okay, boys. There’s a new sheriff in town.”
When the guard turned his cell phone light on, there was no sign of Sam.
“I will kill your buddy if you don’t come out,” yelled the guard.
“Go ahead,” said Sam from behind him. “He’s a damned pain in the butt.”
As the guard whipped around, Walrus bit the hand gripping his neck hard.
The unexpected assault caused the man to loosen his hold. Walrus used the opportunity to break free and snatch the guard’s mobile.
Walrus whacked the guard on his mouth as hard as he could with the phone. The cell’s bulb hit the guard’s front teeth and shattered, plunging the room back into darkness.
The two boys pummeled him, but the guard was ex-military and toughened by years of battling Chechnyan rebels. And he was definitely not going to allow himself to be beaten by two young punks.
But Sam was no ordinary teenager. He had been mentored by Shaolin masters JJ, Noah and Master Wu, and the guard was not fighting soldiers but two creative teenagers.
It was a free for all in the blackness. Groans, yells, fists flying blindly...
“OOOW! OOOW!” howled the guard as blows, bites, stabbing and kicks attacked from unexpected directions. His bellows intensified but then diminished to guttural moaning.
Sam flipped on his cell phone light, revealing the semi-conscious guard bleeding from his nose, cheeks and hands. His flesh wounds were courtesy of the dagger Sam used to cut the electrical wires. The contusions came from the beating by Walrus’ dad’s Glock.
“Let’s take off his clothes,” said Walrus. “If the dude’s buck naked, he ain’t gonna be chasing anybody around, even if he’s good to go.”
“You’re so wicked, man,” laughed Sam.
The boys gleefully removed the guard’s clothes, then secured his arms behind his back with his own belt.
Just before they left, Sam said, “A few more souvenirs.” He inserted the knife into the bottoms of his enemy’s feet, creating a whole slew of random cuts. If he tried to walk, it was going to hurt damned hard.
Gobble gobble.
“Let’s go upstairs,” said Sam.
“No way. That’s twelve flights of hell and no electricity for the elevator. Besides, Noah said to stay put,” replied Walrus.
“He also told me to stay in the hospital. If I had, I wouldn’t be here and you wouldn’t be having so much fun.”
“Exercise is bad for my health.”
44
Jumpers
JJ was standing on the building ledge outside of Skyscape.
While Sam and Walrus took the guard to the electrical room, he and Noah ascended the elevator to the eleventh floor. JJ got out, picked up several paint drop sheets, then stepped outside and cautiously scaled the building to the twelfth floor while Noah continued on the elevator to Skyscape.
After Sam cut the power, bathing the studio into darkness, JJ leapt inside during the mass confusion and threw the paint tarps over Queenie, Byron and Kenny.
JJ and Noah quickly guided Olivia and Abby through the open window and back onto the windowsill.
“Get a generator. Get candles. Use your cell-phone flashlights,” screamed Queenie, trying to fight something that had suddenly restricted her mobility
Turning on her cell phone light, Queenie discovered she had a canvas drop sheet covering her. She pulled it off to see the outlines of Kenny and Byron’s bodies with the same predicament. She pulled the paint protectors off the two men. Even in the semi-darkness, Kenny and Byron see the blood drain from Queenie’s face as she realized that Noah, Olivia, and Abby were no longer in the room.
JJ jumped down to the sill of the window on the eleventh floor but disaster! His foot cracked the sill and JJ plummeted down. Only by quickly reaching into the window with both hands was he able to get a hold and pull himself up onto the building ledge.
“You trying to scare me?” asked Noah as he gingerly lowered Abby, then Olivia to the awaiting Shaolin master.
“Nothing scares me,” said JJ as he assisted the two
women into the eleventh floor office. “Noah’s heavier than you are so I will need you to anchor my body.”
“Okay.”
JJ turned around and sat on building ledge so that he could see Noah on upper floor. Olivia and Abby sat on JJ’s thighs as he stretched his arms upwards. “Okay, Noah.”
Noah carefully stepped on the ledge. A quick look down saw JJ ready to catch him. There was zero tolerance. If JJ didn’t catch Noah, he would plunge to his death. If JJ caught him but the grip wasn’t tight enough, Noah would plunge to his death. If Olivia and Abby were jolted too hard and were unable to keep JJ anchored, both Noah and JJ would plunge to their deaths.
“Olivia,” shouted Noah.
“Yes.”
“If something happens to me and I don’t make it, I want you to know that I love you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” quipped Garret Southam’s daughter.
“On three,” said JJ. “One. Two. Three.”
Noah let go and dropped, but a sudden gust of wind knocked him slightly sideways. JJ reached out and was able to catch one of Noah’s hands. The unexpected movement caused JJ’s body to lurch, causing Olivia and Abby to lose their place on his lap.
They grabbed JJ with their hands but now most of JJ’s body was out the window hanging onto Noah, making it almost four hundred pounds that Olivia and Abby had to prevent from slipping out of their grasp.
“Use me as a ladder, Noah,” shouted JJ.
It was a crazy idea, but there was no other solution in sight. Noah gingerly but quickly used one hand at a time to pull himself up. First JJ’s arms, then his chest, legs…
As Noah held JJ’s legs, JJ began to straighten up.
“Okay, everybody. I’m going to use JJ to spring up these last few inches to grab Olivia and Abby’s arms. When I do that, the weight they have to pull will be lessened and they can pull JJ in. As they do that, stretch out and snag whatever part of my body you can. If I’m inside or I can grab the ledge, I’ll be able to pull JJ in.”