Live Bait

by David Archer

  Summer blushed, a talent she’d developed as a teenager. She put an expression of surprise on her face, as if she simply couldn’t believe such a charming man would say something so flirtatious.

  “That’s sweet of you,” she said shyly. “You don’t have to flatter me, though. You really don’t mind giving me a ride?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “Just give me a moment to get my keys, and we can go.” He left the door standing open as he walked into another room, then came back a moment later holding a set of car keys. He locked the door behind them, then took hold of her elbow as he led her toward the elevator again.

  “So,” he asked, “how did you end up stranded in the city?”

  “It’s really embarrassing,” Summer said. “See, Brent is my talent agent. I’ve been trying to get into acting and he sent me here for some drama classes. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of jobs open for people who aren’t going to be living here full-time, and I still have to make a living, you know?” She blushed bright red again. “So, Brent got me into doing some private entertaining. Oh, wait, that sounds like I’m a prostitute or something, that’s not what I mean. I just—well, I guess you’d say I’m sort of a private exotic dancer. I don’t go all the way naked, just down to the skivvies, you know?” She shrugged. “It pays the bills, that’s all.”

  Reese looked her over one more time as they walked out the front door and toward the parking lot beside the building. He pushed a button on the key fob and the lights flashed on a new sports car, and then the doors on the car tilted upward.

  “Oh, really? Well, perhaps I should hire you to dance for me.”

  Summer tilted her face down, then looked up at him again with a shy smile. “How about I give you one for free? If you weren’t being so nice, I could be stuck here for hours. There shouldn’t be anybody at the house when we get there, so maybe you could come inside and I could give you a little sample.”

  Reese held her hand as she slid into the passenger seat of the beautiful car, then pushed the door down into place and walked around to get behind the wheel. “That sounds like an offer I couldn’t dare refuse.” He pushed a button on the dash and the car started, the rumbling exhaust vibrating the whole vehicle. “So,” he said. “Where are we headed?”

  Summer gave him the address and he punched it into the GPS panel on the dashboard. The voice of a woman with a British accent immediately gave him directions, and he put the car in gear.

  * * * * *

  “We’re on,” Darren said. Jade followed him as he made his way to the front door of the building, then up to apartment 3B. It took him only a moment to pick the locks, and then they were inside.

  “Awfully spartan for a playboy,” Jade commented. There was a sofa, a coffee table and a television in the living room, but nothing else. They walked through the apartment, finding a more luxuriously appointed bedroom, and a second bedroom that was set up as an office. “Found his computer. I’ll start there, and you can toss the place.”

  Darren nodded. He went into the bedroom and started going through the dresser drawers, then moved to the closet.

  Jade took a thumb drive out of her pocket and put it into the USB port on Reese’s laptop. When she powered the computer on, the program on the drive forced the computer to open and bypass the password screen. She sat down in the chair at the desk and began going through all of his files, checking his email folders first.

  Twenty minutes later, both of them had concluded that there was no information to be found in the apartment. “The only thing I can tell you about this guy,” Jade said as she and Darren were leaving, “is that he is smart enough not to do any of his business from home.”

  “I would agree with that,” Darren said. “However, I can tell you that he’s borderline OCD, and probably overconfident in his abilities. He keeps everything in its place, but the assortment of clothing I found indicates someone who doesn’t have much of a fashion sense. Anybody who will wear a plaid shirt with a suit probably thinks he can’t do anything wrong.”

  Jade grinned at him as they closed the door behind themselves. “Is that the official FBI profile?”

  Darren shook his head. “No,” he said. “It’s just something I learned from watching my brother. He’s the same kind of jackass.”

  * * * * *

  “That’s our cue,” Sam said. “Let’s get moving. Don’t follow too closely, we know where she’s going.” He turned to Margaret. “Listen, I appreciate your help.”

  Margaret grinned. “No problem,” she said. “Let me know if I can do anything else.”

  Denny got behind the wheel and Harvey slid into the back seat as Sam took shotgun. The car started up, Denny put it in gear and he cruised leisurely out of the parking lot. Sam brought up directions on his phone and they followed them along slowly.

  The road leading out to the house, though just a county road, was in surprisingly good shape and looked like it had been recently repaved. It took them almost twenty minutes to get to the house, but all three of the men were surprised when they finally turned in to the driveway and got their first glimpse of it.

  It was a large country farmhouse and looked to be quite old, but in decent shape. Reese’s car was parked in front of it and there was no sign of anyone outside. Sam pointed to a barn that sat behind the house, and Denny drove around to park beside it.

  “How’s the signal, Harvey?” Sam asked. They’d lost it for a bit while they were on the road, but the images were coming in again.

  “Good and strong,” Harvey said. “She’s just going into her act. He’s sitting on the sofa, and she hung the necklace on something so that we can see both of them. She’s got some music playing on her phone and is just starting to dance.”

  “Good, she’s keeping him busy. Come on, let’s check out the barn.”

  The three of them got out of the car and stepped inside the old barn, and Harvey took a position just out of sight inside the barn door. His eyes were glued to the screen on his phone, so Sam motioned for Denny to follow him deeper inside.

  “Look at this,” Sam said as they walked through the barn. He pointed upward to where a ladder went into the loft. “Looks like a good place to put the fear into somebody, don’t you think?”

  Denny nodded. “I’d say so, right enough. Sort of place where you might feel trapped forever, like there’s no way you’re ever going to get out.”

  “I guess,” Sam said. He turned and faced toward the house, even though he couldn’t see it through the walls of the barn. “If Reese really is the one who made that call, he’s probably more scared of the people behind the kidnapping than he will be of us, at least in the beginning. He’s probably going to do everything possible to keep from telling us what we want to know. I’m thinking that if we stash him up there and tie him up, just let him think about things for a few hours, he might be ready to break down and do some serious talking before too long.”

  Denny looked into the darkness above. “That should probably work, I’d say. I think it might be a good idea for us to keep a watch on him, though. This guy used to be a spook, so he may have a few tricks up his sleeve.”

  “I was planning on it,” Sam said, “but whoever is watching will stay out of sight. I want him to think he’s alone, that we just tied him up and left him there to rot. Most people probably never give it much thought, but I doubt there’s anything more frightening than to think you’re going to be left somewhere all alone, left to die a slow, painful death from thirst or starvation. I want him to be thinking like that before we actually start to question him.”

  “That’s devious, Sam,” Denny said. “Bloody devious.”

  They went back to the entrance of the barn, where Harvey was waiting and watching the image on his phone.

  “It’s getting a mite steamy in there, Sam,” Denny said. He was looking over Harvey’s shoulder at the screen of the phone. “She’s got the dress off, and Reese looks like he’s completely enthralled.”

  “Let’s g
ive her a little more time,” Sam said. “It didn’t take me long to realize that she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

  The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder and watched the video, and Sam did his best to keep his thoughts professional. This was Summer’s interrogation technique, and he already knew that it was extremely effective, but it was also one of the most excitingly erotic dances he had ever seen.

  Summer was only inches away from Reese, but every time he tried to reach out to touch her, she spun away. The audio on the system was working perfectly, and they heard her playfully scolding him. “Not yet,” she said seductively, “just wait. Trust me, I didn’t bring you out here just to dance for you.”

  Harvey groaned, then Denny laid a hand on his shoulder. “She’s just working it, mate,” the Englishman said. “She’s just doing her job, that’s all.”

  “I know,” Harvey said. “It’s just hard to watch somebody else trying to touch her.”

  Denny looked at Sam and rolled his eyes. The poor boy had it bad for Summer.

  Sam took out his phone and called Indie.

  “Hey, baby,” Indie said. “Looks like nobody noticed Mr. Reese’s disappearance. Darren and Jade are back. Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything to help the case, but they said the guy watching his building was still snoring when they left.”

  “Okay, that’s good. Go ahead and start packing everything up, then, but don’t check us out. We might need to go back there before we finish up in Ithaca. As soon as you’re ready, then head on out here.”

  “Okay,” Indie said. “It’s going to get a little crowded out there, though, that house only has four bedrooms.”

  “We’ll manage,” Sam said. “Don’t forget to tell Rob to come along. His men are going to be quite useful, I think. And bring something to snack on, and some drinks. Get something for breakfast, too.”

  “You got it,” Indie said. “Love you, babe, see you soon.”

  Denny, still watching the video, gave a snort. “Bloody cocky bastard,” he said. “He’s tried to grab her a dozen times, and she keeps pushing him back down into his seat. Don’t you think it’s about time we made our move?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Sam said. “We go in with guns drawn, so that he’s taken by surprise. There will be two guns pointed at him, so I doubt he’s going to try anything stupid. He might be a badass, but nobody can put up a fight against a bullet. We’ll go in fast, try to be there before he realizes what’s happening. You’ll stand back out of reach and keep him covered while I check to make sure he isn’t armed.”

  Denny drew his pistol and nodded at Sam, then turned to Harvey. “You hang back here, mate,” he said. “Keep watching, and when you see that everything is under control, then you can come on in.”

  The two of them moved as quickly and quietly as Sam could manage out to the front of the house and up the steps. As Sam had suspected, Summer had left the door unlocked for them, so he quickly twisted the knob and rushed inside.

  Reese started to leap to his feet, but then his eyes focused on the barrel of Sam’s Glock seventeen, which was pointed right at his face. He froze, only halfway to his feet, and then sank back onto the couch.

  “Smart man,” Sam said. “Here’s the situation. My friends and I have some pretty serious questions for you, and we really hope you have the answers we’re looking for. What do you know about the abduction of Amber McCabe?”

  Reese was staring at the gun in Sam’s hand. “Who? Abduction? What the hell are you talking about?”

  Sam sighed. “Look, man, playing stupid is—well, it’s stupid. We already know you were the one to call her father and tell him she’d been kidnapped, and that the only way to get her back is to go along with the Ethio Electronics deal. There’s no possible way to get out of this, you’re already nailed to the wall. Your only hope for any kind of leniency is going to be helping us to get her back safely. Do you understand me?”

  Reese flicked his eyes to Denny, who hadn’t said a word and was standing just inside the now closed door with his own pistol aimed at Reese’s face. He kept them on the big man for a moment, then looked back at Sam.

  “I’m telling you, I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about. Why are you accusing me?”

  “Because we have a recording of your call to McCabe and we got a voice print match to you, on top of having proof that you were in Atlanta at the time the girl was abducted. Now, you can cooperate with us and help us get the girl back, or you can go down for kidnapping, and for murder if she dies. Your choice, take your pick.”

  Reese stared at him for another moment, then started shaking his head. “Look, you have to believe me, I honestly don’t know anything about any kidnapping! Yes, I was in Atlanta, I flew down a couple days ago to handle a business problem, but I didn’t even see any girls, I swear! I’m telling you, man, you got the wrong guy!”

  Sam glanced at Denny. “Keep him covered,” he said. He holstered his own weapon and walked carefully toward Reese. “Up on your feet, hands on top of your head.”

  Reese complied, and Sam quickly patted him down. As he had suspected, he found a Beretta 9 mm pistol tucked into the back of his pants and took it away. He found no other weapons, so he stepped back again.

  “Okay, sit back down.” He turned to look at Summer, who had slipped her dress back on and was standing beside Denny. “You okay? Looked like he was trying to get hold of you a few times.”

  She grinned. “If he’d given me any trouble,” she said, “he’d have broken bones. I’m fine.”

  Harvey came through the door at that moment, and she turned to smile at him. “Hey, sexy,” she said. “Did you like the show I put on for you?”

  Harvey blushed. “Long as you’re okay,” he said. “But, yeah.”

  Sam turned back to Reese. “Okay, here’s the deal. You’re not leaving until I get answers, and they’re going to be the ones I want. When you do leave, you’re going right into federal custody. Now, you might think that stalling is going to do you some good, but I can assure you that is not the truth. It might even be possible that we can work out some sort of an arrangement, something that would leave you in a lot less trouble, but only if we find Amber alive and safe. If anything happens to her, I can assure you that you’re going to be facing not only a kidnapping charge, but also a murder charge.”

  Reese shook his head. “You got the wrong guy,” he said. “This happens to me all the time, I really don’t understand why, but it does. You know how many times I’ve been charged with different crimes? Eighteen times, that’s how many, and every single one of them has been dismissed. You can do whatever you want, but there’s nothing I can do to help you.”

  Sam reached into his pocket and took out his ID, showed it to Reese, and then flipped it so he could see the DHS endorsement.

  “That might be true,” he said, “but now you’re involved in international economic espionage. Since an abduction of an innocent person was part of the crime, that means that we can classify you as an enemy combatant, a terrorist. Under the Patriot Act, we don’t have to charge you with anything at all, we can just throw you into a cell and keep you there for the rest of your life. If we do, the best you could hope for is that you don’t end up in a Supermax facility.”

  There was the briefest flash of concern in Reese’s eyes, but then he relaxed. “Look, I’m no terrorist. As far as locking me up and throwing away the key, you might want to check with somebody up your chain of command. I’ve done an awful lot for our government, including some very powerful people within it. They might not take kindly to me being buried alive, somewhere.”

  Sam grinned at him. “Do I look like I really give a shit? Because I don’t. I can guarantee you that the people I answer to will be more than willing to stick you in that hole and close the lid.” He cocked his head and looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then pulled out his pistol again. “Maybe,” he said, “maybe you just need some time to think this over. Denny?”

  De
nny holstered his weapon and reached into a pocket to pull out some zip strips. “Always prepared,” he said. “Get up again, mate.”

  “Oh, come on,” Reese said angrily. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Get up,” Sam said. “Now.”

  Reese huffed, then pushed off the sofa and got to his feet. Denny spun him around and yanked his hands behind his back, securing them quickly. When he was finished, he took hold of Reese’s arm and made him face Sam again.

  Sam waggled his gun toward the door. “Let’s go,” he said. “Lead him out, Denny.”

  Denny marched Reese out the front door and toward the barn, the setting sun casting long shadows across the landscape, then took him inside. When Denny got to the ladder, he bent over and tossed the man over his shoulder, then climbed up into the loft while Reese protested loudly.

  “Okay, knock it off,” the man said. “This is getting way out of hand, guys. What do you think you’re going to do, feed me to the chickens?”

  “Nope,” Denny said. “Spiders. Lots of them in a barn, don’t you know?”

  He got up to the loft and dropped Reese unceremoniously onto the floor, face down, then sat on him while he secured the man’s ankles. Sam climbed up the ladder and joined them just as Denny flipped Reese over and leaned him against a post. He took out a knife and cut one of the zip strips on the man’s wrists, then secured them again behind the post. It was fairly dark in the loft, with only a hint of light coming through in the gaps between the boards on the west wall.

  “When I was a kid,” Sam said, “I got to spend a summer on a farm. I used to love climbing up into the loft of the barn, it just seemed like such a great place to hang out and have fun. But then, one night, my cousins decided it would be fun to play a prank on me. They waited until I was up in the loft, then took the ladder down. I was stuck up there, and it wasn’t until way past midnight that anybody realized I hadn’t come into the house. That was one of the most terrifying nights of my life, and I’ve never forgotten it. Let’s see how you like it.”