Romantic Renovations

by Blake Allwood

  We drove to the ferry that went from Port Townsend to Seattle and after we boarded the men in the front put a windshield cover in the front of the vehicle so no one could see in. Once we were secure, Bentley, removed my blindfold and the rope binding my hands and said, “You might as well relax. We have a three-hour ferry ride before we get to Seattle. If we are being watched, no one will be able to see inside so you don’t need all this.” He said as he pointed toward the blindfold that was still in my lap.

  I ended up closing my eyes and trying to rest since I hadn’t had any sleep in quite a while. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, Bentley was rousing me saying I needed to put the blindfold back on as well as the rope before they took the windshield cover down.

  We left the ferry and drove through several different backways into the seedier parts of Seattle, areas I knew way too well, before we pulled up to a large warehouse that had a big garage door on the side. As it began to open, Bentley said, “When we get out, I’m probably going to hit you in the stomach or something. I’ll try not to hit you hard, but you need to fall and act like I really hurt you. And stay on the floor, okay? I don’t want to give your father or Frank a chance to shoot you before I get Les back safe and sound.”

  I nodded but struggled to get the knot in my throat to go down.

  After Bentley’s men secured the area, the car we were in drove into the building. He didn’t get out until the other men who were apparently following behind us came around and stood beside the car with the rest of the men. All of Bentley’s men had their guns pulled and were holding them next to their sides.

  “Stay here,” he commanded, and I was surprised at how calm he was, “we’ll come get you when we’re ready.”

  The men had put the window shield back up before they got out of the car so I couldn’t see out or hear what was going on.

  About fifteen minutes later, one of the men came to my side of the door, opened it, and jerked me out. He secured the rope restraining me much harder and I cried out as the rope cut into my wrists. The blindfold was taken off however and tossed back into the car.

  He shoved me toward the front of the car where Bentley was leaning, looking smug and one hundred percent the image of a mobster.

  “I’m assuming you mean this?” he asked as another of his men grabbed my wrists and yanked them up, which made my shoulders scream in pain. I yelled, and Bentley chuckled.

  “We had a deal.” I heard my father say.

  “We did have a deal. And if I recall, it was that you delivered that son of a bitch to me alive, not fucking lying in a pool of his own blood.”

  I had no idea what or who they were talking about. But when I managed to glance toward where my father stood, I saw him. Frank was lying next to where my father stood, a bullet hole in his forehead. I couldn’t decipher the emotions, shock, relief, disgust… numbness?

  “You said for me to bring him, not the condition he had to be in,” my father argued, “this son of a bitch betrayed me for the last time.”

  “I’m afraid that will cost you,” Bentley said. “I should get to kill this pretty boy, since you took all my fun away,” he said.

  Suddenly, I wasn’t sure who the good guys were any longer. My father flinched when Bentley said this. Like maybe he didn’t want me dead. No, I was just getting caught up in all of this.

  “We had a deal!” my father yelled. “The boy was to be given to me, unharmed. I specified unharmed.”

  Bentley laughed a wicked laugh, and I braced for him to hit me. Instead, he grabbed me by the throat and squeezed until I began to see stars. I heard my father yelling for him to stop, but Bentley didn’t, at least not until I was about to lose consciousness. He dropped me on the ground. The blood rushed back into my head and my ears rang, but I did hear well enough to hear him say to send the Cooper boy over, or else he’d end this now.

  My father must have complied because within moments, Les was knelt beside me. “Bennett,” he cried “are you okay?”

  I wouldn’t have been able to respond even if I still could, because within seconds, Les was taken away and I heard the car door slam behind me.

  “Now this rivalry between us has lasted long enough, Jackson. I own Seattle now, especially now that your thugs have been arrested. I’m going to keep the boy until you break down your operation completely. When you’re done, I’ll let him go. But if you don’t, mark my word, I’ll deliver him in pieces. Understand?”

  I glanced over at my father and was surprised to see real concern on his face. Who the fuck was this man? My only experience of him was him wanting me dead.

  Behind him stood my mom, pale and exhausted. I was roughly thrown into the back seat of the Rolls-Royce next to Les, which then pulled out of the garage, leaving Bentley behind.

  Les

  I was beaten once by Frank and then by another thug shortly after being abducted. I figured they were going to kill me, but there was nothing I could do other than take what they dished out.

  When they delivered me to the warehouse and dumped me into a strange brick room with nothing but an old mattress in it, I thought it would just be a matter of time.

  Then Bennett’s father walked into the room, I knew who he was without being told. Bennett was softer and prettier than the old man, but you could see enough of Bennett in his features to know who he was. He stared at me for a long time before he finally sneered, “So you thought you could take me down by controlling my son? You East-Coasters are so predictable.”

  I had no idea what he meant, so I just sat there looking down.

  “Well, it ain’t gonna work,” he said. “I already know you’ve gotten Frank on your side. Hell, he’s so easy, I should’ve suspected him before. That’ll be taken care of soon enough.”

  He came over to me then, pulled my head up by my hair and stared into my eyes for a long time before tossing me back onto the mattress.

  “Your cousin is on his way. We’ll do the exchange then. But know this: I’m not going down without a fight, and neither of you will get your hands on that traitor Frank again.”

  I assumed by cousin, he meant Bentley. And I wondered how the hell he knew about him. Regardless, a few hours later, I was dragged out of the room and made to watch as Bennett’s father shot Frank in the head.

  Frank had begged for his life, telling the man he hadn’t meant to betray him, that Bentley’s men had beaten him and threatened him if he didn’t come to their side.

  Bennett’s father didn’t even blink. He lifted his pistol and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion, killing Frank instantly.

  I almost lost what little was left on my stomach. I’d never seen a man killed before. Even as much as I hated Frank, I didn’t want to see him go out like that. Justice was what I wanted, not his murder.

  Within a few minutes, my uncle’s entourage arrived. Surrounded by all his men, he got out. It was obvious he was angry that Frank had been killed by the way Bennett’s dad and Bentley stared at each other.

  Finally, they jerked Bennett out of the car and pushed him toward Bentley, he cried out from pain when his arms were jerked up behind his back. I thought this must be a game, something to make Bennett’s dad trust him… until Bentley himself grabbed Bennett by the throat and almost killed him.

  If I could have, I’d have gone after my cousin then. I was convinced he’d betrayed us all at that point. When I got to Bennett, I knelt beside him, calling him, before Bentley’s men threw me into the car. Shortly after, Bennett was tossed into the other side.

  Bennett’s throat was bruised, and he had tears streaming down his face. When I reached for him, he edged away. “I thought you were someone I could trust, but you’re one of them.” His voice broke. “You’re one of them!” he repeated.

  I shook my head. “I’m not, Bennett. I have no idea what’s going on, I swear to God, I don’t know.”

  I tried to reach over again, but Bennett moved all the way to the other side of the car like I’d burned him.r />
  The men in the front drove for what felt like half an hour until we arrived at an office building. We were unceremoniously pulled out and shoved toward the front door. When we got inside, the two men continued pushing us into an elevator.

  I was surprised when their demeanor changed as soon as the elevator doors closed. They untied us on the way up to the top floor. When the door opened, my parents were standing there and threw their arms around me. When they went for Bennett, however, he drew back with fresh tears streaming from his eyes.

  My mom dropped her hands after Bennett moved away and shook her head. “Come in,” she said to us, “we’ll explain it all to you,” and she turned toward a room entered through glass windows.

  I saw my entire family sitting in a waiting room along with Sandra and the bodyguard that always flanked Bennett. I think Bennett called him the Bloodhound.

  Bennett didn’t appear to want to come in but the two men who escorted us up to the top floor came up behind him causing him to move forward.

  My parents led us into a conference room while my siblings looked on with troubled faces. When we were all seated, Sandra and the Bloodhound pulled out badges and put them on the table. The guy spoke for the first time since I’d met him. “My name is Agent Ford, and I lead an undercover FBI team.”

  Sandra said, “I am CIA, and we’ve been working with Agent Ford for the past two years trying to bring the Seattle criminal team to justice.”

  My mom turned toward Bennett, who was taking all this in with both bewilderment and loss. “Honey, we didn’t know about any of this,” she told him, “and Leslie sure didn’t either. When the network pulled him onto the job with you, we thought it was just what it appeared to be.”

  My father said, “And it was all just coincidence, until Les got concerned for your safety and called Bentley.”

  Sandra came to stand next to my dad, then looked at Bennett. “When my father found out your dad was one of the men we’d been trying to bring down, we knew the opportunity was too good to be true. And yes, I really am Bentley’s daughter. It’s been very awkward keeping all of you in the dark about this, but it had to be this way. ”

  Bennett

  I shook my head and cleared my throat, which still hurt after Bentley strangled me. “If you’re all trying to bring my dad down, then why did your dad try to kill me?” I asked Sandra pointedly.

  Sandra looked over at the two men who’d come in behind us.

  “They’re trying to finish the local operation today,” the tallest of the two men said. “we had to get your father to believe you are going to be killed. We think he’ll give up the rest of his associates, or at least enough of them that we can bring the entire ring down once and for all, to keep you alive.”

  I shook my head, which hurt my throat even more, “I don’t get it,” I whispered, still struggling with my voice. “My dad wants to kill me. Why would he care who did it?”

  They all exchanged looks.

  “No,” Sandra finally said, “he doesn’t want to kill you. He wanted to recruit you. Frank’s job had always been to get you into just enough trouble that your father could manipulate you through the legal system, with his contacts here in Seattle. His goal appears to have always been to get you under his control.”

  “So Frank was supposed to set me up so I could be in prison with my dad?”

  She nodded. “Not necessarily in prison. But Frank wouldn’t do it. He was supposed to set you up for the heroin stash in your attic. Your father caught wind that Frank was trying to sabotage the set-up, so he sent the real estate agent to kill him before he could get the drugs out of the attic and dispose of them. She wounded him, but he ended up killing her instead and escaped, but not with the drugs. When he showed up at the hospital, our agents found out and met him there. He turned against your father and told us the plans. In the end, he was working for us. He was actually trying to save you from your dad.”

  I sat down at the table, unable to hold my tears back any longer. “Frank was trying to save me,” I whispered. I felt sick that I had avoided him all this time, sick that I’d seen him dead at the hands of my father. “That’s what my father meant by Frank betraying him.” My voice still came out hoarse.

  The men behind us both nodded.

  “Why did they kidnap Les?” I asked.

  “We made your father think Bentley was his rival and the leader of the organization trying to take over Seattle. We also made out like Bentley had kidnapped and killed the Seattle ringleader, which is partially true at least. The guy’s still alive… sort of.” Sandra appeared to be a little embarrassed. “We’re not sure how he found out, but your father somehow learned that Les was Bentley’s cousin, so he kidnapped him as ransom for you. We think he still believes he can turn you.”

  “So now you think you can convince him to give up his organization to get access to me, even if it means he’ll lose it all?”

  The Bloodhound, Agent Ford, nodded. “You always believed your father wanted to kill you and after he almost succeeded when you were a kid, it makes sense that you’d think that. But he’s actually been trying to pull you into the organization for years.”

  Sandra began speaking then, “We know from informants we’ve recently arrested, your grandfather was warned by your father not to get involved or he’d kill him. When you became homeless, your father wasn’t as high up in the organization as he is now. In fact, he was what they called a lieutenant. He’d already begun the process of trying to get you arrested, but you were too wily for them,” she smiled at me. “Whenever they’d set you up, you’d disappear for weeks on end.”

  I could feel the wheels turning in my head. “Was my mom involved?” I asked.

  Sandra shook her head, “We still don’t know. It doesn’t make sense if she was, because he could’ve used her to trick you into a situation where you’d be found guilty of something and get sent to the same place your father was.”

  I thought about Frank. I’d met him while working at the grocery store. He’d been shopping and had befriended me after asking a question about the produce. He’d also helped me find my apartment, and even loaned me money a couple of times. It all made sense to me where he was concerned.

  “So, I wasn’t sold to Frank. I was Frank’s asset?”

  She nodded. “Being ‘sold’ is their code to identify the person hired by your father to manipulate things.”

  “So, why didn’t Frank make this happen sooner?” I asked.

  “Simple, a war broke out among your father’s friends and the Seattle ringleader. So, your father forced Frank to lay low and keep you out of trouble until the war was over. Then they’d reignite the plans, which they did; just before your grandpa died and gave you millions of dollars’ worth of prime Seattle real estate.”

  “This still doesn’t make sense. It would’ve been so easy to set me up. I was a sitting duck.”

  Agent Ford came over and said, “Yeah, but you now had millions of dollars’ worth of real estate. We believe your father figured they could manipulate you and get access to it. Not only could they take that money, but they could use all the different homes as perfect places to stash and manage drugs, weapons, people…you became even more valuable to him. When the network became involved, it made you and the homes even less likely to draw attention from the local law enforcement they didn’t have on their side.”

  I was sick. I didn’t know if I preferred to think my dad wanted me dead or to be his evil sidekick. “Wait… are they dealing in human trafficking?” I asked, then regretted it instantly, suddenly not wanting to know.

  “They were dealing in every side of the criminal world,” Sandra replied, “and not just locally. They were dealing with China, Russia, several South American countries…thus, my involvement through the CIA.”

  “I’m not sure I want to know any more,” I said, my head pounding. “Seriously, this is just …too much! I need some space, can you give me a few minutes by myself? I need to process and…”my
voice faded off.

  Sandra escorted me out and toward the other side of the huge open room. She showed me a semi-private area where a cot was sitting in the corner of the room. “Take your time,” she said before she left, “just let one of these agents know if you need anything.”

  I hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the last couple days, and the adrenaline that coursed through me since I was attacked by Bentley had finally dissipated. I fell asleep the moment I closed my eyes.

  Les

  When Sandra returned to the room, she explained to us all that even though no one thought Bennett was still a suspect he was possibly still in danger. We could have limited contact with him, but until he was safe, we needed to understand that he wouldn’t be let out of their sight.

  Bentley reported back to Sandra about three hours after we’d arrived that Bennett’s father had given up two names in his organization, thinking he had sacrificed his queen to save his king. It was then that Bentley helped the agents, who acted like his henchmen, arrest Bennett’s parents as well as all of the men who were with them.

  The two men he identified were the ones needed to bring the organization down the rest of the way. Although they’d been Jackson’s second and third in command, their knowledge was invaluable.

  One of the men Jackson turned over to Bentley, a businessman who owned a large shipping company, began singing immediately after he was arrested. And as a result, the rest of the international syndicate began to crumble.

  Sandra and Bentley both kept us informed as things went down.

  If the first arrests that swept Seattle were unnerving, this second sweep was devastating. A former member of the US Congress, as well as several state elected officials from both Washington state and Oregon, were identified and taken down. Several owners of highly influential Seattle companies were also apprehended. For a while, there were even concerns about ties to the US Presidency, but none that were ever proven.