Chapter 10
No police the kidnappers instructed. Fat chance.
Maybe if they hadn’t left such obvious evidence of fowl play laying
around there would be no police! But,
hah! After the Illinois police found
that tour bus, people have been calling nonstop. Reporters, police, even the FBI!
Jane Carter sat in the midst of it all with her four children watching
her husband talk with the police, and the FBI, who had troubled themselves into
making it to their home. How were they
gonna feel when they find out they weren’t wanted. No FBI, and no police, just cash... Cash that Jane wanted to go collect and take to them right
then. Only they hadn’t said how much
they wanted.
“Mom, do you think those guys will.. Will kill Nick, since the police and FBI are
here?” Leslie asked, her eyes wide and frightened.
Jane shook her head, “They should have known they
would show up after leaving all they did out in the open. It wouldn’t be fair if they did, we didn’t
have a chance.”
She watched helplessly as the FBI helped themselves
to her personal computer and phone records.
Bob came to sit beside her and take her hand, “The FBI don’t think we’re
dealing with masterminds here, and they feel confident about getting Nicky back. They say that they have...”
“Bob, those people said no police, no FBI... They’ll
KILL him! We can’t work with them! We’ll just pay them off Bob. We can do it ourselves. Tell these people to leave..” Jane had
grabbed her husband’s arm.
Bob stared at her incredulously, “Honey, these guys
are professionals. We are going to pay
the kidnappers, the FBI is just going to make sure things go smoothly and
according the plan. It’ll be safer for
Nick, and the others.”
“Bob, if he dies because..”
“No one’s gonna die Janie,” Bob said simply.
“But...”
“Jane, it’s for the best,” Bob said, “These guys know
what they are doing, and we don’t. Just
let them do the job, and we’ll do everything on our part to get the money on
time.”
Jane was silent, but she nodded. BJ stared at her father, “Dad, you sound as
if you’re letting these guys walk all over you! Do you need me to tell them get out? I will. I want my brother
back, not a corpse! I saw that message,
and saw what they have already done to him!
They’re not bluffing Dad, they’ll kill him. Why do you want to play games with Nick’s life? I think we should just do what they say!”
“BJ, lower your voice,” Bob said painstakingly, “I am
not playing games with my son’s life..
Those lowlifes who took him are.
I’m just trying to get him back, and I want to do it the right way. Nick’s coming home, soon.”
“But Dad..” BJ was beginning to start her argument up
again, when the phone rang startling everyone silent. Bob and Jane’s eyes flew to the phone. An FBI agent nodded toward the phone, wanting to slap herself,
because it was not tapped yet.
“Hello?” Bob’s voice came out shakily.
“Bob?” the voice on the other end was none too steady
either.
“Denise?”
“Bob, I just got a message on my answering machine
about Alex.. And there are all these
reporters outside and police trying to get inside my house... And I had seen
the news... Bob, is Nick...?”
“Gone,” Bob answered softly, “They’ve been kidnapped
Denise, and these people want ransom money.”
“Oh God...” Denise’s voice was airy, “Oh no....”
“Denise, calm down and go to the door, and let the
police in. They can help you,” Bob said
gently, “I have to get off the line, those people might call back.”
“Ok..” Denise said softly. The line clicked.
“Denise McLean,” Bob said turning to face the officers,
“She just found out.”
“Poor Denise,” Jane shook her head, “AJ’s her only
child...”
“Does that make Nick any less important?” Leslie
snapped.
Jane looked at her sharply, “No. It’s just... Nothing.” Then surprised everyone, including herself when
she looked up at the FBI agent standing across from her, “So what is our next
move? Do you need to tap the phone
lines, or what?”
BJ’s fist dropped on the table, Bob nodded his
approval, and the agents smiled lightly, “Yes, Mrs. Carter, we will.”
“No police,” was all Jackie Littrell could muster as
she and Ann Richardson huddled together on her couch. FBI and police swarmed the place. Jackie watched as her son Harold III and her husband, along with
Ann’s two sons, her nephews, trailed the FBI around helping them put wires in
the phone lines.
Ann was shaking her head, “We can’t trust those
people Jackie. The police are a
precaution, besides.. Those people must
know that the police and FBI would be swarming us after they left that bus, and
those.. Those bodies...out for anyone
to find.”
Jackie was slowly nodding her head, “I just want them
to call back and tell us what they want..
How much they want... and I hope its not more than we have. What if they ask for a million dollars Ann?”
Ann shook her head and tried to relax her shaking
body, “I don’t know Jackie. I hope they
don’t think that we all have access to our sons’ bank accounts... Sure Kevin paid of my mortgage, but I would
never take his money.”
Jackie was nodding in agreement, “I just hope these
people know this.”
An FBI agent made his way to the two huddling women,
“How are you two ladies holding up? I
know this is a trying experience.”
The two women could have spat on the man.
“I want you to know that are going to do everything
in our power to get your boys back to you.
But we also have to know how much you can pay. I have a good reason to believe that these kidnappers may think
you people have more money than you really do.
Is that true?”
“Well they haven’t asked for any money yet, so I
wouldn’t know,”Ann snapped.
“Yes,” Jackie said, surprised at Ann’s attack, “I
think they may think we have more money.
They may have heard those rumors about us dipping into our sons’
earnings, and that’s just not true.”
The agent nodded, “We thought this might be the case,
so the negotiations are going to be tricky.
But we’ll get them back, don’t worry.” The man smiled, then left.
“Oh God!” Ann stuffed her fist in her mouth, “What if
they kill them because we don’t have the money, but they just think we don’t
wanna pay?!”
The first wave of dizziness hit Jackie like a
bullet. She felt her head swooning,
before she saw the darkness.
“We’ll just put all our money together Mama,” Angie
was telling her parents. All the
Dorough children had gotten together with their parents and the FBI to talk
casually about the payment.
“But what if it’s still not enough?” Paula demanded
of the FBI, “What can we do then?”
“We can try to negotiate with them,” one agent said.
“Or there may be a way for you to tap into your son’s
bank account..”
“Never!” Hoke exclaimed, “I never want to be one of
those parents who rely on their children...”
“Hoke! This
is Howie’s life we’re discussing, not the water bill!” Paula yelled infuriated,
“Are you going to let Howie die in order to protect your foolish pride?”
Hoke was stunned to silence.
Paula’s words fell over the whole table and silenced
it.
“What if they still don’t give him back Mama, what if
they lied? What if they kill him
anyway?” Pollyanna wondered out loud.
“We can’t think like that Polly,” John told her, “We
have to believe that Howie will be coming back to us...and that we would pay
any price to see that happen.” He let his brown eyes fall on his father. Hoke sighed and nodded, “Try anything you
can. I want my son back.”
The FBI agents around the table nodded, “We will
Mr. Dorough. The phones have been tapped.
The only thing we need now, is for our kidnappers to call, and state
their demands.”