Garage Sale Diamonds (Garage Sale Mystery) (33 page)

From habit, she locked her car door, realizing afterward this safety measure was ludicrous against the risks ahead for her tonight. She turned on the interior car light and used the new cell phone to call the number in the envelope. “This is Jennifer.”

A voice-distorted monotone answered. “We will give you turn-by-turn directions and observe your progress as you follow them. Make a U-turn now. Then after two blocks, turn right.”

She steered with her right hand, holding the cell phone to her ear with her left hand as she headed into the dark night. She heard the voice say, “Turn left at the next intersection.” Had they spotters along the way to radio her progress or had they a way to track her car? A glance in the rearview mirror showed an empty street behind her. She passed numerous intersections without receiving new instructions. Had they lost contact? What would she do if that happened?

“Turn right at the next intersection.” She turned, squinting at the street sign. Her headlights provided the only illumination except for weak glows from houses set back from spacious front yards. No streetlamps lighted these main roads—in an unrealistic effort to “keep the country feel” although this area was more residential than rural.

Driving through darkness, she took her hand off the wheel long enough to touch the sock of diamonds stuffed into her inside jacket pocket to be certain she brought it. She passed enough intersections in cell phone silence to fret again about losing contact with the kidnappers. They had her little Milo and his fate depended upon her. She must reach the destination.

The distorted voice spoke again. “Slow down to twenty mph.” Jennifer did. “Prepare to stop soon.” Her car crept along a wooded, uninhabited section of road. “Stop. Now inch along until you see a stick with yellow cloth tied at the top. Immediately past that stick is a path in the tall grass just big enough for a car. Turn right into that path, immediately after the stake.”

She almost passed the place described, halting abruptly and backing up a few feet until she saw the yellow tie. She hesitated, not wanting her front wheels mired in the storm ditch that ran along these roads. Then she noticed they’d filled that section of trench with logs. She rolled roughly across this improvised “bridge,” pulled into a field, bumped over grass and peered into her headlight’s beam for human figures. She saw none.

“Turn your headlights off and your interior car light on so we know you brought no one else with you,” the cell phone instructed. She obeyed. Suddenly masked people moved around her vehicle. Now came the tough part. She might die right here, tonight, but this was the only way she knew to try to save her precious grandson.

81

Monday, 6:41 PM

“Home again, home again, jiggety jog,” Becca sang to Chris and Alicia as they trooped in the front door with sacks of shopping trophies and bags of leftover movie popcorn.

Becca saw a note, taped to a dining room chair placed in the foyer. “Put your things away now, girls. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

She opened the note:

Becca,

I’m away with Milo. Not sure when we’ll return. Don’t worry. No matter what happens, always remember how much I love you.

Mom

Odd note; it seemed almost as if her mother thought she wouldn’t see her again.

The phone rang. Becca picked it up with one hand, still holding the note in the other.

“This is Detective Felts again, Mrs. Shannon. You didn’t call back and it’s urgent that we speak with you about the kidnapping. When can I come to the house?”

Becca’s jaw dropped. Kidnapping? “This is her daughter, Becca. She isn’t here right now. What’s going on, Detective?”

“You say you are her daughter? How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. For God’s sake, Detective, what’s going on?”

“You don’t know?”

“I’ve been out all afternoon and just got home. Please tell me, what’s this about?”

He filled her in. “We need to come over now to plan strategy to get the boy back safely.”

“I hear call-waiting. Give me your number. I’ll call you right back.” Becca scratched his number on the note her mother had left then switched to the incoming line.

“Hello, this is Veronika Verontsova. May I speak to Jennifer’s husband?”

“He’s not here but this is her daughter. May I help?”

“I’m the Russian woman she met for lunch today.”

“The psychic?”

“Yes. I…I’ve had another vision and I’m calling to warn you. She is in perilous danger tonight. She’s in a field trying to save a little boy from dangerous men who plan to kill them both.”

Becca gulped.

“Please listen carefully. We have very little time to save her and you must play an important role. In my vision she left information about where she went. A letter? A note for her husband?”

“Hold on while I run upstairs to look. She rushed into her parents’ master bedroom, glanced into each of their walk-in closets and then into their bathroom. Between their double sinks she found an envelope addressed to “Jason.” She tore it open. “Veronika, are you still there?”

“Yes, what did you find?”

“Her note to my father. Here, I’ll read it aloud,

Jay,

Sorry to do this without you, Love, but I couldn’t wait for your return tonight.

I contacted Milo’s kidnappers today and got a cell phone, which they’ll use to give me directions.

They said to bring the diamonds to exchange for him but I’m only taking half because if they get them all, Milo and I won’t come back. I made this decision myself, knowing you’d stop me otherwise. I made this problem so I should solve it. If things go wrong, remember how much I have always loved you and that you and our family are most precious to me in all the world.

If I’m not home by your return, please rescue me. I gave OnStar advance permission to share my GPS location with you and the Fairfax County police. Call 1-888-For-OnStar. My member number is on the enclosed card. Maybe Adam can help you with OnStar. Nice to have a police detective in the family when we need one!

My love always,

Jen

Veronika’s voice filled with urgency. “Now you must alert this Adam about the OnStar so he can find her and you must call OnStar to confirm your authorization for him to use this information to save her life. Do you understand?”

“Yes. Thank you, Veronika.”

“Hurry!”

She hung up the phone.

82

Monday, 6:52 PM

“Hello, Hannah? Please let me talk to Adam right away. I don’t have time to explain. It’s urgent. …Adam, it’s Becca. We have an emergency. I found a note from Mom saying she contacted Milo’s kidnappers. They gave her a cell phone to receive directions to some place where they’ll exchange the diamonds for Milo. She planned ahead by giving OnStar permission to tell Dad and the police her vehicle’s tracking location. Dad’s out of town, so it’s up to you. Can you start right away?”

“Yes, ready to copy.”

She read the numbers. “Call me with any news. I can’t believe she’d try this by herself.”

“Really?” he asked and hung up.

• • •

“Hello, Onstar? I’m Detective Adam Iverson of the Fairfax County Police. This is about your member, Jennifer Shannon.” He read her member number. “She gave you her permission to tell us the location of her vehicle per your GPS. Do you find that?”

“I’ll refer you to a different department and…”

“Wait a minute, is Brad Billings on duty tonight? He’s familiar with….”

“Just a moment, I’ll check.”

“Hello, this is Brad Billings.”

“Hi, Brad, here’s a voice from the recent past. I’m sure glad you’re on duty tonight.” Adam identified himself and reminded him of their past work on the other case.

“I remember it well; glad it worked out well. How can I help you now, Detective?”

“Jennifer followed directions from kidnappers to trade a ransom for her grandson. In order not to endanger other loved ones, she went herself. As backup, she left her permission with OnStar to let police track her vehicle and that’s exactly what we’re doing now.”

“I’m searching for her permission to give you this information…yes, it just came up on the screen. Since I know who you are because we’ve worked together before, let’s waste no time.”

Adam heard the tap of computer keys.

“Okay, looks like her vehicle is parked along the McLean/Great Falls border in an area that's not commercial, residential or parkland but maybe agricultural. Here are the coordinates.”

Adam copied numbers, thanked Brad and hung up.

As he stared at the coordinates and their significance registered, he jumped to his feet. “Geez, Hannah, I know these numbers by heart from subdividing our property. Her car is parked on our land. We’ve got to hurry to save your Mom and Milo. Grab the rifle, your cell phone and a warm jacket. Climb into the deer stand halfway across the property. When I call you on your cell, fire the rifle into the air three times. By then I’ll be close to the perps. Your gunshot will distract them so I can make my move.”

Used to dressing fast for police work, Adam whipped on his Kevlar bullet-protective vest, jerking a black long-sleeved t-shirt over it. With no idea the size force he’d encounter, he slipped on a camouflage vest containing pepper spray, box cutter and taser. He pushed his pistol into his belt, thrust his cell phone into a vest pocket, grabbed night-vision goggles, blew a kiss to his startled wife and rushed from the house into the dark.

He ran along the same abandoned farm road used a year earlier by his deranged brother, Ruger, who took flight from police after Jennifer escaped. From the OnStar coordinates, Adam knew exactly where he headed on his property, two miles from his house but along a completely different country road.

He ran quickly but with little noise. From frequent walks around the property, he knew this grass-covered road well, even in the dark. Always volatile, kidnapping scenarios moved unpredictably. Would either family member still be alive when he reached the spot? He pushed himself to run faster, covering the two miles quickly. Nearing the target area, he slowed, heard voices and crept forward with stealth. He donned night-vision goggles and scanned the scene before him.

83

Monday, 7:13 PM

Aware of masked people moving around her car, Jennifer heard the cell-phone voice drone, “Step out of the car and put your hands in the air.”

She dropped the phone on the seat and climbed out into the darkness, palms raised.

Rough hands grabbed her, frisked her, removed the sock of diamonds and threw her on the ground. A man’s heavy boot ground into the small of her back, pinning her painfully flat on the ground. Fear and pain combined with the shock of this onslaught to warn her with certainty they intended to grab the diamonds and kill them both. She screamed, “You won’t get the rest of your diamonds if you hurt me or the boy.”

More rough hands pulled her to her feet. One grabbed her hair, jerking her head back. “What did you say?” he growled.

She shouted, “I said you won’t get the rest of your diamonds if you hurt me or the boy.”

The masked man holding the sock looked up sharply. “The rest of the diamonds? You didn’t bring them all?”

The ringleader poured the sock’s contents into one huge hand, studied them and dropped them back inside.

“Of course not,” Jennifer said loudly, “I cannot trust you. You’d kill the boy and me if you got them all now. The rest are at the bank and only my key and signature can get them out.”

“Well, now,” came the oily voice of a second man. “You are a troublemaker, but we know how to deal with that. After what we do, you will beg to bring us to the diamonds.”

“I beg to bring you the rest of the diamonds now. The bank is a public place where I must walk in to sign for them. Everybody will see me. If I am hurt in any way, they will all know.”

“Hmm,” the man purred, “we have many techniques showing no outside marks but which make you cry to do whatever we ask if only we stop the pain. You’ll gladly get the diamonds for us.”

“But I’ll gladly get the diamonds for you now, anyway. After you return the boy.”

“Or we keep the boy and give you a last chance to exchange the remaining diamonds for his life.”

“Maybe you’ve already killed him, so none of this matters. Let me see him.”

The voice behind the mask fell silent as an anxious moment passed. “Show her the boy.”

Jennifer heard a car door slam in the darkness, followed by a child’s whimpers. One of the men directed a flashlight beam on Milo. Held in a man’s tight grasp, the child stood about thirty feet from her. He winced as the light played upon his little face, blinding him with brightness.

“Or another useful method is to chop off small pieces of the boy’s body while you watch—until you bring us the remaining diamonds. First a fingertip, then an ear, then the nose, then…”

She hoped Milo missed this grisly incantation. She fought anxiety and steadied her voice to avoid further alarming the frightened child. “Milo, I’ve come for you,” she shouted, holding her arms out to him. He wriggled to break away and run to her, but the man held him fast.