Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (20 page)

Three stayed on the ground for a moment. When he got back up, he glared at Two. She smiled.

“We’re making the call shortly,” Boss said.

“Why so soon?” This from Four.

“We moved the timetable,” Two said. “They should have the money. No reason not to get it today.”

Jada moved toward the sound of Boss’ voice with her blindfold still on. “I don’t want my dad delivering the money.”

“Tough.”

“Please, don’t let him.”

“Why not?” Two asked.

“He’s got high blood pressure. And a bad heart.”

“A lot of people do. He’ll live.”

“Wait! He’s…he’s got a really bad temper. I’m afraid he might try something. And then he’ll get hurt.”

Boss smiled. “Ah, so now we get to the meat of it. So who would you have deliver it?”

“Uncle Eddy. My mother’s brother. He lives here.”

Boss looked to Number Two, who shrugged. “I don’t care who delivers it, as long as they bring the money.”

Boss looked to Three. “What do you say?”

Three held a napkin, dabbing his bloody lip and nose. “I don’t give a fuck who does it. Let’s just get it over with.”

Boss turned back to Jada. “We’ll see when we call, but if you try anything, all guarantees are off. I’ll give you to these perverts. Understand?”

“I understand,” Jada said. She shook when she did.

***

Five minutes had passed since Lucia had told Lonny to come eat, but he still hadn’t gotten up.

“Lonny, get your sorry self out here and eat. I won’t have a hungry man growling at me all day.”

Maybe it was the pervasive smell of bacon, or maybe the tone of her voice, but one of them brought Lonny to the kitchen. He took a cup of coffee like a starving man grabs food and situated himself at the end of the table between me and Scott.

“What time you think they’ll call?” Lonny asked.

“Could be anytime from now until tonight,” I said. “They gave us forty-eight hours to get the money. Today is just to keep us on our toes.”

“What have you got planned? You
do
have a plan, don’t you?”

“Not much we can do until we get the call. After that, we’ll get more men for surveillance. Get resources for tracking the money and the bag. Our techs will plant GPS devices in the car.”

Scott cleaned his plate and headed to the patio, already on the phone.

“Excuse me, Lonny,” I said.

I caught Scott before he went outside. “Remember, Mr. Winthrop, tell no one anything. And don’t stray far. They could call at any time.” I went back to the table, not wanting to face Lonny again, but I’d try to assuage his fears.

His coffee cup was empty, but he continued to lift it as if he were sipping it. “So we have no money to give them.”

“We’ve got no money, Lonny. That’s right.”

“Why—”

“It’s policy. It has nothing to do with who you are or who Jada is. The police and FBI
never
pay ransom.”

“So how you gonna catch them?”

I didn’t want to say I didn’t know, which I didn’t, but I couldn’t outright lie to him. “A lot of what we do depends on what instructions they give us. I can tell you this—we’ll have enough men to keep them under surveillance no matter what they do. We’ll get them.” I started to get up, but he grabbed my arm.

“What about my girl? Am I gonna get to talk to her?”

“They said they’d put her on today.” I stared at him. “Understand, though, they think she is Scott’s daughter. Somehow Jada has kept them believing that, so you can’t talk. Not one word.”

“I understand.” He looked at Lucia, who had joined us at the table. His expression was almost like he didn’t want to ask the next question.

“What is it, Lonny?” I asked.

“How will we know if she’s all right?”

I didn’t quite know how to answer that. “You can tell a lot through the phone. But remember, she’s scared. Scared as hell. And she doesn’t know what to expect. She’ll sound nervous. She’ll probably cry. No matter what happens, though, you have to be quiet. Let Scott do the talking. They know his voice.”

Lonny fidgeted. I could tell he wasn’t convinced, so I did what I didn’t want to. I grabbed hold of Lucia and Lonny by the arms and took them to the other room. “I can’t say this strong enough. These people are dangerous. If they suspect something is wrong, they may hurt Jada. I know you don’t want that. It may be better for both of you to stay out of the room when they call. We’ll have it taped. You can listen afterward.”

“No way!” Lonny said. “I’m—”

Lucia took him by the hand and sat him down. “What are you gonna do in that room but worry and get angry?” She paused. “And maybe say something that could get our baby killed?”

I left them alone, convinced he was in good hands. A few minutes later, Lucia came out and said he’d stay in the family room when the call came in.

Scott paraded through the kitchen with his briefcase in hand, heading for the garage.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“They called from work. We’ve got some issues I need to look after.”

I’d thought that after our talk last night, the man had taken a turn for the good.
Wrong.
“Whoa! Mr. Winthrop.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and not so gently steered him into the dining room. “Sir, we need you here in case they call.”

“I’ve got my cell phone. If they call, get hold of my secretary, and she’ll patch it through. I’ve—”

I looked around, made sure no one was near then whispered, “Are you a
fucking
moron? This girl is fighting for her life.”

He leaned in close and whispered back, “Detective, I have a job to do. I don’t know if you understand this, but I’m taking this company public. That requires a lot of preparation.”

I wanted to hit him; instead, I grabbed the keys from his hand. “You’re going
nowhere!
” I felt certain this would earn me a suspension, but I didn’t give a fuck.

He raised himself up, aggressive. “Detective, give me those keys.”

Just then the home phone rang. The tech called from the other room. “Got an unknown caller here.”

“That’s them!” I grabbed hold of Winthrop and dragged him toward the kitchen. “Get ready. And
don’t
fuck this up.”

Chapter 29

Answer the Phone

O
n the third ring, Lonny moved toward the kitchen. Lucia intercepted him and took him back to the living room. The tech signaled that he was ready. I instructed Scott to pick up on ring number four. The script we rehearsed lay on the table in front of him.

“Hello.”

“Is the money ready, Mr. Winthrop?”

Winthrop looked at me, panicked. I shook my head and pointed to the 48 marked on our sheet.

“You said forty-eight hours.”

“But I
know
you have it. Let’s do the transaction today. I’m sure you want your little girl back. I
know
she wants to go home.”

Scott looked to me for an answer. I scribbled on the pad: 3:00 PM.

“I can probably get it by three.”

I pointed to a part of the script we’d rehearsed.

He nodded. “Is my daughter there? I want to speak with her.”

Silence.

I pointed to another line of the script.

“I won’t do anything unless I know she’s all right.”

“You’ve got thirty seconds,” the man said. “Clear?”

Scott was being too casual, too businesslike. I jotted some notes down in big letters.
Where’s the
emotion
? Earn your OSCAR!

Jada came on the line. “Daddy! Daddy, is that you?”

I thought Scott was choking up, but he came through. “Jada! Oh God, baby, are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

“Daddy, listen. I don’t have much time. I don’t want you to deliver the money. Not with your blood pressure and heart. Send Uncle Eddy. You know how calm he is. Even my friends say that about Uncle Eddy.”

Scott looked to me with a what-the-fuck-do-I-do-now look. I think I wore one too. I made a quick decision, not knowing whether the kidnappers would approve. If they were smart, they’d know a father would object. I pointed to the paper and wrote
No! I’m doing it.

Scott nodded. “No way! I’m doing this myself.”

“Dad, you’re not well enough. Send Uncle Eddy,
please.
”

I nodded.

Scott took a deep breath then said, “Okay. I’ll get Eddy to do it…but you stay safe, baby. And don’t worry. You’ll be home soon.”

“It’s me again.” It was the kidnapper.

I wrote,
Threaten him.

“If you hurt her, I swear—”

“Yes, I know. It is natural to worry, but there is no need if you do your job.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Good. A much better attitude. And don’t worry—she’ll be home soon. Listen carefully. We don’t have much time. Get the money. Put it in a duffel bag. You can purchase one at Academy or Walmart if you don’t have one. When it’s ready, drive to the Denny’s restaurant on Research Forest Boulevard. Be there at three o’clock. Park near the back on that same side. Go in and enjoy some coffee and breakfast. I suggest the Grand Slam or the blueberry pancakes with a side of sausage. In any case, do not come out before half an hour is up. That is important. Are we clear?”

“What else?”

“Let’s keep it simple. We’ll call once you are inside, so make sure your cell phone is with you. And the money, of course. Don’t forget that.”

I hurriedly wrote.
I don’t know if the bank can get it ready.

Scott nodded. “I haven’t checked with the bank. I don’t know—”

“They have it ready. Don’t mess up.”

“Three o’clock?”

“Yes. And tell the police not to try anything. We
will
know.” The line went dead.

Scott set the phone down then sat at the table. He was shaking. “Did I do all right? I…”

I patted his back. “You did great.”

Lonny ran into the kitchen. “Is it over? Is she all right?”

I led Lonny back to the family room. Lucia looked about to break. “She sounded good, Lonny. Scared, but good.”

“Let me hear it.”

“Hold on a minute. I’ve got to call my captain—”

“I want to hear the damn tape.”

“Lonny! Time is critical. They want the drop today. I need to get things ready.” I made sure he was looking at me, and paying attention. “Sit with Lucia. I’ll play the tape when I’m done.”

I left the room and called Coop on her cell.

“Cooper.”

“Coop, it’s me. They want the drop today.”

“What!”

“Yeah. Three o’clock.”

“What do you need?”

“Seven million dollars, to start with. Assuming you can’t do that, lots of surveillance help. Whatever the tech guys need for tracking. I want GPS in the bag, on the car, on Winthrop, everywhere. I need communications so I stay in touch with everybody.” I thought for a moment. “I’ll send you the tape for analysis. Get that psychologist on it. I think his names’s Morris. He might come up with something.”

“Can you email it?”

“Hang on.” I looked around for Winthrop. “Scott, can we email that tape?”

“Yes, it’s digital.”

“Okay, Coop, I’ll email it to you. Get it to Morris as soon as you can. And make him realize it’s imperative that we get an analysis
quickly.
”

“Anything else?” Coop asked.

“There’s bound to be more. I’ll call as I think of it.”

“I’ll get moving.”

“Make it quick, Coop.” I was about to hang up when I realized I’d screwed up already. Winthrop wasn’t delivering the goods, and we had a genuine okay from the kidnappers to let Uncle Eddy do it. “One more thing. I need someone to stand in for Winthrop.”

“I already told you that Renkin is too tall, not to mention too black.”

“We couldn’t use Renkin anyway. They might recognize him from the news. Get anybody who can handle undercover, as long as they’re black.”

“I’ll call you,” Coop said.

When I turned around, Scott Winthrop was staring at me. “I see. We all look alike, huh?”

“Not at all. I’d never mistake Halle Berry for Aretha Franklin.”

Winthrop started to walk away, pissed off. I grabbed him. “Hey, I hope you know I’m just shitting about all that. And by the way, thanks for what you did. That
was
an Oscar performance.”

“I’ve got to get ready for work. Call me if you need anything.”

I signaled Delgado to join us at the table then called Lonny into the kitchen. “Are you ready to listen?”

He and Lucia clung to each other. Lucia called Mars to join them. He stood behind them, his arms on their shoulders. When Delgado and Connors got there, I played the tape, starting at the beginning.

“Hello.”

“Is the money ready, Mr. Winthrop?”

“You said forty-eight hours when you called yesterday.”

“But I
know
you have it. Let’s do the transaction today. I’m sure you want your little girl back. I
know
she wants to go home.”

I paused the tape. “This is not the same man who called yesterday. See how nothing bothers this guy? No matter what Scott threw at him, he remained calm.” I hit play again.