Carlos was in a rage. “How could you be so stupid, Gloria? First you didn’t consider the huge amount of small bills that would take, and then you forgot to tell them our plan for the drop off. What’s going through that tiny brain of yours? This was supposed to be easy – one, two, three and we’re outta here. Now we’re on the run before we even have the money. We have to get the ransom and get away soon or they’ll start closing in on us.”
“Hey! Back off! I don’t need you jumping on me for every little mistake. Nothing’s really changed. We go ahead with the ransom drop off and pick up plan we came up with, head for JFK airport, and leave the country. Nothing to it.”
“It better work. One more of your screw-ups and I’ll drop you off in front of the police department in handcuffs.”
“Yeah. You and who else, you wimp?”
Gloria had always be able to intimidate her younger brother, but this time she was worried. The two men they had hired to help with this job quietly moved over to stand beside Carlos. It looks like they have chosen sides, she thought. Not good.
She backed up a bit and whipped out her pistol. “You gonna threaten me you better have a weapon in your hand. Now put your weapons on the table and back away. All three complied because they knew Gloria didn’t make empty threats. She gathered up their guns and growled “You can have these back when we go for the pick up. Carlos, you call de Luca back and tell him the plan.”
When the phone rang again de Luca took a deep breath, pressed the speaker phone button, and answered. “This is de Luca.”
“Here are the instructions.” It was a man’s voice this time. “Mr. de Luca will deliver the ransom tomorrow morning. Put the money in an overnight bag with wheels and go to the Millbourne station of the Market-Frankford subway line. Board the train that leaves for City Center at 7:21. Get off downtown at the 13th street exit, walk down one level to the Broad Street Line, and stand next to the men’s restroom with the suitcase beside you. Someone will come up to you with a note telling how to get your daughter back. Walk away from the suitcase, board the southbound train, and don’t look back. We will have people watching. If we see anyone following you, we leave and your daughter dies. Have you got that straight?”
“Yes, I believe I do.”
“Good. If you’re late, she dies. If anyone follows you, she dies. If you plant tracking devices in the package, she dies.. . . . click.”
They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Dave spoke up. “Well, we can throw the GPS tracker idea out. And the downtown morning subway rush will make it all but impossible to follow the pick up man – lots of escape routes, multiple trains, hundreds of people moving everywhere. I don’t see how we can track him or the money. And even if we could track him, after the others pick him up they would be crazy to go back to where they’re holding the girls.”
“If they’re serious about killing Gabrielle – and Lynn if she’s still alive – they will leave someone there to carry out the kill order and meet up somewhere later.”
“Good point, Tom. Our best chance is to focus on finding where they are being held. Any progress on clearing up the license plate image?”
Tom replied “I’ll go check on it,” as he left for the lab. Ten minutes later he called Dave. “We got it. It’s an Ohio plate registered to a Gloria Durant, who lives in the Lincoln Heights section of Cincinnati. The van is a white 2012 Chevrolet Express passenger van. That’s all I have. If we had Lynn here she could hack into some records for more detail, but . . .”
“Thanks, Tom. We’ll get this information out to Lou’s teams. Maybe we’ll get lucky and spot the van.”
Gloria Durant was going over the plan one more time with Carlos and the other two. “Have you got this straight? Tomorrow morning we’ll take the van to the Millbourne subway station and park near the entrance. I’ll go inside to pick up the suitcase while Butch here follows behind me looking for a trap. Darrel will stay in the van keeping a lookout for suspicious vehicles or people in the parking lot. If either of you sees anything – anything at all that doesn’t seem right – call me on your speed dial.”
Carlos spoke up. “Why can’t I be in the van? Leave Butch here to watch the women.” Gloria gave him another one of her intimidating looks. “Because you’re the only one I can trust to kill them. These two don’t have the guts to do it.”
“Why do you have to leave tonight? I don’t want to stay awake watching the women all night?”
“Because I don’t want to take a chance on traffic slowing us down in the morning. We’ll park at a 24 hour Wal-Mart and sleep in the van. Once we have the money we’ll drive back here to pick you up and head for New York.” Gloria’s thoughts were on an entirely different plan. After she had the money she would pay off Butch and Darrel and drive to JFK by herself, leaving Carlos behind.
“Time to leave, boys,” Gloria said as she thought about the cleverest part of her plan. She would get the suitcase from de Luca just before he boarded the train at Millbourne. If they planned a trap for her at City Center, they were wasting their time.
Lynn overheard their plans, and as soon as they left she started to work on her escape plan. She and Gabbi were chained to pipe with their leg irons. When they needed the bathroom one of the men would come over to unlock the ankle cuff, holding a gun on the other who was still chained. That’s what kept Lynn from attacking the guy – that and the other three in the building. Now there was only one of them.
Lynn waited patiently until after midnight when she could see Carlos drifting off to sleep in his chair. She wanted his alertness dulled. Then she called out “Hey. Carlos. I need the bathroom. Bad . . . Hey! Did you hear me?”
Carlos raised his head, then decided to ignore her. “If you don’t let me go I’m gonna crap in my pants and you’ll have to put up with the stink all night.” That made him reconsider. He pulled himself out of the chair, grabbed the leg iron key and his pistol and walked over to let her loose.
As soon as the ankle cuff was loose, before he had time to point the gun at Gabbi, Lynn delivered a lightning quick chop to his throat and grabbed for the gun. Even though he was choking he stepped back and pointed the gun at her, but before he could pull the trigger she stepped inside his gun arm and kneed him in the crotch. When he doubled over she brought her knee up again, this time to smash him in the face. The gun fell from his hand as Lynn kneed his face a second time. He collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
Gabbi woke up when Lynn shouted for a bathroom visit and watched the whole thing. “Wow! Are you superwoman or something? That was amazing. He didn’t know what hit him. Can you teach me that stuff?”
“Maybe someday. For now let’s get those leg cuffs off you and get some help.”
Lynn took Carlos’ cell phone from his pocket and dialed Dave’s personal cell number. The irrational thought ‘I hope I don’t wake him up’ went through her mind just before he answered.
“This is David Cramer. Who am I talking to?”
“It’s me, Dave.”
“Who?”
“Lynn! Did you forget about me so soon?”
“No. We saw the live video of someone cutting your throat and thought maybe you were . . . were dead.”
“It was a shallow cut, just into the skin. It bled some but there’s no permanent damage. He was just trying to scare you and Antonio; let you know they were serious.”
“Where are you! We have some men in the area.”
“Just a second. Gabbi. Go out front and see what the address of this place is.”
A few minutes later she told Dave the address.
“But what street is it on?”
“There’s no street sign in view, but it’s a defunct gas station named Blake’s Gas and Auto Service.”
“We can work with that. Someone will be there shortly.”
“One more thing, Dave. The woman who leads this gang has a change of plans. She’s going to intercept de Luca at the Millbourn
e subway station, not in City Center.”
“Great! I’ll have some men there to grab them.”
“We are also going to need an ambulance out here.”
“What? Are you hurt? Is Gabbi hurt?”
“No, but the guy I beat up is in bad shape.”
Two days later Lynn was at the Hotel du Pont saying her goodbyes to the de Luca family. As she hugged Gabbi they both had tears in their eyes. They had shared a lot together.
“I’ll never forget you, Lynn. And I’ll miss you. Please come to Torino and visit.”
“I’ll miss you too. And you let me know anytime you’re in the country. I’ll drop what I’m doing and come see you.”
When she turned to Antonio he looked at her gravely. “You have done so much for us, Mrs. Preston. I feel I must repay you somehow, but you wouldn’t take the money I offered. Would you take it if I doubled the amount? Made it $200,000?”
“No sir. It’s not the amount. I was just doing my job. But if you ever need my services again, anywhere in the world, just call Dave.”
De Luca nodded, gave her a slight bow, and herded his wife and daughter out the door.