Nothing Is Negotiable (32 page)

“I told you the FBI was calling the shots,” Paul said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “They wanted her to hold out as long as she could. But, in the end, I knew she’d pay. We did it,” Paul said, walking over to Sonny and bumping fists.

“It took all of us: you, me, Pete, Rita and Rosemary,” Sonny replied.

“You’re right,” Paul said. He shook his head. “I just can’t believe Pete’s gone.”

“Me too. Have you checked on our charter?” Sonny asked.

“Yeah, they said the jet will be ready at noon. They asked if we needed a limo to the airport and I said no,” Paul replied.

Paul’s cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, but didn’t recognize the number. He held a finger to his lips, signaling for Sonny to be quiet.

“Simpson,” he said.

“Paul, this is Luke Wakefield,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

“Luke Wakefield?” he said, looking at Sonny and raising an eyebrow. “What can I do for you, Luke?”

“I need some help,” Luke said. “The last time we talked in Cardston, you said you were closing the missing person’s case on my wife because you thought she left me and went back to Texas. I didn’t believe that and kept looking for her.”

“I thought you might,” Paul said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Well, I finally found her. She was abducted and held hostage for five days.”

“What do you mean, she was abducted? We never heard anything about it in our detachment.”

“You wouldn’t have because I didn’t report to the RCMP.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“What do you mean?” Paul sounded confused.

“Have you heard about the kidnapping of Olivia Townsend? The daughter of that billionaire in Kalispell, Montana?” Luke asked.

“The Olivia Townsend kidnapping? Yeah, we’ve been getting some information about it over the wire, but I haven’t kept up with it.”

“It gets complicated, but... Bonnie is the one who kidnapped her.”

“What do you mean, she kidnapped her?” Paul asked.

“The day after you and Ernest told me to go back to Texas I found an envelope in my car with Polaroid pictures of Bonnie, tied up and lying on a bed. There was a note enclosed that said she was being held and if I wanted to see her alive again, I had to do what they said. So, that’s what I did.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“It said they’d kill her if I contacted the police. I had no choice. All I could do was follow their directions, which took me to an old house in Montana the other side of Glacier, near the town of Whitefish. When I went inside, I found Bonnie tied to a chair. Before I knew it, two guys jumped me from behind. They tied me up and for the next ten minutes they beat me while Bonnie was forced to watch. They told her that if she didn’t do exactly as they said, they’d continue to torture me until I was dead. So she said she would.”

“What did they want her to do?”

“Kidnap Olivia Townsend.”

“You’re kidding,” he said. “How in the hell was she supposed to do that?”

“They had it all worked out. Bonnie looks exactly like Olivia’s doctor, so she posed as her and kidnapped her from the hospital.”

“I don’t know how she could get away with something like that,” Paul snapped. “Hospitals have tight security—unauthorized people can’t just come in and take kids.”

“One of the nurses at the hospital was in on it.”

“One of the nurses was in on it?” Paul repeated, a signal to Sonny.

“Yeah, all Bonnie had to do was go to the third floor where Olivia was having her treatment. The nurse would give her Olivia, and then she’d go down to the basement and out to the parking lot where these people were waiting.”

“And she did it?”

“She really didn’t have any choice,” Luke said, defensively. “They told her if she didn’t do what they said, they’d kill Olivia. Then they’d kill me.”

“They say she killed a couple of people at the hospital.”

“It wasn’t her. It was one of the guys who abducted us. They got Olivia from Bonnie and she was able to escape, then she helped me escape.”

“How did you do that?”

“A friend from Cardston helped.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The lady who rented me the Jeep, Lauren Gray. She owns The Sportsman’s Outfitter. Her shop’s there on Main Street in Cardston.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that place,” Paul said, trying to hide his surprise at the identity of this mystery woman. “Is she still with you?”

“Yeah, we’re all in her truck right now.”

“You were lucky she was willing to help,” Paul said.

“You’re right. Anyway, we’ve managed to figure out who the kidnappers are and—”

“You know who the kidnappers are? Who are they?”

“The main guy is Sonny Diamond. He runs a camera shop there in Cardston. Ever heard of him?”

“Yeah, an ex-con. I’ve heard he’s a lowlife piece of shit,” he said sardonically, glancing at Sonny who was listening to his half of the conversation. “Can you prove all this?”

“We can. We’ve got one of their guns, and I’m pretty sure it’s the one that was used to kill those people at the hospital. We also have a laptop that’s loaded with information they used to plan the kidnapping. There are files on Kim, the Kalispell hospital and even files on Bonnie and me. There are more files that are password-protected, including some with information about foreign banks, account numbers, and wire transfers.”

“You’re kidding,” he said. This really pissed Paul off. They had his computer. He’d backed up all the files from Rita’s laptop in case they had a problem with her computer. The day before the kidnapping, he told Rita to put it somewhere where it would be safe. “How’d you get the gun and computer?”

“I don’t have time to go into that now, but I’ll tell you something else,” Luke took a long breath and cleared his throat. “We know they’re in Canada. More precisely, Calgary.”

“You’re sure about that?” Paul asked.

“Positive. And... we’ve got more information that will help the cops find them.”

“What kind of information do you have?” Paul asked.

“Paul, we’re running out of time. I’d rather not go into that right now, but here’s why I called: When I was in Cardston, Ernest treated me like I was a criminal, but you treated me right and I feel like you’re the only one I can trust. We’re on our way to Calgary and I need to know where to go and who to talk to.”

“I understand and you were wise to call me. If you walked into any of the stations in Calgary with that story, you’d be interrogated for hours and it’s doubtful the information would get to the right people in time. But, I can get you where you need to go,” Paul said. “How far are you from Calgary?”

“I think we’re about two hours south.”

“Good. Let me call the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes up there and tell him what you told me. I’ll call you back and tell you what to do.”

“Sounds good.” Just before he hung up, Luke added, “And Paul, you don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

“Anytime, Luke.”

Paul clicked off and looked across the table.

Sonny pulled out a chair and sat down. “Who’s a lowlife piece of shit?” Sonny asked with a smirk.

“You are,” Paul said with hint of a grin. Then he became serious. “They’re about two hours south of here and have information that will help the cops find us.”

“Like what?” Sonny said, sensing trouble.

“He wouldn’t say, but he also said they have Pete’s pistol and my laptop. If the RCMP gets that we’re dead. It’s registered in my name and it has all the files. Once they get past the passwords on those files, they’ll have everything. The accounts where the ransom will be wired, our new names on our new passports, hotel reservations in the Caymans... everything.”

Sonny closed his eyes and cursed silently.

Paul continued, angry now. “Last night you called me after you left and told me they’d found you. I told you to go back. There was too much there to leave behind.”

Sonny was defensive. “I didn’t even have a gun. How was I supposed to fight this guy?”

“I don’t know, but that computer and gun will be our downfall.”

Sonny ignored that comment. “What else did he say?”

“He said they’re on their way to Calgary and needed to know where to go to turn in this information.”

“Oh, bullshit. Any dumbass knows all you have to do is stop at any police station.”

“He knows they don’t have much time and if he stops at the first substation he sees and starts at the beginning, it’s going to take hours before he convinces the detectives he’s not a nutcase. When he was in Cardston, he and Ernest didn’t get along, but we did. He trusts me. He wants me to run interference for him and get him to the right person before it’s too late.”

“I don’t like it,” Sonny said. He shook his head. “They showed up at the Cliff House half an hour after you left. If they saw you, this could be some kind of trick.”

“I thought about that, but he doesn’t want to see me. He thinks I’m three hours south of here in Cardston. The only reason he called me was to find out where to go and who to talk to.”

Sonny nodded as he thought. “So, what do you think?”

“If they go to the police, we’re dead,” Paul said. “That laptop has all of the account numbers for the Cayman Islands and the other accounts in Switzerland. They’ve got Pete’s gun, which ballistics will match to the murders. Even if we get the ransom, we’ll always be wanted. We’ll never be free to live in Canada, the U.S. or any other country with an extradition treaty.” Paul watched as Sonny thought about it. “But, now we have a chance to stop them.”

“Okay. Where are they?”

“He said they’re about two hours south of here.” He looked at his watch. “If Kim transmits the funds at ten, we should get confirmation of the transfer from the Caymans about the time he gets here. I’ll have them come to the church and we take care of them there. It will look like they were double-crossed by a partner who decided not to share the forty million. After we get the computer and the gun, they won’t have anything to connect us to the kidnapping.”

Sonny nodded then furrowed his brow. “I heard you say something about the woman who was with them. Did he tell you who she is?”

“You’re going to love this,” Paul said with a devious grin. “It’s the woman who sent you to prison for ten years.”

Sonny’s eyes opened wide. “Lauren?”

“That’s right.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope. She rented Luke the Jeep and let him stay in the bunk house on her ranch. We should have connected her before now. This could be your chance to get even.”

“Is she the one who was with them at the mall?”

“She has to be. And she’s probably the one who got the gun for Bonnie.”

“That fucking bitch,” Sonny said. He turned away and looked out the window.

As Paul watched Sonny, he thought about the day he and Sonny met. After working in the security business in Calgary for thirteen years, Paul was accused of stealing jewelry from the homes of several wealthy clients. Though he was never charged, Paul reputation was ruined when rumors of the theft spread around town. He decided to leave the security business and Calgary, finally going to work for the RCMP in Cardston.

There was little about small-town life he liked. Other than writing parking tickets and settling domestic disputes, the only thing to do was gamble. Like most of the other Mounties on the force, he didn’t consider betting on sporting events a crime. The bets were small, usually a hundred or two, mostly on hockey, boxing, football or horse races. To place their bets, they had to go to Lethbridge, a town about an hour northeast of Cardston. He’d go to The Silver Slipper, a second-rate strip joint on the edge of town. Usually around midnight every Tuesday night, the local bookie would show up. One night while waiting, he met Sonny, who was there for the same reason. Unlikely friends, the cop and the ex-con, soon found they had similar stories. Both claimed they were wrongly accused of a crime that ruined their life.

Paul’s gambling was casual until one day when his horse came in—literally. On a longshot, he banked over forty grand and soon his hundred-dollar bets turned into a thousand. His luck continued and the bets went to five thousand, then ten. He was up over a hundred grand when he hit a cold streak. In a matter of months he lost everything and wound up sixty thousand in debt to the wrong people. It didn’t take long before they put pressure on him to pay up. With no winners on the horizon, Paul turned to the one friend he knew had the money—Sonny.

Their friendship had grown over the year and it was apparent Sonny had money, but two things he was sure of was—it didn’t all come from his job at the camera store or gambling. But he really didn’t want to know any more than that.

Sonny was glad to help. Paul turned over the title to his car and promised quick payment, but after nine months he had barely put a dent in his balance. One night Sonny called and said they needed to talk. Over drinks, Paul admitted it was going to take years to pay off the debt. Sonny told him he had an idea that might interest him. Sonny said he had a small business on the side and could use his help. If Paul was willing to come on board, he’d forgive his entire debt. He said Paul’s involvement would be peripheral, making it simple for him to participate.

Sonny told him how shortly after he got out of prison, he was talking to the lawyer who represented him in his murder trial. They were discussing his outstanding bill and the lawyer mentioned he was looking for someone he could trust to get him some cocaine. Sonny said he would do it if it would help wipe out his debt. With the contacts he’d made in prison, he started supplying the lawyer with the illegal drug on a regular basis. The lawyer turned him onto other lawyers, then a few stockbrokers, then some businessmen. Before long, Sonny was smuggling a brick of cocaine at a time to supply them and his client list grew to include an elite group of white-collar executives all over southern Alberta. With the RCMP cracking down on illegal drugs, Sonny told Paul he needed someone on the inside to protect him. All he had to do was be his eyes and ears down at the RCMP. Paul accepted.

Paul soon found he wasn’t the only partner. Pete Coley, who worked at the border crossing, was the other.