Nothing Is Negotiable (34 page)

As Lauren drove, Luke rubbed his eyes. He was still tired.

After they left the Cliff House he drove while Bonnie and Lauren tried to sleep. When they got to the outskirts of Calgary they checked into a motel and got a room with two beds. Within minutes they were all asleep on top of the bedspreads. It seemed as if he had just fallen asleep when Bonnie woke him two hours later. That was all the time they had.

After a hot shower and a cup of coffee, he spoke with Paul Simpson, the RCMP officer who had helped him in Cardston. Paul gave him directions to a church just south of downtown and said the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes would meet him there.

Traffic was light as they turned onto Twenty-Third. About a mile down they saw the church. It was huge, reminiscent of some of the old churches in downtown San Antonio, built with huge limestone blocks and stained glass windows.

As Lauren pulled up to the curb, Bonnie said, “I think we should switch laptops. That one’s got all the evidence that will prove our innocence. We can’t risk losing it.”

“Good idea. Take mine instead,” Lauren said.

She made the switch and handed the computer case to Bonnie while Luke got the plastic box that contained the files, pictures and VCR tapes out of the back of the Suburban.

They made their way up the steps and when Bonnie pulled open the door, Luke looked back at the Suburban and gave a slight nod and Lauren drove away.

Now inside the church they were standing in a large foyer that stretched across the back of the sanctuary. And as expected, there was no one there. About thirty feet in front of them, they saw a set of double doors. To the left was another set of doors and on the right side another. Each door had a small window about one foot square.

Bonnie stepped over and peered through one of the windows while Luke looked through another to see inside the huge dark sanctuary. Only one light was on, a spot light that illuminated the cross that hung on the wall behind the pulpit.

“Should we go in or wait out here?” Bonnie asked.

“Go in, I guess. That’s what he said to do.”

Bonnie pulled open the door and held it for Luke, who was holding the plastic box. They stepped inside and the door closed behind them. After their eyes adjusted to the low light, Luke noticed someone sitting near the aisle on the second row.

Luke wondered,
Could it be someone had come in to worship?

Bonnie put the laptop on the pew beside the box and walked up and stood beside Luke.

“Hello,” Luke called out.

It was a few seconds before the person in the second row moved. The man turned and looked over his shoulder. In the dim light Luke could barely make his features, but there was something about him that was familiar.

“Hello, Luke,” the man said as he stood.

Bonnie shot a quick glance at Luke, as if to ask,
Who is that?

Luke stepped forward cautiously. The man stepped into the center aisle and slowly started to walk toward them. As he neared, Luke recognized him—barrel-chested with a full head of hair.

“Paul?” Luke said, surprised. “I thought you were in Cardston.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I couldn’t say anything earlier, but I’m on special assignment and no one’s supposed to know I’m here.” He slowly moved closer to them.

“I’m glad you are here. I’d rather work with you than a bunch of strangers.”

As Paul approached he shook his finger at Bonnie and smiled. “And this must be the elusive Bonnie.”

“I am,” she said.

“You had the whole town of Cardston worried. I’m glad you’re okay.” Then he focused his attention on Luke. “Did you bring the evidence you told me about?”

“Right there,” Luke said, pointing to the box in the last pew. “Is Chief Ames here? And didn’t you say there’d be a team of detectives, too.”

“I know that’s what I said, but there’s been a change of plans,” Paul said. He walked over to the box and started sifting through the contents, pulling out several thick files and setting them beside the box. After he pulled out the VCR tapes, the pictures, and the rest of the papers, the box was empty. He gave a frustrated grunt and turned his attention to the computer case. He unzipped it and pulled out Lauren’s IBM laptop. He held it at eye level and turned it from side to side. “And
this
is the laptop with all the incriminating files on it?”

“That’s it.”

“Hmm,” Paul said. He jutted his lip out and shook his head. “You said it was a Dell.”

Luke stammered, “I... I don’t remember saying that. I think I just said it was a laptop.”

Paul looked back at the empty box. “You also said you had the gun that was used to kill those people in the hospital. I don’t see it here.” Paul said.

“Oh, I guess we left it in the Suburban,” Luke said and looked at Bonnie.

Paul turned his head toward Luke and tapped his lips. “Where’s that other woman? What’s her name? Lauren.”

“She’s out front in the—”

“Suburban? I don’t think so,” said a booming voice on the other side of the sanctuary. In a dark corner they saw the silhouette of a man. He hadn’t been there half a minute ago, Luke was sure of that. The dark figure stepped into the light and Sonny’s blond hair shimmered. Luke could see he held a pistol down by his side. The long barrel indicated it was equipped with a sound suppresser. “The Suburban drove off before you came into the church.”

“Sonny?” Luke’s head jerked toward Paul. “What’s he doing here?”

“Like I said, the plan has changed.” Paul said.

“What the hell’s going on?” Luke asked. He looked from Sonny to Paul.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this Luke, but—” Paul said before Luke cut him off.

“Is he with you?” Luke asked.

“You might say that,” Paul replied. He reached behind his back and pulled a pistol out of his waistband. It too had a silencer attached to the barrel.

“I trusted you. You’re a Mountie with the RCMP.” Luke scowled as he took a few steps toward Paul with his fist clenched.

Paul pulled up his gun and pointed it at Luke’s face whose chest heaved as he breathed deeply.

“Enough of this bullshit,” Sonny said. He turned to Paul. “So, what are we missing?”

“The gun and my laptop. They brought this one, but it’s not mine,” he said as he angrily hurled the IBM laptop toward Luke and Bonnie. They cowered as it landed a few rows short crashing into the polished wood on the back of a pew. Paul raised his gun and moved the safety into the firing position. “I want the gun and my computer, now. Or I’m going to start shooting.”

“Okay, okay,” Luke said. He put his hands up as if surrendering. “It’s all in the Suburban, but let me explain something. The RCMP treated me like a criminal when I was in Cardston and I wasn’t going to let that happen again. When we got to Calgary I decided to hold back the gun and the laptop so I could have some leverage.”

“What about Lauren? Where is she?”

“She’s not far from here, but I wanted to keep her out of it as long as I could.”

Sonny stepped a little closer. “Like we said, things have changed. You’re not dealing with the RCMP now, and you don’t have any leverage. Either you get us the computer and the gun, or we’ll end it all right here.”

“I was afraid something like this might happen,” Luke said. “So, I did what I had to do. And the way I see it is like this: If you kill us, you’ll never get those two things. So, we do have a little leverage because right now, Lauren is sitting in front of an RCMP substation. And if she doesn’t hear from me in the next—” he looked at his watch, “—two minutes, she’ll go in and turn everything over to them, who I’m sure will share it with the FBI. There will be no doubt who the real kidnappers are, and who killed those people at the hospital. You’ll be wanted all over North America.”

“Bullshit,” Sonny blurted out.

“No bullshit. Let me show you something.” Luke moved slowly, and with his thumb and forefinger, reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He held it in front of him. “See this? Before I walked in here, I called Lauren. She answered and I put the phone back in my pocket. We’re still connected. She’s been recording everything you’ve said. I’ll prove it to you. She’s on speaker now.”

Luke extended his arm toward them and said, “Lauren, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” came a tinny voice from the cell phone. “And I’ve recorded everything that’s been said since you walked into the church.”

Paul and Sonny looked at each other, not sure what to say.

“So, now it’s time to make a deal,” Luke said.

There was no way to hide the shock on Sonny’s face. He looked from Luke to Paul in disgust, and said, “Okay. What do you want?”

“It’s very simple. Just two things: First we want Olivia.”

Sonny said, “Okay, what else?”

“We want half the money. I believe that would be twenty million dollars.”

Paul exploded, “You’re out of your fucking—”

But Sonny held up a hand, signaling him to hold his comment. Paul paused and Sonny said, “We don’t have much choice. So, we’ll do it.”

Paul looked at Sonny in shock, at first, but then seemed to acquiesce. Luke knew no one in their right mind would give up twenty million this easily, unless they knew they could win in the end. It was exactly what he expected.

“Good, where’s Olivia?”

“I can have her in here in two minutes.”

“And the money?”

“All I have to do is call my banker and he’ll set up an account for you. We can transfer the money, and it will be in your account within a few hours.”

“Good. Bring me Olivia and it’s a deal.”

“What about Lauren and our stuff?”

“Lauren? Did you hear that? We’ve made a deal. You can come back to the church now.”

From the phone, they heard her. “I heard you. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Paul pulled out his cell phone and placed a call. “Bring Olivia to the sanctuary.”

Luke ended his call and put the phone back in his shirt pocket.

Up until now, everything was going as expected, Luke thought. Since the ransom had been paid, they knew the kidnappers wouldn’t have any problem giving up Olivia. And, Luke knew Sonny would see a flaw in his plan. Sonny and Paul were holding the guns. As soon as Lauren was here, they’d be able to eliminate the only people who could tie them to the kidnapping. So, of course they’d agree to it.

No one spoke while they waited. In a matter of minutes, the back door of the sanctuary opened and Rosemary stood holding the sleeping Olivia.

“I’ll take her,” Bonnie said, starting toward her.

“Not until we get our gun and computer,” Sonny said. He stepped between them and held his gun on Bonnie. “Rosie, come over here.”

Luke’s phone rang. He looked at the screen. “It’s Lauren.”

“Tell her to get her ass over here,” Sonny growled.

Luke pressed the button to answer. He listened a second, then said, “Okay.”

He looked at Sonny and said, “It’s for you.” Luke tossed the phone to him.

Sonny caught it and shot Luke a look of distrust. With the gun aimed at Luke, he put the phone to his ear.

“What?” he said angrily.

After listening a few seconds, Sonny’s head jerked toward the choir loft behind the pulpit. Four men wearing black helmets were now visible, crouched behind pews with rifles aimed at them. In the middle of them was a gray-haired man in a flak jacket holding a cell phone to his ear. Everyone but Bonnie recognized him. He was the man in charge of the Cardston detachment of the RCMP, Sergeant Ernest Oliveras.

“Son of a bitch!” Sonny screamed as he turned his pistol toward the choir loft and fired two quick shots.

As Sonny retreated behind the pews, he turned his gun toward Luke and Bonnie. They lunged between the pews as three silenced shots splintered the dark mahogany wood just above their heads. Paul dove to the ground near Sonny.

A thunderous, amplified voice bellowed from the choir loft. “I’ve got a SWAT team up here and there’s no way you can escape. Drop your guns and this will all end right now.”

Sonny already had his cell phone up to his ear and spoke in a low growl. “We’ve been set up. Cops are here. Get back over here as fast as you can.”

“What the hell do we do now?” Paul shouted to Sonny.

“I’m sure as hell not giving up forty million dollars, if that’s what you mean.”

Rosemary stood petrified against the back wall, her expression a mix of confusion and panic.

“Sonny?” she whined.

“Get down here,” Sonny screamed.

Her legs buckled and she dropped down to the ground. With wide eyes, she said, “What’s happening?”

“It was an ambush. There’s a SWAT team up there.” Sonny looked around. “I called Rita. She’s on her way, probably out front any second now. We’ve got to get out of here. We’ll use Olivia for cover.”

“How?” Rosemary asked.

“Hold Olivia in front of you and stand up. We’ll hide behind you. All you have to do is back out as fast as you can.”

“They’ll shoot me,” she whimpered.

“Not if you’re holding Olivia,” Sonny snapped. “Did you see any cops out front?”

“No.”

“Good, then let’s go,” he said.

Terrified, Rosemary couldn’t move. Sonny grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up in front of him. Her entire body trembled and her eyes darted around the sanctuary. It was only ten feet back to the door and with Sonny behind her and Paul behind Sonny, they backed out. But as they stepped out into the foyer a demand came from the side.

“Drop your weapons!”

Four men in fatigues and ballistic vests were crouched off to the side with rifles aimed at them.

Paul panicked and in a fatal reaction swung his gun toward them. Before he could pull the trigger, two deafening shots exploded, hitting him in the middle of the chest. He flew back and his lifeless body landed spread-eagle on the tiled floor.

Rosemary screamed and pulled Olivia closer to her face. The loud gunfire had startled the sleeping child and she began to scream.

Sonny, who had started to raise his pistol, froze when the shots tore into Paul. He knew he was trapped, but he had come too far to give up.

Slowly he raised his hands, and as he turned to face them, gave a look of surrender. But, instead he pulled Rosemary over in front of him. Just a sliver of Sonny’s face was visible behind Rosemary as he pulled his gun around and pressed it into Olivia’s head.