Chapter 71

Chapter 71— The second call—time to roll

9:02 p.m., Thursday, December 29 

Reginald  slid the shifter into “Drive,” and waited with his right foot on the gas, and his left on the brake.
 “Yeah,” Jack said.
“Handler?” The kidnapper asked.
“Right,” Jack said.
“I know what you and your friends are planning,” the kidnapper began.
“Hold everything! I need to talk to my daughter before we discuss anything. So if you will kindly go get her, and let me be sure she is okay, … then we can talk. But there will be no conversation until that happens. … Do you understand me?”
Normally Jack was a man of few words. Tonight, however, he was trying to drag it out. Not only did he want to give Roger time to run his trace, but he needed to keep the men who were holding Kate on the phone long enough for Reginald to locate the house once Roger had done his job. Jack knew that as soon as he was finished talking to his daughter, she was expendable.
“We were anticipating that,” the kidnapper said. “We’ve got Kate right here for you to talk to.”
“Then put her the hell on,” Jack demanded.
Jack had barely got those words out of his mouth when the GPS lit up. Roger had located the kidnappers. Reginald studied it for only a couple seconds before he determined the best route to take to free Kate.
Just as Roger and Jack had surmised. The kidnappers had chosen a house six blocks from where Kate lived. Unfortunately, Jack and Reginald had stationed themselves slightly in the opposite direction. It would take Reginald nearly five minutes to reach the location. But traffic was light, which should expedite their effort.
“Daddy?” Kate said.
Jack recognized his daughter’s voice, but he could tell that she was under duress. … She never called him Daddy.
“Kitty,” he said. “What’s wrong? Have they hurt you?”
She did not respond immediately.
“No, Daddy, they’ve not hurt me,” she said. “I’m just so tired. I haven’t slept much. But they haven’t hurt me.”
With that, one of the kidnappers wrenched the phone from Kate, and addressed Jack.
“Okay, Jack? Satisfied?” he asked.
“No,” Jack replied, again trying to stretch out the phone call. “My daughter sounds terrible. What have you done to her? Have you drugged her? I need some assurance that …”
Reginald looked at his watch, “Four minutes to go, silently mouthed in Jack’s direction.
“You’ve got what you got, Handler,” the kidnapper said. “Now let’s talk business.”
“I want you to put Kate back on,” Jack said. He knew that would not happen, but he was again trying to buy a little time.
“Forget it, Handler,” he said. “Your daughter is fine. She wants you to do the right thing so she can go home. You talked to hwe—you can tell she is doing fine. That’s all you’re gonna get until you help me.”
“Just give her the cell phone, and send her out the door,” Jack said. “As soon as she is safe, I will do whatever you want.”
“Two minutes,” Reginald mouthed, checking the GPS another time to be sure he was on track, while he held up two fingers.
“You’ll do what I want now, Jack,” the kidnapper snapped. “I’ve got all the power here. All I have to do is say the word and Kate loses some of her beautiful teeth. Is that what you want, Jack?”
“Back off,” Jack said. “I said I would help you if I could.”
“Oh, you can help us alright,” the kidnapper said.
“One minute,” Reginald mouthed, turning down the street listed on the GPS. He started checking house numbers, and looking for a place to park. Then, spotting the house, he pointed it out to Jack, making sure to keep his gesture below the bottom of the windshield as he drove past. The window in the door of the SUV was heavily tinted, but the windshield was quite clear. There was a man posted on the porch of the home.
Reginald did not want to park directly in front of the house, so he drove past it and found the first parking place on the opposite side of the street.
“Let’s just do this,” Jack said. “Tell me what you want.”
Reginald knew how this had to be done. There was no opportunity to talk to Jack right now, so he got out of the SUV, crossed the street and headed toward the house where Kate was being held.
Reginald never smoked. But he always carried a pack of cigarettes and a broken lighter. Nothing works better to start a conversation than to ask someone for a light. It used to be a more effective ploy, before all the anti-smoking laws were passed. But it still worked outside.
Reginald continued down the sidewalk, fumbling in his pocket for his lighter. While he did not look at the sentry posted on the porch, Reginald knew that the man’s radar had picked him up.
When Reginald reached a point about fifteen feet before the steps leading up to the house, he stopped and triggered his lighter several times. Of course, it did not work. He then pulled it away from his cigarette, and flicked it several more times.
“Damn it,” he said, as he started up walking again.
He then glanced up at the man on the porch. He turned and took a couple steps toward the house, and said, “Hey, Buddy, could you help me out with a light?”
All Reginald was looking for was a clean shot. He had one, and he popped the man in the face and in the neck. The silencer muffled almost all the noise. He knew the fellow would be wearing body armor, so he made sure his two rounds hit their mark.
“We know you have been contracted to assassinate the President of the United States,” the kidnapper said to Jack. “Don’t deny it. We know all about it.”
Now Jack wanted to get this phone call over with. He watched Reginald get past the guard, and into the house.
“I don’t know where you’re getting your information. But that’s a bunch of bull.”
Jack got out of the SUV and headed to the rear of the house. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
Jack knew that he did not have any more time, so he just tossed the phone to the ground and drew his gun.
As he arrived at the rear door, he saw a number of flashes illuminate the curtains on the windows of the second floor. He then heard several rounds from an unsuppressed semi-automatic. He surmised a10mm.
When Jack reached the door he kicked it in. He could smell smoke. At first he suspected tear gas, but then realized that the kidnappers had triggered an incendiary device. Jack continued on into the building, searching for Kate.
What he did not know was that Reginald had already found his daughter, and had spirited her out the front door.
Jack made it as far as the stairs leading to the second floor, when he was suddenly hammered from behind by what he thought could have been a baseball bat. Apparently Reginald had shot and wounded one of the kidnappers. Thinking he was dead, Reginald removed the man’s gun and continued on in his search for Kate.
So, when Jack ran into the wounded kidnapper, the man found the first blunt object, a ceramic-based lamp, and clubbed Jack over the head with it.
However, even though he was knocked to the floor and stunned, Jack was able to turn and discharge his semi-auto six times, hitting his attacker with three rounds. Jack’s first shot struck the man squarely in the chest. Body armor prevented the shot from killing the attacker, but it was sufficient to knock him backward. Jack’s second shot missed its mark altogether, but the third caught him squarely in the forehead.
Reginald managed to help Kate to a tree about seventy-five feet from the house. He carefully leaned her against the trunk. “Kate, are you hit?” he asked her.
“I’m okay,” she replied. “… Where’s my dad?”
“I think he’s still in the house,” Reginald said. “That sounded like his 10mm. I’m gonna go get him. You should be fine here.”
Reginald turned, and trotted back toward the house. He was limping noticeably.
“Jack! Jack!’ Reginald shouted. “You in here?”
“Reg, over here.” Jack answered.
The blow to Jack’s head had disoriented him. Adding to that, at the stairwell the fire on the second floor was beginning to lick down and along on the ceiling of the first. The heat was intense, and the smoke thick and black.
Reginald could see his friend crumpled on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He knew that he had to get Jack out of the house as quickly as possible, so he grabbed his friend by the wrists, and began to drag him the front door.
“No!” Jack shouted, “I’ve got to get Kate.”
“She’s good, Jack,” Reginald re-assured his friend, as he continued toward the door.
“Is she hurt?”
“She says she’s fine. I’m sure she’s in shock. But she looks fine to me.”
Once outside, Reginald helped Jack to his feet, and pointed over to the tree where Kate was sitting.
“Go see for yourself, Jack. I think Kate looks pretty good for what she’s been through. But go check her out. … She was asking about you.”
The mention of his daughter’s name, along with the fresh air, began to bring Jack around. Looking in the direction indicated by Reginald, he spotted his daughter, and began stumbling over to her. “Kate!” Jack implored, “Kate, it’s your dad. Can you hear me?”
Kate opened her eyes, and forced a smile. “What happened?” She asked.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked, kneeling beside his daughter. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” Kate said. “I don’t remember much. What happened? How did you find me? There was so much smoke.”
“Reginald found you,” Jack said. “He saved you. He saved me too. Are you sure you’re okay? … Were you shot?”
“My lungs are on fire,” she said. “I breathed some smoke, but I think I’m gonna be fine. I wasn’t shot. … Where’s Reg?”
Jack suddenly realized that Reginald was not with them, and he attempted to stand up to search for him. As soon as he stood, he fell. He had breathed much too much smoke, and he was still groggy from the blow to the head. But during that brief moment when he tried to stand up he did see Reginald lying fifty feet from where he had found Kate.
Jack struggled again to stand, and this time was successful. Staggering like a drunk, and falling to his knees several times, Jack finally made it back to his friend.
“Reg!” Jack cried. “Talk to me. Reg!”