Chapter 85—The ubiquitous Roger
to the rescue
1:49 a.m., Friday, December 30
“I don’t know, Rog, why don’t you ask my buddies about that?”
“We only did what the captain told us to do,” said the cop who had helped Jack to his feet. “Hope we didn’t hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” Jack said. “I suppose I ought to thank you for pinning me down.”
“Take a look at this,” Roger said, leaning into the car and, using a pen, picked up a Glock with a silencer. “William here was about to do you in.”
“I take it he was not working for you?” Jack asked rhetorically.
“Hardly. William, I’m convinced, was the head of the group that kidnapped your daughter. … Or at least the spokesman.”
“I just figured that out,” Jack said. “Just when we drove up, it came to me where I remembered that voice. He was the voice on the phone. He was able to disguise his voice right up until he ran into your posse.”
“You two should get the hell outta here,” Captain Spencer said. He then looked around and spotted a nearby patrol car. “Jack, you and Roger accompany this officer to that patrol car.” Then firmly gripping the shoulder of the cop in charge, Captain Spencer turned him in the direction of the car, and commanded, “Sergeant, take my friends over to that patrol car, seat them in the back until I can debrief them. And leave the door open so they can get some fresh air. Got it?”
“Yes Sir,” the office said. “Gentlemen, please follow me.”
Neither Jack nor Roger hesitated. They followed the sergeant to the car, and seated themselves in the back seat.
“Please wait here,” the officer said, “The captain will be right with you.”
“Thanks, Sergeant,” Jack said, as he slid in the back seat beside Roger.
The two men sat there silently until the officer was safely out of range.
“Okay,” Roger said. “This is how I see it. This guy, William, the fellow who drove you here, was the last of the kidnappers directly involved with the kidnapping—the one logistically in charge of that operation. He intended to use you tonight to get to Kate.”
“How did you make him?” Jack asked.
“The cleaners I sent to sanitize the mess you left in your hotel spotted him.”
“And they recognized him?” Jack asked.
“Not exactly. But they snapped a picture, and emailed it to me. I identified him from a HLS warning. He had been spotted at JFK. He’s got quite a sheet.”
“Freelance?” Jack asked.
“He is,” Roger confirmed. “A bit of a mercenary—always works for the Eastern Europeans. The fellows with him accompanied him on all his operations. It’s a team.”
“Big bucks, would you say?” Jack asked.
“Very,” Roger replied. “I’m guessing high six figures.”
“Significant,” Jack said. “Do you know who footed the bill?”
While Jack was trying to find out as much as he could about the men who had held his daughter against her will, he could not resist the urge to find out as much as he could about his competition, and potential new clients.
“Not for certain,” Roger said. “But I still like someone associated with law enforcement. Could be high up. Hell, has to be high up. But I do not like the Feds for this—much too messy. And I think we can rule out all foreign entities. For the same reason. The operation was probably financed by some foreign entity, but that would have been the extent of their involvement.”
“You suspect a City official?” Jack asked, looking his friend in the eye.
“You know, Jack. It’s impossible to point a finger. But, at this point, it is quite likely that we will never know for certain.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Jack said. “But I do think that Kate should be safe at this point.”
“I would agree. … But, from everything I know, this William character was almost certainly the last one directly involved with Kate’s abduction. And the only reason he was still coming after Kate was because he believed she could identify him. And their job was to get the information from Kate—and they did that. So they fulfilled the contract. Who ever hired them got what he wanted. There should be no point in pursuing this any further.”
“That’s how I see it,” Roger said. “Do you intend to go after who ever hired them?”
“Counterproductive,” Jack said. “Kate is safe now, that’s really all I ever cared about.”
“We agree on that,” Roger said.
“I would really like to check in with my daughter,” Jack said. “I’m tired, but as long as I’m here, I’d like to see her.”
“You do that,” Roger said, and I’ll move your stuff into a new hotel.”
“I thought Captain Spencer would have my suitcases sealed for evidence by now.”
“Take a look in the front seat of this cruiser,” Roger said.
Jack leaned forward and looked on the floor and passenger seat, and spotted his two suitcases.
“How the hell did you manage that so quickly?” Jack asked, chuckling.
“I’m not gonna tell you all my secrets,” Roger said laughingly. “Then you’d know as much as I know.”
“My head would explode,” Jack said. “… Where you gonna place me this time?”
“I’ll call you later with that,” Roger said. “I think it’s time for us to boogie on outta here. What say you?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Both men then slid out of the open rear door of the patrol car. As they did, Roger nodded to one of his men to retrieve Jack’s belongings.
“Hey, Jack,” Roger said as the two men were about to split up. “Are you going to behave yourself? Or am I going to have to fly some help in from LA? I think I’m running out of mops.”
“I’m gonna check in on my Kitty,” Jack said. “As soon as I hear from you, I’m hailing a taxi. And if you don’t call, you’ll find me curled up under one of these trees.”
Both men chuckled, and parted ways.
But before Jack was able to enter the hospital, he felt a powerful hand fall on his shoulder.
“Jack, we need to talk,” the man said.
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