T
hat afternoon, Miller went to pick up Caleb Harper, who was built like a linebacker. Caleb wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he always did what Miller told him. As long as he kept him in dope, he was up for anything, usually with no questions asked. But today he had questions.
“You said if we made that call to that doctor, it wouldn’t be traced to us. But it was, and the police questioned us. We could’ve gone back to jail.”
“I didn’t think they’d find you. It was a prepaid disposable phone. If you hadn’t put your real address on that credit card, they’d still be in the dark. You never do that, Caleb. That’s just stupid.”
Caleb brought his cigarette to his mouth and took a long drag. “And you got Jerome to kill that guy, and it turns out to be some big-shot dude and it’s all over the news, and Jerome’s going down for murder one.”
“Jerome’s being taken care of. We’re going to get him out.
Look, Caleb, there are risks. I paid him a lot of cash for that job. There’s a lot to be made in this one too. You do this for me, and you can buy all the dope you want.”
Miller knew that, to Caleb, that incentive was stronger than the risk. There were benefits to working with addicts. They didn’t even realize they were slaves.
Just as he’d expected, Caleb gave in. “What do you want?”
“I need you and your brothers to pick up some kids for me and hold them until I get what I want out of their mother.”
“What do you mean,
pick
up
? Are we talking kidnapping?”
Miller sighed. “There’s big cash to be made, Caleb.”
“How much?”
“Ten grand for each of you up front. Ten more when the kids are released.”
“Nope. Not enough. Twenty up front—each—and twenty at the end.”
Miller thought about the millions of dollars he could get from that house, if he could just control Juliet Cole. And after he had what he wanted, he wouldn’t even have to pay the rest of what he owed the Harpers. He’d be long gone.
Still, he had to pretend to negotiate. “Ten up front, twenty at the end. Final offer. I can get somebody else if you’re not game.”
He thought for a moment that Caleb might balk, but finally, he said, “All right. We got a deal.”
He drove Caleb to pick up David. He, too, was huge and fast and had proven himself useful. Caleb told him what their task would be. The money quieted any debate, and when they called Steven, he seemed eager to score that cash too.
“So where are we going?” Caleb asked as Miller drove.
“To the school where the mother will be picking up her kid. Then we’ll follow them to where they’re staying.”
He drove slowly past the front of the middle school. There was a long line of parents already there to pick up their kids. In the circular driveway, buses were lined up, waiting for the final bell to ring. Miller drove past the line, looking for Juliet’s van. He finally saw her. She wasn’t alone; he assumed the younger kid was in the car already. He went around the block and got into the back of the line, keeping his eye on her van up around the curve.
Just being here was risky. But he couldn’t leave this part to Caleb and his brothers. He had to make sure they found the place where she was staying and came up with a good plan to grab the boys. He was tired of rookie mistakes.
Miller wished he could keep the distance Bob had always kept. Bob had rarely gotten his hands dirty, and few of his cohorts could even identify him. But Miller had started as a dealer and then had risen to off-loading and transport on this side of the deliveries. Finally, he’d become a distributor. His hands had been dirty from the beginning.
Killing a cop hadn’t helped.
School let out, and Miller kept his eyes on Juliet’s car. Her kid came out with his backpack and got into the car. “That’s the oldest kid,” Miller said. “He’ll be easy. And the other one’s only nine, so he’s even smaller.”
Juliet pulled out of line and drove away. Miller pulled out too.
Grabbing two at the same time would be problematic, but he knew the guys could do it. He trailed her, silent. The two men were also silent as he drove.
Miller followed Juliet to a different side of town than he’d expected and watched her pull into an empty parking lot. A sedan pulled in behind her. Had someone been escorting her
all along? He hadn’t noticed, and that worried him. He drove past and pulled into a parking lot across the street. From there he watched as she and the two boys loaded into another car. Then, abandoning her van, they pulled back onto the street. Miller waited until the sedan had pulled out, then he followed when it seemed safe.
Were those the cops, taking her somewhere? Was this a setup?
He followed cautiously for a few blocks, and the car pulled into the driveway of a small house set alone on a huge wooded lot. Perfect. This place was isolated. No one around to see them.
“All right,” Miller said as they passed the house. “You come back here in the van, park in the trees. Hide until the kids come out in the backyard.”
“What about the guard?”
He knew the brothers wouldn’t agree to murder. “I only see one guy. Chloroform him first, then tie him up. Use your military training. Then watch for the kids to come out.”
“And if they don’t come out?” David asked.
“Then you’ll have to go in. Just take all three of them if that happens. The mom too. We have plenty of chloroform.” He pointed to the bottles in the back of the van and the pile of torn-up towels. “Pour some into a towel, get it good and wet, and press it against their faces. It’ll knock them out. Grab them and throw them in the van. Then get out of there.”
“Who are these boys?”
“Bob Cole’s kids.”
Caleb frowned. “Not him again.”
Miller’s jaw popped. “If you’re cowards, tell me now. But you’ll stay
poor
cowards.”
He saw Caleb looking back at David. “We’ll do it. But if we get arrested, I’m not taking the fall. I’ll tell them everything.”
“Then I’ll have to kill your mother.”
Caleb gaped at him. “You’ll what?”
Miller grinned. “Don’t worry about it. You won’t get caught.”
“Why aren’t
you
doing this?”
“Because I’m not as big and fast as you. You guys are professionals.”
Caleb grinned as if he’d just been awarded a medal of valor. “What do we do with them after we get them?”
“Take them to the trailer.”
“That run-down rattrap? I hate that place. Besides, my uncle lives there.”
“He’s just a crazy old man. Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t know which end is up. That’s where you’re taking them. It’s out of the way, where nobody’ll look. Hold them until we get what we want.”
“How will we keep them from ID-ing us afterward?”
Miller didn’t tell them there wouldn’t be an afterward. “I have ski masks in the back. They won’t see your faces.”
Caleb looked back, taking quick inventory of their supplies. “Where will you be?”
“When we pick up Steven, you guys take this van and I’ll drive his car. Once you’re at the trailer, we’ll swap back. I’ll need the van.”
Caleb frowned as if considering that scenario.
“I don’t know how long the chloroform lasts. But if you need to, do it over and over to keep them unconscious.”
Caleb was quiet for a long moment. “I’m not going to prison again, man.”
Miller shook his head. “Neither am I.” But he also wasn’t going to be poor. This was his ticket, but it wasn’t theirs. He
couldn’t tell them he had millions riding on it, or they’d want more money—and they wouldn’t let him out of their sight till they got it. He tapped the Bluetooth earpiece in Caleb’s ear. “Wear your earpieces, and put your phones on vibrate. I want to communicate the whole time.”
David pulled his Bluetooth out of his pocket, shoved it into his ear, and set his phone.
They went to pick up Steven. He was full of protests when he got into the van, but then Miller handed them each the ten thousand he’d promised. That shut them all up.
Steven would drive the van, and Miller would drive Steven’s car. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that van if the Harper goons botched this.
Uneasy about how all this would go down, Miller decided to hide the car off the road near the safe house. He hung binoculars around his neck and jogged toward the house. When he reached the woods adjacent to the house, he saw that his van was already there, tucked into the trees on the opposite side. He climbed a tree and sat on a branch, watching through his binoculars. He couldn’t see David or Caleb. They were doing a good job of hiding. The guard pacing out front seemed oblivious to their presence.
He watched through the binoculars as David ran around the back of the house. He stopped on the side Miller was on, grabbed a stick, hit the side of the house, then stepped behind a tall bush. What was he doing?
As the guard drew his weapon and came to investigate, Caleb ran up behind him. He threw his arm around the man’s neck and pressed the wet rag against his face. The guard struggled for a moment, then went limp. David came out and lifted the guard’s feet. They took him to the side yard, bound
him with rope, and stuffed the rag into his mouth. They started to leave him there, but David turned back, as if uncertain. Finally, he knelt beside the man, lifted his head, and gave a twist, snapping his neck.
Miller grinned. The Harper brothers had a lot of flaws, but their military training came in handy.
“Guard’s down,” David said into the Bluetooth.
“Good job,” Miller said.
Minutes ticked by, and Miller kept checking his watch. If the kids stayed inside, this could get ugly.
Suddenly the back door opened. He strained to see into the backyard.
“Only one came out,” David whispered. “The little one. What now?”
Miller watched as the younger boy came into his view, heading for a tire swing. “I guess if you just take one, we’ll have the same result.”
“Wait,” David said. “We have two now.” Miller saw the older kid walking out, wearing earbuds and thumbing his phone, never even looking up. He went to a bench in the center of the yard and slumped down.
“Now,” Miller whispered. The kids were both facing the direction of the van, and Caleb and David were behind them.
David pulled the bottle out of the pack on his back, wet another couple of rags, and handed one to Caleb. They both crossed the yard, quietly stealing toward the kids. Abe looked up just as they reached him, but David mashed the rag into his face, grabbed him, and headed for the woods.
The older kid never looked up. Caleb came up behind him, slapped the rag against his face, and grabbed him around the front, pinning his arms against him.
The boy fought against Caleb’s grip, but his fight was futile. Eventually he stopped struggling and went limp. Caleb threw him over his shoulder and ran.
Miller watched as they tossed the boys into the van and closed the door. The van pulled out of the trees and raced away. Only then did Miller jump down from his perch and run back to where he’d hidden Steven’s car. He’d told them he’d meet them at the trailer. Now it was time to call Juliet.
She would do whatever he asked.
Z
ach opened his eyes, and the world seemed to tilt. He tried to reach for the edge of the bed . . . but his hands were tangled and there was no bed. Slowly his situation came into focus. His arms and feet were bound, and he was lying on a dirty carpeted floor. He tried to focus. He was on the floorboard of a moving van. His brother lay nearby. His hands and feet were also bound, and he was curled up, unconscious.
Zach lifted his head. A man with a black ski mask over his face sat on a toolbox, staring down at him. There were two more men up front, also wearing masks, but the driver’s was turned up. Zach tried to sit up. “Where are you taking me? Where are we?”
“Calm down,” the man on the toolbox said. “You’re gonna be okay.”
Zach looked at his brother. “Abe! Abe, wake up.” But Abe kept sleeping. Had they hurt him? Was he dead? He checked to see if his shoulders were moving. They were, so he must be
breathing. “What did you do to him?” Zach asked. “How did we get here?”
“Just shut up and you’ll be okay.”
“Where’s my mom?” He tried to think back to his latest memory. He was outside playing on his phone when suddenly . . .
Now he remembered. The hand slapping over his mouth. He couldn’t breathe. Had they smothered him until he passed out? There had been a smell . . .
If there was a drug, Abe might be too little to handle it. “Abe!” Zach shouted again. “Abe, wake up!”
Still nothing. Zach moved until he could sit up, hands and feet bound. “If you kill him, I’ll kill you both! Let us go or I’ll make you sorry!”
The men laughed.
“The FBI knows all about you,” Zach said. “My mom’s been talking to them. They’re gonna come after you.”
“Hear that, Caleb?” the driver said, amused. “They know all about us.”
Caleb didn’t look quite as amused. “Well, you see, you’re our ticket. They’re not gonna do anything to us as long as we have you.”
Horrified, Zach sat still for a moment, staring straight ahead. “What are you gonna do with us?”
“We’re gonna keep you with us as long as you’re useful. Then we’ll go from there.”
“What does that mean? Where’s my mother?”
“Your mom is fine. She’ll do exactly what we want her to do.”
So that was it, Zach thought. They’d told her she had to do whatever they wanted if she wanted her kids back.
Zach lay back down and tried to think. His mother had been right about the danger she saw coming. He trembled as he tried to work at the bindings around his wrists to get them loose, but they were tight. He looked up at Caleb, memorizing his eyes in the holes of his ski mask, the pockmarked area around his mouth. The mask hid Caleb’s hair, but Zach saw dark chest hair curled at the neck of his T-shirt. The dudes up front didn’t look back, so he couldn’t see their faces. He squinted to see the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Did you know my dad?” he asked. “Did you kill him?”
“I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that,” Caleb said.