The missing link, p.18
The Missing Link, page 18
For the first time in a long time Johanna was overcome with anxiety and worry. It must have shown in her face. Trinidad and Marty were failing at trying to find things to do to fill the time of waiting.
“This is not a good idea,” Trinidad pleaded. “Let me hide in the trunk. We do not know if Carl Luden’s friends are still guarding them. We do not even know if . . . if they are still alive.”
Johanna sat on her shaking hands. “Please, don’t worry, Trinidad. You and Marty go home. You need to be here tomorrow. Monday is our busiest day.”
Marty gave her a hug. “I’ll keep everything together.”
“Good, the office will be taken care of,” Trinidad said. “I think you will need me. Promise me, Johanna, to be unbelievably careful. I do not trust Mr. Luden.”
Johanna shoved them out the door. “Go.”
Evidently the lack of trust was mutual. Luden had secured a rental car. He appeared quietly in Legacy’s lobby area. He had taken the back stairs and pointed to them now.
“Just in case, they’re thinking of tracking us,” he said watching Johanna shoulder her purse. “We’ll take these. Oh, and I’ll take your cellphone, please.”
“How will I contact Detective Quinn?”
“You can use my phone when we get there. He’ll be able to track you. I won’t be using it where I’m going after this, anyway.”
She handed over the phone with a sigh of resignation. He placed it in her desk drawer and nodded toward the door. “Now, let’s go.”
Luden kept his eyes on road. They drove in silence.
The Tule fog had already started to seep into Napa’s expansive valley. Like a thick blanket of cloud it hovered over the ground resulting in cushioned sound. From the rambling incline of the Silverado Trail, Johanna could hardly tell if it was dawn or dusk. But, soon it would be nightfall and the weaving roadway was already reflecting the headlights from a few periodic cars.
They were going back to the tunnel house.
It didn’t take her long to realize their destination. It made sense, they were headed for the lair he had made for himself. And when she thought about it, with its warren of aging underground tunnels and dead-end caves it was a perfect place to hold hostages. Since the late 1870’s winery tunnels and caves were constructed as a natural insulator with high humidity and constant temperature to nurture the cherished grapes of the valley’s renowned wines. Some houses had over 35,000 square feet of caves. It had be for these reasons and the fact Luden was counting on the police never thinking the house would once more be used for crime.
“I remember this way. This is where Phillip Nava was killed,” Johanna broke the silence. “Do you know if Ava is okay? Are you in contact with your . . . your men?”
“They just want the money—not trouble. They’ll be guarding them until we show up with it and they get their share.”
She noticed Luden didn’t really answer her question.
“And, after?” She prodded.
“After that,” he paused. “After that, we will all be on our way.”
“How soon will I see Ava and Leslie?” She pressed. “When will I be able to contact Detective Quinn?”
“Like I said, when I’m on my way.” Luden stared straight ahead. “I’m sure you can understand my caution.” He turned to look at her. “Don’t worry Johanna. You have been fair to me. I will deliver you and your friends safely.”
Don’t worry.
Low lights flickered from the small house as it appeared at the base of the hill. In the fog it had a chilling effect and Johanna drew herself up realizing despite Carl Luden’s reassurance, these might be her last minutes on earth.
There was a car parked on the gravel path leading to the forlorn structure. He pulled in next to it.
The front door opened before they opened their car doors, and a man appeared.
“That you Carl?” He called out in a muffled voice. “You got the money? We kept them just like you said.”
Johanna couldn’t believe her ears. He had manipulated them all. She wasn’t surprised, only amazed at his brazenness.
“You lied!”
Luden shrugged.
The captor wore a mask and a white hazmat suit, much like the getup they had when they took Ava and Leslie a few days ago. Johanna forced herself to take a deep breath. She knew it was a good sign they wanted to make sure they couldn’t be identified by the survivors.
It meant they were planning for survivors.
“Yeah, it’s me.” He motioned with his head toward Johanna. “Remember, no names.” He walked past Johanna. “I got the money.”
Johanna, momentarily frozen in place, stared at his back as he walked into the house carrying what appeared to be a backpack. She hurried behind him.
Her voice faltered. “Are they safe?” She made her way behind Luden into the front room. Johanna took a breath of faked confidence. “We want to see them before you take off with the money.”
“Lady, are you kidding me. You got no leverage in this game.” The man said shutting the front door behind her, and faced Luden.
“Get the team together in the back,” Luden said. “We’ll distribute shares and you guys can be on your way.”
Johanna whipped around to face Luden and slowly shook her head.
“You! You’re one of them! I . . . I believed you . . . wha . . .” her words stumbled to a disbelieving stop. She took a breath and spat out. “Where is Ava? Was Leslie in on this too?”
Luden reached into the drawer of the sole piece of furniture in the room and pulled out a ring of keys.
“Speaking of which, do you want to see your friends or not?”
Johanna’s frown was accompanied by a set jaw outlining her anger and frustration. Her mind quickly assessed her new circumstances.
“Where’s Ava?” She said. “I take it your granddaughter is well. You don’t seem to be concerned about her.”
“Mrs. Lowell is fine.” Luden said smoothly, not responding to her last comment. “My team here have assured me she has been well-treated. You will see her soon enough.”
His “team” member coughed into his fist and motioned for Luden toward the rear of the cabin. Luden gave him a brief nod, and shifted the backpack of money onto his back. He turned to Johanna.
“Johanna, there’s not a lot of time left for this to play out. I have no doubt your detective has scrambled his tech gurus to respond from information supplied by the charming Trinidad Owens. He assuredly has the government hounds trying to track our steps.” Luden gave her a look of reprimand. “Unfortunately, he will be unsuccessful.”
“Cut the lecture, Luden. If there’s little time, where is Ava?” Johanna said through gritted teeth.
He tilted his head at her and began rummaging through a second backpack he pulled from a cabinet.
He gestured to his partner. “Escort my granddaughter into the kitchen.” He took a small pistol from the inside of his pant leg next to his ankle. He motioned it toward Johanna to move back. “And, get ready to bring Mrs. Lowell into the front room when I tell you.”
Johanna took a step back, confused by the mixed signals Luden was giving off.
The man edged forward and cleared his throat. Johanna could tell he was still trying to gesture something was wrong. So could Luden. He moved away and they whispered just of reach of Johanna’s hearing. The man left.
Luden spoke hurriedly, “Mrs. Hudson, Johanna, I am under no illusion that I can trust you so I’m afraid I’m going to have to place you in zip ties while I get an assessment of current conditions.” He nudged her to turn around. “Remember, the longer you take to comply, the less time I have to get away, forcing me to be less accommodating to my . . . guests.”
“You don’t trust me? Guests! You mean hostages!” Johanna spat out. “I—”
“You see Johanna, this is what I’m talking about—you’re taking up precious time. I must see to my team’s departure. The masks work both ways. No can identify anyone else. This is not my real face. I planned it that way. They have already started to evacuate. There are only a few left now.” He reached for a half-opened box on the mantle and pulled out a set of ties. “Soon, I will take you and Mrs. Lowell down to a labyrinth of tunnels that wind their way under this house. Your detective friend will have to choose which one we took and which one leads to you. Unfortunately, if he guesses wrong there may be an issue of available oxygen.”
“What about Leslie . . . and the money . . . and turning in your team to the feds?”
“I don’t think I said I would be turning the team in. I said the feds could apprehend them with the money.” Luden gave her a half grin, “My money is in a safe place—with me. I earned it. And my granddaughter, well she’s coming with me. Blood is thicker than water, and law enforcement should focus on the real bad guys.”
“That money isn’t yours. But don’t worry I’m not going to try and convince you. You are the bad guy.” Johanna said, her eyes frantically searching the room for invisible help. “Why did you have to drag us into your scheme? We never did anything except try to support Leslie.”
“It is because you showed such kindness to my granddaughter that I am offering you escape.”
Escape?
“Why did you involve me in all of this drama anyway?” Johanna prodded. “I supplied you with an alibi for Nava’s killing. You were back in your granddaughter’s good graces. The Feds were all over me—not you, and what about your friends—they were breathing down my neck not yours. Why are you bothering with me?”
“As it turned out, I didn’t have to.” Luden shrugged, but didn’t drop his arm that held the gun. “But, I felt . . . sorry for what happened to your husband and child. That was a dirty deal.”
Johanna stiffened, her throat tightening.
“I even thought about giving you a share of the money.” He straightened when she started to protest. “No, no don’t worry. I know you might think of it as blood money, but it’s all I have to offer to show my regret.”
“Your regret!” Johanna yelled. “Are you kidding me? You’re telling me you killed off my family and now you’ve kidnapped my best friend. Can you hear yourself? You’re a monster.”
His face flushed. “I won’t take that personal. Your being . . . upset is understandable.”
“Take it personal.” She mentally scrambled to stall. “How will you get away if you kill me? You’ll be a wanted man—more wanted than you are now.”
He mused. “You’re right, I guess that won’t work out.”
Johanna peered at him closely. His words sounded almost unhinged.
“Where’s Leslie?” she asked softly.
Luden did a rapid blink of the eyes, paused then said, “She will have a normal life without her criminal family and lowlife boyfriend to burden her. Her mother had a trust that will go to her—that’s the only way the feds will let her keep the money. It wasn’t the result of a crime. She won’t get all I wanted her to have, but she’ll have enough.”
“But she won’t have her grandfather, her only living relative. She’ll—”
He frowned. “Leslie is family. She’ll have to make a choice.” He lowered the gun then raised it again. “The fact she was even interested in locating me, means family is everything.”
“You set me up to find Nava.”
“True.” Luden shrugged. “But, I did the world a favor.” He peered at her.
“What! Leslie said she picked Legacy because of the newspaper coverage. Did she know Nava was here?” Johanna voice chilled. She tried to focus on calming her rapid heartbeat. She took a deep breath and said in disbelief. “You had your granddaughter’s fiancé killed.”
“Best wedding gift I could give her.” He snorted.
He approached her.
“Wait,” she said. “Wait.”
“Behind your back, your hands . . . now.”
Johanna did as he said.
He pulled tight on the ties. Then, she felt a sharp prick in her arm, and as if in slow motion, she slid to the floor.
Johanna blinked her eyes and shook her head. The blurriness was slow to go away. It didn’t help the room was dark except for a dim light emanating from a metal sconce on a far wall. It must be battery-powered. She was on a bed—no a cot. She tried to lift herself up, but her head started spinning. Then there was the smell of mold. She dropped back.
A sound came from across the room. A moan. She was not alone.
“Who’s there,” her voice cracked.
There was no answer, only another moan.
She bit down on her lip. The pain helped to clear the fog in her head. Once more she raised herself on her elbows and squinted into the shadows. A figure was huddled in a fetal position on another cot.
“Hello,” she said in a loud whisper. “Ava, is that you?”
No answer.
Johanna brought herself to a sitting position. Her eyes were adjusting to the gloom. The figure wasn’t Ava. It was much too long, too big. A man. She steadied herself to stand bracing against a wall with her outreached arm. A shot of pain flashed through her head. She took a halting step toward the cot, then stopped.
Ropes.
Snakelike they wrapped around his feet. She couldn’t see his hands.
Where was she? Her memory still felt like a wad of cotton, but she remembered Luden and she remembered vaguely being carried—but nothing else.
Why was this man tied up? Friend or foe? Moving closer she could tell it was indeed a man. His back was to her, his arms holding knees to his chest.
“Hello, are you all right?”
She leaned over to touch his shoulder. Nothing. But she had a feeling he knew she was there. He stiffened.
“My name is Johanna Hudson. I’m looking for my friend Ava Lowell.” She paused.
He straightened his legs and fumbled to right himself.
Finally, his body made the turn to face her. Johanna’s eyes grew wide and she put her hand over her mouth.
“Jo?”
Eric!
Even in the hazy light she could make out her now gaunt friend. He wore the start of a beard and fronted a scraggly mat of hair. She bent over him lifting aside the thick rope that allowed 2 feet of gap between his hands. His legs were chained in the same way as his hands. A whiff of confinement odor caused her nostril to wrinkle.
“Eric, how . . . I mean what . . .” she stumbled over her words.
He fell back onto the bed seemingly spent. “It’s a long story,” he said in a cracked voice. He pulled free a plastic bottle of water squeezed between the wall and the bed and once more partially sat up to take a deep swallow. “Jo, it’s been a nightmare and I would like to take the time to explain everything to you—but you don’t have much time.” He coughed several times. “When they come back, you must—”
He coughed repeatedly.
“I’m ready.” Johanna reassured him, wincing at the lingering ache in her head, but wanting to give him a hug. “What can I do? I’m not sure the police know where we are and—”
The door creaked open.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Johanna startled, looked up and stared at Luden who entered the room with a grim look and with another disguise.
“Where are Ava and Leslie?” she said blinking repeatedly to try and keep her head clear. She ignored her rapid heartbeat and the feel of cloth that seemed to fill her mouth.
“They’re close by.” Luden he replied looking around her at the figure on the bed. “Aren’t you surprised to see your old friend, Eric Lowell? This will be a regular reunion.”
He went over and patted Eric on his head. A plaintive moan escaped Eric’s lips.
“Stop it.” Johanna called out, stumbling to her friend’s side. “What’s the matter, Eric? What’s wrong with your head?”
“I’ll be okay.” Eric gave her a lopsided woeful look. “It’s my eye, Jo. They had to make sure I wouldn’t escape, that I wouldn’t go back to the police. Where they hit me I don’t see well, and my leg’s messed up. They were going to use me to ramp up the stakes. They told me everyone would think I was tied in with their group.”
“Oh, Eric. We didn’t know, Ava didn’t know. She was—”
“Okay, okay,” Luden said. “Enough with the get together. Let’s talk about what’s going to happen next. If you want to see your friend, you will do exactly as I say.”
He positioned himself in front of the door.
“First, to show you I’m not a monster, there is a wheelchair waiting outside this door at the entrance to the tunnel passages. Johanna, you will push Eric Lowell in the chair, and take the tunnel to your freedom. As I said, I will set you on your way. Then I will start my leave time, along with my granddaughter, and we will strike out on our own.”
“Leslie is going with you?” Johanna frowned. “What’s the catch? This sounds too . . . too considerate. What about Ava?”
“Ava?” Eric said. “I don’t understand. What about Ava?”
“No time now, Johanna, will explain everything to you, later,” Luden replied. “We will make our way to Mrs. Lowell’s . . . er, room and she will join you on the way out.” Luden looked at his watch. “Enough explanations, I don’t think you understand what you will be facing if we don’t get moving. Either you do as I say—now, or a member of my very greedy and heartless team will kill you. To them you’re hostages and unfinished business. I told them I wouldn’t give them their money, until they were ready to retreat and you were on your way. I am giving you a chance.”
“I don’t—”
“Johanna, you have thirty seconds to move out into the corridor where there will be a man and a chair waiting. If you take one second longer—you’re on your own.” Luden crossed his arms.
