Forever Yours
67
Security
THE WALTHER P22 wasn’t loud, but it was enough to draw the attention of a security patrol walking the grounds not far away. He turned to see the kidnapper let go of a child as he fell back against the car and slid to a sitting position on the ground.
Henry ran to scoop Paul up in his arms as Germaine stood over the kidnapper.
“Don’t! Don’t shoot! It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We weren’t going to hurt him!” the guy yelled.
The door on the other side of the car flew open and a woman jumped out and ran up the drive. The security patrol radioed the front of the resort to prevent the woman from leaving and to call in police and an ambulance. He didn’t approach the car because he was unarmed and wasn’t about to get between Germaine and the guy on the ground.
“Poopy pants!” little Paul screamed.
It might have been directed at the kidnapper, but it was also an announcement of what was happening in Henry’s arms as he spoke. Grace ran up and took Paul from Henry. The kidnapper kept looking at Germaine’s steely gaze and the barrel of her gun.
“Please lower your gun and step away!” the security guy yelled from what he considered a safe distance.
Henry knelt by the kidnapper and quickly checked for weapons, then pulled him around to examine the tidy little hole in his right shoulder. It was so compact it wasn’t really even bleeding that much. Henry nodded to Germaine. They stepped back to where they’d fired the gun, ejected the clip and the round in the chamber, and placed the gun on the ground under their foot.
The security guard approached cautiously, looking at Germaine and verifying they were now unarmed.
“What happened?” he asked.
“This guy grabbed our son and attempted to take him away,” Henry said. “Our bodyguard stopped him.”
“Please! It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’m wounded. He didn’t say anything about an armed guard. We were just supposed to snatch the kid and deliver him to the parking lot at Publix in Sanibel.”
“Who was it?” Henry demanded.
“I don’t know the name. Looked Cuban. Gave us $1,000 and promised $10,000 more on delivery,” the kidnapper cried.
Lisa puffed up carrying both babies and Chastity hauled all the beach equipment behind her. Grace had already left with Paul to change his pants and clothes in the cottage.
“Okay. We all need to just stay calm and quiet,” the patrol said. “Police and an ambulance are on the way. Your bodyguard is going to need to stay right there until they arrive. Shit! I’m glad you gave us the alert when you got here, Ms. Karol. I’d have turned around and run otherwise.”
Sirens could be heard approaching the resort and about five minutes later a police car, followed by an ambulance and a firetruck, rolled up beside the cars. Henry and Lisa had retreated to stand on either side of Germaine who simply stood quietly with her foot on her gun.
After a quick check, one policeman stood over the kidnapper as the ambulance crew came to attend to him. The other officer approached Germaine.
“We’ll have to take you in. Please stand still while you’re cuffed. Any effort to resist will be deemed cause for force,” the officer said. “Where’s the gun?”
Germaine scuffed their foot to uncover it as the officer cuffed their hands.
“Wait! It’s not their fault!” Henry yelled. “That guy was trying to kidnap our son. They fired in self-defense.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Where is this son?”
“He’s in the cottage having his clothes changed. He was trying to make it to the bathroom when he was grabbed.”
“How old is this kid? He can just go into the house by himself and change clothes?”
“He’s with his nanny,” Lisa said. “Look, just collect the gun and release our other nanny.”
“What? You said this was your bodyguard. Now she’s a nanny?”
“She’s both,” Lisa said. “Thank goodness!”
An unmarked car with a flashing light pulled up beside the ambulance and a detective approached. He paused briefly to give directions to the uniformed officer by the kidnapper and then came to where Germaine was still standing between Henry and Lisa, but back a step from where she’d dropped the gun and magazine.
“Is this the shooter?” the detective asked as he approached. Then he looked directly at Germaine. “Sergeant?”
“Retired, Higgins,” Germaine said.
“I got out after my hitch was up and went back to police work. Why’s she cuffed?” Higgins demanded of the cop.
“Standard procedure, detective,” the officer said. “Active shooter.”
“Really? She was holding a gun?”
“No, sir. She was standing on it.”
“Not very active then.” Higgins released the cuffs and threw them at the officer, none too gently. “Sorry about that, Sergeant. If you are all in that cottage, we can come in to talk to you in a little while. This guy has given a lead on the person who hired him and an officer at the front gate has detained a woman alleged to be his partner. We’ll have to process the gun. Why such a small weapon?” Higgins pulled his jacket aside to reveal a hefty nine millimeter in a shoulder holster.
“I quit killing,” Germaine said. “All I needed was to stop him. And you know that if he’d been armed, I could have taken him down with this as well as any larger bore weapon.”
“That’s true enough. We’ll talk more when we get to it. For now, we’re going to roll to Publix and take this guy down.”
“We’ll be here,” Germaine said. They immediately picked up the gear Chastity had been struggling with and went into the cottage.
“We’re all okay,” Henry started when he connected a call to Luke. “We had a little incident, but Germaine took care of it.”
“What kind of incident?” Luke asked.
“Somebody tried to grab Paul,” Henry said. “Germaine was with him and stopped it on the spot. We will have to talk to the detective when he gets done processing the criminal and tracks down the guy who paid them.”
“So, we don’t know who hired him?” Luke asked.
“Not yet. Offered a total of $11,000 from what the kidnapper said. He was very talkative after Germaine shot him.”
“Shot him! While he had Paul?”
“Paul was never in danger. You know Germaine is very careful. The detective who came to investigate already knew her. He said there wouldn’t be any charges filed unless the resort wants to sue for discharging a weapon on the grounds. That’s not likely.”
“We’ll leave and come to join you,” Luke said. “Can you ask Chastity to get a flight for us?”
“Luke, it’s really all okay. You and Izzy should stay there and enjoy Felipe’s game Saturday. We’ll be leaving then and will be home on Tuesday. Maybe Monday night,” Henry calmed his friend. “And at the moment, Chastity is still on the phone with our security company. She’s having another guard sent down to share driving and watchfulness. I think she’s planning additional support for you, as well. I suppose we need a company-wide security review again. This attack was on my family, but your son. I don’t think we’re clear of being targets.”
“Shit! Okay. I’m only going to tell Izzy the basics. She’s been good this week, like she hasn’t a care in the world. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible,” Luke said.
“Take care, bro.”
It took about five minutes for Detective Higgins to verify the details of the incident when he arrived at the cottage that evening. They’d arrested a suspect in the parking lot and in processing him in, discovered an outstanding ICE warrant for his detainment.
Then Higgins and Germaine sat with the family and talked about their days in the Marines.
“I couldn’t believe you stayed in after what they did to you,” Higgins said. “How could they deport US Citizens? While their daughter was on active duty in the Middle East?”
“It was a notice to self-deport,” Germaine said. “They were given thirty days, so they managed to pack nearly everything and get refugee status in Canada. My poor grandparents never did understand what was going on. They weren’t citizens and didn’t speak English.”
“Still sucks. How many stars and commendations did you receive?”
“Doesn’t matter. They’ll deport me now. I shot someone.”
“They wouldn’t, would they?”
“You know the only reason they didn’t try to extract me directly from the barracks is because I’m white,” Germaine said. “They arrested Ahmed on his way out of the base when he was discharged.”
Henry, Lisa, and Chastity sat in the room with the two retired Marines with their mouths open in amazement. They had no idea Germaine’s parents and grandparents had self-deported to Canada. And Germaine was apparently a pretty highly respected sergeant in the Marines. They were absolutely not going to let her be deported if there was anything they could do about it.
“So, Mr. Pascal, you’ve been shooting that little P22 for a while now. You were pretty confident when you fired at this fellow, Askins,” Higgins said, turning to Henry.
“What?”
“Higgins!” Germaine said. The other Marine waved her down.
“Yeah. It was a well-placed shot in the right scapula. Just enough to get him to let go of your godson so you could rescue him.”
Henry understood what the detective was doing. He’d just sworn to himself he wouldn’t let Germaine be deported.
“I can’t call myself an expert, but I had a reasonable margin of safety,” Henry said.
“Well, Florida is a Constitutional Carry state, so there’s no rule against you having the gun. As soon as we verify the bullet in the perp was fired from that gun, we’ll return it to you. The perp already waived his rights and fingered the guy who hired him. His wife corroborated everything. She saw you rushing him right after you fired. I don’t think we’ll need anything but your signature on the affidavit.”
“No problem,” Henry said. He pulled the affidavit Germaine had answered to him and signed it.
Higgins stood to leave.
“I hope this little incident doesn’t spoil the rest of your visit to Florida,” he said. “I’ll wrap this file up and it will be closed.”
“You didn’t have to do that!” Germaine said as soon as Higgins was gone.
“Germaine, you saved Paul from a kidnapping today. I will do anything within my power to keep you safe and secure. No one will come after me for defending my godson. Your friend Higgins was spot on,” Henry said.
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Think of it as us thanking you,” Lisa said.
“I’ve talked to the security group,” Chastity said. “There will be another person here by morning. That is not an indication that we don’t believe you are competent, Germaine. You’ve proven that. It’s so you have backup. I’m sending backup for Luke and Isobel’s bodyguard, too.”
“Good,” Henry said. “There’s something fishy about this whole thing and I can’t put my finger on it. Did the kidnapper just take the first of our kids who appeared, or was he specifically after Paul? I wish I had my computer.”
“Our agreement was being offline all week,” Lisa said. “You can call in to the office if you think it’s important, but no going online yourself.”
“Yes, love. It’s actually been really great to not think once about the office this week,” Henry said. “I’m sorry you had to call in, Chas.”
“That was in service to our family,” Chastity said. “It had nothing to do with business.”
“Are we going to sit in the children’s room all night, watching them sleep?” Henry asked. “The windows are closed and locked. The doors are all locked. Germaine has made a full circuit check of everything. We can take the monitor into our room.”
“You’re right, honey. It’s just hard to take my eyes off our children now,” Lisa said. “It’s Thursday. Or it was. We check out and leave on Saturday. Let’s enjoy the time we have remaining.”
By enjoy, Lisa included stripping her clothes off as she walked from the nursery to their bedroom. Chastity quickly joined her. Henry picked up their clothes as he followed along and wasted no time undressing when he got to the room.
Megan O’Connell arrived in time for breakfast the next morning. All things taken into consideration, Chastity had felt it was more suitable that another female bodyguard join them, rather than mix in a male.
Of course, the children, led by Paul, wanted to go to the beach again. Paul, however, didn’t want to go back to the cottage until everyone else was also there. After naps, they spent time in the children’s play area with all six adults watching. Megan blended in well and Germaine had given her the rules regarding not having a round or a clip in her sidearm when she was around the children. Megan objected, but ultimately complied. She was not, however, a nanny, so when they family went to dinner that evening for their last big meal in Florida, she stayed with the van and had her firearm loaded and at hand.
Nonetheless, there was no problem, and the next morning they packed up all their possessions to hit the road. Just before they left, Detective Higgins arrived and handed over Germaine’s gun.
“Ballistics verified the bullet came from this little gun. It lodged in the perp’s scapula and was removed without a problem. He has no idea how lucky he was. If I’d have hit him there with my nine millimeter, it would have shattered his shoulder at least. He pled guilty to felony kidnapping in a plea bargain that helped us locate and arrest the one paying for the child. I expect the judge will sentence him to five years without probation. His wife will get three years for conspiracy to kidnap. I’m afraid they won’t get the $11,000 the boss promised them,” Higgins said.
“What happened to the boss?”
“ICE picked him up from the county this morning early. My best guess is that he’s headed to a… um… detention center to await deportation. I’m sure some judge will have to hear his case first. They’re pretty good about that these days. But with a felony charge hanging over him, there’s not much hope he’ll be in the US for more than a few more weeks.”
“Thank you for all your assistance, Detective Higgins,” Henry said as he formally accepted the gun.
“Safe trip home,” the detective said. He winked at Germaine and left.
Henry handed Germaine her gun. She immediately checked it and quickly cleaned it before they left.
“My baby! How’s Mommy’s precious boy?” Izzy cried.
Luke and Isobel had been waiting at Henry’s house when they got back Monday afternoon. On the trip back, Megan and Germaine split the driving duties, so neither Chastity nor Lisa drove. At home, it was a brief reunion with Isobel giving Henry the stink eye before their driver took them home.
Germaine and Megan did a walkabout the grounds and the house to be sure everything was in order and then Megan left. The family got settled in and eventually, Henry got to his computer room and started searching for every detail of the kidnapping and jail records he could find.
By midnight he sat in his room staring at the screen and shaking his head. He expected someone trying to extort money from the officer/owners of Open Cloak Design. Instead, he found something far more personal. The person identified as the boss of the caper and later carted off by ICE was none other than Isandro Perez—Isobel’s estranged father.
His file was annotated with no-contact orders from his children, and known criminal contacts. An attempted kidnapping would be the last straw. Henry contemplated what he should do with the information and after an hour of deliberation, decided doing nothing was the best course of action. The wheels of justice were in motion. It was better if he professed no knowledge of the case at all. He could tell Isobel already blamed him for the incident. That wasn’t logical, but neither was Isobel.
Henry found that he was not tired, even though it was after one in the morning. His wives were asleep in each other’s arms and it would be another hour before Will woke up for a feeding. He went back to his study and opened Forever Yours. He started a rambling monologue that told about the week of vacation. For his singularity, he told about his investigation and the revelation of Isandro being behind the kidnapping attempt. Then he marked the file as one of his confidential items. It was an item that the AI would separate as an ingredient to the character, but not to be mentioned in any answers to questions by Henry’s heirs.
He heard Will stirring and took him to his mother. Cassie woke up and, after changing her, Henry danced with her, singing their nonsense song. Cassie no longer had a middle of the night feeding. She was soon back to sleep. He changed Will when he’d finished eating and got him settled back in bed, then joined his wives in the narrow splinter of the bed they left for him.
He lay awake for a long time. This attack wasn’t directed at him, but it sent him back into the memory of the auto hit that had injured him. His left leg and arm were scarred from the surgery and he’d been self-conscious when dressed for the beach. None of the logic he directed at himself slowed his heartrate.
“I’ve ordered a complete review of company security, including security of all board members, major investors, and officers,” Chastity said in the board meeting on Wednesday after they returned to work.
“Why?” Izzy demanded. “Why are we vulnerable like this? What is it about our company that makes the officers and stockholders targets?”
“It’s because you are newly rich,” Craig said.
They’d hired the chief operating officer because he was a little older and had helped a startup manage costs through a critical growth period before. His words carried a lot of weight.
“It’s not an unusual phenomenon. When companies go public, it’s assumed the big shareholders immediately got rich. There are scammers out there who will try all kinds of methods to prey on the entrepreneur, especially if they seem young and inexperienced. I should have gone over that with you before. I was focused on the company and not on the founders,” Craig said.
“Well, your input is appreciated even now,” Luke said. “Chas, thank you for orchestrating this security review. How soon will it be under way?”
“We’re getting things organized to start the review Monday. I’ll let everyone know if appointments are needed. If we have a major new announcement to accompany joining a stock exchange sometime soon, we’ll undoubtedly have another batch of nouveau riche.”
“Okay. Let’s move on and catch up on the new projects and current status. We’ve got a presentation from Rick on the state of holography. Want to call him in?” Luke said.
Henry sat through the rest of the meeting, holding his peace about the reason for this attempted kidnapping.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
