Chapter 26 - Another Kidnapping

Amanda dreaded seeing Maurice but she had no choice. She drove to his apartment and parked down the street. She walked to his front door and found him waiting for her outside.

"Hello Amanda! What a beautiful day. The sun is out, the birds are chirping. Why you aren't smiling? Why aren't you smiling Amanda?" Maurice asked.

"I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind. Shall we get going?"

Maurice took her arm and looped it with his as they walked to her car. He helped her into the car and then got into the driver's side himself. Amanda wondered why he was suddenly behaving. She hadn't expected him to. He drove the short distance to the Chess Hall and they walked inside together. Amanda began looking around to see if she could spot the other agents and soon saw several people that she thought looked like agents. Maurice started to head over to get his information for the day but then turned back as an afterthought and handed Amanda a briefcase and asked her if she could look after it for him. She gave him a questioning look and he explained "I was talking to one of the players who lost last night and he wanted to borrow some of my notes and copies of books that I used to perfect my game. He will be by shortly to get the briefcase so if you could just give it to him; that would be great." Amanda nodded in understanding and sat the briefcase at her feet. Maurice continued on his way to the registration table and soon was seated at a chess table with his new opponent. Amanda noticed that this man definitely looked like he was a Russian and she allowed herself to wonder for a moment whether Maurice would be recognized but since he hadn't been this whole time, she decided that he had nothing to worry about.

Steve got up one final time to announce the players. "The 20 finalists all competing for a chance in the semifinals include 4 from Russia, 2 from Japan, 3 Chinese, 3 from Hungary, 2 from Poland, 3 from the United States and 3 from France. Congratulations to everyone for making it this far. Of course only 10 of you can go on to the Semi-finals but please be proud of yourselves for making it this far. I want to also take the time to thank all of you who have come out to cheer on everyone. Finally, I would like to give a round of applause to our Kitchen staff who has kept us fed and taken care of our needs during the games." Everyone clapped in appreciation. Steve then continued "Thank you to all the players for playing a fair game and being supportive of each other. And now without any more delay, please say good morning to your opponents, shake their hands and wish them luck." Steve requested.

All 20 players stood and shook hands and wished each other luck. Some even reached over and congratulated their neighbors. Amanda noted that Maurice was looking straight ahead at something on the far wall. She diverted her gaze to see what he was looking at and noticed a group of 4 men standing by the exit door. Something worried her about this image, she just didn't know why. As soon as they realized that she was looking at them, they quickly separated.

The players had all sat back down and the games started. The morning went smoothly. Amanda kept looking around, still hoping Lee would surface but knew in her heart that he wouldn't. Something bad had happened to him and she only prayed he was still alive.

About an hour after the games started, a young kid approached Amanda and asked her for the briefcase. She didn't recognize him and thought she had seen all the players so she wasn't sure why he didn't look familiar. She asked him what he wanted with the briefcase and he replied "Maurice left me some important papers in that briefcase and told me to come pick it up." Amanda realized that this was indeed the person who was supposed to take the case so she gave him to him. He quickly disappeared into the crowd.

It was soon time for lunch and after giving their lunch orders to their waiter, Amanda noticed that once again, Maurice and his opponent got up and headed for the bathroom. They were gone less than 5 minutes this time though and Amanda wondered if it was because of the group of agents that had been posted around the bathroom area. She sat and watched them as they ate and couldn't help but notice that they seemed to know each other. This was not two strangers, they were in a conversation like they were old friends. The bad feelings that she was experiencing became stronger in observing them and she had decided to go let one of the agents know when suddenly there were gunshots. A group of men dressed up like past Presidents all walked into the Chess hall and fired a few more rounds to make sure they had everyone's attention. They each wore a different mask which included President Carter, President Reagan, President Ford and President Nixon. They were each dressed in a black suit including black pants and black shoes.

The Man who had the President Reagan mask on said "Hello Ladies and Gentleman. So sorry to burst in on your little fun here. We won't take long to get what we want though and leave. Something of ours was taken from us about 5 years ago and it has taken a little while but now we want him back. We won't hurt anyone else as long as you all behave and stay seated while we reclaim him." The man who had the President Nixon mask on walked quickly over to Maurice's table and grabbed him forcefully by the arm and yanked him away from the table. Amanda was in shock. Did this mean that Russia had figured out who Maurice was and had come to reclaim him? It sure looked like it. Meanwhile Maurice looked terrified and had gotten on his knees and was begging to be spared. The man backhanded him and shoved him towards the entrance. President Ford and President Carter than began firing at the agents that were ready to try to protect Maurice. After wounding several of them, the kidnappers all ran out the door. Amanda bolted from her seat and ran out the door after them. First she had lost Lee and now it looked like she was going to lose Maurice too. All the bad feelings towards Maurice were pushed aside as she worried about him having to face the Russians that he defected from. She jumped into her car and gave chase behind the kidnappers. So much for having a boring day.

TBC