Chapter 12
On an estate somewhere north of London, a young beaver desperately tried to persuade his father not to pursue his plan, which could have devastating consequences for the family. But his father refused to listen to his attempts to make him change his mind.
"Please father! Is there nothing I can do to make you change your mind? You are playing with fire and it is not worthy of a man of your position to lower himself to the level of a mere criminal."
"You know very well that I have no choice. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 has ruined the family. I have struggled with my teeth and claws to be able to pay the interest on the loan from the bank. But now it is no longer possible. There's nothing left I can sell. All our art is gone. The car collection and much of our land. The only thing left is the family estate that has been in our family since the 16th century. And I would rather commit a crime than be disgraced for losing our family home. If I do not pay the entire loan with interest within a month, we will lose everything. The debt is 5.5 million pounds and I do not even have a tenth of it".
"But why her of all the rich people in the country? She will be well guarded. You risk the lives of our three retainers".
"For three reasons. If her family had kept the old agreement ten years ago, we would not be here now. Two, she is the country's richest person, 25 million in ransom is not something she would be harmed over. And three, I happened to know where she will be at 5 o'clock today at a restaurant in London. I have bribed staff to place her near the kitchen door and our retainers were volunteers to perform the task. They have access to flashbangs, military smoke grenades and pepper spray grenades to knock out bodyguards and cover the escape".
"That marriage contract was from 1831 and totally invalid. And I myself would never have agreed to it. That was why the entire Porcupine family left the country due to a part of the royal family supporting the agreement".
"Does not matter now the three grizzly bear brothers are already on their way, they have no phones to reduce the risk of being tracked and I cannot stop it now".
Meanwhile in the Porcupine Palace. Johnny had noted to his relief that Ash had hired a dance teacher today and that Elsa did not appear nearby. After spending the whole morning doing dance lessons while Ash practiced shooting a group of ninjas, he was now on his way to Ash's bedroom to look for her. He knocked on the open door and peeked into the master bedroom, which could easily hold his entire garage.
"I'm in here"! He heard Ash's voice from an opening in the wall and a thick steel door stood ajar. Johnny went into the bedroom and passed the steel door and entered a fabulous treasury. A large room with several shelves filled with jewels of all kinds. Johnny saw a stand in the middle of the room where there was a spire and a royal crown as well as several other objects that looked like medieval crown jewels. Ash looked in a box in the far corner and lifted up a necklace of diamonds with a larger blue diamond at the bottom.
"Yes! I knew my favourite necklace was here somewhere, I've been looking for it for half an hour".
"Ash! Why are there crown jewels in this treasury?"
"What crown jewels? You mean the ones in the glass stand. These are my family's crown jewels when the Porcupine Family ruled Scotland in the Middle Ages for a few generations. But after a war, the family had to go into exile and settled in France and later in England and became part of the nobility. It was the end of the 13th century. The jewels are about 900 years old".
"Ash you are royal!
"Shut up! That was 800 years ago. I'm no more royal than Buster is king of Spain". That was not really true, but she did not want to reveal it.
"Come with me now that it's time for lunch and then we'll go to London to get you the right clothes for the royal spectacle the day after tomorrow".
Ash limped out the door on crutches and the steel door closed behind her. Johnny had to run to not be trapped in the vault. Johnny saw many black-clad people who appeared to be of Asian descent in the corridors. All these people that Ash met bowed deeply. Ash rolled her eyes and the look she gave Johnny said clearly, do not ask! After a couple of minutes, they arrived at the dining room where Elsa and Maya were already in full swing eating a big meal.
"If there is one thing that will make me broke, it is the food costs for these two wandering stomachs". Ash joked. Becky was sitting with her laptop and a large pile of paper that she was going through. Ash and Johnny sat down at the same table and Ash said seriously.
"I hope you have read the text I gave you yesterday carefully because if you make the slightest mistake with the cutlery during this lunch, I will force you to take dance lessons tonight with Elsa and Maya".
Johnny really wondered if Ash could be cruel enough and when he thought about it, yes, she could. Very carefully he lifted the first cutlery and began to eat carefully. After lunch and Ash had counted on 11 mistakes that Johnny made but did not have the cruelty to punish him today, so she let him get away. Ash went to her bedroom to try to change her clothes before the trip to London before the maids found out about it, but she failed again. Ash returned in a blue skirt, white shirt and a dark jacket. Around her neck she wore the necklace she had previously taken from the vault.
"Let's go! My limousine is waiting for us. If we are fast, maybe not too many bodyguards will catch up".
Ash and Johnny went out to the waiting limousine where Elsa and Maya were already waiting. Three SUVs stood around the car and Ash sighed.
"Nope! Not this time either".
A convoy of cars started driving towards London while the three ninja leaders had a meeting in a bedroom.
"What are the preparations for external security around Her Grace"?
"A full team of 25 ninjas must be ready day and night to serve her and keep her safe."
"I think the security at night should be higher as that is when she is most vulnerable.
"Well! 40 ninjas at night in shifts. 10 In her immediate vicinity".
"By the way! Where is Her Grace now"?
"I thought it was you who was in charge of her safety in the afternoon."
"How could I be that? we have not decided who handles different times yet".
"Stop arguing idiots! That means none of us know where Her Grace is now. The leader of our clan would have us all whipped if he learned that we had already failed at our important mission".
"It cannot be so dangerous! She's probably in her bedroom or on the balcony. Let's find out before we go on a joint patrol".
One of the leaders looked out of a window and saw Her Grace on her way into a limousine that started and drove away with 3 SUVs.
"Crap! She travels with a car, and none of us are with her!
"What! Do you mean that not a single ninja is with our new ruler on her journey?!
"That's exactly what I mean. The convoy has started but none of our vehicles are in it. Before we can get our people in the cars and follow, they are halfway to London. You just have to admit, we've all made a big mistake on our first day.
"I will not report this to our leader, but we must punish ourselves for this disgraceful mistake. All ninjas must meet in front of the entrance in an hour to receive 10 lashes as punishment. Since it was our fault, it will be 20 lashes for us. It's the only way to save our honour. And this must never happen again".
Three very distressed ninjas prepared for a painful experience in an hour. Ash, who knew nothing about the ninjas' torment, sat in the limousine and slept. Johnny sat next to her and looked around the landscape. Soon they reached London and after an hour in traffic they reached Harrods luxury department stores.
"I hope you have a thick wallet with you Johnny! Costumes that fit at a royal party are not cheap. Luckily for me, I have at least 50 different suitable garments at home, I do not have to wear myself out in a store for several hours. Becky will probably be happy to help you shop while I take a look at Tiffany & Co and see if they have anything shiny o my collection."
Ash did not care much about money, but she had always had a weakness for beautiful jewellery. She had not worn much jewellery during her escape attempt for five years, but now she had no reason not to wear jewellery. Becky pulled away with Johnny towards unknown fate while Ash plundered some jewel shops on their contents. After two hours, Johnny and Becky returned. Johnny had spent £ 7,000 on a suit and accompanying accessories. Ash had spent at least £ 70 million on jewels. Maya tried to close the trunk of the limousine containing several boxes of jewels and diamonds.
"Now it's time for dinner. Since I am not allowed to eat any Pizza, a small restaurant is booked by the Thames. There are several dishes to choose from, but I guess I will be forced to eat soup again, sigh!"
The convoy went to a small restaurant by the river and the cars parked in a parking lot in a courtyard. Elsa and Maya went in first followed by Ash and Johnny. 15 bodyguards and the driver of the limousine followed. No one stayed outside with the cars.
A male grizzly bear dressed in dark work clothes snuck up to the cars with a knife in his hand, when he saw that no one was around he smiled and started punching holes in the tires of the three SUVs. Ash limousine had special tires so he could not puncture them. But when the limousine was packed, he understood that they could not take up the hunt with it quickly, so he did not try anything else. He picked up a radio to contact his brothers for their plan to kidnap Ash.
"Hello! I have sabotaged the cars. I trigger the small explosive charge in three minutes to attract their attention. We may have to do with former special forces so speed will be the key to success".
"I have counted over 15 bodyguards. I think it's best not to try. The risk is too great. We can be shot or caught."
"We have no choice! Our boss is bankrupt! If we do not receive the ransom, the family that our family has served for generations will be completely impoverished, and we lose our jobs. We still get a part of the ransom when everything is over.
"Okay then! But if we get caught, we get to choose our beds first in the prison cell".
Ash was sitting at a table with a deep plate of soup in front of her. She was not in the best mood as she was very tired of soup. Suddenly a loud bang was heard outside the restaurant and the windows shook.
"That was an explosion, 10 guards, investigate what's going on. Be prepared for everything. Have your weapons ready!"
10 guards left their seats and started to get out in the parking lot where they saw that their cars were sabotaged but while they were out someone threw several flashbangs followed by smoke grenades into the restaurant. Ash was dazzled and could not see anything in the thick smoke. Suddenly she felt that someone grabbed her and tore her out of the chair.
"What are you doing?! Let me go! Help me, I'm being abducted!"
Elsa and Maya could hear Ash screaming for help but could not see her! Elsa held a gun in her hand and tried to follow the sound of Ash's voice, but she only saw a glimpse of a fist hitting her on the nose and Maya got pepper spray in her eyes. Ash kept calling for help until someone put a big paw in front of her mouth and she got a syringe in her arm. She lost consciousness.
"I have her. Quickly through the kitchen, down to the river and the boat. The alarm will be out in a few minutes. We have to reach the car within five minutes, and then change cars where we planned and meet up with our brother. Keep this machine close to her until we can change her clothes. It interferes with all tracking signals if she has a track transmitter on her".
The two grizzly bears carried away with the unconscious Ash while the security forces tried to understand what had happened in all the chaos and smoke. After a few minutes, the disaster had dawned on everyone. Ash was gone. Elsa, who had a bleeding nose, desperately tried to get Ash location on her GPS but she did not get any contact. Maya still rubbed her eyes while Johnny searched the area for clues.
"Why does this lousy GPS not work when I really need it! Work! Where is she! Fuck! Why are you all standing there like idiots? call for help immediately, call everyone! Do it now, before I shoot all of you"!
After a quarter of an hour, the whole of central London was full of police and roadblocks had been set up everywhere. Helicopters flew around in search of Ash and police boats patrolled the river.
But it was already too late! The perpetrators had already managed to leave the area with a fast boat and get to the meeting place where a van was waiting. They brought Ash into the van and took off all her clothes and jewellery, including her underwear. After that, they dressed her in a bathrobe. They left Ash's clothes on the spot and drove away. Two of them were in the back of the car with Ash while the third brother was driving.
"Where did you get that syringe?"
"I bought it from a drug dealer along with the drugs. She will not wake up until tomorrow at the earliest".
"A drug dealer. Are you crazy?! You may have poisoned her, or it was dirty needle. What do we do if she gets sick?"
"Calm down! He promised that the syringe was new, and I know how to mix these drugs, I have a degree in chemistry".
"If she gets sick, I'll kill you! We're just looking for some of her money, not to ruin her health. And you can take the watch all night until she wakes up, and we'll see how she reacts on having been kidnapped"!
Elsa had finally managed to get Ash's position, but when a task force arrived, they only found her clothes and handbag with all contents left. Elsa and Maya became more and more desperate and poor Johnny had run back and forth along the streets like crazy in his attempts to find her. After an hour, it became clear to everyone that those who kidnapped Ash had escaped through the barricades and Elsa decided that it was time to change tactics and do what she was best at. Get people talking.
Elsa understood that one or more of the staff at the restaurant must have been bribed for giving up Ash's location. She wanted to know which ones. She took out her 45-caliber Desert Eagle and went into the kitchen to have a conversation with the restaurant manager with the gun up his nose. After a few threats and holding a waiter's head above the fryer, she had received the information she wanted. The staff was bribed but no one knew who the three grizzly bears were, and the restaurant had no surveillance camera. Frustrated and angry, Elsa fired a shot at random into the kitchen and hit a gas tank. It started to burn in the kitchen and after about five minutes, the whole restaurant was on fire. Elsa thought it was an appropriate punishment after what they had done.
"After a few hours, the news had spread around the world and many of the world governments blamed each other for being behind the kidnapping which seemed to be very well planned and required large resources. The United States blamed Russia, which in turn blamed the United States. China blamed both countries. All countries threatened to carry out violent revenge against the culprit.
Calls were made throughout the night at government level and intelligence services were called. The search for Ash spread throughout the world. A £ 10 million reward was promised to anyone who could identify the culprits and a £ 50 million reward to anyone who could find Lady Porcupine. Both Russia, China and the United States sent special forces to London and their intelligence agents. All countries' forces had received the same order. Find Ash! Take her to their own country. The police could not find any traces. London had countless cameras, but no one could find anything. Satellites were also a dead end. Elsa banged her head against the wall in frustration, unable to do anything. If there was one thing, she hated more than wearing a dress or high-heeled shoe, it was to feel powerless. During the many years she had worked with Ash, it almost felt like she had adopted the little girl sometimes, especially when she was younger. And now she wanted to murder those who took her baby away from her. Although Ash was 21 years old, Elsa sometimes saw her as the 5-year-old she was when Elsa took the job.
The next day, Ash woke up early in the morning and looked around. She was lying on a bed in a room with concrete walls without windows. She felt that she was not tied with ropes or chains, her hands and feet were completely free. She could see that there was a bathroom with a toilet, sink and a shower. She would not have to die of thirst. There was not much in the room, a table and a chair. some books. The door out was made of steel and Ash assumed it was locked and guarded.
The lord of the estate, Marquis Castor ate breakfast when a grizzly bear came into the room to announce that Ash had woken up.
"Excellent! I hope she's fine. None of you may meet her in person, there must be no risk that she can identify any of you. Let the boy Leonardo we found on the street last month take care of her. He is from Peru and escaped from home on a ship six months ago and can only speak Spanish. He has agreed to work for me until everything is clear against me sending him home to his parents again. It will not matter if Lady Porcupine recognize him when he will be on the other side of the world".
Ash had examined the room! She had pain in her right leg, which was injured, she had no crutch to get around with. She understood that the chance of escaping in her condition was zero. The steel door opened, and a young 15-year-old cougar came in carrying a tray. He looked nervously at Ash as if she would jump on him any minute as he laid the tray on the table. He mumbled something in Spanish as he turned to leave the room again.
"You may not have grasped it yet, but you will all be dead within a week for the insane idea of kidnapping me. The whole world is looking for me and the culprits will be branded terrorists. Do us both a favour and call for help and I promise to help you survive the outcome of this and keep you from ending up in jail. Refuse and you will be caught or shot when special forces storm the place. And if I were to be found dead, no one in the building would survive the outcome. Trust my words".
Ash said this in good Spanish to the nervous cougar who backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"It was worth a try! They give me food, they do not intend to murder me, at least not yet. Do they want money"?
Marquis Castor had just called on an encrypted phone to the Porcupine Palace and demanded £ 25 million in ransom for Ash to be paid into a bank account abroad within a week. He bluffed by threatening to send her back in pieces if the money was not paid within a week. The situation changed when a ransom was requested, and the governments understood that the kidnapping was not government-ordered by any country. Interpol was involved in the case and intended to send one of its most skilled police officers to London.
Paris late at night. Carmelita Fox chased for the 175th time, Sly Cooper over the city roof. She came closer to him and she had almost managed to hit him with her electric pistol. She was sure she would be able to catch him this time.
"Just wait! Ringtail! This time you will not escape. have the audacity to try to steal the borrowed Porcupine Diamond from the jewel exhibition. I'll make sure you can never steal again. You will be imprisoned for 100 years for your crimes".
"Do not be so serious darling! I did not succeed. The diamond remains in the glass stand. For once, the alarm system was new."
Carmelita had Sly in sight and was just about to shock him when her smartphone rang, she missed. Sly managed to use his parachute and get away again.
"No! Why right now?! I almost held him in my grip. If this conversation is not very important, I'll kill someone."
The conversation was important, and she was sent to London regarding the kidnapping of a multi-billionaire. What she did not know was that Sly and his gang were following her to London, curious about what was going on. Once in place, she took command of a massive investigation and she quickly understood that results were expected, or she could start looking for a new job. She visits the burnt-down crime scene in her quest to find clues and managed to find a flashbang that she put in a bag to later look for fingerprints on.
Ash had not managed to have any more conversations with the nervous teenage cougar. He had just started to leave the tray at the door. He had anxiety in his eyes and possibly he believed in her but did not dare to act. Now a few days had passed, and Ash had begun to feel bad and feverish. During the day she had difficulty breathing. She had pain in her body and felt confused. She collapsed on the bed and the next day she could not get out of it. The young cougar knew something was wrong, but he was not sure if he should pass it on, so he waited.
With the help of 75 desperate ninjas, Elsa and Maya had turned London and surrounding areas upside down in their search for Ash, all the clues they had found had not led anywhere until now. One of the ninjas had been to a bar north of London and heard a conversation between two drunk grizzly bears boasting about how they had cheated someone. And after a little more information, the ninja had followed the bears to an old estate and looked around. When Elsa had heard all the information, she decided to storm the place the next morning as soon as it got bright enough outside.
Carmelita Fox had the same idea! The fingerprint she found belonged to a grizzly bear who was punished for petty crimes in her youth. His profile remained in the DNA registry. A task force was planned to surround an estate to seize this bear and search the estate. If Lady Porcupine were on the estate, everyone there would be arrested for kidnapping. The next day in the morning, the force led by her would be in place and ready to surround the building.
Leonardo had finally informed Marquis Castor that Ash was neither eating nor drinking and that she was vomiting and had not moved out of bed all day. He looked through an opening in the door and saw that Ash looked very pale and was sweating profusely. She was not conscious. His son had entered the room against his protests. He was a trained doctor. He measured her temperature and was shocked she had a fever of over 41 degrees. And her body shook.
"Father! the situation is serious! Her condition is poor and can lead to life-threatening conditions if she does not receive medical care. We have to take her to a hospital now or she's at risk of dying".
"I hardly think so, it's probably just a fever. But I will demand that the ransom be paid before midnight. After that, we can release her to be found somewhere tomorrow."
Father we do not have that time, I recognize the symptoms. it could be Sepsis. It becomes life-threatening if not treated quickly."
"Do not try your nonsense! Where would she get an infection from? No, I'm not going to lose my family property. She stays here until the ransom is paid. And to prevent you from causing problems, you can stay here and take care of her until then".
"He closed the door and left his Son and the unconscious Ash in the room".
"Fool! If she dies, we'll be murderers! I do not want to spend the rest of my life in prison. They will find us. You cannot get away with something this big. Give up before it's too late".
He got no answer and started banging his head against the table. Then he heard Ash mumble in her fever.
"Help me someone! I cannot take it. Mom, it's you. Am I dead? I do not want to die now! Far too many are dependent on me."
"Buster can inherit the theater and the queen can have my collection of tiaras. Johnny does not need money now, but he gets the car collection instead".
Young Mr. Castor understood that he was involved in an almost unique phenomenon that he had only heard once before in healthcare. Ash's consciousness did not expect her to survive and prepares her to die. Right now, she was expressing her last will. He started writing everything down. after a while, she came to the end of her list.
"The rest of my ridiculously large fortune of $ 11 trillion will be raised in a fund and used for charity. The profits of my many companies will be used to make a better world. Everything must be governed by the UN and the following organizations".
Mr Castor dropped his pen when she said $ 11 trillion, but he assumed he meant $ 11 billion. He knew she was richer than that, but she had a fever. She continued for a while to finally be quiet and not say anything more that night.
Next morning! Two determined teams were on their way to Ash's position from different directions. Elsa, Maya and 75 ninjas snuck towards the estate through the forest while Carmelita and her task force were on their way to the estate in 3 police buses. When they arrived, Carmelita was surprised to find the head of Ash's bodyguards with a larger heavily armed force ready to storm the mansion. A very lively discussion began between the two leaders. But the ninja clan who were desperate had had enough, they decided to act. the three teams spread out and ran towards the estate to get into the house in different places. Marquis Castor woke up with 5 pistol barrels aimed at his head. The last thing he thought before a ninja beat him unconscious was that the kidnapping was probably not a good idea after all.
The three grizzly bears were all met by 15 weapons aimed at them as they were on their way out of their bedrooms. All three understood that something had gone wrong. Leonardo was arrested by Carmelita as he tried to escape from the mansion. Elsa and Maya had run after the ninjas to take part in the search for Ash.
In the basement, young Mr. Castor desperately tried to save Ash's life. Her symptoms had gotten much worse and she was completely unreachable. He did everything he could to bring down the fever level, but nothing helped. He did not think she would survive many more hours.
In his despair he thought he heard someone trying to open the steel door.
"My Lady Porcupine! Are you in there, please answer!"
"Get help! She's dying of a serious infection! She needs immediate intensive care, or she will die."
all the attempts to open the door became much more intense and after a minute a loud bang was heard as if someone had driven straight into it. After a few attempts, Maya managed to break in the door. Elsa was first in when Maya was dizzy. She saw Ash lying and shaking on a bed while a young beaver tried to keep her still and get her water. She ran to Ash.
"What's happening to her"?!
"She has an extremely high fever, chills and has had vomiting before. She has been unconscious for over 24 hours and I am afraid she has entered a state of severe Sepsis. It is a life-threatening infection that has spread throughout the body. It looks like she's on the last level, Septic shock, she will not survive another three hours without intensive care. Maybe it's already too late."
"Why are you all standing there like idiots?! Get an ambulance helicopter here now. She cannot die! She must not die! If she dies, I will torture everyone we found in the building to death, I swear."
An ambulance helicopter was quickly on site when it was feared that Ash would be found injured, one had followed Carmelita's team. Ash was quickly taken away from the scene while Elsa and Carmelita quarrelled about what would happen to the prisoners. Elsa wanted to shoot them on the spot while Carmelita wanted to take them to the police station. The ninjas only cared about their lady's health. They left the place to go to the hospital where Ash was. Maya followed them. Elsa, who noticed that she lacked support, let Carmelita take all the prisoners, but she dragged young Mr. Castor with her to her car as he had not been arrested.
"I do not know what your role in the whole thing is. But you tried to help her, I'll help you in return but now I want you to tell me the whole story while we drive to the hospital. I want to know everything. Your future depends on it."
Several hours later, Johnny had heard that Ash had been found but that she was seriously ill. He went to the hospital where a large group of black-clad people were waiting outside for information, he recognized Elsa and Maya. A doctor came out after a while.
I must say that her condition is anything but good. The infection has spread in her body and she would not have survived long without care. The situation was critical for her and is still life-threatening. There is a risk that she will not survive the night. We do everything we can, and experts are on their way from other countries. but the risk is 50/50 that she will not survive! "
In Ash Hospital Room! Ash was lying unconscious in her bed and she was very pale. She was connected to several machines of various kinds. Among other things, a heart rate monitor. Suddenly it beeps and the line becomes straight.
Two doctors in the room press the alarm for cardiac arrest. And complete chaos erupts around Ash.