ON MY OWN
Danny and Biff had only just begun to start their journey with their young captive
shoved down behind the front seats when the troublesome radiator finally gave up
the ghost and started to overheat the engine of the Cadillac.
"Damn, that's all we need" Danny said as he angrily thumped the dashboard, trying
to somehow will another few miles of life into the dying automobile.
"What are we going to do now" Biff asked. He still had his foot on Lucas's chest
and looked down at the helpless youth trying to come up with idea that would see
then through this mess and not in jail for kidnapping.
The sun was still very low in the sky for this time of the morning and the time was
only 6.00am in the morning.
Danny decided to pull off the main road towards a lonely diner just ahead of them.
They would be able to stop behind the buildings and still hide Lucas's presence while
they refilled the radiator from the diner's hose.
"I think I will make our little deed public now too" Danny explained to Biff "I'll
talk to the kid's family and tell them how much to get him back in one piece."
"You sure that they aren't going to be able to tell where we are from the phone call"
Biff said worriedly. There was all sorts of telecommunications tracking devices available
for tracing the origins of calls. If they weren't careful, they would inadvertently leave
a trail a mile wide for the authorities to follow them.
"Nah, even if they are able to work out where the call came from, by the time they get
here, we will be long gone." Danny replied.
Danny pulled the car off the road behind the diner and parked behind the building to keep
out of sight as much as possible.
"You fill the radiator and check the engine while I make the call" Danny said. He took
a quick glimpse at the bound figure still squished behind the seats and grinned.
"Now don't you go anyway kid", Danny said "I'm gonna go and ring your daddy now.
If they play ball and pay up, maybe you'll get to go home real soon." he closed the door
and left the teenager bound up behind the seat while Biff got out and started to look at
the engine.
While Lucas was laying on his back, tied up in the back of the Cadillac and his captors went about
their set tasks, a small man was nervously about to knock on the door of the service station
where Bob and Sandra Stevens lived. The SeaQuest crew were there as well.
The man wiped his sweaty palm and knocked very lightly on the screen door. He had almost
turned around and gone back to the motel were he had started out from. He was very
apprehensive about what he had to tell the people inside and he wasn't sure of how they would
react to his little bit of information.
Bob thought he had heard something. He even turned his head towards the door trying to listen
for the noise again. It didn't come but something told him that he had heard something at the
door. He got up and walked to the back door and opened it and peered outside looking for the
cause of the noise he thought he had heard.
"Can I help you" Bob asked the shadowy figure that was walking away from the door. The
figure turned back around and walked cautiously back towards the voice he heard at the door.
The man was wearing a cap and now removed it and held it in his hands as he addressed Bob
Stevens. Bob could tell that the man was nervous. So nervous in fact that he twisted the cap
in his hands as he spoke.
"My-my name is Jason, Jason Smith" the man began "I'm hear to talk to those people about
that missing lad that I saw on the television."
Bob gasped out allowed and motioned for the man to come in "You'd better come in then"
he replied.
Kristen and the others looked up from the casual conversation they had been having when
they saw a stranger walk into the room. Like Bob, they too could see the apprehensiveness
that the man displayed about being here. Bob walked behind him and now spoke for him.
"Says he wants to talk to you about Lucas" Bob said to Bridger. Bridger was immediately
on his feet beckoning for the man to come forward.
"Names Jasper Smith" the stranger said as he shook Bridger's outstretched hand. He looked
about the room and gulped nervously at the sight of all of the military uniforms. He was
about to back peddle again and his fears about their reaction to his information had begun to
resurface again.
"What information do you have to share with us Mr Smith" Kristen now asked in a soft but
firm voice. She didn't want to frighten the man away, but they needed to hear what he had
to say as well. Something told her and the others that the man had some information that might
be worth hearing. Maybe a clue to Lucas's whereabouts.
"You folk are looking for that blonde haired kid are you?" he now asked. Bridger nodded in
reply not speaking so as to avoid interrupting the man's train of thought.
"I've come to tell you that I have seen him" Smith answered. "I've seen him twice actually
in the last few days".
"You've seen him twice?" Kristen now answered with a question of her own.
"I work at a motel about twenty miles from here. The first night I seen him and spoke to
him. He rented a room for $35.00 and stayed the night. He left later the same night on foot.
Seemed a nice enough kid. Left the room clean and tidy when he left." Smith explained.
"When was the second time you saw him" Bridger now asked finding his voice. He wanted
to ask a million questions to this man who had apparently talked to Lucas, but he decided to
bid his time.
"Just yesterday actually" Smith answered "Although this time he wasn't alone."
This bit of information was both promising and worrying at the same time. The fact that
Lucas had been seen only yesterday meant that they might be closer to finding the teenager
than they first thought. On the other hand who were the two men he was with?
"Do you know who these two men were?" Bridger now asked Smith.
"No, the bigger one came in the day before yesterday and rented a room for two people."
Smith said "He told me that they would be staying maybe two days and paid in advance
for both nights. They left kind of late one night, about midnight. I thought that they must
be leaving. But after about an hour they came back to the room again. They thought I
couldn't see them, and I kinda stayed out of sight to see what they were doing. They were
acting might suspiciously if you asked me. That's when I saw the young man emerge
from the back seat of the car. He looked as if he was asleep because the two fellows had
a hold of one arm each to take him inside. I didn't hear him talk or anything like that."
"Did he look as though he might be hurt anywhere?" Kristen now asked putting her doctor's
hat on with concern about Lucas's lack of movement when being taken into the motel room.
"Not that I could see, but like I told you he wasn't moving very much. They literally carried
him inside. After they closed the door I didn't see him again. This morning they were all
gone. The room was empty as if nobody had been there at all." Smith recounted for all in the
room.
"I better be going now. I just wanted to let somebody know about what I saw. Wouldn't
want something bad happening to the boy. You won't mention my name at all will you? Lord
knows I can't afford to lose my job at the moment." Smith then left the building and went back
to his post at the motel reception desk.
"Thank you Mr Smith for your co-operation and you vigilance" Bridger said as he tried to put
all of the pieces of the jigsaw he had been given together about Lucas's disappearance.
"Captain, I talked to quite a few people at that motel" Ben now interjected. "I even showed
Lucas's photo around and asked if anybody had seen him. Everybody I talked to said that
they hadn't seen him. I don't like the sound of where this is heading."
"Neither do I Lieutenant" Bridger replied. Something in the pit of his stomach said something
wasn't right about this whole motel thing and the two strangers. The feeling was beginning to
grow with intensity when he thought of all of the possible scenarios that could be playing
themselves out at that very moment. Something told him that Lucas was in more trouble than
he could handle alone at the moment. They needed to find him now with a greater sense of
urgency.
The telephone rang in the background just to interrupt their thoughts for a moment. Sandra
Stevens got up to answer the call. She came back into the living room "Kristen, I think the
call is for you. Sounds like somebody from the television station."
"Thank you" Kristen said as she got up from the couch to answer the call. Bridger followed
behind her, wanting to know if anybody had any more information.
"Dr Westphalen" was the response at the other end of the line. "It's Rebecca Taylor from the
news station, I have somebody on line who says he has information about Lucas's whereabouts
at the moment. Do you want me to patch him through?" the girl asked.
"Yes please Rebecca" Kristen said trying to keep herself calm to here the information they all
desperately needed to hear. She relayed the beginning of the conversation to Bridger and he
too was now listening very intently for the voice on the other end line.
"Hello" Kristen said as she held the receiver in a position that they could both hear the mystery
caller. "Is anybody there?"
"I want to talk to Captain Nathan Bridger of the U.E.O." Danny said into the pay telephone.
He had a rag over the receiver to try and disguise his voice.
"I can talk to you if you like" Kristen suggested to the unknown caller.
"I said I want to talk to Captain Nathan Bridger lady" Danny now said gruffly "Do you want
to know about this brat or not?"
Bridger now took the telephone from Kristen and spoke into it himself "Listen here Mr
Whoever you Are, if you have information about Lucas then we are most grateful and are
willing to listen to anything to have to say but don't be harsh about it." Bridger said trying
to keep his temper in check.
"Oh, your going to listen to me CAPTAIN. I guarantee it. You see, I know where the boy
is. And if you want to see him again in one piece, he's going to cost you a pretty sum."
Bridger forgot all about the protocol things he had just said and now turned bright red
with anger at this person on the other end of the phone threatening him with Lucas's life.
"Where is he you animal" Bridger snarled at the kidnapper. "If you harm one hair on his
head, by God I promise you a very painful episode"
Kristen hadn't been able to capture all of the conversation between the two men, but the
look of blood boiling anger on Bridger's face and the yelling indicated that something bad
had already happened to Lucas. The others had heard the shouting and also started to gather
in closer proximity to the phone to hear the rest of the conversation. From what they had
heard, somebody was threatening Bridger. Bridger was shouting back threatening to hurt
whoever was holding Lucas hostage.
"If he get's hurt Captain, it will be your fault." came the abrupt reply. "I'll be in contact
with you shortly. I'll tell you where you can transfer the one million dollars it will cost you
to get the boy back again in one piece. Be waiting when I call again" and the phone call
went dead. Bridger held the hand piece in his hands for a few minutes more trying to digest
everything he had just heard. Somebody had kidnapped Lucas and was apparently holding
him for ransom. They had asked for one million dollars for his return or he would be harmed.
Kristen came to her senses and now took the phone out of Bridger's hand and started to dial
the number to the television station. Everybody else in the room just stood stunned at the
prospect that Lucas had been kidnapped.
Bob and Sandra were holding onto each other. Sandra was softly crying that news of Lucas's
abduction and blaming herself and Bob for not being able to keep the teenager at the service
station a few more days. If they had been able to, maybe this all wouldn't have happened and
the missing boy would still be safe.
"Rebecca" Kristen said as the same girl answered her call "Are you able to tell me where that
call came from" hoping that they might be able to trace the call.
"I'll get the technicians right on it Dr Westphalen" the girl said as Kristen told her that they
needed to trace the call urgently.
The minutes that passed while they waited on the line felt more like hours, then finally
Rebecca came back with some news "They can't get an exact fix on the position Doctor,
but they say that they think the signal is coming not far from where you are. The information
is a little sketchy because the call was made from a pay phone and there are so many out
there in isolated areas that it could have come from any one of them."
Kristen relayed the findings about the telephone call and that it could be coming from
someplace nearby.
"I can get them to do some finer tuning and try to get a better location for you if you like"
Rebecca suggested, "But it might take quite a while longer. If you give me the number where
I can contact you, I will ring you back."
"Yes, that would be good Rebecca" Kristen answered "Please also let us know the minute
you get another call from these men again. We think that is how they will make contact
with us again, so that they can remain as anonymous as possible."
Ben Krieg and Miguel Ortiz wanted to leave right then and there and start combing the
highway for Lucas and his kidnappers. Bridger secretly wanted to do the same thing, but
he needed to wait by the phone for the kidnappers to ring back again and give him further
instructions about what he was to do.
"If we don't hear anything in two hours Lieutenant, believe me I will be right in that vehicle
with you, but until then, we have to believe that Lucas will be alright as long as the kidnappers
think they will get their ransom money." Bridger said. "Right now we have to think about
Lucas and concentrate on finding him and getting him away from his abductors."
Ben and Miguel didn't like it and they showed their displeasure by flopping down loudly on
two of the chairs in the living room. Somehow they knew that Bridger was right but the waiting
around didn't put their minds at ease or make it any easier to bear the thought of Lucas being
held for ransom.
Bridger found the air in the room stifling and he had to escape to outside before it became too
overwhelming. The people inside were counting on him to keep a cool head and keep it together.
Bob wandered outside after Bridger and found the man pacing the driving way of the service
station with worry etched all over his face about the boy he loved so much.
"You care greatly for him don't you?" Bob asked in an almost whisper.
"More than I could possibly say in words" Bridger admitted. "I've already lost one family,
I don't know how I would cope at the thought of losing another one."
"How come Lucas thinks that he has no family to go to then?" Bob asked. He was really
perplexed about it. Lucas had told himself and Sandra that there was nobody important
in his life, but looking at all of these people that were now in his living room, he could see
that all of them had deep affection for the missing teenager. How could Lucas have gotten
it so wrong.?
"That's what makes it even harder" Bridger said. He found himself pouring out all about
how Lucas came to be on SeaQuest. He told Bob about the abuse he had suffered at the
hands of his father Lawrence Wolenczak. He told them about the conversation Lucas had
overheard. This is where they found themselves now after that.
Bob had sat literally stunned about such an up and down life the boy had lived. He too
seethed with anger at the descriptions that Bridger had given him about the abuse Lucas
had endured at the hands of his father. The sad thing about that was that there were probably
a lot of incidents that were still unknown to Bridger and his crew. They had heard a lot of
them, too many, but somehow they all knew that deep down, where Lucas refused to let anybody
get close, there were more horrifying stories about his childhood before SeaQuest.
The friendship and family that Lucas had found aboard the SeaQuest seemed to be just what the
boy yearned to find. He had found a family and family had found him. It was a winning
combination. Bob and Sandra knew how it had felt too. Bob told Bridger about how the
teenager's gentleness and loneliness had grown on them too. He told Bridger about how they
had lost their own son to their ignorance or selfishness. Lucas had come back into their lives
and even though it had been for a very short space of time, they had almost felt like worthwhile
parents again.
Back at the Diner, Lucas was still laying in the back seat of the car trying to put a plan together
of how to escape before Danny came back from making his telephone call. For an instant he
tried to imagine how Danny's telephone call would affect Bridger and Kristen. He tried to
think of the amount of money that his kidnappers where asking for his return and shook his head
knowing that there was no way in hell that his family or friends could raise that much money even
if they wanted to. The gag in his mouth was getting too tight around his face and he wished
he could loosen it just a little. With it this tight around his mouth, there was no chance to call
out for help from anybody who might be around.
There was a dull ache starting at the back of his head as a result of the residual effects of the
chloroform. His ribs were painful after having Biff's foot on his chest for the best part of an
hour and he was sure that there would some bruises to show for it. He cautiously lifted his
head up and tried to look out the windows of the Cadillac to get his bearings. He grunted
at the slight discomfort he felt from his chest. He could see the white painted brick walls
of a building in front of the car. He could see Biff, one of his captors bent over the side of
Cadillac trying to fix the boiling radiator.
Lucas looked at the rear doors and saw that both of them were locked. There was no
chance of escape that way. He had to come up with another idea and quickly before
Danny returned. He looked towards Biff again and started to formulate a plan in his
head that might just work.
Lucas put the most pitiful look he could muster on his face and started to tap his
sneaker on the window of the car to get Biff's attention.
Biff heard the tapping on the window and walked back towards the rear of the car.
He saw that the boy was tapping the window with his foot. The problem with the radiator
had made him crankier and crankier the longer he had to stand around and wait for Danny
to come back. He jerked open the door and was about to give the teenager a kick in the
guts and yell at him to keep quiet. The look he saw on the boy's face made him skip a
beat and start to wonder if there was something terribly wrong with the kid.
He jerked open the door but then tried to sit the kid up a little to get a good look at his
complexion. The boy looked awfully pale in the face to Biff.
"You alright kid?" Biff now asked. He was worried that the teenager would croak
before they had a chance to get their hands on the ransom money. After they had the
money he didn't really care what happened to the boy, but for now, they needed to
keep him alive just a little while longer.
Lucas had held his breath through the gag until his face had turned a sickly white colour,
just on the verge of blue from lack of oxygen. He was hoping he would appeal more to
the big man's compassionate side and the man would think that he was asphyxiating and
loosen the gag around his mouth. That was the first step to his plan anyway.
Danny had just walked back towards the car when he saw his partner Biff sitting in the
back seat and grabbing the kid by the shirt collar. He thought the kid must have gotten
a little cocky and pissed his friend off enough for him to get riled up.
He stood behind Biff and asked him "What's wrong Biff, can't even handle a kid huh?"
Biff turned angrily on his friend and shouted back "No I think the kid's about to croak.
He's awfully pale and don't look like he's breathing right."
Lucas had seen Danny reappear from his position and decided to lay it one a little thicker
now they were both here. He made some more moans and groans through the gag trying
to emphasis the fact that he couldn't breathe. Part of it was actually true, he just decided
to exaggerate that fact a little more. Then just for a little more emphasis, he made his eyes
roll back into his head and appear that he was losing consciousness from the lack of air.
"Quick, get the gag off him Biff" Danny said. He too was taken in by the boy's good
acting skills and was worried about the boy dying before they could collect the ransom
money for him.
Biff untied the gag from around Lucas's mouth and neck. Lucas kept up the role play
and made his head fall forward.
"Drag him out into the fresh air a little Biff" Danny now suggested. There was nobody
about at this time of the morning. They could afford the kid a few minutes in the open.
Lucas felt himself being pulled forward towards the edge of the seat at the door by the
big man. Neither kidnapper noticed the limp boy tensing his muscles at the last minute
and managing to get his foot in the right position for his next move.
Without warning and because they had thought the boy had fainted or something, Lucas
drove his foot, shoe and all as hard as he could into Biff's unprotected groin. It worked.
The big man went down in a screaming heap on the ground just outside the car as he
grabbed at his balls that were on fire from the pain. He had let go of the teenager as
he worried about his own body for a moment.
"Don't worry Biff, I'll get him" Danny now said as he moved forward. He had seen
his friend fall backwards from the kid's boot and saw tears of pain down the man's face
from his injury.
During the few seconds grace that he was allowed, Lucas had managed to get him ready
for the next assault on Danny. As the second kidnapper ducked his head into the back seat
of the kid ready to grab the kid by the scruff of the neck and subdue him before he could
escape, Lucas head butted the man as hard as he could in the forehead.
The trick worked, Oh God he had a headache now. Lucas had managed to clamber out
of the car while his two captors were rolling around on the ground with pain. The blow
from the head butt had cause a cut just below his hairline that was now bleeding and causing
his vision to be blurred.
He wasn't prepared to wait around any longer for his sight to get better. He just started to
run. He couldn't tell were he was going, the dark shapes he saw only allowed him to avoid
being conked by some big object in his path. If he stumbled now his two captors would be
back on him in a second and he didn't like the idea of the reception he would receive after
what he had done.
He ran down what looked like the side of the brick building and he could make out the
shape of a doorway. His head was pounding dreadfully and the blood from the gash on his
head was running down his face. He didn't know how much longer he could remain upright.
His steps were disorientated and began to falter after some short distance.
He ran towards the door and yanked on a silver line that looked like some sort of handle.
He yanked it and thankfully it came out towards him. He had almost fallen from the jerking
of the door but managed to keep his footing by the barest of margins and stumble through
the open doorway.
When he entered the room, the first thing that hit him was the bright lights. It was these
same lights that began to make his head spin. He could make out the image of somebody
standing a little bit further away from him with his still blurry vision.
He held out his hand and started to walk towards the shadowy figure he saw. With each
step he took, the dizziness became very bad. The world was going around and around.
"Help me please" he managed to whisper "Two men after me........ help me please"
He couldn't even make out dark shapes anymore, the spinning in his head became too
much and the pain was almost blinding.
He stretched out his hand and was surprised to feel it touching somebody else's.
"Captain" he said as all at once he lost his sense of balance and tumbled to the floor.
"Help me please Captain" he repeated in a barely audible voice "Help......" and then
the world stopped spinning and became totally dark. His head lolled forward as he
lost his battle to remain conscious.
The man didn't know who the boy was that had stumbled through the front door of
his diner. He had seen the young man enter. He appeared to be injured somehow.
Upon coming closer to the youth, the man could see the bleeding gash on the boy's
forehead. The boy had lost his balance and tumbled to the floor and lost consciousness
right in the man's arms. He didn't know who this Captain fellow was that the boy
had spoken about.
Before he could check the boy over any further, another two figures entered the diner's
front door. They seemed to see the boy laying on the floor and then back peddled in a
hurry and rush back out the door.
The man then heard the sound of a car engine outside and the car driving away at high
speed. He was about to ask them if they knew the injured young man on the floor,
but they had left too much in a hurry before he had a chance to ask them anything.
He looked back down at the unconscious boy on the floor and now lightly patted the
boy's face to try and rouse him. There was no response. The boy's eyes didn't even
flutter at his touch.
"Amy, better get out here" the man yelled back towards the kitchen of the diner. "We've
got an injured young man out here."
MORE TO COME...........
"
