Chapter 3
Running back upstairs, Rick found his brother speaking to Captain Ron on one line while gesturing for Rick to pick up the other. Shaking with anger and fear, he found himself talking to Ian Whitecloud. "Mr. Simon, I'm sorry, I tried to chase them, but they turned into a parking lot and I got hit by an old lady who didn't see me. By the time we got untangled, the van was gone." "Are you ok?" Rick managed, "Yeah, but my car had to be towed. The police gave me a lift to the station. Mr. Simon, one minute she was waving at me and then this blue van came out of nowhere and then she was gone." "Wait a minute, Ian, did you say blue van? Was it a blue mini-van?" Rick felt a sense of terror as the boy replied, "Yes, it was one of those family types, at first I thought Robin had walked away from the parking spot, then I heard her scream my name. Who could have done this?" Rick saw A.J. hang up the extension as he tried to answer Ian, "I have an idea, son, but you stay right there, my brother and I will be at the station in a minute."
Putting the receiver down, he looked at A.J., "Pull that file on Mrs. Reynolds again, A.J., she's our number one suspect right now. Didn't she drive a mini-van the last time she was here?"
His brother shrugged his shoulders while grabbing the file and his jacket in one motion. "I don't remember, but now that you mention it...." He leafed through the papers then looked at the list of community property. "Bingo!", he held up the paper, under cars/vehicles it listed a late-model blue mini-van.
Just then the phone rang again, and snatching it up, Rick found Steve Austin on the other line. "Laurie's been kidnapped, Rick, and they told her if she fought back they'd kill Robin!" The older Simon filled him in on his daughter's abduction, then Steve said, "Laurie says she loves you, Rick, when they bring her to Robin she'll try to find out where they are." He closed his eyes, near to tears, and tried to tell her he loved her too. His friend paused, then added, "she heard you, Rick, she says to hurry up and find them." "Steve, we will, A.J. and I are on our way to police headquarters, we'll keep in touch. I'll take our transmitter with us, set to 115.75. Tell Laurie to make sure her watch is set to send." Grabbing his own jacket, he found his wife's lipstick-stained hankerchief in his pocket, afraid to even look at it for fear of breaking down, he put it carefully away.
Once again rushing down the stairs, the brothers raced to Rick's truck and drove to PPD headquarters, finding their friend Captain Ron waiting at the curb. Hurriedly greeting the policeman, Rick handed him the property sheet and told him of the threat from their client's ex-wife. "I'll run an APB immediately on this, let's get the last known address from DMV.", the Captain replied. Turning to the older Simon, he paused and then said, "Rick, maybe you should go back to the office and wait by the phone just in case the kidnapper, whoever it is, calls. Immediately radio us if there's any contact, ok?" "No, Captain, I've got my transmitter watch on, I think I've got a better chance of finding them if I can follow the signal and any clues we may overhear." A.J. spoke up, "I'll wait at the office, Captain Ron, and I can pretend to be Rick if they call. Just keep in touch by phone." The policeman stared at both men, then reluctantly agreed, just as Rick heard voices over his transmitter.
"There's no one in sight, bring her in.", Laurie heard a high-pitched voice just as the van stopped moving. Immediately she felt herself being lifted up, then carried out of icy cold air into a warm, clean smelling building. Being walked through a seemingly endless hall, the person holding her stopped at the sound of a door being unlocked, then realized she was being lowered on to a soft surface. The arms released her, and she heard the noise of a muffled cry. "Robin?" she tried to respond, but only the same noise sounded in her ears. "Easy, Mrs. Simon, I'll remove the gag and blindfold only if you promise not to call out or scream," the same feminine voice she heard earlier said. She nodded, then the woman added, "I'll do the same for your daughter. If you don't give us any trouble, you'll be home in time for breakfast."
A pair of hands pulled her upright against a pillow, then untied the gag from her mouth. Warning her to close her eyes until told otherwise, she sensed the blindfold being removed. Gasping for air, she heard Robin make the same sound, then their captor's voice, softer now. "You may open your eyes, remember, no trouble."
Hearing a door closed and locked, Laurie opened her eyes, then blinked in the darkened room. "Mama?" she turned and saw her daughter, tied up on a bed across from her. "Robin, baby," she called softly, trying to slide over to her.
Managing to hop across the gap to the disheveled girl, she got next to her and Robin leaned against her, crying. "Shh, it's ok, baby, I'm here." she whispered. "Your father's on his way, he'll find us." Robin nodded, calming down. "Mom, I'm ok. I was afraid when they told me if I made any noise, they'd kill you."
"It's all right, you listen and let me know if you hear them coming, honey. Let me see if I can get my transmitter close to either of us." Laurie tried to raise up her wrists, then whispered, "Rick, can you hear me?" "Laurie, sweetheart, I can barely hear you," she heard faintly, so she tried to turn the volume up. "Rick?" "Ok, Darlin', it's all right, we're almost there." he replied. "We have a signal coming from a housing tract up in the hills, can you tell where you are?" "No, Rick, the room's dark, but we're in a new house, at least it smells like new paint. Let me see if I can peek through a window." Cautioning her daughter to listen for any noises, Laurie made her way to the window, then lifting the corner of the shade, saw a fenceless back yard facing a vacant hillside. Closing her eyes, she pictured the view to Steve, then heard Rick say, "Laurie, can you tell me if you see any cars or...."
"Mom, someone's coming!", Robin said. Laurie quickly hopped back to the bed she had been placed on, then pretended she had been trying to comfort her daughter. "Honey, it's ok." Looking at the doorknob turning, she expected to see the door open, but instead that strange high-pitched voice commanded them to close their eyes. Shutting her eyes, Laurie heard someone enter, and then the woman's voice told her she could open them again.
When she did, a woman with a wig and glasses stood in front of her. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Simon that I can't make you more comfortable. If your husband cooperates, you and your daughter will be just fine." "Please, why are you doing this, my husband's done nothing wrong.", Laurie sniffed. The woman shook her head, "He has something I want, and if he doesn't give it to me, he'll never see either of you again. Now, I'm going to call him, and I want both of you to assure him you're just fine. You'll tell him to give us what we want, then you say goodbye and I'll tell him the rest. Understand?"
Laurie nodded, then their captor produced a phone and hitting a button, called the Simon's office. She heard Steve tell her that A.J. was going to answer as Rick, so she was prepared. The woman spoke a few words to "Rick", then put the receiver next to her ear.
"Hello, Rick?", she said. "Laurie, honey, are you all right?", A.J. answered. Tears welled up in her eyes at his familiar voice as she replied, "I'm fine, Rick, just scared. Please, honey, give them whatever they want, you know I want to be home with the two of you." "I'll have you home as soon as I can, honey, is Robin all right?", A.J. asked. Before she could reply, the woman took the phone over to her daughter, and seeing the woman's back turned to her, Laurie mouthed, "Pretend it's your father!" Imperceptibly Robin nodded, then said, "Papa, it's me, Robin".
Laurie struggled not to cry as she saw her daughter well up listening to her uncle. After a minute of reassuring him they were unharmed, the woman took the phone away and ordered the files of all their divorce clients of the last year to be boxed up and readied to be left at a specific place. "We'll contact you in two hours with further instructions, have them ready or you'll never see your wife and daughter again."
Hanging up, the woman turned to them as Laurie asked, "Can I please go to the bathroom?" Nodding yes, the kidnapper untied her ankles, then untying the ropes on her wrists, retied them in front. Helping her up, the woman led her to a door next to the closet, then opened it to reveal a toilet and sink, Laurie thanked her, then went in, only to have the woman inform her the door was to remain open. When she was finished, the woman led her out, then allowed Robin to do the same thing. Once she was placed back on the bed, the captor retied her ankles and again told both women to close their eyes until told.
Once the door closed, Laurie raised her wrists to her mouth. "Darling, did you and A.J. understand what I said?" Rick's voice came in clearly, "Yes, sweetheart, we're two blocks away. As soon as Steve 's in position, we're coming to get you. Oscar and I'll try to come in the window while Steve and Captain Ron break in the front. Laurie, can you see if the window's unlocked?' "Yes, Rick." She responded, then leaning forward, managed to untie her ankles, then untied her daughter. After Robin untied her wrists, Laurie made it to the window, then lifting up the shade, tested the latch and found it open. Just then Robin called softly to her, "Mom, I think I hear them, they're talking about seeing the police, they're going to move us somewhere else!"
"Rick, Robin just overheard our kidnappers, they spotted the police and they're going to take us away. We're getting out of here through the window, can you cover us?" she whispered as she pushed the window open and then beckoned her daughter over.
"Yes, Laurie, but hurry, I want you out of there before we take them down," he answered. Grabbing a chair from against the wall, she shoved it under the knob, then returned to Robin and helped her climb out the window and drop down to the ground. Just as she did so, there was a pounding and yelling at the door, "Open it or I'll shoot!" Frantic, she turned and told Robin, "Run! I'll be right behind you!"
Abruptly the door burst open, and the woman came running in, only to be greeted by Laurie knocking a gun from her hand. Punching her captor in the face, she sent her reeling to the floor, then tried to make a break for the window.
"No you don't, lady," came the yell, then Laurie felt a hand grab her ankle and pitch her forward onto the carpet. Rolling over, she saw the woman standing over her, and kicked upwards, driving the kidnapper back. Screaming "Rick!", she was thrust down and landed on her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain. Suddenly the woman pulled one of the bedspreads down on top of her, muffling her screams, then told her, "You've just signed your death sentence, Mrs. Simon!"
Running back upstairs, Rick found his brother speaking to Captain Ron on one line while gesturing for Rick to pick up the other. Shaking with anger and fear, he found himself talking to Ian Whitecloud. "Mr. Simon, I'm sorry, I tried to chase them, but they turned into a parking lot and I got hit by an old lady who didn't see me. By the time we got untangled, the van was gone." "Are you ok?" Rick managed, "Yeah, but my car had to be towed. The police gave me a lift to the station. Mr. Simon, one minute she was waving at me and then this blue van came out of nowhere and then she was gone." "Wait a minute, Ian, did you say blue van? Was it a blue mini-van?" Rick felt a sense of terror as the boy replied, "Yes, it was one of those family types, at first I thought Robin had walked away from the parking spot, then I heard her scream my name. Who could have done this?" Rick saw A.J. hang up the extension as he tried to answer Ian, "I have an idea, son, but you stay right there, my brother and I will be at the station in a minute."
Putting the receiver down, he looked at A.J., "Pull that file on Mrs. Reynolds again, A.J., she's our number one suspect right now. Didn't she drive a mini-van the last time she was here?"
His brother shrugged his shoulders while grabbing the file and his jacket in one motion. "I don't remember, but now that you mention it...." He leafed through the papers then looked at the list of community property. "Bingo!", he held up the paper, under cars/vehicles it listed a late-model blue mini-van.
Just then the phone rang again, and snatching it up, Rick found Steve Austin on the other line. "Laurie's been kidnapped, Rick, and they told her if she fought back they'd kill Robin!" The older Simon filled him in on his daughter's abduction, then Steve said, "Laurie says she loves you, Rick, when they bring her to Robin she'll try to find out where they are." He closed his eyes, near to tears, and tried to tell her he loved her too. His friend paused, then added, "she heard you, Rick, she says to hurry up and find them." "Steve, we will, A.J. and I are on our way to police headquarters, we'll keep in touch. I'll take our transmitter with us, set to 115.75. Tell Laurie to make sure her watch is set to send." Grabbing his own jacket, he found his wife's lipstick-stained hankerchief in his pocket, afraid to even look at it for fear of breaking down, he put it carefully away.
Once again rushing down the stairs, the brothers raced to Rick's truck and drove to PPD headquarters, finding their friend Captain Ron waiting at the curb. Hurriedly greeting the policeman, Rick handed him the property sheet and told him of the threat from their client's ex-wife. "I'll run an APB immediately on this, let's get the last known address from DMV.", the Captain replied. Turning to the older Simon, he paused and then said, "Rick, maybe you should go back to the office and wait by the phone just in case the kidnapper, whoever it is, calls. Immediately radio us if there's any contact, ok?" "No, Captain, I've got my transmitter watch on, I think I've got a better chance of finding them if I can follow the signal and any clues we may overhear." A.J. spoke up, "I'll wait at the office, Captain Ron, and I can pretend to be Rick if they call. Just keep in touch by phone." The policeman stared at both men, then reluctantly agreed, just as Rick heard voices over his transmitter.
"There's no one in sight, bring her in.", Laurie heard a high-pitched voice just as the van stopped moving. Immediately she felt herself being lifted up, then carried out of icy cold air into a warm, clean smelling building. Being walked through a seemingly endless hall, the person holding her stopped at the sound of a door being unlocked, then realized she was being lowered on to a soft surface. The arms released her, and she heard the noise of a muffled cry. "Robin?" she tried to respond, but only the same noise sounded in her ears. "Easy, Mrs. Simon, I'll remove the gag and blindfold only if you promise not to call out or scream," the same feminine voice she heard earlier said. She nodded, then the woman added, "I'll do the same for your daughter. If you don't give us any trouble, you'll be home in time for breakfast."
A pair of hands pulled her upright against a pillow, then untied the gag from her mouth. Warning her to close her eyes until told otherwise, she sensed the blindfold being removed. Gasping for air, she heard Robin make the same sound, then their captor's voice, softer now. "You may open your eyes, remember, no trouble."
Hearing a door closed and locked, Laurie opened her eyes, then blinked in the darkened room. "Mama?" she turned and saw her daughter, tied up on a bed across from her. "Robin, baby," she called softly, trying to slide over to her.
Managing to hop across the gap to the disheveled girl, she got next to her and Robin leaned against her, crying. "Shh, it's ok, baby, I'm here." she whispered. "Your father's on his way, he'll find us." Robin nodded, calming down. "Mom, I'm ok. I was afraid when they told me if I made any noise, they'd kill you."
"It's all right, you listen and let me know if you hear them coming, honey. Let me see if I can get my transmitter close to either of us." Laurie tried to raise up her wrists, then whispered, "Rick, can you hear me?" "Laurie, sweetheart, I can barely hear you," she heard faintly, so she tried to turn the volume up. "Rick?" "Ok, Darlin', it's all right, we're almost there." he replied. "We have a signal coming from a housing tract up in the hills, can you tell where you are?" "No, Rick, the room's dark, but we're in a new house, at least it smells like new paint. Let me see if I can peek through a window." Cautioning her daughter to listen for any noises, Laurie made her way to the window, then lifting the corner of the shade, saw a fenceless back yard facing a vacant hillside. Closing her eyes, she pictured the view to Steve, then heard Rick say, "Laurie, can you tell me if you see any cars or...."
"Mom, someone's coming!", Robin said. Laurie quickly hopped back to the bed she had been placed on, then pretended she had been trying to comfort her daughter. "Honey, it's ok." Looking at the doorknob turning, she expected to see the door open, but instead that strange high-pitched voice commanded them to close their eyes. Shutting her eyes, Laurie heard someone enter, and then the woman's voice told her she could open them again.
When she did, a woman with a wig and glasses stood in front of her. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Simon that I can't make you more comfortable. If your husband cooperates, you and your daughter will be just fine." "Please, why are you doing this, my husband's done nothing wrong.", Laurie sniffed. The woman shook her head, "He has something I want, and if he doesn't give it to me, he'll never see either of you again. Now, I'm going to call him, and I want both of you to assure him you're just fine. You'll tell him to give us what we want, then you say goodbye and I'll tell him the rest. Understand?"
Laurie nodded, then their captor produced a phone and hitting a button, called the Simon's office. She heard Steve tell her that A.J. was going to answer as Rick, so she was prepared. The woman spoke a few words to "Rick", then put the receiver next to her ear.
"Hello, Rick?", she said. "Laurie, honey, are you all right?", A.J. answered. Tears welled up in her eyes at his familiar voice as she replied, "I'm fine, Rick, just scared. Please, honey, give them whatever they want, you know I want to be home with the two of you." "I'll have you home as soon as I can, honey, is Robin all right?", A.J. asked. Before she could reply, the woman took the phone over to her daughter, and seeing the woman's back turned to her, Laurie mouthed, "Pretend it's your father!" Imperceptibly Robin nodded, then said, "Papa, it's me, Robin".
Laurie struggled not to cry as she saw her daughter well up listening to her uncle. After a minute of reassuring him they were unharmed, the woman took the phone away and ordered the files of all their divorce clients of the last year to be boxed up and readied to be left at a specific place. "We'll contact you in two hours with further instructions, have them ready or you'll never see your wife and daughter again."
Hanging up, the woman turned to them as Laurie asked, "Can I please go to the bathroom?" Nodding yes, the kidnapper untied her ankles, then untying the ropes on her wrists, retied them in front. Helping her up, the woman led her to a door next to the closet, then opened it to reveal a toilet and sink, Laurie thanked her, then went in, only to have the woman inform her the door was to remain open. When she was finished, the woman led her out, then allowed Robin to do the same thing. Once she was placed back on the bed, the captor retied her ankles and again told both women to close their eyes until told.
Once the door closed, Laurie raised her wrists to her mouth. "Darling, did you and A.J. understand what I said?" Rick's voice came in clearly, "Yes, sweetheart, we're two blocks away. As soon as Steve 's in position, we're coming to get you. Oscar and I'll try to come in the window while Steve and Captain Ron break in the front. Laurie, can you see if the window's unlocked?' "Yes, Rick." She responded, then leaning forward, managed to untie her ankles, then untied her daughter. After Robin untied her wrists, Laurie made it to the window, then lifting up the shade, tested the latch and found it open. Just then Robin called softly to her, "Mom, I think I hear them, they're talking about seeing the police, they're going to move us somewhere else!"
"Rick, Robin just overheard our kidnappers, they spotted the police and they're going to take us away. We're getting out of here through the window, can you cover us?" she whispered as she pushed the window open and then beckoned her daughter over.
"Yes, Laurie, but hurry, I want you out of there before we take them down," he answered. Grabbing a chair from against the wall, she shoved it under the knob, then returned to Robin and helped her climb out the window and drop down to the ground. Just as she did so, there was a pounding and yelling at the door, "Open it or I'll shoot!" Frantic, she turned and told Robin, "Run! I'll be right behind you!"
Abruptly the door burst open, and the woman came running in, only to be greeted by Laurie knocking a gun from her hand. Punching her captor in the face, she sent her reeling to the floor, then tried to make a break for the window.
"No you don't, lady," came the yell, then Laurie felt a hand grab her ankle and pitch her forward onto the carpet. Rolling over, she saw the woman standing over her, and kicked upwards, driving the kidnapper back. Screaming "Rick!", she was thrust down and landed on her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain. Suddenly the woman pulled one of the bedspreads down on top of her, muffling her screams, then told her, "You've just signed your death sentence, Mrs. Simon!"