Crash and Burn
Chapter 5 – Raising Cain
Once they were alone, Rose headed back behind his desk where he picked up several items, all sealed in evidence bags, which he handed one by one to Ryo, who sat down and studied them closely, his face ashen. "This arrived in the second post," Rose explained wearily as Ryo surveyed the unremarkable brown envelope, the typeface on the front already starting to look familiar. This time however, the envelope was addressed to Rose and not Ryo himself. "This was inside," Rose continued, passing Ryo the second evidence bag which contained a letter, typed onto a crisp white sheet of paper as the previous two had been.
Dear Commissioner, it began, Ryo's eyes racing across the printed words, anxious for any information on his missing lover. I'm guessing by now you're fully au fait with the situation. This is a serious kidnapping so here is the first of my demands. There will be more, but I trust you'll do everything to ensure that I'm kept happy, that is of course unless you want to want to be measuring up Detective Latener's coffin.
Ryo continued to read as the letter outlined the kidnapper's first demand which involved the charges being dropped against the Goldsmith suspect they had in custody. "He wants us to free him?" Ryo said out loud as if to clarify the facts in his own mind.
"It would appear so," Rose replied grimly, now seated behind his desk with his chin resting on his tented fingers. He went silent again as he allowed Ryo to finish reading the letter, knowing that for Ryo, the worst was yet to come.
Obviously I knew you'd want proof that Detective Latener is still alive so I've sent you a couple of little presents.
Ryo instantly lowered the note to look at Rose. "What presents?" he asked fearfully, before his eyes lit on the last two evidence bags laid out on Rose's desk. Obligingly, the commissioner pushed the first smaller bag across, allowing Ryo to see the contents. The other man's heart caught in his throat as he lifted the bag to study the small silver cross inside, its chain snapped and the clasp broken off completely. "Oh God," Ryo muttered, recalling how much Dee had loved the cross and vowed never to take it off when Ryo had given it to him on his birthday, before he realised there was one final piece of evidence left to look at. Seeing Ryo's expectant look, Rose slid the last bag across the large mahogany desk and waited nervously for the other man's reaction. Dropping the cross back onto the desk, Ryo took up the last bag, realising that the flimsy transparent plastic was harbouring a photograph, taking by one of those instamatic cameras he had bought Bicky a couple of years ago.
He had a good idea that the photo wouldn't be pleasant as he lifted it up towards the light, but the reality seemed much, much worse as he studied the image of Dee, obviously shackled with his hands behind his back and clearly in some pain as he stared off to one side. Despite the slight angling of his face away from the camera, Ryo could see the nasty head wound with its congealed blood around the broken skin just below his hairline; the injury no doubt responsible for the blood found at the crime scene. On Dee's cheek, Ryo could make out some smaller red marks, as if someone had pressed the skin very hard and held it that way for several seconds, deliberately to leave an imprint. Eventually managing to tear his gaze away from the image, Ryo closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath, trying to imagine how Dee must be feeling and mentally willing him to be strong. As he ended his silent prayer, he opened his eyes and looked straight at Rose, determined to know exactly what the commissioner was going to do about it. "Are we going to comply with his demands?" he asked finally.
Rose shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, his eyes dropping down to the items on his desk. "I don't know whether we can…"
"What?!" Ryo cried his dark eyes wide with disbelief, "You read what the letter said! He'll kill Dee if we don't comply!"
"Ryo," Rose said soothingly, "You've dealt with kidnappers before; it isn't always that simple..."
"Don't patronise me!" Ryo shouted, standing from his chair so quickly it was as if he'd received an electric shock. "What about our 'law enforcement family' you were talking about before or was that all just bullshit to make you look good?"
The outburst was so out of character for Ryo that Rose just sat there stunned. Dee, he expected this kind of reaction from but not calm and predictable Ryo. In the end, knowing that Ryo wouldn't be placated by anything less, he nodded and said to the seething man across from him, "I'll see what I can do."
As Ryo left Rose's office he was overwhelmed by the urge to get out and with little thought beyond informing a bewildered looking Ted that he was going off duty, he did just that, grabbing his coat and case and hurrying down to his car. Climbing into the vehicle and closing the door with a bang, Ryo suddenly stopped, his mind replaying the exchange with Rose and realising exactly what he'd just done. "God, I'm turning into Dee," he muttered to himself as he raked a hand through his dishevelled locks thinking that Dee would probably laugh if he knew Ryo had both shouted and sworn at his superior. Shaking his head in disbelief at his own show of temper, Ryo started the engine and pulled out of his parking space, then had to brake sharply as another car pulled into the lot at speed.
"Moron," Ryo commented as he accelerated, frowning as the large silver car looked vaguely familiar as it passed.
Bound and blindfolded Dee had lost all concept of time. He knew he'd lapsed into unconsciousness once again after his captor had struck him but with no idea how long for, he couldn't even begin to guess whether it was day or night, let alone something as specific as the time. Under the blindfold his face felt swollen where he'd been hit. The area where the skin had been broken was tingling slightly and Dee could only pray that the wound wasn't becoming infected. Fully awake, he listened for several long moments, trying to determine whether his attacker was in the room with him but the resulting silence told him he was alone, at least for now. As he had done the last time he had regained consciousness, Dee tested his bonds, finding that his hands were still chained up behind the pillar he was leaning against. As he shifted slightly, his back seemed to protest at the uncomfortable position he was forced to endure before the dull ache was soon drowned out by the cramping sensation in his leg. The doctor at the hospital had warned him to not let the damaged limb go stiff but there was little he could do whilst he was restrained in such a way, and then, as the proverbial icing on the cake, his stomach began to growl loudly having not been filled for at least twenty four hours or so Dee estimated.
"Goddamnit," Dee muttered, almost wishing he was still unconscious so as not to endure the complaints from the various parts of his body. "This is really shit…"
He stopped suddenly as his ears picked up the sound of a door being opened. Listening intently, he heard the door open and then close, quickly followed by the sound of approaching footsteps, which stopped as Dee turned his head towards the noise. "Ah, you're awake Detective Dee Latener," the voice said, slightly mocking in its tone. "Did you sleep well?"
"Just dandy," Dee replied, his own tones laced with sarcasm. "Not that I'm not enjoying my stay in your luxurious facilities but how long exactly do you plan to keep me here?"
There was a scraping sound, which sounded like a chair being pulled across the floor towards him. "That all depends," was the answer.
"On what?"
"On whether your commissioner plays ball and gives me what I want."
Dee nodded slowly in comprehension. "Well I hate to break this to you but I'm not exactly the commissioner's favourite person, period."
"But he has to do something," the voice replied and Dee flinched as fingers touched his hair, checking the knot at the back of the blindfold, "I mean, your partner's never going to fall in love with him if he doesn't at least try to get you back."
Dee snorted, but inside there was a surge of fear as he realised his captor knew more about him and Ryo than he had first presumed. "That is the biggest pile of crap…"
"I've seen the way he looks at him," the voice interjected. "Like a hungry wolf, just waiting for his moment."
"You're crazy," Dee snapped; angered by the thought of Rose going anywhere near Ryo, especially if he was feeling vulnerable after what had happened.
"What are you scared of Dee Latener?" the voice mocked. "That Rose can offer him more than you?"
"What would you know?" Dee replied gruffly, before his stomach embarked on a loud and prolonged growl of protest.
"I know plenty," came the answer as Dee heard the sound of bags rustling. "And you my friend know very little. Now I've brought you some food, which judging by that noise, you'd probably quite like, am I right?"
"What is it?" Dee asked suspiciously, wanting to remain defiant but knowing food swallowed much easier than pride.
"A sandwich," his captor replied shortly. "Don't worry, it's not funky. I wouldn't be much of a kidnapper if I poisoned my own hostage would I? Now d'you want it or not?"
Dee nodded; his humiliation increasing tenfold as his captor began to hand feed him the provisions. When the sandwich was gone, Dee felt a bottle being pushed to his lips, which the voice informed him was water, and he drank from it greedily, his throat parched from lack of fluids. Once his hunger and thirst had been satisfied, an uncomfortable silence descended, made worse for Dee because he couldn't see what his captor was doing. Recalling his training, he knew his kidnapper was less likely to harm him if they connected on a more personal level and so he wracked his brains to think what he could talk to him about without getting the other man too agitated. "Look," he said eventually, keeping his tone even. "Is there any chance I could stand up for a bit? I broke my leg a few months ago and I'm not supposed to let it seize up. Plus I could really do with taking a whiz." There was another pause as the kidnapper seemed to mull this over as Dee waited with baited breath. He very much doubted there would be opportunity to escape but he knew that if he obeyed the kidnapper's every word then they could start to build up a bond of trust that might benefit him in the future.
"Okay," the voice said finally. "But if you try anything then I'll blow your brains out."
Dee sat perfectly still his captor came up close, the movement punctuated by the sound of chains being rattled. Something encircled his leg and Dee realised that a chain had been fastened around his ankle, no doubt attached to something large and immoveable as the kidnapper needed to remove the handcuffs in order for him to urinate. "Right, you can stand up," the voice announced, "but keep the blindfold on." Doing as he was told, Dee first flexed his arms, sore at being pinned behind him for so long, before he planted them on either side of his body in preparation to push himself up but just as he had suspected, his body had seized up and the movement was near impossible on his own. As he braced himself against the pillar for a second attempt, a strong pair of arms encircled his upper body and hauled him upright in one movement.
"Thanks," Dee said grudgingly, embarrassed by his own physical weakness as he stood on shaky legs. He listened as something metallic was placed in front of him on the cold concrete floor. "Here," his captor said, standing back slightly from whatever he had put in front of Dee. "There's a bucket directly in front of you. You can pee into that."
"I guess I'd better hope my aim's good," Dee replied flatly, using a small stab at humour to detract from his embarrassment at what he was about to do in front of a stranger. When he'd finished, he concentrated on flexing his stiffened leg muscles, wincing as his right leg began to throb beneath the brace. Ignoring the pain, he moved it back and forth as the physiotherapist had taught him for a couple of minutes until his captor said, "Okay that's enough. Sit back down where you were before." Dee followed the instructions, hoping his obedience would result in the kidnapper cutting him some slack but his hope faded to disappointment as the man re-secured his arms behind him like before.
"So you and your brother did the kidnapping for money right?" Dee asked, turning his head slightly as he tried to gauge exactly where the other man was after he'd finished handcuffing him. "We've all needed money at one time or another but kidnapping's a bit extreme isn't it?"
The response was a snort of derision. "If only it was as simple as money."
"If it's not about money, then what?" Dee replied, confused. "Have the De Lucas got something on you?"
"The De Lucas?" the man said suddenly, "You think they told us to do this? Shit, you are one dumb ass cop!"
Dee ignored the insult, hoping his captor wasn't going to stop now. "So tell me then? Who hired you to do the kidnapping?"
"Who hired us? Henry goddamned Goldsmith that's who!"
"What?" Dee spat, recalling the face of the anxious looking millionaire as he had begged for police protection. "That's crazy! Why the hell would he do that?"
"To make the De Lucas look bad. They knew about Goldsmith's offer for that company and were prepared to better it. Goldsmith had made a lot of crazy promises when he thought the deal was in the bag and when he found out the De Lucas were going to make an offer he couldn't beat he panicked. The kidnapping was his idea to force the De Lucas back into the shadows. If the general public perceived them as criminals then the sellers couldn't possibly deal with them for fear of damaging their own reputation."
Dee let out a deep breath, his mind processing this information and realising it wasn't as far-fetched as he'd first thought. No wonder Goldsmith had been so keen to go public, he thought. "How'd you know so much?" he asked finally, hoping the kidnapper would enlighten him further. He was surprised when the man sighed, as if situation wearied him.
"My younger brother worked as a rent boy when our parents kicked us out. He always knew he was gay and he figured he may as well get paid for sex since he enjoyed it so much. That's when he met Henry Goldsmith," he said, speaking the last words with deep hatred. "Even though Goldsmith was practically an old man, my brother fell in love with him. Goldsmith never went with anyone but him and promised to take care of him beyond just paying for sex. He even told him he'd leave his wife when their children got older. Naturally my brother fell for his bullshit but when he confronted him about all the things he'd promised, Goldsmith just laughed in his face and told him to get out. When he finally realised his sugar daddy had no intention of making good on his promises, he let me convince him to blackmail the lying bastard. As usual Goldsmith panicked and he said that if we agreed to help with this one last thing, he would ensure we'd never want for money ever again. I saw it as a job but I'm sure my brother hoped that Goldsmith would realise what he was about to lose and take him back."
Dee jumped as his captor threw something hard against the wall, which shattered somewhere off to his left. "That double crossing bastard!" he yelled murderously, "He deliberately went to the police so we'd get caught and then he wouldn't have to pay us. I guess an attempted kidnapping was as good as the real thing since he still managed to get so much publicity."
Dee didn't respond as his own anger rose within him. Goldsmith had used them to pull off a business deal he would otherwise have blown, giving no regard to the fact that either he or Ryo could have been killed if the would-be kidnappers had been armed. "So you think this is solving anything?" he said quietly, hoping that if he showed they both had reason to hate Goldsmith then they could develop a common bond that might help him out of this mess.
"Oh no," the other man replied, his anger showing no sign of subsiding, "I know what you're trying to do but it won't work! You deserved this shit! You fucking queers! If my brother hadn't been warped by the likes of you and that bastard Goldsmith then none of this would have happened!"
Dee bit his lip to prevent an angry response that would antagonise his captor further. He'd heard that opinion too many times and knew it was always spoken in anger and ignorance. "You don't choose to be gay," he said calmly. "No one would knowing how much shit it can cause. You just love who you love."
"You're a liar!" the other man shouted, "It's not natural!"
Hearing the agitated footsteps pacing back and forth Dee opted for silence but his captor was too consumed by anger to calm down now and in a display of petulance and sheer hatred for the kind of lifestyle Dee represented, he brought his foot down hard on the detective's right leg; that one action instantly undoing the months of good work with the physiotherapist and sending the other into paroxysms of white hot agony as he screamed until his throat gave in.
TBC…