Danny called down to the spa to check on Jillian. "Montecito day spa, where all your troubles melt away. This Amanda how may I help you?" Danny waited for her to finish before saying "This Danny, do you know when Mrs. Deline left?"
There was a slight pause with a ruffling of pages as Amanda looked through the spa's day planner. "Well it looks like she was here, I know her masseuse that was scheduled with her has another client right now. So I'd have to guess that she's been gone from here for at least 45 minutes to an hour." Amanda replied. Danny got a sort of sick feeling in his stomach as he thanked her and hung up the phone.
"Hey Sam what's that sticking out of your back pocket?" Dave Reisneck asked as the craps dealers switched shifts so that there was a break in the action. "What'd doing looking at my butt?" Sam teased him back as she reached for her pocket. She opened up the white paper note and scribbled on it was the phrase "Care to go for a fifth?" at Sam's confused look Chris piped in "What does it say?" Sam looked up from the note and replied "I really haven't any idea. It says care to try for a fifth? And that doesn't make any sense to me." Dave shrugged his shoulder and turned his attention back to the craps table with the new dealer. Sam just shrugged it off and stuffed the piece of paper in her front pocket and tried to focus back on the game of craps her clients were glued to.
Lost in thought Danny jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. "Hello Montecito how may I help you." Danny asked into the phone. "There. That's how you should answer the phone." Came back Ed's reply. "I found out that those guys are apart of some military cell of right wing nut jobs wanting to throw out the constitution and live directly off the Bill of rights." Ed continued. "Most of them seem harmless but the leaders are the real problem. Most of them have some sort of military background with the rangers or seals." Ed finished up.
After waiting for Danny to say something Ed asked "Danny! You listening to me Kid." Danny jumped to life and answered "Ah, Ed I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to come out and say it." Danny paused before he said "Jillian missing. I called the spa and they said she left around an hour ago. I could call the police to see if there are any reported accidents or traffic backups, but I have a bad feeling about this." Danny waited for Ed's reaction. "I'm coming in." came the reply and then just a click of the phone as the line was disconnected.
Fuzzy darkness greeted Luis as he came to. There was just a little light coming from under a doorframe and that was it for the illumination in the room. He tried to move but found his hands and feet securely bound by ropes. Then the next thing he noticed was the fact that he was very cold. Probably because he was laying on his side on a cement floor with nothing but his boxers on.
Groaning slightly he shifted his weight and started to sit upright. As he was, he heard another person breathing close by him. Two bound hands reached out and grabbed his shoulder and proceeded to help him up. Luis looked to who had helped him and was surprised when he looked right into the eyes of Jillian Deline. "Jillian what's happening?" Luis asked "Shhhh. Believe me you don't want to let them know you're awake." Jillian replied "Why are you here? Where's my clothes? Who are these guys?" Luis asked in a rapid whisper.
Then just as he finished talking he noticed Jillian was down to her bra and panties too. Jillian smiled slightly at Luis's reaction to her lack of clothes. "Don't worry I'm sure Ed won't kill you for seeing me in my underwear." Whispered slyly to him. Under his breath Luis replied "You don't know your husband that well then." Despite their current situation Jillian chuckled at Luis's statement. Luis smiled back and her and said "Well at least I put you at ease. So have you been able to tell what these people want?"
Jillian replied "No I haven't, but I'm sure it won't be worth it once they find out who they've managed to piss off." Luis chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "However let's try to make it easier for Ed. I'm going to work at untying your knots. Give me your hands." Luis said and with that Jillian moved closer and Luis went to work.
Danny was reviewing the tapes of the spa when Big Ed arrived in the watchtower. "What have you gotten so far Danny?" Ed asked as stepped next to Danny. "Well here is where Jillian left the spa." Danny said as he cued up the tape to show Ed. "Then this is where it gets a little fuzzy." Danny continued with the next tape watching Jillian walk to the exit of the casino.
"Then the cameras lose sight of her because she's outside the casino, but I do know that she never made it to her car." Danny spoke as he grabbed another tape and inputted into the player. "I called the car park and got their tape for the same time stamp. Look! See right there, there's a women being forced into a black van but it's to far away to get a license number of the plate." Danny finished up. Ed just looked at the screen with the paused frame.
Slowly Danny saw Ed's eyes tear up and slowly go into a slight squint as sorrow fell away to anger. "These bastards, won't live to see tomorrow if there is one hair misplaced on Jillian's head." Ed spoke with a venom.
Mary walked briskly through the casino like a lady on a mission. Her mission was to confront Danny about what he knew about Luis's car crash. She had phoned the police after her conversion with Danny and had gotten no word back from the station. She was just letting her mind wander to the worst possible out come just sitting in bed, so she had to do something to keep her mind focused and striking out on her own to find the answers seemed like the thing to do.
Mary was so intent on her thoughts that she barely had time to side step a casino guest and stumbled into Sam and the Reisneck brother playing craps. "Whoa! There Mary. You just about steamed rolled me there." Sam said "Maybe it's just you Sam. That's the third time tonight somebody's bumped into you." Dave Reisneck teased. Sam smiled at him "Well it must mean I'm very attractive." Dave laughed and turned back around. "Oh! I'm Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind." Mary said "Well it is very late" Sam said a little sarcastically towards the brothers who were completely involved in their game. "Aren't you off anyways?" Sam inquired.
"Yeah, but I have to talk with Danny about something. Have you seen him lately?" Mary asked. A strange feeling came over Sam when Mary asked her question. "Umm. No I haven't seen him since our dinner." Why'd I have to add that last little bit Sam wondered to herself before she continued talking "I would have to guess since he's not making his rounds he'd be up in the watchtower. I'd check there. Oh! the Brothers want him to come down and say Hi to him again, so if you could just asked to swing by that would be great." Sam finished up.
"Thanks Sam. Sorry again about almost running you over. I'll make sure to tell him your message when I see him." Mary said as she started walking away. Sam just looked at her retreating form and that feeling just came rushing back again. Argh! She knew what she was feeling, she was jealous. But of what, Mary and Danny were oldest friends and maybe something more. It was that grey area that she didn't understand.
Then again she and Danny were just friend too, right?? Yet she could only admit to herself that she wish that it could be something more. More grey area that's what it really all boiled down to. Her or Mary, which did he consider more friend or something more. With her mind now more clouded than ever she turned back to her clients and let the late night continue.
Danny and Ed were discussing a plan of action when Mary walked in the watchtower. "Hi Mr. Deline. Danny can I speak with you about Luis for a second?" Mary asked. "Umm. Mary, Ed and I are kind of busy right now can it wait?" Danny replied back. "I was just wondering if you heard anything about Luis. Because I called the station and he never got there and he wasn't at the accident site. Then when I asked the EMT's what hospital he was brought to they said there was no one at the scene." Mary stated
"What's she talking about Danny?" Ed asked after hearing what Mary had said. "I got a call earlier tonight from Luis, but when I answered all I heard was a crash and then somebody said two down three to go. And then they were coming for me. I figured that Luis was calling me and got distracted and got in a accident. The little saying didn't mean much to me at the time. Then after I called Mary to inquire about Luis she told me that the two guys we caught earlier tonight escaped and I called you." Danny said.
"Well that's where we'll start. Maybe Jillian and Luis are connected some how. What time exactly did this call come in?" Ed asked Danny knew what Ed was thinking and called up the time on his cell phone to compare it to the time stamp of the tape of Jillian's abduction. "Yup, Jillian was taken first then Luis. The voice said three more then they'd come after me." Danny told Ed.
"Well, who are the other three?" Mary asked after listening to them. "Well so far they took Jillian and Luis that we know of what do those two have in common?" Danny thought out loud. "You." Ed stated. Danny gave Ed a quizzed look. "Luis was in charge of the prisoners. You are the one that caught them. And I am the one that questioned them. So following that line of thought who else had contact with the prisoners assuming that's what this is all about." Ed said.
Danny thought about it and stated "Well, the two rookie cops that they escaped from, the guards that brought them up to the holding room. I guess Sam since she was the one that one of them tripped over. I think that's it, but there's no way to know how many officer came into contact with the prisoners from when we handed them over to when they escaped." Danny finished up.
"I just thought of something! Dave Reisneck said somebody bumped into Sam three times tonight. I mean if one of those guys ran her over and then somebody else bumped into her and finally I just bumped into her that's three times. Maybe Sam is one of the three left." Mary talked quickly. Ed looked at Danny. "You go down to the floor and stick by Sam like glue. Mary I want you to stay here and help me call the police while I track down some other contacts that might be of help. Well, let's go!" Ed stated.