"Rick, we found Oscar's watch in his jeep….I'm sorry but your Mom and Oscar were nowhere in sight."
"Was there a note or something?" Rick asked, then paled when he replied, "Yes, but all it said was not to call the police, and that "we'll be in touch." The older man took a breath, then continued.
"You must understand, we believed that Oscar was in danger; we thought if we got him out of sight for 24 hours, we could foil his kidnapping and stop him from being sold …or worse, to the highest bidder."
"What do you mean, we? And why was our mother put in danger?" A.J. shouted, all pretense of respect for the man's office gone.
Now it was Rick who placed a restraining hand on his brother. "A.J., let him speak, then we'll demand his head."
Seeing that the Simons were serious, the Secretary looked them in the eye.
"The OSI had received word that Oscar Goldman was to be taken hostage and would be sold to the highest bidder unless we made a deal to free Craig Gregson. We…the cabinet and I, thought we would head whoever planned this off, by putting Oscar in protective custody then seizing the people behind this. I told Oscar about this at the dinner last night, and he was furious. He refused to go with my men, so we thought we had no choice. When Oscar and your mother stopped at a coffee shop, one of my men was to intercept them and force him to drive to OSI headquarters. We …I …didn't know…."
Rick suddenly realized what happened. "It was Gregson…it was him all along. You set him free…trying to catch the "kidnappers", but it was him who sent word about the plot. And you fell for it?"
The Secretary nodded, the shame again on his face. "My agent had radioed us they were on their way, then we heard shots. When we got here…." He stood aside, and the body of a young man, sandy hair covered with blood fell out of the passenger door of the jeep.
"And …our mom?" A.J. said, his voice struggling not to crack.
"She's alive, at least as far as we know. Oscar tried to convince her to leave at the coffee shop, but my agent…I'm sorry to say, was too cautious…and wouldn't let her go. We found her purse, and Oscar's jacket on the ground….with this."
Ron had stepped forward at this, then let out a swear word as the Secretary opened his hand to show Oscar's watch, streaked with blood. The crystal was cracked, and it was obvious it had been trodden under foot.
"Damn it… all right, we know Gregson has them, now what are you going to do. And don't say you're going to protect yourselves by finding them then bombing Gregson and Oscar and Mom!" Rick burst out, his patience gone.
"No…no that's not what we're going to do." The older man had a horrified look on his face, realizing that the others had heard of the former "standard" policy. "We have a lead that Gregson has taken over one of our secured bunkers in the area. We're just trying to eliminate which ones he wouldn't be able to get into."
"Well, fine. When you do, let us know. We're going to conduct our own hunt, but if anything happens to Oscar or our Mom….you'll wish Gregson was after you and not us!"
Rick warned quietly, then nodding at Ron, strode away as A.J. took another look around the jeep, then scooped something off the ground and followed. The Phoenix police chief looked at the Secretary, then made eye contact with the serious-faced agents surrounding him.
"Next time the Federal Government has wind of a kidnapping plot, try notifying the authorities, instead of playing cops and robbers." He warned angrily. "You can play God with your own people, but not with the citizens of this area."
The Secretary's eyes blazed with anger, then faded with embarrassment as Ron turned and walked away.
Seething, Rick and A.J. were already in the car, then as soon as Ron climbed in and started the motor, the younger Simon spoke up.
"Some hurry they were in to find them, look what I picked up in the dirt."
Rick saw him open his hand, then he almost shouted at the clump of red dirt covering an old key.
"That's red dust on that ….like from the area around Window Rock…"
"No, Rick. More like from the wind tunnels over by Tempe….there was an old test center from the cold war there in the hills, then they moved all the equipment over to the University. They say it was because it was too unstable from all the work NASA tested there. I bet that's where that's from, I'm sure Oscar and Cecilia are there." Ron told them.
"Well, we need to check in with Rudy and the girls, then round up Robbie and Rob and head over there, now!" A.J. declared, only to subside when Rick reluctantly said, "It's a big place, A.J.; we need to get a map of the bunkers and the roads in there. If we go in blind, there's no telling how long it'll take us to find them."
"Well, leave that to me, boys." Ron said with a slight grin. "I have a contact at the campus, I can get a map in an hour. I'll drop you at home to grab some supplies, then get Abby to help monitor things and sit on Laurie and Linda."
"Thanks, Ron. You sure know my girl." Rick managed a smile back.
As they sped toward A.J.'s home, Rick called on his transmitter and got a hold of Rudy, filling him in on what they found.
"That bastard! I can't believe they fell for Gregson's ploy….how stupid can they be?" he ranted.
"I know, Rudy, I know. But we have to stay calm….Gregson's capable of anything….and he's fixated with revenge." Rick explained. "That's why I want you to be so careful and not let the girls out of your sight."
"I won't, son. Linda's fixing breakfast right now, and Laurie…oh, okay…" there was a pause, then Rudy continued. "She just took a phone call on the other line…maybe it was the Secretary with some news."
"I'll bet….he probably wanted to see what we found, considering…" Rick spat, then a cold chill ran through him.
"Rudy….no one other then the kids and Steve and Jaime and Ron and Abby know we're at the condo…did she say who it was?"
"No….wait a minute.." the old doctor put the phone down and they could here Linda talking, then Rudy called Laurie's name. Frantically Rick called, "Rudy! What happened?"
An out-of-breath Rudy came back to the phone. "Rick, Laurie's not here..she left a note saying "Gregson called….will kill Mom and Dad unless I come outside and start walking towards the corner…I have my transmitters on….please call Rick and have him track me so they can find me and Mom and Dad. I love you all. Laurie."
"No….oh God no…why did she do it?" Rick yelled angrily. At once his brother put a mollifying hand on his arm. "Rick…she obviously felt she had no choice. Gregson would kill them if he thought it would bring Laurie to him. Rudy, can you go outside with the portable and let us know if you see her?"
"I'm going outside now….Wait!" he suddenly shouted, then Rudy's panting voice was heard. "I'm sorry, guys….just as I got halfway down the block, I saw her being stuffed into a car, then it screeched off. .Oh, no…."