Chapter 7
The car flew out of the alleyway, tires squealing as they rounded a corner. It didn't take long before they hit the highway, Sal careful to stay within the speed limit. He desperately wanted to get them out of the New Cape Quest downtown area as quickly as possible, but they didn't need the cops on their ass for speeding.
"What now? You got a plan?"
Sal looked at Ed through the rearview mirror, his partner had a strong arm around the girls' body and his large hand clamped across her mouth. He could see that Ed was struggling to keep her still despite their size difference.
He flipped the middle console open and grabbed a roll of duct tape out. "Bind her hands and feet, and tape her mouth shut." He tossed the roll to his partner.
As Ed removed his hands from Angie's mouth to bind her, she let out an ear-piercing scream.
"Shut her up, you idiot!"
"Fuck," Ed shook his hand. "The little bitch bit me."
"Just get her down on the floor so no one sees her."
Ed shoved a very angry Angie towards the ground, trying to avoid her kicking feet. "Please tell me you know where we're going? This was a stupid, stupid idea."
"Ya think?" Sal glanced at his partner. "I didn't plan this. Just seemed like a good idea at the time. We need some sort of collateral. Make sure Marco pays up."
"What about the boy in the trunk? He collateral too?" Ed scowled.
"That was just…unfortunate."
"You better hope he doesn't die on us. Seriously, we don't need murder and kidnapping on our rap sheets," Ed snarled. "Where are we supposed to go now? We sure as hell can't go home with these two."
Sal paused before he spoke. There weren't too many options right now, and he wanted to get off the road and out of sight as soon as possible. "Your brother still have that garage near the old port?"
"Bill's in the slammer. Been there for about 5 years for stripping hot cars. The garage should be empty. Locked tight and waitin' for him to get out."
"Good. We'll go there."
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The police had arrived quickly at the scene. The detective in charge, Donnegan, took little time in getting his team to view the video and tape off the scene of the abduction. With the shopping center security office so small, and the team already on the ground, Detective Donnegan moved his investigative operation back to police headquarters. Officer Stanley had been released after his statement was taken, but Tony, Dagwood and Marco were escorted into a conference room within the station. Rose and Pauly Moretti had been notified and were as anxious and upset as Tony expected. His aunt was in tears while Uncle Pauly tried desperately to calm her. He wasn't doing the best job. It was obvious to them all that Pauly was failing in his attempt to convince Rose, and himself, that Angie was going to be okay and that she'd be back before they knew it. Donnegan had sent them home to wait for any news from their daughter.
Tony paced around the room. He was having difficulty accepting that there was absolutely nothing that they could do at the moment. Marco had been questioned in detail about the two men that had taken Angie and Lucas, and how this whole situation had come to a head, and they'd all been interrogated about their role that day. Hours had passed since Angie and Lucas had disappeared. Tony knew that Bridger was on his way. Their conversation had been short and tense. Bridger was understandably worried and only demanded as much information as he needed in order to get on the road as quickly as possible. Tony knew they were going to have a much more detailed conversation – and most likely a dressing down – as soon as Bridger arrived.
Getting the image of Angie being grabbed, and Lucas' body carelessly tossed in the trunk of a car, out of his head was impossible. He kept replaying the scene over and over again. At least he knew that Angie was not hurt. At least for the meanwhile. Lucas on the other hand…. Tony didn't even want to think about how hurt his friend was.
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The car pulled up outside an old building. The sign hung on one side, it's lettering barely legible, and windows boarded up with planks. The old garage had seen better days and the long dusty road they'd driven up hadn't seen traffic in ages.
From the position she'd been forced into onto the back floor of the car, Angie hadn't been able to tell much of what they'd passed en route. She'd seen glimpses of taller buildings and heard more traffic noise earlier on the drive, but for the last 30 minutes or so, it had been rather quiet. She'd stopped fighting once her hands and feet had been bound and her mouth duct tapped closed. She'd also made the decision to stop crying like a baby and to try and calm down. Panicking was not going to help her out of this situation. Angie wasn't quite sure why she'd been kidnapped by these goons, but based on the conversation between the two men, she knew it to be something related to Marco and unpaid debts.
"Let's go," the driver, Sal, grunted.
Angie watched as the back passenger door swung open and her goaler stepped out. He turned and stared at her for a moment before pulling a switch blade from somewhere behind him. She pulled back in fright before she realized he was just going to use the knife to cut the binds from around her ankles. He left her wrists bound behind her back and her mouth taped closed.
"Come on, girlie." Ed grabbed Angie by the upper arm and half pulled her from the back of the vehicle.
She tried to keep her feet under her, but he practically dragged her from the back seat. She stared at him in disgust once he finally let her go. She really wanted to kick him in the shins as hard as she could, but decided that probably wouldn't get her anywhere. Instead, Angie turned back to the car and tried to motion to the trunk. She desperately wanted to make sure they didn't forget about Lucas and she was afraid. Angie swallowed hard. She really didn't want to see Lucas dead. She hoped that they would open the trunk and he'd turn out to be just fine. The vision of his unconscious body and bloody face from earlier that day had her doubting she'd see what she wanted.
"Take her inside. See if you can find someplace to lock her up. I'll get the other kid."
Angie was pushed towards the dilapidated building and held while Ed used his body weight to push the door open. It took a few attempts before the old lock gave way and the door burst open. Ed stepped through the door pulling Angie with him. The old linoleum tiles were covered in a thick layer of dust and grime and Angie could feel her eyes start to water from the irritation. She stared at the small space. It looked to be the former entrance to the autobody shop – the area where customers waited for their cars. A few plastic chairs were piled in a corner and the service counter was bare of anything other than dust.
"Come on," Ed tightened his grip on Angie's upper arm and pulled her towards the back of the shop. Behind the counter was another door, which lead to the autobody shop's office.
Angie yanked her arm free of the man's grip and glared at him.
"You better behave, girlie. Until your brother pays up, you and your friend will be our guests. Got it?"
Ed pulled his knife back out, and motioned for Angie to turn around. Her hands were finally released and she took the opportunity to rip the duct tape that covered her mouth.
"Pig!" She spat in his face and was immediately rewarded with a backhand across the face. Angie stumbled back, touching her check and tasted blood in her mouth. The asshole had split her lip.
"You little bitch. Do that again and I'll keep you tied up in the corner until we decide to let you go."
"Help me out here," Sal shuffled into the back room with Lucas hung over his shoulder.
Ed gave Angie a push towards the furthest wall and maneuvered to help his partner. The two of them lowered Lucas' unmoving form to the ground.
"Lucas!" Angie hurried towards him as soon as the men shut the door behind them.
Despite being enclosed in this dark space, there was enough natural light streaming through the grubby window that Angie could get a good look at her cousin's friend. His face was covered in blood, the source of which was a large gash on his forehead, still weeping sluggishly. At least it wasn't bleeding freely anymore. The time in which they'd traveled to this secluded location was enough to allow for some clotting. She put her head to his chest and almost cried in relief when she felt it moving. He was still unconscious, but at least he was alive. Angie wasn't sure what she should or should not do. She had never taken a first aid or CPR class and was now regretting it. Starting at his head, she looked for any obvious wounds to the rest of his body. He'd been hit by the car hard enough to knock him off his feet and toss him up towards the windshield. That was a sight she never wanted to relieve again.
Besides the cut on his head, his face looked to be bruised and his left arm looked a little swollen. Angie tentatively lifted Lucas' t-shirt to check his torso. She could already see a large purple shape covering his ribs, but no blood. His jeans were ripped but she couldn't tell if anything else was broken. Angie sat back on her heels and pulled her pink shirt over her head. She still had her tank top underneath which was more than enough to keep her warm in the stuffy room. She lifted Lucas' head gently, placing the shirt beneath as a makeshift pillow. She also untied his flannel shirt from around this waist and pulled it free. If necessary, she could use it for bandages or to keep him warm later.
Angie quickly scanned their surroundings. There wasn't much to see. The room consisted of an old metal filing cabinet, desk and office chair. Nothing else. She expected the door to be locked from the outside and wasn't surprised when it the handle didn't even turn. She slammed her body weight against it a few times only to discover that it wouldn't budge an inch. Angie strode to the window next. It was just high enough to be out of reach. She pulled the chair towards the window and stepped up. Just like the door, the window was locked shut. She could not get the lock to move no matter how hard she tried. It was almost as though the window had been painted closed. Angie sighed in frustration. Even if she broke the glass, they still wouldn't be able to fit through the small spaces in between the burglar bars. It was pointless.
She moved back to Lucas, sitting close enough to watch to see if he woke up, and to keep an eye on the door.
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"Mr. Piccolo."
Tony gave a start as the door to the room burst open. He immediately stood at attention when he realized it was Captain Bridger. Entering behind him was Dr. Wendy Smith, followed by the detective assigned to their case.
"Sir, Doctor," Tony responded, noticing out of the corner of his eye, that Dagwood was standing to attention as well. "I'm so sorry. We didn't want to ruin your leave, but I thought you'd wanna know."
"At ease, Mr. Piccolo." Bridger pulled a chair up to the table and motioned for the others to take a seat.
Marco, being the only person in the room not acquainted with the crew of seaQuest, looked hesitant. With a quick look to Tony, he finally pulled up a seat near his cousin.
"Captain, this is my cousin Marco Moretti. Marco, this is captain Bridger and Dr. Wendy Smith."
"I wish I could say I was pleased to meet you, Mr. Moretti, but the circumstances are far from ideal." Captain Bridger turned his attention back to his seaman. "Detective Donnegan has given us an overview of what happened. I was hoping the three of you could fill in some details. The more information we have, the better our odds of finding Lucas and Angie."
Tony glanced at Dr. Smith, who gave him a reassuring smile in response. This was the part where they had to tell Captain Bridger that Lucas had concocted the plan to get Marco out of hot water, and all three of them were responsible for the actions that followed. Tony knew Bridger well enough to read the situation. He was wearing his captain's face; the one that kept everyone else calm under pressure, even though the man was very much concerned for the well-being of Lucas and Angie.
"Yeah. Ok," Tony sighed.
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His head throbbed and ears buzzed. He tried desperately to focus on his surroundings, but was rewarded with an overwhelming sense of fatigue. His eyes were too heavy to open and his body was refusing to listen to any commands to move. Instead, he was barely able to mutter a garbled moan. His moan turned to a whimper as he felt something pressed to his lips. Lucas thought someone was speaking, but he couldn't make out any words and it hurt to try. Instead, he focused on the cool liquid that dripped into his mouth. He couldn't do much other than swallow however small amount of water he was offered before he slipped back into the depth of unconsciousness.