Chapter Seven: The Message
"Let's sit over here on the swing; how did you figure it out?" Velma asked.
"Shaggy preparing BBQ, you and Daphne preparing food, Daphne has dozens of suitcases but there have been no preparations for paying the ransom; therefore no ransom is going to be paid…does Long John know?" she said softly.
"Yes…he should be here tomorrow afternoon. Hanna, when we found the first part of the treasure, we realized that something like this might happen. If you give in once, the word gets around that you are an easy target. We, as a group, decided that no amount of ransom would be paid for any one of us.
We made a mistake…we didn't know how important you were to Tommy, how you two felt about each other and so you weren't included…I'm sorry Hanna."
"It doesn't help!" crying, she ran into the house.
----------Xxxxxx
Food became secondary when the phone rang at six o'clock sharp. Daphne answered, switching to speaker so everyone could hear.
"Listen up!" the voice said "change of plans…"
"I want to talk to Tommy" Daphne interrupted.
"Shut up and listen…change of plans…you get this right the first time, there won't be a second."
"Daphne?" everyone jerked alert when they heard Tommy's voice.
"Are you okay?" Daphne asked. "How you doing, starfish?" Hanna added.
"That you 'Anna…you still dumb as a conch? I'm sorry love, they're listening and I don't have much time…Daphne, I've made a deal …six million…tomorrow I need you to get word to dad…I'm sorry but I went into the tunnels and pocketed some jewels and gems…I have them hidden in my room. Small metal box suspended between two studs in the wall of my closet. I'm sorry 'Anna, that was to be our nest egg, guess it will be scrambled eggs now…It shouldn't take more than three days …l love you guys, I'm fine and could use a box lunch, otherwise they've treated me okay."
"We'll call Wednesday to arrange transfer. No funny business and he's home for dinner."
Everyone started talking at once until Velma restored some semblance of order when she interrupted with "Agent Brand, how quickly can you get your men into position for a rescue?"
"I don't like civilians messing up a case…"
"You have no choice! How soon?"
"I have men standing by…half hour at most."
"I think we have more time than that…Hanna, you can be mad, hate us later right now I have a question for you: can you listen to the tape again…this time with your mind, not your heart?"
"I…yes! But why?"
"Tommy was sending a message; he knows there will be no ransom paid, he was sending a message to the one person he could, the one person who knows him better than anyone, the one who knows his heart…you! You are the key to that message!"
"I'll try but why do you think there is a message?"
"His first word was "Daphne", not "Aunt Daphne"…why does he say you're dumb as a conch?"
"It's an inside joke between us…it's like a lot of couples, they have pet names for each other. I call him starfish because that was the only thing I could think of that was dumber than a conch."
Velma turned to the agent on the phone "Let's hear that tape again starting when Tommy starts." Tommy's voice filled the quiet room again until he said "tomorrow".
"Stop. He's saying the best time would be tomorrow if we are to do anything, which makes sense…today is Sunday, skeleton crews only, we'd be spotted before we got three feet…continue agent."
They listened while Tommy mentioned going into the tunnels, bringing out jewelry and gems, hiding them in his room. "Hanna" Velma asked "Did Tommy ever go into the tunnels?"
"Not that I knew. He never said he was going to or that he had. I had thought he'd have told me if he was planning something like that…now, I'm not so sure."
"Hanna, I think he would have told you so everything about the tunnels and hiding the gems is a smokescreen."
"Velma…If he's sending a message, could the remark about his room be important…it is small and a closet is like a room inside another room. The lady I talked to said she saw a light in an abandoned apartment building. The light was on the bottom floor; could he be saying he's in a room inside a larger room…or building! He's in the room with the light!"
"I think you're right…it would be a smaller building than the ones around it."
They listened to the rest of the tape until the voice said they would call on Wednesday then hung up.
"Anything else, Hanna?" Velma urged.
"I don't think so…wait! Shaggy, what was the name of that diner we were going to look at next?"
""Lunch Box" I believe" was Shaggy's answer.
"He reversed it!" Hanna exclaimed "He mentions wanting a box lunch! He reversed lunch box to box lunch! His message is he's in a ground floor room in a small apartment building near the "Lunch Box" diner! Maybe he's not such a starfish after all."
"You've got it!" Velma hugged her. "Agent Brand, we have 'till first light to find that apartment building and get your men into place…I have a plan."
"What can I do?" Hanna asked, drying her eyes.
"Get some rest…you've been a big help already. It's going to be a long night and longer day tomorrow."
"Not on your life…You made one mistake in not telling me…I'm in this, like it or not!"
----------Xxxxxx
Hanna had been exhausted when they finally broke up after hours of planning the attempted rescue; she had nearly fallen asleep in the car going back to Shaggy and Velma's home. She'd merely stripped to her underclothes, gotten into bed and had fallen asleep almost immediately.
"It's time…dress quickly and warmly" Velma whispered, waking her. Hanna grabbed the jeans and t-shirt she had stripped out of mere hours ago, heading for a quick bathroom stop and wiping the sleep from her eyes. Slipping on a sweatshirt, she was still putting on her sneakers as she hobbled out the door just in front of Velma who locked the door behind them.
She was glad she had the sweatshirt; the days might be warm but the night had turned cool. She hugged Scooby a little closer. "We're coming Tommy! Just a little longer" she thought to herself. She had made an uneasy peace with the "No Ransom" policy; she didn't have to like it or even agree with it…for now.