Chapter XII: Just a Little Computer Research

"I have faith in you, Steph," Therese encouraged, rubbing Stephanie's upper arms vigorously, like she was trying to get her warm. In a way, she was. This was the next part of their contingency plan. The VP had indeed booked the room that the 'ransom' call had been made from. What the man said really couldn't be labeled a ransom call but they had nothing else to call it. The room told them nothing and there was no way they could get any prints to take back with them since the place probably contained a million. She didn't need CSI to tell her that. Now, Therese was about to do something she hoped wasn't illegal in Turkey.

"Thanks but I just don't want to get thrown in prison here. Do you think it'd be as bad as Afghanistan? Do you know what they do to women there?" Stephanie asked with a horrified look on her face.

"No, it won't be like Afghanistan, but it won't be you getting arrested, it'll be me."

"I don't want either one of us arrested. What happens if you do?"

"I'm not going to, so let's not even entertain the thought," Therese replied dismissively.

"But—"

"You'll figure something out if it happens. Now, let's get 'some fresh towels'," the blonde interrupted, making the quote marks in the air with her fingers.

The man behind the receptionist desk was thankfully not the concierge. That boded well for them. "There weren't any towels in our room. Could we get some more, please?" Stephanie asked, flashing the guy a smile. He was probably in his early twenties and quite possibly not of the strictly conservative generation. Either way, she tried to flatter him without being offensive. In way, she thought there was something in being able to offend like what the writers got away with on wrestling. Here, there was too much at stake.

The receptionist looked at the log opened on the desk and ran his finger down a lined sheet of paper. "You should have gotten towels," he questioningly stated in a thick accent.

The almost always glib Stephanie was quick with an answer. "You see, we accidentally dropped two of them in the toilet and the other two got wet in the process of getting those out. I didn't want to tell you because it was so embarrassing," the brunette explained, casting down her eyes and demurely looking away.

"I will get you some more," he replied, trying to hide his smile. The two women watched him stride across the lobby and down a hall.

As soon as he was out of their sight, Therese hurried around the desk, plopping in the chair in front of the computer. "Keep a close watch-out," the blonde murmured, clicking the mouse to end the screensaver.

"No, duh," Stephanie muttered to herself as she turned around and leaned on the high counter, listening to the clicks on the keyboard. When she thought the receptionist should have been back, she looked over her shoulder to see Therese slamming her finger down on the mouse. "Anything?"

"No," she said through gritted teeth. Everything was obviously in Turkish but she couldn't find any records for the previous occupants of their room. She had to open up almost every button to find a list of names and room numbers. When she had found Stephanie's name, she knew she had hit paydirt but that was as far as she had gotten. A few more buttons and there was nothing else she could find to check.

"He's coming back," Stephanie whispered as she hurried back from where she was peering down the hall a few steps away.

"Crap!" Therese muttered and Stephanie could hear her banging at the keyboard. "I can't get these programs to close that I accidentally opened up."

"What!"
"We'll just have to stall him again," Therese stated, scurrying around the desk.

"Alright, I've got an idea," the VP stated and met the man half way across the lobby. "I've been talking with my friend and we've realized we forgot our toothpaste and toothbrush. Do you keep complimentary toiletry kits?"

"Yes, we do."

"May we have two, please?"

An annoyed look quickly passed over his face. "Yes," he answered and handed her the fresh towels.

As soon as he was out of sight again, Therese was back at the computer, furiously clicking away. Stephanie knew things weren't going well when the blonde began making frustrated noises. "Let's just ask him if he knows who stayed in our room," her look-out said.

"I'm really sure they just volunteer that information," Therese sarcastically replied. "Well, I officially give up." This was said with a huge sigh. "However, I can't get these programs to close."

"He'll know we've been on it if we don't get them closed."

"Like I don't know that!"

"Oh my god! He's back!"

"What! That what so much quicker!" Therese exclaimed and began searching for the plug-end and then realized he would know just as well that they had been on it when he discovered it unplugged.

"He's in the lobby. Stay down!" Stephanie whispered and hurried over to intercept the receptionist. "Thank you so much," she cooed.

Therese was huddled under the desk, trying to find the 'off/on' button on the tower. Finally, she found the flip switch on the back and the computer screen went back, causing a slight noise. She winced, hoping the man hadn't noticed, but began formulating an excuse anyhow. I dropped my change…no change available…Do I have my keys…no…Oh, I dropped my contact! Don't wear'em but you can't find the damn little things when you do drop them, the agent thought in rapid succession.Still on all fours, she peeked around the desk to see Stephanie deftly maneuvering the receptionist around to where his back was almost to Therese. Adrenaline pounding through her system, she glanced to either side of the desk to determine her escape. To the right was a staircase that led to rooms that were nowhere near theirs. To the left was the business center. Now squatting on her haunches, she waddled a few steps on crouched legs and then dashed for the center.

Out of the corner of her eye, Stephanie caught the limber woman making her dash. With an inward sigh of relief, she thanked the man and began walking towards the business center to be met by Therese. "Got my e-mail done," Therese loudly and obviously announced. Now there shouldn't be any doubt. She took a towel and a kit from Stephanie with a broad smile and they turned to head up the stairs at the opposite end of the lobby.

"You're enjoying this a little too much," Stephanie stated on the stairs.

"Yeah, I know. It'd be great if it didn't involve our husbands."

Stephanie inserted their room key and turned it as she asked, "Do you think you might have found something with more time?"

"Not really. I'm not a computer geek but I kept getting nowhere with every click of the button. I freaking froze up the screen!" Therese shut the door behind her as if to add emphasis.

"But what if you find that one thing that you didn't tonight?"

"I think we could sit on our butts and these idiots that have Kevin and Shawn would make sure we know where they're at eventually. However, the sooner the better and I'd like to know who I'm dealing with before I get there."

"I've had that thought too. I'm terrified but knowing that they won't let us just walk away or miss the next cue keeps me from freaking out. Well," Stephanie sighed and settled on the bed, "now what?"

"Now I figure out a way to get the security tapes and see if I can recognize anybody," the blonde explained, opening the toiletry kit to see what was inside.

"There're security cameras!" Stephanie's voice rose in pitch. "They caught us on tape just now! I thought you said—"

"Wait, wait," Therese interrupted, waving a razor. "The only camera I've found so far is the one at the door. There aren't any in the lobby or the halls."

"Oh," she replied and flopped back on the bed. "I'm exhausted. I think I'll try and sleep."

"I'm too wired. I think I'll sit on the balcony. That view of the Bosphorus is amazing."

"Yeah, I know. I wish this was a vacation and we could enjoy the scenery."

"Well, there's nothing to do right now, so I am going to enjoy the scenery…even if it is only what I can see by the moon and those little red lights on the boats," Therese remarked, tossing the kit towards her suitcase. Stephanie chuckled lightly at her friend when the little bag landed about two feet away from her luggage.

"Stash the fork in the desk," Shawn stated, pulling out the empty drawers they had already checked several times before.

Shortly after Kevin had been unceremoniously dumped in the same place as Michaels, the taller man began yelling for food. Shawn tolerated it despite his aching head because he hoped it would garner them something to eat. When no one answered Kevin's booming demands, the man struggled up from his sitting position, his feet still unbound, and began banging on the door with his shoulder. It wasn't long before the door was shoved open, knocking Kevin off-balance. Without his arms to support him, he stumbled backwards and banged into the wall. He then slid back down the wall beside Shawn to rest.

It was Shawn's abductor. In one hand, he held a gun and, in the other, a bag from a fast-food restaurant. He flipped on the light and Shawn and Kevin grimaced. The man tossed the bag on the desk and abruptly turned to leave without a word. "Dude, how do you expect us to eat with our hands tied?"

The dark-haired man yelled at his partner, who appeared quickly. The other man had a gun as well but the first handed over his gun. He pulled a Swiss army knife from his pocket and motioned for Kevin to stand up. The wrestler did so and turned to have the zip-ties cut. Nash then pulled Shawn to his feet, whom he had to carefully spin as the blonde's ankles were still bound. The abductor slashed through the plastic ties at his wrists and then bent over to cut those around his bare feet. As he started to stand back up, Kevin grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back, the knife falling from his hand. He fought against the painful pricks spreading throughout his hands and arms from them regaining feelings after being bound so long. Shawn fumbled for the knife, his own arms seizing up by the same painful jabs scoring his own limbs. However, he immediately dropped the would-be weapon as Kevin simultaneously dropped the abductor's arm. The click of one of the guns being cocked was enough to remind them that were on the bad end of this deal and couldn't risk death to get out, not when they didn't know what exactly was going on.

"If you do anything like that again," Shawn's abductor ground out, rubbing his shoulder that Kevin had come close to dislocating, "you can forget food. You better hope your pretty wives find you before you starve to death." With that, he slammed the door shut behind him.

If the two men weren't so hungry, they might have been surprised that there was an old metal desk in the room and a cubicle in the corner they hadn't noticed before for the dim light coming in under and over the top of the door. Shawn reached for the brown paper bag, his fingers still less than nimble for the blood returning to his hands. "Well, so much for that idea," he muttered through hamburger. Kevin didn't even respond as he shoved fries into his mouth. "Food has never tasted so good," Shawn continued around the sip of coke and another mouthful of food.

"A bathroom would be better," Kevin replied through a mouthful of food, heading for the cubicle. "Praise God in all his mercies," the taller man practically shouted as he saw what exactly was inside. Not that he hadn't shared a bathroom before but Shawn immediately looked away when he noticed Kevin fumbling in his boxers. He was still amazed that they weren't freezing in this place in just their boxers and undershirts and barefoot from where they had crawled out of bed to inspect what they had hoped were things that go bump in the night.

Neither of the men sat down as they ate, grateful to be able to stand. Shawn watched Kevin start pacing the room but then realized he was checking it out. The place was not large but not small either. The desk sat on the right side of the room and metal shelves were opposite it. Only a filing cabinet was on the other side of the office. Kevin carefully set the hamburger down in its paper on top of the cabinet and opened each door, running his hand on the bottom and sides of the drawer. Shawn took the hint and began pulling up the drawers of the desk. In the six compartments, there wasn't anything. "Nothing here," he said.

Kevin shook his head, wiping off his hands before picking the sandwich back up. "Same here," he said, biting into the greasy meat.

Shawn ran his hands over the shelving while his friend tried to peer out the top of the door. A square glass panel was in the door but had been blocked with cardboard where they couldn't see out. "You wouldn't mind, would you?" Kevin asked, pointing to the bottom of the door.

The blonde nodded and dropped to all fours, literally sticking his nose out the space between the floor and the door. "Well, we're definitely in an old carpet mill but all I can see are some krill racks." Kevin sent him a confusing look. "It's where they put the spools of thread on…my friend in high school worked in a carpet mill," Shawn replied with a shrug and pulled himself off of the floor.

"Did you see those two?" Kevin asked, referring to their abductors.

Shawn's voice dropped a level. "One of them's sitting outside the door on one of those metal chairs."

"Folding chair?"

"No, it's like it's the seat of one of those desks like at Dinah's school—metal legs, plastic seat except regular size."

"Hmm…" Kevin simply replied and began to unwrap his second burger as did his best friend.

Now, however, they were fumbling around in the desk drawers, attempting to hide a metal fork inside. Ever since they first cased the joint, they had discussed all possible ways to get out without getting shot. The abductors had made it clear that they needed to sit tight because Therese and Stephanie were on the way. If they came out damaged in any way, their wives might not be so lucky as well. Nevertheless, they had no intention of putting their women in danger and planned on getting out and nipping the problem in the bud.

"Think they'll miss the fork?" Shawn asked. "That's why I'm not taking both of them."

"I hope not," Kevin replied, still focused on the drawer to figure out how to hide the utensil.

"We made a big stink about getting it." They were sick of being fed greasy hamburgers and weren't looking forward to having to work the fat off in the gym. Shawn, the manipulator he was, fanagled them into some real food, which turned out to be Chinese take-out. The plates had no utensils and, after a while, one of them returned with forks, muttering something about his girlfriend's silverware. From the tone of his voice, the man probably didn't care if the forks made it back to her kitchen drawer.

"And then what are we gonna do with it, kemosabe? Stab'em to death before they shoot us?" Kevin asked, a little perturbed at how things were going.

"Hey, don't take it out on me that we're stuck in here and you haven't come up with a way out yet."

"Me? You ain't come up with one either."

"At least I thought about keeping the fork—wait," Shawn ordered, putting a hand up to stop Kevin. "I've got an idea."

TBC…