The Hidden Woman
Chapter 2
Four hours later Colby's phone rang with an unfamiliar number on it.
"Granger."
"Agent Granger, this is Ophelia Bennington." Her voice was panicked, she was obviously crying, and starting to hyperventilate.
"What's wrong? I need to you take really deep breaths so I can understand."
"I'm going to let my body guard tell you, I'm already hysterical." Without waiting for his approval, she passed the cell phone to Bobby, her body guard for at least four years. He had a tremendous amount of military training and he calmly and succinctly explained what had happened.
"We went to the school as usual to pick the kids up. They had already been taken by two men with FBI jackets on. They flashed badges and said they were retrieving the kids because Ophelia was at FBI headquarters. The school stupidly allowed them to go with them. For that, they will pay. If the children are hurt in any way, the payment will be commiserate."
Colby stopped him right then, "Bobby right? Don't tell me that part ok? I don't want to have to arrest you when this is all done. What can you tell me about the men?"
"The men seemed to have some sort of Russian sounding accent. No one here at the school would know the difference between Croatian, Russian, or Serbian. Whichever one it is, it is bad for the children. They will certainly make ransom demands so I need to get Ophelia back to the Penthouse. I assume you will want to get your stuff set up there."
"We'll meet you there. We'll come in plain clothes, work it out with security to get a key to that damn elevator. I'll send people to the school, and we'll get an amber alert out immediately. What were they wearing this morning?"
"Jenny was wearing blue and white plaid private school skirt and white shirt. Michael was wearing navy blue pants and white shirt. They both had on navy blue windbreakers with the school logo on it."
"Good. I'll get the amber alert out and be there in 20 minutes and mobilize our teams here. See you in a few minutes."
"Agent Granger? You should know she is extremely fragile emotionally. She won't live through this if anything happens to the kids. At the same time, she can be very strong, even ruthless for short periods of time. And she will do anything to get the kids back safely. The kidnappers have made a terrible mistaking fucking with her."
"Understood. Good bye."
An hour later the FBI technicians had taps on all Ophelia's phones. Rosa, out of fear and a need to do something had started cooking to be able to provide food for the number of people who were there. Ophelia's KSR person, Kevin Brown showed up almost at the same time as the SAC, Don Eppes. In addition her lawyer and CPA joined them in the case of managing the ransom demand. By the time everyone was there, Ophelia, while she had obviously been crying hysterically an hour before, was now in a numb, extremely clear headed and directive mode. She could maintain that operational mode for short bursts of time before she broke down. She started by setting everyone clear.
Her soft, deep voice broke through the noise and conversation that was going on around her.
"May I have your attention please? Thank you for coming to my aid in this very difficult time." Silence immediately descended on the room. "We have both the KSR representative, Kevin Butler, who I pay exorbitant amounts of money for his expertise since I, as are my children, are obvious targets for kidnapping. We also have the FBI. I expect both teams to work together to get my children back. I intend to pay whatever ransom demands they have." A number of people started to protest and she simply held her hand up for silence. "Believe me I understand the risks. As easily as I can transfer the money into an account, I can also transfer the money out once we have the children." Everyone looked at her in surprise. She smirked quietly, "I have a very, ummm, talented CPA."
"Now this is extremely difficult for me. This is a persona I am not able to maintain for long and there may come a time I may need to lean on you while I speak with these people." Ophelia looked specifically at Colby and touched Bobby's arm beside her. "Once I am done with however many phone calls there will be, I will have to have some time alone before I can take the next step. Please do not take my disappearing into another room, of which there are many, to be disinterest in what you are doing. It is my only way of preserving my sanity."
The unlisted, private home phone rang. Everyone got ready and she picked up the phone on the 3rd ring.
Her unintentional sultry voice went across the phone, affecting the men in the room as well as the man on the other end of the phone. "Hello."
"We have your children."
"Of course you do." That was an unexpected response to his statement and threw him slightly off his game. Kevin from KSR gave her a thumbs up for the unexpected. "I'd like to speak to them please."
"No, you cannot speak to them until we get our money."
"You will not get your money until I speak to both of my children. It appears we are at an impasse." Her voice had a level of danger in it that surprised everyone given how fragile she seemed. She would not be bullied or blackmailed, but she would maintain a polite, if frigid and dangerous tone.
"Impasse?" Apparently his vocabulary wasn't very good.
"Yes, impasse. It is the same word in Russian as it is in English. Apparently you are not college educated, or even high school, but most thugs aren't. It means a block to our progress. Our talks have reached an impasse. You will not let me speak to my children and I will not give you your money until I do. An impasse."
"You are a bitch."
"Да, я могу быть. И если вы не препятствуете мне поговорить к мне детей теперь, то, я приму они мертвы и эти переговоры законченн. Вы не увидите пеннио, и вы умрете для вашей тревоги. (Yes, I can be. And if you don't let me speak to my children now, I will assume they are dead and these negotiations are complete. You will not see a penny, and you will die for your trouble.)"
"Your boyfriend stole money from us. He is now in no condition to repay it so we come to you."
"My children. Now."
Fine. Then we get our money?"
"Then we continue negotiating. If I do not speak with my children, there will be no money ever."
There was some whispering on the line that could not be understood, and then her children's scared voices came on the line. "Mommy, mommy, these really scary men took us from school. They didn't have the magic word but the school sent us anyway."
"It's ok, honey. We are going to have you back home soon. Be very brave for mommy, ok.?" And the man's voice picked up.
"Thank you for letting me talk to my children. They sound very scared. I hope you are not scaring them intentionally. That would make friends of mine very upset."
"Let us talk about your boyfriend. He is the one that has caused all this trouble."
"Not that it is terribly important, but I am a stickler for details as you will learn, he was not my boyfriend, simply a convenient piece of eye candy. I know nothing of his business."
"Just the same, we expect you to cover his debt with a healthy interest. We want $850,000 delivered to a numbered account in two hours."
Again she calmly, with her sultry voice responded but had stopped her pacing beside Colby resting her hand on his shoulder. "You can have your money. I will arrange for the wire transfer. Однако, вы должны знать что если мои дети поврежены внутри так или иначе, если там будут волосами свободными от ponytail или отрезока моей дочи на моем сынке, то вы не получите вашу деньг и я буду иметь каждое mercenary в hunt мира вы вниз и убить вас, тягостно и медленно. Если убиты или molested мои дети, то я увижу то. (However, you should know that if my children are harmed in anyway, if there is a hair loose from my daughter's ponytail or a cut on my son, you will not get your money and I will have every mercenary in the world hunt you down and kill you, painfully and slowly. If my children are killed or molested, I will see that there is a huge bounty on your head. And have your head brought on a pike to the FBI offices to assure me you are dead.)"
The man on the other end of the phone was rattled. This was supposed to be a straight up transaction, and it definitely was not.
"Будут вами женщина? No one имеет что много сила, call up каждое mercenary в мире (Who are you woman? No one has that much power, to call up every mercenary in the world.)"
"You were a fool when you planned this. You did not research who you were dealing with, did you? I was just some rich dilettante, with two children that were vulnerable to your assault. I can and I will do what I have said. The transfer of funds and the return of my children will happen simultaneously. I will have a blackberry that with a single button will transfer the funds, but my children will have to be released to me before I press that button. That button never gets pressed if my children are not in my car waiting for me."
"I will call you back in one hour. Be ready to transfer the money. We will have your children."
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