The Kidnapping Read online

  © 2008-2010 Hal Peterson Media Services

  eBook created by www.ebookconversion.com

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between the characters in this book and actual persons or events is purely coincidence. Locations and institutions are used fictitiously.

  This story is meant for readers 13 years old and up. If it were a film, it would be rated PG-13 or a television show Mature-14, due to some descriptions of violent acts, frank discussions of the thoughts and actions of predators, and the impact of a traumatic crime perpetrated on a young teenager.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  First online edition September, 2008. Second online edition February, 2009. [First print edition 2010]

  ISBN 978-0-9821014-2-1

  For more information about this and other books in the series, check out the Hunter & Holmes website at http://hunterandholmes.com.

  Table of Contents

  Part I: The Ordeal

  Chapter 1. Netted and Caged

  Chapter 2. Jason Is Missing

  Chapter 3. The Police Arrive

  Chapter 4. The Police Investigate

  Chapter 5. What the Encinos Had To Say

  Chapter 6. The Waiting Game, Part I

  Chapter 7. A Prisoner’s Life, Part I

  Chapter 8. The Waiting Game, Part II

  Chapter 9. A Prisoner’s Life, Part II

  Chapter 10. Take Me Out to the Ball Game

  Chapter 11. The Waiting Game, Part III

  Chapter 12. A Prisoner’s Life, Part III

  Chapter 13. The Force of Destiny, Part I

  Chapter 14. The Force of Destiny, Part II

  Chapter 15. The Rescue

  Part II: The Aftermath

  Chapter 16. Reunion

  Chapter 17. Bill and Daniel Tell Their Stories

  Chapter 18. What the Doctor Ordered

  Chapter 19. The Authorities Debrief Jason

  Chapter 20. The Media Is Informed

  Chapter 21. The Counseling Session

  Chapter 22. The Homecoming

  Chapter 23. Jason Makes the News

  Chapter 24. Life Marches On

  Chapter 25. The Challenge

  Chapter 26. What Was In Mr. Hunter’s Safe

  Chapter 27. The Pool Party

  Chapter 28. Hoops With Chauncey

  Chapter 29. A Partnership Is Born

  Part III: The Solution

  Chapter 30. A Fresh Set of Eyes

  Chapter 31. Beyond the MacGuffin

  Chapter 32. If You Can’t Trust Your Banker

  Chapter 33. Motive, Means, and Opportunity

  Chapter 34. What Victor Knew

  Chapter 35. Know Thine Enemies

  Chapter 36. The Police Follow Up, Part I

  Chapter 37. The Police Follow Up, Part II

  Chapter 38. The Police Follow Up, Part III

  Chapter 39. The Family Jewels

  Chapter 40. Mr. Connor’s Gift

  Chapter 41. The Whatever Foundation

  Epilogue

  Part I: The Ordeal

  CHAPTER 1

  NETTED AND CAGED

  (Monday Night―Tuesday Morning)

  Everything was a dark blur to Jason Hunter as he gradually regained consciousness. His entire body felt numb. As his mind began focusing, he realized something was very wrong ― things were still murky black. The reason he couldn’t see anything was due to a blindfold over his eyes. Then he became aware his mouth was biting on cloth and could feel a gag had been stuffed into his mouth and then tied tightly around his head. When he tried moving, he couldn’t very well, as his wrists, arms and legs had been bound with rope. Naturally, he struggled against the ropes for a few minutes, but his captors had done their job very well. Prickles of pain darted through his wrists and ankles when he tried loosening the ropes. Just those simple movements quite exhausted him. Briefly a wave of nausea shuddered through his body and then he drifted back into unconsciousness.

  The next time Jason woke up, he came to more quickly, but his situation had not changed at all for the better. His body began sending all kinds of messages, telling him he was in peril. By now his wrists now were totally numb and his bladder was sending painful, “I have to go now,” signals. Although his gag was saturated with his own saliva, his body felt very dehydrated. With his stomach empty, it was rumbling for some food. He had no idea how long he had been tied up but the way his body felt, it seemed like at least a day.

  Frustrated, he tried to make his mind remember how he had gotten into this situation. Yesterday he had been a carefree, fourteen-year-old, just beginning to enjoy his summer break from school. He had been planning to hang with his friend Daniel, maybe go bike riding or play some games. Instead he had ended up going to City Park because his second cousin, Vic Encino, had called and insisted that he go to the park with him. Jason had tried to get out of meeting Vic, because they really didn’t get along very well, but his mother, Edith, had said he had to go.

  One of his parent’s big things was maintaining family relationships. Even though the Encinos were not close relatives, they were considered “family.” “We need to socialize with them every now and then, so I want you to go to the park with them today,” Edith had told Jason. “It won’t hurt you to play some ball with your cousins.”

  That’s easy for Mom to say. She doesn’t have to spend the day with Vic and his annoying little brother, Kyle, Jason thought.

  Normally, Jason would have elected to ride his bike to the park, but Vic and his mother, Janet, insisted on picking him up at his house and driving them there.

  It was annoying that Vic was always trying to prove how much better he was than Jason or anyone else. They never could have just normal time to talk or have fun. Instead, every activity was always a challenge, designed in such a way that Vic would have the advantage. As for their get-togethers being family time, Vic’s mom would often use these “family” occasions to get away, go shopping, or get her hair done, figuring because Jason was older, he would serve as a temporary companion or sitter for her two kids. Janet liked to posture that she was the caring soccer mom, happily catering to kids in the community, but Jason figured her real motive in picking him up was to make certain that he would actually be there. Sure enough, that was the plan this time. When they arrived at the park, Janet dropped them off and told them that she would pick them up around 2:00 p.m.

  The three boys, Jason, Vic, and Kyle, wandered around the park for a while. It was a large park with a lake, gardens, picnic tables, playground areas, and baseball fields. Eventually they ended up at one of the baseball fields where they played a hitting game devised by Vic. In Vic’s rules, everything that Kyle did or didn’t do (he was not coordinated at all and rather useless at baseball) somehow went onto Jason’s score. But at least they were doing something fun that would pass the time away until two.

  Around 11:15 that morning, one of Vic’s friends happened by and said, “Hey, Vic, are you getting ready for our Little League practice? ”

  “Oh, that’s right, we start in fifteen minutes,” Vic replied.

  “Sorry about that, Jason. You don’t mind watching our practice for a couple of hours until my mom gets back, do you?” That was so typical of Vic. Of course, all along, he had known about the practice. He had just wanted someone to help him warm up so he would look better to the rest of the team.

  This time Jason wasn’t buying into Vic’s little scenario at all. “No, Vic, I think I’ll just head on home now since you will be playing with your team. Kyle can stay with you and watch your team practice. ”

  The park was over four miles from his house, but Jason didn’t want to sit around the park with nothing to d
o, when he could get back home, eat some lunch, and do something with his friends. Now, I really wish I had brought my bike here, he thought. But it is a beautiful day and I’m wearing comfortable clothes. His outfit consisted of a San Francisco 49ers team baseball cap, an Ocean Pacific tee shirt, brown camouflage cargo shorts, and his favorite sneakers, a nicely broken-in pair of red Converse Chuck Taylor high-tops. Besides, the walk probably will only take me only thirty minutes or so.

  Boy, was he regretting that decision now. Through the fog in his brain Jason struggled to remember what had happened during his walk home. He remembered strolling down one of the park pathways that led to the east exit, which was a relatively direct route home. Everything was typical of a nice summer day in the park. It hadn’t been crowded at all. In fact, he hadn’t seen anyone around where he walked. Then, just as Jason arrived at the park exit and access street, he had suddenly felt a sharp prick in his neck. Surprised and stunned, he had reached up and discovered a little sharp dart had hit him. Right away he felt disoriented, but immediately there were a couple of people there to help guide him. All he could remember was being walked like a zombie to a nearby van, with his “helpers” shoring him up on either side. After that everything went dark.

  Obviously somebody had planned to kidnap him, or maybe someone else walking down that path. Traveling down that park pathway had led Jason into the most frightening event of his young life.

  Jason knew from assemblies at school that there were men who preyed on young kids and he had heard stories about kidnappers who wanted large ransoms for their victims. But it puzzled him why he had been chosen. His family was considered well-off, but not wealthy. They lived in a normal tract house and both his mother and father worked. Edith, his mom, worked at a software company and his father, Bill, ran the family import/export business that mainly dealt in antiques. The family had some money but not the big money professional kidnappers would target. They were not particularly prominent in the community, just family-oriented, normal parents. He involuntarily shuddered and a chill ran up his spine as he began to think of the other option. Scared and frustrated, he screamed into his gag, but all that came out was a garbled gurgle.

  CHAPTER 2

  JASON IS MISSING

  (Monday Afternoon)

  Daniel Holmes was looking forward to the summer ahead with the same happiness that his best friend, Jason, had expressed. He had some morning activities during the week, but they were things he liked doing. Five days a week he had a conditioning class at the local YMCA, which included a variety of activities. Sometimes it was running or swimming and other times it was lifting weights and doing floor exercises. Also, he was taking a guitar class several days a week, which was something he wanted to do for a long time.

  He had some talent as a musician, singing in the school choir, and now he had a chance to expand his musical horizons by learning to play the guitar. Secretly, he had dreams of playing in a professional band some day; now he was developing some real skills, not just playing rock star video games like most of the other kids. Daniel carefully cultivated the rock star look (as much as his parents would let him) by keeping his curly black hair long and always wearing black high-top Converse All Stars. In the summer he completed the look with band tee shirts and denim shorts. At the same time, he liked keeping fit and in shape so that the other kids wouldn’t think he was a nerd or a wimp.

  Although Daniel was nearly a year older than Jason and an inch taller, they were in the same grade at school because his birthday was a few weeks later than the school district deadline for registration. As a result, he acted just a little more assured than most of the other students in his class and tended to avoid his classmates who were more immature. Daniel and his parents had only moved to the Silicon Valley from the east coast a couple of years ago. School could be a difficult adjustment in a completely new environment. Since their last names both started with the letter “H,” Daniel was put in the same homeroom class as Jason. By doing some people-watching, looking for potential new friends at the school, Daniel immediately noticed that Jason was wearing red Converse high-tops, and this gave him an opening to make friends. Actually, all it took was the comment, “Hey, cool chucks” and a conversation was started. The two quickly discovered they had common interests and abilities. Within a couple of months they had become best friends, and were spending a lot of their time together.

  This day Daniel was looking forward to some game-time with Jason in the afternoon, but there was a message from him on his cell phone. “I will be at City Park until about three o’clock with my cousins. See you after that. ”

  On hearing the message, Daniel figured Jason would come to their session in a bad mood because he remembered how his friend often complained about his cousins. Daniel tried calling Jason back around noon, but he didn’t answer his cell. Since Jason was at the park, Daniel decided to use the extra time to practice his guitar. In his lesson that day, he had been taught how to play a new chord progression, which required a lot of practice in order to get his fingers in the right places on the fret board.

  Around three o’clock Daniel decided to head on over to Jason’s house, even though he hadn’t heard anything more from him. When he arrived at the house there was no answer, so he figured he would just wait until Jason arrived back from the park. While waiting, he tried another call to Jason’s cell phone. Again there was no answer. With nothing else to do, Daniel sat in the wicker rocking chair out on Jason’s front porch, hoping that his friend would soon arrive home or return his phone message.

  About forty minutes past three, a 2007 Toyota Prius pulled up and out stepped Jason’s mom, Edith. “Hi, Daniel, are you waiting for Jason? I thought he would be back here by now. Maybe the Encinos were delayed. ”

  “Could be, but why isn’t Jason answering his cell phone? I even tried texting him, with no reply to that either,” Daniel explained.

  “I don’t know, but I think I will give Janet Encino a call. She was the one who took the boys to the park and she said that she would be bringing Jason home sometime after two.”

  Edith dialed Janet’s cell phone and as she talked, Daniel saw she did not like what she was hearing. “You’re telling me that Jason left at noon by himself?” she exclaimed in disbelief. “Why didn’t you drive him back home? What do you mean you weren’t there? Little League practice? I thought this was supposed to be a fun day in the park for the boys.”

  Needless to say, Edith was getting worked up with the news that no one seemed to know where her son was. After disconnecting from Janet, Edith immediately tried Jason’s cell number again. Still there was no answer.

  “Daniel, do you have any ideas where Jason might have gone? Do you think that he stopped to see someone on the way home, or perhaps went to the Westfield Mall to look at video games or other electronics?” Edith anxiously asked.

  “Maybe, Mrs. Hunter, but the last time I heard from Jason, he was counting on our gaming session this afternoon and was sorry that our meeting was going to be delayed. I would think that getting out of the park early would have meant he would try to get back home here. Since he didn’t have his bicycle, it’s possible he tried taking the bus and got lost or maybe he stopped somewhere for lunch. But neither of those things would take more than an hour.”

  “What if he ran into someone he knew on the way home or somebody offered him a ride and he ended up going to their place? Jason can be impulsive sometimes.”

  “Hopefully you are right, Mrs. Hunter, but why hasn’t he called? I wonder if his phone battery went dead or something happened to it?”

  Edith was now nervously pacing around. “I think I should begin calling everyone I know until I find out where he is. Would you be willing to do the same?”

  “Sure, I’ll help out. But I just had another idea. What if he stopped in at Mr. Hunter’s store since he was near the downtown and had some time to kill?”

  “Good idea, Daniel, but unfortunately my husband is out of town on business, s
o Jason would have no reason to go there.”

  As the conversation between them got increasingly more frustrating, Daniel began to get a very anxious and sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. But until every friend and acquaintance had been contacted there was still hope of a simple explanation for Jason’s whereabouts.

  For the next half hour, Daniel and Edith tried calling everyone they could think of who might have seen Jason that day. When all was said and done, there were a lot of people on the lookout for Jason, but no one had any real information.

  With no solid leads, Edith felt it was time to bring in the authorities. First she called several local hospitals, but no one had any reports of a fourteen-year-old boy being admitted with injuries. Then she called the police. After a few transfers she was connected to a detective in the missing persons unit who took down the basic information about Jason, and then said that a police officer would be sent out immediately to her house. Finally, she called her husband, Bill. He didn’t answer his phone so Edith left a brief message about Jason and told him to call her back immediately.

  Now the waiting game began.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE POLICE ARRIVE

  (Monday Late Afternoon)

  About fifteen minutes after her telephone call to the police, a Ford Crown Victoria sedan pulled into the Hunter driveway. Two detectives from the missing persons unit got out and knocked on the door. When Edith answered, the two showed their identifications and introduced themselves. Lieutenant Antonio Garcia was the initial spokesman and the rugged-looking officer in his early thirties introduced his partner, Detective Andrea Spencer, who was younger, with thin features and brunette hair cut in a pageboy style. Edith responded by introducing Daniel as one of Jason’s friends helping her look for him. She invited them to come into the house and sat down with them in the living room.