“I’m not going to jail and I’m not going to get killed by some damned loan shark. What I am going to do is live out the rest of my life on a comfortable island somewhere at your expense.”
I felt my blood pressure rising. The thought of this man with his hands on Vicki… or Jason’s with his hands on Michael… I felt like my head would explode. I forced myself not to react. I could still hear Dad pounding. He sounded desperate. I opened my mouth… I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but I was interrupted by the sound of a man’s voice over a megaphone.
“Elliot Hanson, this is Detective Salas of the L.A.P.D. My phone number is 555-6718. I need you to call me Elliot. Let’s work this out without anyone getting hurt, okay?” Elliot looked like he was thinking about it. He finally reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Before he could even dial, it was ringing. He pushed accept and put it on speaker. The detective waited a beat and then he said, “Elliot? Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“Is Mr. Reigns with you?”
I didn’t say anything; I looked at the sweaty man with the gun and waited for my cue. He finally said, “Yeah, he’s here. He’s here to help me.”
“Okay, can I talk to him, Elliot? Can I hear him say he’s okay?”
Elliot gave me a chin nod and I said, “This is Alexander Reigns. So far, I’m fine.”
“Good! Good! Thank you, Elliot. Now we need to work on getting you two out of there and somewhere safe, okay?”
“No. We’re not coming out until I hear a helicopter land out there.” He was staring at me, gauging my reaction as he said, “Mr. Reigns is going to arrange for a helicopter for me and some spending money. Once that’s here we’ll be on our way.” He was going to use me as a shield. That wasn’t my biggest worry though. I was worried that he really was going to get away.
“Elliot, that’s not the best idea. You’re still in misdemeanor territory here…”
“Shut up!” Elliot hung up the phone and then looked at me and said, “Give me the number.”
“What number is that, Elliot?”
“The one that gets me a helicopter.”
I gave him the number of my private hangar. When the phone was answered he motioned at me with the gun and I said, “Hi Becky, this is Alex Reigns.”
“Hello Mr. Reigns. How are you today?”
“I’m in a bit of a pickle here, Becky. I need to speak with Doug now.” She must have heard the urgency in my voice because I heard her yelling for Doug right away.
When Doug got on the phone he said, “Boss, what’s going on? I just heard a news brief about you being taken hostage.”
“I need you to listen carefully Doug. I need you to bring the chopper out to the south end of Manhattan Beach and land it on the sand near the bathrooms.”
“What? Sir I’ve never…”
“I know, Doug. I’m sorry to ask. I wouldn’t if I had any other choice.”
He hesitated and then he said, “Is this cleared with law enforcement?”
“It will be.”
“Okay sir, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Doug.” I hung up and told Elliot. “You need to let them know he’s coming.”
Elliot curled his lip and said, “You do it and then call whoever can get your money out of the bank. I want two million in cash.”
“Do you know how long it will take to get that much cash together?”
“They have an hour before I start shooting you in your limbs.”
I called my PA next. “Amanda, it’s Alex.”
“Alex? Oh my God are you okay? I just saw on the news…”
“Amanda, I need you to listen to me, okay? First of all I need you to call and make sure Vicki and Michael are okay. I don’t know if she’s seen or heard any of this. Call the house and tell them to make sure the television and radio are all off.”
“Okay…”
“Good. Next, I need you to call Brent and Harlan at the bank. I need two million in cash ASAP. Tell them to get it from wherever they need to take it. I need it quickly…”
“And unmarked,” Elliot said.
“And unmarked,” I told her.
“Okay boss. Are you okay?”
“I will be. Hurry now Amanda, please.”
CHAPTER TEN
VICTORIA
I was still sitting in Michael’s room, watching him sleep when I heard Liz’s voice in the hallway. “Is she sleeping?” I got up and stuck my head out the door. She looked at me with a mixture of relief and sadness. I wondered how she knew anything was going on. Cook must have called her.
“Come on in, Liz.” She came towards me and threw her arms around me. She hugged me so tightly that I could barely breathe. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s been a strange morning.”
“Oh my God, you don’t know…” The security officer stepped in then. He was on the phone.
I was looking from him to Liz and I chose her first and said, “I don’t know what?”
“Miss Victoria this is a Detective Salas from the LAPD. He wants to speak with you.”
“Oh my God! Alex!” I grabbed the phone. “This is Vicki. Is Alex okay?”
“This is Detective Salas. I’m a hostage negotiator…”
“Hostage? Alex is a hostage? Oh my God!”
“I know it’s hard Miss but if you calm down for just a second, I’ll fill you in.”
“Okay.” I listened quietly as the police officer told me the man I loved with every fiber in my body was trapped inside of a stone room on the beach with a maniac with a gun. I could feel the bile rising in the back of my throat and my hands were shaking so hard that I dropped the phone. I dropped down into the chair and bent forward with my head in my hands. I was going to throw up.
Liz picked up the phone and said, “Vicki’s not feeling well. Is there anything else you needed to tell her?” She put him on speaker.
“No ma’am. Just let her know we’re doing everything we can and we’ll let her know as soon as we have a resolution.”
Liz hung up and handed the phone back to the security officer. “He said, when we have a resolution, not, when he’s out safe.”
“Oh honey, they have to say that… I’m sure they’re doing everything they can to keep him safe.”
“He’s alone in a stone box basically with a desperate man who has a gun. What can they do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. She looked like she was going to cry. “But I do know that Alex is smart. You tell me that all the time. He loves you and Michael and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get back to both of you in one piece… right?”
I nodded. Suddenly my stomach rolled and I had to run into the bathroom and vomit. When I emptied my stomach I sat on the floor sweating and shaking for a really long time. What would I do if I lost him? I can’t lose him. Please God, let him come home safe.
When the shaking subsided enough for me to stand, I pushed myself up and washed my face and rinsed my mouth. Then I went into the bedroom. Liz was waiting there for me with Michael in her arms. She got that I didn’t want him alone without me even having to say a word. I love her.
I walked over and opened the oak cabinet where the television was. When I picked up the remote, Liz said, “Are you sure you want to do that, honey?”
I nodded. “I need to know what’s going on.” She didn’t say anything. She knew arguing with me would do no good. When the television came on I flipped through the stations. There was a “Special Report” about the hostage situation on every local station. I settled on one and sat down on the bed next to Liz to watch the drama unfold on live TV. The anchor was standing in the parking lot at Manhattan Beach. I could see the pier and the water in the background as well as the bathrooms. There were police everywhere and a SWAT van.
“We’re in Manhattan Beach where a real-life drama is unfolding. Alexander Reigns, the CEO of Reigns Biotechnical is reportedly inside the restroom building behind me bei
ng held at gunpoint by a man named Elliot Hanson. Hanson is reportedly an employee of Mr. Reigns. There is some talk of an attempted kidnapping and another man in custody; we’ll bring you more on that as it comes in. For now, this is Maggie Brown for KTLA….” I changed the station. The reports were almost identical on every station.
“Miss?” I looked up and Cook was in the doorway. He was holding my phone. I’d left it downstairs in the sunroom earlier.
“Yes?”
“It’s Amanda, Mr. Reigns’ PA.” I jumped up and grabbed the phone from him.
“Amanda, do you know anything?”
“Nothing more than you probably know. I can hear it in your voice, you’ve heard right?”
“Yes.”
“I did talk to him, Victoria. He sounded okay.”
“You talked to him? How?”
“He called me on the kidnapper’s phone. He needed me to take care of getting some money together.”
“I need that number.”
“Um… it was blocked.”
“You’re a terrible liar Amanda. I need the number, now.” She gave it to me, reluctantly.
As soon as I disconnected with her, I blocked my number and called it. It rang for times and I finally heard, “What?”
With a tremor in my voice I said, “Is this Elliot?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Victoria.”
“Well, well, little Vicki. Thanks for calling. It’s been a long time. So long that you never even recognized me at the gate yesterday…”