Where Darkness Resides, page 19
He handed her back the binoculars.
“Then we can’t confirm he’s inside from the street. We’ll have to get closer,” Virginia explained.
“That’s risky. It won’t be an easy task without tipping off the kidnappers.”
“I’m up for it.”
“Are you kidding me? We can’t make any more moves without the boss giving us the green light.”
“I’m sure she will. Call her,” Virginia responded while still gazing through the binoculars at the house.
He complied with the request.
“Yeah, we’re here,” George said into his cell phone. “No, we haven’t seen anyone. Just the Escalade. The woman said there were two individuals in the front seats. She’s seen them before but doesn’t know their names. No one does.” He stopped talking and listened. “Okay.”
After ending the call, George told Virginia, “She’s going to be here in about ten minutes and will check it out herself.”
“Okay.”
Virginia was secretly relieved.
“Do we still have any snacks?” George asked. “I’m starving.”
“Check the glove compartment,” Virginia replied.
Opening it, George found a candy bar, a package of cheese cracker sandwiches, and a bag of plantain chips. He gave Virginia a snarky look.
“It’s all I could find in the vending machine at the rental place. Don’t blame me?”
“It’ll do for now.”
He ate a couple of chips but dreamed of the Puerto Rican meal the elderly woman promised. It brought some joy to his otherwise frustrating day.
I’ll have to thank her for all of her help. It was invaluable, he reminded himself.
Putting another chip in his mouth, George was about to start chewing again when he saw something that caught his attention.
“Hey…”
The chip fell out of his mouth before he could finish. He pointed in a direction to alert Virginia of his concerns.
Using the binoculars, Virginia spotted a person crouching close to the property they were staking out.
“It’s Pamela,” she announced.
The weather was cooler than she expected but Pamela wasn’t distracted by it or the higher elevation. She was focused on one thing and one thing only: verifying whether Daniel was inside the residence. She hoped he was safe and alive but that was a secondary concern at the moment.
Hiding behind one of the large trees in the neighbor’s yard, Pamela checked the front door and the adjacent windows to determine if anyone was inside. From what she could see, the front rooms were devoid of any individuals. She sneaked to the next tree closer to the house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she saw one of the side windows was covered with what appeared to be aluminum foil. The rest of the windows on that side of the house weren’t covered up.
This is strange for a rich neighborhood, Pamela thought as she scanned the area for the kidnapers.
The place seemed empty, so she quickly crouch-walked to the covered window. Noticing the aluminum foil on the bottom left of the window was peeled upward, Pamela moved her body to look through the gap inside. She saw a near-empty room. Facing her with a blindfold on was Daniel Mendoza. His head was down, and the rest of his body wasn’t moving. She wasn’t sure if he was unconscious. Turning her head to see the rest of the room, she saw a young, Puerto Rican male enter the room and walk to a second chair with a male restrained to it. Pamela could only see the back of the person’s head.
38 INTERRUPTION
Cayey, Puerto Rico
Moments Later
“You want some chips?” George asked Virginia as he crunched on a couple himself.
She looked at the near-empty bag and then back at George.
“No. It’s the last thing on my mind."
“They’re not bad for local chips.”
As he plopped another one into his mouth, the rear passenger door opened and quickly shut. George looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Pamela seated in the back. She was calm and collected like she normally is when faced with adverse assignments. But this was different. It involved one of her clients and a close one at that. George and Virginia were surprised she was still serene despite her personal stake in the outcome. Not to mention the distractions she’d been dealing with the past week with her father in the hospital. They had always admired her for her fortitude but today their admiration reached a higher level.
Pleased she was taking a hands-on approach, George asked, “Boss, what’s the sitrep?”
The two investigators turned around to face their boss. They were apprehensive to hear the news.
“He’s in there. I saw him tied up with another guy. It may be the guest at the resort we witnessed being abducted. It may be someone else. I really don’t know. But I definitely saw Daniel.”
“Good,” Virginia said with a sense of relief their hard work paid off and the mystery was finally solved.
“Where is he?” George anxiously asked.
“He’s in a room in the back of the house. I’m not sure if he’s unconscious or not or even if he’s alive. He didn’t move when one of the kidnappers entered the room to check on the other guy.”
Pamela’s voice never trembled while speaking even though both George and Virginia knew she was concerned about his safety. Even they were. Virginia reached over and touched Pamela’s knee. She appreciated the gesture.
“How many tangos are in the house?” George inquired, wanting to distract her from any disturbing thoughts about Daniel’s well-being.
“At least two. Possibly three. I circled around the back of the house and looked inside all of the windows. Looks like there’s a young male and an older one watching over them. But it was bizarre. They were unsettled like something recently happened,” Pamela responded.
“You don’t think they will…,” Virginia pondered.
“They would have done it by now if that was their intent,” Pamela sternly remarked. “Daniel’s face was bruised. I think he’s been tortured like the guest who was tortured at the resort. I think they want something from them. I just don’t know what it could be.”
Pamela pushed out the memory of casita number eight from her mind so she could concentrate on the present. The last thing she wanted to visualize was Daniel being mortally wounded. She contemplated telling them about the multiple deep holes she saw dug in the backyard. She wasn’t sure if it was relevant to rescuing Daniel and the other male. She also didn’t want to distract them with needless information. She wanted them focused on one thing - rescuing Daniel.
“Well, we outnumber them,” George concluded. “I think we should go for it. What do you say, boss?”
He looked at her hoping she would give the green light to extract Daniel. For the first time, he saw hesitation in Pamela’s eyes. Even Virginia noticed it. Pamela was deep in thought.
After mulling it over briefly, Pamela asked, “Your friend, Alberto. Do you think he can get us the plans for this house? I don’t want to go in there blind.”
“He has connections. I’m sure he will do what he can for us. He still owes me.”
When Pamela nodded giving her approval, George dialed his friend and made the request. He explained to Alberto the true reasons why they were in Puerto Rico and needed the information about the black Escalade. George then apologized for omitting it when they were in person together in San Juan. Realizing George was sincere, and this was a personal request, Alberto was eager to provide what was needed.
“Now, you’ll owe me,” he declared to George who wasn’t happy to be in that position.
“If you say so,” George coyly replied.
Alberto picked up a pad and pen and asked George for the information needed to obtain the relevant document. “The name of the City?”
“Cayey…9692,” he told Alberto when he inquired about the house’s street number.
“I’ll call you back.”
“Gracias, hermano.”
George gave Pamela the thumbs up. He was also pleased his connections were useful to their mission.
Within five minutes, George’s cell phone buzzed. He received a text message with the blueprints for the house. In turn, he forwarded the text to Virginia and Pamela.
“I told you he could do it,” George grinned.
Pulling up the blueprints, Pamela said, “It looks like the kidnappers are watching television in the family room.” She pointed to it on her phone as she explained the plan. “Daniel’s in this room. I will enter from here and I need you guys to take out the kidnappers.”
“This is a good entry point,” George said as he pointed to a patio door on the opposite side of the house closest to the family room.
“Agreed,” Pamela said.
“We can do this!!” George excitedly exclaimed while opening his windbreaker and flipping open the leather flap to his shoulder holster. He then quickly removed his gun. “I’m ready. I’m always ready.”
His devious smile returned after disengaging the safety.
Pamela also pulled out her concealed gun and looked at Virginia.
“I didn’t bring mine. Sorry. I had no idea it would lead to anything like this,” she confessed.
“Here.” George handed her his second gun holstered on his right side. “I know you can handle yourself with all those practice sessions. Just point and shoot like we trained.”
Virginia awkwardly nodded despite desperately wanting to hide her misgivings. She mustered the strength to proceed.
As George was about to open the car door, another black Escalade approached the home, drove up the driveway, and parked in front of the garage. Two men exited the vehicle and knocked on the front door. The younger captor opened the door and let them in.
39 ONE
Cayey, Puerto Rico
Later That Night
With the moonlight shining on her back, Virginia positioned her body so she could kick down the side patio door. Before she could strike the door, George tapped her shoulder, walked in front of her, and twisted the door knob.
“This is Puerto Rico. People trust their neighbors.” He then grinned before slowly opening the door and entered.
Pointing his gun to his left and then his right, once he confirmed the entry point was clear, George walked further into the home. Virginia followed aiming her gun as well. The two headed to the family room where Pamela had verified the occupants were hunkering down while guarding the captives. During the previous hours, Pamela confirmed a second time the captors were primarily in the family room after the two additional men arrived on the premises.
Light, sounds, and voices emanating from the family room confirmed Pamela’s intel was still reliable. As they neared the family room entryway, George looked around the corner seeing two men sitting on a couch watching television. They were laughing and drinking beer oblivious to the ensuing circumstance.
“This fool is funny,” one male said to the other and then swigged some more beer. He burped loudly and lazily wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“He is,” the other male agreed while burping louder as a sign of his superior prowess compared to his companion.
George turned his head toward Virginia to get her attention. He then faced the two men and made a circle with his index finger and thumb while pointing his other fingers, extended, at the two men. Virginia acknowledged his signal by nodding. With his hand above his head, George pointed to the left side of the family room and motioned Virginia to cover that area. He indicated he’d cover the right side. Stealthily entering the left side of the room, Virginia continued further when her hip inadvertently touched a lamp on a nightstand causing it to tip over. The noise startled the two men who quickly turned around to face the rear of the room.
Seeing Virginia and George aggressively pointing guns at them, the two men panicked and jumped to their feet. One male jumped over the couch, lunging at Virginia. She shot twice putting him down. Fearful he would suffer the same fate, the other male raised both his hands allowing George to restrain him.
At the same time, Pamela entered the house through the rear door and scurried toward the room she knew Daniel and the other gentlemen were restrained in. She faced no opposition which pleased her and worried her at the same time. Opening the door to the room, Pamela rushed toward Daniel who panicked because he was unable to see who entered due to his blindfold. Wondering if another beating was forthcoming, Daniel braced himself for the impact.
Sensing his anxiety, Pamela whispered, “It’s me.”
Recognizing her voice, Daniel sighed in relief. His body loosened.
“Pamela,” he quivered.
She hushed him worried the other occupants would hear.
“Yes, it’s me.”
She removed his blindfold. Untying his restraints, Pamela then assisted Daniel in standing. His muscles were mildly atrophied in addition to his body being bruised. He stumbled getting up. Pamela kept him from falling.
A bullet whizzed by Pamela’s head. A second bullet almost grazed her shoulder. Pamela turned towards the door and saw the younger captor nervously aiming a gun at her. He was obviously an inexperienced shooter. Realizing hitting his targets was more complicated than he expected, he looked for the older captor who was busy removing the other captive from the room. The younger one followed the older one out.
As Pamela looked on in the confusion, she wondered whether George and Virginia successfully restrained the two men in the family room or if they would soon enter the room to prevent her from rescuing Daniel. She preemptively aimed her gun at the door. When no one entered, she resumed taking care of Daniel.
“Were you hit?” she asked Daniel.
He feverishly checked his body for any bullets. Pamela checked as well.
“No, I wasn’t.”
She was pleased with his response, grabbed and held him tight, and unexpectedly kissed him on the lips. Confused by her overt display of affection, he originally was taken aback. However, he could not resist her at that moment and started kissing her back. He immediately stopped after remembering he still liked Corina and still wanted something between them.
Daniel backed up and looked at Pamela. He didn’t know why she expressed herself in that way at this moment amidst the danger and uncertainty. It was totally unlike her.
“What are you…,” Daniel asked.
Pamela brushed the comment off with her own confused look, shrugged her shoulders, and implied she had no idea what he was talking about. She then continued helping him walk outside the room by holding him with her left arm across his back. Her right hand held her gun tightly. Daniel limped forward using all of his strength to exit the room. It was the moment he’d been waiting for all through the darkness of the past days. He wasn’t sure how many days passed. All he knew was he wanted, no he needed, his freedom.
When they exited the door to the backyard, Daniel smiled. The cool Caribbean night was refreshing. He felt alive again. He was pleased Pamela came to rescue him although at times he doubted she even knew what happened and would come to his rescue. As he happily continued hobbling through the backyard with Pamela’s assistance, a man charged at them.
“Stop,” the man commanded.
He was dressed in fashionable clothing unlike the men guarding the captives. Pamela noticed he was aiming a gun at them. She froze. So did Daniel.
“I’m just here for my friend,” she said after surmising the man was a local resident and unlikely affiliated with the mafia holding Daniel and the other captive.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not welcome here,” he said as he took a few more steps closer to them.
“Sir, please step aside. I don’t want to hurt you,” Pamela replied.
The man gave her a strange, territorial look.
“You’re in no position to tell me what to do,” he said before noticing she also had a gun in her hand now aimed at him.
She looked menacingly at the local hoping he’d still back down. Out of the shadows, another individual walked towards them from behind the local man.
Just what I needed. More tangos, Pamela thought.
Daniel became increasingly worried.
The second male aimed his weapon at the man in front of him rather than Pamela.
“Drop the gun,” he told the well-dressed man.
“Cameron?!!” Pamela said as her voice echoed in the night.
40 ILLNESS
Phoenix, Arizona
The Next Morning
After the bailiff announced the jurors were entering the courtroom, the entire gallery rose including the attorneys and their clients to show respect to the jury. Once the jurors were seated, the judge instructed everyone else to sit down. She then welcomed the jurors and also the parties.
Facing the jury, Judge Furman said, “I want to thank you for your patience. Yesterday, we were unable to finish closing arguments. Today, the defendants have their closing arguments and then Mr. Clarkson can make a rebuttal.”
The jurors nodded as they were eager to hear what the defendants had to say.
“Ms. Robles?”
Marissa stood up and walked to the lectern in the middle of the courtroom.
“Thank you, your honor. May it please the Court? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we’ve sat through all the evidence and the testimony these past two weeks. You know what the simple issue is in this case, and that’s who caused the accident. They claim that Martin drifted into Mr. Hernandez’s lane. We claim that Mr. Hernandez entered into Martin’s lane, causing the accident, and that his unfortunate death is his fault. You’re going to be able to review all of the evidence again with all of the exhibits, and it’s up to you to decide what happened.”
