Seventy-two Hours Chapter 11
Voices surrounded JC causing him to shudder when he felt hands pushing his left sleeve up his arm, his blindfold preventing him from seeing exactly who was touching him.
Vaguely, through the mind numbing fog that was slowly dissipating, he could make out the voices of his kidnappers…their words low and hard to discern.
The sound of Velcro slightly started him and he realized that someone was going to take his blood pressure when a band encircling his arm began tighten in a vice-like grip. He slightly moaned at the pressure then gasped when a hand suddenly grasped his hair.
“Shut up,” a voice hissed into his right ear and JC instantly recognized the voice as being that of the largest of the kidnappers and the most unpredictable and violent.
JC nodded his head, struggling not to whimper at the pain. The hand roughly released him, thrusting his head forward and, in an effort to comply with the order, JC kept his head bowed, concentrating on what was being said around him.
“What’s going on with the other two?”
“Well…ummm…” Zachary started.
“Just spit it out,” Larry’s rough voice interrupted.
“We’re pretty sure that Fatone might have a concussion and Bass…we had to sedate him.”
At those words, JC’s head popped up, his head whipping back and forth as he blindly sought out the voice speaking about Joey and Lance. Before he even gave any thought to what he was doing he stood up, nearly stumbling forward in the process.
“What did you do to Joey! What did you do to Lance!” he shouted in a mixture of fear and anger as he strained against the bonds holding his arms behind him.
Instantly, his body was rocked with a swift blow to his mid-drift. Instantly, the air whooshed out of his lungs and he bent awkwardly over, his knees buckling in the process. Unable to prevent his falling, on his way down to the floor, his chin glanced painfully of the kitchen table he had been seated by with a muted thud…his teeth feeling as if they had been rattled loose and he bit his viciously tongue. Instantly, he could taste coppery blood, but that was of little concern. For the moment, his all consuming desire was to be able to suck in a breath of air. In his efforts, he made small, squeaky gasps, which further infuriated the already highly agitated Lawrence.
“Shut him up! I need to think…better yet…get him out of here.”
“Larry…we need to…”
“I said, shut him up and get him out of here. Put him in the living room.”
Unknown to him, JC’s kidnappers were nearing a breaking point…anger clouding Lawrence’s features beneath his mask while Zachary’s face bore testimony of his confusion and growing unease around Lawrence. Only Barrett’s features remained neutral as he bent over and grasped JC by the arms and pulled him up from the floor.
“Got him, Larry,” he said before half-carrying, half-dragging JC out of the kitchen and into the living room.
In the meantime, Zachary warily moved around Lawrence and made his way to the refrigerator. Opening the freezer door, he pulled out an ice tray then opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a cup towel. He quickly filled it with ice then crossed the room, stepping over the thin trail of blood left behind…further evidence of Lawrence’s volatile nature.
It was some time later when, just a few hours drive from where Joey, JC and Lance were being held that further instructions were finally received. In a tired and strained tone of voice, JC relayed the latest demands in halting sentences into a speakerphone that was set on the kitchen table before him, answering very few of Johnny’s questions. He had been allowed to tell Johnny that he, Joey and Lance were doing as well as could be expected and that they were ready to come home and, after doing so, he disclosed the beginnings of complicated instructions for Justin and Chris to follow in meeting their kidnappers’ demands.
“John…Johnny…umm…this…this is…this is what…umm…Chris…and, umm…Justin need…need to do,” JC said quietly, glancing at the men surrounding him, hoping that he was at least doing this right since he had failed miserably in gaining freedom for Lance and Joey. His hands, bound tightly in front of him, were shaking so badly that he was having trouble reading the words written upon the pages he was grasping so tightly that they were crumpling under his trembling fingers. And, if that wasn’t making things difficult enough, the tears that had somehow abated after his emotional collapse on the staircase nearly an hour or two ago were now threatening to begin falling once again, further hampering his efforts to maintain some semblance of control.
‘Get it together…for Lance and Joey…you can do this…you can do this…you have to…you have to…’ he mentally coached himself as he gazed from one cold, hard pair of eyes to another.
With a shudder, he quickly glanced back down at the page before him, the words slightly blurring as his tears began to fall, JC cleared the lump that was threatening to close off his throat. He took a deep, shaky breath before very slowly and carefully reading the instructions to his manager.
“The remaining funds being demanded are to be placed into two unmarked, black duffle bags. The three million dollars to be delivered are to be of denominations of hundreds, fifties and twenties…unmarked…untraceable. These funds are to be transported unattended by…umm…Kirkpatrick and…and…Timberlake…to…to…”
JC suddenly hesitated when a teardrop or two fell from his chin upon the page distorting and blurring the words before him, making them impossible to read as the print faded and grayed.
“Oh…no…” he whispered. Then, with eyes suddenly wide and wild with fear, he glanced up at the kidnappers and whispered, “I’m sorry…I can’t…I can’t read…the words…they…”
His face bore the confusion and terror that he was feeling and he cringed when Lawrence growled out and, in one swift motion, reared his left arm back then swung out at JC, hitting him squarely in the jaw. It all happened so swiftly that JC had no chance to prepare and his head rocked violently from the force of the blow. Heavily stunned, he fell from the chair with a pain filled cry, the papers fluttering to the floor as he clumsily thrust his bound hands before him in a futile attempt to catch himself before hitting the floor. With a dull thud, his body hit the floor and, with a low moan, he lay in an almost fetal position, his knees bent and his shaking hands reaching out, grasping at the floor in his effort to regain his senses.
At the same time, just as Lawrence was about to deliver another blow, Barrett and Zachary sprang into action, jumping between him and JC, who was now moving even slower, more sluggishly.
In the background, the frightened and confused cries from Johnny could be heard from over the speaker and these sounds intermixed with Lawrence’s angered shouts and Barrett and Zachary’s efforts to be heard over it all.
For several moments the confusion and chaos of the situation continued until the line was abruptly severed, leaving Johnny and those in the suite frantic with worry and anguish as the low hum of a dial tone filled the room. Seconds ticked by as those in the suite gazed wide-eyed at each other, bewildered and unable to fully comprehend what had just happened.
“What was that?” one of the investigators asked, still staring at the phone. At the same time,
And…what seemed as just in the same instant as the contact having been cut off, the phone abruptly rang causing several in the room to start in their surprise. For several seconds, those surrounding the phone sat in confusion, their emotions reeling until one of the investigators pointed toward Johnny, urging him to pick up the phone while at the same time another pair of investigators scrambled to prepare their recording equipment. With a nod, one of the men pointed at Johnny and, with shaking hands, he reached out for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Wright…let’s continue with our conversation,” a harsh and all too familiar voice spoke. “Mr. Chasez? Will you please finish in reading the instruction?” For several moments, those listening could tell that the young man was having difficulty…his quiet moans and sharp breaths gave testimony to their assumptions.
At the same time, Johnny gasped and his breaths became harsh as he, and the others listened to JC’s struggles. Seeing Johnny slowly losing his own control, one of the investigators reached out and grabbed him by the arm, shaking it in an effort to gain his attention.
‘Get a grip…get a grip…’ the investigator mouthed, his gaze intense…almost angered as it bore into Johnny’s wide eyes. In response, Johnny nodded his head, took a deep breath then sat down on the nearby couch.
“JC…it’s okay son…I want you to do what they are telling you to do…you can do it…” Johnny quietly urged him. From the speaker, those in the room could hear JC quietly weeping.
Even though it had been a great relief for all listening when the phone conversation ended without any further beatings being heard in the background the investigators were once again disappointed to find that the location that the kidnappers were calling from would still remain illusive and untraceable.
And, although there had been relief over the lack of physical blows, the investigators and all those listening to the call felt little relief in knowing that the kidnappers were continuing to demand that Justin and Chris bring the remaining portion of the ransom to a remote area some two or three hours outside of New York City. Those feelings were only multiplying since JC had also been forced to reveal a set of consequences too horrendous to even consider if the demands were not followed to the letter.
The investigators spent the next two hours editing the tape and pouring over the provided information before they were prepared for Justin and Chris to be awakened in the suite down the hallway and brought down to listen to it. Dr. Shannon had been giving them periodic updates on their conditions and after his latest visit with the boys he had determined that they were now ready to hear the most recent recording. In response, two of the investigators accompanied Johnny to Chris and Justin’s suite with other investigators planning to meet them there in a few moments.
When the trio had entered the room, Chris and Justin immediately knew that their had been more contact, although the investigators’ features remained stony and unemotional and Johnny’s were hard to read. Nervously, they sat down on one of the couches when Johnny waved them into the living area. But before the investigators could begin, Chris’s strained voice filled the air as he ignored the fact that there were strangers in the room as he focused his attention on the manager.
“Tell us, Johnny…was anyone…I mean…did they?” Chris couldn’t complete his question fearing the possible answer. “I can’t listen if it happened again.”
His voice was full of agony…his hands tugging worriedly at the hem of his shirt while Justin sat quietly with a deer in the headlights look…the only sound coming from him were deep, hard swallows. Listening to the first phone call had been devastating enough and Chris was sure that both he and Justin would not be able to survive a similar incident.
For Johnny, it had been entirely unnecessary for Chris to fully convey his question since he immediately understood what he had been attempting to ask.
“No, Chris…Justin…there were no interruptions this time,” the manager quietly offered, inwardly wincing at his lie, putting a hand out in invitation to Justin, which he took, moving closer, while gently and reassuringly squeezing Chris’s shoulder at the same time. It had been decided before Justin and Chris had been brought into the room, the first recording would not be spoken of nor would they or the families of JC, be allowed to listen to it…or even know of its existence…ever.
“Johnny…who?” Justin asked, a feeling of near desperation filling him.
“It was Joshua for the most part…then the kidnappers. We didn’t hear from Joey or Lance but JC was allowed to tell us that he and the others were doing okay. I’ll warn you though…JC didn’t sound too good.”
With Johnny’s quiet words, Chris abruptly stood up and began rocking back and forth on his feet, suddenly unable to sit any longer.
“Can we hear it now?” he asked anxiously, more than ready to hear his brothers’ voices.
“In just a minute,” Johnny replied while motioning for the young man to sit back down. Chris simply shook his head in response to the suggestion, but Johnny knew that he needed the young man to relax.
“Why don’t you sit back down, Chris,” he said, more as a statement, rather than a request.
Instantly, Chris and Justin both thought the worse and Justin stood up while Chris dropped back to the couch, his burst of energy gone.
“Justin?” Johnny said, holding out his hand toward the young man in an effort to have him sit back down.
“Nuh-uh, Johnny. I don’t want to sit down,” he said waving his arms in a manner that let the manager know that he was becoming agitated. Instead of becoming defensive, Johnny half stood up then reached out and firmly grasped the young man’s arm. Thankfully, he did not pull away.
“I know you’re scared to hear what has to be said…both of you,” Johnny said, looking back and forth at the pair. “That’s okay, boys…that’s okay. I’m scared too of what has to be said, but I need you to sit down because we have a lot to discuss first before you hear the recordings.”
It was also at that moment that Dr. Shannon entered the room followed by several more investigators, and bodyguards Mike and Lonnie. As they all crossed the room and sat down in the same general area, pulling up extra chairs, Justin slowly sank down beside Chris, pressing against the right side of the older man’s body. The expression on Dr. Shannon’s face was pained…something that he had never seen before causing a shiver to course its way through him. At the same time, Chris felt Justin shudder and he immediately reached out and put his hand on Justin’s knee, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance.
“I told them a little bit about the phone call,” Johnny said, addressing those that had just entered the room.
“Thank you, Mr. Wright,” one of the investigators said, a new one that Chris didn’t recognize. Justin and Chris watched the man as he pulled out a tape player from a pocket of his jacket and placed it on the coffee table before them.
“Okay…there are a few things we need to discuss before we play the recording for you,” another one of the gentlemen said.
“We just can’t hear it first?” Chris asked, barely able to contain his growing anxiety…nervousness was humming through his body at an incredible rate.
A shake of the man’s head caused a sudden burst of frustration to course through Chris and he leaped to his feet causing a few of the men to slightly startle. He then circled to the back of the couch to begin pacing back and forth while Justin simply grabbed a nearby pillow to hug against his chest while Johnny simply shook his head. He knew that it would it would be best to just let Chris go.
Many of the investigators raised their eyebrows and gave Johnny and Dr. Shannon questioning glances, which were promptly ignored since both men had their eyes trained on Chris, watching his frantic steps. Those who knew Chris best realized that he was handling the situation in the best way that he knew how and, for the moment, he needed to be moving.
“Mr. Kirkpatrick…you need to…” one of the men began but before he could finish his statement, Johnny held up his hand, while almost simultaneously, Dr. Shannon and Justin said, “let him.”
The investigators then turned their attention back to Chris, deciding to take the advice given since the young man had stopped long enough to give them a gaze that displayed how angry he was quickly becoming.
“Fine then,” one of the men said, holding up his hands in surrender, while Chris once again began pacing.
“As you both already know, the kidnappers want you both to deliver a portion of the ransom.” With those words, Chris stopped behind Justin and the pair nodded their heads.
“Well…we want to know how you feel about that?” another man said, already predicting what their answers were going to be.
“Just tell us when and where and we’ll be ready,” Justin quietly answered for the both of them. Although his fear had been great enough to cause him to be physically ill the night before, he was finding new courage now that he was being questioned about his intentions.
“You’re sure of that?” the man asked in an effort to confirm the answer.
“These are our brothers…how could we not do what they want?” Chris added in a tone of voice so full of emotion that it could be felt throughout the room as he waved his hands in the air.
“If the situation was in reverse, they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for us.” Justin said with growing confidence, knowing that he had to continue to push his fears to the side and concentrate on JC, Joey and Lance…concentrate on getting them home.
The investigators, Dr. Shannon and Johnny nodded their heads at the statements that both young men had made and took them as a ‘go ahead’ of sorts…to continue and let them know what plans were being put into place.
“Dr. Shannon…why don’t you begin explaining what we would like to do,” another unfamiliar investigator said, nodding his head in the physician’s direction.
“Okay,” the doctor replied before scooting closer to the edge of his seat while looking down at his hands. Taking a quick deep breath he looked back up and focused his attention on Justin and Chris.
“…This is the deal, boys…” Dr. Shannon said, his voice slightly tinged with a certain amount of tension that neither Justin nor Chris had ever heard before.
“The investigators want to put a tracker in you,” he began but Chris interrupted him with a nervous chuckle and raised hand.
“Wait a minute, doc…you meant on us…didn’t you?”
Chris’s uneasy smile quickly disappeared when Dr. Shannon shook his head in response and lowered his gaze, unable to look the young man in the eye. The idea of implanting a foreign object into Justin and Chris seemed ludicrous…absolutely outlandish, but the investigators were insistent that this would be the one of many means in keeping track of Chris and Justin and their location when dropping off the ransom.
In bewilderment, Chris moved to the front of the couch and sat down heavily causing Justin, who had remained silent throughout the short exchange, to have to slightly move over, making room for the older man.
“How…I mean…what?” Chris hoarsely whispered, his tone full of confusion as he watched the physician closely, not daring to take his eyes off the older man who still had his gaze riveted to the floor.
“Dr. Shannon?” he said quietly, slightly bending forward to get a look at the older man’s face. At the same time, the doctor sensed Chris’ actions. He swallowed deeply, then looked up before gently motioning for Chris to stand up and, in bafflement he did as requested stepping closer to the doctor when he held out his hand to him. Slowly, Chris reached out to the large hand and allowed the doctor to pull him closer to where he was seated.
In the meantime, Justin remained silent, his emotions swirling tumultuously within him as his stomach began to slowly churn once again...his gaze riveted on Chris and Dr. Shannon. This new addition to the situation was threatening to melt away his resolve. He knew what he and Chris were being required to do and this new twist put a deeper element of danger into his mind.
“The investigators have a small tracking device,” the doctor began. “…a chip about the size of a pencil eraser that they want me to implant into you and Justin,” he quietly continued to explain to both young men, glancing back and forth between the pair. “They want me to find an area on your bodies that will accommodate the implant…somewhere that won’t be easily found by the kidnappers if they…happen to search you.”
“Umm…where would you be putting this tracker?” Justin asked. His throat dry…his eyes searching the doctor’s face for answers.
“What would it do? How would it help us…or Jace and the others?”
“I better let one of these gentlemen answer those questions, Justin,” Dr. Shannon said, glancing at those who had deliberately scattered themselves about the small living area in order to give the group room to speak with each other. One of the investigators cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“This is what we want to do…” he began, standing behind Dr. Shannon. And, for the next fifteen to twenty minutes, he and several of the other investigators answered any and all questions that Chris and Justin, along with Johnny and the bodyguards had as they explained the procedure to them. Once everything that could be said had been, Chris looked to Justin.
“So…why can’t you just put monitors inside the money bags?” Chris asked, still trying to let all the information that he was hearing soak in. “You can do that, can’t you? I mean…you want to wire us up and all…why not just the bags and the car?”
“That’s a good question, Mr. Kirkpatrick,” one of the investigators said, having known that the question was going to come up. “There will be monitors inside the bags, but the money could possibly be moved into another container by the kidnappers, leaving us just a pair of bags that wouldn’t lead us anywhere. We plan to put monitors on the vehicle that you will be using…much like a GPS…but even that might be detected with the right equipment. We have no idea how organized and savvy these men might be and like we said earlier in our explanation…we have a feeling that there is the possibility that you two may become useful to the kidnappers…”
“You mean…we might be taken too?” Justin’s said, his voice slightly rising in nervousness, apparently having missed that part of the conversation since he had been concentrating so hard on the implants.
With a small sigh, the lead investigator, Neal Martin nodded his head, having just walked in on the conversation.
“Yes…there is always that chance,” he explained. “You have to remember, though. We will be close…”
“I’m starting to have second thoughts, gentlemen,” Johnny said, his own voice slightly nervous…the memory of JC’s attack hours earlier still fresh in his mind. “I don’t think we should take that chance. I mean…what if…”
One of the investigators minutely shook his head, causing Johnny to stop mid-sentence.
“We don’t either, Mr. Wright, but for the moment, the kidnappers haven’t given us much choice,” Investigator Martin said in full agreement as his gaze traveled from one face to the next, making certain that he had the full attention of all those listening to him.
“We have no leads…no ideas on who we are dealing with…where they are…why they are doing this. In all aspects, we have nothing to go on except the instructions that have been given to us. Now…we will do everything in our power to control the situation, but there are always chances that things could go wrong. We’re just trying to prepare for that possibility.”
There was silence for a few seconds as thoughts raced through the minds of everyone. There were so many things that could go wrong…too many things to even fully comprehend, but there was one thing for certain…this, for the most part, was the only way that JC, Joey, and Lance would be recovered.
“What do you think, J?” Chris asked, already seeing a look of determination beginning to radiate from the younger man. After hearing the plans being laid out and having their concerns and fears discussed and dealt with by the investigators, Justin was feeling renewed confidence in his and Chris’s part in finding and getting the others one step closer to freedom.
“I think we need to get started…but first…the phone call. I want to hear JC’s voice, please?” Justin said quietly as he nervously ran his sweaty hands over his jeans as he looked at the others in the room.
The investigators simply nodded their heads in agreement knowing that further conversation on the matter would be lost since both young men were so intent on hearing their friends’ voice.
Reaching out, one of the men pressed the play button and JC’s quiet voice filled the room.
His voice…normally sounding so full of life and vitality was now full of defeat and choked with emotion…strained and filled with a hint of pain. Sounding as if he were reading verbatim, he slowly stated his kidnapper’s demands. Justin and Chris were so caught up in listening to the phone call, that they never heard the slight interruption in the recording…where the investigators had manipulated it where JC’s beating had been omitted. They could tell that their friend’s voice was a bit more distorted but they were so spellbound that they missed the change. Once the recording ended, Justin and Chris sat back, their emotions overtaking them as they struggled to wrap their minds around the words that had been heard. Numbly, they sat back on the couch, listening as the investigators reviewed the details of the phone call.
Justin and Chris would drive unattended to a location that would be disclosed in due time. Further instructions would be given enroute to the drop-off area. Three million dollars in unmarked bills and small currencies as well as untraceable bank notes would be included in the ransom.
If they were to be found being followed or traced by authorities or to deviate from or omit any of the instructions, not only would Justin and Chris lose their lives but so would JC, Joey and Lance…one by one…starting with Joey.