Cage
It’s been a whirlwind of activity for the last three hours. Every minute that ticks by that Jaime is not by my side is a minute that builds my fury and fear. It’s not a good combination, and I feel like a bomb ready to go off at any provocation.
I’m proud of everyone at Jameson, and I really appreciate the FBI agent helping us out. Clay seems to have his shit fully together, and he coordinates his resources with ours. We turned over all the information both Bodie and Jackson had gleaned on Brian, then Clay interviewed Brian himself. Jaime’s parents and her sister Laney were safely tucked upstairs in the common area with Joslyn and Anna keeping them company, probably going crazy with fear.
It’s going on nine PM, and Jaime’s been gone for almost seven hours. In my mind, that’s six hours and fifty-nine minutes too long. I’m frustrated we’re still sitting around this conference room table making plans.
“Enough,” I yell, bringing my fist down on the table and getting everyone’s attention. Six people turn their eyes to me—Jackson, Kynan, Bebe, Malik, Clay, and Ladd. “Enough with talking this to death. We have a solid plan. Let’s go do it.”
Kynan’s eyes aren’t warm with empathy for my plight, despite the fact he knows a little something about what I’m going through. Not all that long ago, his wife was being hunted by a stalker and he lost her for a time, too.
Instead, his expression is hard. It says, I’m the boss, and we’re doing this my way.
“We’re being thorough,” Kynan says in a warning tone. “A lot of lives are going to be at stake when we move in to rescue her.”
“Yeah, Jaime’s life,” I snarl. “It’s in peril right now.”
“Calm down, brother,” Jackson says quietly from my left. “We know she’s not been hurt.”
We’ve been told that, but do we really know that? Once I got back to headquarters, and after Clay interviewed Brian, we had him contact the kidnappers. They were indeed a semi-legit, lower-level Irish gang working under a larger mob-controlled organization. If there’s any credit to be given to Brian, it’s that he didn’t hold back any information, spilling everything he knew without even asking for protection or immunity in exchange. I’ll grudgingly admit he seems to feel horrible about Jaime’s current plight, and he’s willing to do anything to fix it.
We have their names, their addresses, and their regular haunts. Brian provided information on how weaponized they were and their skill level in using the guns they’d brandished. They are all young, stupid kids who don’t know their asses from their heads.
Mainly, what we learned is these guys aren’t very smart. They truly thought this would be an easy little kidnapping, which would knock Brian back in line and force him to get the money by whatever means possible.
Clay carefully coached Brian what to say in a text response to the man known as Glen Boyle, the leader of their little ring. He got Boyle to spell out exactly what he wanted, which was the money plus a moderate amount of interest. Clay then instructed Brian to buy some time by telling him it would take a few hours to get the cash.
Most importantly, Brian asked where they could meet, and Boyle gave him an address.
Kynan immediately deployed Malik, Ladd, and Jackson to do reconnaissance on the address. It was an abandoned ice warehouse, ironically not all that far from Jameson, which is in a very sketchy area of Pittsburgh. Using high-speed infrared scopes, they were able to confirm five people in the building, one sitting on a lone chair, presumably Jaime. It was a classic brick construct, two stories high with a row of dusty paned windows with rotten wooden frames. It was in serious disrepair, and it made the perfect hiding spot for these morons.
Three of the men sat at a table and appeared to be playing cards, and the fourth paced back and forth.
Armed with that information, plus photos of the building from every angle, they came back to Jameson for us to make our plan.
Twenty minutes ago, Clay had Brian call Boyle and demand to talk to Jaime to ensure she was okay. While we didn’t want him to put it on speakerphone, which might alert Boyle others could be listening, Bebe had tapped the signal. It had allowed all of us to sit around the conference room and listen on ear mics.
The relief upon hearing her voice was overpowering, and I had to restrain myself from not grabbing the phone from Brian to tell her I was coming to get her.
“Jaime,” Brian had said when her voice came on the line. His own voice quavered, sounding as if he were on the verge of tears. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, but her tone was clipped and angry. Boy, she’d sounded pissed at her brother.
“I’ve got the money,” he told her, which he didn’t. There was no way these scumbags were going to get anything other than handcuffs. “I’ll be bringing it soon.”
Jaime didn’t express relief or gratitude over her brother’s proclamation. Instead, she asked, “Have you seen Cage? Do you know if he’s okay? He was with me when these assholes took me.”
Brian’s eyes flew to mine, and I shook my head in the negative. We’d prepared him for this, but he looked panicked over the question. Eventually, he answered the right way. “No, sorry. I’ve just been dealing with the men who have you. They contacted me.”
“Oh, God,” Jaime moaned, then turned hysterical. “He might be dead right now. You’ve got to go over there right now and check—”
Her voice had been cut short, and Boyle came on the line. I could hear Jaime cursing at him in the background. He’d sounded calm when he’d asked, “When can we expect you with the money?”
“A few hours,” Brian said, as planned. Although we’d be rolling in much sooner than that to catch them off guard. “I’m collecting it from a few sources.”
“You’ve got two hours,” Boyle taunted ominously. “Or I’m going to start cutting pieces of your sister off and sending them via courier to your parents.”
“You harm a hair on her head,” Brian threatened, but the line had already gone dead.
Admittedly, Brian did his part well. They didn’t suspect he’d partnered up with anyone to help.
“Let’s run through it one more time,” Kynan says, and I blink out of my thoughts. I glare at him for making us do it, but I listen anyway.
We have a photo projected up on the screen at the end of the conference room table. Kynan uses a laser pointer to go over each man’s position.
Putting the red dot on the roof, he says, “You’ll be here, Cage, and you can access it via the fire escape stairs on the south side of the building without being seen.”
I nod. I’m what’s called the “shock and awe” part of this mission.
“Brian will bring the satchel to this door,” Kynan continues.
All heads turn to look out the glass wall at Brian sitting at a desk in the pit. He knows his part in rescuing Jaime, and he’s committed. For the most part, we trust him to do what’s right, but in the off chance there’s something nefarious we’re not sniffing out, he’s been banished from the conference room while we solidify the remainder of the plans. Essentially, Brian’s on a need-to-know basis… and he only needs to know he delivers the satchel filled with stacks of blank paper so they believe the deal is going down as they planned.
Of course, this plan only got the green light after a very frank discussion with Jaime’s parents. As her husband, I had the legal right to make decisions on her rescue, but I knew how important it would be for our future relationship to involve them.
So Kynan and I sat down with them, along with Clay as the official representative of the FBI, and explained their options.
Either they could let the FBI take over, using their protocols, or they could let Jameson Force Security handle it. Clay explained the FBI would employ the use of a negotiator for her release and the longer the standoff went on, the more Jaime’s life would be in jeopardy.
Kynan explained we would employ a method that was a bit more… let’s say… forceful. We wouldn’t negotiate, and we would ensure it was all over in a matter of seconds. He had to admit there was still some risk. While he couldn’t guarantee any outcome, he felt confident we could get Jaime out unharmed.
Their decision wasn’t easy. They were inclined to trust the FBI, and there was suspicious regard for me—the man who married their daughter behind their back. Ultimately, they chose Jameson because they wanted this over quickly, but mostly because with our plan, Brian would play an integral part and he’d lobbied to help rectify what he’d caused.
Grudgingly, I had a tiny bit of respect for him for doing that, but just a minuscule amount. He still has a lot to make up for.
I listen as Kynan goes over Ladd and Jackson’s roles, who will be coming in behind Brian after I give the signal. It’s a well-timed, well-orchestrated plan that should stun Jaime’s kidnappers into capitulation before they can even raise a gun.
Kynan winds down the meeting. While Jackson, Ladd, and I gather our gear, Kynan goes over everything with Brian one more time. Clay has four agents on standby as backup, ready to make the official arrests.
When Kynan is through with Brian, who goes back to sitting by himself at a desk, I walk over to him. He looks up, wariness in his eyes. He knows I’m beyond furious with him for putting his sister in danger.
But I also know he’s worried about her, too.
“She’s going to be okay,” I assure him. “We’re very good at what we do.”
Gaze dropping, he nods. “She’s going to hate me forever.”
Knowing Jaime the way I do, I feel confident in reassuring him. “Only for a little while.”
His gaze pops up, his lips curving into the slightest of smiles. “I just want to do my part to make this right.”
“You are.” I reach out a hand, squeeze his shoulder. “And she’ll love you for that.”
“Really?” he asks hopefully.
“Yeah.” My smile turns hard, though. “Of course, I’m still considering giving you a sound ass-whooping once it’s all over, then you and I will probably be on good ground.”
“I’d deserve it,” he replies glumly.
He would so deserve it, and I’d enjoy it a lot. Instead, I find myself saying, “This is a new chance for you, Brian. You can make a fresh start after you make amends. Be the man your sister knows you can be.”
He nods, but there’s no confidence in his expression. He’s too beat down by just how badly he’s fucked up. But once we get on the other side of this rescue, then maybe he can turn his life into something good.