Twenty-Two

After Ryan left the courtyard apartment, Ashley also headed out. “I’m going to find an all-night drugstore,” she said. “I need a hairdryer and supplies to make Nicole look like someone with legitimate reason to walk into a bank.”

Nicole sat quietly on her side of the love seat, trying not to call attention to herself. She was thinking about her next move. By some miracle, her gun had gone unnoticed and was still in her pocket. But she knew it would be unwise to take on both men at once. Divide and conquer, she thought. She didn’t have any real plan—just a tentative list of possibilities. She’d have to improvise as she went along.

Matt was hunkered down on his end of the love seat with his legs stretched out in front of him. His eyes were closed, although he didn’t seem to be asleep. He kept shifting about and moaning as if his arm was causing a lot of pain. Kevin was standing near the window, fiddling with his phone. The two men had spoken briefly about getting pizza delivered, and Kevin seemed to be taking a long time completing the order.

Nicole got to her feet. “I have to use the bathroom,” she said.

Kevin looked up and turned to Matt. “Hey, dude,” he said. “Keep an eye on her. I’m busy here.”

Matt moaned as he slowly pulled himself to his feet and followed Nicole to the bathroom. She was surprised when he allowed her to shut the door all the way. The single window over the tub was too small for her to climb out of, even if she could reach it. She quietly stepped into the tub and slid the window open. She got out and adjusted the shower curtain so it completely covered the tub. Finally, she took the key out of the lock, put it in her pocket, and pulled out her gun. She positioned herself against the wall so she’d be hidden when the door opened.

She waited at least fifteen minutes before Matt said, “Hey! What’s taking so long in there?” He knocked on the door several times before entering. Once open, the door hid Nicole without bouncing back and closing as she’d feared. She could hear Matt moving around in the tiny bathroom, mumbling to himself. The shower curtain crinkled as he pulled it out of the way. A couple of hollow thuds followed, as he stepped into the tub, presumably to look out the window.

By the time he turned around, Nicole was pointing the gun at him. He put his hands up in surrender, his face registering shock and fear.

Nicole spoke in a low voice so Kevin couldn’t hear over the blare of the TV. “I’m going to lock you in here. If you yell or make a fuss, I’ll shoot through the door. Even if I miss you, people in the other units will hear and call the police.”

“Don’t lock me in here!” Matt pleaded. “Ashley will kill us if we let you escape. She’s a sociopath. I’m telling you, she’s brutal.”

“Don’t worry about Ashley,” Nicole said. “Before she gets back, Kevin will realize you’ve been gone too long and let you out.” She walked out of the bathroom, locked the door with the key she’d taken from inside, and put it back in her pocket. She was fairly confident that Matt wouldn’t be able to kick the door in. Old as these bungalows were, they were solidly built.

The next step was to neutralize Kevin. It wasn’t hard. All she had to do was walk into the living room and point the gun at him. He offered no resistance. Instead, his face turned red and crumpled, as if he were about to cry.

“Nicole!” His voice was shaky. “I’m your friend, remember? I‘ve been on your side from the start. I made sure nobody hurt you.”

She did feel a little sorry for him. He’d been duped into this, like the others. Ashley had promised a big payoff to these inexperienced and unprincipled losers. They had no way of knowing how badly things would turn out. But, she thought, if you dance to the tune, you have to pay the piper. If she let Kevin go, he was sure to call Ryan and Ashley and warn them to stay away. And no matter what, Kevin wouldn’t walk away free. Ryan and Matt would point the finger at him the minute they were arrested.

She noticed a set of keys on the coffee table. “Are those your car keys?”

“I don’t have a car. They’re Matt’s. What did you do with him?”

She ignored his question. “You’re going to pick up those keys and hand them to me, along with your cell phone. Then you’ll show me where Matt parked his car. We’ll walk out together just like we’d normally do, except I’ll have this gun pointed at you. Don’t try anything.”

Silently, Kevin nodded as tears ran down his face.

“And stop crying. I’ll tell the police you tried to protect me,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll cut you a break, especially if you offer to testify against the others. Just explain one thing to me. Why three kidnappings? Why didn’t Ashley simply arrange for you to kidnap her if her goal was to get money from her husband’s trust fund?”

“We wondered about that,” Kevin said. “At first, she told us these other women were friends who’d gotten together to set up fake kidnappings to get money out of their husbands. We figured, ‘Okay; the women were in on it, and the husbands probably deserved it.’ But when we took the first victim, she acted really scared, like she wasn’t expecting it. We asked Ashley about it, and she said the woman was just pretending. Next time, Victoria Reina fought like a wildcat when we took her. We said we knew she and her friends had planned the whole thing. When we mentioned Ashley’s name, she said Ashley was no friend of hers, and she’d never made any such plan. Then Victoria ended up dead, which totally freaked us out. We told Ashley to tell us the truth or we wouldn’t go through with the kidnapping she’d planned for herself.”

By now, Nicole and Kevin had reached Matt’s car, an ancient Volvo. They got in, Nicole in the driver’s seat, still pointing her gun at Kevin who’d settled on the passenger’s side. “Go on,” she prompted. “What did Ashley say?”

“You have to understand about Ashley,” he said. “She’s usually pretty unpleasant, but when she wants to, she puts on charm. She can be pretty convincing. Sometimes, what she says doesn’t make sense when you think about it later. But at the time, she has you totally believing her. That’s why she’s so great at conning people.”

“And—?”

“She said nobody kidnaps adults for ransom in the U.S. any more—like, practically ever. It’s big in third world countries. And her father-in-law, who controlled her husband’s money, was already suspicious of her. That’s why her own kidnapping had to look like part of a crime wave. You know, kidnappers targeting rich people in L.A. She set the ransom low so the victims would be quick to pay and unlikely to call the police if we told them we’d do something drastic if they did. We’d be in and out in a couple of days. Then she planned to up the ante with her own kidnapping. Like the first two were just practice for the big score. It kind of makes sense.”

“It would stop making sense when she asked for ten million dollars,” Nicole said. “That’s a lot different than fifty thousand dollars. Thanks for explaining, Kevin.” She waved the gun at him. “I can’t drive and hold a gun on you at the same time. Stay where you are until I come around to open your door.”

He stared at her, looking hopeful. “Are you letting me go?”

Instead of answering, she hopped out of the car and circled in front with the gun still trained on him. She opened the door and told Kevin to get out. She marched him to the rear of the car and opened the trunk, using the flashlight to make sure the car was too old to have an interior trunk release. Satisfied he wouldn’t be able to escape, she ordered Kevin to climb in.

This made him start crying in earnest. She shushed him. “Please let me go,” he said in a loud whisper. “I’ll disappear. No one will ever hear from me again.”

She waved the gun at him. “I offered you a deal like that at the house. Remember? Too bad you didn’t take it. Get in.”

Snuffling loudly, he climbed in. Nicole closed the trunk. She needed to call the police, but first she had to put some distance between herself and the courtyard bungalow. Ashley might be back any minute. Nicole got in the driver’s seat and headed east toward Melrose Avenue. After-hours clubs would still be open, and people would be out walking. On the way, she had to pull over because Kevin was crying loudly, begging for mercy. She got out and thumped on the trunk several times, warning him, “Shut up or I’ll shoot you.” He immediately grew silent.

Once she was safely parked on Melrose, she called 911, asking for the Robbery-Homicide team working on the Rexton kidnapping. After a bit of explaining, she was connected. She told the officer who answered that Arnault was being held prisoner at the house on Kirkwood and might be injured. She gave him that address, as well as the one for the bungalow where Ryan had taken her. This accomplished, she made a U-turn and headed back to Laurel Canyon.

By the time she arrived on Kirkwood, the house was surrounded by police cars, as well as paparazzi on motorbikes and several news vans. She had to park a couple of blocks away and walk up the hill. The front of the property was marked off with yellow crime-scene tape. She was about to duck under it when a burly cop walked over. “This is a crime scene.” He gestured toward the tape. “You can’t enter the property.” She explained that she was the one who’d called 911 and that her kidnapped sister was inside.

“You heard me,” the cop was gruff and impatient. “Move on!”

“My sister’s in there,” she repeated. “I have to make sure she’s all right.”

“You just have to wait over there with everyone else.” Then he added, “Sorry.” But he didn’t look sorry. His expression was as sour as when he’d first walked up to her.

She considered turning Kevin over to him but quickly decided against it. Not only did the cop not believe her, he seemed to have taken a dislike to her. Maybe he thought she was a reporter.

She remembered the way the yard was laid out with trees and bushes blocking the view of the house. She could cut through the neighboring yard and stay hidden behind the foliage. She walked downhill to the next overgrown lot and then up again. Keeping behind the trees and bushes, she managed to get to her destination without being seen. As she started up the steep path beside the house, she wondered if Steph and Arnault were still in the house. Maybe they’d already been taken away by the police or, in Arnault’s case, an ambulance. Just then she heard a siren and figured she’d made it in time.

It was still dark although the sky was just beginning to lighten. When she reached the top of the hill, she peeked around the corner. Four big cops were standing near the road that ran behind the house. They had their backs to her and were busy keeping a small crowd of paparazzi and other media types out of the yard. More TV news vans were parked across the street, and a news helicopter was circling overhead. As the siren of the ambulance grew louder, the cops got into their squad cars to move them out of the way. While they were occupied, Nicole made a run for the back door and slipped inside.

She was immediately stopped by a plain-clothes detective who was standing in the middle of the kitchen. He was tall and somewhat heavy with steel gray hair and glasses to match. “Whoa,” he said. “How’d you get in? You have to leave.”

“I’m Nicole Graves,” she said, “I’m the kidnap victim’s sister. I have to see her.”

“Oh, yeah,” said the detective, suddenly conciliatory. “You’re the one who called and tipped us off about this place. Sure, just sit over there.” He gestured to the corner that held the table and two chairs. “You’ll be out of the way when the paramedics come in to bring your sister and Detective Arnault up from the basement. By the way, I’m Joe Hammon. Arnault told me about you.”

He held out his hand to shake hers, but she was too busy processing what he’d just said to notice. “Oh, my God!” she said. “Is Steph hurt? Is it serious?”

“Arnault was thrown down the stairs. Your sister happened to be standing near the bottom. He knocked her down and partly landed on her. She’s having trouble breathing. We’ll know more when the paramedics have a look.”

A door banged open behind Nicole, and four paramedics rushed into the house. They were carrying two portable stretchers and backboards. Nicole was in a panic. How badly was Steph hurt? And what about Arnault?

“Did Ryan ever show up?” she asked Hammon, once the paramedics had disappeared down the stairs. “He’s one of the kidnappers. Earlier, he took me to a bungalow apartment south of Melrose. He was supposed to come back here to get my purse. I told them it contained my banking information.”

“You mean you were kidnapped, too?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “I persuaded them to take me instead of my sister.”

“Same thing,” he said. “I’ll need to get your statement. As for Ryan Holich, yes. We caught him just as he was leaving the house. He’s handcuffed in one of cruisers up there.” He nodded his head toward the street above. “You know, he did have a purse with him. We bagged it as evidence. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until it goes through the process before we can return it.”

“How long will that take?”

“It could take a while,” Hammon said. “I’ll do my best to expedite it.”

Nicole thought about what was in her purse. Her main concern was her beloved cell phone; she used it so much, it was like was like an extension of her hand. Fortunately, she’d left it home, along with her car keys. By another stroke of luck, Daniel, the Uber driver, had taken her wallet with her credit cards; she could get those back in the morning. And she’d put her drivers’ license along with Daniel’s phone information and his car keys in the pocket of her jeans. Her gun was in her coat pocket, where she’d put it after forcing Kevin into the trunk. As it turned out, her purse wasn’t that big of a loss.

“Did you find anyone at the bungalow apartment?” she said.

“Just one person, a Matthew—” he consulted his notepad, “Bissell. He was arrested. They’re taking him down to the station.”

“A woman was involved, too,” she said. “Ashley Knowles.”

“Ashley Knowles?” He sounded puzzled. “She was the last kidnap victim.”

“Not really,” Nicole said. “She masterminded the whole thing to get at her husband’s trust fund.” She explained about Ashley’s involvement. Then she said, “When I saw her earlier, she was wearing a pretty effective disguise.”

The paramedics reappeared with Stephanie on a stretcher. She seemed to be barely breathing. Nicole grabbed her sister’s hand, but Steph didn’t respond.

“Please,” Nicole said to the paramedic who seemed to be in charge. “This is my sister. You have to let me go in the ambulance with her.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That’s not allowed. We’re heading for Cedars. You can follow in your car.”

“Can you tell me anything about her injury?”

“I’m not a doctor, but she’s having trouble breathing. We have to get her to the hospital STAT.”

Nicole hurried along beside the stretcher, grasping Steph’s hand, until they reached the ambulance. She had to let go when they loaded the stretcher in. As they did, Steph began to cough and gasp for breath. She was so pale she was almost blue.

Nicole repeated her request to ride along. “Please! She looks like she’s dying. I’m her only family.”

“Sorry,” the paramedic repeated. “I can’t. It’s policy.” As he closed the back of the vehicle, one of the other paramedics donned a face mask and gloves and started working on Steph.

“I’ll get the car,” Nicole said.

Detective Hammon placed his hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “I’m afraid you can’t leave quite yet. We have to get your statement and, most important, a description of Ashley Rexton’s disguise, since the police haven’t found her yet. Meanwhile, your sister is in good hands. Come with me. We can sit in one of the squad cars.” Reluctantly, Nicole followed him up to the street where the vehicles were parked.

All at once, she remembered that Kevin was still in the trunk of Matt’s car, parked down the hill. She explained this to Hammon, told him where Matt’s Volvo was parked, and handed him the keys. He summoned a uniformed cop and told him where to find the car. “Pop the trunk and cuff the man who’s locked in there. Then drive him up here.”

Hammon turned back to Nicole. “We’ll need to impound the car because it was involved in a crime. But I’ll drive you to the hospital after I take your statement. I need to go there anyway to debrief Arnault.”

Nicole was suddenly aware of tears spilling down her face. She started to use her sleeve to wipe them away, but the detective silently handed her a packet of Kleenex. At that moment, two more paramedics passed, bearing Arnault on a stretcher. His face was smudged with dirt, his clothes were filthy, and he was obviously in pain. Even so, he appeared to be in much better shape than Stephanie.

“Hey,” Nicole said.

“Wait a second,” Arnault said, and the paramedics stopped. “They say I may have a sprained ankle or it could be a hairline fracture,” he said. “It looks like your sister has a collapsed lung, so she needs immediate treatment. They’ll get right on it. She should be fine.”

The paramedics started moving again, carrying Arnault to the remaining ambulance.

Hammon led Nicole to where the patrol cars were parked. As they passed the first one, she noticed movement inside. A moment later, Ryan pressed his face against the rear passenger window and shouted, “You bitch! I’m going to get you!”

Hammon went back and opened the front door of the vehicle. “Shut up,” he said. “Or I’ll add threatening a witness to the long list of charges against you.” This had an instant effect. Ryan’s expression went neutral. With his head down, he moved away from the window.

As Nicole climbed into the next squad car with Hannon, she realized she had to tell David about Stephanie’s rescue and that she’d been injured and was on her way to the hospital. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and stared at it a moment, realizing it belonged to Kevin. The police would no doubt consider it evidence, but first she had to make this call. She explained to Hammon that she had to notify Steph’s fiancé that she’d been rescued. When she called David’s cell, he didn’t pick up, so she left a message.

When she was done, she handed the phone to Hammon. “This belongs to one of the kidnappers. I guess you’ll want it as evidence.”

Hammon raised an eyebrow as he took it from her and produced a plastic evidence bag from the glove compartment. After he’d bagged the phone and put it in his pocket, he turned to Nicole and said, “Why don’t you tell me everything that happened since you left home yesterday evening.”

§

Nicole arrived at the hospital’s emergency ward just in time to see Stephanie being wheeled out of a curtained cubicle.

No doctor was in sight, so she waylaid a passing nurse. “That’s my sister they’re taking away. I need to talk to whoever’s treating her and find out about her condition.”

The nurse took Nicole’s name, as well as Stephanie’s, and directed her to the waiting room. It was packed, and she ended up sitting on the floor. There she remained, her legs growing stiff while she watched the door from which doctors occasionally emerged to talk to those waiting. After about forty-five minutes, a young-looking woman in a white coat came out and called her name. When Nicole waved and stood up, the doctor gestured her to a corner where they could talk. The doctor, whose name tag said “Alice Chang, M.D.” wore thick glasses. Her hair was pulled into bun.

“I understand that your sister had a fall. She sustained a broken rib. This, in turn, penetrated her lung, causing it to collapse. We’ve taken some temporary measures to help her breathe while we get her ready for surgery. We’ll repair the damage to her lung and remove air from her chest cavity so the lung can reinflate.”

“Will she be all right?” Nicole said.

“This operation is generally successful. Barring complications, she’s going to be fine.”

This failed to calm Nicole. “What complications?”

“Any surgery has risks, and your sister does have bronchitis, which complicates things a bit. But we already have her on a strong antibiotic. I think the outlook is excellent.” Dr. Chang’s voice was reassuring. “Try not to worry. This shouldn’t take too long. We’ll let you know as soon as she goes into recovery.”

Nicole found a nearby restroom. As she was washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked by her appearance. Her face was smudged with dirt, as was her jacket. Looking down, she could see her jeans were dirty, too. Her hair was a mess and really did have leaves in it, as Ashley had pointed out. Without her purse, Nicole had no comb or lipstick. She washed her face and dried it on a paper towel, then finger-combed her hair, pulling out the leaves. Finally, she brushed the dirt from her clothes as best she could.

When she was done, she returned to the waiting room to find David there, seated in one of the plastic chairs. He didn’t smile, nor did he get up to give her his usual hug. He didn’t look well at all. She sat down next to him and repeated what the doctor had said about Stephanie.

“And what about you?” Nicole said. “How are you feeling?”

“Not that great,” he said. “I’m still a bit dizzy, and it upsets my stomach. The docs tell me it will take a month to six weeks before I’m back to my old self. But I’ll get there.” He gave a weary smile. “The important thing is that Steph is safe.”

She could see he wasn’t in a mood to talk. They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. She was about to check her watch when Arnault limped in wearing the kind of walking boot used for foot and ankle injuries. He was looking around for her.

She gave him a wave. He limped over to her, greeted David, then sat down next to her. They’d cleaned him up a bit, but he was still disheveled, wearing the same dirty clothes.

“They let you out?” she said.

“Yeah. It’s just a sprain, although it hurts like hell. All they could do was tape it up, give me this stupid boot and some pain pills. How’s your sister?’”

“She’s in surgery. They said it wouldn’t take long, but,” she stopped and glanced at her watch, “it’s been over an hour. I heard they caught Ryan and Matthew. And I was able to deliver Kevin to them. What’s the latest on Ashley?”

“She got away,” he said. “They have an APB out on her.”

“I just hope she isn’t using a new disguise,” Nicole said. “And even if she doesn’t have money to get out of the country, she’s great at conning her way into wealthy people’s lives. I wonder if you’ll ever find her.”

“We will,” Arnault said. “Sooner or later.”

At that moment, Dr. Chang appeared at the front desk and motioned Nicole over. Both David and Arnault followed. Chang smiled. “Stephanie came through beautifully. She’s in recovery. It may be a little while before we find her a bed. As soon as we do, you’ll be able to see her.”

When Dr. Chang was gone, Nicole glanced at her watch. It was seven thirty a.m., late enough to call Daniel, the Uber driver. She borrowed Arnault’s phone and reached Daniel on her first try. She explained, as briefly as she could, what had happened and where he could find his car. Fortunately, he had a spare key.

“If you see any dents or scratches, let me know,” she said. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll call later and we’ll figure out a convenient way for me to return your key and pick up my wallet. And thanks so much for the use of your car. You saved my sister’s life and helped the police catch some really bad people.”

“Wow!” Daniel said. “I had no idea. I mean, I’m glad I could be of help. Am I going to read about you in the news?”

Nicole hadn’t thought of this. “I certainly hope not.” She thanked him again, and they said goodbye.

All at once, she felt elated. Everything was taken care of. Steph was safe, and their troubles were over.

At that moment, Arnault got up. “I have to get back to the station,” he said, “There’s a load of paperwork to finish before we can close out this case.”

“Sure,” Nicole said. She felt a little let down. Would she ever see him again? Probably not. As he walked away, she realized it was for the best. There had been a definite vibe between then, but given her last experience with a cop, she knew it would go nowhere.