Unbeknownst to Jeremy or his abductors, fourteen-year-old Patty Pierce could hear what the abductors were saying. She had been unable to get back to sleep. She had opened her bedroom window to get some fresh air. Once she started hearing the men’s voices, she crept slowly toward her window and listened carefully. Realizing that something terrible could happen, she told her parents about it right away.
Trevor and Donna Pierce were always attentive toward Patty. If she had something to say, even at this hour of the morning, they would listen to her. She told them about the car that drove up and parked across the street, next to a local park. Then she said that the men in the car talked about having a captive. This captive was wanted for murder in Virginia. The men, with help from Governor Woodring, were going to send him to Virginia for trial. In Virginia, the captive would be tortured and killed. Meanwhile, they and Governor Woodring, along with some woman, would get a big payoff.
While the story sounded strange, Patty’s parents knew that she was not likely to make things up. Trevor walked into Patty’s room and looked out her window. Right away, he saw the car. Vaguely, he saw two men sleeping in the front seat. A third one was sitting behind the car as if he was guarding the trunk. Trevor could not tell if this man was asleep or not. But it was enough proof for Trevor to convince him that Patty was telling the truth.
Trevor called the police, informing them of his conversation with Patty. He affirmed that he saw the car and saw three men there, two inside and one out. Then he gave them his address. The police dispatcher said he would send someone out there.
While they were waiting, Trevor phoned some of the neighbors, informing them of the situation. Just like Trevor had confidence in Patty, the neighbors had confidence in Trevor. As they looked outside and saw the car, they knew something bad was afoot. Some wondered if these men might be dangerous and possibly a threat to themselves.
Soon a police car silently drove by. When it turned the corner, the neighborhood men wondered what it was doing. Soon the policeman drove back, parking just in front of the suspicious car. The kidnapper sitting behind the suspicious car seemed not to notice.
Momentarily, three more police cars arrived just as silently. After a few more minutes, the four policemen opened their car doors, promptly seized the man sitting behind the car, handcuffed him, and put him in one of the police cars.
The noise awoke the other three kidnappers. It also alerted Jeremy that help might have arrived. He pounded on the trunk lid again. Quickly, a policeman jimmied open the trunk. A grateful Jeremy scrambled out of the trunk. The police told Jeremy to back away and take cover. Now the police turned their attention to the remaining kidnappers.
With guns drawn, the policemen walked up to the front seat and ordered the two men out. Instead, the driver turned on the ignition and tried to drive away. But the path in front was blocked. Before he could shift into reverse, the police shot out all four of the tires.
Brandishing their guns again, the police demanded that they get out of the car. Realizing that the jig was up, both men complied. They were quickly arrested and handcuffed.
The last kidnapper had been sleeping in the park. When he saw what was happening, he tried to sneak away. But Jeremy saw him. He pointed the man out to the police.
By now, the gunshots had awoken just about everyone in the neighborhood who was not already awake. When it became obvious that the police were chasing someone, some of them got into their cars and tried to head that person off. While the police did not want anybody helping them with their work, they were in no position to stop them. Knowing that they had to get the last kidnapper, they too started up their cars to try to catch the kidnapper.
It was not long before the last kidnapper was caught. When he saw the police start up their cars, he tried to hide. Soon there were so many cars driving around the neighborhood that he could not cross any streets without being seen. When he doubled back to the park, there were no places to hide. Surrounded, he surrendered to the police.
Two of the policemen drove the captured kidnappers to the local jail. The other two wanted to speak with Jeremy. Trevor Pierce invited the threesome to talk in his house.
The two policemen, Jeremy, and Trevor sat around the kitchen table while Donna, Patty, and Patty’s younger sister, Sandra, sat in the living room, listening in. The two officers were Officer Clay and Officer Quinn.
Officer Quinn started the conversation. “What is your name?” he asked.
“Jeremy Voorhies,” Jeremy replied.
“Where do you live?” Officer Quinn continued.
“Currently, I am an ROTC student at Creighton University. My home is with my grandparents in Grinnell, Iowa,” Jeremy replied, providing all necessary information. “Where am I?”
“You are in Lincoln, Illinois,” Officer Quinn answered, surmising that Jeremy’s uniform was that of an ROTC student. “Now, how did you end up in the trunk of that car?”
“I was walking back to my barracks at Creighton,” Jeremy started. “Suddenly I was jumped by these guys. They covered my mouth and gagged me before I could say anything. Then they dumped me into that car trunk and shut it. They immediately started the car and drove off. Once they got onto the freeway, I could tell they were driving me east. It was not until late in the ride that they turned and headed south.”
“Did you hear them say anything?” Officer Quinn continued.
“When they jumped me and put me in that trunk, they said nothing,” Jeremy explained. “Nor could I hear them talking during the drive. I could only hear other vehicles outside. But when we stopped here, I could hear them outside, talking.”
“What did they say?”
Jeremy was particularly nervous while answering that question. “They said that they would work with Governor Woodring to arrange for me to be transported to Virginia. They said I was wanted for murder in Virginia and that I would probably be dead by this weekend. They mentioned that I would be tortured. General Krakowski would pay big money to get me because I was wanted for murder. Once Governor Woodring got the money, they would all get a generous portion.”
“Did they mention anybody besides Governor Woodring and General Krakowski when they talked?” Officer Quinn continued.
“They mentioned a woman named Lisa,” Jeremy replied. “I am almost certain that woman was Lisa Plummer. She was their snitch. She would also get a cut of the money.”
“Tell me about your acquaintance with Lisa Plummer,” Officer Quinn said.
“She and I attended school together at both Grinnell and Creighton,” Jeremy explained. “I never heard of her until I got a Valentine’s Day card from her. I asked some boys who she was, and they pointed her out to me. She is a good-looking girl, but my friends warned me about her temper. I tried to be nice to her. I danced with her a couple of times at a school dance. But I just did not feel comfortable with her.”
“Did you continue to have contact with her?” Officer Quinn asked.
“It was hard not to,” Jeremy responded. “Frequently I felt like I was being followed or watched. One time I was walking home from school and felt like I was being followed. I turned around and saw Lisa following me from a distance. I motioned for her to come up. She very pointedly asked why I was spending time with Kim Mullen and not her. I tried to be nice to her about it, but she just kept on being angry. I could not do anything about it.”
“Would you say that Lisa was jealous of Kim Mullen?” continued Officer Quinn.
“That is pretty safe to say,” agreed Jeremy. “After that, whenever I sensed her presence, it always had a negative, menacing type of feel. Whenever she and I spoke, she was always snippy and hostile.”
“Did she know you were going to attend Creighton?” Officer Quinn queried.
“She did,” Jeremy acknowledged. “Most of the people in our class knew that.”
“Do you think she might have attended Creighton because of you?” continued Officer Quinn.
“I wouldn’t think so,” responded Jeremy. “But I can’t say for sure.”
“Did Lisa know you had escaped from Virginia?” asked Officer Quinn.
“Probably,” answered Jeremy. “It was something that I was not supposed to reveal. But people could figure it out anyway.”
“Explain to me why you are wanted for murder in Virginia,” continued Officer Quinn.
“My friend, Vince Blake, and I ventured into DC one morning,” Jeremy explained. “We did not think we would get caught. The whole place was in ruins. Then we met this old man who told us the truth about Virginia and what was really going on in the United States. Suddenly some Virginia soldiers burst in, killed the old man, and then took me and Vince back into Virginia. The they put us in the back of this van and drove us to Richmond.”
Officer Quinn then simply said “OK,” tacitly urging Jeremy to continue.
“They took us to a hospital,” continued Jeremy. “They put me and Vince in adjacent vacant rooms. No food, no furniture, no place to relieve ourselves. It was dark before I was let out of that room. Some uniformed men escorted me back down the hall. Another group was escorting Vincent back toward the rooms. I said hi to him. He just gave me a blank look. I have never seen him since. Meanwhile, the uniformed men took me down to the basement. They took me to this room where the only light was from a bulb hanging down in the middle of the room. They made me sit in a folding chair right beneath that light.”
“They were really trying to put the pressure on you, weren’t they?” Officer Clay commented. “Well, go on.”
Jeremy continued. “An army officer fired an intense grilling at me. Fearing that I might suffer Vince’s fate, I made a strong stand in claiming loyalty to Virginia. When they told me how serious the charges against me were, I acknowledged them. They asked me why I went over when I knew it was illegal. I just said I was curious. They asked if I saw anything interesting. I said no.
“Then they really pressed me on my talk with that old man. I claimed that I could tell that man was crazy, that he did not know what he was talking about. When they told me that Vince said I were agreeing with him, I said I was only pretending to agree with him because I was scared of him. They asked why two healthy teenage boys would be afraid of an old man. I replied that I did not know if he had a weapon.
“After they finished grilling me, the officers left the room. When they returned, they told me that they did not think Vince could be rehabilitated but that I could. They were placing me in what they called a halfway house. They drove me there right away.”
“What was it like at that halfway house?” Officer Quinn asked.
“It was more like a prison,” explained Jeremy. “First they made me wear this orange baggy clothing. Then they gave me a pill to help me sleep better. Next they put me in a room with a cot under the window to sleep on. This guy named Arthur was assigned to sleep in another cot, blocking the doorway. When I tried to open the window to let some fresh air in, it was nailed shut.
“The next morning my breakfast only consisted of a bunch of tasteless wafers and that victory juice. Then they made me go into a kind of living-room area where they told me to read. Every book and magazine there glorified either General Krakowski or Virginia. I picked up a magazine. There were no chairs, so I sat on the floor next to a wall and acted like I was reading. That stuff was too sickening to really read.”
“For lunch, we basically got the same thing as breakfast. Every prisoner had to eat standing up. The guards got to sit around a cheap table, sitting on ever cheaper-looking chairs. But they got to eat better than us. None of the prisoners even spoke. After lunch, I had to clean up. The rags, broom, and wastebasket were all poor-quality. Our food did not have any kind of containers. Cockroaches could easily get into our food.”
“This is sounding a lot like a prison,” agreed Officer Quinn. “Go on.”
“Next I had to talk with Major Kaiser. He oversaw the place,” continued Jeremy. “He asked me to tell him what I had learned reading that magazine that morning. I bluffed my answer as best I could. But he knew I was bluffing. He scolded me, then had some men take me to the basement. They chained me to a wall and pulled down my pants. Then I got whipped five times on the butt. The major then emphasized that I must read those magazines, not pretend to. Next, they put me in the backyard. I had to spend the afternoon weeding their garden. I did what I was told. Tempting as the garden food was, I did not dare eat any of it.”
“I bet!” interjected Officer Quinn.
Jeremy continued, “For dinner we got just a few more wafers and victory juice. While it was a bigger meal than the other two, it was hardly satisfying. Then we had to go on a work detail moving crates in a warehouse. There were about fifteen prisoners doing the work, being overseen by ten people. To have ten people overseeing fifteen workers hardly seemed cost-effective. I suspected something was going on there that I was not supposed to know about. After we got back to the prison, we all took our nightly pills and went to bed.
“The next day, I attended school in Richmond. None of the teachers or students would have anything to do with me. Every class was overcrowded. I, like many other students, had to stand in the backs of the classrooms. Whenever I stood in a place there, the other students would move away from me. The teachers never let me participate in class. In one class, they had a test. But that teacher did not even give me a test paper, let alone anything to write with. On the way back to prison, I took particular note of some railroad tracks that we crossed over.
“That night, I had to work on another work detail. By then I had decided I had to get out of there, even if I died trying. When I went to bed, I just pretended to swallow that sleeping pill. Once I was sure that my guard was asleep, I smothered him with my pillow. For good measure, I wrapped my pillowcase around his neck until I was certain he could not stop me. I figured that was the only way I could escape. Then I went to the kitchen, grabbed a chair, went to the living room, and smashed out a window. Right away, alarms started blaring. I scrambled out the window. I went to the back alley and ran for my life.”
“You had an adrenaline rush,” commented Officer Quinn.
“You are probably right,” acknowledged Jeremy. “I made my way to the railroad tracks and hid in some weeds until a northbound freight train chugged by. I ran up to an open boxcar, laid both hands on its floor, and jumped in. I could not get any sleep because I was so afraid I would get caught. Once I could tell I was getting close to Arlington, I jumped off the train and made my way to the Potomac River. The river is much wider there than it is by DC, but I knew I had to try. I could not find any openings under the fence, nor could I find anything useful for digging under it. Finally, I stripped naked so that rolled wire at the top of the fence could not snag me. Then I scrambled up the fence, pulled the rolled wire apart as far as I could, got my feet up to the top of the fence, and plunged into the river.
“I waded out into the river as far as I could, then started swimming. It was a most difficult swim, but I knew there was no turning back. I determinedly swam toward the other side. By the time I got close enough to wade again, I felt totally exhausted. The last thing I remember was just barely getting onto the Maryland shore. The next thing I knew, I was lying naked on an examining table in a doctor’s office, covered with a sheet.”
“You must be quite a swimmer,” surmised Officer Quinn. “So, then what happened?”
“The people there were glad when I regained consciousness,” replied Jeremy. “They got me some clothes, fixed me a breakfast that was the best meal I ever tasted, and arranged for me to fly to Des Moines. I stayed there for a couple of months until my dad’s folks moved out from Pennsylvania to take care of me. They moved me to Grinnell.”
“Then you graduated high school in Grinnell and started attending college at Creighton,” surmised Officer Quinn. “Now the government in Virginia wants you because you killed that man who was sleeping in your room with you. Do you know that man’s name?”
“His name was Arthur,” Jeremy replied. “I never did find out his last name.”
“Was it your intention to kill Arthur?” asked Officer Quinn.
“Not necessarily,” explained Jeremy. “I just wanted to render him unable to stop me.”
“How long do you think it took for them to find Arthur’s body?” Officer Quinn continued.
“They would have found it right away,” Jeremy replied.
“That will be all for now,” Officer Quinn concluded. “Officer Clay, do you have any questions?”
“Just one,” replied Officer Clay. “Do you know where Lisa Plummer is?”
“My best guess is that she is at Creighton,” surmised Jeremy. “Either that or she might be with her parents in Atlantic, Iowa.”
“You said that you met her while you were attending high school in Grinnell. Do you think she might be there now?” asked Officer Clay.
“It’s possible,” answered Jeremy. “She only told me that her parents had moved to Atlantic. She said that was why I did not see her in Grinnell last summer.” It was then that Jeremy noticed that Officer Clay was tape recording the whole conversation. At that point, the two officers walked outside. Jeremy could see they were conversing just outside the front door.
When the officers walked back in, Officer Quinn told Jeremy, “Your testimony corresponds very well with the one provided by Miss Pierce. We need to get you back into the RSNA. Meanwhile, we have our own problems to deal with.”
Officer Clay led Jeremy out to his patrol car. He told Jeremy that he was taking him to Davenport. Once they started up, Officer Clay told Jeremy that they were not allowed to say anything about what had just been discussed.
Instead, Jeremy started talking about baseball. It so happened that Officer Clay liked it too. He told Jeremy that two new baseball teams would be added this year, one in Atlanta and the other in Miami. He also commented that many baseball fans in Illinois wanted the state to join the RSNA just so the Chicago teams could rejoin Major League Baseball. When Jeremy asked about how soon that might be, Officer Clay said it was best not to talk about that.
Officer Clay drove Jeremy to the police headquarters in Davenport. Upon arriving, Officer Clay spoke briefly with a police lieutenant. When Officer Clay left, the lieutenant turned to Jeremy. Jeremy did not like what this policeman had to say.
“Jeremy Voorhies, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.”
Then the lieutenant asked Jeremy if he understood his rights. “Yes, sir,” Jeremy replied.
“Do you wish to remain silent?”
Jeremy had a feeling that the lieutenant wanted an affirmative response, so Jeremy said “Yes, sir.”
“Would you like to speak with an attorney?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you like to find an attorney, or would you like to have an attorney appointed for you?”
“Appoint one, please.”
With that, the lieutenant escorted Jeremy to a jail cell. Once again, Jeremy was a prisoner.