Authors: John Strauchs
“”The handkerchief is very clean. I will be right back,” said Rubio.
“If it will
make you feel more secure, please take one of the guns.” She didn’t.
He went out of the cabin, but returned a few minutes later. He was carrying a six
pack of Pepsi’s. He handed her a can.
“It is not cold,” said Rubio.
“That’s fine,” she said. “I am so thirsty.” She chugged the entire can.
“I do not have any women’s clothes with me.”
“These will do for now,” said Jenny.
She was beginning to feel much better.
More importantly, she was finally feeling safe.
Jenny grabbed the cell phone from the card table.
“I am sorry. There are no cell towers here.”
“Do you think there is a tower at one of the towns?” asked Jenny.
“
Creo
. There may be a cell tower at Fort Kent,” said Rubio. “Now there is something that I must tell you Miss Nilsson.”
“Jenny. Jenny is fine,”
“Jenny, the cell phone may work when you get to Fort Kent, but I believe that the
FBI is at that camp site you were at. Here is a map. This is where you are. If you drive
there, they will take care of you and get you home,” said Rubio. “If they are not there,
your drive back to Rockland will require eight or nine hours. In that case perhaps you
should rest for the night somewhere and drive in the morning. You are very tired and I
am sure this was been a very upsetting experience. But as I said, it may not be necessary.
The FBI is probably waiting at the camp site.”
She listened but said nothing.
“
Bueno
. I have some things to do. I will give you privacy,” said Rubio.
“Thank you,” said Jenny.
Rubio left the cabin.
When he returned, he was holding the work shoes she was
wearing earlier.
“Jenny, I thought that these shoes, such as they are, are better than your bare
feet,” said Rubio.
“Thank you,” said Jenny. She couldn’t help but notice that this man was kind and
gentle. That he was also a brutal killer was incongruous. How could he be that? Was he
that different from Jared? She wasn’t sure.
“There is something you need to know, Jenny. I learned of Zhidov’s plans to kidnap you and to use Jared Siemels’…let us say affection…for you to force him to commit
suicide. Jared Siemels is a man of honor. I know this. I knew he would do it. I was unable to prevent his death because I learned too late of this plot, but I thought I may be able
to save you.”
Jenny’s eyes filled with tears.
She had tried so hard not to think about Jared.
Jared is gone. He is gone forever. He is dead.
“His death saddens me, but we must all cultivate our gardens and live in the world
as it is rather than try to live in the world that we would like it to be,” said Rubio.
“We must all cultivate our gardens?” Jenny repeated. “Candide?”
“Yes, Voltaire,” said Rubio.
Jenny was amazed. Jared used to say that she must cultivate her garden. This man
read Voltaire, just like Jared.
Rubio continued. “I intended to shackle Zhidov to allow your CIA to take him.
He begged me to kill him. He did not want to be taken prisoner by the CIA. He offered
me information to barter for his life…or rather for taking his life.”
“Why are you telling me this?” asked Jenny.
“With the tragic loss of
Señor
Siemels, perhaps this matter is at an end, but it is
possible that it is not at an end. I can not judge this. Your life could still be in jeopardy.
You should not take any chances in any event.”
“I don’t understand…Rubio…why would anyone want to harm me?” asked Jenny.
“As I said, Jenny, perhaps there is no danger. I only believe that you should take
every precaution.”
“What information did that man…(she pointed outside)…give you?”
“Of course, the information. There is a traitor close to Jared Siemels.”
“A traitor? Did he give you a name?” asked Jenny.
“No. He said that his employer used cut-outs to protect the identity of the traitor.
All he knew was that it was someone close to Jared Siemels,” said Rubio.
“Did he tell you who his employer was?”
“Yes, he did.
Sami found the Chechins…you, of course, have heard of the Chechins…to be very useful in his criminal activities.
Through them he acquired ties to the
Islamic radical movements. The employer was Al Queada.”
Jenny was confused.
What did this have to do with her?
With Jared dead, why
would anyone be concerned about her? It didn’t make sense.
“Perhaps I should have kept him alive longer so he could answer these questions.
I apologize for killing him. My judgment was poor. I did learn that Sami Zhidov provided
money to the traitor through a blind account at one of those banks in the Caribbean. I believe he said that there were several accounts at different banks for safety.
He received
information from the traitor through the Internet. The messages were hidden in innocent
travel photographs.
But in any event, it is Al Queada who desired the death of
Señor
Siemels.”
Jenny was stunned.
“I don’t understand why they would have been interested in Jared,” said Jenny.
“Unfortunately, I have no other information.
But you should leave now.
In the
event that the FBI is not at the camp site, you may have many hours of driving. I urge
you to spend the night somewhere, but the decision is, of course, yours to make.”
Rubio picked up the car keys from the card table and handed them to Jenny.
“You saved my life Rubio,” said Jenny. She stood up and took the car keys.
“
Por Nada
, Jenny,” said Rubio. He handed her the cell phone.
“Thank you,” said Jenny.
“Do not feel guilty when you inform the FBI that I am here. You will understand
that I do not wish to meet them. They may have other affairs that they would wish to discuss with me. I will be gone as soon as you depart,” said Rubio. “I am quite accustomed
to being hunted. It can be an interesting game.”
“It happened again. Jared used to say the same thing.
It was all a game.
The
game killed him,”
thought Jenny.
Jenny left the cabin and walked to the Rover, avoiding the body of Sami.
Rubio
was standing in the doorway smiling. He was a handsome man. He reminded her of
Jared—so much—it hurt to think about it. She opened the door and climbed into the Rover. She inserted the key and the Rover came to life. She glanced back at the cabin as she
backed up. Rubio bowed to her. One arm performed a courtly flourish. She still couldn’t
rationalize the man who had saved her life with the one she knew had executed Sami.
She put the Rover into drive and sped off, kicking gravel into the air.
She looked in the
rear view mirror. Rubio was still standing on the porch. She could see his perfect white
teeth. He was still smiling.
It took Jenny several hours to get back to Fort Kent. She hadn’t paid attention to
the way that Sami drove. She ended up on old logging roads that eventually disappeared
and she had to backtrack. She did that several times. She tried to make sense of the hand
drawn maps Rubio gave her, but they were of little help. The compass built into the Land
Rover wasn’t much help either.
She didn’t know which way to go. It could be east. It
could be north.
She finally began to be logical about the problem, just as Jared would
have. She avoided thinking about Jared as much as she could. Whenever she came to two
roads or a fork in the road, she picked the one that appeared to have more used.
She
eventually found a paved road. In a few miles there was finally a sign. It pointed to Fort
Kent.
She pulled into a parking lot in the small town.
The cell phone had three bars.
She punched in the numbers.
“Hello, Krissy here.”
“Krissy, I am so glad you had your cell on,” said Jenny.
Krissy screamed.
“Jenn, we all thought you were dead. I didn’t recognize the caller ID. Where are
you? What happened?” asked Krissy. “Shit, Jenn, your face is on the evening news every
night. Mom is like sick with worry and you know how she tries so hard to hide that kind
of shit.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be back soon,” said Jenny.
“Like where are you?”
“I’m in upstate Maine. On my way back.”
“Gee, Jenn. I feel so bad about Jared. It’s been all over the news, on every channel. The FBI agents are crawling out of the woodwork.
They’ve been to see me twice
already and they just about live at Mom’s house.
They said you were kidnapped,” said
Krissy. “Jake is going nuts that they tapped our phone and are recording all of the calls.”
“I was kidnapped but I’m free now, I’m not hurt and I’ll be home soon. Can you
call Mom?
I just can’t handle it right now. Will you do that?
If I call her I’m going to
cry like a baby and I’ve done enough of that to last me a lifetime.”
“Sure. It’s just great to know that you’re OK. I’ll call her as soon as we hang up.”
“And, don’t tell the FBI guys right way, will ya? Can you wait an hour or so?”
“What’s going on Jenn?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m safe and on my way back. Gotta go.”
“Sure, like I’ll wait an hour,” said Krissy.
“Call Mom.”
“I’ll call her. I’ll call her.’
“How’s the baby?” asked Jenny.
“It’s fine.
I just had my checkup. Everything’s cool. I love you Jenn,” said Krissy.
“Good. Talk to you later. Bye. I love you too Krissy,” said Jenny.
Krissy was rarely sentimental. She didn’t use the ‘L’ word very often.
Now she was feeling better. She was really hungry.
She passed a Subway sandwich shop on Main Street, but she had no money.
She wasn’t going to beg for a meal.
She also knew she looked a fright.
Her hair probably looked like a hay stack.
She
glanced at the rear view mirror and gasped. She looked like she had just been beaten up.
Hell…she had been beaten up. She decided not to stop.
She thought she knew the way now. She recognized some of the landmarks they
passed when Sami was driving to the cabin. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed
south.
About nine miles south of town she recognized the turn off to Daigle Lake.
She
turned up the road toward the lake and found the dirt lane that led to the cabin.
She
slowed the Rover to a crawl. As soon as she went around a sharp bend, she saw it.
The
RV was parked in the back. Sami had hidden it in the woods. That’s why she didn’t see it
earlier. There were no other cars.
It looked just like when she and Sami left it in the
morning.
She pulled the Rover up to the cabin and shut off the engine. She rolled the window down and listened. Nothing! She opened the door slowly and stepped out. .
Suddenly, men came running out of the woods.
Jenny was on the verge of bolting.
“Jenny. Jenny. It’s me. John Cabet.”
Jenny spun around.
“Thank God you’re safe,” said John.
He grabbed Jenny and gave her a massive
hug, lifting her off her feet.
Two more men appeared.
She saw three more come out of the woods. Several
wore black vests with FBI written in large white letters. They all had guns, big guns and
little guns. None were pointing at her.
“I’m so glad to see you. It’s been horrible.”
“You escaped?” asked John.
“Yes and no. I did escape but someone came along and killed the kidnapper. The
creep who took me was called Sami Zhidov.”
“Zhidov’s dead?”
“Yes. If you give me a map I think I can show you the approximate area where his
body is. It’s outside a cabin near a mountain,” said Jenny.
“There’s plenty of time to do that.
Let’s get you cleaned up.
I think you should
consider getting checked out. There’s a medical center in Fort Kent.”
“I’m fine. I just want to get home. Really!”
“It’s up to you. You said that someone killed Zhidov. Law enforcement?”
“Not exactly. Can we talk about that later? I don’t want to go home looking like
this and I am starving.”
“Sure. I have some grub in my car.”
He turned to the group of men and one woman who had gathered around their
reunion. “Agent Goldman, please get Miss Nilsson’s clothing.”
“Do have my clothes?” asked Jenny.
“We bagged them for evidence. We thought that you…ahh…that you might…”
“Be dead?” Jenny finished the sentence.
“Yes,” said John.
Agent Goldman walked up to Jenny.
“Hi, I’m Connie.
I have them in the car.
It’s hidden in the forest. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, Connie,” said Jenny.
Her hair was in tangles. She had small bits of twigs in her hair. She was wearing
men’s work clothes that were several sizes too large for her. The work shoes flopped as
she walked. She didn’t smell good. For a clean freak like Jenny, that was absolutely intolerable. Her face was badly bruised.
“I’ll be honest with you Jenny.
We all thought you were a goner, especially
Jared.
He’s been going crazy worrying about you. He must have phoned me twenty
times today,” said John.
“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?”
“I said he’s been phoning me all day.”
“ARE YOU SAYING THAT JARED IS ALIVE?
I SAW THE NEWSCASTS
ABOUT HIS SUICIDE,” said Jenny. She was still yelling.
“Of course, he’s alive.
I didn’t know you didn’t know. I guess I’m stupid and
should have realized that you might not know.
I am so sorry for not telling you right
away,” said John.
Jenny was a strong and self-reliant woman and hated the affectations of girlie
girls, but she almost fainted.
“He’s alive? You are certain that he’s alive.”
“One hundred percent!
He managed to fool the EMTs that he was dead.
I don’t
know how he did it but I don’t need to tell you that there isn’t much that Jared can’t do,”
said John.
Agent Goldman came back carrying Jenny’s clothes.
They were still in plastic
bags. She also had a shoulder bag with her.
“Ms. Nilsson, this is my overnight bag. It has soap, toothpaste, a comb, and stuff
like that. There’s even some lipstick and other cosmetics. And, I think you need a towel.
She handed Jenny several packets of premoistened wipes.
“I am so grateful Connie. This is wonderful,” said Jenny.
“One more thing.
Your underwear wasn’t with your clothes so I hope you don’t
mind that I left my extra set in the overnight bag. They were just laundered and are perfectly clean.
The sizes are just a little off, but it’s better than nothing I suppose,” said
Agent Goldman.
“I really, really appreciate everything you are doing. Thank you,” said Jenny.
“We’ll give you some privacy to get cleaned up.
I will get the grub.
We have a
chopper about twelve miles from here. We’ll get you a proper meal as soon as we land in
Rockland,” said John.
“I know it might be late, but can we stop at Ashley’s for dinner?” asked Jenny.
“That is a really odd thing to ask for, but OK. I don’t know where that is but you
can show me,” said John.
“And can I call Jared…now?” asked Jenny.
“Here, use mine.” Agent Goldman handed Jenny her SAT phone. “He’s on autodial five. He’s been a busy boy today. We were very worried about you Miss Nilsson.”
“Thanks, Connie.”
Jenny picked up her clothing and the overnight bag, and climbed into the Land
Rover. As soon as she had privacy, she closed her eyes and cried.
Jared was alive.
He
was alive. She sobbed silently for a few minutes and then collected her composure. She
mashed down the 5 button until the phone began to ring. Someone answered.
“JARED….I’M SAFE.”