Chapter 44

FORTY-FOUR

Ronnie and Rebecca are in the kitchen when I walk in with Jack. He seems to come to a decision and turns to face me.

"I'd like to talk to my daughters alone."

"No way," Ronnie says. "Sit. Talk. Now."

Rebecca takes him by the arm and leads him to the table where he sits and puts his head in his hands. "I guess you'll want the truth."

"Damn straight. Everything. Now!" Ronnie says. I've created a monster. I'm so proud of her.

Jack takes a deep breath and begins. "Your mom is filing for divorce. She's been unhappy for some time now and she gave me an ultimatum. Change, or she would leave me. I didn't know what to do so I called her bluff. That's why she wanted to take you to the resort. She was going to tell you."

The sisters stare at him in disbelief. Or they believe but are hurt and disappointed and fighting back accusations. I'm not one of the family so I ask, "What did she mean by ‘change'? Change what?"

For a long moment I don't think he's going to answer. It's none of my business, but I know Ronnie would have asked if she wasn't so shocked by his revelation.

"The usual stuff," Jack says, like that's an answer.

Rebecca shakes her head. "What was the ultimatum, Dad?"

Ronnie says, "We're waiting, Dad."

"It's not about money," he says. "Well, not entirely. We've reached a point in our marriage where we've become comfortable with each other. Or at least that's what I thought was going on when we stopped talking. We stopped spending time together. Stopped almost everything. She wants me to be someone I haven't been in a very long time. We don't even sleep in the same room anymore."

I cringe. I hope he doesn't bring up their sex life again. He doesn't.

"She wants me to retire. Sell the business. Stay home. Spend more time as a family. Go on vacations. I told her we go on vacations, but she said what we do isn't a family vacation. She's right. We go and I spend my time on the phone running the business. It has grown too much for me to handle alone. I was making a place for my daughters to take over the company."

"He's making excuses, Rebecca," Ronnie says.

Rebecca nods. "I know it will be hard for Dad to slow down, but it sounds reasonable that Mom wants you to be home. You deserve a retirement. You and Mom."

"Well, you know I could never do that. Retire. I'd go crazy. Can you imagine me without my job. What would I do? I don't have any hobbies or talents like your mom does. I don't believe in charity work. I've fought for everything I have. No one handed me anything. You girls are where you are because of our hard work and sacrifices. Your mom and I have given you everything you wanted."

The sisters are quiet but they never take their eyes away from Jack's. I say, "So you told her you would never retire."

He nods and looks away from his daughters. "She would never divorce me. Or that's what I thought. When I found out she'd talked to an attorney, I woke up and realized I love her too much to let that happen. I wanted to make things right. I tried to talk to her but she put me off. Said she had to have time to herself. That's when she took you to the resort. I guess she was going to discuss it with you. Get your opinion. I was scared she would leave me. And then I got angry. I received a phone call the morning she went missing. I didn't recognize the voice but it wasn't disguised like the one Rebecca received. The man's voice said they had taken my wife. He said ‘they.' He warned me not to tell the police or call anyone, but I thought it was a prank until Rebecca called me and asked if her mom was here. Then you came home—alone—and told me what had happened. By then it was too late. I'd called the sheriff. After you showed me the note you found at the resort I knew who wrote it. I called the sheriff again and he sent Sergeant Lucas to talk to me. I told Lucas what happened. I gave him Vinnie's name. He was familiar with Vinnie. He said he would find him."

His face stiffens and he's having trouble with his words. "I made a terrible…mistake. Decision. When you called your sister, I panicked. I had already been talking with SergeantLucas. And then you two show up."

He means me and Ronnie. I think he should have been more worried when he talked to Lucas. At least we are doing something.

He says, "I called Lucas and asked him what I should do. He said to try to discourage you from getting involved. But of course I knew you'd keep at it. How could a daughter of mine not?"

Ronnie asks, "What did the caller say exactly?"

With a distant look in his eyes he says, "The first call was a man who asked if I knew where Victoria was. I don't have time for foolish pranks and so I told him not to call here again and was about to hang up. Then he said she wasn't at the resort. She was with them. Don't call the police. That kind of stuff. He said he'd stay in touch."

"Nothing else?" I ask.

"Not then. I just hung up on him. I thought it was a prank like I said."

"So there was more than one call?" I ask.

"Yes. After I hung up on him, a woman called. She said Rebecca would be telling me about Victoria soon and they'd get back to me." He looks at Rebecca. "She called you by your name, Rebecca. I thought it was someone who knew you and your mom were at the resort. That made me think it was someone from the resort calling. I got a call from you an hour later. When you told me Victoria wasn't at the resort, I was still thinking it was some kind of sick joke. I was even more convinced it was someone from the resort. And Victoria and I had our problem and I thought maybe she'd gone somewhere to think. I could tell from your call she hadn't told you about the pending divorce. You already sounded worried and I didn't want to frighten you, so I told you we'd talk when you came home."

"Right after your call my phone rang and it was the woman again. I told her if she valued her job, she'd better stop this nonsense. She laughed. She said if I talked to anyone or called the police, they'd kill her. She said they wanted a million dollars to get Vicki back. They told me I'd get another call and not to tell the police. She said they would know."

He looks from one daughter to the other. "Somehow this woman knew you'd called the police and she called back. She didn't speak but I could hear screaming. They were hurting Vicki. I begged them to stop. I told them I'd do as they said. I told them I'd make you stop, Rebecca. I'd get the million. She laughed and said that was too easy. Maybe they wanted more. Then she hung up.

"After I got my head straight, I thought it wasn't possible. I hadn't heard Vicki's voice. Only screaming. Maybe it was a setup. It seemed like a bad episode of Law and Order . It made me angry someone would threaten my family, and the more I thought about it the angrier I got. That's why I called Sheriff Longbow. He agreed it was a prank but to be safe he said SergeantLucas would contact me. At that point I hadn't talked to you or Detective Carpenter yet. I didn't want to call the resort and talk to Roger and embarrass Rebecca or Vicki. But I did and he told me about the note. He faxed me a copy that I gave to Lucas."

"Jack, you're a smart man," I say. "You had to know something wasn't right. Did you seriously think your wife was playing games with you? I know why you told us about Vinnie. You wanted to put us on that trail to keep us out of the way. And when that didn't work you sicced Lucas on us."

"I'm not going to apologize for what I've done. She's my wife. She's not your responsibility and if you keep messing in this, you'll get her killed."

"There's more, isn't there, Jack?" I ask. He's not good at hiding his lies and that's surprising as he's an attorney.

He remains quiet, then gets up and walks to the window keeping his back to us. "After I'd talked to Lucas, the male called. He asked if I wanted my wife back. I told him I wanted to speak to Victoria for proof. You know? He told me not to be stupid. He wanted the million in untraceable bearer bonds. If I didn't agree, they would send me proof of life. One piece of her at a time." The sisters exchange a terrified look.

We've been wasting valuable time. Vinnie might be off feeding his addictions and has nothing to do with this. Lucas knew better, so why did he steer us that direction? "So when are you supposed to make the exchange?"

"That's just it. They never said. The woman called me right after the three of you went to the jail. She knew you were there asking questions. She asked if I preferred a left or a right hand. I told her I'd made a huge mistake. I said I would meet wherever they want and bring the money. She laughed and said the price was now two million and I had my daughters to thank. She said they would be in touch."

We'd talked to a couple of trusties at the jail but didn't tell them why we were looking for Vinnie. Only a small handful of people knew about Victoria's disappearance. Surely Lucas or the sheriff wouldn't have said anything.

"Can you get the money?" I ask.

"I'm working on it but it won't be easy. I don't have millions in bearer bonds. I need to get those from a bank and I can't do that until tomorrow. I'll have to sell some things but I will find the money. I just hope they give me a little time to raise it."

I wonder if he has any idea what his wife is going through while he's raising the money. She probably thinks he won't pay. She's divorcing him after all.

"And what is Sergeant Lucas doing?" Ronnie asks.

Jack points at the security monitor beneath a cabinet. "You can ask him yourself."

Sergeant Lucas has just pulled up to the gates.

"I'll get him," I say.

Lucas comes to the door and says, "I've got some news."

"Okay." I don't step back to allow him entry.

"I think this is best told to Jack and his daughters as well."

I let him in and he beelines for the kitchen. I can smell coffee brewing. When I get in the kitchen Ronnie has put a plate of cookies out, and Lucas is already munching. He sits at the table dipping cookies in his black coffee then nibbling off the wet ends. After he's eaten a handful of cookies, he pushes the pack away. "Sorry. I have a medical condition and I didn't have breakfast."

I don't care. Shut up and tell us. "What's the news?" I ask.

"I've got a good lead on Vinnie Lombardi. I put out a bulletin on him and the VW camper van. Officer Nelson is in Lynden. Nelson said the camper is parked at a homeless shelter in Lynden called Word of the Lamb. He hasn't approached it. He thought we might want to meet him. I told him we didn't have a warrant but the van is probably stolen or has stolen plates. He said there are no plates. He's keeping an eye on it."

We haven't told Lucas that Jack finally spilled the beans. I want to see where this goes first. It's possible Vinnie is tied up in this somehow, so I want to be thorough. Finding him isn't as important as it was, but it still needs to be done. If he left a note on the door to Victoria's room, he probably didn't see her. But knowing when he left the note will help determine when she was taken.