KILTED DESIRE 2 - Russian Roulette (17 page)

Scott awoke after a few hours; it was just after 5:00 a.m.
He gently moved Tiffany’s head from his shoulder, and slowly lowered it so she
was lying on the couch. He checked the house phone and his cell just in case
anyone had called. There were no calls. Although it was early there, it was
lunchtime in Europe. So, he went into the kitchen and made his call to the PCPS
office. There was nobody available to talk to, so he left a message with the
receptionist asking if someone could call him back with Tom’s contact number. Scott
returned to the living room to check on Tiffany. She was still sleeping. He
went back into the kitchen and started to make a pot of coffee. After a couple
of minutes the house phone started to ring. Scott rushed back to the living
room to try and reach it before it woke Tiffany. He was too late. She stirred
and was reaching for the phone. Scott knew that it wouldn’t be the PCPS office
as he had given them his cell number. He hoped that it was good news. Tiffany
answered the phone, after a few seconds her eyes widened and she reacted angrily.

“Who is this?” she scowled.

“What is it?” asked Scott.

“Hello, hello, are you still there?” Tiffany said, before
hanging up the phone. She looked at Scott. Her face was pale; she looked like
she had seen a ghost.

“Who was it Tiffany? What’s going on?” Scott said, as he sat
down next to her.

“Someone’s got Kyle,” she said, as her whole body began to
shake.

Scott put his arm around her to comfort her.

“What exactly did they say?”

“He said ‘Mrs. Robinson, we have your son. If you want to
see him again, follow the instructions we have emailed to you.’ The voice
sounded muffled, and he must have thought I was Mom.”

“Was there anything else, at all?”

“No, that was it.”

“I think we better wake yer Mom and Dad and see what the
email says.”

 
A few minutes later
Jim and Linda were up; they were all huddled around the laptop and waited for
Jim to access the email account. Jim quickly located the message, which had
been sent about thirty minutes before the call came through. He opened it.

GOOD DAY ROBINSONS

WE ARE HOLDING YOUR SON, KYLE JAMES ROBINSON, IN MOSCOW. IF
YOU WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN YOU WILL DEPOSIT 10 MILLION US DOLLARS INTO OUR
OFFSHORE ACCOUNT. YOU HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK TO COMPLY. PLEASE DO NOT
CONTACT THE POLICE OR YOUR FBI, OR HE WILL BE KILLED. AT THE MOMENT HE HAS NOT
BEEN HARMED AND WILL BE RELEASED AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. PLEASE
MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE MONEY TO BE TRANSFERRED. WE WILL CONTACT YOU AGAIN IN
THE NEAR FUTURE WITH FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND ACCOUNT DETAILS.

Linda started crying and screaming. Tiffany tried to comfort
her but it wasn’t doing much good. Scott was trying to stay calm. He had
encountered many dealings with hostage situations in the past. This time was
different. Scott had never personally known the hostage or their family. Tiffany
sat on the couch with her Mother; she held her sobbing in her arms. Scott
motioned for Jim, and he followed Scott into the kitchen.

“What do we do Scott?” he asked. He sounded concerned, but
reasonably composed considering what he just read.

“It has tae be yer choice Jim. But, I will tell yer
everything I know aboot this kind of situation.”

“Have you had prior experience with this kind of thing?”

“Aye, my government does nae negotiate with kidnappers. We were
sent in a few times tae rescue hostages in various different places.”

“And did you save them?”

“Aye, every time.
But yer have tae
understand something. I was on the frontline then, I was nae the one getting
ransom demands and dealing with this end of things.”

“Okay, I understand. But, even so, you still know more than
we do. What do you think we should do?”

“It’s yer call Jim. Yer have tae understand that if yer do
contact the authorities here, the only thing they will do is contact the police
in Russia. And we dinnae know if this group that has Kyle has anyone working
inside in the Russian police force. Corruption is wide spread over there. If
they do find oot yer involved the police, they may harm him.”

“What about sending our own Special Forces in?”

“Yer government is nae going tae do that, Jim. They are nae
going tae want tae risk a big international incident. I guarantee they will nae
send a Special Forces unit in tae Russia.”

“So we either contact the police and let them try to work
things out with their Russian counterparts, or we just pay?” Jim asked, trying
to get his thoughts together.

“It’s nae that simple either. If yer just wire them money,
what’s tae stop them changing their mind aboot releasing Kyle and asking yer fer
more money? If they know yer are willing tae pay ten million, they’ll ask fer
twenty, maybe more. Where does it end? If yer do want tae pay, we need someone
there tae make sure Kyle is okay and that we have him back safe. This is why I
really need tae
hear
from Tom.”

“Maybe they have him too.”

“Nae, I dinnae think so. What bothers me is how they knew
that yer have that kind of money. Who would know yer would be able tae pay that
much of a ransom. I keep coming back tae Alexei. Either him, someone connected
with him or the casino knows something.”

They were joined in the kitchen by the ladies. Linda was
still extremely upset. She walked up to Jim and held onto him.

“What are we going to do?” she asked her husband, fighting
back the tears.

“Let’s go and sit down in the living room. Scott was telling
me a few things about how he’s dealt with this kind of thing before.”

They all retuned to the couch. Jim sat with his arms around
his wife, while Tiffany sat next to Scott and held his hand. Scott explained
again what he told Jim in the kitchen. He explained to them that whatever they
decided to do, he would help in any way he could. Scott suggested that they
should ask Alexei to come over to the house. Scott thought it would be a good
idea to speak with him. Then, Scott’s cell phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Hi, this is Dawn from PCPS in London. Is that you Scott?”

“Aye, hey Dawn, thanks fer calling me back.”

Scott had spoken with her a few
times the previous year when he worked for them. He was glad it was her that called
him back.

“Scott, you left a message about wanting to contact Tom
Schultz. He doesn’t actually work for us anymore. He left a few weeks ago, and
actually left us a bit short over in the Middle East.”

“Och, I had nae idea. Sorry tae bother yer Dawn, and thanks
fer calling.”

“I don’t suppose you’re interested in working again are you
Scott?”

“Nae, sorry.
I have a few things
going on at the moment.”

“Okay, I didn’t think so but it was worth a try. Take
care
Scott.”

“Bye, Dawn.”

Scott looked at Jim. He was quite surprised Tom had quit
PCPS.

“Jim, what was the financial arrangement between yer and
Tom?”

“We paid him some money up front to cover his expenses and
we arranged to pay him the rest when the job was done. Why what’s wrong?” Jim
asked.

“There’s nae anything wrong. I called my old company. The
company Tom worked fer tae see if they had another phone number fer him and
they said he resigned a few weeks ago. I’m sorry tae ask Jim, but how much were
yer paying him?”

“We gave him fifty thousand up front to cover his flights,
hotels and other expenses. And we agreed to pay him another two hundred
thousand when it was over.”

“Two hundred and fifty grand fer a week’s
work?”
Scott answered, looking astonished.

“Yes, that’s what he asked for.”

“Okay, at least we now know why he quit his job.”

“I had no idea Scott. I didn’t know what the going rate was.
This is not something I have a lot of experience in.” Jim said.

“It’s nae a problem, it was a personal arrangement between
Tom and yerself, nae any of my business. More importantly, do yer have any idea
what yer want tae do? Do yer want tae contact the police?”

“I don’t think so Scott, we can’t risk them hurting Kyle if
they find out. What do you think Linda?” Jim said, turning to his wife.

“I really don’t know,” she replied, as her voice quaked.

“Yer two have tae decide. It does nae have tae be straight
away, but yer will need tae come tae a decision soon. We’ll leave yer tae talk,”
Scott said, as he stood up and motioned for Tiffany to come with him to the kitchen.

“What would you do Scott?” she asked him, as they reached
the kitchen.

“I really dinnae know. I’m so sorry this is happening.”

“It’s not your fault. Do you really think there’s a chance
that contacting the police could be dangerous.”

“It’s nae the police here that’s the problem. They could nae
do anything but contact the Russians. And yer just never know in that part of
the world. We dinnae know anything aboot the group that has Kyle. They could
have people on the inside.”

“So, paying is probably safer.”

“Aye it could be, but it does nae necessarily mean it is
safe. Like I just said tae yer Dad, unless we physically have Kyle, they could
just keep asking fer more money.”

“This is horrible. What do you think? Do you think they’ll
hurt him?” she asked, as she reached for Scott’s hand.

“I dinnae think so, he’s very valuable tae them. I just hope
we can sort this oot quickly. The longer it drags on, the worse it could get.”

“Do you still think getting in to Kyle’s computer could
help?”

“Aye, it could. I have a friend who could get in tae it. He
could also tell us where the hostage takers email originated from. He’s back in
Scotland but I know he’d come over and help, if I explain the situation.”

“Then please ask him, Scott. We’ll pay for his flight to get
here.”

“I’ll ask him as soon as yer parents decide what they want tae
do. If they do decide tae contact the police though then there’ll be nae point
in him coming. The police will want tae have their own people dealing with
everything and they will nae want outsiders getting involved. I’ll have tae
back off too. I’ll still be here tae help support yer but I will nae be able
tae do much else.”

“And if they don’t want to involve the police?”

“Then I’ll call him and he’ll come straight away. And then, I’ll
have tae start working oot a way tae make sure we have Kyle safely with us when
any money is transferred.”

“I know what I think they should do. Would you wait here for
a minute, I’m going to talk to them,” she said, as she let go of his hand and went
back towards the living room. Scott just gazed out of the window. He couldn’t
believe what had transpired in such a short time. He was happy to do anything
he could to help, but he didn’t want to influence their decision either way. He
knew that it must be a terribly difficult decision to have to make. But, the decision
had to be theirs.

A few minutes later Tiffany returned to the kitchen. She
took Scott by the hand and led him back to the couch and sat down.

“They don’t want to get the police involved Scott. They want
to cooperate and pay to get Kyle back,” Tiffany stated, looking at her parents.

“Okay, are yer both sure aboot this?” Scott asked.

“Yes, we just can’t risk it. Please, help us get our son
back Scott,” pleaded Jim, as Linda grasped his arm.

“I will. And I think yer making the reet decision. The first
thing I have tae do is call Chris and get him over here tae look at Kyle’s
computer. Someone needs tae call Alexei. We need him back here tae answer a few
more questions I have fer him. But dinnae say anything tae him aboot the ransom
demand. Let’s see if he mentions it and gives himself away. Also, let’s nae
mention this tae anyone else fer now. I know yer probably want tae call yer
other daughter but apart from that, let’s keep it quiet.”

As much as he didn’t want to be in this position, Scott needed
to take charge. He called Chris and as he expected, his friend agreed to immediately
fly out to help. It was too early to call Alexei, but Tiffany agreed to do that
later in the morning. Scott advised Jim to send a reply to the kidnappers email.
Just simply saying that they would be paying, they would not involve the police
and they would await further instructions as to where the money needed to be
sent. Scott thought that should be good enough for the time being to ensure
Kyle not be harmed. Not long after the email had been sent, Scott’s cell phone
rang again. There was no number on the caller ID.

“Hello.”

“Scott, this is Tom.”

“Tom, where have yer been? We’ve been trying tae call yer
fer two days.”

“My phone’s been out. Scott I can’t find Kyle. Everything
was going to plan but he didn’t get on the plane to go home. He went to
Moscow.”

“We know Tom, his friend Alexei told us. What else
happened?”

“I managed to get on the same flight to Moscow on Saturday morning.
I tailed him to his hotel, and I managed to get a room there too. He went out
on Saturday night on his own, I followed him but he went into a huge disco and
I lost him, I waited by the entrance but he never came out. He has not been
back to the hotel either. What the hell do I tell his parent’s?”

“Tom, it is nae guid. He was kidnapped. I’m at the
Robinson’s now. They received a ransom demand.”