Kidnap and Rescue

“Welcome as a temporary recruit of the FBI Christie, we’ve done an exhaustive check on your background and that of your family and are very happy to have you on board. Your skills shown with the Sandusky project have opened a can of worms that goes beyond the United States so let’s see how your skills can be used to help us round up this international criminal band and shut down their operations. Our operatives in the IT section here are highly skilled and have already reviewed the work you did at Sandusky and are impressed. Let’s see how you go with work on the other companies in the US that Randolph Dennis has been accessing so you’ll systematically work through those companies with our most senior operator in this unit. Speed is the essence.”

“Because of the sensitivity of this project there’ll always be plain clothes operatives working around you to protect you from criminal elements. Your food and drink will be pretested before you take it to make sure, they don’t get to you that way. You’ll always travel in FBI vehicles while with us though some of them will look like regular vehicles. Unfortunately, we’ll be tracking your movements and phone calls to protect you so be careful in your conversations. You’ll only stay in places where you have full protection. The people we’re dealing with internationally have eyes and ears everywhere, so this is to see you come out of this assignment intact. I’m handing you over to agent Ralph who’ll see to your corporate credit card and burner phone which you’ll use exclusively for your work as it’s safe to confer using a burner phone. Never use your own phone for work purposes. Your cell phone will have an app installed telling us if someone is trying to hack you. You’ll now partner with Ralph as you go check out all the companies affected by the Dennis organization and their international handlers.”

He pressed the intercom button to contact Ralph, and he was soon in the room to take over. Ralph was probably ten years older than Christie she judged by sizing him up, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw him enter. He was of solid build well shaped by constant working out in the gym and handsome. The man behind the desk chuckled as he saw Christie’s reaction. Maybe Ralph had landed a permanent recruit for them. Ralph smiled reassuringly and said this was probably quite overwhelming for Christie and he’d make the transition a pleasant one for her. He took her to another office where they took her handprints and took pictures of her face for the electronic data base. He took the card that got her into this complex as in future she’d just walk past the scanners hidden at the entrance that would identify her as she came into the FBI main entrance. But the card was replaced by a credit card sized card to fit into her wallet which she could use as a last resort if challenged as to her bona fides. They supplied a card holder constructed to protect cards inside from criminal attempts to harvest information electronically as she walked by and this contained a hidden tracker so FBI would always know it was in safe hands. Ralph then turned to her and smiled.

“Welcome to the safest environment on earth Christie. Now I’m taking you home to pack your personal effects as you’re going to be on the road starting tomorrow and we’re going to be moving rapidly between companies affected to gather evidence which hopefully will put the criminals out of business. We’ll put you into a hotel this evening and you should be ready to fly out early tomorrow with me to the first company to be system audited. You can phone your father to assure him you are in good hands from the destination hotel when he returns from work. I’ll be making all our bookings for the time ahead and hotel bills wherever we stay will be paid by the FBI. Use the corporate card for all your meals and any personal needs you have. You can be assured your salary package will be liberal for the time you are with us, or perhaps you may enjoy the challenge enough to stay on after your assignment is over.”

The next month was a whirlwind of activity. Ralph and Christie worked long hours, but they were well fed. Ralph would use the hotel gym of an evening before going to bed and be up early to go to the gym for another round before they started the day. That was his way of dealing with stress levels in his job. Christie on the other hand was so exhausted at the speed they had to work she went to bed early knowing it would be an early start each day. But they made progress. Ralph was much more experienced than Christie in systems and she marvelled at the speed he worked his way through computer systems. But Christie sometimes found things Ralph missed, and he appreciated her input.

Each company had their own different operating programs, but Christie recognized the changes made to harvest money for that bank account Texico Investments as something originating from a common author. She suspected it was Alan Walker who was the genius behind the scheme in those companies, but what was the common link between these diverse companies and Alan Walker. Surely, he didn’t have access to all those different company IT systems. Weeks later they’d identified the ones who placed their electronic credentials against changes in the respective systems, and these corrupt employees were in the hands of police for interrogation. Before each company system was to be cleansed of this rogue program the current system was uploaded to cloud under control of the FBI to be used as court evidence and Christie restored the system to its original format blocking illegal transfers to Texico Investments. At last, the flow from affected companies ceased as programs were returned to their original configuration. Her assignment was now complete, and it was up to the respective companies to recover their stolen funds from the Dennis group. Christie was taken by Ralph to the one in charge who’d processed her. He was smiling.

“Well-done, Christie. Ralph has given you an excellent report and we’d like to have you as a permanent member of our team, but the work is stressful, and you’d have to want to make that a career. Perhaps after you’ve enjoyed your young adult years you may decide to come back and join us if you decide not to do so now, and you’d be welcomed. Now we must decommission you if that’s your choice though your biometric data will be retained in case of future employment. You’ll of course have to surrender your id cards and credit card along with the burner phone. You can keep the protector wallet, and all your expenses have been covered. Salary for the period you’ve worked with us will be paid into your nominated bank account, so I need your details now. You’ll find it was well worth your while to spend time with us. One more thing. We’ve reserved you a hotel in Jamaica for a two-week vacation to unwind and I think you should do that right away before returning to your regular job Can you do that?”

Christie was blown away when she saw what was going to be transferred into her bank account. She’d been through the mill, but this was obviously a very liberal settlement. She agreed that a Jamaca vacation would be best enjoyed now before going back to work at Futuretec. She was glad she wouldn’t have to be involved in chasing up criminals for conviction and shutting down their operation though she knew she’d be called to give evidence for the prosecution when the case hit the courts later. Many were in jail waiting that court case and Christie wondered about Carole Dennis. Was she involved in any way?

That evening from the hotel she contacted her father and told him she’d be out of the country for two weeks and was looking forward to coming home then and he assured her of another celebration when she returned.

She flew out to Jamaica next day using the return ticket supplied to her and a confirmed booking at Hyatt Zilara Rose. She slept most of the next day then took advantage of pre-paid tours and the pools and beaches.

Then at the commencement of the second week, she was enjoying the spa when a waiter gave her a note to say there was a telephone call for her inside the hotel. That was a puzzle as no one knew where she was including her family. She put on a robe over her two-piece bathing suit and headed for reception. The receptionist gave her a puzzled look when she read the note and shrugged. There was no phone call to her knowledge, The waiter must have got her mixed up with someone else. Christie was irritated as she was enjoying the spa, so she headed for her room to watch a movie after getting changed into casual clothes. There was a woman and man in hotel uniform and a room cleaning trolley at the room opposite to hers and as she entered the card to open her door, she felt a cloth over her nose and mouth and struggled to get loose but soon succumbed to the chemical. She awoke in the room opposite on a bed and the man and woman had discarded their hotel uniforms and were now dressed in casual clothing. Christie had a sudden fear as she realized she’d been kidnapped.

“What do you want from me she said weakly?”

She attempted to clear her head which was still swimming from the chemicals she’d breathed in. The man spoke.

“Greetings Christie Lesser. You are going to enjoy our company at another location for some time as there are people flying in from the mainland to have a little talk with you about some work you’ve been doing in the last few weeks. Now this is what you’re going to do. You will pack your bag in the other room and book out with us now. Both of us have guns and we have been instructed that if you don’t cooperate then they’ll be used to put you out of action. It will be done at the reception counter if you ask for help and we’ll get away as we have comrades scattered around the reception area who’ll see we make a getaway after disposing of you and will take out anyone else who tries to intervene. We prefer you to live however as our bosses have documents for you to sign which they’ll share with you when they arrive the day after tomorrow. You’ll be well fed, and no one will trouble you but will be accompanied everywhere and the gun will be used if you attempt a getaway. Do you understand? Good now we’ll be going to your room to pack up and then book out at reception. A nice tour car awaits you when we leave the hotel.”

Christie shook as she packed her bag and went with the two to reception and then exited to the waiting tour car. She felt that despite assurances to the contrary she was marked to be killed. Who were these people and what documents did they want her to sign. Then she realized it was all to do with the FBI case against the Dennis connections. When they got into the car she was blindfolded, and it seemed like it was an hour before the car came to a halt. She could hear waves. They led her inside a building, and she could hear her suitcase being deposited on the floor. The blindfold was removed.

“You’re permitted to move around the house as you please and have access to internet movies. Whatever you wish to eat you can ask for and it will be supplied to you, but this place is crawling with guards and if you step outside, you’ll be gunned down.”

Christie nodded and went to the window to try and see the ocean as she could hear waves crashing on the beach somewhere outside. The house was well supplied with amenities and there were no restrictions on her movements inside the house. She washed her dirty clothes and put them in the drier. She leafed through magazines from all around the world in various languages and watched movies on TV. Doors and windows were guarded from the outside, and no attempt was made to watch her through the window when she was in her assigned room. No one else occupied the house. On the second day she was informed the bosses had arrived at the airport and were on their way to interview her. She waited in fear wondering who was coming. She knew those involved in the Dennis company’s criminal activities were in jail waiting for the court case. Eventually she heard a car pull into the driveway and looked through the window to see if she recognized anyone in that car.

Two men of Slavic appearance alighted and opened the back door to let someone out. Christie gasped in surprise. Carole! She fled to her room as she heard the men in conversation with guards. Then there were footsteps in the hallway and the door opened. Carole Dennis stood there and studied Christie for a few minutes.

“What a mess you’ve created Christie. Now let’s get down to business. You have documents to sign taking responsibility for all the tampering with those company systems and you’ll claim to be the author of those virus programs. You’ll be stating you were angry at Derek and did this to get even with our family. You’ll confess to being the one who recruited each of those arrested to do this in each company. That may be challenged by the prosecution, but it will certainly give our lawyers ammunition to use and hopefully release of those arrested.”

“But Carole you know they’ll cross examine me when the case is scheduled and I’m unlikely to agree to what is signed in those documents. So, what is the point?”

Carole smiled.

“Christie you will sign those documents or one by one your family members will be killed until you do sign, and we’ll bring you the proof of their execution. Our tentacles are everywhere. You of course will not be alive to give your testimony, but why have your family killed just to be a hero?”

Christie wept and Carole laughed to see her in that condition.

“Christie, you spoiled our chance to further infiltrate Futuretec and use it to our gain. Derek and I would have really benefited Randolph’s corporate structure in that department, but they chose you instead of me and that was a big mistake. Now come and sign those documents in front of my protectors so I can get back to the mainland and work with lawyers to prepare our defence. It will be a powerful one. Make sure you read the last paragraph which states that what you’ve done has troubled your mind so much that you decided to end your life in Jamaica so you family would not have to see it happen.”

Christie was headed to the dining room table where documents had been laid out with a pen to sign with when all hell broke loose outside. The two Slavic bodyguards rushed outside to see what the problem was and found the guards in a gun battle against a team dressed in body armour. There was no escape from that direction, so they grabbed Christie and Carole and ran to the back door and met a squad at the rear who took out the Slavs with well-aimed shots. Carole reached for her gun to kill Christie, and a well-aimed shot took the gun out of her hand. She screamed in pain and ran at the squad with her other fist raised but she was now no match for the rescue squad.

Ralph sped to comfort a distraught Christie. He was not in charge of the team, but the FBI felt he needed to be there to give her support. He spoke to her soothingly assuring her that the wallet she’d retained with its tracking device had their plain clothes team on her tail every day she’d been in Jamaica. Arrests had already taken place at the hotel, and the receptionist was one of their informants and had contacted them as soon as Christie booked out. He put his arm around the shaking woman to comfort her, and she gratefully accepted that comfort. He spoke.

“We had no idea this would happen to you, or we’d have not sent you here but as a precaution you were guarded each day by our operatives. We have no idea who gave the Dennis operatives information on where you could be found. We’ll prise that out of Carole at headquarters. Unfortunately, we didn’t anticipate a room kidnap but saw you had a gun in your back at reception and didn’t want to lose an important member of the team so trailed you here in tour cars with fake tourists in beach attire to avoid suspicion. We were able to use electronic surveillance to listen to conversations and did not see you in trouble until Carole said what she did about killing your family. We have it all stored digitally. We’ve been tracking Carole for a while now so had our operatives on the plane she took to Jamaica. The Slavic bodyguards joined her when she reached the airport. We have a wealth of evidence because of this so assume Randolph will be more cooperative now we have his daughter in our net. Now back to the hotel to finish your vacation and this time there will be plain clothes people following you everywhere you go except to bed of course. He laughed at his joke until he saw the cold disapproving look from Christie.

“Sorry for the bad taste joke. It was meant to be innocent, but I guess it didn’t sound that way. I’m assigned to be with you for the rest of your vacation and deliver you back to your family safe. I hope you don’t mind.”

Christie had calmed down knowing she was safe now and looked Ralph over with his well-conditioned body and good looks. Maybe the vacation wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Sounds good, I think the latter part of the vacation is going to better than the first part but no more jokes like that one, OK? That’s not who I am.”

But she didn’t object to Ralph steering her to the waiting car after she retrieved her luggage with his arm around her sighing as she thought through her terrifying experience and its impact on her future. Yes, Ralph’s arm was comforting, and he was every woman’s dream in looks but she was adamant being around that lifestyle was not her chosen future. She’d be very happy to return to Futuretec and except that executive position in one of their companies where life would be predictable and there’d be a chance to meet someone who could be her soulmate in a more predictable and safer environment.

Conclusion.

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