26
Damon
Once again, the day in the office was long, but more bearable now that things were finally looking up. I was eager to be picking Bea up later, and I only hoped I could hold back my sheer delight and smugness just a little and remember that I was still very much in the process of earning that second chance.
To say I was looking forward to it was an understatement. There was still the long-term question of how to extricate myself from the mafia in order to be the best possible partner and father, but the development was making me optimistic that I could solve that puzzle.
When the afternoon arrived, I decided to give Bea a quick call to see how she was feeling—I knew pregnant women could experience a lot of tiredness and nausea. She didn’t pick up the first or second call and, at first, I didn’t worry about it. She was probably in a lecture and unable to talk. When she didn’t answer the third one, I began to grow concerned—a couple of hours had passed now, and she should have come across the chance to call me back. What if something had happened to her or the baby?
I had to see her.
I packed my things and decided to head to Claire’s house immediately. If Bea wasn’t there, then hopefully her friend would tell me where she was and what was going on.
As I stepped out of my cubicle, I saw a large group of people suddenly gathering in the main office, and I got a sense that something critical might be occurring.
“This is a fucking disaster,” I heard one guy saying. “Why the hell were we ever removed from her service?”
“Bentley’s request,” another colleague of mine replied. “When she left home, we were taken off her service. Of course we’ll still catch all the shit for this.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. They shushed me and pointed to the TV on the other side of the room as someone turned it up.
On screen, a reporter made an announcement. “Yes indeed, Clive, we are getting confirmation—the daughter of Florida Governor and Republican Presidential candidate, Calvin Bentley, was been abducted earlier today.”
I stood dumbstruck, wanting to fly out of the office straight away, find out whoever had dared to kidnap my girl and snap their neck, though as the news report progressed with more and more information, I just couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“What else can you confirm for us right now, Jefferson?” Clive prompted.
“Well, Clive, it seems matters have developed very quickly and we are still catching up, but it is quite clear that this is a very bold and ambitious move by the abductees. We have a rough estimate indicating when the kidnappers were able to contact the father of Beatrice Bentley with their demands. Simultaneously, confirmation was sent to the media—from a source on the kidnapper’s side—to indicate that Governor Bentley has been asked to both step down from his campaign and to admit that some of his people in the police force are guilty of helping to smuggle cocaine into the state, and that he has been aware of this fact.”
“Has Governor Bentley made any comment as yet, Jefferson?”
“Not as yet, Clive, but we have had confirmation from Governor Bentley’s camp that the situation is real and that they are drawing all their resources to look into how this crisis can be averted.”
The news reporters went on to speculate a bit more about what was going on and whether there was any truth to the allegations against Bentley. Apparently the media had also received a leaked Internal Affairs department report, which found that certain police officers had been giving away information concerning patrol routines and so helping to arrange a safe passage for drug smugglers. Clearly the kidnapping was part of a well-thought-out strategic plan designed to smear the Governor’s ‘War on Drugs’, with accusations already flying around suggesting that Calvin Bentley had received his own cut from the smuggling.
There were also rumors that Bea had recently been kicked out of the Governor’s house and removed from Secret Service protection, which of course I knew to be true, but I had no time for marveling over how fast the media was able to work. My girl and my unborn child were in real danger and, with the life I’d led, I wasn’t about to sit back and let the authorities deal with it. This was a mission with my name on it except, for once, I was the employer and the business really was personal.
On top of that, I knew exactly who was behind it.