Chapter Nine
ALICIA
I was nervous about this dinner with Alex and his parents, mostly because the nervous energy coming off of Adam on the drive over was so thick in the car that you could cut it with a knife. When we pulled up in front of Alex’s big three-story house, I stopped Adam from opening the car door and asked him, “Are you okay?”
He nodded and started to get out again. I stopped him again. “Adam, words please. Can you do this, babe?”
“Yeah, baby,” he said. His voice was hoarse. I wasn’t so sure that he could pull this off, but before I could object again he was out of the car. He came around and opened my door but didn’t meet my eyes as he took my hand and led me up to the front door. I saw his hand tremble as he raised it up to knock. This was tearing him up and because of that, it was killing me. We’d gone to look at our own new house the night before. It was amazing and I loved it. Adam said he did, too, but he was so anxious about this dinner today that he couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for anything else.
“Hey! There they are.” Alex opened the front door. He was dressed casually in a golf shirt and jeans and he was wearing an apron. He grasped Adam’s hand and shook it hard and then leaned in and kissed my cheek. I felt nauseous at his touch, but tried to keep a neutral expression. “Come on in, guys. I’m so glad you could make it.”
I smiled at him because Adam wasn’t and I wanted to draw attention away from him. “Thank you for having us. Adam’s been excited about seeing your parents.”
“They’re excited to see you, too, buddy.” Adam finally managed a smile.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said. Alex led us into the den where there was an older couple waiting. They both got to their feet and Alex’s dad, who he introduced as Bill, enveloped Adam in a big hug. His mother hugged him, too, and then they both shook my hand.
“Adam you look great!” Mr. Fritz told him. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too, Bill. Suzie, you look as beautiful as ever.” The older lady blushed red.
“You always were a sweet-talker,” she said. “So, Alicia, you’re from England?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“No ma’am, I’m Suzie. Can I get you two something to drink?”
“I got it, Mom. Have a seat.” Alex excused himself and came back with a carafe of coffee. “If you want something stiffer help yourself to the bar,” he told them. “I’m going to finish up dinner.”
“Do you need help?” I asked.
“Nope, you all stay out of my kitchen,” he said with a grin. “It’s almost finished.” Adam and Mr. Fritz fell into easy conversation and Mrs. Fritz turned to me and said,
“Alex tells me you’re getting married on Valentine’s Day?”
I smiled. One thing I loved talking about was marrying Adam. “Yes, at the Plaza. I’m really excited.”
“Good, it will be here before you know it. Mr. Fritz and I have been married thirty-five years this month.”
“Congratulations, that’s amazing.” I found out that she was easy to talk to. She wanted to hear all about our plans for the wedding. She seemed sincere in her praise and offered up a few tips of her own.
“Where are the two of you planning to honeymoon?”
“You know, that is the one detail that we haven’t discussed yet,” I told her.
“You should go to Hawaii,” Mrs. Fritz told her, “That’s where Alex’s father and I honeymooned. It was so lovely.”
“It does sound lovely,” I told her, “I’ve never been there.”
“We stayed in Oahu. It’s a beautiful island. The water in the ocean there is warm all the time, and so clear you can watch the fish swim by.”
“That would definitely be a nice change from the cold, dirty water we have here in New York, wouldn’t it?” I told her with a grin.
“Yes, dear, you would just love it. Waikiki is another beautiful place.”
I listened with sincere interest as Mrs. Fritz described the islands to in vivid detail. I was about to ask her how long it had been since they’d been there, when suddenly, all hell broke loose.
From outside of the house came a piercing scream. It sounded human and male, but when I went over the details of the night later with the police and in my own head I couldn’t have sworn to either. Before anyone could react to that, however, the front door crashed in and two large men dressed all in black and wearing nylon masks over their faces burst inside.
“What the hell is going on here?” Mr. Fritz said, surprising them all by rushing towards the men.
“Dad, no!” Alex yelled as he was just coming into the room from the kitchen. The men were huge, and both were armed. He tried to grab for his father, but he was too late. One of the men swung his overly muscled arm out like a clothesline, striking the older man in the head and knocking him to the floor. Alex was pushed backwards and caught himself on a chair to keep from also tumbling to the floor.
Suzie Fritz screamed and Alex went over to her and held her back gently, but firmly as she tried to go to her husband. “You can’t help him if you get hurt yourself,” I heard him whisper to her.
Alex looked towards the men and asked, “What do you want?”
Adam had stepped protectively in front of me and we all held our breath and waited for the men to speak. Neither of them did. Mr. Fritz was beginning to rouse, and one of the men kicked at him with his foot until the poor old man had crawled all the way to the dining room to join the rest of us.
The man in front motioned at the other with his head. The man in the back nodded and began to approach them. He pointed his large, black gun at us as he did, but didn’t speak a word. He reached first for Alex’s mother. As he grabbed her by the arm she screamed out Alex’s name. Alex tried to hold on to her, but the man struck him with the butt of the gun, knocking him backwards.
The man forced the older woman to sit in one of the dining room chairs and then with the hand not holding the gun he reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of silver duct tape. He held it in my direction and grunted, motioning me towards Mrs. Fritz using a jerk of his head.
I knew what he wanted. He was telling me to tape the woman to the chair. I didn’t want to do it, but I was smart enough to know that refusing to do something when a man had a gun pointed at you could get people killed. I sat my purse down on the table and took the tape. I whispered, “I’m sorry,” to Alex’s mother as I began to wrap it around her wrists and ankles and the arms and legs of the chair.
“It’s okay, dear,” the older woman said, making me want to smile at her. I loved the older generation. Even in times like this they seemed to remember their manners. One man had his gun on me, and the other on both Alex and Adam. Mr. Fritz sat slumped in a chair, still looking dazed.
“Can I make sure my Dad is okay?” Alex asked.
The man simply shook his head no. Alex looked distressed, but this time didn’t try to move. The dark bruise forming on his cheek had convinced him that not doing what these men told them to was a bad idea. After I finished with Mrs. Fritz’s arms and legs, the man made a motion across his mouth with his hand and pointed back at her. I tore a piece of the duct tape about six inches long and placed it across the older woman’s mouth. I could see tears forming in her eyes, and it made me feel like crying, too.
Afterwards, the man made me do the same to Adam, Alex, and lastly Mr. Fritz just as he seemed to be coming around. The man then taped me to a chair, while the other kept the gun trained on them. After we were all secured, the men left the room.
I could hear shuffling and commotion in the rest of the house as the men apparently tore things apart, looking for whatever it was they had come for. I tried to take comfort from the look of love that Adam gave me with his eyes. He was trying to convey to her that all would be okay. I tried once to smile at him, but the men had taped my mouth so tightly that the smile actually hurt. I glanced at Alex’s parents. His father’s eyes looked both sad and angry, and his mother had hers closed, a stray tear found its way down her cheeks every now and then. I looked at Alex then. He wasn’t making eye contact with any of us. His eyes looked cold and angry to me.
After what seemed like hours, we heard the men leave through what was left of the front door. Adam waited several minutes to make sure they hadn’t returned, and then began to use his leg and arm muscles to wiggle his chair towards the dining room table. I watched, in awe of this strong, brave man that I loved as he used the corner of the table to peel the tape from his face. He got it off one side, leaving an angry red mark on his cheek and upper lip where it had clung. He then scooted towards where I left my clutch, and using his mouth again he opened it and after a great deal of effort he got my cell phone out. The small gun he had bought me to carry in my purse also fell out on the table. I could see Alex watching and the look of surprise on his face when he saw the gun.
Adam wasn’t able to use his face to dial 911, but he was able to press the last number dialed with his nose. He laid his ear on the phone on the table and said,
“Come on, Kyla pick up.”
“Hi, girl! Thought you had dinner plans tonight,” Kyla said as she answered the phone.
“Kyla it’s Adam.”
“Adam? Is everything okay?”
“Not really, I need a really big favor, okay?”
“Absolutely boss, what’s up?” she said.
“We’re out at Alex Fritz’s place on the Island. The address is 1112 North Sycamore Drive. I need you to call the police and have them come out here right away.”
“The police? Adam, what’s going on?”
“Tell them there were two intruders here and they tied us up. We need help,” he looked over at Alex’s father and then said, “Maybe they should send an ambulance, too, just to make sure everyone is alright.”
I knew Kyla wanted to ask more questions, but the urgency in his voice made her simply say, “Okay, I’m on it,” instead.
Adam pushed the “End” button with his chin and then looked at them all and said, “Help is on the way, guys, hang tight.”
The police and an ambulance showed up within twenty minutes after Adam had spoken with Kyla. I heard a man’s voice outside say, “This guy needs medical,” and suddenly remembered the limo driver. He must have been who we had heard scream. I hoped he was alright.
Two uniformed officers came inside first. They had their guns drawn and did a search of the house before removing the tape from me and the others. As soon as they had gotten Alex freed, he grabbed his cell phone out of the drawer under the kitchen counter.
“Sir, no phone calls yet. We need to talk about what happened here first.”
Adam gave Alex a questioning look. Who would he be calling at a time like this?
Alex looked reluctant but he sat back down and as if suddenly remembering what had happened, he said, “Mom Dad, are you guys okay?”
His mother simply nodded, and his father looked angry again and said, “Fine, glad you held off on your call long enough to ask.” By that time, detectives were on the scene. The lead detective, a man named Jeffrey Stout asked whose house it was and Alex told him it was his. He then asked what had happened tonight, and Alex described the past forty-five minutes or so to him.
The detective took the names and relationships of everyone in the room, and then asked,
“Did any of you recognize anything about either of these men?”
We all said that wet did not.
“Mr. Fritz, do you have any idea what they were looking for?”
Alex ran his hands across his face and through his hair before saying, “I am the East Coast campaign manager for the President. I don’t know if they thought there would be money, or campaign information here…there’s not. I don’t keep anything like that here. It’s all strictly confidential and it is kept at campaign headquarters.”
“Hmm,” the detective said, as he made a note on his pad. “You don’t seem to have very good security here for a man who is so important.”
Alex looked like he was getting frustrated with the detective. He stood up and said, “I just told you, I don’t keep anything confidential here. I don’t have money here. I don’t even own a safe. I didn’t think I needed more security than I have.”
“Sir, please sit down,” the detective asked him. Alex wasn’t used to having people tell him what to do anymore, but in this case, he did as he was told.
“Mr. Hanson, I recall that recently your ex-wife was murdered in an apparent robbery. Do you think there may be any relation here?”
Adam shook his head slowly and said, “None that I can think of. They arrested Miles Brigham IV for Marjorie’s murder. I obviously don’t believe he’s guilty, since my firm is handling his case. The problem there is that I don’t know who killed Marjorie, or why, so I couldn’t really say if this was related or not.”
The detective made another note and then said, “Ms. Winston, you’re from the UK?”
Alicia told him she was and he said, “You can’t think of anything at all that was familiar about these men?”
“No, they had on masks, their builds were both very large, and I don’t even know anyone that big. Their hair was covered and they never spoke.”
“Yes, that’s what makes me think maybe one of you knew them. They didn’t want their voices, or their accents to be recognized.”
“Their accents?” Alicia asked,
“Yes, the man outside, Frank, the limo driver, heard them speak when they thought he was unconscious. He said they spoke with British accents.”
“I really didn’t recognize them...” Alicia began.
“I believe you,” the detective told her, “just heard your accent and thought, maybe… Anyways, I’d like to get each of your statements individually. The EMTs are going to take Mr. Fritz to Mercy and have him checked out. Mrs. Fritz, you are welcome to go with him if you like, I’ll check in with the two of you later.”
Mrs. Fritz already had her coat on and her purse in her hand. The EMTs had put Mr. Fritz on a gurney, despite his protests. She thanked the detective and followed them as they took him out the door. The detective looked at Alex and said,
“Mr. Fritz, before we begin the interviews let’s take a walk through the house. You can tell me if it looks like anything is missing.”
Alex reluctantly followed the detective out of the room. Adam put his arm around me and pulled me in close, kissing my temple. "You okay?”
I turned towards him where his arms could envelop me “I’m fine, just wish things like this would stop happening to us.”
He kissed me on top of the head and said, “Me, too, baby.”
Alex and the detective were gone about half an hour. Adam made coffee, and he and I were at the table sipping a cup when they came back in the room. Alex looked more agitated than he had before. The detective asked which of them wanted to go first, and I volunteered, hoping it would give Adam a chance to talk to him.