Chapter 1: Kidnapping and Ransom

            “Your plan is so fucked up. I can’t believe I actually said that I would help you,” a low, burly male voice said as he turned to his friend in the van they had been sitting in most of that night. It was winter in Australia, and temperatures had already dropped to near freezing. The man couldn’t stand the cold anymore and decided it was about time to turn the car on. He leaned over the driver’s seat and reached for the keys.

            “Lenny! Are you crazy!” the other man responded in a high-pitched voice. “If you turn on the car, we’re screwed.”

            “But Charlie, I’m cold!” Lenny replied as he pulled his black leather gloved hand away from the keys. “We’ve been here most of the night without heat. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up with hypothermia by the time we pulled this job off.”

            “But Lenny, think of the money. If we play our cards right, we could easily make off with a cool mil.”

            “I’ve never been good at cards. You know that, you beat me at poker every time.”

            Through the windshield, Charlie managed to see the light in the large mansion turn off and the figure in the window head for the large, four-poster bed nestled at the corner of the master bedroom. “Come on, it’s time to move in,” he whispered, gently opening his door and climbing out of the driver’s seat. Slinking his way down the street towards the security gate, he pulled a screwdriver, tape, and pliers out of his pocket. From behind him, Lenny followed, his body dwarfing that of Charlie’s.

            “What do you want me to do?” Lenny asked as he came up behind him.

            “Watch the street and make sure that no one is coming. When I’m done with this thing, I’ll come to get you, okay?” Charlie replied as he started to unscrew the face of the security pad.

            “Okay,” Lenny answered, walking back towards the van. He sat up against it and started rubbing his hands together. ‘Why did I get myself into this?’ he thought as he watched Charlie work his magic on the security system. He knew him to be one of the best around, having hacked into the FBI main frame more than once without getting caught. ‘Just think about the money. Just think about the money,’ he kept telling himself.

            With a single click, the gate opened and Charlie waved Lenny over. They were in. It was only a matter of time before things would go their way. All they had to do now was nab the son of a bitch inside the house, drag him into the van, tape him up, and write a little letter to his family. As for getting the money without getting caught, that was Lenny’s job.

            Lenny knew quite a lot from watching too many kidnapping and murder flicks. He was an expert at manipulating the police and anyone else who tried to get information out of him, except for Charlie. It seemed as if Charlie had always been more cunning, especially during grade school, when he stole Lenny’s lunch money almost every day.

            ‘Who would have thought that we’d team up later on in life?’ Lenny thought as he and Charlie walked down the driveway towards the front door.

            Charlie pulled another gadget out of his pocket, a lock pick. Sliding it into the locking mechanism, he slowly worked it until the door opened with a gentle click. “Come on, we’re in. Let’s get this over with quick and simple,” he said, grabbing the first hard object in the dark room. In this case it was a thick silver candlestick.

            “What the hell are you going to do with that?” Lenny asked, almost horrified.

            “Knock the sucker out before he even has time to struggle,” Charlie answered. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill him. That’s later.”

            “What! You said nothing about killing him!” Lenny protested. “This is NOT what I got myself into. I was in it for the money, and that’s all.”

            “But with money comes responsibility. We must get rid of all evidence, and that includes the victim. Do you really want him to identify you in a lineup if you were ever caught?” Charlie reasoned. “Now come on! We don’t have too much time left before his wife gets home.”

            Reluctantly, Lenny chased after Charlie as he ascended the stairs to the second floor where their intended victim was sleeping in the master bedroom. This had definitely not been part of the plan. It had been decided earlier that they would only take the guy to a secluded place in the desert and leave him there with friends until they received the ransom money. Then they would let him go. They weren’t supposed to kill him.

            Charlie was already standing in the doorway when Lenny caught up to him, the candlestick positioned above his head ready to strike the unlucky victim. He stealthily tip toed into the room, his booted feet barely making a sound as they glided across the polished wood floor.

            The man in the bed was almost asleep when heard the footsteps approaching. Unfortunately for him, he had his back turned towards the intruder and was unable to see his face. Praying that it was just someone stealing his stuff, he didn’t dare move. The last thing he wanted to do was die.

            ‘Oh, God, please let Haley get here soon,’ he thought of his wife. She said that she would be back around one the next morning, and it was already well past three. He could feel his heart begin to beat faster as the person behind him crept slowly closer to the bed. He tried to control his breathing so that it wouldn’t look like he was awake, and barely managed.

            “Sweet dreams, Mr. Daniel Jones,” a man said from behind him.

            Daniel turned around just as the man was raising the metal object above his shoulder. Daniel could see it coming straight for him, but before he could duck, it struck his head, rendering him unconscious with a six-inch gash on the top of his forehead.

            “Oh, shit!” Lenny cried, turning away from the gut-wrenching scene, his stomach already flipping over in his belly. He thought he’d throw up it he didn’t think about something else.

            “Jeez, Lenny. Are you gonna come and help me or am I actually gonna have to carry him to the car by myself?” Charlie said as he began to lift the lifeless Daniel off the bed and wrap him up in the bloody blanket.

            “You’re sick, Charlie, you know that?” Lenny asked, disgusted. He turned around and took the other end of the blanket and began dragging the body out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the waiting car.

            “Yeah, isn’t it great?” Charlie happily replied. Lenny shuddered as they walked out the door into the blistering cold. The snow had begun to fall again making the road slick.

            Slipping and sliding all the way to the car, it seemed inevitable that one of the two would drop the body. That inevitable move came from Lenny. As he walked to the back door, he lost his footing on a patch of ice, dropping his end of the blanket and falling to the ground on his back. He groaned in pain, wishing that the snow would end already. As he rolled over onto his side, he could hear Charlie laughing.

            “Shit!” he chuckled. “I knew you were a little clumsy, but this, this is icing on the cake.”

            “Fuck you,” Lenny replied as he stood up and began assessing the damage to his clothing. His back was all wet, as were his pants and underwear. “God, damn it. I can’t believe this. I just got these pants!”

            Charlie laughed harder. “Come on, you overgrown baby. Let’s get rid of this guy before he stinks up the van.”

            Lenny shuddered again thinking about the way Charlie had been treating this job so far. It seemed as if the poor guy they were kidnapping was nothing but an animal to him. He knew Daniel was still alive, but telling that to Charlie would only make him want to beat him up more. He decided to give the guy a shot at living after they dumped him God knows where.