Chapter 6 #3
This was one time he kind of wished she was a little less na?ve.
“I don’t know what’s in here. And since I can’t see, the only way I’ll be able to figure that out is by picking things up and feeling them.
If Heckle and Jeckle are sadistic enough, which I think they could be, they may have put something explosive in here. ”
At that, she didn’t step away from him—her hand around his tightened. “If you’re going to get blown up, so am I. I’d rather go that way than have to sit in here with your body parts strewn all over the place.”
Flash couldn’t hold back the bark of shocked laughter that left his lips.
“Sorry, was that too gross?” she asked. “It’s true though. I’d rather die with you than have to be here by myself. So we’ll investigate this box and whatever’s in it together.”
Flash couldn’t stop himself. He turned and unerringly found her cheek with his free hand. “We aren’t dying,” he said, the thought completely unfathomable, now that he’d gotten to know Kelli a little better.
“Well, I hope not,” she said with a shrug he felt.
“Right. Okay. Let’s sit. Might as well be comfortable while we check it out, yeah?” he said, tugging on her hand, pulling her to the metal floor with him.
She situated herself right next to him, her thigh touching his.
“For the record, even though I said I’d rather be blown up with you than sitting on the other side of this bus, that doesn’t mean I’m brave enough to touch whatever’s in that box.
There could be mice or something. So I’ll leave that up to you… if that’s okay.”
It was more than okay. Flash didn’t mind that she was relying on him.
Moving slowly, he reached forward, finding the edge of the box. From what he remembered, it was about the size of a medium shipping box. Maybe a foot square.
Taking a deep breath, he reached in.
The first thing he touched was small and soft. He turned it over in his hands, not sure what he was holding but guessing it was some sort of cloth. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed. A little musty, but no alarm bells went off in his head. This could be useful.
“Hold out your hand,” he told Kelli.
“This isn’t one of those times you put something gross or scary in my hand and laugh at my reaction, is it?” she asked.
Flash laughed. He couldn’t believe he was finding anything funny about this situation, but he was. “No, promise. This feels like some sort of towel or cloth. I want you to hold it to your head.”
“I think the bleeding has stopped. ”
“Even so. You can probably use it to clean your neck, if nothing else.”
He felt her fingers brush against his as she took the cloth from him.
“It’s tiny. Like, smaller than a washcloth. What is this, and why would it be in the box?”
“Not sure. But I think it’s a torn piece of T-shirt.
Probably their way to mess with us by not giving us an entire shirt.
Hang on, let me see what else is in here,” Flash said, as he reached back into the box.
He picked up something that felt somewhat heavy.
Running his hands over it, Flash’s heart rate sped up. “Holy shit!”
“What? What is it?” Kelli asked, sounding a little alarmed.
“Sorry, nothing bad. I think it’s a radio.”
“A radio?”
“Yeah.” Flash turned a knob but nothing happened. No static, nothing. “Damn. It doesn’t work. But…hang on…” Turning it over, he found the compartment on the bottom that should’ve held the batteries. Opening it, he smiled. “It has batteries.”
“But it doesn’t work,” Kelli said, sounding confused.
“Yeah, but depending on what else is in here, we might be able to get some juice out of them anyway. Maybe even make a light.”
“A light?” The hope in Kelli’s voice had Flash realizing he’d fucked up. He shouldn’t have said anything until he was sure. But the thought of having some sort of light was too tantalizing to keep quiet about.
“Maybe. I’m no MacGyver, but I’ve seen him use wires with batteries enough that I think I can do it.”
“I have no doubt. What else is in there? ”
The more stuff he found, the more Flash was sure that Heckle and Jeckle were fucking with them. They’d put things into this box that they probably thought were completely useless. That would demoralize them more than help.
There was water, which he recognized by the shape of the bottle—and was relieved the safety seal was still intact—but only one. That sucked, but it would’ve sucked more if there’d been no water at all…or additional captives in this bus, as it sounded like they’d planned.
A ballpoint pen, what felt like a conch shell, a couple of coins, a thick candle—but no matches or lighter—two cans but no can opener, a key—which was especially ridiculous, considering they were underground and Flash was certain there was no engine in this piece-of-shit bus—a Band-Aid, a bullet, a condom, a handful of what felt like uncooked pasta noodles, and a spoon.
Again, their kidnappers probably thought giving them all this stuff was a joke…but it was a treasure trove to Flash.
“I was hoping there might be something we could use,” Kelli said, sounding dejected.
Flash realized that while he’d kept up a running commentary of what he’d discovered, he hadn’t shared the usefulness of the items.
“We can use most of this.”
“How?”
“Well, first things first, the cans. We have no idea what’s in them, it could be dog food, which would suck, but hopefully it’s human food of some sort.”
“But we can’t open them.”
“Yes, we can. They gave us a spoon. Again, probably to torment us mentally, but in lieu of an opener, that’s exactly the tool we need to get in. All I have to do is rub the edge of the spoon back and forth in the same spot on the top, and it’ll break through.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The tops of cans aren’t as thick as the sides. So we can definitely get into them, and again, hopefully it’ll be something we can eat.”
“What else?” Kelli asked, scooting closer to him and sounding much more interested now.
“The one bottle of water isn’t super convenient, but listen…”
They were both silent for about a minute.
“I hear dripping,” Kelli whispered.
“Right. We’re in the jungle. It’s wet. It’s not surprising that this bus isn’t waterproof.
We can drink this water, then use the bottle to catch more from wherever it’s dripping.
It’ll probably have dirt in it, but any water is better than none.
And they gave us a freaking container. If they were trying to demoralize us, they definitely failed there. ”
“What about the shell? What can you do with that?”
“It could be another container, but I’m thinking if I break it, the edges will be sharp. It could be a useful weapon.”
“Cool! And?”
“Well, not everything is useful, although I bet MacGyver could come up with a use for literally all this shit. I’m not sure about what we can do with the Band-Aid or the coins. And the bullet is pretty useless.”
“Did they think we were going to have sex while we’re in here? I mean, really? A condom?”
“Actually, that could be the most useful item of all,” Flash told her, glad she couldn’t see his grin.
“A condom can hold water. We could use it as a kind of glove if we had to, or an improvised pressure bandage for wounds. It can be used to make a splint for a broken finger; it’s rubber, so it could also be a rubber band, except we don’t have anything to cut it up…
but maybe the shell would work if it had to.
It can be a slingshot, an emergency sealant, like on a pipe or something.
And I’ve even seen MacGyver start a fire with one. ”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
“I’m not. I swear. He filled one with water and used it as a magnifying glass. It took a good bit of time, and there were a lot of bad words, but damned if he didn’t get smoke, then flame. I was as surprised as you.”
“Okay. So the condom can be used for more than…you know, the obvious.”
“Yup. We can take the ink out of the pen and use the casing as a straw, and while the uncooked pasta will be hard on our teeth, it does have some caloric value. And lastly, the candle is pure gold. Assholes thought they were taunting us, but I think I can strip the insulation off some of the wires in the broken radio, hook them up to the battery, and maybe get a spark that will light the wick.”
“Holy crap. That would be awesome!”
It would. If he could get it to work. Flash usually left this kind of thing to MacGyver, but it was his turn to step up. If he could give Kelli the comfort of some light, he would.
To his surprise, she chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“Just that Heckle and Jeckle thought they’d break us by leaving a box of worthless crap. Except they didn’t know they’d kidnapped a freaking Navy SEAL. Idiots.”
Kelli had a lot of faith in him. Flash hoped it wasn’t misplaced.
Determination swelled inside him. He’d do whatever he could to make this experience as painless as possible for the woman at his side.
They’d be uncomfortable, and until they climbed out of this damn bus, he wouldn’t let his guard down, but maybe, just maybe, they’d come out of this dented instead of broken. He hoped.
Brant Williams looked at the US Naval ID in his hand and smiled. His plan had been to contact the families of the American tourists they’d kidnapped and demand ransoms, but knowing he had a member of the military in his grasp was even better.
The Navy would want to rescue this guy. They’d definitely pay.
“I’m not sure the Navy is gonna pay a ransom,” Errol said, the uncertainty clear in his voice.
“Of course they are,” Brant retorted. “There’s no way they’ll ignore me. They’ll have to pay, or I’ll go to the media and tell them the US government is letting one of their own die.”
“But the US doesn’t negotiate with terrorists,” Errol told him.
“We aren’t terrorists,” he argued.
When Errol continued to frown, Brant felt irritation rising. “You were the one who fucked things up. If you’d done what I told you, brought at least four or five people with you, we would’ve been able to get more money. But instead, you only brought two.”
“I told you! I couldn’t just force some of the others to wait while those two were still on the water.”
“Why not?”
“Because! They were bitching about leaving and the other driver offered to cram them all into his bus!” Errol yelled. “You know what? Fuck this! I’m out.”
“What? You aren’t out!” Brant yelled back.
“I am. You aren’t listening to me. You think I’m stupid.
I’m the one who found where Wade Gordon is stationed in Riverton, California.
I’m the one who found Kelli Colbert’s Facebook and discovered she works for a tiny travel office.
She doesn’t make shit for salary. Without me, you wouldn’t even know who to contact to ask for money in the first place.
And you still aren’t listening! The Navy isn’t going to hand over fifty thousand dollars for this Wade guy.
He’s enlisted. Not an officer. That makes a huge difference. ”
“No, it doesn’t!” Brant argued.
Errol rolled his eyes, which pissed Brant off all the more.
“Whose idea was this? Mine! Who paid for that bus to be buried? Me! This whole plan wouldn’t have happened without me.
I invited you to join me , not the other way around.
I’m in charge. And I’m telling you that this is going to work just fine. Now chill!”
“Nope. I’m done. Good luck. Don’t contact me again. Ever,” Errol told him.
“Fine. Good. All the more money for me.”
“There won’t be any money,” Errol muttered, as he turned and left Brant’s small rundown house.
Brant dismissed the asshole before he’d even slammed the door.
He didn’t need him. He already had everything he needed.
He had the addresses of his captives, and Errol had given him the contact information for Wade Gordon’s commander.
He also had an untraceable cellphone that he’d use and get rid of right after the call was made.
Then he just had to sit back and wait for the money to be deposited into the account Errol had already set up.
The man was good with computers, and it was a shame to lose someone with that skill, but Brant would find another partner.
Starting with someone to remove the bodies from the bus after his captives died.
But he’d worry about that later. First things first, call this Navy commander and let him know Wade Gordon was in imminent danger—and the only way to save him was to send fifty thousand dollars.
Brant was done living in squalor. He wanted more. What he deserved, which wasn’t to be living here. And this job would be the first of many. Once he had a million dollars, Brant would move to Los Angeles, buy a huge house, and live like the king he was meant to be.
And it all started with Wade Gordon.
Brant glanced at the drivers licenses on the table, then back to the Navy ID in his hand. The Navy would be desperate to have their soldier, sailor… whatever back. He was sure of it.