Chapter 7 #2
Ricky didn’t say anything for a minute, just studying the new knot. He finally added, “Before they found the cable, they used this kind of a knot.”
At that, Trent turned to Naomi, who nodded. “There wasn’t much space when they decided on a new approach. They were trying to get us out of the way.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her tone.
“So, they parked you up in the front, where you were out of the way?” Trent asked for confirmation, glancing sideways at Ricky, who was completely ignoring them.
In a way, it made sense, but, in another way, it made no sense at all—particularly after using the heavy cable that the kidnappers then didn’t know how to uncrimp.
It was a death sentence for these two, and their kidnappers hadn’t even been aware of it.
Anger sparked deep inside Trent again as he looked over at Naomi, who was being such an incredible mother to this child, and yet knew that the job came with an inevitable heartbreak.
He had to admire that she was giving it her all, knowing that she would pay a hefty price for getting so close to this little boy and could never get out of that relationship without great heart pain.
And yet, here she was, providing every opportunity she could for Ricky, … for his sake and his alone.
She smiled up at Trent and noted, “Ricky’s done a great job on those knots.”
“He sure has,” Trent agreed, with a smile. “Let’s hope you don’t ever have a need to use them. But, if you do,” he added, “this knot”—he pointed to one on a different page—“this is the knot that you should learn because, if you tie somebody up with it, they can’t get out of it very easily at all.”
Immediately Ricky paid attention to that knot. He took one look and sat down, that intense expression on his face once again, as he tied that knot over and over again. Turning back to Trent, the boy asked, “Just like this, right?”
To his amazement, Trent watched as Ricky tied the knot correctly and also extremely quickly.
Right in front of him. That was amazing.
Wanting to change the energy, he started a conversation with the boy about lots of different uses for knots and the practical application for everyday life.
Trent wanted Ricky to associate these knots with happier thoughts.
That evening, after Ricky had gone to bed, Trent and Naomi sat down on the small deck outside, and he shared, “You have quite the setup here.”
“I do,” she agreed, “but, of course, it’s not my setup at all. So there’s always that edge of not really being able to relax.”
He nodded. “When did you say you spoke to them last?”
“Oh gosh,” she began, “it was several months ago now.”
He nodded again. “Do you ever get a raise? Do you ever get bonuses?”
“No, it’s never been brought up, and I can’t really ask for one because I’m, … you know, it’s a pretty-sweet situation,” she admitted. “I don’t want to rock the boat.”
He agreed but asked, “Have you been getting automatic raises or anything every year?”
“Nope, not since the original contract,” she stated. “It has crossed my mind a time or two, but, again, I don’t want to rock the boat.”
“Of course not,” he replied.
“Why? What are you thinking?” she asked him.
“I’m not thinking anything.”
“Liar,” she stated immediately. He looked at her in surprise, and she chuckled. “As if I can’t recognize a big fat lie when I hear one. Come on,” she said. “That’s almost insulting.”
“Let’s just say I’m a little worried about something—in the back of my head.”
“Yeah, me too,” she shared. “I’m worried that they will not acknowledge that Ricky even exists. They pay the bills, and it’s kind of like, Don’t bug us. And I don’t know what they’ll do when he hits adulthood, unless maybe they don’t think he’ll reach adulthood, with his immunity problems.”
“Was he that sickly?”
“Oh yes, he definitely was.”
“And yet they deliberately stayed away.”
“I think so.” She shrugged. “Yeah, I think it was … impacting their lifestyle,” she replied. “What can I say? That’s what I see from my end.”
“Nothing else needed,” he muttered.
“Now, on another matter,” she began. “If we were taken accidentally and if nothing else puts us in danger, are you leaving soon?” she asked bluntly.
“I haven’t been told to leave by my boss yet,” he shared, as he studied her.
“It is something that I do have to keep in mind. I’m here to make sure everything’s okay.
Tomorrow I’ll visit the lawyer alone,” he clarified, with a smile.
“I need more information, and he’s easier to pressure for answers if I’m there in person. ”
“Right,” she muttered. “He’s never been my favorite person, and I like him even less now that I’ve actually seen him.”
“Has he ever given you any trouble?”
“No, not really.” She sighed. “He’s just … never been anything other than—you saw it—arrogant when I’m having to ask for money or for something extra. So, I always feel that I’m being forced to ask when it should be a simple business transaction, like I’m begging for money or justifying the need.”
“I’m sorry,” he told her. “That’s always difficult. Honest to God, I think part of it is just lawyers being lawyers.” She burst out laughing at that, and he grinned. “You should laugh more often.”
“Yeah, I probably should,” she agreed, with a smirk, “but there’s also got to be a reason to laugh, and we haven’t exactly had that lately.”
And he found himself trying to apologize once again.
She shook her head. “It’s all good. It’s been nice to have somebody else to talk to.
Most of the time, it’s just the two of us.
We’re pretty friendly with the staff of the apartment building, with Joe too, but that’s a poor substitute for real friends, people who can come over to the apartment,” she admitted.
“Plus Ricky needs friends his own age but also of his own maturity level too. Yet I know how much Ricky appreciates having you around.”
“I am a little concerned about that,” he pointed out, “because it’s obvious that he is looking for, if not male attention, just attention in general.”
“Exactly. And he does go to school, though we’re still off at the moment, but, when that resumes, it will help.”
Trent agreed. “I presume it is a special school, for gifted students, like Ricky.” She nodded. “How does he get to school?”
“I drive him in his car.”
He stilled, and his eyebrows shot up, and she winced. “I mean, it belongs to the family, but I drive it.”
“And the expenses?”
“Gas goes on the card.” She shrugged. “It’s really a seamless situation if you want to be a completely detached parent.”
“God forbid,” he muttered.
“Yeah, well, that’s how I feel about it, but that’s obviously not how everybody sees it,” she stated. He didn’t say anything. She asked, “What about you? You’ll leave at some point.”
He nodded, then smiled at her. “Would you mind if I came back to visit you and Ricky?”
She giggled. “Of course not. That would be nice.” She blushed, then returned to the problem at hand. “So where will that put you, once you leave?”
“It will put me somewhere back at work, trying to figure out where these drug-running pirates came from, and how much of it was just, was just—”
“What?”
“You tell me.”
Turning to him, she suggested, “Well, if it was accidental, and they really didn’t want us, then, in theory, whoever they did want didn’t show up, so that crime didn’t happen.
Therefore, I would think our accidental kidnapping would be harder to make a case from.
It’s all a shame in the sense that I don’t want them to get off scot-free. ”
Trent shared, “I’m sure you didn’t hear about it because it’s been kept pretty quiet so far, but the Coast Guard did make a major drug seizure.
We haven’t told our prisoners about it yet, but several more people were taken into custody just hours ago.
So, in theory, we do have quite a bit of good news happening on that side of life.
What I don’t know is whether any of it is really connected to what happened to you guys. ”
Naomi frowned. “That’s what you were thinking though, wasn’t it? That it might have been a rendezvous or it might have been something where they were picking up people and taking them to wherever they needed to go.”
“That’s definitely one of the considerations,” he replied, “but we just don’t know for sure because nobody is talking yet.”
“Right. Well, maybe, with the new drug runners in custody, you can apply some pressure on them.”
“l hope so. A lot of my team is over there with them,” he told her, as he pulled out his phone. “Some interviews were supposed to happen today.”