13. Chrissy Strikes Back.

Chrissy and Becka - one on one. Who do you think will win?

Chrissy sat frozen in shock at her desk after Ian's phone call. She didn't even put her phone down after he had disconnected. She just sat there, staring straight ahead, with her phone held to her ear.

Kidnapped?! Her husband and daughter had been kidnapped?! By some guy that wanted the memory card they had found! Some guy named Jonathon.

She wondered what to do. Ian said to bring the memory card to the abandoned furniture store on Mackie Road. Should she go to the cops? No, they'd probably just screw everything up and get her family killed. It was simple, really. Just give this Jonathon guy the memory card and he'd let Ian and Emily go. Or so he said. Why would he lie? It wasn't as if he was asking for a huge ransom. Just some stupid memory card that meant nothing to them. At this point she would be glad to get rid of it!

She decided to do as the kidnapper demanded. She didn't like it. Jonathon might kill them all once she turned the card over to him so that there were no witnesses. But she had no choice at the moment. Her family's safety came first. Perhaps she might come up with a better plan as she was on her way to Benjamin to get the card back from him.

Benjamin! She suddenly remembered that she'd gotten a voice mail from him earlier in the day. She hadn't listened to it yet. She hoped he hadn't done something to the card and ruined it. She dialed her voice mail and listened to the message. She breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just a status update informing her that he hadn't broken the code yet but he thought he was making progress.

She shut her computer off, put the things on her desk away, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Outside she put on her helmet and climbed aboard her motorcycle and sped off. It was hard, but she obeyed all the traffic laws on her way to Benjamin's. She pulled over to the curb in front of Benjamin's apartment building and parked her motorcycle.

She entered the lobby and found an 'Out of Order' sign taped to the elevator. She walked over to the stairway and started climbing. The stairwell stank of beer and vomit. On the second floor landing she found the source of the smell. She stepped around it and continued to the third floor.

She walked down the third floor hallway but didn't stop when she reached Benjamin's apartment. She continued walking to the other stairwell at the opposite end of the hall and went through the door. She quickly stepped to the side of the door and flattened herself against the wall. Within a few seconds Becka stepped into the stairwell from the same way Chrissy had come.

Chrissy almost shook her head at how careless the woman was, but instead shot her fist at Becka's jaw with lightening speed. Becka certainly had been careless to walk into such an ambush, but she reacted quickly. Jonathon had taught her a few good fight moves and trained her to have a quick reaction time. She turned her head away so that Chrissy's punch was just a glancing blow. Then, instead of jumping back and away, she surprised Chrissy by stepping closer and turning into her while she brought her fist into Chrissy's mid-section. Chrissy had never had any formal fight training. She'd learned her moves the hard way... through bar fights and street brawls.  And there is no teacher like experience.

She twisted around just enough so that she took Becka's punch to her ribs. It was a sharp, painful blow, but it didn't knock the wind out of her as Becka had intended. Then she hooked her foot behind Becka's ankle and kicked to the side while giving her a fore-arm block to the upper body, knocking Becka's feet out from under her. Instead of taking the fall and rolling away, Becka instinctively threw her arms back against the wall to try to regain her balance. It was the opening Chrissy needed. She shot three quick right jabs to Becka's face and then kneed her in the mid-section as she slid down the wall.

Becka lay on the stairwell floor in a fetal position gasping for breath. Chrissy knelt down next to her and began going through her purse. Almost immediately she found a small, .22 caliber, semi-automatic Saturday Night Special. She quickly checked to see if it was loaded, tucked it into her belt and then continued her search. Further down she found some long, black zip-ties. She took a couple of them out, rolled Becka face down on the floor and pulled her hands behind her back and zip-tied them together. Becka struggled feebly, but she was in no condition to put up a serious resistance. Then Chrissy hauled her up into a seated position against the wall. Becka was bleeding from her nose and lower lip and one eye was beginning to swell. She gave Chrissy a hostile look.

“You'll untie me if you know what's good for you,” she wheezed angrily. Chrissy slapped her. Not just any slap, but the kind that makes a person see stars and hear bells. Becka blinked a few times and mumbled an astonished, “S**t!”

“That was just to establish who's in charge,” Chrissy replied calmly. “Who are you and why have you been following me?” Becka looked away in stoic silence. Chrissy almost slapped her again but then reconsidered. “Never mind,” she said, “I can guess.” She picked up Becka's Bluetooth headset that had clattered to the floor in the struggle and put it on. “Yo, Jonathon,” she said, “This is Chrissy.”

There was a long pause before Jonathon answered hesitantly, “Chrissy?! What... happened to Becka?”

“She's somewhat indisposed at the moment. But, don't worry, I predict she'll make a full recovery.”

There was another pause before Jonathon's voice came over the line again. “Well done, Chrissy! Well done! I seriously underestimated you!”

“A common mistake,” Chrissy replied, “So... you don't trust me? You had to send one of your stooges out to tail me?”

“Just covering all my bases, Chrissy. Don't take it personally.”

“I guess this changes the dynamics of the situation now.”

“I don't see how,” he responded, “I still have your husband and daughter and I still want that memory card.”

“Yeah, but now I have an extra bargaining piece, unless you don't want Becka back.”

“Oh, I want her back alright. Good help is hard to find. But I don't believe you'd seriously hurt her. You don't have it in you,” he answered.

“Really? Give me your cell number and I'll send you a picture of what she looks like right now.”

“No, thanks. I'll take your word for it. Okay, I'm willing to listen, but I won't accept any deal that doesn't end up with me getting that card.”

“The deal's still the basically same. The card, and now Becka, for my family. But we're going to make the exchange in a public place so that you can't pull any fast ones.”

“Chrissy!” he said with mock indignation, “I'm hurt. But I suppose I haven't given you much reason to trust me. Okay, where do you want to meet?”

“Hiram Park, by the tennis courts. Six o'clock.”

There was a long pause. Chrissy assumed he was looking it up on his GPS. He was shrewd. He wanted to know the layout first. He finally answered, “Okay, I'll be there with Ian and Emily, you be there with the card and Becka at six,” then he added, “Seriously, Chrissy. As nice as your husband and daughter are, I don't want to keep them. As soon as I have the card, they're yours.”

“I'll be there,” she replied.

“By the way,” he added, “speaking of good help being hard to find, you wouldn't consider coming to work for me when this is all over, would you? I can use someone as resourceful as you.”

“You're asking me to work for the guy who's holding my family hostage?!”

“Hostage is such a harsh word. I prefer 'guests'. But you understand that it's strictly business, don't you?”

Chrissy was astounded by his audacity. “Sorry, Jonathon. I have a tendency to hold a grudge about things like that.”

“Too bad. Okay, see you at six. Oh, and one more thing... I don't have to tell you not to involve the authorities, do I?”

“Don't worry.”

“Good! Because I can spot a set-up from a mile away.”

Chrissy stood up and hauled Becka to her feet. “Come on,” she said, “Let's go get that card.”

Author's Note

This chapter was a little rushed. I'm worried there might be some clumsy or awkward parts. Let me know.

Reviews

[John Lauterbach]

The beginning left me confused for the setting, since the first mentioned is the furniture store. After she got on her motorcycle and was on her way to Benjamin's, I assumed that the next scene was in the furniture store and she'd picked up the card off-camera to complete the deal. Since the furniture store doesn't really happen, I'd drop that for something more generic like 'the meeting place' just so the setting of Ben's apartment building stands out. I was reading the brawl with the idea of crates all around them, without the possibility that people could peek out of their doors for the (brutal) catfight. It would be exceptionally bad for Becka if she were to be seen and remembered by a floor of people.

I liked the fight. The descriptions between blows slowed it down, like the hitter and hitee needed time to recover after each attack or defense.

I notice the rushing you mentioned mostly in the beginning, getting to the apartments and in Chrissy's exchange with Jonathon. I like how he offered her a job, but everything else he said felt like like standard fare.

[Craig2591]

I see what you mean about the confusion. I'll have to fix that. Thanks.

I was kind of aware that writing a blow-by-blow fight scene would put it into slow motion. The whole fight probably lasted no more than 6 or 7 seconds. Maybe I should actually say that in the story.

[C. Rose]

I thought I recognized this. You submitted it to my "To the Death!" contest in May.
At the time I felt like the action was awkward, too "instruction manual"-y I believe I said.

I feel like Chrissy could have made a better deal like, "Becka for Emily, and then the flash drive for Ian".
Nothing forced her to throw Becka into the deal.

TOTALLY CALLED HIM OFFERING HER EMPLOYMENT. I don't think I said it, but I definitely wanted it to happen. Although I didn't expect it so soon.

Curious to see how Chrissy transports Becka.

Also, good choice having Becka, not Stefanie, being the one caught.
I find Becka annoying (as a person, not your writing of her), and so was amused when she failed.
Whereas had Stefanie messed up, I would have been distracted from the main plot line with worry for Stefanie.

Do I find Stefanie cool and Becka annoying because you intended them that way, or am I just randomly showing one preference?

[Craig2591]

I didn't intend it that way. I never gave Stefanie a back story like I did Becka. I couldn't come up with one. But I picture her coming from a more privileged background and joining up with Jonathon because she is bored with her life and is looking for more excitement. If I ever do a rewrite I would like to explore their relationship with each other some more. I see them as rivals but still loyal to each other to an extent.

Fight scenes are very challenging to write. Thanks for your input.

[C. Rose]

Yeah - I don't really have a reason Stefanie is my favorite character. I think it might tie back to when I thought she was the main character.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

You did a nice job describing the fight! You also offered a sweet twist that took me by surprise. You did a fantastic job at not being predictable. Chrissy, you certainly have turned the tables on Jonathan haven't you!

[Craig2591]

Thank you. As you should know, fight scenes can be quite challenging. And yes, Chrissy's a hard one to fool.

[Tina Kline]

Good for Chrissy. She's not stupid and did learn from her experiences. I'm glad aout that. I figured that Jonathan would want to hire her. I enjoyed this chapter.