Fashionably Late (For My Funeral) Pt. 03

"She left in the limo at four thirty."

12

"Well we haven't seen her or the limo." The producer even sounded concerned. "We've tried contacting the driver on his cell phone but he has it turned off. We don't have a clue where they are, do you?"

"No and I suggest that you contact the police immediately. I think that she's been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped? How can you be sure?"

I gave him an edited version of what had happened. "If anything happens to her we stand to lose millions, we haven't finished our re-shoot and we can't shoot around her."

"Gee it's nice to know that you care about the well-being of your stars."

"There's no need to be sarcastic. We are one big happy family here and we are feeling this deeply."

"Well then I suggest that you get your deep feeling arse into action and get onto the police. I have to make a couple of phone calls." I hung up the phone and immediately dialled Ruiz's number. "Have you found out who belongs to that car that followed us?"

"No, I didn't think that there was any rush on it as long as you were out of harm's way."

"It's time to change your thinking, Sendi's gone missing."

"When, How?"

"This morning, the studio limo picked her up at the normal time but neither she nor the limo ever got to the studio."

"Shit! Leave it to me, I'll get back to you in a couple of minutes, what's your number there?" I told him.

True to his word he rang back in less than five minutes. "You aren't going to believe this, that car belongs to the DEA."

"That news doesn't surprise me greatly. They are either following up on a lead and keeping an eye on us or trying to protect their investment."

"What are you telling me? You aren't suggesting that they are in some way involved in this are you?"

"Let me run something past you and then you tell me. If you had invested as much money as the people behind this have invested then wouldn't you take steps to ensure that your investment is protected right down the line. If you have to bring stuff into the country wouldn't it be so much easier if you had some sort of leverage over the Customs Service at the designated entry point? If you wanted to ensure that your market is un-compromised by other suppliers wouldn't you make sure that you had leverage over members of the DEA. You could feed them information about your competitors so that they could arrest and prosecute them."

"Yes, but how do we find out? Every time that I start to get close either something happens or I'm asked to back off."

"Is there anyone at all in the DA's office that you can trust?"

"There are a couple of prosecutors that are straight up and down. But I have the feeling that where the decisions are made things are not as straight."

"In one of my books I covered a similar scenario. What our hero did was to gather as much evidence as possible and to build up a strong case. When the DA wouldn't act on it he took it directly to the Governor. He got action."

"That might work in fiction but I don't see it working in real life."

"Do we have an option?"

"No." He promised to contact me as soon as he had some information and if he heard anything on the streets as to Sendi's whereabouts.

I turned on the answering machine and went to do business with the used car dealer. James' handshake was like shaking a dead fish, this guy's was like shaking an eel. Honest Bob was slippery as they came. "This, thing," he waved disparagingly at the Winnebago. "I'll never be able to move it."

"It drives extremely well, you just put the key in the ignition and start the motor, then you put it in drive and away you go. Easy." I knew what he meant but I was giving him the impression that I didn't know what he was getting at. I had dressed for the occasion in my best nerd suit complete with three different colored pens in the pocket protector. I was for all intents and purposes the nutty professor.

"What I mean is that no-one around here drives these things. You will never get anything near what you paid for this."

"As a trade in on that car," I pointed to the gleaming red Porsche 911. "How much is it worth?"

"I could take it as a down payment, but you would still have a substantial balance to pay on it."

"When you say substantial, what numbers are we talking about?"

"The Porsche has very low mileage. It is almost brand new and driven only on weekends by a very careful driver. Have a look inside, the ashtray is clean and smell the new car smell."

"Probably a spray." I muttered just loud enough for him to hear. "The mileage, I can have your guarantee that it is genuine?"

"Of course. We haven't touched the speedometer and the only miles that it has done since it arrive on the lot has been on demonstrations."

"Can I take it for a drive?"

"By all means." He sat beside me as I crunched the gears, deliberately, and frog-hopped the car around the streets. He was white beneath his fake tan by the time we got back to the yard.

"Do you have the pink slip?"

"Yes."

"And if I was to contact the previous owner he or she would confirm the mileage on this car?"

"Wah Hell yes." 'Honest Bob' said in his best good ole boy accent. "You aren't suggesting that I don't live up to my name of 'Honest Bob' are you?"

"It probably wouldn't surprise me if your name isn't even Bob." I knew that it wasn't, he was a bit actor moonlighting as a car salesman between jobs. We struck a deal that was somewhere between what he had originally planned and my expectations. I drove from the yard, pausing for a break in the traffic before taking off in a wheel spinning, tire smoking, back sliding, head snapping skid, leaving two black lines on the road and Honest Bob with a puzzled expression on his face.

The light on the answering machine was blinking at me as I walked in through the front door. I pressed the button and heard Sendi's voice. "Darling, they want their money and if they don't get it they have threatened to kill me. They want you to stay by the phone and wait for their next call" I got the impression that the house was being watched because I didn't have long to wait for the call. Within minutes it rang and a voice full of menace came through the earpiece. "Where is our money?"

"We have been through this before; I don't have your money." I heard Sendi cry out in pain in the background. "Look can we meet? I'm sure that we can do some sort of deal."

14

"What sort of deal are you looking at?" The voice at the other end of the phone didn't sound too sure of his ground here.

"While I don't have your money I'm sure that I can lay my hands on a considerable amount of money that you can have in exchange for Sendi's freedom." I was hoping that the studio would part with most of this offer in exchange for the publicity that the incident would generate for the film.

"What makes you think that's good enough?"

"My guess is that you don't really care where the money comes from as long as you get in the next week or two. I'm guessing again, but I think that the shipment is almost ready to ship and will soon be on its way to New York and if you don't have the money by the time it gets there, you will not only lose the shipment that could be worth millions, possibly tens of millions to you, but you'll lose the up-front payment that you made."

"Smart aren't you?"

"Give me until three this afternoon to raise as much as I can, If I can't match the figure that you're looking for we could consider it a down-payment while I figure out some other way of getting more. Now put Sendi back on." At first I thought that he wouldn't comply, but eventually I heard her voice. My adrenalin was rushing. "They haven't hurt you have they?"

"No, not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'?"

"I didn't allow them to take me without a fight. One of them is talking with a squeaky voice."

"What did they do to you?"

"Nothing a bit of makeup wouldn't fix, they slapped me around a little. I've had worse from my previous boyfriends."

"I'm sorry darling, I'm sorry that I've gotten you into this mess. Be patient and don't try to fight your way out while I try to get you away from there. Will you do that for me?"

"I will do anything for you, you know that."

"As I would for you. Be brave my Darling. I will have you out of there in no time."

I rang Ruiz and filled him in on the latest. He promised to contact his counterpart in the LAPD to see if they would approve the exchange of marked money for Sendi. The theory behind this suggestion was that if the bills were marked in some way or the serial numbers recorded then the police would be able to track the movement and hopefully this would lead them further up the trail to the top.

I then rang the studio to let them know what had happened and ask if there was any way they would be prepared to assist. "We don't normally do this sort of thing for actors, after all we might end up with a whole spate of phony kidnappings on our hands."

"But you stand to lose a lot of money if she doesn't finish the film."

"We are very much aware of that situation."

"You could also make money on the free publicity that this would generate for the film. That sort of publicity doesn't normally come cheaply."

"Do you think that we would sink so low as to cash in on this situation?"

"Hey! I work for you too you know."

"I'll have to talk to our legal people. How much time do we have?"

"It's eleven thirty now, we have until three. We may not need your money but it would be good to have it available if we need it."

"Leave it with me, I'll see what I can do and get back to you no later than two o'clock."

I went to the local branch of my bank. The teller had a startled look on her face when I asked how much money I could draw from my account in one transaction today. "I'll have to speak to Mr Thorenson, our manager." She hurried off to do that while I stood at the counter waiting, a line of restless customers standing behind me.

"You might try another line this could take some time". I advised the young man standing behind me. He moved to the next line followed by the rest of the queue.

The teller returned several minutes later with a middle aged man. He was tall and well built, his tan was fake as probably was his hair. He fitted the image of the successful banker, and in this town image is everything. "Would you step this way." He held open the counter for me and I followed him to his office.

I could contemplate taking up banking, if I could be sure of an office like this one. "I have to ask you why you would want to withdraw so much money."

"I need it for an urgent transaction, any more than that I'm not at liberty to discuss."

"I'm relieved. I thought at first that you might be closing your account because you are unhappy with the service that you have received from our bank."

"Far from it. I've always been happy with your service, both here and in New York."

"How would you like the money? Would you like a bank draft for the amount or would you like it in some other way?"

"I want it in cash. I want it in sequentially numbered bank notes."

"I was hoping that you wouldn't say that. This will take some time to transact."

"I don't have a lot of time. Isn't there some way that you could arrange the transfer of funds from other branches. I need the money or at least to have it available by three this afternoon. Can you do that for me?"

"We can try."

"How much money do I have in my account at present? I have left my account records back in New York."

"In your savings account," He was looking at the computer screen in front of him. "You have just under one million. In your investment account you have two and a half million, give or take the odd thousand here and there."

"So I could raise close to three and a half million on those accounts?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean 'not exactly'? Is the money there or not?"

"Yes the money is there, but if you surrender some of your investments there is a penalty to be paid."

"Just give me the bottom line. How much will I be able to get in total?"

"You have three million, one hundred and eighty thousand, in round figures."

"And if I require it you can have it ready no later than three this afternoon?"

"If you require it to be ready for you then it will be ready."

"Thank you, you have been most helpful, I will be sure to use your bank in the future." I left him to work through the mechanics of getting the money ready.

I was just entering the apartment building when a car pulled up out the front and suits approached me. "Are you Jason Feldham?"

"Who is asking?"

"I'm sorry, I should have identified myself. I am Lieutenant Shapiro and this is Detective O'Connell from the LAPD."

"Then I'm Jason Feldham. What can I do for you?"

"Would you be so kind as to accompany us to the station. Captain O'Reilly would like to speak to you." I accompanied them and spoke to Captain O'Reilly. I had expected him to fit the mould of the archetypical Irish American policeman, big, dark and dull but he fitted none of these. O'Reilly came by his name by legitimate means, his great grandfather was from Ireland, but by reason of his policemen father and grandfather's intelligence he had risen up the ranks of the police department on talent rather than breeding.

"I have had a long and interesting discussion with a Captain Ruiz. He tells me that you are mixed up in some nefarious doings that are linked with murder and drug importation. Now you don't need me to tell you that these things are frowned on in this city, rumours to the contrary of course."

"Believe me, if I had my way I would never have gotten involved in this mess, but I had little choice. I gave some money to a friend of my wife to invest in legitimate projects and I found out later that, because he was into his bookie for an obscene amount of money he had invested it in the importation of a huge shipment of drugs into America. When I found this out I asked for my money back. That is when it hit the fan, so to speak."

"I understand that you think that this deal is being bankrolled by legitimate as well as mob money and that they have bought protection from the authorities."

"It stands to reason. If you have outlaid the amount of money that is involved here the odd couple of hundred thousand in the right packets wouldn't be missed especially if you stand to make the sort of profit that these people are."

"What sort of figure do you think is involved?"

"I wasn't the biggest investor and I don't know how many are involved, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the shipment had a street value of around a billion dollars."

"A shipment that size could hardly get into the country undetected."

"That's what led me to believe that the customs people had to be involved. It could come in as a legitimate shipment of goods from overseas and be cleared as such. It could enter under cover through one of the many entry points that are used by drug runners, and the sort of money that is being paid would cause some interesting cases of selective blindness. It could even be routed through Los Angeles."

"I know that with the possible exception of New York and Miami, LA is probably the biggest market, so it stands to reason that some of the drugs could come directly here, but to suggest that this is a major player in the pipeline is stretching it a little."

"I didn't say that it here was a major entry point, I just suggested that it was one point. Probably the biggest would have to be Miami, with the next biggest the aerial route over Mexico and through Texas."

"I don't suppose that you have proof of all this, do you?"

"No. This is all evidence that is part of the public domain, it has emerged from a range of prosecutions in the past. I have not come up with anything in my research to suggest that the routes have changed, just that the methods have become much more sophisticated."

"What about your present dilemma?"

"Some wise guys, and I don't know who at this point in time, have kidnapped Sendi Soren and will release her if I can come up with several million dollars."

"That much Captain Ruiz has told me, but where do you fit into this scenario?"

"Whoever is involved has accused me of relieving them of the money and they are desperate to get it back and quickly. Sendi is a very good friend of mine and they have decided, rightly, that they can get to me through her."

"Did you take their money?"

"I took money that they thought of as theirs, technically it was mine and all that I was doing was retrieving it."

"Explain."

"I gave the money to a friend of my wife to invest in legitimate investments. I found out that he didn't, choosing instead to maximize his return by supporting this drug shipment, so I asked for it back. It appears that he did a deal with his 'associates' to give me the money but they would relieve me of it before I could get it to a safe place. I managed to get it to the safe place before that happened and they are pissed off. They have already killed the alleged friend and my wife. I don't want them to kill Sendi."

"Where does she fit into the overall scheme of things?"

"I met her again some time ago while I was working for a studio in Hollywood, you could say that the publicity machine threw us together. We became friends, good friends in the real sense, and only became lovers after Melissa, my wife, was killed."

"You said 'again'."

"Yes, I first met her in college, she was in her freshman year and I was tutoring her in English Literature. We almost became lovers at that time. I lost contact with her after I left college, but that was until I came to Hollywood and the studio threw us together."

"I get the picture. Now, Ruiz tells me that you can be trusted but you'll have to forgive me here, we are reluctant to trust anyone that we don't know with a huge amount of money, so we will send you in wired for sound."

"If it makes life easier for you I can have a cashier's check made out to the LAPD for the full amount to cover you just in case something does go wrong."

"That won't be necessary at this point but we may seek restitution if it does go wrong. The money has been imprinted with black light identification, to the naked eye it appears perfectly normal, Ruiz has a good idea who is involved and will arrange for any money that they are spreading around to be scanned. If the marked money shows up then we have them with the evidence and it will hold up in court, we hope."

"Would it also be possible to fit a tracking device to the case that the money is in?"

"We could but if they go over the case and find it they might react in a way that you won't like."

"I have an idea, what about getting your people to fit a tracking device to my car. I don't know where the exchange will be made yet."

"That has already been done. Your car was taken to the police garage and has been fitted with a satellite tracking beacon, we can pinpoint you to within a gnat's appendage at any time, so we can follow you from a distance. As soon as your car has stopped we can move in on it. We will also monitor the radio that you'll be wearing so all that you have to do is to give us a running commentary to let us know when you want us to close in, but that is only in case things get ugly. We don't want to spook them just yet, we want them to think that they have gotten away with this."

I left the police station and walked to my car I had the feeling at that point that I was being followed. I drove home and parked the Porsche outside the apartment building while I went inside to await further instructions. What happened next was straight out of a Hollywood film script. My phone rang. The instruction that I received, relayed by a voice that had obviously been electronically distorted, that told me that I was to go to a public phone booth and wait until it rang, I was to pick up the phone after the third ring and hang it up immediately. I was then to wait until it rang again and pick it up on the fifth ring. I would be given instructions as to where to go next.