Page 6 of Under His Heel: A Kidnapping

She startled and held it out to the negotiator: Unknown Caller.

“Should I—”

“Yes, hold on,” Koteas said. She snapped a slim chip into the tablet’s port and then nodded.

Anna answered the call.

A distorted voice said, “Good evening, Ms. Tracht. By now I suppose you’ve noticed something missing.”

“Who are you?” Anna demanded, and to her credit her voice was firm.

“Nobody you know.” The tablet screen flickered, and then revealed Johan, tied to a chair. He was gagged and blindfolded.

“Johan!” Anna cried. Koteas held up her hand, signaling Anna to calm down. The device she had slipped into the tablet broadcast the video to the nearby screen, allowing Vasilis and Tracht to fully see the image as well.

“What—What do you want?”

“Hmm… what do I want…” the distorted voice slipped into masculine tones. “A nice, hefty ransom.” They named a sum, higher than what Tracht could have paid but still within Vasilis and Anna’s means.

This was all about money? Tracht curled his fingers into his fist, ignoring the bite of pain. If they only wanted money, they had no need for Alex. They could have left him behind.

Or, he might already be dead, his body disposed of somewhere. That would certainly be the smart thing to do.

Tracht was overcome by so much rage that he didn’t hear what was said next. If this kidnapper had done anything to Alex, he didn’t care what it took. He would find them and he would make them pay.

“Just to make sure you know I’m serious: I picked up the bondservant your kid had. He put up quite the fight.”

Tracht’s head snapped up just as the camera panned next to Johan, where Alex was tied to a chair, also gagged and blindfolded. His nose was crusted over with blood.

“I think I’ll give you three days to put the money together. I’ll send a note then about where and what time to deliver it.” A black-gloved hand—the body was off camera—stroked Alex’s hand on the armrest. It withdrew briefly, and then came back on screen with a hammer.

Tracht couldn’t do anything as the hammer slammed down hard on Alex’s fingers. He saw Alex jolt; he heard the muffled scream. The kidnapper waited a few seconds, then slammed the hammer down a second time, right on the same spot.

If Tracht were holding anything, he’d have flung it at the screen.

Nobody was allowed to make Alex scream except him. Nobody.

“I’ll start with this one. But who knows. If you dawdle too long, I might get bored and go for the kid instead.” The hand ruffled Alex’s hair, all while Alex shook his head.

The video turned off.

They all sat in silence for a moment. Anna’s eyes were wide and her lip quivered. Vasilis looked queasy. Even the negotiator looked shaken.

“Still so sure Alex was involved?” Tracht spat at Anna.

That was enough to draw Anna out of her stupor. “No. But—this is good, right?” she turned to Koteas. “This’ll buy us time. If they have the bondservant to draw most of the ire, we could have Johan back relatively unharmed.”

Vasilis and Koteas started nodding.

“Cash will be difficult, but I think I could negotiate with a few banks and get the ransom withdrawn by noon tomorrow,” Vasilis said.

“Next time they call—and they will call—we’ll have to play up your attachment to the bondservant to make it seem like hurting him will be effective. That way Johan will stay out of the crosshairs,” Koteas said.

Anna nodded quickly. “Of course. Anything to spare Johan.”

Not once in his life had Tracht hated Anna as much as he did in that moment. He forced himself to take a breath, and another, before he did something regrettable.

When he was moderately able to control himself, he said, “Aren’t you all forgetting something?”

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