Nick Stephenson - Panic

“But Christina’s father didn’t even know about Hank. How could he have set it up?”

“According to Christina’s friends, the relationship between her and Hank was secret,” said Leopold. “However, I doubt a man of Senator Logan’s status and wealth leaves anything involving his daughter to chance. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t have security keeping tabs on Christina twenty-four hours a day. Judging by Hank’s character, it probably wouldn’t have been too difficult to convince him to stage the kidnapping in return for a modest sum. In this case, twenty thousand dollars from a shell corporation that’s likely part of the senator’s charity scam.”

“Couldn’t Hank just keep the cash once the exchange went down?” asked Mary.

“Technically, yes. But I doubt he’d be alive for very long afterwards to enjoy it. Logan no doubt put some security measures in place to make sure he got the cash back,” said Leopold.

“But why go to all this trouble?” asked Albert. “It sounds like the senator is rich enough as it is.”

“The only thing Logan craves more than money is power. With enough support, Logan has a shot at the U.S. Senate, and from there maybe even the White House. We already know he has friends in all the right places. The only thing he needs is financial assistance, given that your average run for office can rack up bills in the hundreds of millions.”

“All this just to further a career?” said Mary.

“People have died for far less.”

“This all sounds a little farfetched. We can’t just accuse Senator Logan without rock-solid evidence,” said Mary, folding her arms.

“Evidence will come now that we know where to look. Subpoena the accounts in question, starting with the fake charities, and you’ll find the paper trail. There’ll be phone records too, linking Hank to all of this. I doubt he had the brains to cover his tracks properly,” said Leopold. “Find the one puzzle piece that fits, and the rest will all fall into place.”

“But that still doesn’t help us figure out where Christina is now. If you’re saying a second kidnapper has her, how do we find them? We don’t even know who this person is.”

“On the contrary, I know exactly who has Christina. It’s the same person who’s been sending people after us all day, trying to put us out of service.”

“And who’s that?”

Leopold wrote the name in large letters on the whiteboard.

Stark knocked on the door to the senator’s bedroom and stepped inside without waiting for a response. They were at least an hour behind schedule, and the colonel was eager to put the next phase of the plan into effect. Logan still sat at his desk, the glow of the computer monitors bathing the dark room in a murky glow. Stark took a few steps toward the senator, who was cradling his head in his hands and breathing deeply.

“Sir? It’s time to move. We’re late for your appointment in the city,” said Stark.

The senator didn’t reply.

“Sir? We have to move. Now.”

Logan lifted his head slowly, and turned around in the chair to face his head of security. The senator’s face was drawn and his eyes were bloodshot, strained from glaring into a computer monitor for most of the day.

“What’s the point, Stark?” Logan mumbled. “It’s all for nothing. If I show up this afternoon without the money, it’s all over.”

The colonel suppressed a sigh. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He wondered whether another approach would yield better results.

“There’s more, sir,” said Stark, flatly. “We tracked Blake to the source of the threatening emails. It seems one of the University’s professors had been planning to blackmail you. He discovered your involvement with some charitable donations that went missing and had wanted to use this as leverage.”

The senator’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“And it’s only a matter of time before Blake gathers enough evidence to link you to your daughter’s kidnapping,” continued the soldier. “He already found the cash you transferred to Hank. It’ll be easy enough for him to trace the money back to you.”

Senator Logan began to tremble. “You – you know about all those things?”

“Of course,” said Stark. “Within twelve hours of installing my team here, I knew everything about you. Your misguided political ambitions are overshadowed only by your greed and corruption. How could a man put his own daughter in danger, just to further his career?”

“Sh – she was never in danger. H – Hank is harmless.”

“Hank was harmless,” said Stark. “Viktor took care of him the night Christina disappeared. Unfortunately, Hank was stupid enough to call in the ransom demand while your daughter was slutting it up in a nightclub in front of a dozen witnesses. Thanks to Hank, three other people had to die so that I could have Christina to myself.”

“Wh – what are you talking about?” said the senator, his eyes suddenly sharp.

“I can’t believe our nation’s leaders can really be this stupid,” said the colonel, his lip twisting into a sneer. “I had originally planned on just getting a little intel from you before I killed you, but once I uncovered your little plan I decided to wait. It’s people like you that have corrupted this country, and I plan on cleaning up. Starting with you and your business partners, who you were so kind to introduce me to.”

“My daughter! Wh – why do you want to hurt her?” said Logan, his voice trembling in horror.

“Her name is Christina,” said Stark, raising his voice. “And you put her in danger the minute you decided her life was worth less than your own blind ambition. She’s a necessary casualty in this war. But her sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

Logan jumped from his seat and dashed for the open door. Stark grabbed him by the collar, throwing him back into the chair. The senator landed hard and let out a yelp.

“If only you had stuck to the plan and come with me into the city an hour ago,” said the colonel, almost regretfully, “I might have let you live a little longer. As it is, I can get by without you. Your business associates will just have to wait for now.”

Stark pulled his gun from its holster and pressed it against the senator’s forehead. “I don’t normally go in for showmanship, but I think I’ll make an exception. This is a large-caliber Glock 37 with a .45 caliber bore. Its hollow point will expand on impact for maximum damage. The reason I’m telling you this is that I want you to know what’s going to happen to you now.”

The senator’s whole body was shaking, and Stark noticed a puddle forming on the carpet underneath the chair. The great senator Logan had pissed himself. The colonel grabbed the desk chair and spun the senator around, lifting the gun from the senator’s forehead and pressing it against the back of his skull instead.

“When I squeeze the trigger,” Stark continued, “the bullet will smash through your skull and into your brain before you’ve even heard the gunshot. The soft tip will expand on impact, tearing through the insides of your head and opening an exit wound the size of a softball, splashing your brains all over your bedroom wall.”

Logan began to whimper quietly.

Stark continued. “The best part is that your face will be gone, so you’ll need a closed casket at the funeral, and you’ll die knowing that your family won’t be able to look you in the eyes. Or what’s left of them.”

The senator began to weep uncontrollably, his body heaving up and down. “P – please d – don’t do this.”

Stark had learned long ago to blank out the desperate pleas of the men he killed. Many had begged for their lives and the lives of their families. Most had not deserved to die, but Stark had been able to summon the courage to do his duty. Now, standing with a gun pressed to the head of a corrupt politician, Stark recognized the evil he had once thought existed only in the darkest recesses of war. This was not a man fighting to protect his country. This was not a man forced to kill to preserve his family’s way of life. This was a man who wanted to take that life away.