James Grippando - A King's ransom

“I’m not proud of the way this came to light. But it’s not a case of a disgruntled former employee making up horrible stories about the company that fired him.”

Nettles put his notepad aside and said, “We’ll check it out.”

“You have to check it out. There could be thirty other policyholders at risk if you don’t.”

“I said we would. We will.”

“I’m not hearing much conviction in your voice.”

“My apologies.”

I came to the edge of my seat, moved by anger. “The FBI needs to understand, I took a million and a half dollars less in settlement money from these bastards so that I’d be free to talk to you. They were willing to pay me three million dollars to keep my mouth shut. Doesn’t that tell you something? Every minute you delay gives them another minute to pressure Ochoa into shutting his mouth forever. You need to talk to him, you need to get the names of those other policyholders, and you need to warn them.”

Carreras rose and extended his hand. “Thanks very much for the information. We’ll take it from here.”

We shook hands. “I’d like to know what happens. Will you keep me posted?”

“As best we can.”

Nettles led me out of the office, down the hall, to the lobby. The elevator doors opened. He thanked me once more as I stepped inside. I stopped the doors from closing and said, “Please, you need to follow through on this.”

“Like we said, we’ll take it from here.”

“You know, I wasn’t kidding about what I said in there. It cost me a million and a half dollars to come here and talk to you. I wish I could say it felt worth it.”

He said nothing as I allowed the elevator doors to close between us.

Mom had Jenna and me over for dinner. We ate outside at the round, glass-topped patio table by the pool. It had been intended as a celebration dinner of sorts, but no one was fooled into thinking it was time to celebrate yet. I wasn’t sure what the FBI was up to, but I would have liked more assurances on the follow-through, just for the sake of the other policyholders who were potentially at risk.

We did have our money. The funds had been wired directly to the same Bogota account we’d used for the last trip. Alex and I would withdraw the cash when we got there, and she’d again work her black market contacts to convert pesos to dollars. Funny, only a month ago the mere mention of a currency black market would have made me suspicious, but I now realized that it was just a fact of life in Colombia, and not just for the kidnapping trade. Thank goodness I had Alex, who was savvy enough to watch out for counterfeiters.

By eight o’clock Mom was finished with dinner and fed up with mosquitoes. She went inside. Jenna and I lit up a citronella candle and watched the moon rise.

“Thought any more about Duncan?” she asked.

“Only constantly.”

“Still think he’s ‘A Friend’?”

“It’s hard to imagine any lawyer doing that. Ethically you can’t betray your own client, no matter how despicable they might be.”

“A lawyer doesn’t have to help a client commit murder. If those kidnappers kill your father, the blood is on the hands of the insurance company, if you ask me. Maybe Duncan sees it the same way.”

“Maybe.”

She sipped her chardonnay. “You think one and a half million will get your dad home?”

“Alex is pretty nervous.”

“I didn’t ask what Alex thought. What do you think?”

“If Alex is nervous, I’m nervous.”

The sliding glass door opened behind us. I turned and saw Mom coming toward us, her head down.

“What’s wrong?” I asked with concern.

She stopped at the edge of the swimming pool, then looked at me and said, “Guillermo said no.”

“What?”

“I called him to ask if he could loan us the other half of the ransom demand.” She was staring past me, a vague expression in her eyes. “Said he just can’t do it.”

Without another word, she retreated into the house.

Jenna said, “I’m sorry, Nick.”

“I expected that. Guillermo’s own wife told me he was a cheapskate.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“The only thing we can do. We’re going to get my father home for a million and a half.”

She refilled her wineglass, no response.

I looked away, shaking my head. “This makes me sick.”

“What?”

“Here I am, worrying that I settled too cheap. Somewhere across town, I bet Maggie and Duncan are out celebrating this very minute. Another success story. Damage under control.”

“So you don’t think Duncan had his epiphany in the end?”

“That note he slipped me could have come from the heart or it could have been pure showmanship. You just never know with Duncan.”

“If you’re having doubts, you should follow your gut instinct.”

“My gut tells me that someone needs to be punished for this.”

“That’s up to the FBI now.”

“I just didn’t get the feeling that they’re going to run with it.”

“Then before you go to Bogota, call the state attorney.”

“The problem is, the more agencies I get involved, the more likely it is to get in the news.”

“Quality Insurance deserves all the bad publicity it gets.”

“Of course I’d love to see the media rip these people to shreds-Ochoa and Maggie and whoever else had a hand in it. But it’s not as simple as just calling a reporter. I’m seriously worried how my dad’s kidnappers might react if they hear all about the unraveling of this scandal on CNN. Maybe these same thugs thought they were going to have two, three, five more victims sent their way. They won’t be inclined to cut my father’s ransom in half if they think he’s the end of the gravy train.”

“I’m not saying you should alert the media. Just go to the state attorney, ask her to please keep her investigation confidential until your father is released.”

“Have you ever heard of that working?”

“I see your point.”

“So what should I do?”

“Jaime Ochoa handled thirty policies besides your dad’s. I’m not saying that thirty other people are going to end up kidnapped, or ten more, or one more. But do you want to leave that to chance?”

I looked at the moon and sighed. “I guess there’s no reason to give the FBI an exclusive on this. I’ll call the state attorney in the morning.”

She reached across the table and took my hand. “That’s the right decision.”

I squeezed her hand and said, “It feels right.”

“You should go with it, then. You should always go with what feels right.”

Our eyes met, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convey a double meaning, but her words, her touch, had definitely sparked me. For the first time since our breakup, something finally felt right to me. “Jenna, before I go to Bogota again, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say.”

“What?”

She didn’t pull her hand away, which warmed me inside. “You remember that day we went cycling in Kennedy Park, and you got mad about the way I reacted to the idea of us getting married?”

“Let’s not go back there, please.”

“I only wish you would believe that I’d already bought the ring. I didn’t propose marriage just to keep you from leaving me.”

“I know that.”

“You know?”

“I don’t know , but I believe you. The thing is, Nick, that wasn’t our whole problem. It really came down to what each of us was willing to do to make this relationship work. I completely changed the direction of my own career to move to Miami with you. As soon as we got here, you basically gave me up for yours.”

“That’s the old Nick. Or more like the temporarily insane Nick. I wasn’t that way in law school. We were great back then. Remember?”