doubt that he’s being held captive?’
‘There’s the ransom note.’
‘It says you’re going to hear about where to take the money. Have the kidnappers got back to you?’
‘No.’
The note stated that Alabama would be contacted, but no such contact had been made. It had been close to five days now since she received the parcel.
‘What do you think that means?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know. Maybe they lost your number.’
‘What?’
‘Silence doesn’t serve the hostage-takers’ agenda. What do they hope to gain with no further contact?’ And while I was on the subject of things I didn’t know, what was the significance of having twenty days to pay the ransom in the first place? Why not seven days, or three days, or twenty-four hours to come up with the money? In my experience, kidnappers gave their victims less time rather than more to produce the cash. It didn’t suit the perpetrators’ reasons for committing the crime to allow authorities the time to track them down and stomp on their asses before they’d split with the dough. Maybe Randy was already dead. Even if he was, that wouldn’t stop the hostage-takers’ attempts to extract a pile of cash from Alabama with assurances that it would be in exchange for his life. Kidnappers demanding large sums of money didn’t usually play fair. No, at the moment I had no idea what the lack of contact might mean. Or pretty much anything else connected with this case.
‘When exactly did you last see Randy?’ I asked her, going back over some details.
‘Nine days ago.’
‘So four days before the package arrived.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, he left on a Sunday – that would make it the twelfth.’
‘Was the fifth the day Randy left for Australia?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you received the package the following Thursday?’
‘Yes.’ Twenty days time from that Thursday would be Wednesday the fifth. I made a note of the date.
‘Who else knows about the package, aside from Marnie?’
‘As far as I know, only you.’
‘And you say you’ve been in contact with Nevada Aircraft Brokers?’
‘Yeah, pretty much every day since . . . since the package arrived. I’ve been asking them to tell Randy to call me.’
‘You didn’t say anything about the ransom angle?’
‘The note said no police. Letting Randy’s boss in on it, the police would’ve been called for sure.’
‘And do you know if Randy’s checked in with them at all while he’s been en route?’
‘They said they haven’t heard from him. But they also said they’re not expecting him to contact them until he lands in Darwin.’
‘Any problems with the flight that they know of?’
‘I didn’t ask them that, not exactly, but they know I’m stressed about it. They’d have told me if they were worried.’
‘When’s he expected in Darwin?’
‘Any time now. What do we do next?’ she asked.
I figured I could just hang around playing the slots and wait for Randy to show up, but that probably wasn’t what Alabama had in mind. ‘We could take the severed hand to the metro police.’
‘I could have done that.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘I really don’t know. I thought there might be a better option – you, I guess.’ Her body language suggested having me here was no longer anything to break out the band for. I heard her phone buzz. She checked the caller ID on screen, got excited and plucked it up off the table. I went back to watching the shadow girls working the screens, and Sugar working the floor.
‘What?’ I heard Alabama say, suddenly in shock. ‘Oh my God . . . Yes, yes, of course . . .’
‘What’s up?’ I asked when she ended the call.
She looked at me, her eyes bathed in tears. ‘That was Ty Morrow. It’s Randy . . . Darwin expected him two hours ago but he hasn’t turned up. They think he crashed at sea.’
Five
I called Morrow back. The guy told me the police had been notified, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the
‘There’s the ransom note.’
‘It says you’re going to hear about where to take the money. Have the kidnappers got back to you?’
‘No.’
The note stated that Alabama would be contacted, but no such contact had been made. It had been close to five days now since she received the parcel.
‘What do you think that means?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know. Maybe they lost your number.’
‘What?’
‘Silence doesn’t serve the hostage-takers’ agenda. What do they hope to gain with no further contact?’ And while I was on the subject of things I didn’t know, what was the significance of having twenty days to pay the ransom in the first place? Why not seven days, or three days, or twenty-four hours to come up with the money? In my experience, kidnappers gave their victims less time rather than more to produce the cash. It didn’t suit the perpetrators’ reasons for committing the crime to allow authorities the time to track them down and stomp on their asses before they’d split with the dough. Maybe Randy was already dead. Even if he was, that wouldn’t stop the hostage-takers’ attempts to extract a pile of cash from Alabama with assurances that it would be in exchange for his life. Kidnappers demanding large sums of money didn’t usually play fair. No, at the moment I had no idea what the lack of contact might mean. Or pretty much anything else connected with this case.
‘When exactly did you last see Randy?’ I asked her, going back over some details.
‘Nine days ago.’
‘So four days before the package arrived.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, he left on a Sunday – that would make it the twelfth.’
‘Was the fifth the day Randy left for Australia?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you received the package the following Thursday?’
‘Yes.’ Twenty days time from that Thursday would be Wednesday the fifth. I made a note of the date.
‘Who else knows about the package, aside from Marnie?’
‘As far as I know, only you.’
‘And you say you’ve been in contact with Nevada Aircraft Brokers?’
‘Yeah, pretty much every day since . . . since the package arrived. I’ve been asking them to tell Randy to call me.’
‘You didn’t say anything about the ransom angle?’
‘The note said no police. Letting Randy’s boss in on it, the police would’ve been called for sure.’
‘And do you know if Randy’s checked in with them at all while he’s been en route?’
‘They said they haven’t heard from him. But they also said they’re not expecting him to contact them until he lands in Darwin.’
‘Any problems with the flight that they know of?’
‘I didn’t ask them that, not exactly, but they know I’m stressed about it. They’d have told me if they were worried.’
‘When’s he expected in Darwin?’
‘Any time now. What do we do next?’ she asked.
I figured I could just hang around playing the slots and wait for Randy to show up, but that probably wasn’t what Alabama had in mind. ‘We could take the severed hand to the metro police.’
‘I could have done that.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘I really don’t know. I thought there might be a better option – you, I guess.’ Her body language suggested having me here was no longer anything to break out the band for. I heard her phone buzz. She checked the caller ID on screen, got excited and plucked it up off the table. I went back to watching the shadow girls working the screens, and Sugar working the floor.
‘What?’ I heard Alabama say, suddenly in shock. ‘Oh my God . . . Yes, yes, of course . . .’
‘What’s up?’ I asked when she ended the call.
She looked at me, her eyes bathed in tears. ‘That was Ty Morrow. It’s Randy . . . Darwin expected him two hours ago but he hasn’t turned up. They think he crashed at sea.’
Five
I called Morrow back. The guy told me the police had been notified, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the
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