No Ordinary Romance (24 page)

"Do you share the same mother or father?"

"We have the same mother."

"Who else knows that information?"

"Only a hand full of people."

"So the only real link you have between you
is your mother."

Connie frowned at the phone in confusion.
"Agent Constantine do you think Crystalline is behind this?"

"Is that your mother's name?"

"I haven't seen her since I was seven, I
probably wouldn't recognize her if I did."

"Would Chad recognize her?"

Chad never mentioned seeing their mother, did
he even know what she looked like. "I don't know if Chad has ever
seen our mother, she gave birth to him while in prison. He was
raised by his grandparents in Des Moines.

"What is your mother's full name?"

"Crystalline Jacobs. She was often called
Crystal." Could Crystalline be responsible for kidnapping, if so
what made her think that Connie had money to pay the ransom. "I'm
not rich by any means, but someone may have come to that conclusion
if they read the paper. The last couple of months I've been in the
news a lot because of fundraisers and the new building project on
72nd Street." Everyone look at each other, completely forgetting
that Agent Constantine was still on the line until he spoke.

"Very good, detectives I think we have hour
link, pull up everything you can find on Crystalline Jacobs. I want
to know who's she linked to, friends, family, husbands or
boyfriends. We should arrive in twenty minutes, in the mean time
we'll pull up her prison records. Miss Jacobs we're doing
everything to find your assistant and brother."

"Thank you Agent Constantine!"

Thomas hated feeling helpless; he had half a
mind to go search for Chad and Beth on his own. He knew some
questionable people with ties to the street that might be able to
help. He felt like a tiger in a cage, but that was nothing in
comparison to what Constantina was going through. The detectives
took over Constantina's office and turned it into a command center
waiting for the arrival of the FBI. She stood in the corner of her
office her violet eyes bright and troubled. He pulled her into his
arms trying to comfort her when he wanted to punish someone. "Trust
me baby, the FBI will safely retrieve Chad and Beth." Silently he
pledged to damage the kidnappers if the FBI couldn't.

***

Chad woke up with a severe headache; he
opened his eyes to find himself tied to a chair in a dingy
basement. He searched the room, and there was no sight of Beth.
"Beth! Beth where are you/"

"She's fine. You need to quiet down for you
get everyone all up in arms."

Chad couldn't see the woman clearly, she
looked like a weather beaten female who was on the ripe side of
sixty. She stepped closer to him, and he realized that she probably
wasn't as old as he initially thought. "Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize your own mother?"

Chad was speechless, he'd only seen pictures
of his mother and there was no way this woman could be his mother.
"Prove it." The woman got this far away look in her eyes and
proceeded to tell him her identity.

"I'm Crystalline; I was in prison when I gave
birth to you twenty-one years ago. You were ripped from my arms and
given to your grandparents to raise. When I got out of prison I
came by to see you, but you were at school. Your grandfather called
the sheriff. He said that I gave you up, and if I came to his house
again he would have me arrested. Your grandmother took pity on me,
over the years she sent pictures of you to my PO Box." She ran her
hands through his hair and gently touching his face.

He had no memory of his mother. He remembered
seeing a few pictures of a young woman with long flowing blonde
hair and bright blue eyes. The woman standing before him was
nothing like the images he had of his mother. This woman's eyes
were dead, and bitterness reeked from her body. "Why did you take
me and Beth?" Crystalline tapped his nose as if he were a child.
She laughed like a little girl as she spun around the room.

"I put your girlfriend in one of the
bedrooms; one of the boys took a shine to her. What kind of mother
would I be if I let my son's girlfriend be raped during her
kidnapping? You should know that they were only supposed to take
you. I knew that Tina would pay any amount of money to make sure
you're safe. My girl has done well for herself and she owes me for
taking away my baby."

Chad gave her a questioning look Crystalline
was obviously insane. Her mood swings went from one extreme to
another. "Who is Tina?"

"You know, Constantina, my daughter, your
sister. She owes me for taking my sweet baby David in that fire.
She started that fire, and my baby died."

"Crystalline...Mother." He had her rapt
attention now; she smiled brightly at him showing him a glimpse of
the woman she once was. "Constantina didn't start the fire, my
father did..."

"No! I don't believe you. Elwin loved me, he
wouldn't have set that fire to kill my children."

Chad had to convince her that he was telling
the truth, or he and Beth would never make it out of this
situation. "My father wrote me letters from prison and in one of
those letters he admitted that he set the fire because you wouldn't
go away with him."

Crystalline was in shock, all these years she
thought Tina started the fire. "Why did he take my babies from
me?"

"In his own way he loved you. He just
couldn't be a father to David and Connie. Connie didn't start the
fire, all these years she thought you did because you wanted to run
away with my dad. She has suffered a lot, not only was she injured
in the fire, but Connie still fills guilty for not saving David. My
dad was responsible for ruining your lives."

"How could Tina think that I would want her
dead? I loved my children, and I always worked hard to take care of
them?"

"You need to end this kidnapping Mother
before someone gets hurt." Chad hoped that he got through to her;
he was unaware that he was holding his breath until it came out in
a rush as Crystalline untied his hands and ankles.

"I'm so sorry Chad, I've done a lot of
foolish things in my past, but I never deliberately put my children
in harm's way. Tell Tina that I'm sorry, all this time I thought
she was guilty of the fire and she thought it was me."

"When we get out of here Crystalline you can
tell her."

"I don't think that's in
the works son." Crystalline took off the pendant she wore around
her neck and handed it to Chad. Give this to Tina, inside the
pendant is a picture of
my mother and me
. I
always meant for Tina to have the pendant, little girls should have
something that belonged to their mothers."

Chad took the pendant from
her and put it in his pocket. "I don't understand
.
W
hy don't you just call the police and
surrender?"

Crystalline just shook her
head. She had done
many
foolish things in
her life, but this was the topper and the situation wouldn't end
well. "I messed up
Chad;
my boyfriend's
cousins are some evil bastards. I had to stay with your girlfriend
last night to protect her. I'm going to cause a distraction, and I
want you to grab your girl and high tail it out of
here."

"What about you?"

"Our family reunion is going to be short
lived I'm afraid."

He followed her to the basement stairs when
the door opened. A tall man with an evil grin came down the stairs.
Chad braced himself for a fight; he wouldn't give up until he got
Beth out of this hellhole.

"What cha doing Crystal? Jimmy Lee is worried
that you might be having second thoughts." He shifted his eyes
toward Chad before looking back at Crystal. "We only had a few more
hours before we got the money, why did you have to let him go?"

Crystalline had known men
like Jimmy Lee's cousin, he wasn't about to let them leave this
basement. She had to make things right even if it meant killing
whoever got in her way. "Chad here just needed to relieve
himself;
as soon as he's done I'll tie him back
up." Jimmy Lee's cousin didn't believe her nor did she expect him
too, but she had a little surprise in store for him.

He came down the stairs, both Crystal and the
kid stepped back just like he expected. "Listen here you stupid
bitch, that's why we left the damn coffee can down here."

Crystalline pulled the pistol out of her
waistband and lifted towards his chest. "I suggest that you sit
down and let my son tie you up otherwise I'll shoot you dead right
where you stand."

Chad didn't like where this was headed, the
man was enormous, but he had every confidence that he could take
him. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to be shot, especially
when he had no clue where Beth was being held. "Mister why don't
you just do as she says and no one here has to get hurt." The man
sneered at him taking another step closer to Crystalline. The shot
was like an explosion, and his ears were ringing, as he stood there
stupefied. "You didn't have to shoot him."

Crystalline raise her eyes
from the man on the floor to Chad. "Yes, I had to shoot him; he
should have listened to my warning. Unfortunately, he'll
live;
we need to get up the stairs before the
others come. Your girlfriend is tied up in the bedroom next to the
kitchen. Grab her and go out the back door."

"Come with us."

"I wish I could baby, but I made a mess and
now I have to clean it up."

***

Thomas's banker arrived with the ransom money
minutes ago, now they were in the break room conducting business.
Connie sat there in the corner watching the FBI take over her
office turning it into a command center. Very little was said to
her as the agents mapped out Crystalline's whole life all over the
wall.

A pregnant Crystalline married Arland Jacobs
when she was sixteen, five months later she gave birth to a baby
girl, Constantina, two years later she gave birth to another child,
a boy this time named David. Arland was murdered in a knife fight
after a night of heavy drinking. Evidently, that is when
Crystalline's life of crime started with petty theft from
employers, shoplifting, and a whole slew of drug charges.

"Sorry ma'am we can't let you in..."

"My friend is in there, and I'm not leaving
until I see her."

Connie was shaken out of her daydream when
she heard Samantha's no nonsense voice. She got out of her seat to
greet her friend. "You better let her in or be prepared for WW
III." Connie hugged Samantha and pulled her into the office. "Sam
why are you here?" Connie took hold of Samantha's arm pulling her
out of the way of the agents working the kidnapping, back into her
secure corner.

"Someone called me, telling
me that you might need a friend.
Why di
dn't
you call and tell me that Chad and Beth had been
kidnapped?"

Connie ran her fingers through her hair in
exasperation. "You and Jenna are married now; I don't want to call
you every time something happens. Especially now that Jenna has
Alexander, she can't drop everything and come running."

Samantha grabbed Connie's hand giving it a
gentle squeeze. "Oh Connie how many times do I have to tell you
that men come and go, but you're my sister. We're your friends, and
when you hurt, we hurt. By the way, Jenna is seriously pissed that
you didn't call her. We don't throw our friends away because
something better comes along."

"I didn't want you and Jenna involved in this
mess. I don't even understand why this is happening. The FBI thinks
that my natural mother is behind the kidnapping."

"Maybe she wants to punish you for surviving
the fire."

"Chad told me that my mother didn't start the
fire, it was her boyfriend Elwin. He wanted her to himself without
the baggage of children."

"How monstrous is that?"

"Yeah I know Chad was afraid to tell me that
Elwin was his father. I would never hold him responsible for what
his father did."

"When was the last time you heard from the
kidnappers?"

"Only once when he gave me his instructions,
one more hour before he's supposed to call about the drop off
location."

"I know how much you hate authority figures,
I'm glad you didn't try to handle this by yourself."

"Thomas and Mike convinced me otherwise."

"You called Mike, and you didn't call me and
Jen. I wouldn't want to be Mike tonight."

"You mean he's not the friend who call you?"
At that moment, Thomas escorted the banker and his guard to the
door.

Samantha shook her head in the negative.
"Thomas called me, he explained what happened and said you needed a
friend right now. So I dropped what I was doing and hustled right
to your office."

Thomas came over as soon as
he saw his banker off; he was frustrated with the whole situation.
Normally, Constantina had a fight to the death
mentality;
right now she seemed so delicate as if she would
break at any moment. He watched the interaction between the two
women, whatever Samantha said to Constantina was bringing her back
to life back. He will never understand the relationships between
women and their friends. He's seen stressful situations with his
mother and sisters, once their girlfriends come along they
immediately felt better. As close as he was to Constantina, he
realized that sometimes a woman just needs her
girlfriends.

"Glad you could come Sam, I bet Mike has
Jenna on a short leash. He wouldn't want her anywhere near a
kidnapping command center."

"Actually Mike didn't tell Jenna about the
kidnapping I did, she had to take Alexander for a checkup. She
planned to come over afterwards, but I talked her out of it, this
is no place for a baby."