Chapter 20

"Are you some brand of insane? Have you been taking some crack or cocaine that I do not know of or it's the regular marijuana that is actually beginning to mess with your already daft brain?" Nick asked incredulously "How on earth do you go to the Senator of the United States and make a demand for ransom in exchange for his child?! Do you know that he fucking FBI are on the case now?" Nick yelled.
"Keep your voice down Nick, unless you want all of Oregon hearing us" Pete repeated his advice at them being calm and quiet.
"What do you think? We'll wave a flag and head to Capitol Hill, Washington DC, demand to see the Senator and make our offer? Or write a damned proposal for it and just hand it over along with a contact address or some e-mail and phone number he can call whenever he's ready to make negotiations? Really? That is your genuis idea? And you think for a second that it is not an insane and stupid thought that will fail even before it begins?" Nick asked incredulously.
"No, we make them reach us" Pete replied.
"What? This is insane, we give out our location? And then what? Have the police at our door first thing in the morning?"
"We're not contacting the police, it's the Senator we have a business with"
"How do you propose we reach him so he reaches us"
"We'll find him" Pete replied.
"What?"
"This is insane" Nick and Valeria exclaimed at once.
"Is it? It's his only child. It's been almost a month now and no idea where they precious little baby is" Pete said and went to grab Moses who immediately began to cry. "So how will they feel when they hear that there's news about his whereabout? Excited! And then we make our demands" Pete said, smiled and let the baby fall to the bed, barely missing the cold tiled floor.
"Pete! Don't touch him again" Valeria said and went to grab the baby, cradling him and moving to the window and hum to him.
"You're playing your role too well Valeria, be careful" Pete said as he watched her cradle the chil protectively.
"Assuming it's as simple as you make it sound, how are you sure the man won't send dozens of SWAT teams down our tails instead of complying to our demands?" Nick asked.
"Desperation" he stated and moved to the mirror, staring at his reflection a f frowning at the worn out look he saw. "Old man Tommy was right, the longer the better. They're desperate by now, I'm sure the wife is livid too, we make our shot now and there's a higher chance we get results" Pete replied.
Nick stares at him for a moment, plays the idea out in his head and then for the first time that evening, he quits pacing and sits on the bed.
"Let us assume it's works, what do we do? How do we get to the Senator?" he asked.
"There is always a conference monthly at the Senate Chambers in New York, let's hope Brownson is I'm attendance. If Brownson will attend, so will his wife, that has been his mode since Moses went missing. She tags along with him everywhere.
If we can get to that Congress meeting then we'll meet her, give her a contact to reach us, send in a little threat and watch it play out" Pete explained.
"And if she sends a van of cops instead of cash?" Nick asked.
"I heard mothers are very protective - although mine couldn't care less - but, from the news and rumours, she's distraught and I'm guessing will jump on the chance to get her baby back. But, just incase she gets clever, we'll have a plan for that too"
"When do we start? How do we get information now? Phones gone, everything's gone" Nick said.
"We need money, a reasonable amount of cash to pull this off, we need a believable disguise" he said.
"Money is what we don't have. Our stack is frozen and I've not have a good meal in days"
Pete thought for a second and then turned to Nick.
"What's today's date?" He asked.
Nick frowned at the question and kept mute.
"I'm serious"
"23rd July, why?" Nick asked.
"I have a job for tomorrow, it's $25,000" he said and moved to the wardrobe, rummaging through the baby's bag and retrieving an unopened envelope.
"I turned it down but he insisted I think about it" he said as he opened it. "Once I deliver the package, the money is hard cash, I think the offer still stands, all information are still here and thankfully just in time, tomorrow"
"I doubt we have any tools to pull off a job, you should have thought twice before shooting Tommy in the face" Nick remarked and rose to pace again.
"Oh, we don't need tool, just a pretty lady and luckily, we have that already" he said and nodded at Valeria.
"If you idiots still think I'm part of this then you're ape shit craxy" Valeria said, closing the curtain and turning to them, Moses now asleep in her arms.
"You're still a part of the team, the job isn't done yet" Pete reminded her.
Valeria cast a resentful glare at him and looked at that baby.
"What do I need to do?" She asked.
"Simple, be your usual stunning self" he said and handed her the envelope.
A certain droning sound cane from outside her stall, probably from someone's phone vibrating on the tiled floor or on a wash hand bowl filled with water? She wasn't sure. What as was sure of though was that the pair two stalls away from hers were no doubt having sex and they weren't very quiet either, not when their skins hit the wall and disturbed the silence in the bathroom hall or when one decided that the pleasure was overwhelming and decided to cry out or moan really loudly.
Valeria was in the last stall by the left, mainly because the bathroom hall had sixteen stalls, eight on each side and from practice and observation, many people did not go beyond the fourth stall unless they wanted a bathroom quickie. Most women left if the first three stalls were occupied, coming back later or waiting for the occupants to leave. It was no doubt then whey she had not been bothered even once or the stall knocked on for the past forty minutes she was there.
Valeria couldn't help but wonder at her reflection on the mirror. She was in her prime, past the school girl age and bikini phase but when the job did require, she didn't have a choice but to tuck her thirty-seven-year old butt into any pant or skirt of any size just to get the work done.
Last night, after Nick had briefed her on the contract that he got weeks ago, shortly before they began the 'Moses Operation' ad they'd tagged it. It was an anonymous contract that had been delivered to their rendezvous spot in Paris, Pete had discarded the offer, at that time, $25,000 seemed too small for any type of gig, including the 'Hooker' gig like they fondly called it. They had a bigger op in motion and Valeria hadn't been in the mood to be groped by anyone.
Now, she had no choice but to stick up for the team. They needed the money to facilitate the next move that would help them contact the Senator and finally reunite Moses with his family - or so Valeria thought.
For the past days, she'd been restless, sleepless and perturbed over the boy, worrying nonstop about his wellbeing and how badly he was taking everything happen to him so far.
When Pete had told them that from reliable reports, the boy wasn't a troublesome fellow at all, she'd thought he was maybe exaggerating to make them accept the gig and out them at ease. It turned out to be the whole truth, he wasn't quite spooked by seeing strangers and guns and for this Valeria was grateful, she didn't know what to do with a child but then a crying and whining child was way worse. Maybe it was the fact that being born into the Capitol Hill had exposed him to many faces, nannies servants or maybe he didn't have have closest relationship with his mum to make a bond that would make the child cry at separation or maybe he was just a dull child but whatever the case was, he was a peaceful calm boy and Valeria liked it.
She realized he only cried when he was hungry, thirsty, his diapers wet or when a very loud noise spooked him, mostly when they started arguing or knocking things over. At night, he cried when he was awake and she wasn't and when she refused to hold him to sleep.
The boy was tugging at her heart strings daily and each day left her feeling too open, too attached and too guilty to stand the sight of him being hurt in even the slightest form.
Moses too had taken a liking to her, she noticed the subtle ways he clutched at her thumb or tried to suckle on her breasts and rub her cheeks when she held him. These actions melted at her heart and she continually had to create space so as not to sink any deeper into the pit the child was creating with his innocent affections.
The child, the baby, a child left in her care after so many years. It reminded her of her Lily. A sweet gentle soul that had been stolen from her before lived life at all. Stolen, taken and brutally murdered.
The memories made tears leak at her eyes and Valeria dabbed away with a toilet paper, seeing the cheap brown powder stain on the white tissue. Valeria wiped at her stained fingers too and turned on the water to wash it off, checking her diamond encrusted watch again. It was almost 11:00am and the lunch meeting would kick off. She schooled her features, refused to fall into the pit of self pity and wallow there, she had a job to do and the team depended on her.
Valeria wasn't so impressed with her body anymore, although eye still trailed her movement anytime she worked into the room and shed seen quite a few erections in broad daylight when she scooted too near and fluttered her false lashed in the most innocent and naughty way she'd learnt to. Her hips, no doubt still visible through the sequined gown, her lean smooth neck wore a fake piece of gold, an amethyst stone that was original and stolen hung from it beautifully, with matching earrings that were stolen too from Singapore.