“You said this was delivered to your office this morning?” Agent Phillips asked. It had been three days since the disappearance of Elizabeth Swanson. Though the investigation of her kidnapping was still ongoing, initial findings were not promising. The culprits, whoever they were, had been professional about it, leaving little in the way of forensic evidence.
Alice nodded. “It was in a stack of mail. I didn’t check on it until this afternoon. That’s when I phoned you.”
They were in Alice’s office, standing around her desk. Besides the two agents, one FBI, the other Hollywood, there was a third individual: a venerable old gentleman named Henry Reed. He had been the Swanson family attorney for many years and was the one in charge of Elizabeth’s trust fund.
Alice showed the two men the plain envelope. It had her name and address on it, but no stamp or return address. “This was inside.” She held up a small, cheap USB thumb drive, letting them see it before plugging it into her computer. There was only a single file on the drive: a video simply titled ‘Play Me.” Alice moused over and double clicked the file.
On screen, the video came up and started playing. The quality and sway of the image said it had been taken on a phone, held in someone’s hands. It showed a dark, dingy room, the three visible walls bare cinder blocks, the floor stained concrete, the roof corrugated metal. The light came from a lamp or spotlight or something behind or to the side of the camera man, directed onto the room’s single, visible occupant.
Elizabeth Swanson sat in the center of the frame, on a heavy, battered wooden chair. The teen starlet was lashed to it with a considerable quantity of rope, binding her arms behind the chair back, tying her ankles to one chair leg and wrapping torso and chair back together. A ballgag muffled her cries of distress as she looked to the camera. Apart from these restraints, the girl was completely nude.
After a few seconds of the captive’s panicked struggles, a voice over began, its dull monotone clearly computer generated. “Ms. Keyes, we have kidnapped your client, Elizabeth Swanson. To secure her release, you must pay us a ransom of five million dollars. Do not attempt to locate us or it will go bad for her. To signal your understanding and acceptance of these terms, post a message on social media at exactly 6 PM this evening, incorporating the word ‘Understood’ in the message. Any other attempts at contact or negotiation will result in a break off in communication and you will never see your star again.” As the poor girl continued to struggle in terror, the video cut off, suddenly.
For a long moment, the three were silent. Then Alice turned to the FBI agent. “Well, what do you think we should do?”
Agent Phillip’s sighed. “Much as it pains me to say it, I think our best option is to go ahead and pay the ransom. These people are clearly professionals. That country house was practically spotless, as far as evidence is concerned. While I think we’ll find them...eventually, that will almost certainly be too late for Miss Swanson.”
Alice turned to the other man. “Can we raise the money? I mean...I’ll do anything I can to help Elizabeth, but five million’s a bit more than I have at the moment.”
The lawyer nodded, a contemplative look on his face. “The trust is, normally, unbreachable until Miss Swanson turns 21, to prevent bad actors from abusing the funds...but there is a clause that allows us access to the funds in extraordinary circumstances. And this would certainly count there. I will have to speak to the bank regarding this, but I am confident they will agree with me and release the money.”
“In that case, I’ll go ahead and post the message, like they said.” Alice said. “Let the kidnappers know we intend to pay up...and hope to god they let her go afterwards…”
***
The small, luxury sedan sped along the highway. At the wheel, Alice fought to keep a neutral expression on her face. Agent Phillips had agreed not to put a police tail on her, lest the kidnappers spot it and call things off, with lethal consequences for their hostage, but he could have placed plainclothes agents on the road anyway, and they might starting wondering, if the Hollywood agent seemed a touch too pleased with things. Inside though, Alice was ecstatic. It was all going according to plan!
A few days after Alice had posted a message online, signaling their willingness to go through with the ransom payment, the kidnappers had sent a new video to her office in the same format as before: an envelope holding a USB drive containing a video. This one had instructions on how the exchange would be handled. The details were accompanied by another scene of Elizabeth, still tied up and naked and clearly unhappy with her predicament, to prove she was still alive and unharmed. Though there were no signs the kidnappers had actually hurt the starlet, it was obvious she was finding her imprisonment an ordeal.
Alice felt a bit guilty about that. She’d planned this whole scheme with the idea that the girl would be, at the most, inconvenienced for a few days, before getting back to her comfortable, privileged life as a world famous celebrity. Still, the rewards were too great for Alice to pass up. It had always grated on the older woman, watching her teen client rake in the big bucks, only to then sit on it, doing nothing! Mr. Reed took his job as steward of Elizabeth’s trust fund seriously, putting it in safe investments that would keep pace with inflation, but little more. Alice was certain if she’d had the money all along, she’d have doubled the fortune, if not more.
“Well, now’s my chance.” She thought, glancing to the backseat. A large duffle bag bounced around with each bump in the road. Just before she’d set out, Alice had watched Mr. Reed and the branch manager of Miss Swanson’s bank carefully load bricks of cash into it, making up the full five million dollar ransom, withdrawn from Elizabeth’s trust fund. According to the deal Alice had struck with the kidnappers, in exchange for ensuring the starlet would be alone in an isolated spot for them to grab, and for ensuring the ransom payment went smoothly, half of the money would be hers. Alice had big plans for how to invest the cash, giving her business a second source of revenue, not subject to the whims of a bratty teenage starlet.
The sun was just setting as Alice reached the site for the ransom exchange. A large shed, constructed of cinder blocks and corrugated metal sheets stood at the end of a gravel road. Beyond was an open field of grass, freshly mowed for hay. As Alice stopped the car, a small side door opened and one of the kidnappers stepped out.
“Come inside.” He told her, brusquely. “The authorities are watching this place, but they won’t move until they know how our little hostage is doing, one way or another.” Alice nodded, opening the back door of the car and, with some effort, hoisted the bag of cash out. Five million dollars weighed quite a bit. She carried it to the shed and went in as the kidnapper held the door for her.
The inside of the barn was dark, growing more so as the sun went down, but Alice could make out the bulk of a single engine cargo plane taking up much of the space, the kind designed for short take offs and landing from improvised airstrips. Peering around it, the agent spotted the other two kidnappers in the far corner. Between them, still lashed to the chair, was Elizabeth. Just like in the videos, the girl was naked, tightly bound with rope and with a ballgag between her teeth. It had been joined by a thick, padded blindfold over her eyes and a set of ear plugs, keeping her completely cut off from the outside world, unaware of whatever might be happening nearby.
While one of the men kept watch over their hostage, who sat still and quiet, aside from the occasional quiet sob or moan, the other came forward to meet Alice. Behind her, the third shut the door behind them, making the interior even darker than before.
“Put the money there.” The lead kidnapper said, indicating a small card table tucked in a space not occupied by the plane. Pushing aside a few, empty noodle containers and beer cans, Alice dropped the bag onto it, making the aluminum tube legs creak a bit. As she stood, watching, the men stepped forward and unzipped the top. After inspecting it for bugs or other unpleasant surprises, he pulled out a couple bundles of cash, taking one from the top of the pile, then reaching deeper in to grab samples of the ransom payment from other parts. One at a time, he examined the bills, showing a fair degree of expertise. After a minute, the man seemed satisfied. “If these are representative of the whole thing,” He said, dropping the bundles of $100 bills back into the duffel bag, “We’ve got our ransom, paid in full.”
“Good.” Alice said, not realizing until then how tense she’d been. “In that case, let’s wrap things up here. You can just count out my share. I’ll take it and Miss Swanson and go…”
“Oh yes...about that…” The kidnapper said, casually, with a short nod of the head. That, apparently, was the signal to the man who had let Alice in. While she’d been distracted watching the first kidnapper check the money, he’d silently slid up behind her. Without warning, he seized the startled woman, twisting her arms behind her back, rather painfully.
“What are you doing?” Alice exclaimed. She started to struggle, but found herself just as helpless in the man’s iron grip as young Elizabeth had.
“A slight change of plans, Miss Keyes.” The lead kidnapper said, a touch of mockery entering the tone of his voice. “Why should we split the ransom with you, 50/50, when we can have all of it and keep Miss Swanson as well?” The man grinned as his erstwhile partner in crime cursed angrily. “Surely, you must realized a beautiful young female specimen, particularly with her celebrity status, would be worth a fortune in the white slave trade. These last few days, we’ve actually been in touch with a few of our regular clients in that line of business. Still too early to tell how the bidding will turn out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our sweet starlet ends up fetching more as a slave girl then she’ll bring in ransom.”
“You bastards…” Alice hissed, which drew only a bemused look from the kidnapper and slaver.
“That just leaves one loose end to tie up…” The man paused, looking at Alice as he let her work it out herself.
“You don’t mean…” She said, face turning pale.
“I’m afraid you know a bit too much about our arrangement for us to let you go empty handed and doubtless angry at us. Which, I’m sorry to say, means you’re going to have to disappear as well.” The man’s grin suggested he was, in fact, very far from sorry about it.
“You...you can’t…” Alice’s eyes widened in horror as she realized their most likely means to make her go away permanently.
“Well, why not?” The kidnapper snorted with amusement. “You’re certainly in no position to stop us. And though you’re not as young as Miss Swanson and lack her celebrity status, you’re nevertheless an attractive woman in your own right. And if some of the rumors I’ve heard are true, fairly sexually experienced, unlike her. That’s more than enough to make you a salable asset to our regular buyers.”
Alice cursed and struggled, but, like he’d said, there was nothing she could do that would change which way things were going now. The first man held the horrified woman in place as his boss came forward and started to strip her. In no time, she was as naked as Elizabeth. Ropes came out and she was soon bound, tightly, at the elbows, wrists and ankles. Alice’s indignant protests were silenced as a large ballgag was jammed between her teeth and the straps tightened uncomfortably. The last part of her bondage was a blindfold and a set of ear plugs, cutting her off from the outside world.
Across the room, the third kidnapper got Elizabeth ready to go. The ropes lashing the terrified teen to the chair were cut, leaving those on her wrists, elbows and ankles in place. The man picked up the naked girl and threw her trembling figure over one shoulder. She sobbed into her gag, wondering where her captors were taking her now. The kidnapper carried her over to join Alice, now thrown over the shoulder of her own captor. The two women were taken to the plane and loaded inside. They moaned fearfully as they were strapped securely to two of the seats in the back. The bag with the unfortunate Elizabeth’s ransom was hoisted in with them.
While one of the kidnappers started going through the small plane’s pre-flight checklist, the other two got ready to go. They loaded the last of their gear in the plane, then took a pair of jerry cans and started pouring the gas inside all over the shed. Slipping out the door, one of them left a trail of flammable liquid running from the shed to the front of Alice’s car, making sure there was a sizable puddle beneath the gas tank. Leaving a small incendiary charge on a timer, they threw open the shed’s large sliding doors and scrambled into the plane.
The light aircraft taxied out of the shed and then, without stopping, accelerated down the tilled field until its wheels left the grass runway. Behind them, the charge detonated, setting the shed ablaze. Keeping just above tree level, they turned and flew off into the darkening night.
***
The agents assigned to follow Alice’s car had seen the whole thing. Forbidden from getting too close to the exchange, lest they be spotted with fatal consequences for the women, the two men had found a vantage point they could keep an eye on the shed from afar, hoping to pick up a clue they could use after Miss Swanson's freedom had been secured. Instead, they’d watched in awe as the kidnapper’s plane taxied out onto the field and sped up. Through its windows, they could see three masked men up front and behind them poor Elizabeth and Alice, blindfolded and gagged. The explosion in the shed distracted the detectives, causing them to lose sight of the plane as it left its makeshift runway, but the agents had called it in.
Throughout the night, agents across the state watched the skies intently, while air traffic controllers were told to watch their radars for any anomalous readings. False sightings poured in by the hundreds, sending teams of agents scurrying to track down drone operators or flocks of migratory birds. It wasn’t until late afternoon the next day that a farmer’s tip led them to the burnt out wreck of the plane in one of his back fields, hundreds of miles from where it had taken off. The lack of bodies, and tire tracks nearby, told the agents the plane had landed safely, whereupon the women were taken out and, doubtless, forced into a new getaway car the kidnappers had stashed ahead of time, while the plane was torched. Despite this deduction, though, the agents could not find any further leads on where the two had been taken. The trail went cold.
For the next few days, despite the best efforts of the authorities to keep it quiet, the headlines and airwaves were full of news of the kidnapping of starlet Elizabeth Swanson with acknowledgment, usually in the last paragraph of the articles, that her agent, Alice Keyes, had been taken as well. The media went into a frenzy when Agent Phillips, cornered by reporters, was forced to admit that, in all likelihood, the missing women had, by now, been smuggled out of the country and trafficked into the international trade in female sex slaves.
Sighting of the missing starlet flooded in from all over the world. Some claimed she had been sold to a South American drug lord and was being held in his private compound deep in the rain forest. Others asserted it was a Middle Eastern prince who’d bought her. A huge fan of her movies, he was now looking to abduct several other actresses to be her costars in a series of movies he was planning to make. A series of photographs, eventually proven to be AI forgeries, claimed to show Elizabeth on stage at a slave auction in the Far East, where she had been sold to an exclusive Casino Resort to serve as hostess for their elite high rollers.
As the weeks turned into months, then finally years, interest in the case faded. From time to time, new reported sightings of the missing Actress would reignite interest but it would soon fade again. Of Alice Keyes, there was no mention…