As the men filed out to continue the search for Joel, Suave walked over to a bar stool and lowered himself onto it. “I don’t know what else to do, man,” Suave admitted to Daddy Lizard. “Time is of the essence to save my son.”
“We’ll find him, Suave.”
“Yeah. But dead or alive?”
“Don’t you dare think like that!” Daddy Lizard stabbed his finger at Suave. “King Kong knows if he hurts Joel, he’s as good as dead.”
Just then, Suave’s cell phone rang. It was a private number. He gave Daddy Lizard a puzzled look.
“Answer it. Maybe it’s that fool, King Kong.”
Suave answered. “Suave.”
“I know King Kong took your boy,” said a very low, deep voice. It was clear the caller was trying to disguise his voice. “And he’s going to kill him to teach you a lesson.”
“Who is this?” Suave yelled. He jumped up off the stool and paced the floor. “Where is my son?”
Daddy Lizard stepped closer to Suave, his index finger over his lips. “Listen,” he mouthed to Suave, tugging on his ear.
Suave took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling rhythmically as he tried to get ahold of himself.
“You ready to listen, or do you want me to hang up, and you never see your son alive again?” the man asked.
“Is my son okay?” Suave muttered through his teeth. Being at someone’s mercy wasn’t sitting too well with him.
“Not for long if Saddam and King Kong have anything to say about it.”
With one hand holding the cell phone, Suave used the other to grip the bar counter. Perspiration washed his face as his legs began to tremble. “Please, don’t let them hurt my boy.” It was now dawning on Suave that he may very well need this person’s help. Joel’s life was at stake.
“I can save him, but for a price.”
“Name it,” Suave told him quickly. “You know I’m good for it.”
“I know, and that’s why I contacted you.”
“Save my son’s life, and I’ll give you all the money I have.” A few tears escaped down his face, and he used his fingers to wipe them away.
The man chuckled lightly. “I just want a little bit of it,” he said, the extra bass still in his voice. “I have an overseas account number for you. Transfer $10,000 US in it by six o’clock today. I’ll then call you and tell you where you can get your son.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” Suave asked.
“How do you know you can’t?” the man countered. “Your son is missing, and you’ve been searching for him all morning with no luck. Oh, and please don’t get the police involved.”
“Joel’s mother already reported it to the police, and a detective was assigned to the case.”
“You’re talking about Detective Bird?” asked the man.
Suave had a shocked look on his face. “Yes. You know him?”
The man sighed loudly. “Listen, Detective Bird is on King Kong’s payroll—and has been for years. I’m also a hundred percent sure that the good detective already knows who kidnapped your son and where he is.”
Suave’s eyes widened, his nostrils flared, and his headache just got worse. He knew there was something about Detective Bird he didn’t like... but to be working for King Kong?
“I have to go now,” the man whispered. “You want the account number or what?”
“Yes.” Suave shook his head as if to clear it. He grabbed a pen that was on the bar counter. “Go ahead,” he said, hastily writing on an old newspaper that was beside the pen. “Got it.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Listen—” The phone went dead in Suave’s hand. He kicked the stool and howled in pain, hopping on one leg, cursing up a storm.
“All right, try to take it easy,” Daddy Lizard said. “Fill me in on what he said.” He listened quietly as Suave told him everything the man had said. “Things are looking up.”
“Looking up?” Suave stared at him like he were an octopus. “I’m about to transfer money into an unknown bank account, to an unknown person, who we are not sure will help us save Joel.”
“It’s a chance we have to take,” Daddy Lizard replied. “But I have a feeling he will come through once the money hits his account. We have to do all that’s possible.”
Suave blew air through his dry lips. He felt like he were a hundred years old. “Yes. I’ll do everything I can to make sure my son returns to me safe and sound.”
“And once Joel is safe, we’ll begin cleaning house.” Daddy Lizard’s voice was hard and cold. “Starting with that dirty cop.”
Chapter Thirty-seven
“Meet me in thirty minutes at the end of the Causeway Bridge,” the man informed Suave. “Your son and I will be standing beside a small blue fish stall.”
“I’m on my way.” Suave closed the cell phone and glanced over at Daddy Lizard, who was riding shotgun with him in the truck along Trafalgar Road. “Causeway Bridge in half an hour. He said he has Joel.”
Daddy Lizard reached over and playfully punched Suave on the arm. “That’s what I’m talking about. See? We’re going to get Joel back safe.”
But Suave nibbled on his bottom lip. He was nervous. Earlier that day, when his people still hadn’t received any information on Joel’s whereabouts, Suave had his bank transfer the money as instructed by the man. Still driving and searching all over Kingston and St. Catherine, touching base with every known friend and acquaintance, Suave had waited impatiently for the man to check his bank account and call him back. As the hours dragged on and night had fallen, Suave felt he had been tricked.
“He’s not going to call back,” Suave said to Daddy Lizard in despair as they filled up the truck at a gas station. “I bet he’s just going to take the money and disappear.”
Daddy Lizard shook his head. “I have a
