“You’ll have to do that from behind bars.”
“Behind bars?” He smiled. “But I didn’t kidnap her.”
“But you did try and take the ransom from Chase. That’s kidnapping. He’ll press charges. And he’ll win. You’ll spend the rest of your life in a federal facility.”
He sighed once more and turned away from me.
It was a few more moments before he continued. His breathing was arduous.
“I’ll be dead before the trial even takes place. The doctor said I’ve got a few months, at most. And I can feel it, I can feel all the strength draining from me. I’m a shell of the man I used to be. I used to be strong and proud, and now I’m skinny and weak. I could barely pick Millie up. That’s not the man I want her to remember me as. I don’t want her to come to the hospital and look at her weak grandfather. I don’t want her to pity me and I don’t want that to be the lasting memory she has of me.” His head drooped. “I want that angel to remember me as a strong man who fought for his country, who worked hard, and as someone who fought for his family, no matter the cost.”
“Is that what this is?”
He turned his head quickly back to me. “Do you think it’s fair that Chase makes all the money, and the people that risk their lives for this country are broke? I risked my life for the United States of America, for all who live in this great country, even for people like Chase, and I have nothing. Nothing. I have nothing to leave Millie. Not a cent. And Kyle and Tanya, well, they lost everything they had in one of Chase’s schemes. Of course, Chase doesn’t pay for it, does he? He still gets to live in his nice penthouse, he still gets his commissions. But us hard working people, the people that make this country work, we get nothing. It’s always that way. Do you think that’s fair?”
I didn’t answer, but Damon wasn’t looking for an answer. He was looking for a way to explain the situation he was in. To justify kidnapping his own granddaughter.
“I have nothing to give to Millie. Nothing.” His voice was beginning to break down with emotion. “This ransom was my way of giving Millie something. I was going to give it all back to the people that lost their money in Chase’s criminal scheme. Those who are still alive that is. You know some of them are dead because of what he did? One guy, a loner, died by suicide. He had no family to give the money to. I was going to leave that portion of the funds to Millie. I could have helped the other people he stole from—including Kyle and Tanya—and then have a little bit to leave as a trust fund for Millie. A present from her grandfather, something to be proud of and something to remember me by.”
I could see what he was trying to do. But I had to remain cold. I was here to rescue a little girl, and to protect Chase’s money. That was what I was hired to do. I couldn’t be moved by Damon’s sob story. Whatever his reasons, what he did was still a criminal act, and nothing either of us said or did now could change what had happened.
My response was blunt. “It’s a bit late for leaving her something now.”
“You think I haven’t tried my whole life?” Damon finally let the anger out. “I went to war, I came back and worked sixty hours a week for thirty years. I owned a home, a business and investments, but we lost all that in the financial crisis. We lost everything. When I lost my wife, I had nothing else. I even had to rent a tiny apartment that was falling apart. I worked hard my whole life and I had nothing to leave my angel.”
I lowered my weapon as I watched a single tear run down Damon’s cheek.
He was a strong man, but he had reached his limit.
Damon wasn’t a threat.
Not to me, and certainly not to Millie.
“I just wanted to leave her something, you know? I thought if I could just leave her with some money, she could be more independent when she grows older. Even with that prick of a father, she’s going to grow up to be a wonderful woman. I know that. I can sense it. She’s a good person, a really great person. With so much potential.”
I stepped forward and rested my hand on his shoulder.
“Chase is an evil man. He deserves to go to prison, not me.” Damon continued. “He’s the one breaking the law every month, every day, ripping off innocent people like Kyle, and all the others that were part of the investment group.”
“You wanted to give the money back to them. How did you find them all?”
He snorted. “I know Chase, he’s lazy. After the easy buck. I knew a couple of people who had invested with him and I figured they would all be linked somehow. A nephew here, a friend there. I managed to find most of them in the end. Not like I have much else to do. Even got one of those nice volunteers at the local library to help with the internet searches, I’m not much good with modern technology, but I just told them I was reaching out to my extended family before I died and they were happy to help. There are still decent people in the world. People who will help a friend in need. Especially one who, like them, has nothing. Why is it always those who have the least
