Chapter 50
“Boss, I stayed at the studio all night hoping Jesse would come back here but no luck. I did do a complete search of the place, inside and out.”
“Find anything?” asked Richie, his voice betraying the desperation he felt.
“Yeah, I found her purse and her cell phone beside it.”
“Where was it?”
“About twenty feet from where the car was parked in an alley. I managed to find the driver you guys had and talked to him. He didn’t see anything. Oh, and her cell phone is toast. It looks like a boot was put into it…smashed.”
Richie felt fear choking him as he asked, “Was there any blood?”
“Not on her purse or phone and I didn’t see anything that could have been blood on the streets.” Billy hesitated, then said, “I’ve called the cops and because you’re a celebrity, they’re not waiting the 48 hours to list her as a missing person. They’re here now and have the place roped off.”
“They think she’s been
kidnapped?”
“Everything I’ve found points to it, boss.”
“How would anyone know she’s connected to me…in New York at least?”
“Rich, those pictures of you and Jess in California are everywhere now and there’s the interview you did for the Dallas station. And you might as well know that there are pictures of you proposing in the National Enquirer this morning.”
“How the hell did THAT happen? I thought the set was closed last night.”
“I’ll check into it before I leave.”
Richie’s call waiting beeped and he looked to see that it was Tony. “Billy, I’ll call you back. Tony’s calling me.”
“Richie…she’s going to be okay.”
“Thanks.” Switching
calls, “Tony, what’s up?”
“I was calling to see if you’d heard from ‘Outlaw’?”
“Not yet. Billy found her cell phone…it’s been destroyed so she can’t call me.”
“Damn. Look, I
have a feeling this is connected to Jesse disappearing. I just got the strangest call. Some chick
called here and thought I was some Chris dude….”
“Chris? You’re sure she called you Chris?”
“Yeah, and she never gave me a chance to tell her I wasn’t Chris.”
“Chris was Jesse’s dad. Did she say who she was?”
“No, the only thing she said was that she had his precious daughter and demanded a hundred thousand dollars.”
“How are you supposed to get the money to her?”
“She’s calling back in about an hour but Richie, I have the number on caller ID…just no name. Do you know her mother’s name? If I’m gonna act like her father, I should know that and what happens when I go to meet her? I can’t tell her Chris is dead – she might hurt Jess.”
“Call Billy and give him the information you just told me. The police are investigating this…as a kidnapping. Do you have any idea where the number is?”
“Yeah, it’s a Florida number. Boss, that makes it an FBI problem.”
“I know,” replied Richie softly. “Look, when this chick calls back, Jesse’s mother’s name was Tina. Tell her whatever you need to tell her to get Jesse safely back. If you can talk to Jess, tell her I love her.”
“I will. What about Stevie?”
“Get Carly and Ashley to stay with him.”
“Do you think he’s safe…if this is her mother doing this and she thinks her dad is still alive…she probably doesn’t know about Stevie. She could go after him too.”
“You’ve got a good
point. Maybe you should bring him to me.”
“Why not just get Kevin back to take care of him?”
“No, don’t get Kevin
involved in this. Besides, when we get Jesse back, she’ll want to see him to
make sure he’s safe.”
“Where is Jesse going to come up with this kind of money?”
“I’ll wire it to you. Just call me back when you hear from this lady.”
