A Crooked Escape Plan

"Would you dare gamble on the character of desperate fugitives?"

Henry's question left Julia Carpenter speechless.

"Miss Carpenter—"

"Call me Julia. Whenever you call me Miss Carpenter, I feel like I'm a student who got into trouble and is being called in for a lecture by a teacher or principal. It scares me."

"Okay, Julia. I do have a bad idea that could help solve your problem. But you might get chewed out afterward. Are you willing to accept that?"

The young white woman gave a bitter smile. "Getting chewed out is nothing. It's better than attending who-knows-how-many funerals. What should I do? Where might my parents be right now?"

"My stepmother is in the hospital. My father should be there taking care of her with my younger brother. I was supposed to take the train to a psychiatric hospital in the suburbs to visit my biological mother, but then all this happened."

"Does your father have a cell phone? Or some other way to contact him? A home answering machine?"

"He has a cell phone."

"Oh, that's great." Henry pulled out his phone and passed it back to the girls in the rear seat. "Julia, enter your father's number, then give the phone back to me."

The young white woman quickly did as told and handed the phone back to Henry.

Keeping one hand on the wheel, Henry pressed the call button with the other. As he drove, he thought over what he would say. The unfamiliar call was answered quickly. The moment he heard, "Hello, this is—" Henry cut the man off and said in a deliberately lowered voice, "Julia Carpenter. Your daughter is in our hands."

"Prepare ten million. We'll meet beneath the bridge... Oh, no, no, at Times Square... Hmm, I'll contact you later with instructions