Chapter 3

We expected the torture chamber to be hidden in the basement if it were in this building. We looked around for stairs leading down. We finally found them when we located the fire stairs. There were two levels below the ground floor, and we decided to start at the bottom and work our way up. There was an "emergency" light already turned on, so we did not have to use our own lights or night-vision glasses to see where we were going. The lights were surprising if the building really were unoccupied, so we kept a sharp lookout for other people.

We got to the lower basement and noticed that this place looked a Hell of a lot like the walls that could be seen in the video of Ann's torture chamber. We immediately went more into a defensive mode, if that were really possible. We marked the location of the lights so that we could shoot them out if we were spotted. If that happened, we would kill the lights and depend on our night-vision goggles.

The basement was divided into a number of rooms, and all of the partitions appeared to be made of cast concrete. That fit with what we were looking for, so we were hopeful of finding Ann in this building. We were near the northeast corner of the building, so we searched that section first. We didn't find anything to indicate human occupation, but we did see a lot of traces of rats, etc.

We arbitrarily moved to the northwest section of the basement and resumed our search. This looked a lot more promising, because we found a room which had been used recently as a break-room. There were water and soft-drink bottles scattered about, and there were sandwich wrappers on the floor near the trash can. There was even a microwave oven in the room, though there was no evidence of it ever having been used.

We knew from this room that we were on to something, but we did not yet know what that might be. The next room we checked turned out to be a toilet, not too clean, but serviceable. The next room had six metal cots, and four were occupied. Aha! We were definitely finding something that we were not supposed to see.

I had a very useful gadget in my backpack. The door opened into the room, and I was able to put a steel bar across the doorway and fastened to the doorknob so that the door could not be opened from inside the room without destroying the door. That should cut down on the number of people we would have to fight.

Our next discovery was a large room, judging from the exterior indications. The door was a heavy-weight steel door with a large security lock on it. The door was locked, but I had not trouble picking it. Once I had the door opened, I filled the mechanism with a very fast curing epoxy that would make it impossible to lock the door, again, without replacing the current lock.

The hinges were well oiled, so we made no undue noise as we slipped in. There was an inner door that was guarded by a man sitting in a chair and leaning against the door, itself. He was napping, but we could not be sure just how asleep he really was. This was a chance for Liz to show off one of her skills, so I covered her with my pistol while she crept up close to the dozing guard and jabbed him with an ampule of a sleeping potion that worked fast and lasted for a long time.

The potion took about 10 seconds to take effect, so Liz poked a silenced gun muzzle in the crook's face, and that held him paralyzed until the potion did its work.

I closed in about 15 seconds later, and the two of us laid the sleeping man to one side out of the way. This door was also locked, but I opened it with my usual speed and skill. I pushed the door open, and there it was! We could see the torture chamber that was featured in the video. Ann's nude figure was slumped against the wall, and there was a small cup on the floor within her reach. She appeared to be asleep, but, from the looks of the welts on her body, this sleep could be more of a case of unconsciousness brought on by pain and exhaustion.

For obvious reasons, Liz took on the job of waking her. "Ann! Ann! Can you hear me? We are here to rescue you. I'm going to release the chain so that you can lie down. Don't panic on me, I'm a friend sent by your father to get you out of here."

Ann looked at Liz and started to sob hysterically. Between sobs, she asked, "Are you ... really here ... to rescue ... me? ... I hurt ... so much ... I feel ... like I'm ... going ... crazy!"

"Yes, Ann. My husband is calling for EMS (Emergency Medical Services) to come transfer you to a hospital. Don't worry, Honey. We'll protect you."

While this was going on, I used my cellphone to call 911 for EMS and police help. I went upstairs to wait for the EMS ambulance and to show them how to find Ann. I also called Nathan Herschal to tell him that we had found his daughter and that she was on the way to the hospital. I promised to call him again as soon as I knew which hospital she would head for.

The cop actually arrived before EMS. He was in the form of a detective sergeant who was returning to the station from another call, and he happened to be only two blocks away when he got the call. I told him that all of the kidnappers were immobilized, and there was no great hurry; therefore, I would like to wait for the EMS guys to arrive before I left to show them the way to the girl. He agreed that was a good idea, and we talked about the case while we waited for the ambulance.

I gave him a synopsis of the case from the point of view of Liz and me. I assured him that we would show up at the station tomorrow afternoon to answer questions and to give a complete statement. The detective agreed that was a reasonable plan of action, and the EMS ambulance arrived at about that time.

The two Technicians had been given a rough description of how Ann had been treated. We all agreed that she could not be moved on her own, and she would definitely need the gurney. I led the cop and Technicians down stairs and they were appalled when they saw Ann and the extent of her injuries. I left them to find the elevator, and that was used to move her back to the ambulance. I called Nathan Herschal with the information on where she was being taken and went back down to the basement to see what was going on.

More cops had arrived, and all of the men whom we had found were safely under arrest and on their way to holding cells. Liz and I drove home and we crashed into bed, completely exhausted from our adventure that night. We slept in the next morning and went to the police station that afternoon. God! What a grind! We spent close to six hours going over and over what we had done the previous afternoon and night. We told them where to find the woman receptionist, and she was picked up. As far as the cops were concerned, we were now finished with the case, but I had my doubts about that. I was sure that we had not heard the last from the kidnappers.

Two days later, I got a message on the answering machine. "Mr. Henry Brewer, I will make this short and to the point. You have recently caused me considerable inconvenience and a significant amount of money. Rest assured, I will not forget your rude interference in my business!"

That was not the kind of message I like to get just before dinner! I called Liz to come listen and played the message for her. "Honey, it looks to me like this was in response to our contract with Mr. Herschel. I think this is the kind of trouble that I was expecting. It looks to me like we are in trouble with a gang, but I don't think it's the Mafia. I wouldn't expect them to issue a warning. They are more the type who would tag you with a bullet and go on about their business; therefore, it looks like it is up to us to defend ourselves by getting rid of this gang. What do you think?"

"I agree, Hank. How do you think we should start? I certainly have no idea where to look for these creeps."

"Well, let's eat dinner, first, before we worry about this difficulty. After dinner, I'll make a recording of this message, and I will call for an appointment with Mr. Herschel. I hope he can see us tomorrow."

Mr. Herschel was very accommodating and made an open-ended appointment for us at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning. We were in his office at the scheduled time on the dot, and I explained why we were there. I also warned him that his family might be in danger. He said that Ann refused to leave the house for any reason, even to see the doctor. However, his other two daughters were carrying on with their lives pretty much as they had always done, and Mrs. Herschel was doing the same.