Seconds later, a cargo van emerged from the woods and raced past his field on the gravel road. He was too far away to see the licence plate or clearly see the faces of the two men in the front of the van, but their straight black hair caused him to think they were Asian.

He swore under his breath as he ran toward the wooded area. It was a favourite spot for his cows to rest and he had a sickening feeling that he would find one of them shot. He arrived minutes later out of breath.

It wasn’t a cow he found shot lying in the dirt. It was a man. A man who was naked, except for his underwear and socks. His hands were bound behind his back with a plastic zip-tie and duct tape covered his eyes and mouth. A bullet hole through his temple oozed blood. Death had been instantaneous.

It was six-thirty when Lee stepped off the elevator and into the parkade. He smiled politely at the pretty woman in front of him and was about to hold the elevator door open for her. Something about her looked familiar. Yes! The lady who beat the mugger. Jack’s lady — His thoughts were interrupted by the sheer terror of seeing her point a 9 mm pistol directly at his face.

“Do not speak,” she commanded. “Walk in front of me and go to the passenger side of my car and lean on it,” she added, gesturing toward her car with a quick jerk of the barrel.

“I beg you to listen,” said Lee. “I —”

“I said shut up!” Tears ran down Laura’s cheeks and her hand trembled. “Go over to my car … now!”

Lee wondered whether she might shoot him accidentally and hurried over to her car and placed his hands on the roof. Laura patted him down quickly before ordering him to get in the passenger side of the car and sit bent over with his head down between his legs.

“Don’t move until I tell you,” she said. “If I see you look up, I will shoot you. If you yell or even talk to me, I will shoot you.”

Lee fought the urge to vomit as Laura got into the car and started it up. He expected that she would be driving him away someplace. Instead, she drove him to the basement of the parkade and parked.

“Stay put,” she said, before getting out of the car and coming around to his side and opening the door. “Get out and get into the back seat. Hurry!”

Lee was confused, but quickly scrambled into the back seat while Laura got in the front seat, keeping her pistol trained on his face. “Okay, put this on,” she said, tossing him a ski mask.

“I don’t understand,” Lee said, bewildered.

“Put it on!”

Lee put the ski mask on as directed.

“Perfect,” said Laura. “Now I am going to call my boyfriend again. If he doesn’t answer, I’m going to shoot you. I’ll drag your body out of my car and use your blood to write rapist on the floor beside you. If the cops ever do find me, no jury in the world will convict me. Now, do you understand?”

“I … I … please listen. This is all a big mistake. I —”

“No! You listen! I’m dialing!” Laura pushed the redial and held the phone out so they both could listen.

Lee listened to the sound of each ring from the back seat. He knew his orders had been followed. Jack’s phone would not be answered. After six rings, his answering machine came on and Laura hung up.

Lee saw that Laura had quit crying. Her eyes burned pure hatred as she levelled the gun at his face. He gasped when he saw her finger squeeze down on the trigger. “I beg you! No!” he screamed. “He does not have his phone to answer! Please … you must … I —”

“I must what? Kill you?” said Laura. “It’s too late for excuses.”

“No, please. Let me call someone. It is not too late. I thought he would have called you already. It is taking longer than I thought. Please, let me use my phone and call someone.”

Laura stared back silently for a few seconds. Seconds that seemed like a lifetime to Lee. Eventually, she nodded and watched as he retrieved his cell and nervously punched in some numbers. “It is ringing,” he said, glancing at her. “I think — hello! This is — hello? Hello?”

It wasn’t only the ski mask making Lee sweat profusely. “We were disconnected,” said Lee in a panic. “The parking lot. The phone doesn’t work down here. Please, we need to drive someplace else. I beg you.”

More seconds ticked by before Laura responded, “Face down on the seat with your hands behind your head. I will give you one last chance.”

Moments later, Laura parked in the upper level and Lee tried again. Laura heard the phone ring and someone picked up and said, “Wang Hui Chinese Restaurant.”

“You better not be ordering Chinese food,” whispered Laura.

Lee shook his head and held his phone with two trembling hands and said, “My order has not arrived. The delivery person called me twenty minutes ago. It should have arrived then. This is very bad … wait.” Lee looked at Laura and held up two fingers and said, “Two minutes. He will call in two minutes.” His eyes then flickered from Laura to the gun she was holding in front of her. He leaned slightly forward, as if to say something else.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Laura, pulling back and distancing herself from his reach. “The clock starts now,” she added, glancing at her watch.

Lee turned his attention back to the phone. “Contact the delivery person again. I must speak to him within two minutes! No longer!”

One minute later, Lee’s cell rang and he stared at Laura, as if in a trance.

“Answer it,” she said. “Better hope it’s Jack and not a wrong number.”

Lee answered and said, “Put him on. Quickly!”

Laura cocked the hammer back on the pistol she was pointing at Lee’s face while carefully accepting his phone in her other hand. “Please … be careful what you say,” he cautioned. “You never know who is listening.”

Laura subconsciously held her breath and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hi, honey,” said Jack. “Kind of a long day, eh? You okay?”

The pent-up emotion Laura felt released itself. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she said, as tears streamed down her cheeks. “You?”

“Still above ground. Feel a little chilly, but I’m okay. Someone borrowed my cell so I couldn’t call. I was worried that you might have gone skiing.”

“I … I was going to,” replied Laura, wiping her tears with her fingertips. “My friend is already dressed for it.”

“Sorry about that. Somebody will be in deep ca-ca for not letting me call. I’ve, uh, been busy. Tied up until half an hour ago. Just got back into the city. They said I’ll have my stuff back in half an hour. The heels of my shoes somehow fell off and are being repaired as we speak. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” replied Laura, feeling more in control. “Just get here.”

“You okay to eat?”

“You’re hungry? Now? After all this?” said Laura, instantly angry.

“I spoke with Lee about twenty minutes ago. He apologized and offered to treat us to dinner. Being gracious, I accepted his offer. After all, it is just business. Nothing personal. I was supposed to call you but … these gentlemen I’m with didn’t understand the urgency. They insisted I would have to wait until I got my stuff back.”

Laura paused a moment to collect her thoughts and said, “You sure this isn’t a way to … you know, get us together?”

“I’m sure, but hang on. My favourite team is here. Mister Smith and … gee, I forget the other guy’s name. Tell Mister Lee to introduce me so I can shake his hand.”

My favourite team? Mister Smith and … Laura clued in. Smith & Wesson! She put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and whispered to Lee, “The men with Jack have guns. He would like to be given one,” she said, handing him the phone.

Lee’s head bobbed that he understood and he spoke into the phone. “You will give him anything he asks for immediately. Anything! Consider him your boss for now.” Seconds later, Lee passed the phone back to Laura.