Inside Man | ONC2023

14. Squaring Off

(Author's Note: this chapter is dedicated to Elisabeth_Long and her zodiac story for the ONC2023, Capricorn Rising )

Rik stopped to rest. His back was aching and he was starting to feel discouraged. He didn't appear to be making any progress. How many hours had he been creeping along in the dark? There was still no sign of light and the caves seemed endless. Sometimes the cave narrowed so much that he had to move away from the side and pace himself with a hand on the roof instead. Every time that happened, he worried that he had got turned around and was no longer heading in the same direction. For all he knew he could be going in circles.

He felt thirsty, but so far had come across no pools or water he could drink from. No water container had been left with him either, which was unsettling. Surely, if this was an ordinary kidnapping, they would have left him some water.

He wondered whether his father had received a ransom demand. Did he even know he was missing yet? When he had been kidnapped before he had been a teenager, relying on his Dad and other adults to rescue him, but this time he was an adult. He had to take care of himself.

He gathered up a handful of small stones and tossed them one at a time, in a circle around where he was sitting. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary, no splash or lengthy gap before one hit the ground.

He was reasonably certain this was not the cave system he had visited that earlier summer. The interior there had been uneven, with dips and rises and spaces you had to crawl through. Although he had banged his knee here a few times on a boulder—or possibly a stalagmite, he couldn't tell in the dark—in general the ground had been fairly flat. He tried to remember what he had learned about cave formation, hoping it might give him a clue as to where on Belus he was. But first he had to get outside into the open air.

Rik scrambled to his feet and kept going.

~~~~

"'Does Rik have any enemies'?" Chris Maddon repeated, thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have thought so. Rivals, yes. Any big business collects its fair share of rivals and competitors but I can't think of anyone who has a personal vendetta against Rik. Not to this extent." He got to his feet. "Despite what you've said about Mikel Byron, I still think it's more likely this assault is directed at me, rather than Rik. I'm the one with money to pay a ransom."

Paul didn't agree, the trap for Rik had come before any ransom demand appeared, but he didn't argue. After all, he didn't know much about Chris Maddon and his business affairs. He could be running a dozen crime rings on the side, for all he knew.

He had an idea. He remembered the camera outside his apartment, linked to his entry panel, kept records for 24 hours.

"If you can wait a moment, I'll show you the images I have of the man who came to my apartment last night. They aren't the clearest because he was wearing a cap and looking down, but he might be familiar to you. I'm certain he's the one who took Rik."

Paul moved across to his console unit to bring the images up on a larger screen and Chris Maddon followed, eager to see the evidence.

The first image appeared.

Maddon bent closer. "Wait... I don't believe it! Is that-?"

He was interrupted by the entrance panel at Paul's door chiming again.

Who is it now? thought Paul, opening the visitor's image on his screen. He hoped it wasn't the Patrol.

It wasn't the Patrol but perhaps it was someone who was going to be even more of a problem for him.

His boss, Frank Yelt, stood on the other side of the door, tapping his foot irritably.

"Excuse me," Paul told Chris Maddon. "I have to get this."

Chris Maddon stared at the screen. Until that moment he had seemed to be thawing toward Paul but now a shutter came down, wiping all expression from his face.

"What is Frank Yelt doing here?" he demanded, coldly.

"He's my boss." Paul saw no point in denying it. "Is there a problem?"

"You work for Frank Yelt?" Without waiting for an answer, Maddon straightened up and moved toward the door, his bodyguards taking up position on either side.

"Wait! What about the kidnapper? Did you recognize him?" Paul was almost sure Maddon knew who the man was, and in fact had been about to tell him, before they had been interrupted. Evidently, Yelt and Maddon had some bad history.

Maddon ignored him, impatient now to be gone.

Paul opened the door and watched as the two men faced each other, reminding him of nothing so much as two bearcats squaring off. The antagonism bristled from both of them.

Frank Yelt took a step back, allowing Maddon and his body guards to exit the apartment. "Maddon," he acknowledged gruffly, with a brief nod.

"Yelt."

Chris Maddon and his guards strode off down the passage without another word.

"So what the fuck was he doing here?" demanded Frank Yelt, before they were out of sight. He pushed past Paul into the apartment, still talking. "What's going on? I haven't heard from you for two days. Why haven't you reported in?"

"It's a long story," said Paul, for the second time that morning. "Have a seat and I'll fill you in."