Quiet Explosion—Chapter 2/5

Chapter 2 - The Kidnapping

Steve was a self made millionaire in his mid twenties, who made his money from foreign electronics sales. The Asian markets were so far advanced, many people in Britain couldn’t wait to get their hands on the goods, even if they didn’t come with guarantees and warranties. Where Steve made most of his money was in modified electronics—a mobile phone could be programmed to do just about anything these, days but it was something that only the black market could offer, especially for the type of clientele Steve was dealing with. There were small warehouses around the globe that stocked anything people wanted, he also had a group of programmers and electronic experts able to modify to demand. On his business trips he would befriend some powerful allies as he wined and dined the local mafiosa, but Steve loved to come back to Leeds. He felt he had to come back to the place where he spent his childhood, he also thought he could make a difference to the people in his hometown, he liked to think of himself as some kind of philanthropist, to give himself a feel good factor, and to bring some justification for his misdeeds. Steve had made himself quite an empire, and controlled much of what went on in Leeds, it was a case of ‘better him than someone else who didn’t give a crap’. He didn’t realise that the by-product was death and mayhem, but as the saying goes, ‘ what you can’t see can’t hurt’.

Bobby on the other hand was an up and coming delinquent, wanting to take on the world and be on top, and he didn’t care how he got there. Always looking for the quick route to success, Bobby had decided to kidnap Jill, who was Steve’s girlfriend and hold her to ransom, and take a share of Steve’s empire while he was at it. Bobby was not the sharpest pencil in the box, but this made him all the more dangerous. People got hurt in his wake, and this latest attempt to proliferate his fortunes was not going to end well. Jill was taken in broad daylight while on one of her shopping trips to London. Steve’s men had been very lax, they didn’t want to babysit a blonde bimbo on a buying spree, there were far better things to do, but none of that was going to matter after their monumental, self sabotaging screw-up.

Steve would make them regret this, and make them think that watching someone shopping was a pleasant experience compared to the quartering they were going to be subjected to.

It was Dan that took the first initiative by kidnapping one of Bobby’s men and delivering him to Steve. The Kidnapping was simple, but it was going to start a war with Steve, Bobby, Dan, and the police all being involved. Dan had tried contacting the police, but they didn’t take action quick enough, because of resources and red tape, any leads would run cold. Dan was not a violent man by nature, so the guy would be tortured by Steve until he gave them the information he needed. He thought this would also get things moving, and hopefully Jill wouldn’t have to endure the situation any longer than was necessary, but he hadn’t banked on Steve’s weird and twisted strategy, although Dan should have known better to think otherwise.

Now Steve and the Police were involved, they both now knew where Jill was, the net was cast. Dan hoped that they would keep each other in check and keep Bobby on his toes, this was literally going to be a game of chess and the pieces were being moved into position.