Marked Money

By Jack Shevlin

It is a warm, sunny Saturday in Bellview, Massachusetts, when Kevin and Maria Sanderson receive horrifying newstheir seventeen-year-old daughter, Jenny, has been kidnapped. Left with nothing but a typewritten note that asks for a million dollars in return for Jenny, the Sandersons feel they have no choice but to pay the ransom.

Despite the kidnappers threats, the Sandersons enlist the help of the local police and the FBI, who devise a plan to catch the kidnapper at the time of the ransom drop. The kidnapper, however, outsmarts the FBI and makes off with the ransom moneywithout releasing Jenny. Suddenly questions begin to surface about whether Jenny was really kidnapped in the first place. As the police and FBI try to unravel this mystery, a number of suspects and possibilities emerge, including a teenager from a neighboring town, the leaders of a prostitution ring, a family friend, and a runaway girl from another town.

In this gripping, fast-paced thriller, unexpected twists and turns in the investigation into a young girls mysterious disappearance ultimately lead law enforcement to the surprising discovery of what really happened to Jenny Sanderson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462026043

Jack Shevlin

Jack Shevlin practiced law for a number of years before leaving the profession to write full-time. In addition to his passion for reading and writing, he is an avid sports fan. He currently resides in Massachusetts, with his wife and four children. This is his first novel.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was a warm Saturday in early June, and the sun was shining on Bellview, Massachusetts, a small town of about fifteen thousand people located twenty miles north of Boston. Bellview was a well-to-do town, known for its good school system, the beautiful Orchards Country Club, and the nice neighborhoods surrounding the club. It didn’t quite have the money of some of the other bedroom communities outside of Boston, but most folks would tell you it didn’t have the pretentiousness of those towns either. Simply put, it was a small, safe, and sterile town—the kind parents love and kids hate.

Kevin Sanderson had spent the afternoon golfing with friends at the Orchards. A shade under six feet tall with a medium build, Kevin still had a full head of sandy hair, though it was beginning to turn gray. In decent shape at age forty-five, he remained physically active, jogging or lifting weights every other day and golfing whenever he could. Eighteen holes, followed by a few beers in the clubhouse bar, was part of his Saturday routine throughout the spring and summer.

You guys ready for another round? asked Joe Scala, one of the members of Kevin’s regular Saturday foursome.

Following a Sure and a You bet from the other two guys, Kevin briefly dampened the mood at the table. I better get going. I gotta stop at Home Depot, then pick up Jenny. Jenny was his seventeen-year-old daughter, the only child of Kevin and his wife Maria.

Home Depot? smiled Pat Curran, another member of the foursome and Kevin’s next-door neighbor. What project has Maria got you working on now?

Nothing too bad. She wants me to get some grass feed for the front lawn. She thinks it looks a little raggedy.

I think it looks fine, Curran said.

Thank you. I do, too, replied Kevin. But it’s easier to spread some grass feed than to fight about it.

Amen, brother, said Peter Gallo. You gotta pick your spots. Though I can’t believe you’re leaving after the first round. What’s the point of dragging our ass around in the hot sun for four hours if we can’t pound some beers afterwards?

The subtle dig failed to change Kevin’s mind, and he finished his beer and said his goodbyes. Walking to his car in the Orchards parking lot, Kevin’s thoughts turned, reluctantly, to the domestic duties that required his attention on his way home. After stopping at Home Depot, he had to pick up Jenny at her friend Alison Hughes’ house. Kevin looked forward to this about as much as he looked forward to fertilizing the lawn.

Jenny, who was nearing completion of her junior year at Bellview High School, was the source of all kinds of contrasting emotions in Kevin—love, sure, but also bewilderment, frustration, and sometimes anger. When Jenny was born, Kevin and Maria realized they—like virtually all first-time parents—did not know how to care for a baby. But they were also confident that they would learn what they needed to know, whether it be changing diapers, making baby formula, or potty-training the child. After all, they told themselves, lots of parents less intelligent than they were had managed to get through it. While the Sandersons had instinctually understood that they were unprepared to care for a newborn, they had no idea how unprepared they were to deal with a teenager.

They didn’t regard Jenny as a bad kid. They generally approved of the kids she hung around with—they seemed respectful, and Maria considered them to be from good families (though Kevin often wondered how anyone could really know that). Jenny got decent grades, mostly B’s and B-pluses, with an occasional A offset by an equally infrequent C. She had never been in any serious trouble. There was the time she and a few of her friends drank vodka before a school dance and she threw up right outside the high school. She swore that was the only time she’d ever drank and that she’d learned her lesson. Kevin and Maria were furious at her for that. In the ensuing days, though, Maria thought of her cousin’s daughters—the sixteen-year-old was pregnant, and the nineteen-year-old had recently been busted for possession of drugs—and realized that Jenny’s transgression was not as bad as it could have been.

No, Kevin didn’t think Jenny was a bad kid. But she was certainly a handful. She was prone to incredible mood swings. At times she was a joy to talk with; other times, thought Kevin, she looked like she wanted to kill you simply for saying hi to her. She was somewhat rebellious—whatever rules Kevin and Maria laid down for Jenny, she fought. At the end of the day, she for the most part followed her parents’ rules, but seldom without a battle. She was defiant and argumentative, particularly with Maria. Maybe it was because Maria was home much more than Kevin was, but it seemed to Kevin that Maria and Jenny had three or four arguments a day—and those were just the ones he heard about. Those arguments never devolved into physical confrontations, but they frequently did involve screaming and even throwing things. Based on conversations with friends, Kevin and Maria believed this behavior was not unusual for a teenage girl. They couldn’t help wondering, though, whether there was anything going on beyond normal adolescent turbulence.

Frowning as he approached his car just after four o’clock, Kevin turned his cell phone on, checking for any missed calls or text messages. Just seconds after turning on the phone, the slightly distorted sound of the opening riff to the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up announced an incoming call. Maria. Hi, hon, he said, mustering up some artificial cheer as he reached for the front door of his Audi A5. Her response froze him in his tracks, one hand holding onto the open car door. Maria was screaming and crying, nearly hysterical. All he could make out was the word Jenny.

Trying hard to project composure, Kevin said, Maria, Maria, calm down, just take it easy. Tell me what’s going on with Jenny.

Maria paused for about five seconds to gather herself and then sobbed, Someone took Jenny!

What?

Jenny’s been kidnapped! she screamed. I just found a ransom note!

Chapter 2

Kevin and Maria sat at their kitchen table, staring at the typewritten note. Maria had calmed down some but was still weepy. Kevin was dazed, the full impact of the situation not yet sinking in.

I have your daughter Jenny. It will take a $1 million ransom payment to get her back. I will contact you within 36 hours with further instructions on payment. Do not go to the police. Just wait for my call.

Maria, who worked part-time as a realtor, found the note on her car after she left an open house that she had overseen that afternoon. Her car had been parked a few houses down from the home she was showing. The note was left in an unaddressed, white envelope on her windshield, secured in place by one of her wipers.

After hanging up with Kevin, Maria had called Jenny’s cell phone, but the call went straight to voicemail. Maria left a frantic message for her to call back, then called the Hughes’ house and spoke with Alison. Alison told Maria that they had planned for Jenny to sleep over at Alison’s house last night, but that Jenny had texted her around lunchtime yesterday saying she wasn’t feeling that great and wouldn’t be coming over after school as planned. When Maria asked when she had last seen Jenny, Alison replied that she didn’t remember seeing Jenny in school yesterday. Maria called a few other friends of Jenny, none of whom had seen or spoken with her since Friday morning. Now Kevin and Maria were home trying to make sense of it all.

Do you think it’s a hoax? asked Maria.

I doubt it. I can’t see Jenny being a part of something like that.

Maybe you don’t know her like I do.

When was the last time you talked to her? asked Kevin.

Yesterday morning, before she went to school.

Kevin had already left for work when Jenny awoke yesterday. Did anything happen? Did she say anything? What was her mood like?

She didn’t have much to say. She usually doesn’t in the morning.

Did you guys have any kind of argument?

I’m trying to think. I asked her if Alison’s parents were going to be home that night. She just rolled her eyes and gave me a ‘Yessssssss, Mom,’ like I had no right to ask that question.

Nothing else?

No! Not that I can remember, anyway. My mind is kinda frazzled right now.

We have to call the police.

Are you sure we should do that? The note said not to involve the police.

Kevin exhaled in exasperation, not at Maria but at the calamity confronting them. "No, I’m not sure. But I feel like we have to do something, not just sit here and wait for him to contact us again. What if he doesn’t?"

Maria paused for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to bring order to her thoughts. Should we just pay the ransom? Could we even afford to?

I think we could come up with the money, but I don’t think we should just pay it. I feel like we should call the police.

Do we really have a million dollars?

Our net worth has gotta be over a million, if you include our retirement savings, the college savings for Jenny, and the value of the house. The Sandersons had paid about $300,000 for their house in 1994. Even factoring in the hit in value it took in the 2008–2009 recession, the house was now worth roughly three times that. Like many of their contemporaries, more than half of their net worth was tied up in their home.

But can we turn all that into cash on short notice?

I’m sure we can figure out a way to do that. And I’ll bet the police or the FBI could help with that, too.

So you really think we should call the police?

Yes, Maria, I do. Am I sure it’s the right move? No. But I think it’s better than waiting for this guy to contact us again and trying to deal with him on our own.

Maria suddenly began sobbing again. Somehow going to the police made this seem more real, more grave, more than just another Jenny incident that would quickly pass. Who will you call—the Bellview police?

I guess, said Kevin. I think we should start with them. They can involve the staties or the FBI if they think they should.

Oh, God.

Chapter 3

The day had started out for the Sandersons like any other Saturday. Kevin awoke at about seven thirty, as he typically did on the weekend, and threw on some gym shorts and a t-shirt. He was planning to go for a run before heading over to the Orchards for an eleven o’clock tee time.

Sanderson grew up just outside of Boston in Springdale, a small city that featured few expansive green lawns but plenty of bars and pizza joints. A decent but not outstanding student and a good athlete, Sanderson—to the surprise of many—was accepted at Bradley College in Maine, one of the many fine liberal arts colleges that dot the New England landscape. At Bradley, Sanderson studied architecture, played baseball, drank beer, and met his future wife. Sanderson was now making a good living as a partner at an architecture firm in Boston. He was also well known in Bellview, serving on the parks and recreation commission and as a member of the board of directors of the Orchards.

Maria was already in the kitchen when her husband came down the stairs. Kevin and Maria had been married for a little over twenty years. Though a year older than her husband, Maria looked younger than Kevin and weighed no more than she did in college. She did not have all-American good looks, but she was attractive in a sultry way. Kevin had always found her smile dazzling, though underused. Maria was different from Kevin in many ways. She was dark complexioned while he was fair; she didn’t share his interest in sports; and she was more spirited, even mercurial, than her even-tempered husband. But human attraction is seldom explained by superficial similarities, and they were drawn to each other from the first time they met in college.

Maria was born and raised in Boston. She had been an exceptional student in high school, finishing second in her class—a feat due more to her doggedness than innate brilliance—and earning a scholarship to Bradley College. Kevin and Maria began dating during her junior year (he was a sophomore) at Bradley and married a year after Kevin graduated.

Maria excelled academically at Bradley and landed an excellent job with a large Boston consulting firm upon graduation. When Kevin graduated a year later, he joined the architecture firm where he still worked today, starting out as an intern. He had been at the firm for five years, and Maria was six years into a promising career, when they learned Maria was pregnant.

The Sandersons had been looking forward to starting a family and were delighted at this news. During Maria’s pregnancy, they discussed at length how the impending birth of their child should affect their careers. They eventually agreed that Maria would take a one-year leave of absence from her job; the plan was to use that first year to find a daycare arrangement that both of them were comfortable with and for Maria to return to the consulting firm after a year. Of course, it’s one thing to discuss the birth of a child; it’s another thing to experience it. Pre-child perspectives and plans often change significantly after spending some time caring for a newborn. It did not take the Sandersons long to conclude that the time and travel demands of Maria’s job were incompatible with their desires for how Jenny would be cared for. So Maria abandoned her consulting career and became a full-time mom.

Kevin and Maria talked from time to time about having another child, but the timing never seemed quite right. They never actually decided that Jenny would be an only child; they just one day came to the realization that that was how it had worked out. Maria eventually got her real estate license and now worked about twenty hours a week as a real estate agent in Bellview.

Maria greeted Kevin that morning with a quick kiss. Want some coffee?

Sure, he said, reaching for the sports page. So what do we have going on today?

You mean besides your golf game? I’ve got an open house at two. I’ll be done with that by about four, then I think I’ll run to the mall to check out the prices on some new chairs for the deck. And you have to pick Jenny up at Alison’s house on your way home from the Orchards, after you stop at Home Depot. I told her you’d be there around four or so.

Kevin thought to himself, Why can’t you pick her up? Not wanting to start an argument, though, he simply said, Okay, got it. He then headed outside for his run.

After his run and a shower, Kevin spent about an hour in the study preparing for a client meeting on Monday morning. He knew that Maria didn’t like it when he worked on the weekend; she felt that he worked hard enough during the week and that weekends were family and social time (though mowing the lawn or staining the deck never seemed to elicit any complaints from her). But Kevin knew that some weekend work was necessary for a successful career. He attempted to still her occasional objections by telling her that he was doing it for her and Jenny, not for himself. Even after all these years, he still wasn’t sure whether he believed that.

Emerging from the study, Kevin found Maria in the family room, going through her e-mail. I’m outta here, see you later today, he said, giving her a peck on the lips. Oh yeah, good luck with the open house.

A distracted Thanks was her only reply.

***

The Orchards was only a five-minute drive from the Sandersons’ house. Kevin met up with the other members of his foursome in the clubhouse.

Pat Curran lived next door to the Sandersons on Lexington Street. Curran and his wife Julia were among the first people Kevin and Maria had met when they moved to Bellview, and they considered them to be their closest friends in town. Curran served with Kevin on the parks and recreation commission, and the two families frequently got together for dinner or backyard barbeques. Pat and Julia were a few years older than Kevin and Maria, and their children were grown and out of the house. The perspective, and occasional words of wisdom, that Pat and Julia offered on dealing with a teenage child was something that Kevin found helpful.

The third member of their group was Peter Gallo. Peter’s daughter Lindsay had been one of Jenny’s closest friends for years. By virtue of this connection, Kevin and Maria had gotten to know Peter and his wife, Tina, quite well. Kevin wasn’t especially fond of Gallo—he found him to be too much of a glass-half-empty person who tended to find fault with everything. But they knew each other well, their wives were good friends, and when Gallo began suggesting to Sanderson a few years ago that they golf together, Sanderson found it easier to include Gallo than to make excuses about not including him.

Joe Scala was the youngest of the foursome, having just turned forty. He was also a graduate of Bradley College, and Kevin had met him at an alumni event several years earlier. When they discovered they were both Bellview residents and Orchard members, they began to play golf together, and a friendship developed. While some people in town thought Scala was moody, Kevin found his wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve approach refreshing. Scala was divorced and—as far as Sanderson knew—had no children. A good-looking guy, Scala had been known to date some of the more attractive single women in Bellview.

As he walked out toward the first tee, Sanderson—per club policy—turned off his new cell phone. Maria had just bought him a phone with a full keyboard to make it easier for him to text. Jenny texted incessantly—Kevin wondered whether she had ever used her phone for an actual phone call—and Maria now was communicating more via text messages than by e-mail or phone calls. Kevin had yet to fully embrace the world of texting; he always found it easier to talk than to type. But he was willing to give it a shot, largely because he thought it might make it easier to communicate with Jenny.

After eighteen holes of golf and an abbreviated stint at the nineteenth hole, as the clubhouse bar was informally known, Sanderson strolled toward his car and turned his phone back on, completely unaware that his