35. Chapter 35

When she feels the hood being removed and opens her eyes, she squints as the lights of the room assault her eyes. They adjust and she focuses on a man sitting a few feet away from her. Bobo Del Ray.

“Officer Nicole Haught. Such a pleasure for you to join us. I have been waiting a long time to formally meet you.” Bobo says.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a pleasure. But I havebeen waiting some time to meet you as well Bobo. By the way, I got to ask, who names their kid Bobo? Is it a pet name, or just some cruel nickname kids gave you on the playground?” Nicole bites out.

Bobo laughs. “God given I am afraid.”

“I don’t think god had anything to do with it, but okay.” Nicole counters.

“Snarky one, aren’t you?” Bobo teases, getting up from his seat.

“Only with people I mildly hate… so, just you.” Nicole states.

“Well Nicole, as long as things go smoothly, your time with me will be limited. Speaking of which…” He turns to one of his men. He walks over with a briefcase and hands it to Bobo. Bobo opens it, pulling a few items, and then hands it back. “Here is how this is going to work, we are going to make a call and you are only going to speak when requested got it?”

Nicole just glares at him and he smiles back. He dials a number and it rings three times before a familiar voice answers.

Dolls, Willa, and James Haught all drive to Nicole’s house quickly, knowing there isn’t much time. Dolls was vague when he picked up Nicole’s father, but the man didn’t argue when Dolls said it involved his daughter and that he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. They park in the driveway and jog quickly towards the house. They all enter, everyone else in the house waiting in the living room. Waverly is in Wynonna’s arms, dried tear streaks on her face. Ward and Nedley just look pissed and all the others seem to be in shock.

“Willa.” Ward breathes out hugging his daughter. “You okay?”

“Yes, but I’m not important right now. Nicole is.” Willa responds firmly.

“Speaking of which, someone better tell me what is going on.” James says, walking to sit next to Gus.

“We were at the cemetery, visiting Kelly Haught and a few other loved ones. As we were leaving, a man took Willa and only released her after Nicole agreed to take her place. He wanted her. His tattoos identify him as a Revenant member. He claimed they are going to hold Nicole for ransom. They will call you, Sir. They know who she is and they know she is worth a lot.” Dolls says, addressing James.

James looks at him for a long moment. “Nicole wouldn’t have gone along with that plan. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Why do you say that?” Ward asks.

“Because our company has a no ransom hostage policy.” James says.

“Did Nicole know about that?” Willa asks.

“Know about it? It was her idea in the first place. Nicole instituted the policy herself. The company won’t allow anyone to withdraw large sums of money to use as ransom payment, and that includes Nicole and I.” James states.

“Oh my god, she did it to save me. She knew and she did it anyways.” Willa mutters, guilt and pain rearing their ugly heads as Robert holds her tight to him and Wynonna grabs her hand.

“Willa it’s not your fault. They must have been staking out the cemetery. No one could have predicted it.” Dolls states.

Waverly still hasn’t said anything, but she reaches and takes Willa’s free hand, holding it tight to keep from crying and freaking out.

James’ phone rings and he freezes.

“Answer it and put in on speaker. Jeremy, try and track it.” Dolls orders.

James does as he is told and answers, putting it on speaker phone and placing it on the table. “Hello?”

“Mr. Haught. My name is Bobo Del Ray and I believe I have something you value. I am going to assume you have been in contact with her team and know of the situation so I will get to the point. Three billion dollars, or it’s your daughter’s life.”

“My company has policies that don’t allow me…” James starts.

There is a clicking sound and then a short scream.

Waverly grips Willa and Wynonna tighter, wanting to scream herself at the sound of her wife screaming in pain.

“I am not hearing the words I want to hear Mr. Haught.” Bobo states. “Tell me, have you ever taken two million volts from a stun gun to the neck? Because your daughter just did. Nicole, why don’t you tell your father how that felt?”

“Go to hell!” Nicole yells in the background.

Another clicking sound and a slightly more muted scream.

Waverly whimpers, trying to cover her ears but also unwilling to let go of her sisters.

“What did I say?” Bobo chastises her.

“I don’t know, I was too distracted by that huge stick up your ass to pay attention.” Nicole quips, earning another shock, this one a little longer.

Bobo curses at her and speaks into the phone once again. “Well James, I am going to call you James. You know what I want. You are going to bring it to me. Actually, you and Wynonna Earp are going to personally deliver it to me. The longer it takes, the longer your daughter has to spend with me. As an incentive, for every minute that passes, she is going to get a shock from this stun gun. In an hour, I am going to put a bullet in each one of her major joints before putting one through her head. You and Wynonna will deliver the money to the trailer park front gate and then, maybe, I will let your daughter live… if she is still alive by then.”

“Don’t do it!” Nicole yells, out of breath. “Don’t give him a dime! Anything you give him will be used to hurt more people! Don’t do it!”

“Shut her up!” Bobo yells and the stun gun charges again. Nicole doesn’t scream, but the sound of something heavy thudding on to the floor is telling enough. “Clock is ticking James.”

Bobo hangs up and leaves the room silent for a long moment. Waverly is the first to move, grabbing her keys.

“Where are you going?” Ward asks.

“The bank. Nicole gave me access to some of her accounts. It isn’t enough, but it is a start.” Waverly answers.

Doc catches her arm and pulls her into his chest so she can’t leave. “Hold on Darlin’.”

“No! I won’t wait! You heard him! Every minute we wait, the more they hurt her! I can’t sit here and wait!” Waverly protests, struggling to escape his grasp and slapping him across the face.

“Waverly, the moment we pay him that money, he shoots Nicole in the head.” Dolls says. He looks around the room at the outraged faces and then sees the flaming anger in Waverly. “I know it is blunt, but it is the truth.”

“So, what do you think we should do Dolls. We can’t just let them kill her.” Ward argues. He looks to Nedley and gets a nod. “We are willing to do what we have to, but we need to do something.”

“Gus, a word?” James says, taking Gus into the kitchen.

No one seems to care at this point, all focused on Dolls.

“What about a rescue operation. Nicole and Dolls have had us training for them for months. Go in incognito, get Haught out, kill anyone who get in our way.” Wynonna offers.

“And if you fail? You get Nicole and possibly yourselves killed.” Nedley states bluntly.

“We don’t fail. We learn from our mistakes Nedley and I trust the training Haught and Dolls have taught us.” Wynonna argues.

“I agree, and I do not see another plan that will get Officer Haught out alive.” Doc concurs.

“Okay, I agree. But we need James Haught to be a distraction. Make Bobo think he is bringing him what he wants.” Dolls says, grabbing a notepad from Jeremy and jotting stuff down. “Jeremy, that trace you did. Did you get anything from it?”

“The call originated in the trailer park, so we know both Bobo and Nicole are at the drop sight.” Jeremy replies. “But for that distraction to work, Wynonna needs to be with Mr. Haught.”

“Not if we give him someone more interesting than Wynonna.” Robert says. “I will go. He won’t expect it, but he will play the game.”

James and Gus return to the room and look at Dolls. “We will get them the money, but not in enough time. I can secure only about five million on short notice.”

“That will be fine. Okay, everyone. Here is the plan.”

James and Robert drive with a shipping crate in the back of the truck towards the trailer park. They stop at the gate and cut the engine. There are gang members everywhere, but none seem to go beyond the fence line. Both men get out and stand at the front of the hood. It is several minutes before Bobo Del Ray appears, looking surprised but very pleased.

“Cousin, what a surprise! I requested Wynonna.” Bobo states with fake enthusiasm.

“Wynonna is at the bottom of the bottle as she normally is in hard times. I guess you will have to settle with me.” Robert says.

“Wynonna and Doc breach the right side, Nedley and the chief will go left. Waverly and I will take the middle.” Dolls says, directing them towards the three main trailers. “On my call, we breach.”

They all get into positions, doing final weapons checks and nodding. “Breach.” Dolls commands in a whisper shout.

All in sync, they begin to clear one trailer after another, taking out hostiles as they go. They knock out as many as possible, only using bullets when completely necessary. The silencers make it easy for them to go about undetected. There are only three trailers left and they sit dead center in the middle of the property.

Each team takes one, but ultimately, it’s Dolls and Waverly who find Nicole on the ground, tied to a chair. She is barely conscious, but alive and that is all Waverly can ask for at the moment. “Hey baby.” Waverly says softly, trying to rouse her. She takes a knife Dolls hands her and cuts Nicole’s hands and feet free. She also unstraps the belt holding Nicole’s waist to the back of the chair. Waverly pulls Nicole into her arms, holding her so tight as tears fall down her face. “I was so worried I would never see you again.”

“Why? You know I will always come back to you.” Nicole mumbles, beginning to come back to herself. “Wait. Waves! You shouldn’t be here!”

“Oh, shut up Nicole. Look at yourself. You really thought I wasn’t going to come and help?” Waverly says, a little pissed.

“A girl can hope.” Nicole jokes, using Waverly’s help to stand.

The others join them and look relieved to see Nicole. “You okay?” Wynonna asks.

“Fine. You guys need to get out of here. My guess is you are having my father be a distraction, maybe Robert too because Bobo asked for Nonna and she is here?”

Dolls nods and hands her a gun. She looks at the gun Waverly is holding and realizes it is hers. She smiles a little before getting back into work mode.

“Go out and get my father and Robert to safety. I will handle Bobo.” Nicole orders.

“I am not letting you go alone.” Wynonna challenges.

“Yeah, dummy. That’s why you’re coming with me. Everyone else should go.” Nicole says with a knowing smirk. “And before she can argue as well, yes Waves, you’re coming too. If I tried to stop you, you would probably murder me.”

“There is no probably.” Waverly says, following Wynonna and her wife out one door while the others leave through the other.