Everything is not what it seems in Swellview, a kidnapper is running amok while Henry faces some challenging trials in his life. The boy most overcome what is inside to deal with major life changes.
Part One / Part Two / Part Three
"Good morning, this is Cheryl Gomez with Channel Six News." says the very attractive newscaster as she does every morning. I've had a huge crush on her since I was twelve. Every time I've been interviewed by her, being Kid Danger, I blush insanely under the mask and always have the biggest toothy smile.
"At 3:30 this morning, Elena Gilbert was reported missing. She was last seen crossing the street from Melbourne to Salvatore. She's five feet tall, dark brown hair-"
Piper gasps beside me when the photo of the girl appears on screen.
"She's in my grade! She's in my 3rd block!" Piper yells.
"I saw her on Friday. She walked into the store." I whisper remembering her and her family.
"That would've been the day she went missing," She says. "You know, since it takes at least 24 hours to report a person."
A chill runs through my body at the possibility of her parents, Jasper, and me being the last people to see her. I have to go talk to Ray before school. Picking up my phone for the time I see its only seven. Ray couldn't possibly be awake but this was serious.
"Uh, Piper, I gotta go swing by work." I get up and grab my keys from the console table by the door.
"What do you mean? You're my ride!"
I spin back to her and tap my foot, putting my hands on my hips. "Piper,"
She rolls her eyes and looks to her phone. "Fine, I'll get a friend to take me."
"Thank you," I bow to her before walking out.
When I pull onto Thames street, I notice a cop car outside Junk'n'Stuff. I pull in behind them and park. Walking into the store, I see Ray, a cop, and an unknown man standing at the counter.
"Hey, kid," Ray says trying to conceal a confused face.
"Hey, what goes on?" I ask. My heart starts to speed up as I near the policeman. I always have this gut feeling that they know who Ray and I are.
Both men were dressed in the classic blue slacks and button up. Their badges shine from the lights in the room, almost blinding me. A man with thick framed black glasses and an Afro smiles at me.
"I'm Detective Shapiro," His voice was smooth and soft; trusting. "How are ya this morning?"
"Henry Hart, and I'm fine. What about yourself?" I can almost see the physical cringe when he clasps his hand onto my sweat soaked one. He shakes quickly before taking his hand back and wiping it on his shirt.
"Oh, just dandy. Do you know Ray or are you just a customer?"
"He's my second-in-command." Ray says with a smile that makes me beam. I get giddy when someone brags about me. It's like a dog wagging its tail; I almost always sit up and smile. "My left hand man,"
"Oh, that's great! Ray and I go way back, went to high school together."
I glance at his partner and know he's annoyed. This guy had a five o'clock shadow and tired eyes. He kept switching his gaze from his partner and the security monitors. He looked how I felt...dead. After my family's pity party yesterday, I couldn't help but create my own in my bedroom until late in the night. Standing here under the bright lights were making objects beat and pulse, I can't imagine what it'll be like at school.
"Oh, really," I force out. "Ray doesn't talk much about high school."
"There's a reason for it." I hear Ray say under his breath.
I look at him. He has his back turned to us doing what seems to be searching in a box. "Hey, Ray, can I help?"
"Yeah, do you know where the security tapes are from yesterday? For inside and outside."
I nod and walk behind the counter to get them.
"I can't believe you still use tapes. You're probably the only guy in town." said the unnamed partner.
Ray scoffs like he knows something magical about using tapes. "Well I guess we just like doing it the original way." He leans on the glass. "So have you guys got leads on the girl yet? Heard she was headed towards a bookstore on Salvatore,"
"There's not much to say." Detective Shapiro says shrugging. I turn back to them and set the four tapes on the counter. He picks them up. "But these tapes will sure help." He tapes them a few times with his fingers.
"Well, just hit me up if anything else is needed."
Detective Shapiro winks. "Of course, of course, let's go Parker." The silent cop follows after the Detective. That wink didn't help my nerves.
"Do you think they know who we are?" I ask Ray when the door shuts.
"No," He immediately says. Ray turns to me now, looking up and down. "You look a wreck. Why are you here?"
"For Elena! I just saw on the news. We gotta do something. This is the second kidnapping-"
"I know, and I got it. I'm just thinking." Ray makes his way to the back. I follow him.
Ray stops at the elevator and turns back. "Fine, I don't have any thoughts. But I did make an extra copy of those surveillance tapes." He says with a wicked smile.
"Nope," He grabs hold of my arm before I make it passed him. "You're going to school."
"I'll watch the tapes with Schwoz and make highlights. There's probably nothing on them. They said she was on Salvatore Street anyway."
"No, get out." Ray points to the front door sternly, eyebrows raised high.
I make it to school but not into the building. Something has me rooted to the seat. Glancing up at the school, I see our security man walking the perimeter, making sure no one was leaving cigarette butts in the parking lot, and that no kids were out smoking weed, skipping class, or having a panic attack.
A gasp runs through my chest with a sharp pain that makes me clench the skin above my heart. Closing my eyes, I try to breathe through my nose and out my mouth, but each release is gasps of air. My eyes squeeze shut and I lean forward. Without a thought, I recline the seat and lay back to curl into myself. Dad's words run through my head from last night, wondering how long he knew. The tears from last night return too. They fall harder when the images of Elena pops in my mind. Wishing I could go back and tell her parents to watch her all night. Last night I found the name of the boy that was kidnapped. Trevor Millton. He's only 11. I wonder how scared they are. How fast their hearts of beating from fear. If they're being feed. Trevor's been gone for almost five days. The body can't go without water for long.
I lay curled up and crying for a while, letting my mind slip into circle thoughts. Thinking about the kids dying, and about how I want to die. I wish it were cold enough to freeze me. I wouldn't need to deal with this if I were a ghost I think. But now, right here, my eyes burn and hurt. They feel tired from all the crying from the past twelve hours. Blindly, I reach in the back floorboard for a water bottle. After finding two, I take the cold bottles and press them on my eyelids. Some shuddering breaths come out from the sudden cold but I give in to the numbness it brings and sleep.
I peek with an eye over my shoulder to see Charlotte with a pinched face. Huffing a huge breath as I flip over, I raise the seat. When I open the door a warm breeze whips through almost shutting it again, Charlotte grabs a hold to open it wider.
"What are you doing?" She doesn't miss a beat.
"Taking a nap," The sun have risen a bit and I squint my eyes at her with a little smile. "What are you doing?"
"Checking if you're dead," She crosses her arms and leans against the door. "Officer Poke saw you and rather than yell at you, called for me to."
I snicker before letting my smile fall, remembering why I was taking nap. Charlotte sits on the concrete in front me. She wore jeans and a yellow shirt marked with little white sharks. Her hair was up showing off her dangling diamond flower earrings. I raise my finger to my ear and flip the lobe.
She smiles and puts her hand to her ear too. I don't know if it's the heat outside but I could've sworn her cheeks looked tinted just then. "Thank you,"
I wave my hand at her, trying to be nonchalant. My fingers play with the frayed strings on the cut in my jeans. Another breeze comes through.
"What's going on?" She taps my shoes with her's.
I look down at her as I curl into my knees. "My-" I shield my eyes from her with my hand. "Things aren't great."
"I know, Henry. But I really believe that you and Ray-"
"Besides the obvious," I raise my voice. She's wrong. She's wrong.
Not wanting to get irritated, I close my eyes and try to control my breathing. Then the smell of orange blossoms come and I open my eyes again. Now Charlotte's standing in front of me, leaning against the door frame. Just a lot closer than before. Her doll eyes search over my face.
"My family," I could only manage a whisper. I didn't think she heard me until she reached with her hand and grabbed mine.
Squeezing my hand, she whispered back. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I shake my head. She steps back and lets go of my hand. Whipping my head up, not ready to let go, I see her with her arms a little open. "Hug me then,"
Stepping out of the car, my legs feel wobbly. She grabs my waist and pulls me close. I put my arms around her and lay my head against hers. My chest swells and I can't breathe again. I gasp and she starts to rub her hand on my back. With all my muscles I want to relax and let her comfort me, but a shake runs through my body and I let my head fall to her shoulder. My fingers grip her shoulders while I try to steady myself.
Charlotte holds me tighter, bringing me down further. "I know, I'm sorry." She repeats a few times. "I wish it wasn't like this."
A few minutes pass before I know I can look her in the eyes again. I pull away and sit back in the car. She looks down at me with soft smile and squeezes my shoulder.
"Please, talk to me when you're ready, even if it's super late. Okay?"
"Alright," She steps back. "I'm telling Ms. Polly in the office that you need ten more minutes and then you'll be in. You cannot miss school. Ray will have you're head."
I nod returning the smile. "Thank you,"
She nods too before turning to leave.
That afternoon Charlotte, Jasper, and I went straight to Junk'n'Stuff. Jasper took his post upstairs while Charlotte and I headed down to Ray and Schwoz.
"We watched almost seventeen hours of footage, and found nothing." Schwoz says popping a cheese puff in his mouth. He looked very tired while he rested his head on the table with the couch.
Charlotte puts her hands on her hips. "You guys suck." She walks to Ray who was sitting at the computer.
"We have nothing to work off of!" Ray stands to pace about the front of the room. Charlotte takes her usual seat at the computer. "If we had all those security tapes the police do, we'd be golden."
"Well you don't." Charlotte logs into the computer and begins pulling up websites and programs.
"Little girl, we won't be friends if you keep talking like that." Schwoz snaps his fingers at her.
"Are we friends?" She asks putting an emphasis on the first word.
Schwoz scoffs in annoyance. I laugh at them as I sit next to him. When I steal a few cheese puffs, he pats my hand away. "So how was school?" He asks as he does everyday like the dad he is.
"Lame," I tell him shoving the puffs in my mouth, grabbing more.
"He's just saying that because he lost at HORSE twice." Charlotte doesn't even look back as she sasses.
"Why do you gotta tell him?" I whine. Ray passes me for a third time while pacing. "Why don't you ask your detective friend for help again? He seemed nice."
"Shapiro?" Ray scoffs. "No, he won't help. Too loyal to the force," He mocks.
"I'm not. Charlotte, you think you can get into police records?" I ask.
The phone on the desk rings. Charlotte picks up without answering me or the phone. She just sits and listens.
Ray walks up to stand behind her chair. "What are you doing?" He whispers.
She holds a finger up signaling him to be quiet. Silently, she writes a couple things on a piece of paper with her fluffy blue pen. Before too long, Charlotte puts the phone down.
"I got cop information." She says holding the paper as if it was gold. "There's a lead."
Ray snatches the paper from her to read. He smiles at Charlotte. "Good job. She found out about a tip. The person said there'd be another kidnapping at Swellview Park."
"There's a cop at the precinct that I pay to give me tips, as long as when he calls me I stay silent. He said there's a chance the line is recorded." She shrugs. I smile at her with pride. As always, she's three steps ahead of the rest of us.
"How much you pay him?" I ask.
"100 or 200 depending on the case,"
"That's smart," Ray nods then he whips his head to her. "Whose money are you using?"
"Yours," She says with a smile. "You don't pay me that kind of money to use my own."
"I know that's why I asked! You can't-"
"Shouldn't we go to the park?" I ask stepping in. "See if they need help,"
Ray gives up on yelling at Charlotte to grab his bubblegum. I do the same. We head to the tubes to leave.
"Wait, you need to be sneaky. He said they were planning to set up around the perimeter and put decoys in. So look for a big van or something they'd be in." Charlotte warns.
"What are you doing here?" The officer asks looking us up and down. He stood in the doorway of an unmarked black van parked near the back exit of Swellview Park. Two other cops are stuffed in behind him sitting at monitors.
"We figured you'd need the help and all." Captain Man says with a forced smile.
"Look, Captain Man," He leans against the door frame. "We don't need your help or your kid's. So go on back to the Bat Cave."
This happens a lot. We try to help and the police turn us away. They typically don't like us coming in and saving the day. Lately people have been gossiping about the police force and the hundreds of unsolved cases they set aside. Yesterday I even heard people saying Captain Man and Kid Danger were faster than the ambulances and the emergency teams. An elderly lady said we were the true heroes since we didn't get paid by the public. People in Bordertown and Neighborville were even chatting about wanting their very own Captain Man and Kid Danger.
Captain Man balls his fist before pointing a finger at the man. "Alright, loser-"
"Captain Man, how nice of you to join us?" Detective Shapiro says stepping out of an SUV. The car quickly speeds off after he shuts the door.
"Detective," He crosses his arms over his chest, looking up at the officer and smirking. "Just seeing how we could be of service,"
Detective Shapiro takes a sip from a Skyscraper Coffee cup. He smiles. "Of course, the more to help the better." He looks up at the van. "Evening, Officer Bladell,"
"No," Detective Shapiro pushes his glasses up his nose. "But we need the help if we want those kids back. You want those kids back, right, Officer?"
Officer Bladell says something under his breath as he backs into the van. Detective Shapiro hoists himself on the steps before turning back to us.
"How about you patrol the east side of the park near the woods? Also, if possible try to remain unseen. We don't want to tip this guy off."
Twenty minutes later, we're sitting in the woods. I found a fallen tree and took a space. We were at the edge of the woods and park, just barely hidden by low branches and leaves. For a moment I curse our red and blue suits for being so obnoxious and bright. I poke at the colorful fabric. To be honest, I don't think anything will happen tonight. The police department get tips like this all the time. But something must be different about this one. I wish Charlotte could get the written report instead of just word of mouth. We need a description of the voice. Was it a man, woman, or a child? Did they sound scared or cocky? Could they trace the call? Or was-
"Do you hear that?" Captain Man asks looking over his shoulder into the deep wood. I look with him.
Peering in the darkness, I see the over grown trees that have tangle together, vines, and even rope from old tire swings. I stare for a minute. "No, I don't hear anything."
Captain Man turns fully now to look into the woods too. I can see him really straining to mark out any noises that were animal, human, or vehicle.
"Hello," It was a far off echo. The voice was so faint I thought I made it up.
And then there's a wisp of white and I hear an echo of the word. I stand up, facing the direction. "I hear it now."
Captain Man begins marching to it and I follow him. I see another wave of white and start to move fasting.
Branches break and another "hello" surfaces."
"Stay where you are," Captain Man calls. "Let's go, kid."
We run towards the noise and color. Thorns scratch my face and catch on my suit, I'm pretty sure ripping it harshly. My stomach feels bloated and large as I make it to a small meadow clearing. What was I expecting? I look around the area in excitement and terror. Then I notice a girl standing in a white gown near a black tree. Almost like ghost.
"Captain Man," She screams. The dark haired girl runs the remaining feet to crash into Captain Man. "Thank you. Thank you. I'm so cold! I've been running for hours."
"Shh," Captain Man hugs the girl back. "It's alright. You're safe with us."
She looks up to meet my eyes and smiles. "I knew you'd be the two to find me."
My mouth falls open and a lump forms in my throat. I force out words. "Elena Gilbert?"
Her smile doesn't falter. "Yes,"
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