Spring, 1976
The Las Vegas Hilton Internationale
Ballroom C
Mike Stoker had never expected to be in this sort of situation. He looked over at Hank. "Any bright ideas? After all, you got us into this."
Hank Stanley grimaced. "Don't remind me, pal. But I only came for the tourney. How do we always manage to end up stuck with the nutballs?"
Mike chuckled. "Just our luck, I guess. Any idea where he went?"
"Nope, he just ran up on the stage, grabbed for the trophy, and when I didn't let it go, he jumped off the stage and took off."
"Yeah, and then he sets off every fire sprinkler in the whole pace."
The ensuing chaos with people running every direction despite Hank and Mike's efforts to restore order while soaking wet was the "this" Mike was referring to.
As things began to calm down, the hotel's manager came up. "The fire department is on their way to shut down the system. The alarm company has been called as well."
Hank nodded, ever the fire captain, on duty or off. "Good deal. I can fill the incident commander in with what we know whenever he gets a moment. Doesn't look there's any other danger. I think he just wanted to cover his tracks."
The manager nodded and hurried off when one of his staff members called to him. Hank sighed again when he saw the look on Mike's face. He knew it was coming… and with his best friend's next words… it came.
Mike shot Hank a bemused look. "You could have just let the guy have the trophy, y'know."
Hank smirked. "I know. But dammit, that trophy took me three days to earn… ten games! I was not about to let some yay-hoo walk off with it."
Stoker grinned. "I get it. But what if the guy had had a gun you didn't know about or something?"
"I know. I should—hell, I DO know better than to pull a stunt like that. But at the time…"Mike nodded and suddenly dropped his voice into a deep, credible imitation of Hank's silly German accent. "Vorld Domeenation! It gets in zee blood! Und zen makes vun act like und idiot!"
Hank cringed. "Give it up, pal. The accent has to go! Yeah, you're right, I guess the rush from being named RISK Regional Champion and being up on that stage got to my head a little bit."
As it turned out, the local fire department got the situation under control quickly and the rest of the event's activities were switched to a different part of the hotel. The farewell cocktail party planned for that evening to wind up the weekend would go on as scheduled.
~51~
That Evening
In the Hotel
Hank had always hated cocktail parties, so Mike was not surprised that he sidled up to him during the party and suggested they duck out of the final mixer of the gaming event early. He was a little surprised that Cap hadn't brought the trophy with him. He halfway expected it. The other reason he figured the man would want to leave early was that Cap was an avid sports fan and there was a Lakers game on. The Lakers trumped standing around watching a bunch of folks you barely knew get tipsy every time.
Mike decided Cap had the right idea, and they headed upstairs. He was a couple of steps ahead of Cap, so he pulled out his key and opened the door. He stepped in and flipped on the light switch. He barely had time to register the fact that their room was a shambles before he heard a noise coming from the bathroom. He realized someone was in their room and he turned to warn Hank off. Something struck him hard on the back of the head, and bright lights exploded in his skull just before everything went black.
Cap had been right behind Mike but had no time to adjust when Mike had whirled around, a look of confusion on his face. The guy from the ballroom earlier hurtled out of the bathroom and struck Mike on the back of the head with the RISK trophy and then grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him towards the door.
Cap was not about to put up with anybody treating him like that, so he fought back the best he could, but the man had arms like a gorilla and was as strong as hell. He also fought dirty. The man sucker punched Hank and threw him over his shoulder as easily as if he were a child. He ran for the stairwell, making it without being seen. The punch ensured that Cap had no chance of calling out for help, because he was having trouble breathing at the moment.
~51~
Mike woke up staring at the open door. Sideways. From the floor. Okay, there were all sorts of things wrong with that picture. The biggest wrong thing presented itself the moment he tried to move. He groaned when pain shot through his skull and threatened to split it apart. He lifted a hand carefully to the back of his head and was shocked when he felt his hair was sticky with blood. Not good.
Gingerly, he sat up, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. The hotel room was a complete wreck. Somebody had done a thorough job of tossing it. He reached back again and checked the wound. It was still seeping a little blood, but not too bad. Might need a few stitches, he thought clinically. Wonder what he beaned me with?
Shakily he got to his feet, put his mattress back on his bed and sat down. Somehow, that act cleared the fog from his brain. The stupid RISK trophy. That's what he hit me with! And with that realization came another. Panicked, he got to his feet and rapidly searched the room. Where the hell was Cap?
He searched the hotel and found no sign of the captain, or of the stranger from the bathroom, who, he assumed, was the likely assailant and kidnapper. One thing puzzled Mike. The trophy was missing along with Cap, which didn't make any sense. If he had just wanted the trophy, why kidnap the captain? Logic would dictate he just knock Cap out as well, or indeed, instead of Mike and leave. After all, it was highly unlikely that Mike would put up much of a fuss over a trophy that wasn't even his.
Either the guy was nuts, which was a good possibility, or there was some deeper motive involved, something neither of them knew about. And that was a possibility Mike really did not want to think about. For now, he needed to start thinking like a deranged kidnapper.
~51~
Downstairs
Heading to the Tunnels
Mike figured out quickly that the kidnapper had not left the hotel. This was based on the fact that he had been on foot and that there were not many security cameras in the hotel, but the ones they had were all located in the common areas… like the lobby and other public areas. There were a few in some of the employee areas, so he thought perhaps the guy might have known about them. Perhaps he or a relative or friend of his might even have been an employee of the hotel.
Either way, he decided to stick to the non-public areas, and see if he could track the kidnapper down himself. He knew he should probably call Hotel Security, but he was loathe to do that until he had a better handle on exactly what had happened. After all, it was possible that Cap hadn't even realized he had been hurt and gone chasing after the guy on his own just to get the stupid trophy back. He really wouldn't put it past the man.
He headed down to the basement since he had decided to think like the kidnapper. That would be his first choice. He puzzled his way through several utility rooms and a mechanical plant, and finally wound up in the laundry room. There were several employees hard at work, but no one even gave him a second glance as he scouted around the room. He figured that was because he had had the foresight to grab a clipboard and pen from upstairs before he came down. Nobody bothered inspectors. After about ten minutes of wandering around the cavernous laundry facility, he found what he was looking for: a door leading to the tunnel system below the hotel.
Twenty minutes later, Mike found himself surrounded by a maze of pipes and utility tunnels. He was grateful that he always carried a Maglite on his belt. The small light's powerful beam shone brightly as he picked his way carefully along the tunnel. It was completely illogical, since it really wasn't the man's fault exactly, but he was going to kill Cap when he caught up to him. He would never tell anyone this, but he really was not all that fond of the dark, and he absolutely HATED rats! He never let that phobia affect his work of course, but he always had to tamp the revulsion down whenever the occasion called for him to work in a situation where he was around the vile creatures.
He was extremely uncomfortable with heading deeper into the complex tangle of tunnels, but he had to find Hank, and he knew he had to be around somewhere. He doubted they were in any real danger, but he really wanted to find him and just get out of here and go home. He missed Beth. He missed his recliner. And had he mentioned he really didn't like dark, damp, smelly tunnels?
Mike heard a noise coming from the tunnel off to his left. He had no weapon, so he would have to rely on what little judo he could remember from his Army days. He raised his arms into an attack stance and prepared to launch himself at the perceived threat. He barely managed to stop himself when the fact that it was Hank Stanley who came around the corner registered on his brain. Cap, RISK trophy in hand, grinned at him, the judo stance not lost on him. "Nice moves there, Stokes."
Mike glowered at Hank. "Aw, shut up! I see you got the stupid trophy back. And apparently got away from your captor."
"Yeah. I did. The guy took off like a bat outta hell after I got away from him. He was definitely a weirdo." Cap grinned proudly.
Mike looked around at the maze of pipes, shafts and tunnels surrounding them. "Peachy. You got us into this. Now get us out..."
Cap nodded confidently. "No problem. The entrance is back this way."
He turned back down the corridor he had come from, and Mike followed him. They had hiked through a twisting series of tunnels for about a half hour when Mike suddenly stopped. Hank stopped also and looked at his friend. "What is it?"
"I just now realized. I've felt like there was something wrong for a while now, but I wasn't sure what. Now I know what it is. If we're trying to get back upstairs into the hotel, we should be headed up. But this tunnel we're in is on a slight downgrade. We're headed downhill, Cap. Just a little… but it's definite." He turned his Maglite to the side of the tunnel and shone it a ways down in front of them. There was no denying the truth of his statement. They looked at each other in alarm. They had been traveling away from the hotel and were now somewhere under the city of Las Vegas. They really were lost. Under the city. Peachy.
Mike sighed. "Houston. We have a problem."
~TBC~