Chapter 4

May 4 9:23 am

Ponyboy sighed as he felt the coming of an itch on top of his nose. The worst thing about being tied up was the inability to scratch an itch. At least his captors had loosened his bonds when he had begun to lose feeling in his hands.

For the last two and a half days Pony had sat in this chair in the basement with at least one of his captors usually with him as the other two went about their business. They would let him out only to go to the bathroom in a small toilet in the room's corner which Pony had not noticed he had first arrived.

Ponyboy had taken a swing at Daniel when they had first let him up and had actually landed a good one before Kevin had tackled him to the ground which had resulted in Pony hitting his head. From the throbbing, Pony suspected that he might have a concussion which could become very bad if he didn't see a doctor soon.

Daniel had yelled at Kevin about the instance because they apparently wanted Pony in one piece, which was a very good thing for him even if they weren't doing a great job at it. All in all Ponyboy knew he was getting off lucky. Though the three Socs still had not let him in on their master plan, for a captive he was really being treated alright. They could be making his life a living hell if they wanted to.

That didn't mean he wasn't worried though. Pony had no idea how this was going to end and he couldn't even begin to imagine what Darry and Soda must be going through. He hoped that they, especially Soda, didn't think he had just run off.

Just then the door opened and James walked in. As always, he looked a bit nervous.

Pony had learned early on that James had some serious mixed feelings about what he and his buddies were doing to Pony. He was carrying a wet rag which he brought over to Pony and put it on the lump that was forming on Pony's head curtsey of Kevin.

"Thanks," said Ponyboy, a bit sarcastically. James glanced at him but quickly dropped his eyes, a habit of his. How much James was like Johnny, Pony thought dryly, except that Johnny would never have done what James was.

"Why are you doing this?" Pony asked softly, "What do you hope to achieve by kidnapping me?"

"Daniel and Kevin have a plan," James answered in a mutter. Then he seemed to realize what he had just said and his head shot up. "It's a very good plan!" he told Pony nervously, "things haven't been right since Bob died. This is going to set things straight."

"So some peace between the Socs and Greasers is a bad thing?" Pony asked in astonishment. How could everyone really think that? These last few months had been absolutely amazing. Not having to look over his shoulder every second had been like Heaven.

James once again lowered his eyes and muttered, "You're a Greaser so you couldn't possibly understand. Things for us Socs… there're getting worse. You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me," Ponyboy pleaded. He was desperate to understand why this was happening to him. If he knew the reason then maybe he could convince them to let him go and he could get back to Darry and Soda. He missed them more than he could possibly put into words.

James hesitated and for a moment Pony was sure he was going to tell him. Then James turned away and hurried to the stairs. "You just wouldn't understand," he called back over his shoulder and then was gone.

Pony sighed. It looked like he was going to be here a while yet.

May 4 10:00 am

Two-Bit glanced across the room at Steve who was leaning against the wall with a leering scowl. Heaving a large sigh, Two-Bit leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling of the room in the police station the two young men were currently sitting in. This was a delicate situation Two-Bit knew (he had been in this kind of place before) and things were not starting off well.

Steve was seething, that was perfectly clear. Two policemen had come to their school and the office had called the two boys down. As soon as Steve saw the policemen his face had become a thundercloud and he hadn't said a word on the way over or in the fifteen minutes they had been sitting this plain white room.

Two-Bit knew what was bothering his friend without him having to be told so he didn't pester the angry young man.

Steve had never been crazy about Soda's kid brother but Two-Bit knew something that many didn't; Steve actually cared very deeply for Pony for the simple reason that Soda loved Ponyboy more than anything else in the world, even Steve himself.

This information sometimes pained Steve but the fact remained that Soda meant more to Steve than anyone else so if Soda loved Pony then so did Steve, in a way.

Now Pony had been gone for almost three days and the police had not been very helpful. Steve was furious that this whole situation was causing Soda so much pain and he was directing his anger onto the police who he felt should be helping more than they had though Two-Bit wasn't sure that there was much more the police could do then they already were.

Two-Bit was given no more time to dwell on these facts because the door opened and a man walked in. He was in his mid thirties with short dark hair and piercing green eyes. Just like Pony's, Two-Bit thought, that color that the kid hates.

"Good morning boys," the man said smoothly, "My name is Detective Kendall and I am in charge of Ponyboy's case. I just have a few questions that I would like to ask you."

Glancing at Steve, Kendall gestured to the empty seat next to Two-Bit and asked, "Why don't you sit down?"

Steve glared at the detective for several tense moments before reluctantly sitting down.

"Great," Kendall said with a smile, "Let's get started then. So Keith Mathews and Steve Randle, am I correct?

"I go by Two-Bit," Two-Bit said coldly; he didn't really like policemen either.

Kendall smile at him and replied, "Ok, Two-Bit. Now how would you two say your relationship with Ponyboy is?"

Two-Bit glanced at Steve but his friend still seemed unwilling to talk so Two-Bit answered. "We are friends of course," he said, "Practically family."

Kendall raised an eyebrow and said softly, "You mean like a gang?"

The young man bristled but replied coolly, "I guess you could say that we really think of ourselves as more of a family than a gang.

The detective nodded and then asked, "Did either of you see Pony at school on May 1st?"

"I did," Two-Bit answered, "At lunch but not after that."

Kendall turned to Steve for an answer but the boy simply shook his head. Pursing his lips in thought, Kendall asked, "Steve, you are close to Sodapop, Pony's older brother, am I correct?"

A vein in Steve's forehead bulged and he nodded stiffly.

Kendall nodded and then shuffled the paper around on the desk in silence. Finally when Two-Bit couldn't stand it any longer he exploded, "Detective Kendall just why are we in here? Don't you have better things to do, like looking for Pony for example?"

The detective looked up at them and sighed. "I'm sorry boys. I have all my men out looking but we are having a hard time getting any concrete leads so I am afraid I am going to have ask you two some difficult questions."

"Like what?" Two-Bit asked with no small amount of suspicion, afraid he may already know the answer.

Kendall sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Like whether or not you two might have had something to do with Pony's disappearance," he said flatly.

Two-Bit just stared at the policeman for several seconds before he leaped to his feet so fast that his chair fell down with a crash. "Are you serious?" he demanded, voice cracking with emotion, "Didn't you just hear what I said? We are like family! That kid is like my own little brother! Why on earth would I do something like this?"

"Does it look like this is my first day on the job?" asked Kendall, not even blinking an eye at Two-Bit's outburst, "I know how gangs work. Hell, I was in a gang for a long time! Jealousy and rivalry plague them and often when one goes missing it is the work of someone close to them or a rival gang so I have to question everyone!"

"Well you don't have to question us," Two-Bit said hotly, "We had absolutely nothing to do with it."

Kendall turned away from Two-Bit as if he hadn't spoken and looked intently at Steve. "Perhaps," he said, "But I have heard that you and Pony didn't get along very well. Am I right?"

When Steve didn't answer Kendall pressed harder. "Did you have anything to do with Pony's disappearance, Steve Randle?" he demanded.

Still, Steve refused to answer, simply staring at the detective with a dangerous look in his eyes.

Unnerved for the first time in a very long time Kendall slammed a hand down on the table and shouted, "Don't you have anything to say to this, Steve Randle?"

Steve stood slowly and not taking his eyes from Kendall's, picked up the table and threw it against the wall. Kendall winced as the wood splintered against the hard wall and then fought back a flinch as Steve was suddenly in his face.

Speaking for the first time, Steve snarled, eyes flaming, "Yeah, I have something to say to you. You are a fuckin idiot if you think I would lay a finger on that kid. He means everything in the world to Darry, not to mention Soda. Do you have any idea what those two are going through right now? How dare you even suggest that we had something to do with it? You obviously only know about Soc gangs and you know absolutely nothing about our gang. So why don't you go out and find who took Pony!"

With that, Steve swung around and stalked from the room. Kendall straightened his coat and then looked over at Two-Bit.

The Greaser stood and stretched. Looking over at the detective he shrugged. "Lesson one with Greaser gangs," he told the man seriously, "is never, ever target and take one of the members. Especially the baby."

With nothing left to say, Two-Bit followed his friend out of the room.

Kendall stood and collected his papers. He was now sure that the two boys had nothing to do with the crime but that out him back to where he had started.

Looking down at his watch, Kendall frowned. Every second made the chances of bringing Ponyboy back less likely. Standing, Kendall followed the two boys out the door.

May 5, 1967

It has now been three days since Ponyboy Curtis, 16, disappeared on his way home from track practice on May 1st. Ponyboy's backpack was found in an alleyway close to his home and the police now suspect with some certainly that his disappearance is gang related.

Detective Kendall who is in charge of the case told our reporters, "Ponyboy is well known by rival gangs because of past occurrences and the possibly of them taking revenge is very real."

Kendall assures the public that the police are doing all they can to quickly find the boy and the probability of more violence towards other teens in small. "We believe Ponyboy was targeted specially," he said, "So there is likely no danger to anyone else."

No more information has surfaced regarding this case and Ponyboy's two brothers, Darrel and Sodapop Curtis, have so far refused to comment.

xxx

A/N: Here's Chapter 4! Please Review Everyone!

~md202