Leonardo was crouched over the floor of the living room, tightly clenching Raphael's sai in both fists. The rage consuming him was so strong that he could hardly contain himself from shouting.
Michelangelo had to literally force Luke to stay seated in the kitchen, while Donatello was clearing the second floor.
"They're long gone Donnie." Luke said bitterly when the turtle returned. "They got what they came for, and hightailed it out of here hours ago."
"None of them seemed familiar Luke?" Jenna asked as carefully as she could.
"No, I couldn't see their faces, and didn't recognize any of the names they were throwing around. But they have to have a connection back to Vale! They knew all about the watches, sure didn't give Raph or I a chance to get a hand on them." His words spilled out so quickly that his sentences actually ran together.
As the man wearily dropped his forehead into his hands, Donatello came to kneel at his level.
"Doc, y'need to let me have a look at you."
"Would you stop worrying about me for two seconds? We've got to track Raph down!"
"We'll have to go back underground." Donatello said a little tightly. "I didn't bring my laptop, and I can't trace his implant at all without a computer."
Luke slammed his fist angrily against the tabletop. "He said they've been watching for weeks! Donnie...is it even possible for someone to tap the cell-phones?"
"Not without me knowing it Doc. It's more likely they bugged the house somehow."
"And that's so much better." Michelangelo fumed from across the room.
Leonardo appeared in the doorway with his brother's weapons tucked safely in his own belt, now that his own anger felt somewhat more under control. "Doc, you've gotta get some things together. You're not coming back here, not until this whole thing is sorted out. Donnie, go help him would you? We shouldn't linger here."
As Donatello was walking Luke upstairs, his phone rang. He took a sharp breath when he saw that it was Greg, and let it out quickly.
"I'm sorry I missed you Donnie - I was in the shower, didn't notice that you tried to call until just now." Greg said when he picked it up.
"Greg, we've got a major problem. I was calling to see if you'd heard from Raph, because he never came home last night. We traced him to Doc's place, but neither he nor Luke were answering, so we came up ourselves."
"In broad daylight?"
"Greg, listen to me. Raph's gone - he was abducted last night, and Doc was witness to the whole thing! Some men have been watching Luke's place, somehow set a trap for him."
The man swore loudly on the other end. "Who took him Donnie? What about Luke?"
Donatello had gotten off the phone with Greg, and had been assisting Luke in the bedroom for a little while, before getting somewhat distracted.
"Luke, have you been doing more patchwork in here?" He asked him.
"What?" Luke asked a little breathlessly. "No, I haven't done much of anything with renovations over the last few months. Why are you asking this now?"
"Your molding, do you see that small separation from the wall?"
"I hadn't noticed."
Donatello reached into his belt, searching for a screwdriver from the side pocket.
"Is this the time to worry about repairs?" Luke said incredulously. "You do understand that Raph is out there somewhere, and he's really hurt?!"
"Yeah Doc, I do...but this isn't about a repair. I'll help you fix it later, I just want to get it off the wall for right now."
"Donnie, why the heck are you messing with it?"
The turtle didn't answer him, he simply started using the flat end of the screw-driver to start prying it loose from the wall in a couple of places. Once he had it on the floor, he turned the wooden piece over in his hands, and started running his fingers over the length of it.
"Are you looking for something?" Luke asked him.
"Yeah, and I think I just found it." Donatello said grimly, reaching back into his pocket again to retrieve his tweezers.
Luke got down on the floor beside him, just as the turtle had pulled something loose from the backing.
"What is that?" He asked him, and Donatello met his glance swiftly.
"Doc, if I had to guess, I'd say it's a plant. I've never seen one like it."
"You mean it's a bug?"
"It's got me wondering how many more are here." Donatello said morosely, as Leonardo and Jenna glanced inside from the hall.
"How's it coming?" Leonardo asked with a note of anxiety. "What are you two doing down there?"
"Nothing Fearless, just studying the bug that was planted in the molding." Donatello said bluntly.
"Shell. Well, we knew they were watching somehow. Jenna, go ahead and pull some stuff for Katherine too, will you? I don't have a clue what she'll need, but she probably shouldn't be coming back here either." Leonardo said.
The knock on the front door had come shortly after Leonardo and Jenna had gone upstairs, and had made Michelangelo freeze in his tracks. He held his breath as the knock repeated, glancing up the stairway.
Please, please just go away, He thought a little nervously, as he ducked down near the dining room table so that not even a trace of a shadow would be seen from outside.
After it had repeated three times, he waited with baited breath. Five minutes passed with no further sound, and he slowly let it out.
He returned to the bottom of the stairs, feeling just a little bit useless at the moment. Mike rested his forehead against the banister, wishing he could rather bash it into the wall and be done with it. He should have known everything wasn't okay when Raph didn't come home! Now they were even more hours behind them.
With a sigh, he released his hold on the banister, and headed back toward the dining room again. He jolted strongly when he heard footsteps, that plainly sounded like they'd come from the kitchen.
"Luke?"
He recognized the female voice, but it still surprised him to hear it. Kat? She musta gotten an earlier flight. Shell, she can't have a clue what's going on, nobody's called her. That must have been her at the front door...I wonder why she didn't use her key.
"Hey Kat, we need to talk." Michelangelo said as he entered the room, starting severely when he actually laid eyes on the woman.
It wasn't Katherine - though the woman closely resembled her. Her bronze hair was longer, and the wide eyes that stared at him in disbelief were a very light green, instead of a warm golden brown. It was a stunned stand-off between the two of them for a few seconds, and then the woman backed swiftly away from him, cell-phone in hand.
Alarmed, Michelangelo held out both hands, trying to appear non-threatening, while cursing his own stupidity.
"Estancia detrás! Consiga lejos de mí al demonio, Le estoy advirtiendo!"
Shell I don't have a clue what she's sayin', but that can't be good!
"Okay, hang on here, hang on!" Mike urged her. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you! I'm friends with Luke and Kat!"
"Dije estancia detrás!" The woman continued, snatching the fireplace poker off the side of the hearth. "Get out of here, I'm calling 911!" She finally spat in english.
Mike instantly spun in the direction of the stairs. "LUKE! A little help down here!"
The man came pounding down the stairs, with both turtles and Jenna right on his tail.
"Mike, what's--Oh shoot, Karina!"
The woman backed further against the wall when she saw the two additional turtles, holding the poker out threateningly as if to stab anyone who came in close enough range.
"Karina, they're not dangerous! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...they won't hurt you!" Luke tried to assure her.
"What is this?" The cowering woman demanded, the phone in her hand slightly shaking. "I'm calling the cops if you don't start talking NOW."
"Don't call the cops, call your sister! She'll tell you they're alright!" Luke urged. "Call her!"
The woman only slightly lowered her weapon, dialing her phone with shaking fingers.
Katherine was just walking out of the public bathroom when her phone rang, and she grinned when she saw that it was her sister.
"Hey Kari! Did your plane get in alright?"
"I landed Kat, but your husband didn't meet me! I got a cab out to your place in Chelsea, and I walked in on these...these, Kat I don't know what they are! Luke says you know all about them!"
Katherine caught her breath. "You've seen the turtles, haven't you?"
"It's all true? Qué cosa un poco loca es ésta? Cómo podría usted no decirme!?"
After listening to Karina rant in Spanish for about five minutes without hardly taking a breath, Luke finally managed to get the phone away from her, to try and sufficiently explain things to Kat.
Meanwhile, Jenna was attempting to settle the woman down, and see if she would give up the fireplace poker as well. All three turtles were standing off to the side, simply watching the scene as it unfolded in front of them.
"Kat listen, I need you to listen to me for a couple minutes!" Luke said as calmly as he could manage. "I couldn't get there, I was a little tied up at the time, and I do mean literally! I was attacked last night, some men came into the house, and apparently it wasn't the first time!"
Karina ducked her head, eyeing Luke cautiously as she listened to what he was telling Kat.
"No, I'm alright Kat, that's not the problem right now! I don't know who they were, but they were after the guys! Yes, they know all about them. We've been bugged, Donnie already found some device upstairs! They were using me to get to Raph. That's what I'm trying to tell you! He almost got away from them entirely, but then he chased them down when they took off with me! One of them forced him to wipe out on his bike, and I don't have a clue how he is now!"
He was silent for a few seconds, now listening himself. "He was alive when we got separated. They took me back to the house, stowed me in the pantry, and the rest of the guys tracked me down a few minutes ago! I am leaving Kat, and Leonardo had me pull stuff for both of us. We were almost done when your sister showed up. I don't know what to do on that count!"
Karina's posture was less defensive now, but she seemed even more confused than before, focusing firmly on Jenna.
"What is going on here?"
Jenna cast a glance over at the turtles. "They're brothers, and for the most part, they're friendly. They've saved your sister's life more than once. One of them was kidnapped last night, they set a trap for him here, just like you heard Luke say."
"Why? What do they want with him?"
Leonardo took a hesitant step forward. "It could be any number of things - but the most important thing to recognize right now is that we can't stay here. No one is safe in this house, not us, and not you."