Kidnapped
I sighed with relief when we finally reached the checkout line. Ben had been his normal self. He acted so shy around people he didn't know, but would always pipe up when he saw something he wanted. But that hadn't been what bothered me. What bothered me was the weird looks I kept getting from the people in the store. I couldn't figure out what I had done to deserve them and it was really creeping me out. I took Ben's hand and pushed the shopping cart one-handed towards the door, all the while feeling the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
I was expecting to feel better once we got outside, but instead I felt worse. My instincts kept telling me that something was wrong, but I could find no reason for it.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Ben asked, sensing my apprehension.
"Nothing." I said tightly, steering towards the car.
Instinctively I had parked in the far corner of the parking lot, just passed the small alley between the grocery store and the store next to it.
Suddenly, I felt Ben's hand yanked free of mine. My gaze snapped to where he had been, but he wasn't there anymore. I looked up and saw the people from the grocery store that had given me the creeps. And they had my son.
"Who are you people?" I demanded before charging after Ben.
One of them intercepted me and I was shocked into stillness for a moment and how fast he was. And then I was shocked at how strong he was as he punched me and sent me reeling back into a wall. Where they X5? Had Manticore tracked me down, sent X5's after me? Three more joined my first attacker and I was forced to concentrate on fighting them. But as I fought, I noticed that they didn't have barcodes. Then, what the hell where these people? And what did they want with my son? Where were they taking him? I screamed in fury as I caught sight of them dragging Ben away. I blindly attacked, desperately trying to reach my child. I took out two of them before more took their place. There were too many of them. I just couldn't think. I was just too worried about Ben. The next thing I knew, everything was dark.
***
Syl, Krit, Zane and I entered our usual night-spot, The Black Cat. It wasn't a great place, but it was nice. They had a couple pool tables, they played good music, and they served good drinks. Occasionally, they even had live entertainment. And they always had people for Syl to hustle at the pool tables.
"The usual, Dave." Krit said, walking up to the bar.
"A pitcher and a root beer." the bartender nodded.
Krit smiled and leaned his back against the bar, surveying the room. It was a habit, but one that he figured couldn't hurt what with a secret government agency looking for him.
"Here you go." the bartender said, sliding a tray across the bar to him.
Krit took the tray over to the table closest to the pool tables and set it down. Syl was already leaning against one of the tables, trying to coax someone into playing with her. It didn't take long. Syl didn't look very intimidating; she was a short, innocent-looking blonde which worked well to her advantage. Zane stood nearby, watching her protectively while talking to me at the same time. Krit joined us, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"Come on. One more. Double or nothing." Syl said to her current customer, "Let a girl have a second chance."
"No one can resist that face." Zane said with a sigh as Syl's customer nodded.
Krit rolled his eyes.
"Zane, when you fall..."
"I fall hard." Zane finished, "I know. I know."
"Don't pick on Zane." I protested.
"Have I mentioned that I like her?" Zane asked with a grin.
"Oh, shut up." Krit said. He turned his attention to me, "And you, you're supposed to be on my side."
With that he kissed me.
"Cheater." I accused with a smile.
I pulled away from him to retrieve my root beer. I poured beer into the three empty glasses and handed one to Krit and one to Zane.
"Hey, Syl! You ready for a beer?" I called.
"Always." Syl returned, a look of heavy concentration on her face as she lined up her shot.
She sunk the eight ball with the perfect look of absolute surprise on her face.
"Oh, my god! I actually won!" she said, flashing a brilliant smile at the guy who had lost.
The guy handed over the money, not even the slightest bit suspicious of being hustled. Syl winked at me behind his back and I had to stifle laughter. I handed Syl her beer.
"Krit!" Syl called, holding up the extra pool cue.
Krit rolled his eyes again, knowing he couldn't back down from a challenge from Syl. He handed me his beer and snatched the cue.
"I break." he announced.
"Sure." Syl shrugged.
She signaled to me below the edge of the pool table where Krit couldn't see. I gave her a small smile in acknowledgement. I moved over next to Krit just as he was leaning over to line up his shot. Just as he was about to shoot, I pinched him, making him jump. His shot went wild and missed the break entirely. Syl smiled innocently. Krit glared at both of us.
"That's cheating, Syl." he accused.
Syl shrugged, innocent look still plastered on her face.
"Two can play at that. Zane." Krit called.
Zane warily joined Krit. Krit whispered to him hurriedly. Zane sighed and nodded. Syl watched him suspiciously as he walked over to her. She cautiously leaned over to shoot. Just before the pool cue connected with the ball, Zane pushed her hair out of the way and blew softly on her barcode. Syl cried out in surprise and jumped, but still managed to break. She sank one ball as opposed to her usual three or four.
"Not fair, Krit. You know that's my only ticklish spot." Syl frowned.
"Oops." Krit said sarcastically.
"Still didn't work." Syl said, lining up her next shot.
Krit shot Zane a look and he sighed again. Again, just as Syl was shooting, Zane grabbed her butt. Syl actually scratched. Krit grinned.
"Oh, this is war." Syl declared.
Krit rolled his eyes and went to line up his shot. I just smiled at Syl and she gestured at me to go ahead with whatever I was planning.
Krit edged around the table to the other side away from me and gave me a look. I gave him an offended look and tried to look innocent. I edged around the table next to him and immediately began to tickle him viciously. Krit squeaked and jumped. Unfortunately for him, his pool cue accidentally hit the white ball and he lost his turn.
"You're evil." Krit accused, glaring at me.
"And you squeak." I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.
While we were arguing, Syl quickly took her shot, keeping Zane at a distance with her foot which was poised to kick him in the stomach. She sunk her ball and grinned. But when she went to take her next shot, Zane kissed her, making it impossible for her to see what she was doing. She actually managed to hit the ball she was aiming for, but didn't get it anywhere near a pocket. Syl quickly broke out of the kiss and glanced at the table to see what had happened. When she saw what a terrible shot it was, she socked Zane in the stomach.
"Ow!" Zane protested as the wind was knocked out of him.
"Sorry, Zane." Krit grimaced.
He knew how hard Syl punches. He'd mentioned a few occasions when he had found out to me before.
"Taking one for the team." Zane croaked.
"The losing team." Syl threw in.
"Would you shut up so I can shoot?" Krit snapped.
Playing the same tactic as Zane, I leaned in a nibbled on Krit's ear and kissed his neck. His skin kept twitching and he grumbled as he tried to concentrate. His ball ended up bouncing off the corner of the pocket. Krit sighed heavily in frustration. He quickly turned to me, grabbing my arms, and planted a firm kiss on my lips.
"Now stay put." he said.
Syl rolled her eyes and took her shot. Zane did something behind his back, quickly moving in next to Syl and then jumping back again. Syl cried out in surprise, making many people glance our way.
"That was fricking cold, Zane!" she said as she pulled a piece of ice out of her shirt.
She threw the ice at Zane who caught it and threw it at Krit. The pool game was forgotten as an all-out ice fight ensued.
As I tried to shield myself from the ice coming from Krit, I noticed Syl sneaking up behind him. She held a pitcher of beer and looked poised to pour it over Krit. I stifled laughter that would alert him to what she was doing.
Suddenly, Krit's cell phone rang and we all froze. Krit fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Zack. What's wrong?" Krit asked.
He casually began to stroll over to our table. But as he left, he reached behind him and tipped the pitcher backwards, the contents splashing all over Syl. None of us could help it, we burst out laughing. Syl looked astonished and ticked. She gave us all a look of death that transferred to the others in the bar as she made her way to the bathroom. The look made people clear a path for her, but didn't stop the comments or the raucous applause after she was gone.
But Krit was a part of it. Something was wrong.
"What was that, Zack? I couldn't hear you. What?! Baby Ben? When? Is Cade okay? Who was it? We'll be right there. You want our help, right? Oh, stop being a jackass and just admit you want our help. See, that wasn't hard. Yeah, I am pushing it. I'm sorry. We'll get your son back, don't worry. Bye."
Krit's words had caught Zane's attention as well and we both stared at him for an explanation. He shook his head.
"Someone's kidnapped Baby Ben. They beat up Cade a little and stole the kid. No idea who they are, but they were strong and not Manticore since Cade didn't see any barcodes. Zack needs our help tracking him down and getting him back." he explained.
Zane and I nodded in unison, our faces set in a determined look. We'd get Baby Ben back, no doubt about it. We just needed to grab Syl.
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Sorry about the delays, I apologize again. Kai helped me with some ideas in this chapter, so thanks Kai. Cade's busy working on the websites, but she'll be contributing some more soon. Hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know.
Ty
I sighed with relief when we finally reached the checkout line. Ben had been his normal self. He acted so shy around people he didn't know, but would always pipe up when he saw something he wanted. But that hadn't been what bothered me. What bothered me was the weird looks I kept getting from the people in the store. I couldn't figure out what I had done to deserve them and it was really creeping me out. I took Ben's hand and pushed the shopping cart one-handed towards the door, all the while feeling the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
I was expecting to feel better once we got outside, but instead I felt worse. My instincts kept telling me that something was wrong, but I could find no reason for it.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Ben asked, sensing my apprehension.
"Nothing." I said tightly, steering towards the car.
Instinctively I had parked in the far corner of the parking lot, just passed the small alley between the grocery store and the store next to it.
Suddenly, I felt Ben's hand yanked free of mine. My gaze snapped to where he had been, but he wasn't there anymore. I looked up and saw the people from the grocery store that had given me the creeps. And they had my son.
"Who are you people?" I demanded before charging after Ben.
One of them intercepted me and I was shocked into stillness for a moment and how fast he was. And then I was shocked at how strong he was as he punched me and sent me reeling back into a wall. Where they X5? Had Manticore tracked me down, sent X5's after me? Three more joined my first attacker and I was forced to concentrate on fighting them. But as I fought, I noticed that they didn't have barcodes. Then, what the hell where these people? And what did they want with my son? Where were they taking him? I screamed in fury as I caught sight of them dragging Ben away. I blindly attacked, desperately trying to reach my child. I took out two of them before more took their place. There were too many of them. I just couldn't think. I was just too worried about Ben. The next thing I knew, everything was dark.
***
Syl, Krit, Zane and I entered our usual night-spot, The Black Cat. It wasn't a great place, but it was nice. They had a couple pool tables, they played good music, and they served good drinks. Occasionally, they even had live entertainment. And they always had people for Syl to hustle at the pool tables.
"The usual, Dave." Krit said, walking up to the bar.
"A pitcher and a root beer." the bartender nodded.
Krit smiled and leaned his back against the bar, surveying the room. It was a habit, but one that he figured couldn't hurt what with a secret government agency looking for him.
"Here you go." the bartender said, sliding a tray across the bar to him.
Krit took the tray over to the table closest to the pool tables and set it down. Syl was already leaning against one of the tables, trying to coax someone into playing with her. It didn't take long. Syl didn't look very intimidating; she was a short, innocent-looking blonde which worked well to her advantage. Zane stood nearby, watching her protectively while talking to me at the same time. Krit joined us, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"Come on. One more. Double or nothing." Syl said to her current customer, "Let a girl have a second chance."
"No one can resist that face." Zane said with a sigh as Syl's customer nodded.
Krit rolled his eyes.
"Zane, when you fall..."
"I fall hard." Zane finished, "I know. I know."
"Don't pick on Zane." I protested.
"Have I mentioned that I like her?" Zane asked with a grin.
"Oh, shut up." Krit said. He turned his attention to me, "And you, you're supposed to be on my side."
With that he kissed me.
"Cheater." I accused with a smile.
I pulled away from him to retrieve my root beer. I poured beer into the three empty glasses and handed one to Krit and one to Zane.
"Hey, Syl! You ready for a beer?" I called.
"Always." Syl returned, a look of heavy concentration on her face as she lined up her shot.
She sunk the eight ball with the perfect look of absolute surprise on her face.
"Oh, my god! I actually won!" she said, flashing a brilliant smile at the guy who had lost.
The guy handed over the money, not even the slightest bit suspicious of being hustled. Syl winked at me behind his back and I had to stifle laughter. I handed Syl her beer.
"Krit!" Syl called, holding up the extra pool cue.
Krit rolled his eyes again, knowing he couldn't back down from a challenge from Syl. He handed me his beer and snatched the cue.
"I break." he announced.
"Sure." Syl shrugged.
She signaled to me below the edge of the pool table where Krit couldn't see. I gave her a small smile in acknowledgement. I moved over next to Krit just as he was leaning over to line up his shot. Just as he was about to shoot, I pinched him, making him jump. His shot went wild and missed the break entirely. Syl smiled innocently. Krit glared at both of us.
"That's cheating, Syl." he accused.
Syl shrugged, innocent look still plastered on her face.
"Two can play at that. Zane." Krit called.
Zane warily joined Krit. Krit whispered to him hurriedly. Zane sighed and nodded. Syl watched him suspiciously as he walked over to her. She cautiously leaned over to shoot. Just before the pool cue connected with the ball, Zane pushed her hair out of the way and blew softly on her barcode. Syl cried out in surprise and jumped, but still managed to break. She sank one ball as opposed to her usual three or four.
"Not fair, Krit. You know that's my only ticklish spot." Syl frowned.
"Oops." Krit said sarcastically.
"Still didn't work." Syl said, lining up her next shot.
Krit shot Zane a look and he sighed again. Again, just as Syl was shooting, Zane grabbed her butt. Syl actually scratched. Krit grinned.
"Oh, this is war." Syl declared.
Krit rolled his eyes and went to line up his shot. I just smiled at Syl and she gestured at me to go ahead with whatever I was planning.
Krit edged around the table to the other side away from me and gave me a look. I gave him an offended look and tried to look innocent. I edged around the table next to him and immediately began to tickle him viciously. Krit squeaked and jumped. Unfortunately for him, his pool cue accidentally hit the white ball and he lost his turn.
"You're evil." Krit accused, glaring at me.
"And you squeak." I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.
While we were arguing, Syl quickly took her shot, keeping Zane at a distance with her foot which was poised to kick him in the stomach. She sunk her ball and grinned. But when she went to take her next shot, Zane kissed her, making it impossible for her to see what she was doing. She actually managed to hit the ball she was aiming for, but didn't get it anywhere near a pocket. Syl quickly broke out of the kiss and glanced at the table to see what had happened. When she saw what a terrible shot it was, she socked Zane in the stomach.
"Ow!" Zane protested as the wind was knocked out of him.
"Sorry, Zane." Krit grimaced.
He knew how hard Syl punches. He'd mentioned a few occasions when he had found out to me before.
"Taking one for the team." Zane croaked.
"The losing team." Syl threw in.
"Would you shut up so I can shoot?" Krit snapped.
Playing the same tactic as Zane, I leaned in a nibbled on Krit's ear and kissed his neck. His skin kept twitching and he grumbled as he tried to concentrate. His ball ended up bouncing off the corner of the pocket. Krit sighed heavily in frustration. He quickly turned to me, grabbing my arms, and planted a firm kiss on my lips.
"Now stay put." he said.
Syl rolled her eyes and took her shot. Zane did something behind his back, quickly moving in next to Syl and then jumping back again. Syl cried out in surprise, making many people glance our way.
"That was fricking cold, Zane!" she said as she pulled a piece of ice out of her shirt.
She threw the ice at Zane who caught it and threw it at Krit. The pool game was forgotten as an all-out ice fight ensued.
As I tried to shield myself from the ice coming from Krit, I noticed Syl sneaking up behind him. She held a pitcher of beer and looked poised to pour it over Krit. I stifled laughter that would alert him to what she was doing.
Suddenly, Krit's cell phone rang and we all froze. Krit fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Zack. What's wrong?" Krit asked.
He casually began to stroll over to our table. But as he left, he reached behind him and tipped the pitcher backwards, the contents splashing all over Syl. None of us could help it, we burst out laughing. Syl looked astonished and ticked. She gave us all a look of death that transferred to the others in the bar as she made her way to the bathroom. The look made people clear a path for her, but didn't stop the comments or the raucous applause after she was gone.
But Krit was a part of it. Something was wrong.
"What was that, Zack? I couldn't hear you. What?! Baby Ben? When? Is Cade okay? Who was it? We'll be right there. You want our help, right? Oh, stop being a jackass and just admit you want our help. See, that wasn't hard. Yeah, I am pushing it. I'm sorry. We'll get your son back, don't worry. Bye."
Krit's words had caught Zane's attention as well and we both stared at him for an explanation. He shook his head.
"Someone's kidnapped Baby Ben. They beat up Cade a little and stole the kid. No idea who they are, but they were strong and not Manticore since Cade didn't see any barcodes. Zack needs our help tracking him down and getting him back." he explained.
Zane and I nodded in unison, our faces set in a determined look. We'd get Baby Ben back, no doubt about it. We just needed to grab Syl.
--------------------------------------------------------
Sorry about the delays, I apologize again. Kai helped me with some ideas in this chapter, so thanks Kai. Cade's busy working on the websites, but she'll be contributing some more soon. Hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know.
Ty