As the car finally lurched to a stop, the blond heads of the two youngest
Tracys twisted to glance out of their windows.
As far as Alan could make out, they were at some kind of deserted cabin.
'Alright you two, get out!' Fallon growled, stepping from the car and training the gun on his captives, 'and real slow now, we wouldn't want anybody getting hurt now would we?'
Alan rolled his eyes at the poorly disguised threat and climbed over the seat to join his brother outside. His first thought was of the overpowering smell of pine that seemed to linger all around them, his second thought was for the view. For miles around he could see a thick blanket of snow and pine trees, and although in usual circumstances he would have admired the view, it worried him that there was no sign of any other person for miles around.
He glanced at his brother and noticed Gordon's frantic sweep of their surroundings with his eyes. He knew that Gordo would be searching desperately for any possible escape route, Alan mirrored his brother's task. He noticed that the cabin which loomed rather imposingly before them, had wooden steps and an outside trap-door that led to a possible underground basement? Hmmm....could come in useful, he thought to himself.
Darth snapped him out of his trance, 'move it kid!' he snarled,pushing Alan in front of him towards the cabin. Fallon did the same with Gordon who spared a protective glance at his brother, before asscending the wooden steps leading to the cabin. Alan followed. Fallon pushed at the cabin door and it swung open with an ominous creek, he ushered Gordon inside, Darth and Alan were right behind him. The inside of the cabin was dark and smelt musty, Alan coughed a little and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
The cabin was very basic, a threadbare settee adorned the living room and a small kitchen led off it, to the right of the living room were two doors which Alan guessed were a bedroom and a bathroom. Darth after a nod from Fallon disappeared inside one of the rooms and emerged with rope and sticky tape. Alan realised with a sinking stomach what those were for.
'Right sit down on the floor you two, feet out ,back to back.' Fallon growled.
With a gun trained on them at point blank range, neither Alan nor Gordon felt they were in the position to argue. Sharing an uncomfortable glance they did as they were told. Once they were back to back, Darth wrapped the rope securely around their chests. Alan gasped as the rope was wrapped tighter and tighter, he could hardly breathe.
'Hey not so tight!' Gordon yelled.
Darth grinned evily at Fallon but he tied the knot in the ropes. He then took the sticky tape to first Alan's ankles and then Gordons'. When he had thoroughly restrained them, he stood back to admire his handywork.
'OOOOOOH..........' Gordon murmered sarcastically, 'you should be real proud of yourselves, tying up two kids, I mean, what an achievement?'
The smile vanished from Darth's balaclava clad face, he raised a hand and pulled off his disguise in one swift movement.
Alan and Gordon inhaled sharply in unison. The left side of the man's face was normal, ugly but normal, but the right side was covered with hundreds of scars.
Fallon smiled at their reactions. 'Amazing who you meet when you're banged up!' he stated, 'Matchstick here.........' he gestured towards Darth, '....was banged up for murder, set fire to a guy in his home-room when he was just a kid, unfortunately he didn't count on burning half his face off in the process.'
Gordon stared wide-eyed at Darth/Matchstick, 'How the hell did you get out of prison?'
Matchstick fixed Gordon with a steely gaze, 'good behaviour, it's amazing how soon you can be up for parole if you know the right people.'
Gordon shook his head defiantly, 'what has my father ever done to you?'
'Nothing...........' Matchstick replied, 'but do you really think I could live the good life,find a nice woman,have a family with a face like this?'
'You don't have to resort to this.....' Alan tried to reason with him.
'You don't understand, I'm not a nice person..........' Matchstick snarled, '........I like this life!'
'Yeah, well your life's not going to be worth living when our brothers and our father catch up with you!' Gordon retorted in disgust.
Matchstick shot a deadly look at Gordon and picked up the sticky tape.
'This one......' he told Fallon,gesturing at Gordon as he applied tape to his mouth, '........needs to learn when to shut up!'
That was the first and only thing Alan and the kidnappers would ever come to agree on.
**************************************************************************** *****************************************
'Gordon's 16, he's 6'1, has straight sandy blond hair, he's wearing a blue jumper with 'Amberleigh High Swim Team' written across the front, dark blue jeans and white trainers.' Jeff Tracy said wearily, rubbing his throbbing temples as he regarded the policeman infront of him. 'Alan is 15, he's 6', has wavy platinum blond hair, he's wearing a black t-shirt, brown khakis, a brown sheepskin coat and black loafers.'
The policeman scribbled all this information down and Jeff sank wearily onto the sofa next to him. He had a terrible migraine, in the 15 minutes since he'd spoken to his sons and found out of the danger his youngest two were facing, his head had pounded in a way he hadn't felt since the aftermath of his wife's death. The police had arrived just minutes after he'd heard from Scott,Virgil and John. This was serious, a murder and possible kidnapping. Jeff shuddered as he thought of his sons at the mercy of a twisted madman, or worse, dead. No,no, Jeff thought to himself , I can't think that, i won't think that. He had to believe his sons were alright. If anything happened to them, he didn't know what he would do. Easy-going, sweet Gordon, who always made his father laugh, and even when in trouble made him proud and Alan, his baby, innocent , trying to be so grown-up even though he would always be a baby to Jeff. No, he wouldn't think the worst, he couldn't. Not of two people he loved so much, a part of himself and his beloved Lucille.
'Mr Tracy.......Mr Tracy?'
The policeman, a sympathetic-looking moustached man, coaxed him from his nightmarish visions.
'Sorry' Jeff murmered distractedly, absently wringing his hands together.
'Believe me, ' the policeman offered, 'I've got kids, I know how I'd feel if it was one of them, I just need to know, if there's anyone who might hold a grudge against you, who'd do this to your sons?'
Jeff shook his head, 'I....I.....I don't know'.
'Think Mr Tracy, anyone at all?'
Jeff watched as the 20 or 30 other officers went over his files and discussed situations in his living room. None of this seemed real to him. He turned to the policeman next to him.
'Detective............' he looked at the officer's namebadge, '....Jacobs, it may have escaped your knowledge but I have a fair bit of money, although I've made enemies in the past, I'm sure that what this person wants is money, now right now I am hoping and praying that that is the case, because if it's money he wants for my boys then I'll give him every penny I own, but if it's revenge,then I'm afraid that's a totally different ball game.'
Detective Jacobs nodded, 'Mr Tracy......' he began, 'I can assue you that we are doing everything in our................'
He broke off as the lounge doors were flung open, every officer in the room swung towards the door, guns at the ready.
Scott, came to a sudden halt, Virgil ran into him, John with the agility and speed he was known for on the football field, side-stepped them both and found himself face to face with a row of pointed guns.
'UH.......' was all he could utter.
'STOP, STOP!' Jeff shouted, 'THESE ARE MY OTHER SONS!'
The guns were quickly holstered and Scott,Virgil and John dashed over to their father, shock written all over their faces at the number of police littering their lounge.
'Dad!' John shouted and Jeff opened his arms to his three eldest, who quickly went into them.
'Any news?' Virgil asked, his eyes full of worry meeting his fathers'.
'No, I'm afraid not boys!' Jeff answered gruffly. Trying to appear strong for his sons' sake.
Scott easily saw through Jeff's pretence. He noticed Jeff's shaking hands and looked into his father's eyes. Jeff Tracy was unravelling,slowly but surely, but it was happening all the same. As the police approached John and Virgil to get any information, Scott watched his father, slump back onto the couch, his face lined, and dejected.
Yep,Jeff was falling apart, it was up to Scott now, as in a way it had always been, to hold everyone together. He only hoped he was up for the job.
**************************************************************************** **********************************************
YEEEEEHAW!
WILL A RANSOM DEMAND BE MADE?
WILL JEFF PAY THE PIPER?
WILL THE POLICE CLOSE IN ON THE BADDIES?
WILL OUR LOVABLE HEROES ESCAPE?
Find out in the next chapter of 'NEXT STOP: DANGER'
CGruber, fine we'll share but I'm having him in the week you can have him weekends, man I love sparring with you!
As far as Alan could make out, they were at some kind of deserted cabin.
'Alright you two, get out!' Fallon growled, stepping from the car and training the gun on his captives, 'and real slow now, we wouldn't want anybody getting hurt now would we?'
Alan rolled his eyes at the poorly disguised threat and climbed over the seat to join his brother outside. His first thought was of the overpowering smell of pine that seemed to linger all around them, his second thought was for the view. For miles around he could see a thick blanket of snow and pine trees, and although in usual circumstances he would have admired the view, it worried him that there was no sign of any other person for miles around.
He glanced at his brother and noticed Gordon's frantic sweep of their surroundings with his eyes. He knew that Gordo would be searching desperately for any possible escape route, Alan mirrored his brother's task. He noticed that the cabin which loomed rather imposingly before them, had wooden steps and an outside trap-door that led to a possible underground basement? Hmmm....could come in useful, he thought to himself.
Darth snapped him out of his trance, 'move it kid!' he snarled,pushing Alan in front of him towards the cabin. Fallon did the same with Gordon who spared a protective glance at his brother, before asscending the wooden steps leading to the cabin. Alan followed. Fallon pushed at the cabin door and it swung open with an ominous creek, he ushered Gordon inside, Darth and Alan were right behind him. The inside of the cabin was dark and smelt musty, Alan coughed a little and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
The cabin was very basic, a threadbare settee adorned the living room and a small kitchen led off it, to the right of the living room were two doors which Alan guessed were a bedroom and a bathroom. Darth after a nod from Fallon disappeared inside one of the rooms and emerged with rope and sticky tape. Alan realised with a sinking stomach what those were for.
'Right sit down on the floor you two, feet out ,back to back.' Fallon growled.
With a gun trained on them at point blank range, neither Alan nor Gordon felt they were in the position to argue. Sharing an uncomfortable glance they did as they were told. Once they were back to back, Darth wrapped the rope securely around their chests. Alan gasped as the rope was wrapped tighter and tighter, he could hardly breathe.
'Hey not so tight!' Gordon yelled.
Darth grinned evily at Fallon but he tied the knot in the ropes. He then took the sticky tape to first Alan's ankles and then Gordons'. When he had thoroughly restrained them, he stood back to admire his handywork.
'OOOOOOH..........' Gordon murmered sarcastically, 'you should be real proud of yourselves, tying up two kids, I mean, what an achievement?'
The smile vanished from Darth's balaclava clad face, he raised a hand and pulled off his disguise in one swift movement.
Alan and Gordon inhaled sharply in unison. The left side of the man's face was normal, ugly but normal, but the right side was covered with hundreds of scars.
Fallon smiled at their reactions. 'Amazing who you meet when you're banged up!' he stated, 'Matchstick here.........' he gestured towards Darth, '....was banged up for murder, set fire to a guy in his home-room when he was just a kid, unfortunately he didn't count on burning half his face off in the process.'
Gordon stared wide-eyed at Darth/Matchstick, 'How the hell did you get out of prison?'
Matchstick fixed Gordon with a steely gaze, 'good behaviour, it's amazing how soon you can be up for parole if you know the right people.'
Gordon shook his head defiantly, 'what has my father ever done to you?'
'Nothing...........' Matchstick replied, 'but do you really think I could live the good life,find a nice woman,have a family with a face like this?'
'You don't have to resort to this.....' Alan tried to reason with him.
'You don't understand, I'm not a nice person..........' Matchstick snarled, '........I like this life!'
'Yeah, well your life's not going to be worth living when our brothers and our father catch up with you!' Gordon retorted in disgust.
Matchstick shot a deadly look at Gordon and picked up the sticky tape.
'This one......' he told Fallon,gesturing at Gordon as he applied tape to his mouth, '........needs to learn when to shut up!'
That was the first and only thing Alan and the kidnappers would ever come to agree on.
**************************************************************************** *****************************************
'Gordon's 16, he's 6'1, has straight sandy blond hair, he's wearing a blue jumper with 'Amberleigh High Swim Team' written across the front, dark blue jeans and white trainers.' Jeff Tracy said wearily, rubbing his throbbing temples as he regarded the policeman infront of him. 'Alan is 15, he's 6', has wavy platinum blond hair, he's wearing a black t-shirt, brown khakis, a brown sheepskin coat and black loafers.'
The policeman scribbled all this information down and Jeff sank wearily onto the sofa next to him. He had a terrible migraine, in the 15 minutes since he'd spoken to his sons and found out of the danger his youngest two were facing, his head had pounded in a way he hadn't felt since the aftermath of his wife's death. The police had arrived just minutes after he'd heard from Scott,Virgil and John. This was serious, a murder and possible kidnapping. Jeff shuddered as he thought of his sons at the mercy of a twisted madman, or worse, dead. No,no, Jeff thought to himself , I can't think that, i won't think that. He had to believe his sons were alright. If anything happened to them, he didn't know what he would do. Easy-going, sweet Gordon, who always made his father laugh, and even when in trouble made him proud and Alan, his baby, innocent , trying to be so grown-up even though he would always be a baby to Jeff. No, he wouldn't think the worst, he couldn't. Not of two people he loved so much, a part of himself and his beloved Lucille.
'Mr Tracy.......Mr Tracy?'
The policeman, a sympathetic-looking moustached man, coaxed him from his nightmarish visions.
'Sorry' Jeff murmered distractedly, absently wringing his hands together.
'Believe me, ' the policeman offered, 'I've got kids, I know how I'd feel if it was one of them, I just need to know, if there's anyone who might hold a grudge against you, who'd do this to your sons?'
Jeff shook his head, 'I....I.....I don't know'.
'Think Mr Tracy, anyone at all?'
Jeff watched as the 20 or 30 other officers went over his files and discussed situations in his living room. None of this seemed real to him. He turned to the policeman next to him.
'Detective............' he looked at the officer's namebadge, '....Jacobs, it may have escaped your knowledge but I have a fair bit of money, although I've made enemies in the past, I'm sure that what this person wants is money, now right now I am hoping and praying that that is the case, because if it's money he wants for my boys then I'll give him every penny I own, but if it's revenge,then I'm afraid that's a totally different ball game.'
Detective Jacobs nodded, 'Mr Tracy......' he began, 'I can assue you that we are doing everything in our................'
He broke off as the lounge doors were flung open, every officer in the room swung towards the door, guns at the ready.
Scott, came to a sudden halt, Virgil ran into him, John with the agility and speed he was known for on the football field, side-stepped them both and found himself face to face with a row of pointed guns.
'UH.......' was all he could utter.
'STOP, STOP!' Jeff shouted, 'THESE ARE MY OTHER SONS!'
The guns were quickly holstered and Scott,Virgil and John dashed over to their father, shock written all over their faces at the number of police littering their lounge.
'Dad!' John shouted and Jeff opened his arms to his three eldest, who quickly went into them.
'Any news?' Virgil asked, his eyes full of worry meeting his fathers'.
'No, I'm afraid not boys!' Jeff answered gruffly. Trying to appear strong for his sons' sake.
Scott easily saw through Jeff's pretence. He noticed Jeff's shaking hands and looked into his father's eyes. Jeff Tracy was unravelling,slowly but surely, but it was happening all the same. As the police approached John and Virgil to get any information, Scott watched his father, slump back onto the couch, his face lined, and dejected.
Yep,Jeff was falling apart, it was up to Scott now, as in a way it had always been, to hold everyone together. He only hoped he was up for the job.
**************************************************************************** **********************************************
YEEEEEHAW!
WILL A RANSOM DEMAND BE MADE?
WILL JEFF PAY THE PIPER?
WILL THE POLICE CLOSE IN ON THE BADDIES?
WILL OUR LOVABLE HEROES ESCAPE?
Find out in the next chapter of 'NEXT STOP: DANGER'
CGruber, fine we'll share but I'm having him in the week you can have him weekends, man I love sparring with you!