Taking It All Back
Written by: Anti Darth Ani
Chapter II : Confusion -----
"What took you so long?" Danny Taylor asked Samantha Spade as she walked up to him, standing in front of the Westfall's front porch. "You didn't take a wrong turn, did you Spade?"
"You see these?" Samantha asked, indicating a spot under her eyes, "These are bags from not enough sleep. So just shove it, alright?" Danny held his hands up, but they both grinned.
Vivian nodded to the policeman she was talking to before walking across the freshly cut yard to her coworkers. "Ok, we've got a eighteen month old baby boy missing from his crib. His father and mother were cooking dinner in the kitchen and the three older siblings fighting over the TV remote in the living room. We've got a typical American family here."
"So how did the little boy just disappear?" Martin asked, joining the group and standing right next to Samantha. Danny shot him a glance, wondering how he could be even later than Samantha, but then again everything was possible. Samantha turned her head and gave Martin a small smile before turning her attention back to Vivian.
"Well, if we knew that then we wouldn't have a job here," Vivian grinned while she answered. "Okay, Martin and Samantha, you two go and check out the little boys room. Danny, you can check the backyard and surrounding areas. And I'll try to get some information out of the parents and siblings. This is a time sensitive case, you guys."
Everyone nodded and the group split up. Martin, Samantha, and Vivian headed inside, while Danny went straight for the bushes in the front of the house. Inside the house, Vivian stayed in the living room while Martin and Samantha made their way into the back of the house towards the baby's bedroom he shared with his brother. "Seems kind of fishy, don't you think?" Samantha asked as they headed down the hallway, checking the different rooms on both sides of the hall for a bedroom with a baby crib in it.
Martin shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I mean, I don't know how the little boy disappeared with his family in the house with him, but I guess if a kidnapper knew the parents were cooking, he could sneak into the bedroom, snatch the sleeping baby and be out before anyone noticed."
"Then I guess our next step is going to be checking with the neighbors to hear it they heard anything that could have come from an intruder," Samantha suggested, breathing a sigh of relief when they finally found the room with the baby crib. "It's about time," she muttered under her breath, following Martin in.
The light in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling, flickered a bit when they looked around the room. Samantha looked over the edge of the crib while Martin checked the teenager's bed. "You don't think the family could have done it and then covered it up?" Martin asked, looking around the bed and the desk next to it. Samantha looked at the blankets, which were pushed roughly to the right corner in the back. Running her hand against the railing she wondered why someone would want to kidnap this baby while the entire family was home.
"Sam?" Martin asked, shaking her out of her daze. "Are you alright?" He glanced up from the window he had moved to examine at his coworker. Samantha gave him a weak smile and nodded, "I'm as fine as you can be when you're working this job." She turned around to check the window with him, but as she did, she pressed a little firmer on the railing and with a sudden, sharp crack the lock released and the slide crashed down. Samantha jumped away from it, her hand intensively reaching for her heart. She bumped into Martin, who reached out to steady her.
They both stared at the crib's railing, "Well that was odd," Martin commented. Samantha nodded, leaning against him a little to try to get further away from the object that had almost given her a heart attack. Martin squeezed her shoulder to reassure her and she stepped back to the crib, bending down next to it to get a better look at the lock. Martin went back to studying the window.
-----
Danny Taylor grumbled a few choice words under his breath as yet another bush limb snagged against his jacket. A couple had already scratched his face and he was getting tired of looking through the shrubbery for the missing boy. He was sure Vivian could use his help more in questioning the remaining five family members instead of having him cut himself up outside. But whatever, she was the boss and they were now one person short, so he would do whatever she asked him to do.
Pulling his hand back out of the brush, he stood up and brushed off his jacket to get all the loose leaves off. This job really wasn't suiting him much anymore, he thought as he walked around the side of the house. The Westfall family didn't even have a fence going into the backyard, at least not one that Danny could see yet. All he saw was darkest, except one spot on the side of the house where a flood light hung from the wall. No lights shone out of the windows and the entire neighborhood seemed like it had already fallen asleep. No sounds from cars or little kids screaming.
Creepy, Danny thought while he made he way slowly down the side of the house. It was like a setting out of a horror movie and Danny was waiting for a person to come crashing out of the window.
-----
Vivian felt something was off with this family. The kids stared at the TV screen as if possessed them. No wonder the little boy disappeared. A bomb could go off in the other room and they would think it was just the popcorn in the microwave. The mother and father truly seemed worried about their son. Mrs. Westfall kept sobbing on her husband's shoulder, shaking her hand back and forth as if she couldn't believe her son was really gone.
"You will find him, won't you?" she begged Vivian, slumping down into an oversized armchair. "If anything's happened to him…"
"We're doing our best, ma'am, but without any details, we've got a lot to get through," Vivian told in her a soothing voice.
"He's just a baby," she cried against her husband's shoulder. "He's just a baby…"
"MOM! Will took the remote again! I want to watch The Powerpuff Girls and Will changed the channel! Make him go back!" Samantha screamed. She smacked her brother on the arm and tried to get the remote, but he held it out of her reach. "GIVE IT BACK, WILL!" her voice echoed off the walls, sounding three times louder than it actually was.
Vivian sighed, rubbing her temple. She thought her son was loud. This entire family was pure chaos!
-----
"No sign of forced entry," Martin called over his shoulder at Samantha. Samantha was busy lifting the side of the crib back up, trying to get it to latch again and having an impossibly hard time at it. "I'm never going to get this thing to stay shut!" she snapped, loosing her grip and having it crash back down again. "Argh!" she let out a frustrated grunt before giving the crib a nice firm kick. Martin couldn't help but grin.
"You find my anger amusing?" she asked, coming over to stand behind him. She rested her chin on his shoulder to be able to have a look at the window too. "You're right, no sign of forced entry. It locks from the inside and it hasn't been touched."
"Which leaves us back at square one, not knowing how the little guy disappeared," Martin sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He hadn't had but one hour, max, or sleep last night and Vivian was expecting a hundred and ten percent on this case. There was no way Martin was going to be able to concentrate was Samantha so close to him like this.
"Hey Sam," he started, but was interrupted by her terrified scream as she jumped away from him and the window.
Written by: Anti Darth Ani
Chapter II : Confusion -----
"What took you so long?" Danny Taylor asked Samantha Spade as she walked up to him, standing in front of the Westfall's front porch. "You didn't take a wrong turn, did you Spade?"
"You see these?" Samantha asked, indicating a spot under her eyes, "These are bags from not enough sleep. So just shove it, alright?" Danny held his hands up, but they both grinned.
Vivian nodded to the policeman she was talking to before walking across the freshly cut yard to her coworkers. "Ok, we've got a eighteen month old baby boy missing from his crib. His father and mother were cooking dinner in the kitchen and the three older siblings fighting over the TV remote in the living room. We've got a typical American family here."
"So how did the little boy just disappear?" Martin asked, joining the group and standing right next to Samantha. Danny shot him a glance, wondering how he could be even later than Samantha, but then again everything was possible. Samantha turned her head and gave Martin a small smile before turning her attention back to Vivian.
"Well, if we knew that then we wouldn't have a job here," Vivian grinned while she answered. "Okay, Martin and Samantha, you two go and check out the little boys room. Danny, you can check the backyard and surrounding areas. And I'll try to get some information out of the parents and siblings. This is a time sensitive case, you guys."
Everyone nodded and the group split up. Martin, Samantha, and Vivian headed inside, while Danny went straight for the bushes in the front of the house. Inside the house, Vivian stayed in the living room while Martin and Samantha made their way into the back of the house towards the baby's bedroom he shared with his brother. "Seems kind of fishy, don't you think?" Samantha asked as they headed down the hallway, checking the different rooms on both sides of the hall for a bedroom with a baby crib in it.
Martin shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I mean, I don't know how the little boy disappeared with his family in the house with him, but I guess if a kidnapper knew the parents were cooking, he could sneak into the bedroom, snatch the sleeping baby and be out before anyone noticed."
"Then I guess our next step is going to be checking with the neighbors to hear it they heard anything that could have come from an intruder," Samantha suggested, breathing a sigh of relief when they finally found the room with the baby crib. "It's about time," she muttered under her breath, following Martin in.
The light in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling, flickered a bit when they looked around the room. Samantha looked over the edge of the crib while Martin checked the teenager's bed. "You don't think the family could have done it and then covered it up?" Martin asked, looking around the bed and the desk next to it. Samantha looked at the blankets, which were pushed roughly to the right corner in the back. Running her hand against the railing she wondered why someone would want to kidnap this baby while the entire family was home.
"Sam?" Martin asked, shaking her out of her daze. "Are you alright?" He glanced up from the window he had moved to examine at his coworker. Samantha gave him a weak smile and nodded, "I'm as fine as you can be when you're working this job." She turned around to check the window with him, but as she did, she pressed a little firmer on the railing and with a sudden, sharp crack the lock released and the slide crashed down. Samantha jumped away from it, her hand intensively reaching for her heart. She bumped into Martin, who reached out to steady her.
They both stared at the crib's railing, "Well that was odd," Martin commented. Samantha nodded, leaning against him a little to try to get further away from the object that had almost given her a heart attack. Martin squeezed her shoulder to reassure her and she stepped back to the crib, bending down next to it to get a better look at the lock. Martin went back to studying the window.
-----
Danny Taylor grumbled a few choice words under his breath as yet another bush limb snagged against his jacket. A couple had already scratched his face and he was getting tired of looking through the shrubbery for the missing boy. He was sure Vivian could use his help more in questioning the remaining five family members instead of having him cut himself up outside. But whatever, she was the boss and they were now one person short, so he would do whatever she asked him to do.
Pulling his hand back out of the brush, he stood up and brushed off his jacket to get all the loose leaves off. This job really wasn't suiting him much anymore, he thought as he walked around the side of the house. The Westfall family didn't even have a fence going into the backyard, at least not one that Danny could see yet. All he saw was darkest, except one spot on the side of the house where a flood light hung from the wall. No lights shone out of the windows and the entire neighborhood seemed like it had already fallen asleep. No sounds from cars or little kids screaming.
Creepy, Danny thought while he made he way slowly down the side of the house. It was like a setting out of a horror movie and Danny was waiting for a person to come crashing out of the window.
-----
Vivian felt something was off with this family. The kids stared at the TV screen as if possessed them. No wonder the little boy disappeared. A bomb could go off in the other room and they would think it was just the popcorn in the microwave. The mother and father truly seemed worried about their son. Mrs. Westfall kept sobbing on her husband's shoulder, shaking her hand back and forth as if she couldn't believe her son was really gone.
"You will find him, won't you?" she begged Vivian, slumping down into an oversized armchair. "If anything's happened to him…"
"We're doing our best, ma'am, but without any details, we've got a lot to get through," Vivian told in her a soothing voice.
"He's just a baby," she cried against her husband's shoulder. "He's just a baby…"
"MOM! Will took the remote again! I want to watch The Powerpuff Girls and Will changed the channel! Make him go back!" Samantha screamed. She smacked her brother on the arm and tried to get the remote, but he held it out of her reach. "GIVE IT BACK, WILL!" her voice echoed off the walls, sounding three times louder than it actually was.
Vivian sighed, rubbing her temple. She thought her son was loud. This entire family was pure chaos!
-----
"No sign of forced entry," Martin called over his shoulder at Samantha. Samantha was busy lifting the side of the crib back up, trying to get it to latch again and having an impossibly hard time at it. "I'm never going to get this thing to stay shut!" she snapped, loosing her grip and having it crash back down again. "Argh!" she let out a frustrated grunt before giving the crib a nice firm kick. Martin couldn't help but grin.
"You find my anger amusing?" she asked, coming over to stand behind him. She rested her chin on his shoulder to be able to have a look at the window too. "You're right, no sign of forced entry. It locks from the inside and it hasn't been touched."
"Which leaves us back at square one, not knowing how the little guy disappeared," Martin sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He hadn't had but one hour, max, or sleep last night and Vivian was expecting a hundred and ten percent on this case. There was no way Martin was going to be able to concentrate was Samantha so close to him like this.
"Hey Sam," he started, but was interrupted by her terrified scream as she jumped away from him and the window.