Chapter 3: Ransom Note
In the morning...
Mike glanced around the living room in the Bad Hams Place. Stella should've been down by then, and he knew something was wrong. He shook his head as he glanced at Becky, who was reading the newspaper with three of the Numbers looking over her shoulders. Roger was standing in front of a mirror on the wall fixing his brilliant, blue bow tie.
Mike sighed and mumbled, "Something's not right here."
Becky looked up from the newspaper and remarked, "It's right here, for once! Stella's all sad because she's a slut, and I'm not! Ha ha...Mike?"
Mike got up from his leather chair and stormed out of the room. He knew there was something wrong with that picture, but what? Mike walked down the hallways and up the stairs that led to Stella's room. He walked to the door and knocked softly.
After a minute without a reply, Mike frowned. He knocked again and whispered, "Stella, are you alright?"
After another minute, Mike sighed and cracked the door open. He said more loudly, "Stella, are you okay?"
Mike pushed the door open all the way to reveal no one in the room. He turned pale and looked around. The big check was missing, so were the ribbons that Stella had on her walls, and most importantly, Stella herself wasn't there. Mike rushed in and looked around. Stella was nowhere to be found.
Mike glanced around and saw the envelope on her nightstand. With shaking paws, he picked it up and opened it. He turned pale after he read it and stormed out of the room and all the way to the living room.
Everyone in the living room's attention turned toward Mike as he entered the living room. He rushed over to Number 1 and shoved the letter in his face. "Read," Mike ordered.
After Number 1 read it, he turned pale and whispered, "You mean, she left because Becky doesn't like her?"
Becky glanced around and retorted, "WHAT?! It's not my fault she ran away! It's because she didn't get her way."
Mike shook his head and leaned against the wall. Roger walked over with a terrified look on his face and whispered, "You mean Miss Stella left?"
"Yes, Roger," Mike mumbled. He pushed Roger out of his way and walked out of the living room. When he stopped in the hallway, he remembered someone was coming today to the Bad Hams Place...
Suddenly, Mike realized he was in the front room. He heard the door open, and he heard the very-rare-yet-familiar voice...
"Hashaa, Mike!" Caitlin said as she walked down the steps with her brown fur dyed black and her hair up in pigtails with lime green ribbons.
"Cait!" Mike shouted as he ran up to her. "Have you seen..."
"I found this," Caitlin said as she held up a brick with a piece of paper tied to it with a string. "It says 'To Whoever or Whatever Finds This'."
Mike turned pale. "Cait, give that to me," he demanded and held out his paw.
Caitlin held the brick toward her. "No! It's mine!" Caitlin shouted and stuck out her tongue.
"It was thrown at the Bad Hams Place, right?" Mike inquired.
"...Yes," Caitlin replied.
"Then it's most likely for me."
"Oh...crap." Caitlin frowned as she handed it over to Mike.
Mike hastily tore off the string and dropped the brick onto the ground. He opened the letter and read it quickly. Mike turned a pale of all pales and whispered, "This isn't right..."
"What does it SAY?!" Caitlin inquired eagerly and grabbed onto Mike's arm.
"It's...VAGUE!" Mike shouted. "This is awful... It says 'Dear You: I took Stella away forever. She won't be coming back. Ha ha ha. Ha. Yours never, Jake.' ...This is bad, Cait! C'mon!"
Mike ran out of the front room with Caitlin following closely behind him. The two ran into the living room in a rush, and again, everyone's attention was focused on Mike. He walked over to Number 1 again and said, "Now look at this!"
Number 1 looked at it quickly and shouted, "Oh, my God! Is this serious? About Stella? So, in more intelligent words than this vague thing, she was kidnapped?"
"CRAP," Caitlin shouted. "I NO LIKE DAT."
"Oh, shut up," Mike retorted. "So, you say that?"
Number 1 nodded. "Looks like Stella was kidnapped," he mumbled. "That's all I say."
Becky rolled her eyes. "You know, she could've made that letter herself to make everyone worry about her!" she remarked.
Mike turned toward Becky and returned sharply, "Oh? She ran away because of you calling her a slut! And now she was kidnapped because I wasn't there! What do you say to that, Miss Becky?"
"Mike! Don't be so harsh on Becky!" Caitlin shouted. "It's not her fault. Now quit getting mad at everyone, and we can do this!"
Mike scowled and yelled, "Caitlin-Chan Taisho-Kun Nicole Montgomery, you stay out of this! You halfly don't know anything because you're also a Ham-Ham! Now I recommend you let me decide what we're going to do!"
Caitlin turned pale and whispered, "Yes, sir."
Roger shook his head and whispered, "Poor Miss Stella."