Author's Note: Thought I'd never update, didn't you? :) Well, sorry for the delay, because I wanted to finish my "Curly Snaps, Again" fanfic first, because I just can't burden myself to write three fics at a time. And this is not an Arnold/Rhonda fic, despite the chemistry between them in the first chapter. This story has nothing to do with romance, since I'm terrible at writing that particular genre. (Edit: I accidentally replaced the first chapter with this one, sorry)

Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.

Chapter 2: Ransom

Somewhere in an abandoned factory in the industrial district, the van and the motorcycle that followed it stopped inside of the said building. The driver and the passengers got out from their seats and went to the sliding door so they could let Rhonda out. The motorcyclist too, gave them a helping hand. But as soon as one of the kidnappers opened the door, he was kicked in the stomach by Rhonda, still bounded and gagged. He held his stomach in agony as his other cohorts tried to bring her out.

"Man this girl can fight!" said one of them as they were struggling to hold to the very persistent Rhonda. Her muffled shouts didn't do any good for her.

"Where's the boss?" one of them asked.

"Hold on, I'll get him." said a tan-skinned woman, and she went off entering a room nearby.

"Hold on?!" blurted a light-skinned man angrily. "I have enough of this kid! Put her in that closet over there!" He pointed to a janitorial closet nearby.

"Are you nuts?!" a dark-skinned man protested, "She'll suffocate inside!"

"That's quite enough, all of you!" a voice boomed, startling them. "You hear the man, Joey. She'll suffocate inside, so don't try anything stupid. And because of that, I'm not putting you in charge of taking care of the girl. Kevin," he said to the dark-skinned man, "you take care of the girl, since you're good with kids and stuff."

"What?!" Kevin shouted, "I never said—"

"Do as what I said, or you won't get your share." The light-skinned man argued back, presumably their boss. "Let's go inside, Rachel. I think someone is expecting a call from us."

---

"I'm… very, very sorry Mr. Lloyd…" Arnold apologized guiltily, "I shouldn't have left her alone…"

Mr. Lloyd looked deeply at the boy morosely. He then put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It's alright. It's not your fault…" he replied sullenly. He then shifted his head to look behind him and saw the police setting up equipment, such as recorders, tracers, and whatnot around the phone inside the dining room. Mrs. Brooke Lloyd was just informed of her daughter's absentee and hastily she went home to join with his husband. She threw herself into his husband's arm tightly as he embraced her to console her down as she shed tears down her eyes. "Rhonda… my dear… sweet Rhonda…" she cried miserably.

"Buckley, all the equipment has been set, and we're expecting for the kidnapper to call back anytime now." The somewhat short, dark-skinned, Detective Spade said to him.

Buckley nodded softly while still consoling her and said to him, "thank you… I'll get ready." He then shifted his eyes to Arnold and said to the detective, "Please send the boy back to his house… I don't want him to happen just like my daughter…"

Detective Spade nodded softly and called someone, "Pudney," and Officer Pudney came to him and saluted him, "I want you to send this kid back to his house safely. We don't want him to end up like the girl."

'Yes sir." She replied, and she then turned her face at Arnold, "C'mon kid. Let me send you home."

Arnold nodded softly and followed her to one of the parked squad car outside. As she was driving, she felt that she should lighten the mood up a bit by talking with the boy, just to calm him up. She started the conversation by asking him his name.

"So… you have a name, kid?" she asked.

"Arnold." He replied sullenly.

"I'm Officer Pudney." she introduced herself. "Where do you live?" she asked again, but Arnold was reluctant to answer back. "C'mon, you can trust me; I'm a cop. 'Sides, I don't even know where the heck I'm going right now."

"4040 Vine Street." He finally replied, and Officer Pudney smiled a little bit.

"That old boarding house?" she asked again. Arnold nodded. "I like that building. They don't make buildings like that nowadays." She continued. Arnold smiled a bit. She noticed that Arnold was still unhappy. She tried some more. "What's eating you Arnold? I'll be unhappy too if you're still keeping being miserable like that. C'mon, you can your tell your aunt Pudney all your problems." She said cheerfully, in hoping that Arnold too, would at least cheer up a bit. "Wanna play with the siren?" she then switched the police siren on for a moment, and switched it off back. "C'mon, it's fun!"

Arnold wasn't so sure whether he should open up to her or not. But a after a while after much contemplation, he decided to tell her, "Rhonda—"

"That kidnapped girl? She's a friend of yours right?"

"Yeah… it was my fault. We were at the library at that time when she got kidnapped. I shouldn't have left her when I had the chance. But I did, and now she's gone…"

She felt sorry for him for being somewhat responsible. She pondered a while to gain answer, "Hey… it's not your fault Arnold." She said to ease Arnold's guilt a bit. "These things can happen in so many circumstances and in so many conditions, so try not to blame it onto you. It's not healthy."

Arnold nodded weakly, but still he felt guilty that it was his fault Rhonda's been kidnapped. The Officer took a glance at him and lost on words to say anything. Softly, she said to him, "How about we listen to the radio, huh? That'll ease you up a bit." She then switched the radio on, which the station was currently telling the up-to-date news.

"-Are now listening to KPHW, the city's No.1 radio station. And now, a quick recap of this week major news, courtesy of ABS Radio." the announcer said. "The FTi Corporation nearly filed a Bankruptcy Notice yesterday when almost three quarters of its assets were frozen due to their former CEO Alphonse Perrier De Von Scheck was found guilty of destroying an official government document, unlawful deceit, and practicing hostile management. In a bold, surprise move, a small Hillwood-based monetary firm wishes to acquire the company thus saving thousands of employees from unemployment. But due to an old local city law, the monetary firm, which is yet to be revealed, must pay five percent of the takeover bid worth about $600 million dollars by the end of the week from when the offer was proposed for the first time or the firm will have no chance to acquire or propose any bids again. In an unrelated news—"

She quickly pushed the 'Scan' button the change the frequency, thinking that the news about the business world wouldn't entertain a nine year old kid. "Let's just leave the business world to the guys in suit, shall we?" she said warmly, and continued, "I think you're gonna like this song." She said, smiling. She too, liked the music was playing because it was very catchy, but then she sensed something was not right. She tried to listen to the song more attentively. To her shock, she heard some profanities being said and quickly she switched off the radio, since the song wasn't appropriate for Arnold.

"Jeez, what are they feeding you kids these days?" she murmured angrily to herself, as Arnold rolled his eyes at her. The squad car drove on, through the road and narrow streets, until its eventual arrival at the boarding house. She turned the engine off, and escorted Arnold to the front door. "Arnold, I need to talk with your parents. Is that okay with you?" she asked.

"My parents are gone." Arnold replied to her.

"Oh dear… you poor kid…" Officer Pudney thought to herself in shock. That was a very inconsiderate question she asked him. "I'm sorry…" she said sullenly, "so who's taking care of you?"

"It's okay officer, I get that lots of times. My grandparents and the boarders are taking care of me now. They maybe eccentric, but they're family." Arnold smiled softly. Officer Pudney smiled back, and said to him, "So it's okay for me to talk to with them, isn't it?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Arnold shot back a beam, and Officer Pudney finally rang the bell to the door. Inside, Grandpa Phil and Oskar was watching a daytime television talk show.

"She should've left that bum." Oskar said to grandpa, referring to a deadbeat in the show, which ironically to grandpa sounded a lot like Mr. Kokoshka's life. They both heard the bell rang, but they didn't budge from their seat. The bell rang once more. "Oskar, go get the door will you?" Phil said to him.

"Oh but grandpa, my legs are tired and my butt is asleep." He whined, "Why don't you go get the door and grab me a Yahoo while you're at it?"

"You get the door Oskar or I'll double your rent next month!" Phil delivered his ultimatum as glared while pointing his finger at him. Reluctantly, Oskar got up as he grumbled incoherently and went over to the door. To his shock and horror, a police officer stood in front of him, beaming at him.

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAMBLING DEN!!" he shouted abruptly in fear, and immediately he slammed the door. Hastily and scared that he would get caught, he then fled to the backdoor of the boarding house. Officer Pudney and Arnold exchanged a baffled gaze at each other and shrugged.

"Oskar, who the heck is it?" Phil asked him from the living room as Oskar ran through the house.

"It's for you grandpa!" he shouted as he slammed the backdoor. Grandpa rolled his eyes and grudgingly he got up from his seat. He opened the door and saw his grandson with a police officer. "So that's why he ran away…" Phil mused to himself.

"Is this your grandson, sir?" Officer Pudney asked Phil.

He decided to be playful with them, "Why yes, yes he is Officer. Is he in trouble or something? Because I have a good lawyer and—"

She chuckled a bit, "No, no. Nothing like that, sir. Do you know the Lloyds, sir?"

"What, those rich family that their daughter is my grandson's friend?" he glared playfully at Arnold, "What did you do to her, Arnold?" he demanded jokingly.

"Nothing, I—" Arnold replied, but was interjected by the Officer yet again.

"Nah, he didn't do anything to her. You see, she got kidnapped—"

"You kidnapped her?!" he accused Arnold.

"Uh, no sir." Officer Pudney replied, staring to become annoyed. "Their daughter was kidnapped by some bad guys at the public library today. He was with her on that time, but thankfully nothing happened to him, and we're just concerned about his safety. That's why I gave him a ride back."

The expression on Phil's face changed. He was relieved that his grandson was in good company, "That… horrible." He replied dolefully, referring to the kidnapping. "Hopefully you'll get their daughter back, and thanks for bringing my grandson back Officer." Officer Pudney nodded softly. She rubbed Arnold's hair and headed back to the squad car as Phil and Arnold looked at the car as it drove away. They looked at each other in relief, and walked into their house. In Arnold's mind, thoughts of Rhonda's kidnapping floated in his mind. He was worried about his friend's safety.

---

The phone rang.

Buckley's heart nearly stopped beating as the phone rang again and again, waiting for it to be answered. He turned his head to glance at the police officers at the recording device, and gave him a 'go' signal. He then turned to the tracker equipment, and they too gave a 'go' signal. He turned to his wife, gazing back at him sorrowfully and was in a very distressed state. Finally he looked at his friend, Detective Spade, and nodded at him. With his trembling arms, he slowly lifted the phone up and put it on his ear as he pushed the broadcast button on the phone so everyone in the room could hear the conversation.

"H-Hello?"

"DADDY!! DADDY!!!"

"Rhonda?! RHONDA!!" he got up and shouted through the phone in great concern of her daughter's safety. He felt a small relief inside his heart to know that his daughter, thankfully, is still alive. Brooke cried when she heard her daughter was crying for help. She was then consoled by a female police officer.

Rhonda's voice then got replaced by a garbled, synthesized, computerized voice that called him earlier, surely it was the kidnapper. "Hello, Mr. Lloyd. As you can hear, your daughter is in good company and I assure you, no harm will happen to her."

"What do you want you scum?" he said angrily through his clenched teeth, gripping the phone tightly as if he wanted to break it into pieces because was very furious at the kidnapper.

"Ah… straight to the point." He said joyfully, "I like that in a man. No use procrastinating, isn't it? No police, as I said before?"

Buckley scanned the room, didn't know what to answer the kidnapper. His wife gulped in dread. Detective Spade shook his head softly to him. Dreadfully, he replied, "No… there are no police."

"Good man. Well, hear me this: A ransom worth of $20 million dollars must be paid on this Monday, or, you won't see your daughter ever again." A soft, evil snicker was heard. Buckley became more furious.

"The denominations of the money as follow:" the kidnapper continued, "$5 million in fives, another $5 million in tens and $10 million in twenties." The kidnapper said, as other officers and detectives wrote down the demand on paper. "The drop will be at an alley marked with graffiti that says 'Freedom' adjacent to the Lucas Street, 12PM sharp. Again I reiterate: no police."

Buckley tried to calm himself up as he clenched his fist in anger, "Consider it done…"

"Good."

His parental instincts told that he should talk to his daughter before the conversation ends, "Please… can I speak to my—"

"Ah Mr. Lloyd, it seems that you have apparently lied to me." The kidnapper said coolly.

"What?" he replied softly in incredulity.

"Well, according to my scanners somebody is trying to break through my phone. I wonder who it could be?" he faked a thought jovially, "I think someone owes me an explanation here because I know this address belongs to…" he added more. Buckley was getting even more restless.

"The cops. You called the cops, didn't you?"

"N-no, I… I-I didn't—" he tried to deny to accusation.

"Liar!" he shouted furiously, "You are asking for it Mr. Lloyd! The ransom is now doubled from my previous offer, with the same denominations! You're threading through dangerous waters here, Mr. Lloyd! Do you think I'm playing around here?! Are you really willing to gamble your daughter's safety?! Failing to comply to any of my orders and I swear I'll double the ransom money again and again until you get my orders right! Think carefully before you do anything!" the kidnapper shouted angrily, and the line was abruptly cut off.

Stunned silence was the only expression shown in the room, as Buckley disbelievingly heard the engaged tone from the phone. He couldn't contain his fury and frustration any longer: he threw the receiver away from him and shoved the phone violently and fell to the floor. He got up from his chair and quickly he went to the nearest wall and banged it with his two, hard fists. The whole room felt silence once again as the policemen and women could only pity and sympathies him and his wife. Buckley felt weak on his legs, and he stopped pounding the wall he slid weakly down, weeping. His wife quickly came to him and consoled him.

Further revelations will be told on the next chapter, and who's behind the kidnapping all along. I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review (preferably constructive), or a flame (with reasons).