WOWIES! People love me! Hehe. Anyway. This chapter is long cause there were no natural breaks. So...you know, enjoy. A lot of it was written...ten minutes ago? Probably fifteen by the time this is posted. So there may be discrepancies, but I wanted to get this up cause I feel happy! Woo!
After this I shall out of stock. I have a little bit written, but this means that the next update will take a while. So, you know, make the most of this./
"I've never encountered this guy. This guy didn't care about us busting him. This guy has never even met Ingrid." Fillmore struck the name off the list.
"This guy doesn't have a grudge against you..."
"That just leaves three." O'Farrel glanced up at them.
"Then let's go." Fillmore got up, looking dangerous.
"That's not enough, Fillmore. We need more evidence."
"What more evidence do we need? One of them has Ingrid, and I don't know what's happening to her. I have to find her. I have to!"
"Have you any idea of how delicate this is? We can't just go in there and hit them until they give her up. We don't know if they're armed, we don't know what they can do."
Fillmore went pale. "I...I just want her safe."
"I know." Vallejo said softly. "What's the contact like with kidnapper?"
"I get my instructions tomorrow. I...I'm not sure how."
"It's likely they'll ring again?" O'Farrell asked.
"It's possible...probable. I guess they must know where they live...they already know my phone number."
"They probably got that from Ingrid." Vallejo appeared to mull the situation over.
"I...I wonder what they had to do...I mean, Ingrid wouldn't give up information easily..."
"Don't go there, O'Farrell." Fillmore snarled menacingly.
"I really don't want to be here, Fillmore. I really don't want to be going through this-"
"Oh! I'm so SORRY. You think I want to? Have you any idea what this is O'Farrell? It's my fault that Ingrid is in danger! If...If I hadn't...I would have protected her!"
"There's nothing you could've done. The person has obivously been planning this." Vallejo said softly, hoping to catch Fillmore before he errupted his anger onto O'Farrell.
"I need to know who saw her last. There might've been witnesses, they could've seen the struggle...was there a struggle? Could it be someone she knows? Someone she trusts? Trusted." Fillmore sat onto the floor.
"What's the situation on her family?"
"Her dad is in Europe for three monthes-Ariella was in charge. And she's out of town for a week, seeing her boyfriend." Tehama and Anza entered the room, hand in hand. "Why didn't you call me, Fillmore?! She's my best friend!"
"Anza had been planning for wee-"
"There are priorities! Besides..." She smiled, taking both Anza's hands in her's. "I didn't need all those beautiful things, I just needed him..."
O'Farrel sniffed. "That's so BEAUTIFUL! Oh, I think I'm gonna cry..."
"Don't. So, Ingrid was on her own for the whole week? If I'd known..." Fillmore's fists balled together.
"She wasn't in danger, as far as we knew." Tehama said softly.
"Do we know who last saw her?" Vallejo's tone was business.
"Me. It was at 7:30, just before I had to go and get dressed. We spoke for a couple of minutes, and then she drove off."
For the first time, Fillmore cursed Ingrid's distinctive individuality. Whilst most members of X High drove shiny new cars, Ingrid drove a dark purple Old Beetle-vintage and with a silver design on it that Ariella had created. Her car was the envy of all of X-she was the only one who could pull it off. Of course the kidnapper had recognised the car, everyone did. People saw it and either laughed or gasped. It wasn't exactly secret. She had to have been picked up in her car, especially since-
"I got the call at 8:05...I need to know the location of her kidnapper's, but she must've been picked up around quarter to 8-she must've been there for a while, they had to tell her what to say..." Fillmore was pacing.
"And any earlier than 7:45, I woulda heard it-her car does make a great noise..." Tehama smiled a little.
"Yeah..." Fillmore replied thoughtfully. "I guess our next lead will have to be the instructions."
"We need to get the person delivering the instructions..." Vallejo decided.
"We can get information out of them." Anza commented darkly.
"But any idea what time it'll arrive?"
"I don't know. The only answer is to be awake all night."
"We should take turns."
"That sounds logical."
Vallejo looked out of the window. It was dawn, and someone was approaching the house. Typical, he thought, on my shift. Before he could do anything, Fillmore was holding the approacher in a citizen's arrest. They were both in the house within moments.
"Who's your employer?"
"I...I don't know his name..." The kid was scared, and Vallejo couldn't blame him-Fillmore's face looked like thunder. There was an angry spark in his eye that hadn't been there in a long time. Vallejo knew better than to go anywhere near them, he would intervene in the event of a fight, but he feared intervening too soon would either lose them the information, or start a fight too quickly. And he really, really didn't like the idea of taking Fillmore on in his current mood.
"What does he look like?"
"I didn't see his face...But his voice...He sounded kinda posh...up himself, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. How old?"
"Seniour. He had a car." (A/N: Please bear in mind I am le Brit girly, so this is vague, but seniour would be about 17, 18-right? Sorry if not x.x)
"What did it look like?"
"Like every other car-red."
"Any idea of the number plate?"
"I...I don't think I-"
"Try."
"I didn't see it. The car just pulled up, he told me where to go, he gave me 20 bucks! That's all I know."
"20 bucks..."
"I don't even know what's in this envelope!"
Fillmore took the envelope. "How long ago was this?"
"About twenty minutes."
"Where were you?"
"Three blocks away. It took me a while to decide which house was your's."
"Was the car running? Was there anyone else in there?"
"The car just seemed to pause-I thought he was curb crawling at first, not many people are around when I'm jogging."
"What direction did he go off in?"
"Same one as me, except when I turned the corner he kept going straight."
"So why did you say yes?"
"For all I knew it was a joke. And I go this way anyway. So I figured I had nothing to lose, and 20 bucks to gain."
"Give me your phone number. I might need to contact you."
"Please! I'm just a kid!"
"You're, what, 14?"
"...that's still a kid!"
"Do you know what we're dealing with here?"
"What? Some prank?"
"No. Kidnapping."
"...alright, here's my number. Can I go now?"
"Yeah...but expect a call."
"I hope you find your girlfriend."
"She's not my..."
The kid had already left.
Vallejo looked up. "You didn't get his name."
"I know his name. He's Scott Pierce. He's a member of the track team." Tehama yawned. "You don't forget hair like that."
"Yeah, it was rather..orange...wasn't it?" Vallejo smiled.
"What's in the envelope, Fillmore?" Anza dragged them back to business.
Fillmore undid the envelope. "A video tape."
"Put it on."
He placed the tape in the machine, and pressed play.
Ingrid appeared on screen. "Hi, Fillmore. If you don't follow these instructions then...then they'll hurt to me." She lowered her head. "I really don't want to think about it."
"Oh, God, Ingrid..." Fillmore whispered.
"There's a list of demands here...The first one is that you leave the Safety Patrol. The second one is that you...that you...What does that say?"
"You know what it says."
Vallejo paused it and smirked. "Know that voice?"
"Yes...yes..." Fillmore rubbed his temples. "It's fitting in... A guy who's up himself...has money...red car..."
"Brad Parnasuss."
"Exactly." Vallejo pressed play.
"The second one is that you don't get any police involved. If you do then...then they'll kill me on the spot." She sniffed a little, but regained her composure.
"Is...is that a bruise?" Fillmore asked, sounding somewhat broken.
"It could just be the angle." Anza commented hopefully.
"The third demand is that you make Vallejo remove me from the Patrol, too." She shook her head a little, her hair fell out of her eyes-Fillmore's answer was given, it was a bruise.
"I'm gonna kill him." Fillmore growled.
"The fourth demand is that you deliver fifteen thousand dollars. That one is negotiable, but the others...the others must be met...If those demenads aren't met then I will be killed. Please, Fillmore, make it happen. The terms could change at any moment, but you will be informed." Her eyes widened in determination. "You have to meet these demands by the end of the week. To arrange where to meet, ring this number." She held up a card bearing a cellular phone number, which Fillmore noted. "Oh, and Fillmore? Please don't let me down...I don't want to die."
The screen turned to static.
"Lets get to Parnasuss' and kick some ass."
"Wait. This guy is intelligent. He wouldn't be keeping her somewhere he'd find her. We're just lucky that Ingrid is smarter." Vallejo caught Fillmore's wrist, stopping him from going toward the door.
"Why did they include the money demand? He doesn't need it." O'Farrell looked confused.
"Could be to cover himself, could be just because he's greedy." Tehama reasoned.
"But fifteen thousand? How are we meant to raise that?" Fillmore pulled away from Vallejo's grip, and began pacing. Again.
"Don't you get it, Fillmore? She knows who they are. This isn't about money. This is about power. She knows who they are, which means that they could kill her." Anza snapped.
"But it's a big leap from kidnapper to murderer...I don't think Parnasuss has it in him." Vallejo added pensievely.
"I wouldn't of thought he had it in him to kidnap." Tehama whispered bitterly.
"We can't let ourselves underestimate him. Ingrid's life depends on it."
"He's gotta have some muscle behind him-Ingrid would've been able to fight her way out of his grasp." Fillmore spoke from experience-fighting with Ingrid was something he'd done on rare occasions for good reason. She was skilled for the slight girl she was-she'd told him once that the greatest weapon was surprise. "They didn't use a drug, I'm sure of that-she sounded awake and alert on the phone."
"He must have some sort of weapon...Ingrid wouldn't give up unless..." Tehama trailed off, not wanting to think about it.
"He's also making threats on her life." Anza placed a supportive arm around Tehama's waist.
"This isn't right. She shouldn't have to be going through this." There was anger, fire, fear in Fillmore's eyes.
"Of course it isn't right. And that's one of the reasons we have to help Ingrid. We have to save her."
"But we need expert help. We need to make contact with some professionals. We're all too emotionally involved." Vallejo seemed to be mentally analysing his great list of contacts over his time at the Patrol.
"No. This is just us. That's the way it should be."
"Fillmore. Stop trying to save the day. You can't handle this. If you could, we wouldn't be here." Anza snapped, standing and facing Fillmore. Fillmore wasn't short by any means, but Anza was taller-he stared Fillmore down, attempting intimidation.
"Maybe I don't need you here." Fillmore snarled. It seemed that when it came to this paticular matter, nothing could intimidate thing. There was something frightening about it, and yet something so very romantic about the strength of feeling.
"Stop it!" Tehama stood close next to Anza. "Fighting isn't gonna save Ingrid. We've got a choice. We can get someone else in to help us. Or we can try and deal with it ourselves."
O'Farrell rubbed his eyes. "If we bring someone in then they could cause trouble for us-you know, not understand our dynamic. They would probably want to involve the police, despite the demands. However, if it's just us, it's less likely we'll say the right things-it could be very dangerous for Ingrid."
They stared at him.
"What? Just cause a guy doesn't always act intelligent doesn't mean he isn't-I'm on the patrol for a reason!"
Vallejo appeared to consider it. "Far as I see it, the best thing to do is to get someone in. And I have a good friend who knows what she's doing." He eyed all of them. "Everyone agreed?"
They nodded.
"Who you gonna call?" Tehama asked.
"GHOSTBUSTERS!" O'Farrel beamed, completely losing any respect he had earned with his latest astute suggestion. He was then ignored.
"Her name is Lenora. Lenora Wyatt. We were at Summer Camp together, she knows negotiation. She keeps her head in a crisis. And overall, she's trustworthy." He paused, eyeing Fillmore with a fixed gaze. "You'll like her. She reminds me of Ingrid."
/oooooooh! LENORA! She'll be cool. When I've created her and such like. Yeah, I've planned ahead.
Don't own any of them. Or the car mentioned. Though it would be cool to own Ingrid's car. One day...
Oh, and do bear in mind, I am le Brit, so I have no idea of the grades. This is why we use numbers YAY NUMBERS! But I think it's Seniour year...that sounds right, doesn't it? x.x
Anyway. Review, enjoy, be happy, have fun etc.
-Sylvi Storm
LE EDIT: Many thanks to AlwaysWrite and Maryssa! I keep forgetting that I need to actually explain seemingly random bits of information....like who's speaking x.x Oh, and Ingrid's OOCness...I would argue that she's been through a traumatic experience, and even someone as strong as her would feel afraid...I know deep down she'd try to be independant, but in situations like this, it's fair to say that she'd act at least a little different...there will be more to justify this in the next chapter though. So bear with me.../