Kim finished her email to Ron, checked it over one last time, and clicked on 'send'. She wrote Ron every day, but got a reply only once or twice a week. He indicated the training was hard and grueling, but assured her it would be worth it when he got home. She always encouraged him to stick with it.
It had been a long two months. Not that Team Possible had been bored; she, Tara and Bonnie had been around the world several times, helping with disasters like a tsunami in the Phillipines, mudslides in California, a volcano in Greece, and wildfires in Arizona. For some reason, the usual take-over-the-world freaks had been very quiet.
Bonnie and Tara had come through with flying colors. Tara's natural openness, gentleness,
and friendliness was a big help in calming both children and adult fears while they were being rescued. Bonnie would do what was needed; taking command when necessary, or helping on a line of sandbaggers. Several times her sharp mind had anticipated problems and found ways to avoid them. Surprisingly, to Kim, Bonnie had shown a lot of compassion for the people they had helped. She really had changed.
Kim stood up and headed for the dojo. It was time for the daily self-defense training she had been giving Monique and Adrena. She had finally excused Francis; he was utterly hopeless.
She found Monique waiting for her, as Bonnie and Tara did some warm-up exercises on the other side of the room. She changed into her gi, then joined Monique.
"Where's Adrena?" she asked.
"Haven't seen her this morning," answered Monique.
"Must be running late. We'll go without her," said Kim.
An hour later, still no Adrena. In the showers, Kim said, "Mon, when you get back to your office, give her a call. This isn't like her."
"I'll do it, Kim," was the reply.
Monique was on the intercom when Kim got back to her office. "She hasn't left a message,
and all I got was voice mail. I did leave her a message to call."
"Thanks, Mon," said Kim. She thought for a minute, then came to a decision.
She went to Adrena's office and looked around, but everything seemed okay. She might be overreacting, but she was starting to get a bad feeling.
Sitting at the desk, she pulled up the appointment book on the computer. There was a note to finish the tsunami relief article, but nothing else.
Back in her office, she started to call Wade, but refrained. There was probably nothing wrong. All she had to do was wait.
Wade had finished making battle suits for Bonnie and Tara. Ron had gotten his last year,
and had taken it with him to Yamanouchi. The girls were anxious to try them out. They were white with color highlights in the same pattern as Kim's. Ron had chosen yellow for his color, while Bonnie chose a blue-green that matched her eyes, and Tara pink.
Kim donned hers, and Monique and Francis came to watch the tryouts.
They went to the training room, which had obsticles, weapons, and other things they would meet in the field. Wade was working on a holographic system, but had run into some problems. It would still be some time before it was on line.
Over the next several hours, the new agents learned how to use the built-in grappler, force field, jai-alai glove, and other features. A new innovation had been added; super speed boots. Wade had felt it safe to increase the time limit to twenty minutes a day. The self-repair feature had also been improved.
It was a lot of fun for all involved, and they were reluctant to stop. Wade got a lot of praise for them.
At the end of the day, Adrena still hadn't called. The feeling something was wrong had been growing on Kim all day, and she trusted her instincts.
As it grew dark, they left the building. Francis had already left for the night, but Kim, Monique, Bonnie and Tara had decided to try a new Italian restaurant.
Kim stood at the door with the key in the lock, thinking. The other girls chatted, waiting for her. She made a decision and turned to them. "I think we'd better look for Adrena. I've had a bad feeling about it all day."
Bonnie made an annoyed noise. "I was looking forward to an Italian dinner," she said.
"Me too, but this is what we do, Bonnie. Mon, can you stay too?" asked Kim.
"Sure. Say, I'll run to Fazoli's. It may be take out, but it's still Italian," she said.
The others agreed with this idea, putting in their orders, and giving her money. As Monique left for her car, the others went back inside.
In her office, Kim finally called Wade. "It may be nothing at all, but could you locate Adrena? We haven't heard from her all day."
Wade tapped keys and frowned. "She isn't in the tri-city area. Let me expand the search..."
Kim nodded. "Thanks. Call me on the Kimmunicator when you need to."
Wade nodded and disappeared. She stood up and went to the dining room off the kitchen,
where she found Monique had returned, and the others were eating. She got her order,
and joined them.
"Wade can't find her," she said, "I'm waiting to hear back from him."
Just as they finished eating, Wade called, his face showing concern. "I can't find her anywhere. Something must have happened."
"Thanks. Let's go, girls, mission mode. We'll go to her apartment," said Kim.
They went to the girl's locker room and changed into mission clothes. Bonnie had complained long and loud about having to wear something as outdated as "Kim Style". Kim had explained,
several times, that "Kim Style" was never meant to be a fashion trend, but a unique look for Team Possible.
Both new agents refused to wear the crop top version of the black shirt that left their midriffs bare; full length only. Bonnie chose to wear brown cargo pants that matched her hair color, and Tara a light blue that matched her eyes.
Twenty minutes later they approached Apartment 8-C. When they got there, it was immediately obvious something was wrong. The door was open slightly, and the jamb was damaged.
"That makes it official," said Kim in a low voice, "Bonnie, as of now you're in charge of this mission."
Bonnie's eyes widened. "You mean that?"
Kim nodded. "You've earned it."
"And you won't take back command the first time I do something that isn't the way you would do it?" Bonnie asked, cocking her hip and narrowing her eyes.
"I'll try to restrain myself," said Kim, dryly. "I'll follow your orders, and won't offer advice unless you ask for it."
Bonnie and Tara high fived. "ALL RIGHT! Team Rockwaller is on the case!" Bonnie exclaimed.
Kim rolled her eyes but held her peace. If Bonnie could put up with "Kim Style", she could put up with "Team Rockwaller". "What now, chief?" she asked, to bring attention back to why they were here.
Bonnie pulled out the BonnieCom (she hated 'Bonnunicator') and called Wade. "I'm in charge of this mission now. Adrena's apartment has been broken into. Would you mind doing a scan?"
"You got it, Bonnie," said Wade and smiled, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks. Then would you contact Officer Hobble and ask him to send some men over?" she added.
Officer Hobble had become the official liason between Team Possible and the Middleton police.
"Sure, just a minute," said Wade, "Point the sensors, please."
Bonnie did so, and a yellowish beam of light left the BonnieCom and hit the door.
"Well, there's nobody in there," he said after a minute. "Judging by the faintness of the infrared traces, nobody has been in there for at least a day. There are signs of more than one person, too."
"That's good for now," said Bonnie, "Thanks."
"We'll wait for the police," she said, putting away the BonnieCom.