Ralph was sitting on the couch at home resting and thinking. When he saw Onyx in the restaurant looking at Pam, it almost seemed as though he was trying to hit on her. 'No, that's the jealousy talking,' dismissed Ralph. 'But the guy did appear to be hiding something. I hope Pam's being careful."
As he thought, he heard a knock on the door. Ralph got up and opened it to find two men there. "Hi, can I help you," asked Ralph.
"Yes, you can," said the tallest of the two. "You can come with us."
He leaned forward and tried to grab Ralph, but the blonde-haired man was a little faster and stepped away, picking up an item from the desk as defense.
The other man came in and also looked at Ralph, almost laughing at the sight of a man with an obvious injury trying to defend himself. "Come on Hinkley, we know you're hurt and can't fight..." his words were cut off when he received a slightly weak left cross, but with the added punch of a glass paperweight.
"Really? Well, appearances can be deceiving," Ralph said and continued swinging his left arm with the paperweight threateningly. He cringed a bit as he accidentally swung his left arm around his waist and it hit his ribs, but he knew the longer he kept them at bay, the more time Pam would have to get there. The men seemed to be biding their time though, casually stepping away from the swings, waiting for Ralph to tire.
After a couple of minutes, Ralph drew his arm back only to have the tallest of the two grab it from behind and wrest the paperweight from his hand. He then wrapped his arms around Ralph, who tried to shake the man off but couldn't break free.
The other man proceeded to take a handkerchief and a bottle out of his pocket. When the man opened it and poured some of the contents on the handkerchief, Ralph caught the faint odor of chloroform.
'Damn,' he thought and started struggling harder. The taller man only squeezed his arms tighter around Ralph, causing him to cry out in pain as he felt his ribs crack slightly. The man with the handkerchief then placed the drugged rag firmly over Ralph's nose and mouth.
Ralph fought the chloroform's effects as long as he could before he heard a roaring sound in his ears and felt his body start to relax. His last thought before losing consciousness was he hoped Pam got a holograph and was on her way to save him...
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At the law office, Bill and Pam were perusing the case files when Pam suddenly said, "Bill, I'm getting a holograph."
"You must be getting something from the files," said Bill, "that's great, we won't need..."
"No, it's home...oh no Ralph," said Pam. "Bill, there are two guys there. One's holding Ralph, and he can't break free. They're trying to kidnap him."
Bill put a hand on her shoulder in time to see one of the men holding Ralph and another put a folded handkerchief over his face. He watched in horror as he saw Ralph struggle then sag, unconscious. The kidnapper looked into Ralph's eyes and helped pick him up to carry him when the holograph faded. "Counselor, you need to get out there and stop them."
"Right," said Pam as she started to strip down to the jammies. Bill stopped her. "Uh Counselor, what if someone sees you here?"
"The door behind me is a private bathroom with a window. I'll fly out that way," said Pam, annoyed. Bill didn't miss the note that it wasn't time to argue.
"All right, just be careful. And, remember to protect your head," said Bill. "I'll meet you there."
Pam nodded then opened the bathroom door and window, stepping back a few steps. Three steps and a jump through the window later, she was flying.
As Pam was flying, she searched for the black van from the air. A few minutes later, she found them traveling down a road. Pam followed them, trying to find a way to stop the van. She was nearly at the edge of the roof to try and drag it to a stop when a bulldozer came out from a side road and scooped up Pam.
The driver of the bulldozer stopped when he saw a flash of red cross his path and heard a slight thud. He stopped the machine and was shocked to see a woman dressed in a red superhero costume climb out of the scoop.
Pam saw his reaction and smiled sheepishly. "Hi, I'm filming a scene in a new movie. Be sure to catch 'Starruby' coming to theaters this August. 'Bye," she said as she ran off. The driver just scratched his head and decided it was best to continue with his job.
Looking around, Pam knew she lost the van's location. The brunette attorney turned into an alley and again took flight, this time heading toward the Hinkley home. She knew Bill would be there and they needed to regroup to figure out how to get Ralph back before it was too late.
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"Counselor, I can't believe you let them get away," said Bill as he took a bite of a dog biscuit. Pam had just filled him in on everything that happened after she left the law firm.
"It's not my fault the bulldozer came out from the side," snapped Pam. "I'm worried about Ralph, Bill. Who knows what these guys want with him."
Bill knew she tried her best and softened his tone. "I know honey, I'm worried too. Have you been able to get a holograph off anything here that might help us find Ralph?"
"Not yet," she said walking around the living room. "I found the paperweight he used to fight off his kidnappers, but got nothing."
"Yeah, Ralph said that he seemed to not be able to get holographs off someone if they were out cold, and he was drugged, so that must be why. At least we know he's alive, or you would've gotten a holograph."
Pam nodded grimly, remembering some of Ralph's comments about the subject. "Yeah, but now it's just why did they kidnap him?"
"Don't know, but I bet it might have something to do with that dream of his," said Bill. "I'm going to make a couple of calls and see what I can find out on Derreck Onyx. Listen, we need to get back to the jail and question Alexandrite's killer. With a little persuasion, maybe he'll spill the beans."
She took the hint and nodded, and the two of them headed toward the prison.
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"Listen, I know my rights mister. No way am I talking to you," said Jesse as he paced around the room.
Bill turned to Pam and sighed. It had been difficult to get the guy to say anything of value from the start. "Look, buster, you should just tell us who he is because you're going to stay in jail for the rest of your life for killing Alexandrite. This guy is hot, and what makes you think he'll get you out?"
Pam decided to play the lawyer bit for now. "He's right. I talked to the judge and he said that there will be no bail. And with as many guards seeing what happened, you're not going to win the case. If you help us, we're willing to offer a plea bargain, since you were under orders to do this or risk dying yourself."
The hardness in Jesse's eyes softened a bit, but his tone was still gruff. "Look, if I squeal, what's there to protect me from the same fate as Sam? I want to go to a different prison as well."
Bill and Pam put their heads together as though conferring about the request, but Bill had another idea. "Pam, this is getting no where. Try to use telekinesis to move stuff around and confuse him. Ralph has to think of white paper to get it to work properly."
While she wasn't too fond of Bill ordering her around, Pam nodded and concentrated on the glass Jesse was drinking from. Bill continued. "Now, Jesse, I think we can fulfill that request if you tell us who the guy is."
Jesse decided to milk the deal for all it was worth. "Look, I don't know the guy's name, but he wanted me to off Alexandrite because he was going to squeal about all 10 locations of plague bombs."
"Ten bombs? He was only found with one and a controller. The police found three more," said the FBI agent, noticing Pam was still concentrating on the glass.
"Yeah, but that controller was set for half of them. There is another controller as a backup, but the main guy has it."
"Well, tell us who it is and we can put the guy in jail like you," said Bill.
"I told you I don't..." he stopped when he saw his water glass move two inches. "Hey, wasn't that glass over there?"
Bill looked at Pam and gave her a subtle wink. "No, it was there all the time. Seems that prison's starting to drive you crazy." Again the glass moved, this time two feet.
"It moved, I saw it move this time." The glass fell into his lap, causing him to jump up. "Now that, you couldn't have missed."
Pam slightly shook her head and looked at the prisoner. "No, but that's because you caused it to fall into your lap. You had it on the edge of the table. I don't think an insanity plea would considered in court."
"Listen, I don't have to take this," Jesse said. "All right, I'll tell you. The guy's name is Derreck Onyx. He goes around pretending to be an informant, but all he does is spread disinformation to throw off the fuzz. He also has knows all 10 locations of the plague bombs. Now, will you give me protection?"
Bill looked at Pam and nodded. "Yeah, we will, and to help out, you might tell us others in the prison who could get you. Thanks for your time," he said.
After the two left the room, Pam turned to Bill. "Ralph was right, Derreck is up to no good, and I think it's not the only thing."
"Yeah, Counselor, but that doesn't tell us where he or the kid are. Let's go back to my place and see if we can't work out a scenario on getting him back."