Chapter 6
"Shit, shit, shit," Sal's companion cursed, standing over Lucas' crumpled body. "What the hell'd you do that for? Now we gotta deal with a body?"
Sal bent over the unmoving boy on the ground, nudging him with a foot. "He's not dead. Just knocked out."
"Are we just gonna leave him here?" He glanced around quickly, "We need to get moving before someone calls the cops." He could see Angie banging on the car window.
"No, you moron." Sal bent down and grabbed Lucas' ankles. "Help me get him into the car."
The two men maneuvered Lucas' limp form towards the back of the vehicle and activated the trunk door. They unceremoniously fit his body into the cramped space and slammed the door.
"Get in the back with the girl, Ed." Sal motioned towards the back seat. "We don't need her runnin' off on us."
Mere moments had passed, but to the men, every minute counted if it meant escaping unnoticed. Angie had not stopped pounding on the window; the door locked, preventing her escape. Her eyes were wide with panic and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Fuckin' hell," Ed mumbled as he wrenched the door open. He was able to clamp a large hand over Angie's mouth before her scream reverberated down the alley. "Step on it, Sal. We need to get out of here, NOW!"
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"It's been more than fifteen minutes. Think he got lost?" Tony leaned against the car, his eyes trained on the direction he thought Lucas and Angie would come from.
"Nah. Angie just probably convinced him to stop in another shop on their way back." Marco didn't seem too concerned. Annoyed, yes. It was typical of his little sister to push things to the limit. It was just like her to ignore his texts and then take her sweet time to meet him when she knew he'd be irritated.
"Maybe." Tony didn't sound too convinced. "You don't think we should be a little worried just standin' out here? I mean, we are sittin' ducks if those guys figure out what we did."
"Let's wait a few more minutes."
Ten minutes passed. Neither Tony nor Marco were able to stop themselves from constantly scanning the parking lot for signs of the missing two. Dagwood stood silently with them.
"Let me call her. Maybe she'll actually answer instead of ignoring my messages." Marco placed his cell device to his ear. His face displaying slight concern when it went unanswered. "Huh. No answer." Marco rubbed his chin. "You think she's okay? I mean, it's totally like her to try and make me mad, but Lucas would have made her come immediately, right?"
"Yeah. Lucas wouldn't leave us hangin', no matter how much Angie nagged." Tony was nervous. It wasn't like his friend to just abandon them, especially since they all knew that they were in a precarious position due to Marco's debts.
"Tony?" Dagwood's face mirrored the concern on the other two. "Are Lucas and Angie ok?"
"Let's go find out, Big guy." Tony elbowed Marco. "Split up and start in opposite directions?"
"Yeah. We'll eventually run into each other."
"If either of us finds them first, we'll just stop and wait. Sound good?"
"Sure."
Dagwood and Tony took the far right path towards the modern outdoor shopping center. It was a sprawling complex, but at least they didn't have to worry about multiple levels. The post-Christmas crowds were as thick as they had been earlier in the day; people looking for that unbelievable bargain they knew would be there after the holidays. The two friends weaved in and out of the foot traffic, craning their necks to get a good look at those passing by, as well as in the garish windows decorated with bright Christmas displays. Tony was acutely focused on anyone that looked remotely like Lucas or his cousin. Lucas wasn't exactly dressed to stick out in a crowd. He was wearing his typical jeans, white t-shirt, with a flannel tied around his waist. Tony had made fun of him earlier about his need for the flannel in Florida. Angie was more brightly dressed. According to pre-teen and teen fashion – based on the "uniform" of what most girls Angie's age were currently wearing – the bright colors of the 1980's were back. If there weren't so many damn teenage girls roaming in packs, Angie's fluorescent pink shirt and white shorts would stick out a bit more prominently.
"Um, Tony?" Dagwood stopped walking suddenly.
"Yeah, Dag?"
"I see Marco."
Tony looked up to see his cousin walking hurriedly towards them.
"Any luck?" Marco looked really worried; on the verge of panic.
"No." Dagwood responded as Tony shook his head.
"Shit. I ran into Angie's friend. Said Angie got my text and was coming to meet us at the car. She said she last saw her near the food patio. Maybe she's still there? Ya know, talked Lucas into grabbing a bite before leaving?"
"Yeah. Maybe," Tony responded, the lack of faith evident in his voice. They both knew that was a reach. In the back of his mind, Tony was getting extremely worried. It was not like his friend to just disappear without notice. "Let's go, Dag." Tony nodded back towards the area they had just passed through. "Maybe we missed something."
"Okay, Tony." Dagwood could sense that something was not right. Like Tony, he was visibly worried about Lucas and Angie.
The three men moved quickly through the post-Christmas crowds, hoping to catch a sight of the missing two. They stopped in the middle of the patio circled by numerous restaurants and tables. Turning slowly, Marco, Tony and Dagwood scanned the area for any sight of Lucas or Angie. Tony stopped and pointed.
"Where does that go?" He motioned towards a narrow path between two of the smaller food chain stations.
"Um, the back alley?" Marco wasn't so sure. "I think that's where they put the trash out for pickup."
"Let's go. Check it out." Tony was already half way through the space, not waiting for the other two to catch up. He stopped suddenly when he reached the opening to the alley. Marco was not wrong. The alley wasn't large, but it wasn't designed to be. Along the closest wall was an assortment of garbage and recycling dumpsters, leaving a space large enough for the sanitary company truck to pull through for collection. Tony slowly scanned the area, first looking one direction, then the other.
"Hey, you see somethin'?" Marco had stopped next to his cousin.
Tony didn't answer. Instead he jogged over to the nearest dumpster and crouched down.
"Fuck," he muttered softly. On the ground was a cell phone. Angie's cell phone. Tony stood slowly, the phone in his outstretched hand. "We got a problem."
"Angie'd never leave her phone behind." Marco squeaked out. "She sleeps with it under her pillow. Shit, shit, shit!"
"I hate to be the one to say this, but I think they got Angie and Lucas." Tony was barely concealing the panic in his voice.
"Who got Angie and Lucas?" Dagwood asked, leaning in to get a closer look at the phone.
"Sal." Marco looked at his cousin, deflated.
"Yeah." Tony rubbed his eyes. "They know Lucas was with us. How'd they know Angie?"
"I've known Sal for a while. He's been around. I'm sure he's seen Angie and me together." Marco groaned, his hands pulling at his hair. "What do we do now? Call the police? Oh god. I can't believe I lost Angie. This is all my fault. I shoudn't've let her come with."
Dagwood patted Marco on the shoulder. "We'll find Angie, Marco. We will find Lucas too."
"That's right, Dag." Tony was trying to look more confident than he felt. He scanned the area in case he'd missed something. Anything that might give clues as to where the two had disappeared off to. "Hey, look. Security cameras. Let's find the Security Office. See if they got anything. We can call the police from there."
"Good plan." Marco didn't hesitate. He appeared to know exactly where to go. If the situation were different, Tony would most likely rag on his cousin and his familiarity with mall security.
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Wendy woke with a gasp, the book she'd been reading falling to the ground next to her. Her heart was racing and her hands shaking. She had headed to the beach earlier and settled into a cabana, the sound of the waves providing a calming background noise to drown out any unwanted sounds. She must have been lulled to sleep by those same waves, but now she was wide awake.
She sat up, her hand pressed against her chest. Wendy could feel the rush of adrenaline, the pulsing of her veins. She could even feel a chest-crushing fear, but instantaneously knew it wasn't her own. Something, or someone, had jolted her back into consciousness and she couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly was causing the distress. Taking a deep cleansing breath, Wendy closed her eyes and focused on the emotions enveloping her senses. She first concentrated on blocking out any and all ambient noises, letting her empathic gift take over. While it took training to fully develop her ability to control this gift, it also took strength and resolve to block out any extraneous feelings and emotions.
Almost immediately, Wendy knew that what she was sensing could not come from a complete stranger. It felt familiar. Almost as though someone was directly reaching out for her. Wanted her to feel their suffering. Knowing how her gift worked, Wendy knew it could not be a member of her family. She was just too far away, physically. A feeling this strong would have to come from someone somewhat geographically close by. Taking another breath, Wendy focused on the images of those she knew were still in the area surrounding New Cape Quest. She didn't have strong connections with all the crew of seaQuest, and this was most definitely a stronger connection. It had to be one of the crew that she knew better than most. To her knowledge, Captain Bridger, Tony and Dagwood, and Jim were all staying in state for shore leave.
Nathan had told her he was planning on heading back to his beach house for the holidays. He was going to visit with Admiral Noyce and his family, but spend the majority of time relaxing at home. Within her mind, she reached out to him, but got nothing in return. Nathan Bridger was not the source of her current distress.
Despite all of his training, Jim was an easy read. Even with miles between them, the soldier's emotions were accessible with very little effort. Without a doubt, Jim Brody was not responsible for Wendy's reaction. Tony and Dagwood were much more difficult. As they'd learned with their unfortunate experience with Clay Marshall, Tony and the D.A.G.G.E.R were closely linked, with Tony showing signs of a psychic gift of his own; although very weak. He had reached out to Wendy in the past, but his ability to cloak his emotions was also stronger than average.
Wendy took another deep breath, her body relaxing as she cleared her mind. She focused on the seaman and reached towards him; her senses heightened for any response. In some instances, she could almost read the thoughts of a person through the emotions they emanated. Tony was not one of these people. He was more used to closing himself off from others, perhaps due to his life prior to seaQuest, and had the added psy factor working in his favor. Wendy cleared her mind, the waves creating ambient noise allowing her to direct her focus on Tony. She inhaled sharply. It was time to call Captain Bridger.
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Tony thumped forcefully on the dingy metal door. He barely gave any time for a response before he reached for the door handle and wrenched it open. A stocky grey-haired man stared at him in shock, his body halfway across the small space.
"What the hell…?"
"Sorry, sir. We need to see your surveillance footage."
"You boys can't just barge into my office."
Tony moved closer to the bank of monitors mounted on the wall of the small security office. "This is an emergency. We need to see the alley where the garbage bins are. He quickly scanned the screens looking for the one they needed. "This one. Can we see the footage from an hour ago until now?"
"What do you mean 'emergency'? The security officer walked towards Tony. "Someone steal something from you?"
"My sister is missing," Marco blurted out, "We think she was taken from that alley."
"Lucas is missing too," Dagwood added.
"Listen," Tony glanced at the security officer's nametag, "Officer Stanley. We found my cousin's phone out in that alley and she'd never leave it behind. Our friend went to find her and he's missing too. If we can just take a look at that footage, we'll be able to see for sure."
"Well, this is a little unorthodox, but let's see what I can pull up." Officer Stanley pulled a seat out and flipped open a control box. Within seconds, they could see the images scroll backwards quickly, the time stamp reversing to the prior hour.
"Stop!" Tony leaned over the desk and squinted at the monitor. On the screen they could see a compact sedan parked where they'd found Angie's phone. "Can you roll it back a little slower?"
"Shit."
In slow motion, they watched as Angie was grabbed and shoved into the back of the car. Tony's heart sank as he saw Lucas thrown across the hood of the car and crumple to the ground.
"Mother fucker." Marco stared in horror.
For a brief second, Tony closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment to process what they had just witnessed. He needed to keep a clear head until they could figure out what to do next.
"Can you zoom in on the car? Tony asked. "Get a better look at the license plate?"
"Yeah." Stanley pushed a few buttons on the control panel and the blurry image of the car tags took over the entire monitor screen.
"My nana's home videos are better quality than this," Tony mumbled. "Can you clean it up a bit more?"
"Sorry, kid. This is the best I can do. We don't get much more than shoplifters and hooligans here. We need to call the police. They'll be able to get a better shot."
Marco dropped down on his hunches, his hands pulling at his hair. "What the hell are we going to do? We gotta get her back. Fast. This is all my fault."
Dagwood patted the man on his shoulder. "Captain Bridger will find them. Right Tony?"
Officer Stanley already had a phone in his hand, punching the numbers in to what could only be the local police department.
"Yeah, Dag. If anyone can find them, it'll be Bridger." Tony tried to look more confident than he felt. "I gotta get ahold of him first."
Officer Stanley handed his phone to Tony. "Police are on their way. How 'bout you give your folks a call? They should be here when the detective arrives."
"Marco, you wanna call your Ma?"
"She's never gonna forgive me," he stared at the phone in front of him. "I should never have let her come."
"Officer, you got another line I can use? I need to get a hold of the UEO."
Tony did not have a direct contact for Captain Bridger, but he knew the man was currently in state for the holidays. He was pretty sure he could get an urgent message relayed to the captain on his behalf. Even though Bridger was technically on vacation, as the captain of seaQuest, he was never going to be allowed to "go off the grid." Tony felt sick to his stomach. The conversation with his captain was not going to easy. Telling his aunt and uncle that Angie had been kidnapped because of them was going to be even worse.