Chapter Six:

Tommy looked around the room as best as he could considering they had him tied hand and foot to the bed. The room had been wallpapered at one time, long before he had been born. The wallpaper was faded and torn; the wall was covered in years of grime. With no food source even the bugs had packed their bags and had left for happier hunting grounds.

He could hear two voices somewhere behind his head; they were getting louder but he couldn't distinguish what they were saying. He had "met" two of the men but he reasoned there had to be a third. Was the third man out there now, were they arguing about his offer?

The voices had grown quiet and he could hear their foot steps fading away. He thought of Hanna and wondered what she was doing right now? He would have to wait to find out if his fishing expedition had been a success…or failure.

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"Where is she?" Shaggy repeated.
"Here I am" Hanna said as she and Scooby got into the Jeep. "We can go now."
"Where have you been" an angry Shaggy asked "What were you thinking?"
"Oh, just talking to a very nice lady. I almost had a room but she didn't allow dogs. Poor Scooby! But she did say something interesting."
"Rright! Rinteresting!" Scooby piped in.

"And what might that be?" his anger turning to interest.
"Just that she had seen a light in one of the old apartment buildings."
"What is so interesting about that?"
"It's interesting in that…the building has been vacant for years! She said the city is trying to get it condemned so it can be torn down."

"We need to find that apartment building, Shaggy." Velma stated the obvious.

And so it had went; the rush home, quick lunch and Velma stating she was going to look for the apartment. The search yielded two pages. Single spaced. They had poured over small print and a map to narrow the search to ten possibilities.

When the phone rang, Velma picked up before the first ring ended. "He's impossible!" Daphne's voice sounded mildly hysterical over the speaker phone. "The doctor said he was to have peace and quiet for a few days. He's outside setting up the BBQ'er and wants you guys to come over! I don't mind that, you're welcome…just HELP!"
"We were on our way over anyhow…be there in a few."

When they arrived, Shaggy had gone outside, ushering Fred back inside, taking over the BBQ chores. Hanna had been corralled by Scooby on the easy chair; stretched out over her lap as she idly scratched behind his ears. He snored softly but whenever she stopped, there was his muzzle, lifting her hand, begging for more.

With the hustle and bustle noises from the kitchen where Daphne and Velma were preparing the rest of the meal; Hanna passed the time with her favorite pass time: People Watching. She found people fascinating and had for several years.

Take Shaggy for example; on one side he appeared laid back, taking life as it came, on the other was a quiet leader. He would never think of taking the leadership role but if called upon he could take over a situation; take the BBQ, if you asked Fred tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to tell you why he ended up back in the living room with Shaggy doing the food prep, only that he did.

And speaking of Fred, the undisputed leader of the gang; maybe it would be unfair to draw any conclusions because of the injury but take he and Daphne as a couple. Hanna thought that if you walked into a room with a party going on and Fred and Daphne were on opposite sides of the room, you would recognize them as a couple right away.

It was Daphne that Hanna found the most intriguing; the red head was fashion oriented but Hanna felt and had seen an inner strength that belied that air head persona.

She may have found Daphne intriguing but it was Velma that stayed an enigma. Smart no doubt and number two in the leadership role with the group but she had a vulnerability that she kept well hidden except from Shaggy.

Throughout the afternoon Hanna had felt the tension of the situation; in which something was missing, out of place. Maybe it would come to her as her mind drifted to her favorite topic; to the one who wasn't here: Tommy.

Hanna thought back, all the way to their first meeting. She had seen him at school of course, had thought he was good looking but at the time she wasn't interested in boys and he'd made it plain that he wasn't interested in girls beyond being forced to share the school playground with them. That all seemed to change the day of Judith's birthday/roller skating party. The main problem Hanna had was she wasn't a very good skater. Especially around corners.

Coming around one corner she had fallen, forcing the other skaters to split and go around her. One boy (Tommy, she would find out later) stopped and tried to help her up which only resulted in him falling also. They had laughed their heads off. He had gotten up, helped her up then instead of skating off to join his friends, he had led her into the center of the floor, taking the time to teach her how to skate. She had never gotten good enough to get into competition but well enough to get by. By the end of the party, she had gotten good enough to skate couples with his arm around her waist, holding his hand in the classic couples pose. He had also asked her if she would like to join him and their friends the following Saturday for a movie. A Western movie. She didn't particularly like Westerns but had surprised herself by accepting, if her parents approved.

The next Saturday the gang of friends all sat together; everyone talking, laughing and just having a good time, she hadn't thought of that day in a long time. She wondered now if he'd planned it or if it just happened, but they ended up sitting next to each other. When the movie ended with the cowboy hero kissing the girl he had taken her hand, squeezing it tenderly. She remembered she had looked at him; he wasn't laughing, or making fun of the kiss going on the screen like the rest of their friends. She had surprised herself for the second time that week by squeezing his hand back and smiling shyly.

It had taken several 'group dates' like that before the gang accepted that they were a couple and stopped teasing them when they held hands.

It hit her then! The thing that had plagued her thoughts all afternoon; the thing that didn't feel right, what was missing. She pushed Scooby off her lap; she went outside, walking up to Shaggy…"You're not paying the ransom are you." It was a statement, not a question.

The way his eyes dropped and wouldn't meet hers told her she was right!

"Let me answer that" Hanna turned her head to see Velma standing behind her. "No, there were never any plans to pay any ransom."
"Does Tommy Know" Hanna asked in a whisper.
"Yes, he knows" Velma's heart was breaking in having to tell her this way but Velma had grown to like what she saw in Hanna and Hanna deserved the truth:

There would never be a ransom for any of them.