"Where on Earth is Lauren Ridgemount?"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
So... who knows where Lo is this chapter? 'Cause I certainly don't know. And neither does anyone important in her life to her...
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Stoked' belong to Fresh TV, Inc., Teletoon, and Cartoon Network.
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Chapter Four - Backed Into a Corner (12.23.10)
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Lo felt herself slowly slip out of unconsciousness. She could also feel herself methodically being moved up and down. But as she regained her senses, she realized that she couldn't move any of her limbs. She was handcuffed by the wrists, with her arms bent backwards and around a metal support pole, which felt chillingly cold against her skin. Her feet were forcibly bound together with rope, which was also tied around the pole.
Her nose picked up the unpleasant smell of dead fish, and it crinkled in response. Her eyes focused in that direction, and to her dismay, she saw two burly men deboning and gutting fish. And they had been doing it for awhile, given the sizable piles of fish skin and innards on the table between them.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she blurted out loud.
The two men stopped what they were doing upon hearing Lo's voice. They turned her way, each with a dirty, gut-soaked knife in hand.
"Finally awake, are ye?" the one on Lo's right asked her.
"Ye? I feel like I'm on the 'Pirate Ship' again..."
"Ye be on a ship," the other said, walking slowly towards Lo. "But we not be pirates. We be fishermen, ye greenhorn!"
"Fishermen? But that means..."
Lo looked beyond the man approaching her and out the small, circular window. Sure enough, she could see water... and lots of it... even in the darkness of night.
"You mean... we're at sea?"
The man, now standing next to her, nodded, and then sneered at her.
"Took ya long 'nough to figure out. But I guess when ye be out as long as ye be..."
"Out?"
It started to come back to her. The last thing Lo remembered... was getting into an argument in a taxi cab with Jack. And then... nothing.
"We been at sea for eight hours," the one still sitting by the fish told her. "And this be the first time ye eyes have opened."
"We were 'bout to send ye off the starboard side 'cause we be suspectin' ye be dead," admitted the second.
"Eight hours?" Lo's eyes went wide. "I was out for eight hours?"
"'Fraid so."
"'Nuff talkin'," the first cut in. "Robbie... didn't your mother ever teach you manners? 'Sides... you scarin' her with that knife!"
Robbie realized he was still holding his knife, and only a few feet away from Lo's body. He lowered it and an apologetic look appeared on his face.
"My apologies, lass. Would ye care for somethin' to eat?"
"Um..." Lo hesitated at first, "okay."
Robbie then walked off to the galley to fetch some food, leaving Lo with his co-worker, who went back to work gutting fish.
"Do you have to do that here?" Lo asked, the smell of fresh fish starting to make her nauseous.
"It's what pays the bills," he replied.
"And holding me prisoner?"
"Meh... it allows me to buy nice things for the wife."
"Seriously?"
"Look," he looked at Lo. "Being a full-time fisherman isn't exactly a profitable profession. Besides, even the working man like myself needs to spoil his gal once in awhile. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Well, yeah, but... what you're doing is wrong!"
"You gotta do what you gotta do," he shrugged his shoulders before resuming his main job. "Besides, we're not gonna hold you captive for much longer."
"Really?" Lo brightened up. "You mean, out of the goodness of your heart, you're going to let me go?"
"Not exactly. You see, we get paid to transport 'persons of value' to remote islands hundreds of miles away from the mainland. And we're delivering you for a client."
"A client? Does his name happen to be Fargo Hope, by chance?"
"Never heard of the guy. And, besides... only the captain knows who the clients are."
"Well, couldn't you ask him?"
"Nope! It's none of my business. And frankly, I don't think it's any of yours, either!"
"What about Jack?"
"Who?"
"Jack! He was the last person I saw before... this."
"Dunno. The only person we were paid to transport was you, girlie! Now, would you stop asking all these questions? You're making me feel guilty over here!"
"Well, you should be feeling so!" Lo exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure this is a crime. Of some sort."
The heiress wasn't quite so sure about that last sentence, but she was hoping to convince her captor that he was being immoral.
"Like I care!"
But Lo was determined to keep pushing the issue. Unfortunately, Robbie chose to return at that moment, carrying a bowl of hot oatmeal.
"Ye tell me to stop yappin' with the girl," Robbie complained as he put the bowl down on the table, "and here you are, Bruto, chattin' up like your best girlfriends gettin' mani-pedis!"
Bruto glared at Robbie.
"I've worked with you for 12 years... and that is, by far, the stupidest thing that's ever come out of your mouth!"
"But that's how all the little kids talk these days," Robbie said in his defense.
Bruto was still angrily glaring at his co-worker as he got up and walked over to Lo, while simultaneously putting his knife and fish down and reaching for something else in his pants pocket.
"If you don't shut your trap, I'll rip it off and feed it to the sharks!"
Lo didn't know what Bruno was about to do, but she closed her eyes in fear, not wanting to see the dastardly act. But instead of hurting her, she was stunned in disbelief when she felt him unlock and remove the handcuffs from her wrists. Lo reopened her eyes, just in time to pull her arms forward and rubbed the area where she had been cuffed with her fingers. First one, then the other.
She then saw Robbie place a small stool on the ground a couple of feet away from her. Then, she felt the ropes around her ankles and feet. She looked down and saw Bruto undoing the ropes.
"I'm going to assume you're a smart enough girl to know you won't try to run," Bruno told her. "Trust me... you won't want to mess with me if my assumption is wrong!"
Lo didn't respond in any way. She just calmly let Bruto finish untying her. Once she was free, Bruto stood back up and pointed at the stool. Lo complied, walking over to it and taking a seat.
"Oh!" she winced. "So hard!"
"Sorry, but this is a fishing vessel, not a palace," Robbie grumbled.
He then handed the bowl and a clean spoon to Lo, who took both items without question. The two men started walking back over to their workspace as Lo gathered a spoonful of oatmeal and put it in her mouth.
She just as quickly spat it back out.
"Aah!" she squealed, trying to scrape the remains of what she had put in her mouth off of her tongue.
The two men just laughed at her as they retook their seats.
"That's not funny!" she complained. "Don't you have any REAL food?"
"Lassie," Bruto said to her, "that's the closest thing that passes for nourishment on this ship!"
"Besides," Robbie growled, "this is the only time you have to eat that! All of us... that's breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us! Every day! For three whole weeks!"
"Well, I'm not eating it!"
Lo placed her bowl on the floor next to her.
"Suit yourself!"
The men reached for another batch of fresh fish and got back to work, keeping one eye on their 'captive,' who just sat there quietly for the remainder of her ride.
"This is worse than the crud Bummer feeds us," Lo thought to herself.
A little over an hour later, the boat that Lo was on dropped anchor at a small island, one whose dock was lit only by torches. A few minutes later, Lo, back in handcuffs, was being led away from the boat with two different men. Ones much closer to her age, and not as muscular.
She looked up to the ship's railing, and saw the captain and some of the crew standing there and watching her be taken away. It included Bruto, who remained stoic even as he saw Lo look sadly in his direction.
"Please..." Lo tried to mouth to him. "Help me!"
But Bruto continued to do nothing, even as his fellow crew members walked away from the railing to prepare the ship for cast-off. Finally realizing that he wasn't going to do anything to help her, Lo turned her head forward again and lowered, not resisting as she was ushered off of the dock and towards a green jeep waiting on the edge of the forest.
After a bumpy 10-minute ride, the jeep arrived at its final destination. And the sight of it left Lo in complete awe. It was a mansion built completely out of clay bricks, molded perfectly to stand up to even the harshest of weather conditions for at least 100 years. The roof was made out of reeds, bamboo, and other plant-like materials.
"Somebody's got a green thumb," Lo commented out loud.
A few minutes later, she was led to the backyard by her two escorts. There, she saw a rectangular pool that, by her guesstimate, was at least three-quarters of an acre in size. But at the moment, it wasn't filled with water, but instead with half a dozen workers thoroughly cleaning the walls and the bottom with brushes, brooms, and wax. This despite the fact that it was night, and the only thing illuminating the area where they were cleaning were two sets of portable stadium lights, powered up and humming with energy along the east-west ends of the pool.
A little past that, though, was an outdoor hot tub built into the ground. It was filled with water and illuminated by permanent light fixtures set up atop the fence that enclosed its perimeter on three of its four sides. And inside the tub itself, as Lo noticed as she was brought closer, was a bald man with a cue-ball shaped head. He had a pair of muscular arms on him, and possibly six-pack abs... but she couldn't tell because they were submerged under the water. Standing right behind his head was his butler, who stood there silently with a blue bathrobe draped over his left arm and a white towel over his left.
He smiled as Lo was led into the area. They stopped with her about three feet away from the opposite side of the tub.
"Ah... so you're the heiress to the Ridgemount estate? Your name is... Lauren, right?"
"And I take it you're Fargo Hope... the guy trying to buy out Daddy's resort!" she said defiantly.
"Bravo! You're a lot brighter than I was originally led to believe. Especially for a Daddy's Girl."
"If you think compliments will sway me to go along with your plan..."
"Pardon? I can't be a business man and a gentleman at the same time?"
"Not when you're trying to ruin my life," Lo remarked under her breath.
Seeing that Lo wouldn't be swayed so easily, Fargo changed his method of approach.
"Why don't you join me, Miss Ridgemount?"
He, of course, was motioning her to jump into the hot tub with him.
"I'm pretty sure you don't have a hot tub this nice back home."
Lo thought about it for a second, as the rays of warmth emanating from it were blown her way softly by the island winds. Which, in turn, also made her for the first time realize how chilly it was given the very thin sundress she was still wearing.
"Tempting," Lo casually admitted. "Very. Very... tempting. But..."
"But?" Fargo raised an eyebrow curiously, in order to close the deal.
"I'm not exactly dressed for it, as you can probably see."
"So? You're wearing intimates under that, aren't you?"
Lo was instantly repulsed by that last question.
"Ew! Sick, sick!"
"Oh, don't act so innocent! I've done my research. You have a reputation for being quite the party girl. It's why your father kicked you out of the penthouse and is forcing you to spend the summer working as a lowly wage lackey. In fact, what happened that night was the last of many straws. You had been on thin ice with Daddy for months because of other incidents that... shall I say... besmirched on your family's good name."
"Research? So on top of being a pervert, you're a stalker too?"
"In addition to the many wild parties you've thrown or have been a part of, not only at your Daddy's resort but throughout Sunset Island, there's the matter of a certain 'worst day ever'..."
Lo's eyes went wide.
"You don't mean..."
Fargo smirked.
"February 17th."
Lo gulped.
"I... I... I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, really?"
Fargo snapped his fingers, and his butler turned around and walked over to a lawn chair. He put down the robe and towel he was holding and reached for a small, accordion-like organizer. He pulled out a purple piece of laminated paper, which he took back over to his master. Lo braced herself as the hotel mogul started reading the words on the page out loud.
"Operating a vehicle without a driver's license, three counts of destruction of public property, six counts of public disturbance, numerous minor traffic violations... boy! Your Daddy must've had to pay a pretty penny to keep you and your fellow joyriders out of jail. And to keep it out of the news and off of public police records."
"For your information," Lo corrected, "all of those charges against us were dropped!"
"Maybe so... but not because of Daddy's power, influence, or money. Didn't one of your friends take the full blame by not only admitting he was behind the wheel instead of you, but because he was under the influence?"
"WHAT?"
"The police reports said that he had had a few drinks before meeting up with you and your other friends. But that's not the whole truth... now, is it, Lauren?"
"H-h-h-how?"
First Lo was stunned, then angry.
"Only the four of us know the truth! Not even Daddy knows! Do you KNOW what he'd do to me if he ever found out?"
"I can imagine," Fargo smirked. "He could ex-communicate you from the family, kick you out of the resort, pass over you and hand the resort over to your older brother Ty instead of you at his retirement..."
"I get it, I get it!" Lo cried, starting to break down.
The brunette dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Fargo grinned as he snapped his fingers at his butler again. He leaned over and helped his master out of the tub, and then retrieved his towel and robe. After getting dried off and covering himself with his robe, he made his way over to Lo.
He squatted down in front of her, tapping her on the left shoulder once he was in position. Lo pulled herself out of her wet hands and looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"There's one way that you can guarantee this stays our little secret, my dear."
Lo looked at him and nodded her head in desperation.
"Convince dear old Daddy to hand over Surfer's Paradise to me... and I swear, we'll both take your deep, dark secret to the graves with us."
Left with no choice, she nodded again. Seeing this, Fargo stood up and looked at the two men who had brought her to him.
"Prepare the deed transfer paperwork!" he commanded them. "Oh, and make sure Daddy's Girl here is ready. After all, he'll never hand the resort over if he doesn't believe his little angel isn't all smiles."
The two men pulled Lo up to her feet and escorted her towards the door leading into the mansion.
"I always get what I want," Fargo chuckled. "Always."
He then pulled out his communicator/cell phone, and used it to quickly contact another one of his men elsewhere in the complex.
"How's the treatment of other 'guest' going?" he asked.
"As you expected, sir," the man on the other end replied, "he's keepin' his yap shut. Do you want us to resort to more drastic measures?"
"Actually... I have a better idea..."
Half an hour later, Fargo Hope was sitting at a cherry oak table in the middle of his den, with the fireplace lit in the background. Several of his bodyguards were scattered throughout the room. He was genuinely happy as a small stack of papers lied in front of him, as well as a landline phone. His smile would grow bigger as Lauren walked into the room, accompanied by yet another one of his personal guards. She had composed herself and had her wits back among her as she made her way over and took a seat at the table, across from the hotel mogul and right in front of the telephone.
"So..." Lauren spoke up meekly, "you promise not to tell Daddy anything about that... day?"
"I am a man of my word," Fargo reassured her, "as long as you hold up your end of the deal and get your Daddy to sign over ownership of Surfer's Paradise to me."
"Fine. Let's do this."
Lo picked up the receiver as Fargo turned the numbers towards him and dialed the number to Mr. Ridgemount's office. Once he finished, Lo waited with baited breath for the call to go through and to start hearing ringing on the other end.
"And I'd watch what you say if I were you," he warned her.
She nodded as she continued to wait for someone to pick up the phone. After about seven rings, just as it was about to go to voice-mail, she finally got an answer on the other end.
"Hello?"
Lauren's face brightened up. She knew that voice like the 16 digits on her personal credit card.
"Daddy!"
"Lauren? Lauren, honey, is that you?"
"Yes! Yes, yes it is!"
"Are you okay? Are those kidnappers treating you well? I swear... if they've laid as much as a finger on you..."
Lo quickly glanced down at her handcuffs, then over at her captor.
"No... Daddy..." she said slowly as she started right into Hope's eyes. "I... I've been treated well."
She heard her father breath a sigh of relief as Fargo nodded in approval of her approach so far. Lo then turned to face his left as she continued on.
"Where are you, Lauren? I'll come down there to pick you up myself!"
"It's okay, Daddy! I don't need rescuing."
"What? What do you mean 'I don't need rescuing?'"
"Well, you see... the guy who took me away. He was working for a big time hotel mogul. Someone... very interested in Surfer's Paradise."
"I KNEW IT!" she heard her father yell, followed by the sound of him slamming his fist down on his desk. "Captain Ron. It's ALWAYS him!"
"No, Daddy," Lo cut in, trying to calm her father down. "It's not Captain Ron. It's someone bigger. Much, much... ulp... bigger."
"Who could be a bigger thorn in my side than Captain Ron? Tell me, Lauren! Who?"
Lo took a deep breath, and was about to say her captor's name... when, suddenly, she stopped herself. Instead, she began to lower the phone down from her ear. And that immediately got a reaction from Mr. Hope.
"What are you doing, you little wench?"
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "but I... I can't do this."
"What do you mean? We had an agreement, Miss Ridgemount! Unless... unless you WANT your dirty little secret to get out. You'll not only shame yourself, but you'll shame Daddy, you'll shame Mommy, you'll shame your family's name, and you'll shame the reputation of your popular tourist resort!"
"I don't care!" Lo said with a frown. "I'm not going let a snake like you take over the family resort! And I don't care if refusing to help you soils the Ridgemount name! Or mine! I'm not gonna let you hold the worst night of my life over my head like it's some piece of meat being given to a pack of ravenous dogs! I'm not proud of what I did, and surely Daddy will hate me for a few years. But Surfer's Paradise is something he's worked his whole life since graduating college to make glitzy and popular! I'm not going to let you take his whole livelihood from him with just a snap of your fingers!"
"You forget," he gritted his teeth as he leaned over the table and grabbed her left arm forcefully. "There are other ways I can get him to sign over the resort. As in... offering a ransom in order for him to get his precious little angel back!"
"I'll never allow you to do that!" Lo growled. "In fact, I'm sure that Jack will burst in here any minute to come and rescue me!"
Sure enough, Jack came stumbling and bumbling into the den at that very instant. Lo gasped as he saw his tuxedo was ripped in many places across his torso, arms, and legs, and he was bleeding from cuts as a result from those. There was also blood dripping from his nose, he had a black eye, and his left cheek was very heavily bruised.
"Jack!"
Lo wanted to run over to make sure he was okay, but Fargo refused to release his grip on her arm.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"It'll hurt a lot more for your friend, the spy over there, if you don't tell Daddy right now to give me the deed to Surfer's Paradise!"
One of the guards walked over, pulled a handgun out of his pocket, cocked it and then pointed it downwards, right at Jack's head.
"Your choice, Lauren Ridgemount! Surfer's Paradise... or his life!"
To be continued...
Author's Notes:
Some 'falsely' assume that the morning after the party in the series' pilot that Lo wakes up so groggy because she had been drinking alcohol and/or doing drugs. But, of course, that can't fly in a 9-14 show with teenage characters, so the obvious explanation is that she went to sleep so very, very late. But, hey, I still thought it would be an interesting angle to play, and you never know with party animals.
For the record, though... I do not condone underage drinking. Just to be clear.
Anyway... the resolution to this cliffhanger sometime next month!