by nita dee
disclaimer: the replacements are owned by dan santat and walt disney productions
chapter two: something is wrong
there was something wrong.
todd and riley daring, the adopted children of agent k daring and world renowned stuntman dick daring, sensed that there was something going on in their home in pleasant hills.
their dad was acting strangely. the usual jovial and fun loving man seemed to be upset about something and was spending a great deal of time either on his cell phone or in k's safe room talking to her parents in london. when he wasn't talking to k's parents he was on the phone with conrad fleem, owner of fleemco who sponsored many of dick's stunts as well as having been instrumental in hooking up todd and riley with dick and k through his "replacement" program.
todd and riley weren't sure how to approach their father about the situation. it had been days since they had heard anything from their mother who usually was very good at calling home or at least sending text messages when she was in deep cover. they had first noticed her absence on saturday night while eating at the fun o'spear.
"have you kids heard from your mother?" dick asked causually as he worked a crane machine trying to retrieve yet another version of "evil bearneval", his favorite teddy bear.
"no, have you?" riley ask.
"no. well, i guess she is just really, really busy.." dick said.
there was concern in his voice but he continued to poke tokens into the
machine trying to win the bear.
saturday melted into sunday and monday the situation seemed to become more serious. during the night on sunday night, dick had received a phone call and from that moment his mood was agitated and he was very somber..something that wasn't usual for the fun loving stuntman.
riley and todd both noticed the change but monday had been a busy day with day camp for riley and summer school for todd. they both just went about their daily routine and riley rode her pet mule prince cinnamon boots until the sun went down while todd played broom hockey in the back ally with his friends sheldon and jacobo.
it was tuesday night when the situation became a crisis. the kids came home from their activities and dick was staring at some pictures on the wall of the various stages of his life with k..their courtship, wedding, the day they adopted the children, etc.
"hey dad!! what's for dinner?" todd asked.
dick reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. he pulled out a twenty dollar bill.
"here kids..order a pizza." dick said shortly.
"alright!! macho taco pizza tonight!" todd said with a grin.
"daaaad..." riley whined "this is the third night in a row we've had pizza. mom won't be happy that we're not eating a balanced diet."
"i'm sure your mother has much more on her mind than what we are eating, riley" dick said quickly.
"have you finally heard from mom?" riley asked, her tone tinged with fear.
"i've heard something but not from k herself." dick answered again shortly.
"are you guys getting a divorce?" todd asked. this was just like the time one of their foster parents, the gilroys, got a divorce and once again foster children todd and riley were shipped back to the group home.
"no!" dick roared.
"dad, what is going on?" riley asked, tears in her eyes.
dick looked at the two redhaired children. many times at night he and k would lay in bed talking about the kids and how much joy the two had brought to their lives despite the daily chore of raising them. how could he tell them what he had learned over the past two days?
"kids, sit down. i've got some bad news and it's gonna hurt.."
dick said, taking a seat on the couch and motioning the children to
also take a seat.
"you are getting a divorce.." todd said.
"kids, this is hard..please bear with me.." dick said. tears formed in his eyes.
riley and todd sat silently looking at dick.
"friday afternoon..k and car were in spain on a mission. there was an accident.." dick said. this time the tears flowed down his cheeks.
riley took dick's large hand and squeezed it. dick leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"there was an accident. carter was hit by a flame thrower and the car fell down a mountain and wreaked." dick said.
"is car going to be alright?" todd asked with concern.
"car was totaled but thankfully his modulator survived the accident..you know, the brain and voice of car? it's a good thing too because he was able to give us some idea of what has happened to k." dick said.
"what about mom?" riley asked.
dick swallowed hard but his tears still flowed down his cheek.
"your mother was captured by the ninja group who was following them in spain. apparently the mission was a set up to capture her. the ninja group sold her to someone named raja rameen who has a vendetta against k for sending him to prison back in the 1990's." dick stopped short at this and got off the couch and walked over to k's solo picture that hung on the wall. he looked longingly at the picture as if to gather strength from the photo of his beloved wife.
todd and riley sat quietly. they both desperately wanted to know what else was happening but waited until dick pulled himself back together and sat down again.
"is mom alright?" riley asked.
"as far as we know she is okay. the intel has not been very good. apparently, k is being held in some tiny country in western asia that this so called raja owns and he calls the shots there." dick said.
"well, britain can send someone in to rescue her, can't they?" todd asked.
"it's not that easy, todd." dick said. "there is a lot of political stuff going on and all of that is just wasting time and time is something that k just doesn't have a lot of as of right now."
"isn't the raja going to ransom her?" riley asked.
"no." dick said sharply. "he has something planned for k."
"what does he have planned for her?" todd asked, fear in his voice.
at this dick broke down and began sobbing. he sat on the couch and his mountainous body heaved and he moaned "katie.." which was his pet name for his wife.
"this is bad.." riley whispered to todd.
"dad.." todd said. "what does he want to do to mom?"
dick slowly came back to himself and wiped his eyes on one of the couch cushions.
"we learned from tiny evil of all people that the raja has planned
a big party on friday afternoon and he has invited all of k's enemies
to celebrate..to celebrate..k's passing. the raja intends to execute her
friday at high noon." dick said quietly. "if you kids will excuse me.
i need to be alone."
dick walked out of the room and todd and riley sat on the couch in shock.
