It was too late. By the time Kelly and the Rangers made it to her mother's house, it was engulfed in flames. The fire department was already on the scene, dousing the house with water. The Rangers powered down as they approached, not wanting to be seen while morphed.
"Is this it?" Levi asked Kelly, who nodded her head.
"That's the house."
"RedBot…"
"You're at Sarah's location," he said through the communicator. "At least, her Power Star is there."
"Sarah might not be," Levi said.
Brody and Calvin went to talk to the firemen, asking if they had rescued anyone from the house, but they shook their heads, claiming it was lucky no one had been inside.
"My friend might have been inside."
"We did a sweep," the fireman assured Brody. "No one was inside. Not when we arrived, at least."
"A window was shattered. If your friend was home, maybe they jumped out. If you speak with the police, they may be able to tell you more."
Brody and Calvin thanked the firemen and returned to their friends. When they mentioned the broken window theory, Kelly shook her head.
"That was me. I was locked inside. It was the only way out."
"Are you sure Sarah was still inside?" Preston asked. Kelly shook her head.
"I just woke up this morning and… mom said Jenny took Sarah home but I don't remember that. And I certainly wouldn't have stayed with mom after Sarah's seizure."
"Do you have your phone with you?" Hayley asked. "Give Jenny a call. See if maybe she did pick up Sarah and you just… forgot."
"I didn't forget," Kelly said but reached for her phone. Suddenly, she remembered handing it to her mother then never getting it back. "Uh… can you call her, actually? I guess even when your prison guard is your mom, cell phones aren't allowed."
Hayley nodded her head and stepped away to make the call. Calvin, meanwhile, looked to the house.
"Maybe Sarah's not here, but her Power Star is. We need to find it."
"And tell the fire department what?" Preston asked.
"You mean there's no way for you to… call it?"
"Like a dog?"
"Using magic?" Calvin suggested. Preston thought for a moment, then waved his fingers and seconds later, Sarah's Power Star appeared in his hand.
"Any chance you can do that with Sarah?" Kelly asked. Preston shook his head.
"Only if I know she's in the house," he said. "I knew the Power Star had to be here, if that's where the signal was coming from."
"We have bad news," Hayley announced. "Jenny didn't pick Sarah up last night, has no idea about Sarah's seizure and is now freaking out and stuck in airport traffic."
"She must have dropped off Sarah's grandparents. Oh god, they're going to be so pissed," Kelly said. "We really need to find Sarah."
"You know, next time we're playing a city-wide game of hide and go seek, let's have Sarah be a seeker," Levi suggested.
"I'm just hoping she's not a good hider," Brody nodded his head. He looked to Kelly, "You think your mom is responsible for this. Any idea where she might take Sarah?"
Kelly shook her head, "She never discussed her kidnapping plans with me."
"She set her house on fire. Clearly, she knew she needed to hide," Calvin said. "Is there anywhere she might go to lay-low?"
Kelly shook her head as she gave herself a second to think. She wasn't sure she knew of any secret hiding places her mom had.
Then it struck her. Her mom had always spoke of one oasis. A place where she could escape.
-Ninja-Steel-
Despite the fog, Sarah found herself somewhat aware of what was going on. She knew she was being pulled from the trunk of a car and she knew when she was dropped. She remembered she knew the person who had dropped her, but she wasn't sure how.
She tried to speak, but couldn't. Sarah remembered there was a reason, but not what it was. She knew she couldn't move. She remembered duct tape was part of that reason.
She was pulled through the woods into a small house then dumped on the floor, with her captor taking a seat on the couch. Sarah again tried to say something, she wanted to ask where she was, but she couldn't.
Immediately frustration came over her. She started to kick her legs and pulled on her arms, trying to free herself. She couldn't break the duct tape and the more she tried, the more she worked herself up. Eventually, she tired herself out and lay on the floor. She was grateful to be on the floor as the room spun around her. She was certain if she had been standing, she would fall over.
"This is your fault," she heard her abductor say. "Life was perfect until you came along. Until you poisoned my little girl."
Sarah's head turned to the source of the noise and she frowned. Who had she poisoned? A little girl?
"Kelly doesn't love you. It's just not possible," her captor said. "That kind of love is… wrong. It's bad."
Kelly? It took Sarah a minute to remember that name, though it seemed so familiar. She could recall her girlfriend Kelly, but that didn't make sense. Why didn't Kelly love her?
No, she shook her head. She had to keep her mind as sharp as possible. Kelly was her girlfriend. This had to be a lie.
Right?
"Now look what happened. My husband's dead, my daughter's gone and I'm stuck here with you. All because of you."
Her captor, Sarah remembered now it was Kelly's mother, rose up from the couch and started to pace. Right away, the sound of her feet dragging against the floor frustrated Sarah. She started to cry out and thrust again.
Suddenly, she felt a shock travel through her body and then complete numbness. She heard Kelly's mother continue to walk around the cottage and move into different rooms.
"What would Kent do?" she muttered to herself as Sarah regained some feeling through her body. When Kelly's mother came back, Sarah noticed something in her hand, but she didn't know what it was. The fog in her mind was thicker now since the shock.
Kelly's mother said something, but Sarah couldn't make it out. It was like she was mumbling, or speaking another language. Or… was it English?
Suddenly, as it from nowhere, a man appeared. Sarah could have sworn it was a bug moving across the floor, but it had transformed into… Einstein?
Mick and the Rangers had arrived at the cottage, but not wanting to escalate anything, decided to scope out the area and see if Sarah and Kelly's mom were even here. Mick had volunteered himself to come in, while the others surrounded the cottage. Since he could transform, and bugs were always crawling around, even inside in cottage country, it didn't matter if he was seen. He had slipped in through a small hole under the door.
And, fortunately, he had done it right on time. He saw Kelly's mom standing over Sarah with a gun pointed at her. He heard her tell Sarah that she would still have her family if it weren't for Sarah. Mick knew his job was just to go in and then leave to tell the Rangers what to do, but now he knew he needed to jump in.
"Stop!" he said, frightening Kelly's mom and almost causing her to pull the trigger. She pointed the gun at Mick.
"Who are you?" she growled. He put his hands up, but he was ready to turn into a rock or bullet-proof vest if he needed to.
"I'm Mick," he said, then pointed to Sarah. "I'm her friend."
"How did you find me?"
"That doesn't matter," he said. "Can you put the gun down?"
Kelly's mom shook her head then moved the gun so it was pointed at Sarah. Mick continued to hold his hands up.
"Mrs. Saunders, you don't want to do this," he said. "How about you and I make a deal? You put the gun down, you let me take Sarah home, and I don't call the police. Deal?"
"You're lying."
"I'm not," Mick said, "All I care about is Sarah. I know she's had seizures and I can help her."
"The police are already here, aren't they?"
"No," Mick answered. "But I'll be honest, some of Sarah's friends are outside. We just want to take her home." Mick pointed to the window, "Kelly's out there too, if you want to talk to her."
"Kelly?" Mrs. Saunders asked and Mick knew he had made the right choice mentioning her.
"Look, you don't have to move away from Sarah, but I think neither of us wants to hurt Kelly," Mick said. "Set the gun down in good faith and I'll bring Kelly inside."
"Only Kelly."
"Only Kelly," Mick promised. He could see Kelly's mother contemplating the deal, looking to him to see if he was trying to deceive her. Mick was glad he had what most called a trustworthy face. It had helped him get close to Brody when they first met and the young boy had been scared and he hoped it would help him again.
It took a long time, at least, too long for Mick's liking, but he saw Kelly's mother's hold loosen on the gun. However, she never fully let it go and Mick saw a look in her eyes he really didn't trust.
"If you put the gun down, I can bring Kelly in," Mick reminded her. "Good faith on both parts."
"I keep the gun," Mrs. Saunders said. "But I won't shoot it."
"Mrs. Saunders, neither of us wants to see Kelly get hurt and if you hold the gun…"
"I'm not going to hurt my daughter."
"She's not going to like seeing a gun pointed at her girlfriend."
"They aren't girlfriends," Kelly's mother growled and her grip tightened on the gun again. Mick stepped forward in a panic. Mrs. Saunders pointed the gun at Sarah, "She poisoned my daughter."
"You're right," Mick nodded. "You're absolutely right. We're going to fix that, okay? But for right now, Kelly cares about Sarah. She's not going to want to see the gun. If you set it down, I can bring Kelly in here and you can talk to her. You can steer her in the right direction, alright?"
"You promise?" Kelly's mother asked and Mick nodded. Slowly she set the gun down.
As soon as it was out of her hands, Mick charged forward and slammed into her. He knocked her away from Sarah and the gun and then hit her hard in the head.
He quickly got up as she tried to get her bearings. He kicked the gun aside, then scooped up Sarah in his arms and ran.
He heard one gunshot go off behind him as he rushed out of the cottage, but he didn't stop running. He made his way to the Zord, assuming the others had seen him with Sarah and were right behind him. When he got inside, het set her down. The others piled in behind him and Mick quickly commanded they leave. He didn't want to find out if Kelly's mother would shoot again.