Pharaoh and the spirit of Professor Banner were there waiting for Jaden when he came home that night.
"Meow…"
"So… How did it go?" asked Banner.
Jaden's expression was unreadable.
"Well…?"
"She said yes!!!"
Suddenly all of Jaden's monsters showed up and started to applaud.
"All right Jaden!"
"Wooh! Wooh! Wooh!"
"This calls for a celebration! Who's up for a Godzilla marathon?!"
"Yeah, I'm all for that."
Jaden fell asleep in his chair in front of the TV that night, he had a beautiful dream of Alexis walking down the aisle toward him, taking his hand, and saying I do. Then he carried her off in his arms, drove her to their new home, laid her on the bed, then she stripped down and said, "Take me." Unfortunately before the dream finished he was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost three in the morning.
"Well someone better be dying." he thought.
He picked up the phone.
"Hello, you've reached the happiest man in the world, how can I help you? Sy! What's up buddy? Excuse me, what did you say?... When!?!"
Jaden jumped out of his chair and threw some clean clothes on himself, he ran down to his car and sped off into the night. If not for the speed limit he'd be going at the car's maximum speed of 200 mph. He didn't stop until he came to Alexis' apartment. The building was surrounded by police cars and he could see that the main entrance and a wall on one of the higher floors had been blown away. When he came to the building the guards tried to stop him.
"It's okay he's with us."
"Syrus!"
Jaden ran through the guards over to his friend.
"Is it true?"
"I'm afraid so Jay, Alexis has been kidnapped."
Syrus took Jaden to Alexis' apartment where the others had been waiting for them. The door to her apartment had been completely blown away and so had her bedroom wall. Inside were Mindy, Jasmine, Chazz, Hassleberry, Blair, Atticus, and one man Jaden didn't know.
"Mr. Yuki, thank you for coming. I am detective Jacques Sellers. I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you all here tonight, it's because you're all acquainted with Ms. Rhodes, and I have a feeling that someone in this room knows more about the murder then has been revealed."
"Murder?!" gasped Mindy.
"What was that you said?"
"I… I said murder."
"What murder?"
"Well… I don't know, you said murder."
"I said murder? You said murder!"
"No, I said murder because you said murder!"
"I said murder!?"
"You said, odds are that someone in this room knows more about the murder then he's telling." said Chazz.
"Did I say that? Sorry, I meant to say kidnapping, I'm always getting those two mixed up."
"Ugh…"
"What exactly happened here?" asked Jaden.
"At around 12:10 AM Ms. Rhodes was kidnapped by an unknown perpetrator. Witnesses say someone blew open the front door, charged in up the stairs, blasted down Ms. Rhodes' door, subdued her, blew down the wall, and flew away. We have managed to find some surveillance footage of the perpetrator. Roll the tape."
One of the officers rolled the tape across the floor. Detective Sellers slapped himself on the head.
"Now please put the tape in the machine and press play."
On the TV screen they saw someone in a robotic suit blast open the main entrance.
"Who does this guy think he is?" asked Blair.
"Sarge, do we know anyone who dresses up like Iron Man?" asked Hassleberry.
"Not that I know of." replied Jaden.
"Why would he blow the door down?" asked Chazz "This is just an apartment complex, it's not like it's the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or something."
"Probably because they were trying to send a message." said Detective Sellers "And no ransom demands have been made, so the motive must be personal. Tell me girls, when did Ms. Rhodes contact you?"
"It was after she had gotten home, around 8:00. She told us that she and Jaden just got engaged." said Jasmine.
"Say what?!" asked Chazz.
"Yeewah?" said Hassleberry.
"You asked her?" asked Syrus.
Jaden blushed.
"I meant to tell you guys but… when she said yes the excitement kind of pushed it out of my mind… What?"
"Mr. Yuki isn't it a little strange that Ms. Rhodes was kidnapped on night you proposed to her?"
"What are you implying?"
"Maybe it's not just a coincidence. Maybe someone doesn't want Ms. Rhodes to marry him."
"Someone with a crush on Alexis? That could be anyone." said Jasmine.
"Chazz, where were you when all this happened?" asked Jaden.
"I was at home, asleep in my bed, just like everyone else."
"Can you prove that?" asked Syrus.
"Hey, I didn't do anything!"
"I don't know, you did steal the sprit keys during your first year to try and win Alexis over."
"That was Atticus' suggestion!"
"Jayden, I don't think Chazz here would go around in a robot suit and then kidnap my little sis. He's crazy about her, but not that crazy." said Atticus.
"So what we're looking for is someone who likes Alexis to the point of insanity. Mindy, Jasmine."
"Yes?"
"I want you to make a list of all the people you know that have ever had a crush on Alexis. Then we can have this detective run a background check on all these guys. And I suggest we hurry. Lord knows what this kidnapper might be doing to Alexis."
When Jaden went home he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He just sat there waiting for his phone to ring, waiting for any word on what had happened to Alexis.
(To be continued)
Who could this mysterious kidnapper be?
Will Jaden and the others find Alexis in time?
And what about that mess the kidnapper made in her appartment. who's gonna clean that up?
You may find the answers t some of these questions in
Chapter 3: It wasn't me, was it you?