NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This chapter was hard for me to write because of all the action that was involved in it. If it reads choppy, apologies in advance. But, we're one chapter closer to the end, so that's a good thing! LOL
Chapter Eleven
Anna, Phil, and Chase rushed across the street, shouting Tempest's name. When they got to the toy store display, Anna glanced down and noticed the fallen helmet.
Chase was frantic. "I thought she'd be here!"
Anna bent down to pick up the helmet. "Guys, Temper's in trouble. Come on!" The three of them rushed down the street, and glanced up.
"Guys!" Chase exclaimed, pointing to the distance. "That's my dad's building!"
"Your Mod and Dad are at that party, right?" Phil asked.
"Yeah."
"Then Temper's probably there!" Anna exclaimed. "Let's go!"
~~~BABY~~~
Tempest managed to reach her dad's building just as the bad guys pulled up at the curb. The terrified little girl made it to the main entrance, which was a revolving door.
"Get back here!" Dreamer lunged for the little girl just as she tried to walk through, and grabbed the little Thor cape she had on over her coat. Tempest pushed as hard as she could, but the door wouldn't budge.
"Let go!" Tempest shouted, pushing the door hard enough to make it move. The little girl managed to slip through and escape, throwing Dreamer, who was holding her cape, back in the process. Snarling, Dreamer tossed the torn cape to the floor and shoved a janitor aside in his pursuit.
Tempest rushed to the bank of elevators and pressed a button. The elevator dinged, and the door slid open. Tempest slipped inside and pressed a couple of buttons. The doors slid closed just as Dreamer and the others reached them.
~~~BABY~~~
Breathing hard, Tempest exited the elevator onto a floor full of construction equipment. Obviously, renovation was taking place, judging by the sight of framework and pipes and unfinished walls. Nobody was around, and it was too quiet and spooky.
Tempest ventured out cautiously. "Mod? Dad?"
~~~BABY~~~
"Finally!" snarled Stevie, who had just joined his colleague (R-Truth was hanging back, waiting in the car). The elevator that Tempest had escaped in finally descended to the ground floor, and Dreamer and Stevie climbed in. They studied the floor numbers and saw chocolate smudges on two of them, Floors 42 and 44.
Stevie pressed the button for the 42nd floor. "I'll take this one, and you take the one above."
~~~BABY~~~
Outside, R-Truth waited until the elevator doors slid shut, and then stepped out of the car...
~~~BABY~~~
"Mod? Dad?" Tempest called out shakily, as she tread quietly across the unfinished floor. It didn't matter if she got in trouble at this point—what mattered was finding her parents so that she'd be safe from the bad guys.
"Hey, Kid!"
Tempest gasped and glanced over her shoulder. One of the bad guys had just stepped out of the elevator. Thankfully, he didn't see her, so she was able to duck behind a stack of boxes before the bad guy could see her.
"Come on out, Kid. I just need to get something from you," Dreamer called out, as he slunk across the construction site. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
Tempest shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an open window and a large spool of rope. She waited until the bad guy's footsteps faded before she grabbed an end of rope and headed for the window...
~~~BABY~~~
Stevie got out of the elevator on the 42nd Floor, his face a grim mask of determination. He had to get his magazine back, and if he had to hurt someone to get it...well, too bad.
~~~BABY~~~
"Tempest!"
"Temper, where are you?"
"Tempest Irvine-Hardy!"
Breathless and frantic, Anna, Chase, and Phil finally reached the building. Anna's heart sunk as she saw the now familiar Town Car. A brief look inside turned up nothing.
Anna shook her head. "I thought she'd be here!"
Chase looked over his shoulder at the entrance to the building. His face went pale. "That's Temper's cape," he gasped, rushing over to pick it up. "Guys, Temper's in trouble," he said, gesturing with his chin towards the building's revolving doors. "Come on!"
~~~BABY~~~
Back on the 44th floor, Tempest grabbed an end of rope and began to climb out the window.
"No! Stop!" Dreamer saw the little girl as she scurried out the window and down the building. Frantically, he rushed over. "Don't go out there! Hey kid, get back here." He reached the window in time to see Tempest disappear from sight.
He looked down at the little Thor fanatic in disbelief. "Hey kid, wait—oh, Judas Priest! Hey! Come on back up here!"
~~~BABY~~~
In the lobby, Anna, Chase, and Phil climbed into the elevator that Tempest was in. Phil frowned at the chocolate smudges on the buttons. "Which floor?"
Anna pressed button 42. "We'll try this one first."
Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down! Temper told herself as she carefully shinnied down the rope. Maybe there's an open window and I can swing through-
Her frantic thoughts were interrupted as she felt a sudden jerk on the rope. Tempest glanced up and squeaked in panic. The bad guy had the rope and was pulling her back up! In her panic, Tempest let go of the rope and felt herself sliding downward.
Screaming, Tempest slid down several windows before she came to a sudden stop. She glanced at her feet and sighed in relief. The side of the building she'd slid down was at an angle, and her feet had landed on a windowsill.
She glanced back up in time to see Dreamer toss the rope out the window and climb out after her. "Hey kid," he called out to her. "Stay right where you are. Don't move."
Shaking her head, Tempest moved to her left, to another window pane.
~~~BABY~~~
Back on the 42nd Floor, the kids exited the elevator and raced around the corner-
"No! Stop!" Chase hissed, before Anna and Phil could catch up.
Anna cocked her head. "What?"
"Look at all the people here!" Chase looked like he was about to throw up. "Oh God, we're at my parents' party!"
Phil saw something that drew his attention. He grabbed Anna by the hand and Chase by the coat collar and dragged them both over. "Coat closet. HIDE!"
The kids hid behind a rack of coats right against the wall (there were two racks of coats). Phil sighed. "What are we going to do?"
Anna's voice was firm. "I'm going out there to find Tempest."
Chase's eyes widened. "You can't go out there! My Mod and Dad'll see you!"
Thinking quickly, Anna grabbed a lush looking faux fur coat and threw it on. "No they won't. Stay right here. I'll be back."
Anna wove her way through the party. If anyone thought it was odd that a teenager in a fake fur coat with the collar turned up was walking around, nobody said anything. Anna took a sharp turn to her right-
"I'll be right back with the coats, Chris."
Oh, crap! Mr. Irvine-Hardy! I almost ran into him! Anna backed up and practically flattened herself against the corner to let Matt pass.
Back in the closet, Chase caught a glimpse of his dad. He practically shoved Phil into a dark corner of the coat closet, out of sight from anyone.
Anna continued her search-
"I don't believe it!"
Oh, no! Anna thought in horror. Chris?! She dared to peek over the collar of the fake fur coat-
To her good fortune, Chris was on the other end of the room. "William Regal, right? Class of '99? I thought you'd gone back to England after you graduated..."
Sighing in relief, she ducked down behind a table full of hors d'oeuvres and let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. For a moment, she watched Chris converse briefly with his college schoolmate, and watched Matt return with his and his partner's coats. She wasn't aware of the footsteps until they were right behind her.
"Looking for something?"
Anna gasped and glanced up in shock. Stevie was staring down at Anna, who had lifted the tablecloth up so she could see. Judging from the look on Stevie's face, his intentions were not at all good...
"Oh, come on Matty. Just one more."
Chris's sudden appearance at the table took Anna and Stevie by surprise. Anna ducked back under the table, and Stevie was forced to step back to let him reach over and grab a few more appetizers. "My diet doesn't start until next week."
"Well, we told Anna one o'clock," Matt shrugged, and Stevie made eye contact with the Irvine-Hardys.
Chris smiled politely, assuming that Stevie was part of the catering staff. "Excuse me. Have you tried one of these? They're smoked salmon mini-pizzas."
Stevie shook his had. "Uh, I'm afraid not."
It was the distraction Anna needed. Glancing through the tablecloth, she spotted an extension cord that belonged to one of the warming plates on the table. Quickly and quietly, Anna unplugged the cord and wrapped it around Stevie's feet.
Chris handed Stevie one of the mini-pizzas. "These are fantastic." A pause. "I've got to get this recipe. Do you happen to know the name of the caterer?"
Not wanting to draw anymore suspicion than necessary, Stevie decided to humor Chris and eat the offered treat. "Mmmm. These are good! Uh, caterer, oh, uhmm..." his voice trailed off as he looked up and spotted Tempest out the window.
Matt chuckled. "We didn't mean to spring it on you like this, sir."
Chris cocked his head at a now distracted looking Stevie. "Are you alright? You look kinda sick."
By now, Anna's curiosity was piqued, and she followed Stevie's gaze. She turned white with panic. Even without the Thor helmet, she knew who was outside.
Stevie turned to leave. "Sorry. If you'll excuse me-" He took two steps before he tripped and fell hard on the floor, the result of the cord tied around his feet.
Chris and Matt helped him up. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
Matt dusted him off. "Did you hurt yourself?"
It was another distraction Anna needed. She rushed back to the coat closet and took the fake fur off. She dropped it on the floor. "Chase, Phil. We have to go. NOW! Temper's out the window!"
The two of them emerged from the sea of coats and followed Anna back to the elevators. Phil looked confused. "The window? How?"
"I don't know, but we have to get to her RIGHT NOW!"
~~~BABY~~~
"HELP!" Tempest shouted, cringing as Dreamer let go of the rope and moved to a window a few feet up from her...
~~~BABY~~~
Frantic and breathless, Anna, Anna, Phil, and Chase finally got to the 44th floor and glanced out the window.
Anna shouted at the little girl, "Tempest, just hold on okay? Don't be scared!" She turned to the two boys. "Phil, Chase loosen the rope!"
They didn't need to be told twice. Chase unwrapped a few more feet of rope off of the spool so that Phil could throw more of it out the window so Tempest could grab on.
"Tempest!" Anna shouted. "Grab the rope!"
~~~BABY~~~
Back on the 42nd Floor, Matt, Chris, and Regal were laughing about the spectacle they'd just seen.
"That guy took off without so much as a Thank You," Matt frowned, as Regal nodded in agreement. "What a lack of manners."
"That's the most exciting thing that's happened all night!" Chris chuckled, unaware that his daughter was outside on the window ledge grabbing the rope that was tossed down to her.
~~~BABY~~~
On the 44th Floor, Anna and the other kids were in the middle of a rescue.
Chase instructed his sister, "Okay, just take it really slow!" Carefully, and with a steel grip on the rope, the three of them pulled Tempest up. Chase saw the look of fear on his sister's face when she reached Dreamer and tried to reassure her. " Don't be scared of him Temper. Okay that's good. Don't look down. Okay, that's good. Keep walking. That's right. Just walk right by him. He's not even there."
Dreamer took a swipe at Tempest but missed (he was preoccupied with trying to hold on to his precarious foothold). Chase continued. "Hold on! All right, come on Tempest. All right, you're almost there. Hang on." Finally, she reached her older brother, who held his hands out. "Grab on!"
Tempest sighed in relief as she threw her arms around her big brother and he carried her inside. "Chase!"
Phil, and then Anna, were the next ones to hug the little girl. "Tempest! Are you okay?"
Tempest nodded, wearily. "Yeah. Can we go home now?"
"Not yet."
The kids turned around in surprise. R-Truth was standing in the doorway. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, all right? I've been trying to keep these jokers away from you all night. I just need the Playboy."
Anna reached into Tempest's backpack and handed R-Truth the magazine. He flipped it open to the centerfold. "See this is what they were after," he explained, as Anna and Chase glared at a sheepish looking Phil. "Some notes and stuff. I guess it's pretty important..." R-Truth's voice trailed off as he studied the centerfold, and then glanced up at the babysitter.
Anna smirked. "Don't say it."
"Wow."
Phil chimed in, "Pretty strong resemblance, huh?"
R-Truth shook his head. "Nah, she doesn't even compare to you," he said. Anna took that as a compliment and grinned.
Chase glanced over to the window. "Well what about him? The dude hanging out the window?"
"Dude hanging out the window? Lemme see." R-Truth joined Chase at the window and glanced down at Dreamer, who was hanging on for dear life.
Dreamer shouted, "Help! Come on, Guys! Help me up."
"Oh yeah. Well...we'll let you hang for a while. You can sweat it out." R-Truth moved away from the window and ushered the kids out of the construction site, hearing a stream of curse words from outside.
Confident that he'd done what he'd promised, R-Truth accompanied the kids on their way to the elevators. But he wasn't prepared for who was around the corner.
"Oh, crap!" he gasped, nearly colliding with his boss.
Stevie had a cold, angry look on his face as he locked eyes with his driver. "Gimme the magazine, and leave." He paused, and cast a dangerous glance at the kids. "I'll take care of these brats."
"Okay," R-Truth shrugged, before he decked Stevie with a hard roundhouse right. Stevie crumpled to the floor, knocked completely out. The driver smirked and tossed the Playboy on top of Stevie's face. "Here's your magazine back."
Turning to Anna, he said, "You're right. Baby sitting is dangerous. Come on, let's get you guys home..."
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: WHEW! Glad this chapter's finished! Raise your hand if you think Stevie deserved the punch to the face. Anyway, I'm going to try and head out early today from work. I have a sore throat, and between writing this and doing work, I've had a lot taken out of me physically and emotionally. (Heads off to bed)
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