Skipper's gut instinct had been telling him something was wrong. But he had no idea what. He paced around the house, trying to figure out what to do. Private was with Barry at the apartments so the latter could sort out presents and Kowalski and Kenny had gone to their cousin's apartment. Rico silently watched his leader.

Skipper groaned in frustration. "What is it? Why can't I shake this feeling?" Rico shrugged.

Skipper called Kowalski who said he also felt strange but probably because this was going to be the third Christmas with their cousin since they were reunited with him, the first being pretty awkward.

He was sure it wasn't his sister since she was in college and he'd have heard if anything was wrong there.

He called Private. The youngest member of the team said that Ramona had texted looking for Allie. The girls were supposed to have a sleepover at Allie's house and when Ramona texted, she didn't receive a response.

"Wasn't Marlene with her? Maybe they got caught up chatting like mums do when they meet."

Private had a point. Skipper called Marlene. It went straight to voicemail. Strange, that almost never happens.

"Marlene, just checking in. Are you and Allie ok? I'm surprised your phone isn't charged-" No. That's not right. Not at all.

First off, Marlene's phone was only off during school hours. Second, she always charged it. Always. It was as routine as brushing her teeth before bed. Third, he knew she didn't turn it off randomly because right after class she was showing him a picture of a gingerbread house that her friend's sister made.

Skipper texted Private to call Allie.

A few minutes later, Private said he got her voicemail which was weird because Allie almost got in trouble because she forgot to put it on silent mode and someone had texted her in class. The teacher gave her a look and dismissed it because it was the last day of the semester. She wasn't the kind of person to keep her phone off either and also kept it decently charged. It was at 80 or something last time Private saw it.

Skipper told him to meet the team at school. He sent the same message to Kowalski. Both boys responded that they were on the way. Rico hurried to shove his boots back on and grabbed his jacket and backpack.

Private and Kowalski met up with other two and they looked at the front entrance.

"I already asked if they were still there. Cassie said she saw them leave when she did."

Kowalski nodded. The other two didn't need to know who that was and didn't ask.

"So, then what?" Skipper asked, more to himself. He looked around. "Would they have gone to the apartments or was Marlene walking her home?"

"Allie would've told her she had a sleepover." Private answered.

"Right, so...which way did they-?" A siren interrupted Skipper.

The boys turned to see a police car rush by and turn the corner. Skipper didn't think twice about it and the four of them hurried after the car. They followed it until traffic congestion made it difficult.

They tried to follow in the general direction, also heading towards Allie's house.

"Should we split and search?" Kowalski asked.

"No. We can't even guarantee the one we saw was for the girls. Emergencies happen all the time and they're first responders, so it could be something totally unrelated." Skipper answered. "What's that noise?"

Kowalski pulled out his phone. "Doris is calling me." He answered it. "Hello? Doris? Are you alright? Slow down, what happened? WHAT?! Did you call the police? Oh good, stay on the line, we think something happened to Allie and Marlene and it could all be a coincidence, but- come again? It isn't? Oh...no I won't be angry..."

Kowalski's concerned expression turned to shock and his face paled until it was almost as white as the snow behind him.

"What happened?" Skipper asked.

"N-no I'm not mad, I just...the four of us know...just stay on the line okay?"

Just then, Private's phone rang.

He squeaked at the number. "Hello Mr. Carson...no she's not. I think your stepdaughter, Doris, is in trouble...why are the police at your house? Oh my god..." Private made eye contact with Kowalski who kept his stony expression, but his eyes betrayed the emotions when looking at his roommate. "Y-yes, Mr. Carson, I'll let you know if I hear anything."

Private hung up and started shaking. He took deep breaths.

"Private, speak." Skipper ordered.

"Doris...her father's dead."

"And she found him..." Skipper's eyes widened in horror. "Kowalski, please tell me the person we all know isn't who I'm thinking it is..."

Kowalski gave a curt nod.

"Blowhole?" Rico asked.

"I-why didn't I think of this before? Why did I let my guard down? I should have been there with them..." Skipper said. "Tell her we're not mad, it's not her fault. She was born after all that."

Kowalski relayed the message. "She says thank you."

"Would Marlene and Allie have taken a scenic route or a quick route?"

"A safe one. Allie knows this part of New York far better than me." Private said.

"I think I know. She's not the only one who grew up here."

The boys followed the leader. They heard among the crowd that there was something going on at the next block. They found a couple police cars and some officers were looking around the street.

"Hey, you kids can't be here." An officer said as she spotted them.

"We think we know them. Two girls, right?" Skipper asked.

"You see anything?"

"No, Officer Jones, but we think someone else is in trouble. Doris Douglas. My friend's on the phone with her right now." He indicated Kowalski. He then pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of Marlene.

"This is Marlene Rocca, I believe she and another student were walking this way."

"Is this photo from today?"

"Yesterday. She was wearing the same kind of pants, except today's were navy blue and the same snow gear. She lives in the Central High Apartments."

Private showed the officer a picture. "Mine's from today. Her name is Allison 'Allie' Carson and she lives a couple blocks up."

The officer nodded. "May I send these pictures into the station?"

Skipper nodded.

"Please tell me all the identifying information you can about these girls. Someone saw them being abducted but was unable to do anything. There were other eyewitnesses who were too far from them. Also, please spell their names clearly for the record."

The boys told her, including Allie's and Doris's address.

Officer Jones went back to the group of officers.

"Doris?" Kowalski suddenly said worriedly. "What happened? Doris? DORIS!"

"Ham and cheese, Kowalski! What's going on?"

Officer Jones came back, seeing the tallest in distress.

"She heard something inside the house. She was hiding away from his body and she heard someone. There was someone chasing her and then she screamed."

She was about to respond when her radio buzzed. "Jones, can you spare a squad car? We got a domestic disturbance on the upper west side. A possible homicide and abduction."

"Yeah, Rainer, I'm sending one now, over." She told him.

"Doris...it was her..." Kowalski cried.

"I'm sorry boys, you'll have to let us take it from here. Thank you for all your help."

"Pleasure to be of service." Skipper said. He grabbed Kowalski's arm and pulled him away, the other two followed. "This is now organization business. Private, tell Barry to text Jackie. It's an emergency." He said, dialing a number as the youngest followed orders. They got to somewhere more secluded.

"Agent Sorenson? Is everything alright?" The voice of seventeen year old Byron Kent answered.

"No, it's not. I believe Blowhole found Doris, kidnapped her and kidnapped two others, one being Allie Carson."

"What? Seriously? Does Doris's father know? I'll contact him-"

"He's dead, Byron. Doris found him and tried to hide, but whoever did it was waiting for her."

"Oh shoot...I'll let them know."

"Why are you working calls?"

"Grounded, I blew off a couple classes. Now's not time for idle chitchat."

"Right."

Skipper then texted Rocky and his father. George Sorenson answered by immediately calling his son.

"Skipper, you are not to go, is that clear?"

"No sir, I have to. Marlene's my friend and so are Doris and Allie."

"It's too dangerous, you haven't seen how Blowhole really is."

"Which is why I have to make sure the girls don't either."

"Skipper, please, you've already notified the organization and the city's police are on the case, please don't play teen detective. I don't want the news headlines telling me my son's dead."

"Dad. I have to do this. I have to find them."

"It's a suicide mission, please don't."

"I'm not alone."

"Skipper, no. Absolutely, without a doubt, no."

"I understand the word no. I also understand danger. We understood the risks."

"What you've done so far, apart from your first year, is for the teen division. You're not ready for this. Son, don't do it..."

Skipper felt his stomach clench at his father's pleading tone.

"Dad...I'm sorry." He hung up. He ignored the subsequent notification sounds of his father calling and texting. "Guys, I know he cares and he's worried. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go-"

"Are you nuts? I'm saving them too." Kowalski said.

"Yeah. Team." Rico added.

"Okay, where do we start?"

The three boys looked at Private.

"What?" He asked. He examined their expressions closer and then looked at them crossly. "No way, you're not leaving me here. I'm just as much of the team as you are."

"It's not a teen division mission, Private."

"I don't care. Three people are in trouble and I can track Allie's phone, remember?"

"So can I, soldier."

"Wherever we go, we go together. We don't swim alone. It's also obvious he doesn't want any of the others. Just Doris and Allie. I'm willing to bet Marlene was an accident, they messed up because she was a primary witness. She fought back. I know she did."

"I know she fought too." Skipper sighed. "Alright, but leave and get help the moment I say, got it?"

"Yes sir!"

Kowalski got a message on his phone. "Jackie says Allie's phone is on now."

They tracked the signal to an empty scrapyard. The boys started looking for secret entrances, any way into...wherever it was.

Loud noises of each other shifting metal was not helpful to their frayed nerves or paranoia. They fully expected to be attacked any moment now.

Luckily, Rico had his backpack stocked with snow gloves so they didn't have to worry about wet gloves and cold metal. However, he didn't pack snow boots. His and Skipper's combat boots worked decently while Kowalski had shoved on a pair before he left. Private was wearing tennis shoes since he'd been planning to go straight back to the house after helping Barry.

Private kept shaking his feet to keep them warm as his socks were starting to get wet. Rico offered to switch shoes, but Private's feet were smaller than the others, even Kowalski's. There was also not really a good place to change them.

A crunching noise and headlights signaled the arrival of a car. They hid behind scrap and watched. Two people got out and looked around.

"Skipper?" A muffled voice called.

The boys looked at each other cautiously. The taller of the two strangers pulled down his scarf and lifted his hat a little.

"Skipper, it's me, Brian."

"Brian? What are you doing here?" Skipper asked as he and the boys came out of hiding.

"Brought the whole squad, huh?" Jackie asked.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Dad figured we were helping you and told us to go with you." Brian said. "He didn't say to stop you, not that we really could, but we're not letting you do this without reinforcements...and a decent pair of boots for the Private. Good thing I always carry a spare of everything." He'd noticed Private shifting around uncomfortably.

"Thanks." Private said as he went to the car to change his shoes.

"We're not starting a trend of the kids getting frostbite. Kenny running off with threads for socks was enough." Jackie said.

"Plans change, sometimes suddenly like this."

"Then you should have borrowed Barry's boots."

"Point taken."

The six of them poked around the abandoned building that really looked like it would collapse if you touched it.

"The phone is definitely underground." Kowalski said. "But how do we get there?"

"Kaboom?" Rico asked, swinging his backpack around to get a stick of dynamite.

"Bad idea, what if they're right under where you set the explosive off? Even if they're not that far under, you could cause a roof collapse."

Rico frowned as he put the dynamite away. He wanted to make an entrance, but Kowalski was right, it was best not to risk their friends' lives.

"Should you move the car?" Private asked.

"Nah, it can defend itself." Brian stated nonchalantly.

Private had so many questions, but in that moment, there was a loud metallic sound. The door started opening slowly. The group dispersed and watched.

A hooded figure looked around and saw the car. Puzzled, the person approached it. The headlights suddenly flickered to life and sent a ray of light shining on the person. Thinking it was just a prank, the man started to laugh. Then he jolted as if struck by electricity. He fell to the ground, motionless. The headlights turned off.

"This is how I never get robbed via car." Brian said.

Private still had questions. He held them since the older Sorenson beckoned for the others to follow. The group entered the building, still feeling wary of the stability the structure had.

Silently they went around the room. It was just broken down machines from automobile disassembly. The people who owned this had run out of funds to maintain it and had none left to clean or demolish the place, so it was left in ruins. Skipper had told them this before they got there.

"Guys, I found a backpack." Brian whispered.

Private approached him. "I think it's Marlene's."

Brian showed Skipper. His younger brother nodded. They searched the backpack for anything to help them. They found her phone expecting to see several missed calls and texts, except it wouldn't turn on. The screen was shattered.

"They probably kept Allie's so they could make threats." Kowalski said. "They really didn't mean to get Marlene, but best to take all the evidence. Where do they usually keep their phones?"

"Pockets, like every other teenager, Kowalski." Skipper responded. Kowalski blushed slightly.

The tracking signals on Jackie and Skipper's phones suddenly turned off.

"I think someone found it...oh no, people are calling and texting her, that's why." Jackie whispered.

"We gotta find them, fast." Skipper said.

They looked around for secret entrances, keeping each other in sight. Then, since there were multiple paths to take, they paired off. Kowalski and Private went to the back room while Skipper and Rico searched the control room. Jackie and Brian headed to the offices.

Skipper and Rico could still see the other two members of the team, though it was dimly lit and the two glows of the phone light were all they could see other than the shadows.

"It's just dust and buttons." Skipper groaned. "What are we actually looking for?"

Rico shrugged, then gasped just as Kowalski and Private yelped. Skipper turned around. The lights were gone.