Chapter 18: Rescue Mission: The Action

We managed to get the key card to get into the locked door by exposing Deckr. What we needed to do now was to find Crystal. "What a move detective," said Boob.

"Yeah," replied Potion. "Your great detective skills got us through. However, I want to know how you figured out he was cheating."

"Ah," I replied. "First, Deckr works for 6 and we know they are a criminal. So that would be the right choice. Second, I didn't put that into account but the playing style."

"What do you mean by that," questioned Horn.

"I noticed how they shuffled the cards," I answered. "I noticed that some cards seemed to be flimsier than others. This lead me to believe that he was very quickly placing cards on top of others then using them during the game. When it was my turn, I knew he was gonna cheat so I had the cops on standby just in case."

"Wow," exclaimed Horn. "What an amazing move." We were walking through the employee only room and it appeared to be some kind of basement. I noticed some papers all over the place. I picked one up and saw it was their taxes.

"And there's another crime," I said. "6 has now committed tax fraud." The rest of the group shook their heads as we knew of 6's stupidity. We came up with four rooms, a crossroad. "We should each pick a room. One of them has to contain Crystal." The others agreed and we each picked a room. I picked the one on the right. I opened it up to see some kind of living room. "Hmm, this must be the break room." I quickly inspected it for any secret switches or passageways but none seemed to be there. I considered this as a dud room and waited for the others for news.

"Crystal," said Horn. "You in here." There was no answer as Horn picked the room to the second left. It was dark so she tried to find the light. When she found it and turned the lights on, what she saw surprised her. "Whoa! That's a lot of red slips. Dang what has 6 been doing?" This seemed to be the manager's office as those red slips were all over the room and on a fancy center desk. Horn decided this was a dud room as well and rejoined me in the hallway.

"Any luck," I questioned.

"Nope," answered Horn. "It was 6's manger's room with a ton of red slips." The tax fraud occurred for years.

Next up was Potion who chose the left door. "Mom," she said. "You in here?" There was no answer. Potion felt a cold breeze come from in front of her. She noticed that there was another door. "Now where does that lead?" She opened it to notice all the screens with video on it. "Alright, this must be the security room." She hoped she could use it to find where her mom would be but there was no luck. She met back up with me and Horn in the hallway.

"Any luck," I questioned.

"Nope," answered Potion. "It was the security room."

"This could mean Boob chose the right door," Horn exclaimed.

The last room was the one Boob chose. "Love," he said. "You in here?" There was no answer but all he could hear was some muffled noise. It was dark and Boob took this as a cue to flip the lights on. What he saw surprised him. "Oh my god!" There were jail cells throughout the room. Boob knew he found the room and ran out to meet back with us.

"Any luck," I questioned

"Crystal has to be in that room," answered Boob. "There's cells all round it." We ran inside to our shock, Boob was right. Crystal was indeed in one of these cells.

"Hey look," said Potion. "Cookies." I turned to see the cookies but I noticed these were stolen.

"Hey wait," I said. "I think I solved the case of Slash's missing cookies. 6 will now be charged with theft." Suddenly, the muffled noises became louder. We turned to see it was Crystal herself. "No way. Boob did it. He found the queen."

"My love," shouted Boob. "I missed you." He teared up knowing that Crystal was indeed alive. Potion did as well.

"Mom," Potion said tearing up. "We've come to rescue you." I got the key to unlock the cell and free her.

"Thank you kind human in a wolf costume," said Crystal. "But we must leave now. 6 is on their way back."

"Then we must go," I said. "But your royal highness, I am a wolf hybrid." We quickly looked for 9 and the crown but Crystal advised us it would set off a trap.

"The crown can wait," said Crystal. "You will need me alive to stop them." I nodded in approval and we looked for a back exit. There happened to be one and we escaped. Now we just had to get back to Sraivo. 6 came back to the jail cell and saw Crystal was missing.

"Guess the detective escaped," said 6. "Looks like it's time to begin my plan. Hahahahaha!" They looked up at 9. "You ready to go?"

Crystal has been saved. 6 now knows we escaped. What will Sraivo say? Will Crystal be the one to save us all? Find out in the next chapter.

TO BE CONTINUED