Taken

Chapter 15

LACEY

September 9, 2013 3:30 p.m.

After school, everyone was waiting at the Big Pumpkin except for Zayn.

"Ugh, where is he!" cried a frustrated Lacey. "If that boy doesn't get his butt over here soon, I swear I'll..." but before she could finish her sentence, the gang spotted Zayn heading towards the Big Pumpkin.

"Zayn, where have you been? We've been waiting for you forever!" yelled Tanya.

"Sorry, sweetie, I had to get some food," said Zayn as he jogged toward the Big Pumpkin with his hands full of everything from Chex Mix to Snickers.

"Couldn't you have waited until after we visited the police station?" asked Tanya, sounding annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I was hungry. Hey, at least we can go now, plus we have food. I grabbed enough to share," replied Zayn.

Everyone climbed into the Big Pumpkin, a bright orange Volkswagen hippie van, and the group was off to the police station.

***

"I'm Officer Schultz. How can I help you?" asked the police officer sitting at the front desk.

"May I please speak to the officer working on the Roberts' kidnapping case?" asked Lacey.

"Why do you want to speak with the officer on that certain case?" asked the officer.

"Well," Lacey said. "I might have some information on a possible suspect for that case."

"Okay, I'll go get Officer Smith," said the officer as he left the room.

Five minutes later, Lacey was sitting all alone in an interrogation room in the police station. The walls were an ugly shade of dark gray, and the floor was made up of shiny black tiles. The wall had several scratches and holes in it, and the floor had tons of scratches as well. There was a long, metal table in the middle of the room that was bolted to the floor. The table was the same shade as the walls. The chairs in the room were stiff and uncomfortable and made of the same gray metal as the table. The chairs were also bolted to the floor.

I don't even want to know why the chairs and table are bolted to the floor, Lacey thought to herself.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a man walked into the room. "Hi, Lacey, I'm Officer Smith. Officer Schultz told me that you might have some information on the Roberts' kidnapping case."

"Yeah, I think I might have some info on a possible suspect," replied Lacey with a wavering voice.

"Okay, tell me everything you know about this suspect."

"Well, on the day that Rikki disappeared, before she actually got kidnapped, a janitor at school came up to me and asked where I could find Rikki. I told him Rikki's locker number and he left," Lacey said. The officer wrote down everything she said. "The janitor had huge glasses and crazy white hair, but they both looked so fake. The janitor was wearing a janitor's outfit, but I had never seen him in the school before that day and he hasn't been in school since Rikki disappeared. Um, he was white, kind-of pale, actually. I'd say he was about six-two and he looked a little pudgy. The janitor looked pretty old, too, maybe in his early sixties? I'm not sure. That's all I know."

"Okay, this should be somewhat helpful. Thank you for your time," the officer said. "I'll lead you out."

As they walked down the halls of the police station, Lacey asked, "Do you think you'll find them?"

"Well, most of the time it's hard to say, but I have a feeling that they'll turn up somehow," Officer Smith replied confidently.

"Please, find my friend," pleaded Lacey as tears started to form in her eyes.

"I'll do everything that I can," replied the officer.

***

"What happened in there?" asked Lance as the group loaded into the Big Pumpkin once more.

"Well, I just told them everything I knew about the creepy janitor while he wrote down what I said. It was really simple, actually."

"Did he think this would help find Rikki and Adam?" asked Bailey.

"He didn't know, but he said that he had a feeling that they would turn up," replied Lacey.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Bailey, sounding angry. "Our friend is missing, and all they can say is they have a feeling that she'll turn up! I can't believe this!"

"Bailey, calm down. You're not the only one that's worried about Rikki. We all care about what happens to her and Adam, but so do the police. Rikki's smart and strong. I have a feeling she'll find a way to get out of the mess she's in," said Taylor as he put his arm around Bailey.

"I know. Rikki is the strongest out of all of us. Yes, she's even stronger than you Zayn," said Bailey, finally cracking a smile.

"Hey, I take offense to that!" hollered Zayn.

"Zayn, honey, there's no need to shout," said Tanya. The whole van burst into laughter after that comment.

"So, is anyone up for some ice cream?" asked Zayn hopefully.

"Zayn," groaned everyone else.

"What? I'm hungry!"

"Fine, let's go get ice cream. Hopefully it'll take our minds off of everything," said Taylor.