Taken

Chapter 40

ADAM

December 5, 2013 3:00 p.m.

"Rikki, I'm bored," Adam whined.

"Adam, get over it. You've been bored every day for the past two and a half months," Rikki groused back.

"But I'm really bored this time," Adam whined again.

"Shut up before I walk over there and..." Rikki started.

"Rikki, calm down," Kade said as he put an arm around her shoulders. "He's just trying to push your buttons."

"No, I'm not, I'm just really bored," claimed Adam.

"Guys, be quiet," said Kelsi quickly. "I hear footsteps." The door to the bunkhouse opened and Carlos walked in.

"Nice face," commented Rikki with a laugh. Carlos's face looked fine, except for his left eye. His eye was a gross shade of purple and was swollen twice its normal size.

"Shut up, you little bitch," growled Carlos.

"Hey, watch your mouth, there are kids in here!" yelled Rikki.

"I'll say what I want, when I want because I'm the boss here. Not you, me. Got it, missy?"

"Whatever," replied Rikki with an eyeroll.

"Rikki," Kade said to her with a look that said, "Don't push him".

"You brats come with me to the house. You get to clean it today while I run some errands. Jeff gets to babysit you guys today," growled Carlos.

"Cleaning, how fun," said Rikki sarcastically. Carlos didn't reply to her, but he did give her an evil look before leaving the bunkhouse.

"Hey, Adam, now you won't be bored," laughed Kade as he followed Carlos out of the bunkhouse.

"Aww, man," groaned Adam.

"Let's go, guys," said Rikki as she followed Kade.

***

"Kade, is the bathroom clean yet?" yelled Rikki from the kitchen.

"No, and I still don't get why I was the one that had to clean the bathroom," complained Kade.

"Well, unless you wanted to touch these guys' nasty dishes, the bathroom was your only other option," replied Rikki.

"Couldn't Adam or Kelsi have done it?" whined Kade.

"Don't be such a whiney baby, babe. Kelsi and Adam are dusting."

"I would've dusted," grumbled Kade.

"What was that, Kade?" asked Rikki.

"Uh, nothing, honey," said Kade quickly as he continued to scrub the toilet.

"That's what I thought," laughed Rikki as she continued to wash the kitchen floor.

"Would you two be quiet?" whisper-shouted Kelsi. "Jeff's sleeping and if we wake him up, he'll probably shoot one of us!"

"Sorry," whisper-shouted Rikki.

"Finally, they're quiet," Adam said to Kelsi.

"Yeah, finally," replied Kelsi. "Those two never shut up."

"I know right," said Adam as he dusted around the couch Jeff was sleeping on. Adam noticed a key sticking out of Jeff's pocket. Adam looked around to see if anyone was looking at him, then grabbed the key and pulled it out of Jeff's pocket. It turned out that the key was on a ring of keys. One of those keys happened to be for the Kia Soul sitting outside. Adam looked around once more, then pocketed the keys before Kelsi could see.

"Adam, what are you doing?" asked Kelsi.

"Nothing, just finshing dusting the couch," lied Adam. When the time was right, he thought, he would show the others the set of keys. Maybe, just maybe, those keys could be their way to escape their evil kidnappers.

***

BAILEY

December 5, 2013 4:00 p.m.

"I'm so glad school's done for the week, but I'm seriously ready for Christmas break," Bailey said to Taylor. The two were in Bailey's green Mustang on their way to the mall for some early Christmas shopping.

"Yeah, me too. I can't wait," replied Taylor with a smile.

"Hey, what are you getting your mom for Christmas?" asked Bailey. "I can't think of what to get my mom."

"I'm getting my mom a new coffee machine. Ours is about shot," said Taylor.

"Well, that doesn't help me. My mom just got a new coffee machine for her birthday," wailed Bailey.

"You're so dramatic," said Taylor as he rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'll find somthing at the mall."

"Yeah, you're right, sorry," said Bailey sheepishly. Suddenly, a yellow Sting Ray pulled out right in front of Bailey. Bailey honked the horn and yelled, "Nice driving, idiot!"

"That guy just pulled right out in front of you!" yelled Taylor.

"I know, I was driving," groused Bailey.

"Hey, look at the backseat of his car, isn't that an Edina sweatshirt?"

"Yeah, it is. I wonder who's driving," wondered Bailey. Then it suddenly hit her. "That was the exact same sweatshirt Rikki was wearing when she got kidnapped! Oh my gosh, Taylor, that's one of Rikki's kidnappers!"

"Holy crap, don't lose him, I'll write down the plate number and call the police," said Taylor as he pulled out his phone.

"Taylor, hurry and write the number down, I'm gonna lose him," said Bailey as the Sting Ray turned a corner.

"I got it!" exclaimed Taylor.

"Good, now call the police!" yelled Bailey.

"Sheesh, I'm calling," said Taylor. Within five minutes, the police had looked up the license plate number only to find that the plates had been put on the Sting Ray from another car.

"I'm sorry, there's no way we can track the car down, unless we look at the color and model," the operator said.

"Well, there can't be too many yellow Sting Rays around, can there?" asked Taylor.

"Well, no, but we can't be sure if the driver of that car is the kidnapper. Maybe the sweatshirt in the back was just a coincidence," said the operator.

"The sweatshirt wasn't a coincidence! That driver was the kidnapper that kidnapped my best friend!" argued Taylor as he hung up the phone. "Well those people we no help. I guess now we'll just have to look out for a green Kia Soul and a yellow Sting Ray."

"Yeah, I guess so. Taylor, we're always so close to catching them. Why can't we just catch them?" wailed Bailey.

"I don't know, Bailey, but I have this strange feeling that Rikki and Kade are going to escape soon."

"How can you be sure?"

"I don't know, Bailey, it's just a feeling, but a strong one."