Taken

Chapter 42

BAILEY

December 20, 2013 8:00 a.m.

"Guys, look at this paper!" exclaimed Bailey as she ran down the school hallway towards her friends. "That really popular basketball player is Rikki's kidnapper!"

"Give me that," said Taylor as he ripped the newspaper out of Bailey's hands. "'Five days ago, the Miami Flames' star basketball player, Troy Nelson, was arrested in Huskies Stadium on the possible charge of kidnapping. Nelson has been held at the Minneapolis police station for the past five days. He has been questioned on the kidnappings of Kade and Kelsi Coleman and Rikki and Adam Roberts. The information gained from those questionings have not been released to the public. A one million dollar bail was placed on Nelson. The bail was paid, and Nelson is now back with the Flames. Nelson, 24, has been having a great season with the Flames. He is averaging 30 points, 10 assists, and 4 rebounds a game. This is Nelson's fifth season with the Flames.'"

"What the heck. Why on earth would an NBL player kidnap our friends?" wondered Lacey.

"I have no idea, but this is so crazy. That creep is back out on the streets now, and that means he could go back and hurt Rikki wherever she is," said Bailey.

"Why would they let him back out on the streets if he could possibly be a kidnapper?" exclaimed Lance.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder, but we know one thing for sure," said Bailey.

"What's that?" asked Zayn.

"Troy isn't the only kidnapper. There has to be more of them, and that means that everyone is still at risk. We need to try find out who these other kidnappers are, and fast. They can't be too happy that Troy already got caught."

"Right," said Taylor.

"Wait a minute, I'm confused," said Zayn.

"What else is new," commented Lance with an eyeroll.

Zayn ignored Lance's comment and continued, "How are we supposed to figure out who the rest of the kidnappers are? I mean, they could be anybody from another NBL player to Troy's family."

"It's gonna be hard, Zayn, but we have to do this for Rikki and Kade, not to mention their siblings. I guess we get to play detectives," said Bailey.

"Dang, we should've kept Scooby-Doo," said Taylor.

"Yeah, I forgot about that," said Bailey. "I wonder if that dog is okay to be adopted yet."

"It hasn't completed therapy yet. I called and asked the vet clinic yesterday," said Taylor glumly.

"Dang it. I think that one of us should adopt the dog when it's done with therapy and everything," said Bailey. "I just think that would be the right thing to do since we have a strong connection to the dog, even if that connection has to do with it biting me."

"I agree. I wish the kidnappers hadn't even had a dog in the first place. I'm sure they tortured the poor animal," said Tanya.

"Yeah, people like them shouldn't have pets. It's just awful for the animal, being abused. I'm sure they get really confused as to why they're being hurt by their owners," said Lance.

"Yeah, it's just sad," said Lacey. "Maybe the dog will be ready to adopt when Kade and Rikki get back."

"I sure hope so. I think one of them should adopt the dog. I mean, if they want to. I could totally see why they wouldn't want to adopt the dog," said Bailey.

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't want to adopt my kidnappers' old dog, but that's just me. I just hope that Kade and Rikki turn up soon. This is getting ridiculous," said Taylor.