Chapter 5 - Watchers

Rita Logan and the Dark Tower
Part 5

When Rita Logan arrived home after dropping off Kyle and Jordan, she found the house strangely quiet. The only noise ws the ticking of a battery-powered clock in the living room.

"Mom? Dad? You home?" Rita called out to her parents but got no response. As she made her way into the kitchen and dropped her books on the table, she found a note taped to the refrigerator. The note said: "Gone to Park Ridge Mall to shop. Be back home late."

Rita glanced at the time. Nine o'clock. It was already late. They could have stopped in town to see a couple of their friends. Then something on the stove caught her eye. One of the burners on the stove was still on. She quickly turned off the gas and let out a sigh of relief. If the burner had been on any longer, all the potatoes boiling in the pot of water would have burned.. Her mother never left the stove unattended. What was going on here?

A knock at the front door broke her concentration. Rita nearly jumped a mile. Who would be visiting her at such a late hour? A glance through the peep hole gave her the answer.

Matt and Noah Strong.

***

Steven Strong and Cosmo reviewed the surveilence footage of Rita Logan and her friends.

"I don't think she knows anything, boss. Did you see how that Cresswell woman gave her the brush off? That woman is as cold as ice. Freaky col, if you ask me."

"What we have here are a string of random disappearances. What is someone doing with all these people?" Steven Strong asked.

"But, what about Cresswell? Have you checked her out?"

"I've known Lady Bird Cresswell for years. If she knew anything she'd come to me about it."

While Mr. Strong stared at the wall of evidence photos pinned to a large corkboard, Cosmo pulled out his cell phone. If Mr. Strong wouldn't check out Mrs. Crewell, he knew someone who would.

***

Rita opened the door just as Matt's cell phon rang. He waved at her and took the call which left Noah and Rita staring awkwardly at one another.

"Can we come in," Noah said after a beat. "It's important."

"Actually, I'm glad you're both here. I think I have a real mystery on my hands."

Noah followed Rita into the living room. It was one of those fancy sitting rooms where people didn't actually sit, they just looked. Matt waved again and smiled at Rita all the while still talking on his phone,. He stayed near the window while he spoke in hushed tones.

"What's up?" Noah asked eagerly. He was always ready to jump head first into a mystery.

"When I got home tonight, I found this note." Rita handed it to Noah who held it by its edge. He didn't want to mess up any possible fingerprints. "A short time later I noticed one of the burners in the kitchen was still on. The water was nearly gone in this pot. I think my mother would never do something so irresponsible. I think something happened to my parents."

"Whoa," Noah said. "That's quite a leap in logic."

"It makes sense if you add in the fact of how jumpy they've both been this past week. Something's going on, Noah. Something they wouldn't tell me about."

"You don't think it has anything to do with your investigation of the Dark Tower, do you?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"We saw you from our house. It's not far from the dark tower," Matt answered joining the two. "Hi, Rita," he said with a smile and turned to Noah. "That was Cosmo on the phone. Apparently, we weren't the only people watching Rita enter the tower. Dad's on the case with Cosmo. Cosmo wants us to question Mrs. Cresswell. He thinks there might be a lead there."

"You all have been watching me? That's a little creepy. Kyle did say that he thought Noah was the one who helped us escape."

Noah held up his hands. "Hey, it wasn't me."

"It was probably Micah. He gets mistaken for Noah all the time. Micah has been taking a short hiatus from college to help Dad with an investigation. Actually, that's kind of why we're here. Micah's girlfriend was one of the first to vanish."

"Vanish?" Rita said, immediately thinking of her parents. And there may be more that we don't know about," Noah said handing Rita a list of the missing.

"I know all these people," Rita said. "They're friends of my parents."

"Have you tried calling your parents?" Noah asked, hoping to impart a bit of common sense into the mix.

"No, not yet," she said, calming down a bit. "That lit burner thing really threw me for a loop."

"Why don't you try calling them now," Noah suggested.

Rita nodded and punched the numbers into her cell phone. She waited a beat and then heard the phone connect.

"Someone's picked up," she whispered. "Hello? Mom?"

"It's only muted noise and shuffling," she said. "Maybe I got the wrong number."

"Don't hang up!" Noah shouted. He placed a quick call to Cosmo. "I'm going to have mother's cell phone. With the technologically available now, location."

Noah paused, listening to Cosmo. "You're sure?" he said. "Thanks Cosmo."

"What did he say," Matt and Rita said in unison.

"The signal was coming from inside the dark tower."