Part 6 - Surprise Attack

Rita Logan and the Dark Tower

PART 6 - Surprise Attack

"What are you doing?" Matt pulled Noah aside. "Dad is
going to totally freak out. He doesn't like when we
get civilians involved in police business."

Noah used hushed tones but Matt could tell how serious
he was. "We need her, Matt. What if our paren't were
the ones missing. Wouldn't you want someone to believe
you? Help you find them?

"Of course, but..." Matt wasn't sure about this.

"But nothing. She needs our help and we're going to
give it to her."

"Where do we start?" Matt asked. He gave in easily
already knowing Noah would win any argument where
Rita's safety was concerned.

"I think I have something," Rita said..

She pulled out an old photo of her parents when they
were teenagers. "Look at this. Look in the background.
Isn't that the dark tower?"

"Yeah, it could be. This must have been taken back in
the day when the tower wasn't so spooky," Matt said.
"It looks pratically brand new."

Noah examined the photo more intently.

"Matt, doesn't that look like Micah's girlfriend?"

"It couldn't be," Rita said. "This photo must be over
twenty years old."

"That must be her mother," Matt said.

"We need to show this to Dad. It may be a big clue if
more people in the photo are among the missing."

"Can we borrow this?" Matt asked.

"Why don't you just scan it and email it to your
father?"

Rita led them into her bedroom and plugged in a
portable scanner to her laptop. The boys were focused
on sending the email when they heard a loud click from
across the room.

"What was that?" Noah asked.

Matt turned toward the door. "She's locked us in!"

"Sorry, boys. If my parents are in danger, I have to
go after them. I had to make sure you wouldn't stop
me."

They could hear the front door slam and her
convertible speed off.

"I can't believe we fell for that," Noah said. "The
ole come-up-to-my-bedroom-and-scan-the-picture-ploy."

"Well, while we're here, we might as well send this
photo to Dad. This could be a super clue." Matt
scanned in the image and sent the email.

Meanwhile, Noah worked on the archaic lock and managed
to slide a nail file between the door latch and the
wall. It didn't take him long to jimmy the lock and
free them from the bedroom. But Rita did have a pretty
big head start on them.

"Exactly how much trouble do you think we're in?" Matt
asked.

"Cosmo has probably already told Dad about the cell
phone triangulation and Rita's missing parents," Noah
said. "If I miss my guess, he probably beat Rita
there. And our brother, Micah, couldn't be far
behind."

"But do you think we're in trouble?"

"Probably. Keeping things from Dad always gets us in
trouble," Noah said.

***

"What do you mean?" Steven Strong asked his buddy and
fellow detective, Cosmo.

"Matt and Noah went and talked to Rita Logan," Cosmo
said. "But don't get mad. They found something. Check
our your email. They sent you something. I think it's
a clue."

Steven wasn't used to his sons sneaking into an
investigation, although, he shouldn't be surprised by
their actions. His sons had solved more cases in
Gateway City than most of the detectives on his squad.
Steven knew his face was blood red. It had to be. His
blood pressure was pounding in his ears.

As he entered his password into his personal email
program, he willed himself to calm down. His sons
seemed to be two of the few people who could make him
lose his cool. And that meddlesome Rita Logan wasn't
far behind.

He scanned the photo and the quick note left by Matt.
He sighed in frustration. He should have known he
couldn't hide something like this from his sons. He
grabbed the phone on his desk and called Micah's
private cell.

"Rita Logan and your brothers are closing in on
solving the case," Steven told his oldest son.

"I told you that you should have confided in them.
They're curious guys. You should know. You raised
them," Micah said. "And Rita Logan being involved will
only make Noah want to help more. You know he has a
crush on the girl."

"I know. You were right. I think we should bring them
all in on this case before the whole thing blows up in
our face." Steven wasn't happy about having to involve
his youngest sons i the case. This was a pretty
dangerous one, one that would, in the end, get someone
killed.

Micah was so silent on the other end of the line,
Steven feared his untrustworthy cell phone had dropped
the call. It wasn't until he heard his son's sharp
intake of breath that he knew that wasn't the case.

"We've got a problem, Dad. The Logan girl is back and
alone. I don't think a bunch of holograms are going to
scare her off as easily this time."

Like a spector, Detective Micah Strong moved with the
shadows, stealthy and secretive. He was an expert
tracker. Gateway City criminals didn't have a chance
of resisting his hometown all-star allure.

Steven was afraid of that. He wasn't a fan of getting
civillians involved in an investigation but he feared
if he didn't, those missing college girls would be
lost to him forever.

"Bring her back to the compound. I think we need to
have a chat with Ms. Logan and the boys."

"Your sons are on their way back," Cosmo said as he
monitored the surveillance cameras they'd set up all
around the dark tower. "Rita locked them into her
room," he said with a snicker.

"Good. Thanks." Steven took a deep breath. He didn't
want to think about what they were doing in Rita
Logan's bedroom.

***

Rita Logan had a feeling about that strange
holographic set up in the living area of the tower.
She had a feeling it was just a red herring to either
scare her off or throw her off. Either way, it had
done its job on her first visit. The tactic wouldn't
be so successful a second time.

Before she got within fifteen feet of the front door
of the tower a gloved hand grabbed her mouth and
shoved her forcefully toward the woods behind Mrs.
Cresswell's cabin. Rita struggled but something was
wrong. With each step she felt weaker and weaker. The
woods ahead began to blur in her vision and before she
could see where the kidnapper was taking her, she
passed out.