Rita Logan and the Dark Tower
Part 7: Duct Tape and Secret Passages
by Toni Walker
A hand closed over Rita Logan’s mouth. She struggled against her attacker for a good minute before he started dragging her toward the woods. She felt herself getting a bit woozy. Whatever was on the rag in his hand was causing her to loose consciousness.
Micah Strong heard the commotion from his position on the far side of the Dark Tower. He approached the goon that had Rita from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.
“You know, kidnapping is not a real nice way of introducing yourself.” He spoke casually, like the good-ole-boy from the south he was. His calm façade produced the results he wanted. The goon craned his neck around, dropping the rag covering Rita’s mouth. She melted to the floor out of the bad guy’s hands as he spun around to attack.
“Howdy,” Micah said. “Nice meeting ya.” In Micah’s hands was a long strip of silver duct tape. Before the goon knew what was happening Micah had the tape twisted around his wrists, trapping him . As he moved around the tape came up him until the man was bound by the silver tape. The goon grunted in protest.
“Love to stay and chat,” he said slapping the man on the back. “But I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”
Micah grabbed the rag soaked in sleep inducing agent and shoved it into the man’s mouth. “Sleep tight.”
There was something a bit unconventional about Micah Strong. He did things his own way. And that had a lot of people questioning him. But his results were rock solid.
“You’re weird, you know that?” Rita said slurring her words.
Micah smiled. “I like to call it thinking on my feet,” he said. “It did the job, didn’t it?
She had to agree. His odd way of saving her did produce results.
“You can think of me like MacGyver.”
A confused expression crossed her face. “Who?”
Micah sighed and shook his head. Kids were getting younger and younger every day. “Never mind.”
A few steps into their walk to his Jeep had Rita stumbling. He scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. As he drove the short distance, Rita spoke in gibberish he couldn’t understand. Rita was more effected by the sleep agent that he first thought . Her head bobbed as she struggled to remain awake.
Up ahead was the Strong Compound, it was where his father did all his deep thinking. He pulled his Jeep Wrangler into the long round driveway parking out front. Cosmo met him at the door.
“What happened to her?” Cosmo asked.
Micah carried Rita from the Jeep and past the computer nerd. “They tried to get her. Right in front of us they tried to get her.” He easily deposited her sleeping form on the nearest couch.
“Ballsy bastards, aren’t they?” Cosmo muttered.
Helen and Ford Logan, Rita’s parents appeared at the top of the second landing and rushed down the stairs when they saw their daughter.
“She’s fine,” Micah reassured them. “Just a little sleepy. It will wear off soon.”
“You promised me they wouldn’t get her,” Helen stressed.
Steven Strong, Micah’s father, appeared from the next room. “And they didn’t get her. She’s safe and she’s home.”
“I can’t believe you’ve pulled us from our home, Steven,” Helen said. “We haven’t had time to talk to Rita about any of this.”
“You know my theory has been the less they know the better,” Steven said.
“The kids deserve to know what they’re up against.” Ford Logan crossed his arms over his chest.
The door to the compound opened and everyone turned toward the foyer. The housekeeper opened the entrance revealing Noah and Matt.
“Yeah, dad. We deserve to know what is going on,” Noah said.
^^^
The basement of Rita’s home was dark and smelled like lint and dryer sheets. Kyle Fillmore coughed then sneezed. He was allergic to mold. There was probably mold down here too. He’d have to tell the Logan’s to do something about the mold. Having mold in your house wasn’t safe.
When the previous intruders had exited and Kyle was sure the coast was clear, he exited the cardboard box where he’d been hiding. It wasn’t the most original place to hide but it served its purpose.
He felt his pulse skyrocket when someone else entered the house. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself not to pass out. Being comatose on the floor was not the best way to evade the bad guys. He quickly jumped back into the box. The bottom was filled with clothes vacuumed sealed inside plastic sleeves. Each movement made a discernible crackling sound. He’d have to be as quiet as a church mouse to keep the bad ones from discovering his location.
^^^
Jordan Langford and her boyfriend, George exchanged troubling glances.
“He has to be here,” Jordan said as she swept her pink highlighted hair behind one ear.
“We are talking about Kyle here,” George reminded her. “And what about Rita and her family? Weren’t they supposed to be here too?”
“This is just too weird,” she whispered. “I feel like Rita looking for clues.”
“Rita’s parents are gone. Rita is gone and know Kyle. Are you sure this is the night they wanted to hair the family dinner?”
“I’m certain,” Jordan said. “There are two things I’m never wrong about. Music and food. And you couldn’t make me miss one of Mrs. Logan’s homemade meals.”
A crash in the basement had Jordan and George running down the back stairs. They found Kyle flat on his face in the middle of the laundry room floor.
“What are you doing?” Jordan asked.
“Obviously, I’m hiding.” Kyle stood and brushed the lint off his pants and shirt.
George leaned against the wall next to the washing machine. Before Jordan could tease Kyle any more, George yelped. When they both turned around to look, George was gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment