A Child's Courage.

The Mission

On the other end of the line, inside Kelly’s house, Kelly had dropped the phone and was frantically running through the spacious living room, towards the open front door to her little sister’s aid.

"I’m coming Kim!” she screamed, pausing at her father’s gun cabinet. “Don’t worry, your sister’s coming!”

Bracing herself, Kelly threw her fist full into the glass door of her father’s gun case and grabbed a .357 pistol with her injured hand. Quickly, nervously, Kelly then dropped two bullets into the gun’s rotating barrel chamber and ran over the glass from the broken door window, out onto the front lawn. There, she found a man holding a firm hand over Kim’s mouth as he carried her over to a small black car. The first thing Kelly noticed was that there was fear in her sister’s tear filled eyes, throwing her anger clear over her fear and she fired the first round into the air, prompting the man to stop dead in his tracks.

“Let go of my sister!” she demanded, leveling the powerful hand gun at the man’s head.

The man hesitated and Kelly fired the second round into the rear window of the black car, barely missing the man’s head. “Do it now!”

For a moment, the man seemed to be relaxing his grip on the small girl but then he smiled at her, shaking his head. “I don’t think so, kid.” he said.

Anger flowed through Kelly as her finger shook upon the trigger of the gun. But before she could react, she felt a hand viciously strike her injured hand, causing her to drop the gun she was holding. She turned to face her attacker only to be forcibly struck across the face, sending her flying off of her feet and hard onto the ground. It was a long moment before she could look up but when she did, she found a tall, thin man in a black business suit standing over her with the second man in the back ground, still holding her panicked little sister.

“This is just a friendly little warning, young lady.” he said in a quiet, threatening tone. “If you and your friends insist to continue to pursue this lost child program, you, your sister, and everyone involved in the project will very quietly and very permanently disappear.”

The man then turned and walked away from her. He snapped his fingers as he passed the second man, who threw Kim hard onto the ground and followed the first man as he stepped into the black car. Kim ran away from the two as soon as she was able to find her feet and fearfully threw herself into Kelly’s arms. As Kelly held Kim, trying her best to calm her, the thin man turned to her as he closed the car door.

“You remember my warning, young lady.” he said. “And if you even think of calling the police, we won’t even bother to take you way. We will just bury you.”

With that, the man tapped the second man on the shoulder and the car sped away from the house, leaving Kelly and her little sister sitting in their own front yard, shaken.

“You monsters!” whispered Kelly, angrily as Kim cried in her arms. “You awful, terrible monsters! You just made our project personal!”

Less than an hour later, Kelly arrived at Rick’s house with Amy and Kim at her side. The house was in shambles. Furniture and lamps were knocked over, child sized fist and foot marks spotted a number of walls inside the living room and inside Rick’s bedroom. It was clear that a fierce struggle had taken place before the unknown attackers managed to take Rick away. Seeing it all, Kelly could not help gasp as tears again began to form in her eyes.

“If only he had gone with me!” she thought miserably.

Moving on, Kelly and Kim found Race, Michael, Amy, waiting for them inside Rick’s bedroom. They were doing their best to comfort Rick’s mother, Sarah, who sat at the foot of Rick’s bed with tears in her eyes. Upon seeing Kelly and Kim enter, Race approached them, with obvious concern flashing on his face.

“Kelly, you’re hurt!” he said, noticing her injured hand. “What happened?”

“Someone tried to kidnap my sister.” said Kelly, barely holding back her tears. “I hurt my hand getting one of my dad’s pistols out of the gun cabinet.”

“Did you see what they looked like?” asked Michael.

Kelly nodded. “I saw both of them.” she said. “One of the men knocked the gun from my hand then nearly knocked me out with a blow to the head.”

She showed them the heavy bruise that had formed on her right cheek. As Michael and Race looked at it, their anger towards the two unknown men grew.

“Did they say anything to you?” asked Race.

“The man who had struck me warned me that if we do not stop pursuing our child find project, he would see to it that we would all permanently disappear.”

“How did you manage to get away?” asked Michael.

“They let us go.” said Kim, speaking for the first time. “The man who was holding me, he threw me onto the ground.”

Kelly gave her sister a quick squeeze with one arm to comfort her, the asked, “Did the police find anything here?”

“Nothing.” replied Race. “Not one blasted thing. This was a professional job. They believe it may be tied into our project because who ever took Rick, erased all of the files related to it from his computer.”

“Did you call the police?” asked Sarah, concerned.

Kelly shook her head, the tears now flowing from her eyes. “Before the two men took off, one of them told me that if I went to the police, they would kill us all.”

“Well, I am calling the police.” said Sarah. She turned to Kimberly. “Would you like to come with me, Kim? Do you want to tell the police what happened to you?”

Kim looked up and her sister, who nodded and she nodded at Sarah, who then escorted her out of the room.

“What- what are we going to do?” asked Amy.

Before anyone could respond, Kelly noticed the small pile of Rick’s clothing lying on the floor in the closet.

“What’s Rick’s clothes doing lying on the closet floor?” she asked.

“They were probably knocked in there during the struggle.” mussed Michael. “The rest of the house is a mess.”

Kelly shook her head. “I don’t think so.” she said. “The pile is too neat.”

“What are you getting at, Kelly?” asked Race.

“It might be nothing.” replied Kelly, honestly. “But yet, I wonder....”

She walked over to the closet and scooped the pile up into her arms. But, as she turned to carry them over to the bed, a small CD case fell from the pile and landed on floor next to Kelly’s feet. She quickly dropped the clothes onto the bed, picked up the small case, and opened it to reveal a burned CD and a hastily folded map from Rick’s map cabinet. Upon seeing the two items, Kelly could not help but smile.

“I thought so.” she said. “I knew Rick would not just let himself be taken without leaving some kind of a trail.”

“Let me see that CD.” said Michael. “Hopefully, Rick left enough clues to tell us where he was taken.”

“Give that map to me.” said Race. “I’ll look it over.”

Kelly handed over the CD and Michael quickly placed into Rick’s computer, as Race looked over the map, and struck a few keys onto the keyboard. The computer gave a momentary hum before the screen came to life with the information Rick and Kelly had dug up on the A list.

“That’s the half way house Rick and I were investigating earlier today.” said Kelly. “It’s an old riverboat in the Louisiana bayou named....”

“The A list.” said Amy, trembling. The group turned to look at her.

“That’s right.” said Michael, surprised. “But How did you know about it?”

“She was there.” replied Kelly. “Anyway, Rick thought it was just another dead end. But, somehow, I don’t think so.”

“Wait a minute.” said Race, looking up from the map. “Amy was at that place?”

He turned to Amy, who slowly nodded.

“Just look at the file marked success story.” said Kelly.

“Time is against us, Kelly.” said Michael. “Why don’t you just tell us.”

“Well, according to the file, Amy’s family was killed in a car accident a few years ago. The event shook her so much, it took six weeks at the A list to prepare her for a new life with her adopted family here in Los Angeles.”

“I- I don’t think it happened like that.” said Amy, still trembling. “I think something very wrong is going on there.”

“What makes you think that?” asked Race.

“Ever since I was adopted, I’ve been having these terrible dreams.” replied Amy. “They all start the same way and end with me seeing the same old river boat, the A list. I-”

Before Amy could finish, Michael spoke up, “Hello?, there’s something else here.”

He moved the mouse over to a second file on the disk and hit the button. What came up onto the screen caused everyone’s heart to jump into their throats. They again turned to Amy who stared at the monitor, too terrified to speak. There were two identical pictures of herself on the screen, each bearing a different name, with the words, match found flashing on the bottom of the screen. Looking at it, Amy’s lips trembled in a haunting mixture of fear, confusion, and anger. Her nightmares were real, she was kidnapped from her home and sold as an orphan. Amy was a missing person, she was Anna Eve.

Everything was finally beginning to make sense to Amy but all of the answers to her questions only raised more. The first was, who was Anna Eve?

“Kelly?” said Michael, slowly turning away from Amy. “Just why were you and Rick investigating this half way house?”

“Because it’s the same place Emily has been calling from.” replied Kelly.

“Emily?” asked Race.

Kelly nodded. “Yes. Rick has been hearing her call for help over his ham radio for a few days now. He just got a hold of two other ham radio operators yesterday and they were going to try to triangulate her location the next time she called. Anyway, when we got the web sites for all of the country’s halfway houses, the A-list was the first on the list, so we accessed it to see what we could come up with...”

As Kelly talked, Race’s heart raced as he closely studied the map. He found three lightly drawn lines leading from three different locations, one from Los Angeles, to a point inside the Louisiana bayou. Upon noticing this, he turned back to the computer monitor at the two pictures of Amy and let out a loud gasp, catching everyone’s attention.

“What’s with you?” asked Michael.

“Kelly?” asked Race. “You said Rick was going to try to triangulate her location?”

Again, Kelly nodded and Race swallowed hard.

“What’s this all about?” asked Michael.

“Where is that half way house again?” he asked.

“Somewhere in the Louisiana bayou.” replied Kelly. “Why?”

Race showed the group the map he was looking at. “Because.” he said, quivering with fear. “That is where Rick had triangulated Emily’s signal.”

There was a long moment of silence before Michael slowly turned to Amy and said, “I think you had better tell us all about these nightmares you’ve been having.”

Amy swallowed, she did not like to think about it but she knew that if she did not tell her friends about, they might never see Rick again.

“They all start the same way.” she began. “I see myself around the age of five, running away from a black van. The people inside it toy with me for a while then take me from my own front door.”

“Wait a minute!” said Race, suddenly startled. “Wasn’t there a black van in front of the school yesterday?”

“There was!” replied Michael, becoming nervous himself. He turned to Amy. “Was that why you were so jumpy? Was that why you asked me to walk you home?”

Amy nodded, then Kelly fearfully said, “I noticed a black van parked along the curb a few hundred feet from this house when I left for the amusement park.”

“Was it the same one we saw at the school?” asked Michael.

“I- I’m not sure.” replied Kelly. “But I had a bad feeling about it.”

Michael turned back to the monitor at the two pictures of Amy then at the map Race was still holding as the pieces came together in his mind. Finally, in one sudden instant, the truth hit him and his jaw dropped in a mixture of fear and rage.

“That’s why Rick was taken!” he blurted out. “He figured it out!”

“Figured out what!?!” asked Kelly. “What the devil did he stumble upon!?!”

Micheal was silent for a moment before he said, "I believe our program has uncovered an adoption ring.”

Kelly gasped. “A what!?!”

“An adoption ring." Micheal repeated, serious. "Their in the business of kidnapping children and selling them to unsuspecting couples who wish to adopt a child without all the paperwork." He sighed. "Amy was a victim of that ring and by using the child find program we had developed, we blew their cover and Rick was their first target to keep it secret.”

The shock of Michael’s realization held them all in a long moment of silence, broken by Emily’s voice again coming over the ham radio speakers. “This is Emily Wild. If anyone out there can hear me, please, answer!”

Kelly rushed over to the ham radio, not noticing that the dial had been turned, and grabbed the mike, pushing down the transmit button. “This is Kelly.” she said. “I hear you, Emily.”

In the Louisiana bayou, Emily, standing on the third level walkway of the old river boat, let out a small scream of surprise as Kelly’s soft voice clearly echoed over the small speaker. She let out another small shriek as the crude radio slipped from her nervously shaking hands. She quickly fumbled with the radio for a moment before finally getting a better grip then hit the transmit button.

“Kelly?” she asked, shivering. “Are you still there?”

“I got a hold of her!” announced Kelly, inside Rick’s room. She hit the transmit button. “I’m still here, Emily. You would not believe how long we’ve been trying to lock onto your signal!”

On the river boat, Tim and Joey quickly but quietly ran out onto the walkway. “Are you all right?” whispered Tim, concerned. “We heard you scream.”

“I got a hold of someone!” whispered Emily. She turned back to the radio. “It’s a good thing you found our signal, Kelly. We were beginning to lose hope.”

“We?” asked Kelly.

“Yes. There are two boys being held here with me. Tim Thorne and Joey Brave.”

Michael’s eyes widened in surprise. “Joey?”

He rushed forward, took the mike from Kelly, and hit the transmit button. “Joey? This is Michael. Can you hear me?”

On the riverboat, a low gasp escaped from Joey’s lips. He rushed forward with tears falling from his eyes as took the radio from Emily and hit the transmit button.

“Michael!” he said, the tears still flowing. “Michael, is that really you!?! Man, you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice!”

Michael wiped the tears form his eyes and hit the transmit button. “You want to bet?” he laughed. “I thought dad had taken you, but that’s not it, is it?”

“I wish it was that simple.” replied Joey. “Emily, Tim, and myself were all taken by two goons in a black van.”

“A black van?” asked Michael.

He quickly exchanged startled looks with the others as Joey continued. “They brought us out here to this swamp and left us with these two characters, Morgana and Dr. Jerk.” He said. “They’ve been holding us out here ever since along with these two, brainless, muscle bound body guards named Bronx and Gruesome.”

“They haven’t done anything to you, did they?” asked Michael, fearful.

“They’ve been having us searching this maze of underground tunnels, looking for some weird looking diamond crystals. They must each be worth a fortune.”

“That’s probably why they have not yet been sold to some couple.” mused Kelly. “Because this Morgana and Dr. Jerk had discovered some kind of treasure.”

“And they’re using my brother along with two others to dig it up!” raged Michael.
He turned back to the ham radio and hit the transmit button. “Don’t worry, Joey.” he said. “We are going to get you all out of there!”

“How?” asked Joey.

“You let us worry about that. You just sit tight, okay?”

Before Joey could respond, a strong hand ripped the radio from his grasp and viciously struck him hard to the floor. Joey looked up, rubbing his throbbing jaw, to see the blurry figure of Gruesome standing over him.

“Joey?” came Michael’s voice over the radio speaker. “Joey, what happened? Are you still there?”

Gruesome studied the radio for a moment, then gave the three children a cruel smile.
“You kids are far more resourceful than I gave you credit for.” he said. “Tapping this radio into Morgana’s ham radio system is pure genius. But I’m afraid your little game has come to it’s end.”

“Joey!” came Michael’s voice again. “Joey, answer me!”

Gruesome smiled again and hit the transmit button. “I’m sorry.” he said. ”But this radio is no longer in service.”

With that, he dropped the radio onto the wooden floor of the walkway and completely destroyed it with one heavy stomp of his boot.

Inside Rick’s bedroom, everyone jumped as Michael angrily slammed the mike down before taking a number of deep breaths. He then turned to the others. “Who do we know who owns a jet?” he asked.

“We’re going to try to save them ourselves?” asked Race.

“Yes, we are.” replied Michael, flatly. “Who do we know owns a jet?”

“Jonathan Porter owns a private jet.” said Kelly. “He’s also quite an experienced pilot. But we’re going to need more than a jet to pull this off.”

“I know, Kelly.” said Michael, quietly, reaching for his cellphone. “That’s why I’m going to call Hannah first.”

“Why call her!?!” asked Kelly, surprised.

“Her father is a survivalist.” replied Michael, dialing a number. “He will have everything we will possibly need to pull this off.”

“Do- do you think she will help us?” asked Amy.

“She will when she hears Joey’s voice.” said Michael. “Rick records everything that comes over the ham radio in case he stumbles upon something interesting or....”

He stopped mid sentence as Hannah’s voice finally echoed over the phone. “Hannah, this is Michael Brave. I have a favor to ask...”

Minutes later, Michael and the rest of the group walked out of Rick’s bedroom and met Sarah and Kim in the hall.

“Did you find anything at all?” asked Sarah.

“Too much.” replied Race. He handed her the CD, the map, the flyer with Amy’s face and real name on it, and the audio tape from Rick’s ham radio system. “Give these items to the police. It should help their investigation.”

Sarah took the items, giving the children a confused look. “But wouldn’t it be wiser for you to give it to the police yourselves?” she asked, concerned. “You would be far better able to answer all of their questions.”

“We have a few errands to run, Mrs. Stone.” said Michael. “But Amy will stay here with you and Kimberly to answer all of their questions.”

Amy looked at Michael, surprised. “What!?! But I want to go with you, I can help!”

“You can help the most by staying right here.” said Race. “You are a victim of those people who had taken Rick and threatened us, that makes you key witness.”

Amy seemed confused. “How so?”

“You know a lot more about these people than any of us.” said Kelly. “That’s why we need you to tell the police everything you know.”

“And we do mean everything, Amy.” said Michael. “Do you think you can do that?”

Amy looked at them, tears forming in her eyes. “I- I don’t know.” she said.

“I know It’s going to be rough, Amy.” said Kelly. “But we really need the police to know everything that is going on so they can help us bring them down. Will you?”

Amy let out a low, frustrated sigh. But she managed to nod. “I’ll do it.” she said, finally. “Just hit them one for me, okay?”

Michael nodded, a smile forming on his face. “Thank you. We will.”

Amy nodded back and the three left the house without another word, leaving Amy and Kimberly alone with Sarah Stone to wait for the police to arrive.

“What are they planning to do, Amy?” asked Sarah, nervous.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Stone.” said Amy, frustrated. “They wouldn’t tell me.”

Sarah watched as Michael, Kelly, and Race stepped out the door and could not help shiver. “They're going after them." Worried, she said. "I'm calling the police."

Less than an hour later, Michael, Kelly, and Race walked passed two doors into a large room that looked like a cross between a machine shop and an armory. Hannah, wearing a greasy jacket, covering a military uniform saw them enter and motioned them to her. “Welcome to my dad’s work shop, guys.” she said, walking up to them. “We’ve been expecting you. Come on in.”

“Thanks for seeing us at such short notice.” said Michael. “We know how much your dad hates surprise visits.”

“I owe you guys one.” said Hannah.

“So do I.” confirmed Tommy.

Hannah gave her little bother a quick hug.

“I don’t mean to rush things." said Race. “But we have got to get to the bayou before tonight. It may be a matter of life and death.”

“Yes, I know. Michael played the interrupted conversation he had with his brother when he talked to me on the phone.” said Hannah, sadly. "That's why my dad and I both dug up some gadgets to help your rescue mission. Follow me.”

The three followed Hannah to another part of the shop where they met Hannah”s father, a tall muscular man in military fatigues packing a utility belt with a number of small items. “Is it all set, daddy?” she asked, approaching him.

“Everything is ready, honey.” replied her father. “Are those kids here yet?”

“We are here, Mr. O’Falcon.” said Michael. “Thank you for agreeing to help us.”

“No sweat, kids.” said the man, turning to them. “But please, call me Max.”

We would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what we were planning.” said Race. “Those people said they would kill us all if we called the police.”

“It’s already been done.” remarked Michael. “We have to save them before they get wind that the police know of their operation and move to another place.”

“You can count on me for silence.” replied Max. “I only wish I could go with you three. This is usually the kind of thing I live for but I’ve already promised Hannah that I would try to patch things up with her mother by taking the whole family camping this summer.”

“I hope everything works out for you, sir.” said Kelly.

Max merely nodded then turned to the utility belt he had been working on. “You will each have one of these survival belts.” he began. “They each have all you need for surviving in the swamp.”

“Like what? asked Michael.

“Well, it carries a small, high powered flashlight; extra batteries; a small medical kit, a snake bite kit; a machete for cutting your way through the dense underbrush; a small hunting knife for close quarters defense; a flare gun...”

“I think they get the idea, dad.” said Hannah with a laugh. “Did you prepare anything else for them?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” replied Max.

He picked up three small boxes and tossed one to each of the three. The opened them up to find a military uniform, each in their size.

“Those uniforms will make you three a lot more comfortable while you are in the Louisiana bayou.” said Max. “I hope they fit. I had to pretty much guess at your sizes from Hannah’s descriptions of you three.”

“How will these make us more comfortable?” asked Kelly.

“For starters, those uniforms were designed and tested by the U.S. army to be used in the type of terrain you kids are heading into.” said Max. “And secondly, they are perfectly colored so that, when you wear them, you will all be but invisible against the background of the dense overgrowth.”

Michael nodded. “I understand, sir.” he said. “Thank you.”

Max smiled. “Just hit them one for us, okay.”

“We’ll do that.” said Race. “Thanks again.”

The three turned to leave. “Just one more thing, kids.” said Max. The group turned and he said, "Come back alive."

The three nodded, then left the shop.

"Do you think they’re going to be okay, dad?” asked Hannah.

“I don’t know, kid.” replied Max. “But I do know that those three are going to need a lot more than just luck.” He knotted his jaws in decision. "We're moving the survival convention to the bayou."

Later that day, the team walked through the main doors into the lobby of the Los Angeles national Airport and quickly made their way to the escalators leading to the private air strips. Michael was in the lead, wearing the military style uniform Max had given him. Race and Kelly were close behind in the same attire.

“What’s the plan?" asked Kelly.

“We can’t make any plans until we know what’s going on.” replied Race, panting.

“Hurry!" urged Michael. "Those kids might not have much time left!”

The three ran up the escalator, passed the crowds, out the rear entrance, to a private air strip where Johnathan was waiting for them next to a small jet plane with its engines already humming.

“Get aboard!" he said. "Quickly, traffic is murder today!”

The three climbed aboard, with Johnathan following, and quickly took their seats as he hurried into the cockpit pit. He fumbled with the controls for a moment then grabbed the radio mike. “This is Johnathan, flight NH two seven seven, requesting clearance to take off on private runway four, over.”

“Negative, flight NH two seven seven, the pattern is full, standby for clearance.” replied a voice over the radio. "Tower out.”

“Roger, Tower.” said Johnathan. “Standing by.”

He sighed and turned to his passengers. “It looks as if it's going to be a while before we're given permission to take off.” he said.

“But we have to get to the bayou before tonight!” said Kelly, pleading. “A little girl's life may be in the balance!”

“Not to mention the life of my little brother!” added Michael.

Johnathan look at his passengers and bit deep into his lower lip, thinking, considering. Finally, he turned back to the controls, saying, “Hang on tight, then! We're taking off right now, clearance or not!” He let out a sigh. “I’m going to loose my license for this...”

Johnathan slowly increased power to the engines and pushed the stick slightly forward. The private jet began its move on the runway, increasing speed as it went. Orders from the tower came over the radio, which Johnathan ignored and pulled on the stick, lifting his plane into the air. As they increased altitude, a 747 passenger jet leveled off in their path. Johnathan cursed and roughly pushed the stick to the left. The tiny jet rolled to the side, over the jumbo jet's wing, passing mere inches from the windows where the startled passengers watched in fright. Kelly, Race, and Michael held their breath until the plane rolled back into a level flight. Johnathan wiped his hand across his brow and turned back to the three.

“We're on our way, folks.” he said. “Sit back and relax.”

“Relax!?!” asked Race, exasperated. “You nearly got us killed!”

“What, that?” asked Johnathan, sarcastically. “Oh, that’s nothing, one of my better take offs.”

“Lovely!” said Race to himself. Then he said aloud, “Can you get us out to the bayou before tonight, Johnathan?”

“Hang on to your butts.” replied Johnathan. “We will be hitting mach one as soon as we clear the heavy traffic.”

Kelly nodded, then looked down at a cross she had hanging around her neck, nervously rubbing the chain with her thumb, thinking. “You okay?” asked Race.

Kelly nodded. “I just can't get my mind off of Rick.” she said. “I should have been there, I should have...”

Race placed a reassuring hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “I wouldn't worry too much about Rick.” he said. “He can take care of himself.”

“They took Rick to sell him to some unsuspecting couple.” added Michael. “They are going to want to keep him in one piece to get their money.”

“Unless they want to use him to dig for those crystals Joey mentioned.” said Kelly.

“Good point.” said Michael. He turned to Johnathan. “How soon can we hit mach one?”

“We are going to mach now.” replied Johnathan.

The three let out a surprised yell as they suddenly found themselves pushed against their seats. “You just hang in there, Rick!” said Race, as if Rick could hear him. “We are on our way!”