Chapter four. Dangerous situation.
"Sshhh, quiet. We don't want the neighbors to hear us and warn the police." Zac is still in front, making sure that the coast is clear. "I brought my flashlight, I thought it might come in handy." Zac clicks on his flashlight and moves the ray of light around the hallway. "Okay, let's go to the room where we found the earring." The guys silently head to the room backstage. "Zac, be careful when you open that door, don't make too much noise." Isaac's whispering sounds like a whiplash in the silence. Zac reaches for the doorknob and twists it around. The door opens easily. "Okay, here's where we found Irene's earring, in this seam." Zac shines with the flashlight to the spot Isaac is talking about. "So Irene must have walked here, where could she have been going?" "Good question, Tay. Hey, maybe they went through that other door that leads to the storeroom." "Let's see what's behind that door. Zac, you go first." "Why me! I don't want to go first! You go first then." "Zac, you have the flashlight, so you have to go first." Zac throws the flashlight to Isaac. "Great catch, Ike, now you have the flashlight, you go first." "Jeez, Zac, you are acting stupid. Man, I'll go in front, follow me." Isaac pushes Zac aside, and opens the door to the storeroom. "Guys, look what I found! Come quick!" Taylor and Zac hurry towards the spot where Isaac's excited voice came from. "What is it?" "Look, in this bag! It's loads of money and jewelry!" "Holy smokes! Do you think it belongs to those men?" Zac exclaims it with a catch in his voice. "I bet those dudes planted the bag here, but the contents doesn't belong to them. I'm almost sure that this stuff is stolen." Taylor touches some of the jewelry while he's drawing his conclusion. "Yeah, but the question is… why would they drop it here? I mean, there were many people in this building this afternoon, they could have been spotted easily." "Maybe that's the reason why they brought the bag in here, nobody would ever suspect that, just because there were so many people around." "Yeah, but why did they have to get rid of it? That's something to find out." "Sssh, guys, did you hear that?" Taylor makes a gesture to be quiet. All three are sharpening their ears. "I hear voices! Oh my god, it's them! They're coming for their stuff. What to do now?" "First, we have to get out of this storeroom, quick. Ike, lead the way, head for the stage!" Isaac sneaks as fast as he can, followed closely by Zac and Taylor. "Take that little stage door! We can hide on the stage behind the curtains. Ike, quick!" Taylor's whispering is just loud enough. Isaac understands what he has to do. He disappears through the little stage door, then Zac tiptoes through the door and Taylor closes the line. "Ike, set the door ajar. Then we can hear what they're saying." "Tay, I'm scared. I want to go home." "Zac, you can't right now. Do you want those men to come after ya? You better sit still now and be quiet." Zac's frightened eyes look at Taylor. Taylor grabs Zac's hand, and holds it very tight. Zac searches with his other hand for Isaac's hand. He squeezes it very hard. Isaac gives him the "it's okay, everything will be just fine" look. That makes Zac a little more comfortable. Isaac switches off the flashlight, and it's just in time, because the door of the backstage room opens.

Three men in black suits walk into the room. "I tell ya Charlie, somebody has been messing with the lock of the door." "Yeah, boss, that door was locked when we left the theater this afternoon. I think something is not right." "Oh shut up you two. If somebody was in here, we would have seen or heard them. Now get the loot. We can't leave Harry alone for too long with that girl. We got to get back to the warehouse as soon as possible." "But boss…" "Just do it, you fool! Get the stuff and we get out of here!" The little man walks over to the storeroom to get the bag. Then suddenly Zac can't hold back his tears and starts to cry. "Zac… shhhh!" Isaac notices that the man who's apparently the boss, is looking their way. "Zac, I think he heard ya. He's coming this way." "Okay, this is what we'll do, we just knock them over and run towards the front door. Zac, you hear me? Don't look back, run as fast as ya can!" Zac nods at Taylor. "You can do it, trust me on that. You've got more muscles then us!" The boss is coming closer. "What is it Charlie?" "I thought I heard something behind this door over here. I want to check it out." The little door opens, Isaac, Taylor and Zac hold their breath. "Now!" Isaac bumps into the man and knocks him over. Taylor and Zac are running behind Isaac as fast as they can. "Boss, is everything okay?" "Get them, you morons! It's those Hanson boys!" The other two men start chasing the guys. "Zac, don't look back! Run!" Taylor screams from the top of his lungs. Isaac reaches the front door, and throws it open. Taylor waits for Zac who is just behind him, and lets him go through the door first. Then Taylor tries to have a good look at the men, so maybe he can recognize them. But it's too dark to see anything clear. "Tay, come on! Get in the car man!" Isaac is trying to start the car. Zac jumps into the back seat, and opens the door for Taylor. Taylor throws himself onto the front seat, and encourages Isaac to start the car fast. "Ike, start the freaking car! Hurry up! Those dudes are right behind us! Come on!" Pearls of sweat are on the foreheads. The men are coming out of the building, and Isaac still didn't manage to start the car. "IKE!!! Start the damn car!" Zac screams in panic. "IKE!" Just as the men are close enough to open the car doors, the vehicle starts to drone. Isaac hits the gas pedal, and the car is spurting away. A big sigh of relief escapes from Taylor's mouth. "Don't you ever do that again, Ike. It makes me kinda nervous." Isaac looks in the back with concern in his eyes. "Zac, are you okay?" "I guess, but I was scared to death!" "You did very good, Zac, you really did." "Oh god, I hope those guys didn't see our license plate." Taylor's eyes are very wide opened. "What if they did?" Isaac tries to calm his brother down. "We'll just have to wait and see. We can't do anything else actually." The rest of the ride it's very silent, nobody says a single word.

Isaac parks the car in the hotel's parking lot. They get out of the car, totally exhausted. Taylor notices that it's two o'clock in the morning. "We still can get some sleep, we have to get up at seven." The guys enter the hotel, and the lady behind the counter gives them a strange look. No wonder, it seems like they just went to hell and back. Their faces are red, their hair is a wild mess and sticking to their forehead and neck, their clothes are dirty and they don't walk normally anymore. But Isaac, Taylor and Zac don't care. All they want is to go to sleep. In the elevator Isaac remembers something. "That Charlie person mentioned that they had to return to the warehouse as soon as possible. That means that Irene is somewhere in a warehouse, together with the Harry-dude." "Yeah, you're right. Are there any warehouses in this neighborhood?" Isaac tries to remember everything he saw this afternoon when they drove back to their hotel with the family. "I thought I saw a warehouse just a few blocks from here. We'll check it out tomorrow." "Uhm… guys? Is it okay if I sleep in your room tonight? I'm still shaking." Zac's eyes are almost begging. "Yeah, there's a spare bed and some blankets in a closet in our room. Go get your pajamas. We'll wake you around six thirty, so you can switch rooms again." "Okay, thanks. I'll get my stuff."

While Zac is getting his pajamas, Isaac and Taylor are making his bed. They put it in between of their beds. "Guys, open up. It's me." Zac's whisper sounds from the hallway. Taylor opens the door. "Look, we made your bed. Just hop in, and go to sleep." "Yeah, make yourself comfortable in our domain." Isaac says that with a big grin on his face. He hops into his own bed, and not much later Taylor and Zac do the same. "Good night, don't let the bad bugs bite." "Ike… it's dogs, not bugs. This is the second time I have to tell you this in one night." Isaac doesn't answer his 'whatever'. He has fallen asleep already. "Night Tay." "Nighty night Zac."

On The Mission Index