Chapter 11
It wasn't easy but Zac climbed up into the smelly dumpster. They shut the lid and the man took a padlock from his pocket and they locked it. They drug Taylor over to the car. The woman opened the door and told him to get in. Now, he was almost overcome by fear, he knew once you were taken to some secluded spot you probably wouldn't come out of it alive. He dug his feet into the pavement as best he could. "No."
"I'm gonna blow your head off if you don't get in there now."
"I don't care, do it!" He started to back up but now the man was there as well.
He grabbed his arms by the wrists and pulled them up so far Taylor was sure they were going to break. "If you're not in the car in 3 seconds, I'm filling the dumpster there with bullets. You got it?" Thinking he was sealing his doom, he got in. The woman got in the backseat and the man drove them out into the city.
Zac heard the car leave. Immediately he started kicking the lid of the dumpster but it was solid and whatever the guy had put in the lock was holding. He was getting nowhere. He would just have to make as much noise as he could and pray someone would hear him. "Help! Can anybody hear me?!" He was yelling as loud as he could and started kicking the sides of his metallic prison. Though it was probably only ten or fifteen minutes, it felt like an eternity until he heard someone in the alley. "Hello!?"
"What are you doing in there?" someone asked.
"Oh, thank God! Can you open this thing? Hurry! Somebody kidnapped my brother!"
"WHAT!?" They were trying to open the lid but it was locked.
"I'm Zac Hanson, some guy took my brother Taylor!"
"I can't open this. It's got a big lock on it! You want me to call the cops?"
"Yeah! And can you call my parents? They're in the hotel right there! I can give you my dad's cell phone number!"
"OK, hang on, I gotta write it down... damn! I don't have a pen! Just hold on, I'll go call the cops and come back and we'll call your folks for you. OK?"
"OK, please hurry! I'm afraid they're gonna kill him or something."
"I'll be right back!"
Zac started praying again.
~~~~
Taylor was shivering. He didn't know if he was cold or scared. His shoulders were aching from having his arms pulled behind him in the seat. His captors hadn't said a word to him. They were still in the city. Thank God for New York traffic. His mind was racing, he knew he had to do something before they got out of the bright lights and traffic. He turned his head to see the woman in the back, she was staring right back at him. Shit. Now he looked at the man, he didn't see the gun anywhere, he was just driving. But he had a feeling there was one pointed at his back behind him.
They stopped at a red light. The thought entered his mind, "it's now or never." He quickly leaned toward the window, brought his leg up and kicked the man as hard as he could in the close quarters of the car. The only thing he could get was his arm but the guy wasn't expecting it and so he was able to get in a couple more kicks before he reacted. He was trying to open the door but he couldn't find the handle behind him. Now, the man grabbed his shirt and was shoving him against the window. His head hit it hard enough that he was sure the glass would break but it didn't.
"Karen! Get him!" Taylor was still trying to kick him, he was far enough down in the seat now with his back against the door to be able to use both his long legs. He connected with the man's jaw snapping his head back as he was trying to get hold of him. The anger that welled up in the man was incredible. He threw himself at Taylor and landed on top of him. The car was small and Taylor found himself pinned. The man yelled to her. "You got it?! He's stronger than he looks, hurry up!"
Taylor was struggling as much as he could but the position he was in and the man's weight left him pretty much helpless.
"Just a second! OK, hold him down..." The pain he felt in his shoulder was unmistakable, she'd stuck him with a needle. It didn't take long 'til a murky cloudiness came over him and he knew he didn't have a chance anymore to get out of this. Why didn't someone see and help him?
~~~~
Sure enough, Zac's rescuer returned quickly and brought help. With the help of a crowbar and a lot of banging the lock finally gave way. There before him were two employees from the restaurant. He could hear sirens in the distance. "Please, can I call my mom and dad?"
One of the guys handed him a cell phone. "Sure thing."
He was shaking so badly he could hardly function. He dialed the number and waited. "Hello?"
"Mom?" he squeaked out.
"Zac? Where are you?"
When he heard her voice it was too much and the tears returned. "Oh God, Mom! This guy came and took Tay! He took him Mom!"
"Zac, where are you?! What are you talking about?!"
His tone of voice told her it was no prank. "I'm in this alley behind the hotel... We were getting something to eat and a guy came and said he wanted to talk to Tay and he made me get in the dumpster and he took him! Mom, we gotta find him, what if they kill him!?"
"Zac, don't hang up, I'm getting your father! Is Ike with you?"
"No, we left him in the room." He was sobbing as he was being overwhelmed with guilt. If only they hadn't cut through the alley or if they'd taken Jason like Ike said. Just then, a police car pulled up in the alley, it's lights shining on the dirty, shaking boy with the cell phone clutched in his hand.
~~~~
Within minutes of the drug entering his system, Taylor found he couldn't hold his eyes open and the lights of the city had swirled and blurred 'til he just gave in. He was relieved when the man moved from on top of him as the weight of him had been crushing and he could hardly breathe. Before his mind totally shut down on him he listened to the two talking. "Christ, Tom! We better ditch this car now! They're gonna be looking for him, we should have brought the little one too. He's gonna tell right off!"
"No, he won't know anything about the car except it's black. I'm not that stupid. But he's probably already out of there and singing like a bird."
"Are we taking him to your office?"
"No. Upstate, my summer place. But, I've got everything we need there. Don't worry."
~~~~
Diana threw the phone to Walker and ran out the door and across the hall to the boys' room. Damn! Locked! "Ike! Open up!" she was banging on the door. "C'mon Ike!"
The door opened and there stood her oldest son. "What's wrong?"
"Oh God, Ike, please tell me Zac and Tay are here..."
"They went to go get something to eat... What's wrong?" She was really starting to scare him. Her face had just gone white and she was looking around the room like a crazy person. "MOM! What is wrong?!"
"Ike, Zac just called and said someone kidnapped Taylor." She looked up at him.
"Oh my God, Oh my God... Where is he?" he asked.
"He's in the alley behind the hotel. Your dad's talking to him now, the police are with him."
Just then Walker came in. "They're coming up."
~~~~
"Karen, can you check his pulse?" She placed her finger tips on Taylor's neck. She could feel the thump thump of his heartbeat. Regular. Perfect. No problem.
"He's fine. I hope I gave him enough, if he wakes up again before we get there, he might kill you." Tom could tell she was grinning.
"I'm glad you think it's funny, he kicks like a mule! I thought he broke my arm for a minute."
"How's your jaw?" she asked.
"Hurts. I bit my tongue."
"He's not what I expected." She said.
"Not exactly, no."
"I thought he'd be, I don't know... Softer or something."
"Well, I guess he was pretty pissed off, but he's definitely soft for little brother."
"Yeah, I hated to scare the little guy, he didn't have anything to do with it..."
"Did you say little? He was bigger than me! If he had been the one in here, I might not have been able to handle him. Playing drums must be good exercise."
"What's this one play?"
"Keyboards, piano. Sings."
"So, he's the MMMBopper?"
"Yep. He's the one." He paused. "Karen? What do you think she saw in him? He's just a kid."
"Well, I thought that too, but seeing him in real life... I don't know, there's something else."
"Good God, not you too! What the hell is it about him?!"
"Tom, I hate him as much as you do. I'm just saying, he ain't no kid!"
"Whatever."
They drove on in silence.
~~~~
"Alright Zac. One more time, what did they look like?"
Zac sighed. It
was gonna be a long night. Please God, let them find him.
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