Chapter 36

When Isaac's cell phone had rung, he and Zac had just finished circling the parking lot of the Dairy Queen near Rick and Rob's house.  It was a long shot, but they knew Taylor liked ice cream enough to trudge through snow to get it.  "Yeah?"  He answered the phone.

"Ike?"

"Dad, have you heard anything?"

"Yes, he's at the house."

"We went there."

"Well," his father answered.  "You must have missed him, Marcy and her brothers are with him."

"What!?  What are they doing there?"

Zac was getting impatient, "where!?"

"The house."  Isaac answered him curtly.

"Well go then!"  Zac exclaimed.

"Zac, shush!  I can't hear Dad!"

"Ike," his father said, "he saw some stuff that upset him and he scared Marcy and she called her brothers."

"Is she ok?"  Isaac remembered his experience the night his brother had come at him with a look in his eye he would never forget and he hoped she hadn't been subjected to anything like that.

"I think so, but I want you and Zac to go get him and bring him home."

"Ok, Dad.  We're on our way."

"Alright son, be careful, it's snowing and also, they said there are reporters there."

"Man, that pisses me off!  Why can't they just leave us alone?!"

"We knew that was a possibility when we started this whole thing, so I guess we're not allowed to complain now, so you two keep your cool please."

"We will, Dad."

"Call me when you get there."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye bye."  And his father hung up.

"Now are you going to tell me?"  Zac asked.  As Isaac drove the short distance to their old house, he told Zac what his father had told him.  "Do ya think he knows?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll find out."  Isaac answered him.  As they turned onto the street where they'd grown up, they could see there were a couple vans parked in front and a car in the driveway.  The snow had turned from flurries to big threatening cottony blobs.  Isaac turned out the headlights hoping to gain just a few seconds of not being noticed.  "Get ready... and Zac, do not say anything.  Just go straight in, ok?"

Zac took a deep breath.  "Ok."

They pulled into the driveway as quickly as they dared, immediately, cameras, lights and microphones were aimed their way.  The moment the car stopped, Isaac threw it in park and they were getting out.

"Does Taylor know?"

"How is Taylor taking the news?"

"Do you know why Taylor was kidnapped?"

"How do you feel about Taylor losing his voice?"

The questions were fast and furious but both boys plowed through it all not looking up or pausing in their mission to get inside as fast as possible.  Inside, Tim had his hand on the door knob and the moment their feet hit the top step, he jerked it open.  Once inside, they slammed and locked the door behind them.  As Isaac leaned back against the door to catch his breath, Zac turned to look at the two boys.  "Where is he?"

"In the office."  Greg said and pointed that way.  Zac quickly took off in that direction.

Isaac stood up straight now, looking at Greg.  "What happened to you?"

"Taylor punched me."

"Why?"  Isaac asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, man.  I guess I got caught up in his little flashback."  Greg answered.

"Oh God.  I'm sorry, do you think that's what it was?"

Greg was taken aback.  He'd expected Isaac to lash out at them.  "Well, I'm not a shrink or anything, but from what I've read about that kind of stuff, that's what I'd think happened.  Marcy said he was fine one minute and the next he was on the floor."

~~~~

Zac had gone straight to the room they now used as an office.  Marcy sat in the corner on the floor with Taylor's head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair.  When she saw him, she put her finger to her lips signaling him to be quiet.  He was so relieved to see his brother there he nearly laughed out loud.  He walked over to them and whispered, "what happened Marcy?"

They needn't have whispered because between Taylor's exhausted body and the drug now running through his system, there was no danger whatsoever of him waking up.  Marcy didn't want to take any chances though, and so, rather than say anything, she pointed to the desk.  Zac looked puzzled.  "Did he find out about the guy?"  He asked.

She looked down at the now peaceful face of his brother, remembering not only the sadness she'd seen there, but also the fear.  She sighed, "Zac, all I know is I turned around for a minute and when I turned back..."  She paused.  Zac had never seen Marcy upset or have her feathers ruffled by anything, so he was shocked to see her cover her face with her hands and her shoulders shake as she tried to gain control of her emotions.

He stooped down next to her and put his hand on her back.  "It's ok Marcy, he's alright.  I'm just glad you were here with him, what if he'd been by himself?"

She sniffed and wiped her face with her hands, then looked up at him.  "I swear to God, Zac, I thought he was having a heart attack!  I didn't know what to do.  I tried to call your house and it was busy and the whole time I'm watching him and he looked like he couldn't breathe...  He's got his hand on his chest and them he just collapses on the floor!"  She took a deep breath and shook her head.  "And then, I look at the fax and I'm thinking he must have seen that.  I didn't know what else to do, so I paged Greg.  I was praying he was still at that party with you guys, but he'd left.  So he and Tim came over here to help me."   Zac reached over and hugged her just as Isaac came in the room followed by Tim and Greg.  "But Zac,"  she said, "when the guys got here they noticed that other stuff there."  And she pointed to the desk again, "I really think that's what set him off now that I saw it.  And whoever that girl is in the picture."

"What are you talking about?"  Isaac asked as he stood up to look at the things she was pointing to.

Zac said, "She thinks whatever that stuff is...  That's what upset him."

The moment Isaac's eyes lay on the photos, all traces of doubt left his mind, he knew it had done it.  He quickly shoved it all in the folder and closed it.  Tim and Greg glanced at each other remembering what they'd seen.  Isaac stepped back towards his brothers and stooped down, Taylor was out like a light. Though he hated to wake him, he felt that the sooner they got him home, the better.  He pushed his hair out of his face noticing how sweaty he was.  "Tay?"  He spoke loudly, but got no response.  He patted his cheek, "Taylor, Dad wants you to come home."  He said.  "Zac, help me."  Between the two of them, they were able to pull him up into a sitting position and, though he hadn't opened his eyes, his eyebrows were furrowed and Isaac knew he was coming around.  "Jeez," Isaac said to Marcy.  "He didn't drink anything did he?"

"No," she said.  "The only thing was a pill Kim gave him."

He rolled his eyes, "great.  I guess it wasn't Ecstasy this time or you woulda been in trouble."

"It wasn't anything like that..." Greg said, "It was something her mom takes for her nerves.  If you'd seen him, I think you'd know he needed it."

"I know, I know."  Isaac said, "I'm sure he did."  Isaac looked at Zac then back at Taylor.

Once they'd pulled him up, Marcy was able to get up and stand next to her brothers.  Zac wrinkled up his face and looked over at the three.  "What the heck's on his shirt?"

"I think he threw up."  Tim said.

"Ewww!  I'm not touching that."  Zac said.

"Oh good grief,"  Isaac shot back.  "If that's the worst thing you ever have to touch then you'll be doing just fine."  He was getting irritated now.  "Taylor!"  He shouted right in his brother's ear.  Taylor flinched and his eyes fluttered open for a moment.  As they started to close again, Isaac said, "No, no!  Wake up, man...  Dad's gonna be pissed!"  And he smacked him hard enough that Zac shot him a look.  Though it was harsh, it did the trick.

"I told you that would work."  Greg said softly to Marcy.

"Shut up."  She said and he grinned back at her.

Taylor looked very groggy and though it was obviously a struggle, he kept his eyes open.  "Raise your arms."  Isaac said, and pulled his sweater up and quickly pulled it off over his head.  "Zac, run up and get him a shirt."  He said.  Zac let go of Taylor's arm and left the room with Marcy following behind.

~~~~

When they got to the top of the stairs they went into a hall and then a bedroom.  There, Marcy saw a room just as they'd described, complete with bunk beds and soccer trophies.  As Zac went through the drawers of a chest in the corner looking for a shirt he thought would still fit his brother and pass the most current fashion phase, though he really didn't think Taylor would notice if he brought him flannel PJ's with feet, Marcy took a deep breath.  "Who's Sarah?"  She asked.

Zac decided on a plain black t-shirt, closed the drawer and turned to her.  "Do what?"  He asked blankly.

"Who is Sarah?"  She asked again.

"Uh...  I don't know.  Sarah who?"

"Sarah McAllister.  Taylor had a picture of her and he called me 'Sarah'."

He looked puzzled for a moment, "Really?  I never heard of a 'Sarah'.  What did she look like?"

She thought,  "Well, she was very pretty.  Sort of dark, dark hair, longish.  Dark brown eyes.  Really pretty."

"Hmmm, still doesn't ring a bell.  Where'd he get the picture?"

"It was with the other stuff in that folder, he got really upset looking at it.  I just thought maybe you'd know."

He shook his head.  "Zac!"   Isaac's voice called up the stairs.  For a moment, he didn't seem to hear.  "Zac!"  His brother called again.

Now, he looked towards the door.  "Yeah?"  He called back.

"Bring a couple down.  And a hat!"

"Alright."  He looked over at Marcy again then turned back to the drawer, pulling out the first one he touched.  "Here."  He said and he handed her the two shirts.  "I gotta find a hat.  I hope Ike doesn't think they won't recognize Tay cuz he's wearing a hat.  Could you take those on down?"

Marcy couldn't help thinking he was somehow trying to evade her questions.  "Yeah, ok."  She said.  She turned and went out the door leaving Zac opening the closet to search out a baseball cap amidst the years of accumulated stuff in the cramped space.

~~~~

Marcy walked back into the office.  Taylor was now sitting in a chair and Isaac was making him drink something, the distinctive color making her think it must be Mountain Dew.  Her brothers looked at her as she went past them to stand in front of Taylor.  His eyes looked drowsily up at her over the rim of the cup he was drinking from and his hair was a sweaty mess.

"Don't move, Tay."  Isaac said and he stood up and headed into the kitchen.

Marcy stooped down to his eye level and he sat the cup heavily down on the desk.  "I'm sorry."  He said to her.

"Taylor, you don't need to be sorry.  I'm sorry I panicked."  She said back.

Isaac walked back in now with a wet washcloth and handed it to Taylor.  "Here, clean up real quick so I can get a clean shirt on you."  He then grabbed the top shirt from Marcy and walked over to her brother and held it up to him.

"What?"  Tim said.

"Well, I was just thinking..."  Isaac said.

"No."  Tim said back.  "It won't work."  And he shook his head.

"Marcy, don't you think we could put Taylor's shirt and hat on Tim and take him out of here and they'd think it was Tay and follow us?"  Marcy smiled.

"Well, he's not as tall or as thin, but it might work if you ran."

"Marcy!"  Tim said.

"Oh fer cryin' out loud, Tim..."  Greg said, "just do it.  Tell the girls at school and maybe you'll get a date out of it."

Isaac looked over at Taylor just in time to see him put his head down on the desk.  "Oh no, you don't!"  He said and he rushed back over and pushed him back in the chair.  He pushed the cup in his face, "Here, drink some more."

Marcy handed Isaac the other shirt then walked over to Tim.  "Go ahead, it'll be fun.  Maybe you could pick your nose or cut a big stinky.  He'd never live it down."  She smiled at her brother.

"I look nothing like him."  He said back to her.

"So what?  You don't not look like him.  You're tallish, thinnish, you'll have his hat on and his coat, just don't say anything or look up.  They'll fall for it."

Zac came in then and stuck a black baseball cap on Taylor's head, then grabbed the washcloth and wiped his face and his chest.  "Ok, Zoe, do you need to go potty?"  He said to him.  Though she couldn't tell what Taylor's reply was, Zac's grin made her know he'd gotten the reaction he was going for.

Isaac grabbed the hat and threw it to Tim.  He then pulled the black shirt over Taylor's head.  "Now,"  he said loudly to Taylor.  "Stand up and Zac's gonna help you."  His limbs felt heavy and his mind was cloudy but Taylor did as he was told.  Isaac grabbed the hat from Tim's hand and stuck it on his head.

"Yuck!  It's all sweaty!"  He complained.

"So sell it on E-bay!"  Isaac said back.  Zac had gotten Taylor in shape and he remained standing.  Marcy couldn't believe her brothers had been roped into helping the Hansons.  Isaac asked her where their coats were and she went to the kitchen and came back with the coat Taylor had worn.  She handed it to Tim who shook his head.

"It won't fit me, did you see him?  He's skinny as a rail."  When he put it on though, it was actually loose on him.  "Hmm,"  he said, "he must be fatter than he looks."

"That's my coat, thank you."  Zac said.

Tim looked up.  "Oh.  Sorry man."

"That's alright," he grinned.  "If I wasn't fatter than him I'd be dead."  Taylor rolled his eyes and Marcy was glad to see he was alert enough to know he was being made fun of.

Isaac looked at Tim.  "Perfect."  He said.  "Now, me and Zac will take you out with us and hopefully, get followed."  Now, he looked over at Taylor.  "You alright?"  He asked.

Taylor nodded, then signed slowly, "What do you want me to do?"

Isaac walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder.  "Marcy and Greg will bring you home, ok?"  Taylor nodded again.  "Is that alright with you guys?"  He asked the two.

"Of course."  She said back.

Isaac looked at Greg.  "Sure man, we'll get him there."

"Thanks guys, we owe you one."  Isaac turned back to his brother.  "Tay, we're gonna take off.  I'll see you at the house."

"Ike," he said back. "I'm sorry."

Isaac hugged him.  "Forget it, just get your butt home."  He pulled back and looked at him thinking the reporters probably wouldn't have recognized him anyway.  He certainly didn't look like the guy that Calvin Klein had wanted in his ads or who'd graced the covers of so many magazines.  He turned to leave, "C'mon Zac."

Zac was at the desk now, looking at the pictures in the folder.  He carefully folded it in half and put it in his coat pocket.  "Marcy,"  he said, "please, I don't care if he has to have ice cream or a hamburger, if he slips on the ice and breaks his leg or if he has to pee...  Please make sure he gets home.  I've had it."

Marcy smiled.  "Alright, Wacko... see ya there in a few if all goes as planned."  He nodded and walked into the kitchen where Isaac and Tim were ready to go.  Marcy, Greg and Taylor all went into the front room to watch and hope all went well.  It was still snowing, but not as hard as it had been when the boys arrived. They watched as Isaac, Zac and Tim ran down the driveway.  Reporters and cameramen all jumped into their respective vehicles and the chase was on.  Fortunately, Isaac wouldn't actually have to outrun them, only his car would be allowed past the gate to their neighborhood.

"Thank God."  Marcy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's get out of here before they figure it out."  Said Greg.  He put his coat on and Marcy grabbed her own and handed Tim's to Taylor.  He put it on mechanically, Marcy couldn't tell if he was embarassed by the whole situation or if he was still out of it.  He never really looked up from the floor.  She was beginning to worry about him again.  They walked into the kitchen and Taylor began to search his pockets for something.

"Let's go, dude."  Greg said impatiently.

"What are you looking for?"  Marcy asked him.  He held out his hand, twisting his wrist.  She and Greg looked at each other.

"What?"  Marcy said, shaking her head.

"The key!"  He said to her.  Then, he looked over at the counter.  They were right where he'd left them.  He rolled his eyes then reached over and held them up.

"Oh, sorry."  She said sheepishly.

He shrugged then opened the door.  They stepped out onto the deck, but before he locked the door, he stopped, looked at Marcy, then ran back inside.

"Now what?!"  Greg said.

"I have no idea."  Marcy said back.

"Y'know, I could take him now that he's been sedated."

"That's nothing to brag about."  Marcy said back.

He answered, "oh, I'm not bragging, just stating a fact."

Just then, Taylor came back out the door carrying the purple teddy bear Marcy had said she'd wanted.  Greg didn't understand.  All he knew was, suddenly, his sister was kissing Taylor Hanson, pressing him up against the rail of the deck as snow covered their hair and landed on their shoulders.  "Give me the damn key.  I'm leaving here now, with or without you two."  He grabbed the keys from Taylor but he wasn't sure he'd even noticed.  He locked the door, then headed down the steps.  "If you have to set the alarm, you better do it."  He said as he headed for the car.

Marcy released Taylor and he handed the bear to her.  "Thank you."  She said.

"You're welcome."  He signed and they turned and slowly made their way down the steps.
 
 
 

Back

Index

Next