Kids At Sea, King Kong-The Truth

by michaelcahill

Background
The kidnapping of Junior's daughter has put court cases and murder trials on hold. The Bard, Tenaya and Lucy seek evidence in a perplexing case.

Previously, The tapes were inconclusive. They showed Lincoln leaving with three men, but it wasn't clear whether it was voluntary or not. Angela woke up in the dark, but it was clear to her she was on the water. A light came on in the room and a woman named Elsa was standing there. She called Angela, "Scooter" which was a nick-name an old boyfriend of her mother's used to call her. Her mother called him uncle Barry, as though Angela didn't realize that he was an affair she was having. We pick up the story now as Angela attempts to get information out of Elsa as to where she is and who has abducted her.

"What? Uncle Barry. Who in the… B. K. Yeah. Barry. I guess so. This is his boat. He isn't your uncle, honey, that I can guarantee you. Where did you get that idea?" Elsa looked puzzled.

"That is what my mother told me. She said he was Uncle Barry. You called me Scooter. He's the only one that ever called me that. So, I figured it was Uncle Barry. I hope I didn't get him in trouble or anything. Are you his wife or something?" Angela looked devilishly innocent.

"Ha! He knows your mother, yes. He knows her quite well. I know your mother quite well also. Now, enough questions. You said you are hungry. Can I bring you lunch? Perhaps you'd like to come up on deck and get some sun." Elsa smiled the smile of someone that knew something that someone else didn't.

Angela knew damned well that Barry had no Blackwell blood in his veins. She knew when she heard the term "Uncle", when she was an eight year old that it stood for "don't let the kid know I'm cheating on Dad". Angela had no illusions about her parent's marriage. It didn't traumatize her. Broken or dysfunctional homes don't destroy every kid that is in one. Truth be known, they are just additional excuses in a world founded on them.

She thought independently and had thought that way for some time. She had never been Momma's little princess or Daddy's little girl. She had always been herself. She had to be. The scene on the deck of the boat was not what she expected. It looked like a family vacation more than anything. There were other children and none of them looked distressed. The boat bobbed in the water, anchored in calm waters. A couple of men fished with long sturdy looking pools from the stern. What chilled her, though, was the lack of any land mass on any horizon. They were in the middle of what she assumed was the Pacific Ocean. She had no idea where. That did frighten her.

A couple kids, at the urging of Elsa, approached her. She noted that they were extremely tan and very subservient to Elsa's instructions. They approached Angela with what could only be called false cheer. A boy and a girl walked towards her.

The boy extended his hand. "Trip. And this is Antoinette, but we call her Nettie. She doesn't like it."

Angela extended her hand. "Trip, Antoinette, I'm Angela. What are we doing here? Are you kidnapped?"

Trip looked at the ground. Antoinette froze and a look of fear came over her. She stammered, "Would you like to come over and join us? We're playing hearts. It's a card game. We can teach you if you don't know it. Lunch will be ready soon."

"You didn't answer my question. Are we prisoners here? Are you kidnapped? Where are we?"

Trip whispered to her. "Don't let them hear you. You'll be punished. Just go along with what they tell you. It's not so bad. Nothing happens if you follow the rules. You don't want punishment… believe me. Now, just come along. Maybe we can talk later. We have to be careful. Please trust me." He looked earnest. He seemed perhaps a year or two older than Angela did, while Antoinette seemed perhaps nine or ten years old. Their deep tans somehow made it more difficult to tell.

Angela whispered to Trip, "how many?"

Trip looked around and pretended to be playing, as he leaned in, "Eight… on this boat."

~~~~~~~~

In Beverly Hills, the seventh, eighth and ninth grades were in a school together. The school district called it middle school and it was the norm in Los Angeles County, with a few exceptions. Though Angela had only reached twelve years of age, she had skipped the fifth grade, which put her in the eighth grade with thirteen-year-old Adam. Thomas Bradley Middle School was named after the popular former mayor of Los Angeles. Mayor Bradley was one of the first black men elected to be mayor of a major United States City. Los Angeles was the second largest city in the United States. There was no middle or high school in Bel Air. Beverly Hills was a city of the elite rich in its own rite. Adam came from old money just like Angela, though not quite as much of it.

The principal of the school, Denise Delacroix took the rule of her domain seriously. She would not have her school disrupted by anyone, and that included private detectives. She couldn't be called old, being only in her early forties, but her demeanor gave one the impression of a matronly old spinster.

"We are here to see Ms. Delacroix." Tenaya spoke in a strictly business voice. She called it her cop voice. It was actually taught as part of the curriculum at the police academy, as part of the training. Attitude is ninety percent of control. It was a lesson learned and practiced to this day.

The secretary, a young lady looking to belong in one of the classes, as much as she did behind the desk, indicated that she would announce their presence. A moment later she said, "She will see you now."

She motioned for them to follow her. She opened the door and they filled in.

The Matronly, though young woman spoke in an effected voice, as though she were in a Disney cartoon, making fun of rich, old woman with monocles. "We won't be having a circus here at Thomas Bradley Middle School."

"I think it's a little late for that, if I may be so bold. Lovey, bring the suitcase please. Ginger has a run in her pantyhose. Perhaps some old money will sooth her." The Bard looked at Lucy, "I thought she'd never leave, Mary Ann".

"Well! I never".

"Yes, information that is readily apparent. Well, I can see that I'm getting nowhere. Detective Adrian, I'm getting nothing with weird cop, you wanna try hot cop?"

Tenaya smiled. "You'll have to excuse my associate here, Ms. Delacroix. He doesn't interact with the public very often. We're investigating the kidnapping of Angela Blackwell and we would like to conduct some low key, discreet interviews with some of her friends. Of course, we thought to co-ordinate with your office, so as not to disrupt the normal running of your school."

"The officers have already spoken to the students and the school has provided grief counseling to any student that wishes to take advantage of it. As I already stated, before this gentleman saw fit to make light of it, we don't wish to disrupt the education process here at Thomas Bradley Middle School."

"Now what is the name of this institutions again? The Thomas English Muffin School?"

Lucy had her hand over her mouth, pretending to cough.

Tenaya had come to know that control was only a partial thing, at best, with the Bard. She continued. "We especially wish to speak with her friend, Adam. He was an eyewitness. We are detectives and we have years of experience on the force. We have a time window here, Ms. Delacroix. We find this little girl within forty-eight hours, or we don't find her at all. That is the grim cold fact of the matter. We don't have time to worry about protocol. We need to find out every shred of information we can that will help us find that girl. We don't have a thousand cases like the LAPD. We have this case. We just want to talk to him. If you like, we can talk to him right here. I don't want to make a scene and disrupt whatever class he is in, or search from class to class to find him."

Tenaya didn't change the tone of her voice, but the expression on her face had gone from friendly to deadly serious. It had the desired effect.

"Miss Belliard. Please bring Adam Jefferson to my office." She spoke in a normal voice all of a sudden.

Within two or three minutes, Adam stood in the office. A look of relief came over him when he realized that he was there to see someone other than Principal Delacroix.

As soon as he came in the door, the Bard intercepted him. He looked at Tenaya, "Give me a moment".

He whispered to Adam, "Is she a mean old bag?"

Adam whispered back, "The worst".

"Well, I'm going to tell you something, but it can't leave this room. It's between you and me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure… okay." Adam looked serious and intrigued.

"You've heard of King Kong, right?"

"Huh? King Kong. Sure. Yeah, right."

"Well, now don't tell your buddies about this. This is top secret stuff okay?"

"Okay. Top secret. Okay. Yeah."

"Not very many people know this, but when King Kong was on top of the Empire State building, Old Lady Delacroix was up there with him. He ran up there cause she was naggin him about chewin' gum. He kept tryin' to run away and she kept comin' after him. Well, finally she had him cornered up there. She turned around, lifted her skirt and cut the biggest fart in the history of New York City. It blew King Kong Right off the Empire State Building. That's what really killed him."

Adam screamed out laughing.

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characters: Updated for book 2

Johnathon Blackwell Senior-Harpster, deceased former owner of a music conglomerate. Death prematurely announced. Actually kidnapped and now in hiding.

Johnathon Blackwell Junior- Senior's son and heir apparent to the family fortune. Currently in prison for Mudering Harpster. He is unaware the his father is alive.

Lilith Blackwell- Widow of Blackwell Senior and claimant to the estate. Filed billion dollar civil suit.

The Bard-Stewart Slater, homeless, writer, musician, mentally ill. witness to the death of Harpster amongst other things.

Detective Tenaya Adrian- lead is there is a murder to investigate.

Detective Lucy Smaldino, Tenaya's partner

Lincoln- The Blackwell family butler.

Ruby Dancer- singer and Daughter of Harpster though she doesn't know anything about it. Revealed to be his daughter at the end of book 1. Now the heir to the Blackwell estate.

Diamond Dancer- mother of Ruby and former mistress of Harpster. Refuses to tell Ruby anything about her father. Forced to reveal that Harpster was Ruby's father.

Dr. Khin- The Blackwell personal family physcian--Killed by Winston in the first book.

"Q & A"-- Q Aubrey Langstan--"Q" The Blackwell family attorney. Loyal to Harpster.

Daniel- Blackwell Senior's Deaf brother.

Esmeralda "Emma" Blackwell- Blackwell Seniors Mother

Winston- Blackwell Senior's son. War hero turned mercenary. Kidnaped father and the Bard. Accused of conspiracy to murder his father. Warrant is out, he's at large.

Susan Blackwell-Johnathon Blackwell Junior's wife

Angela Blackwell- Susan and Junior's daughter

Adam Jefferson-age 13, Angela's friend

Elsa, one of Angela's kidnappers

Barry, one of Susan's old boyfriends and apparently in on Angela's kidnapping

Trip & Antoinette (Nettie) Two kids on the boat that Angela is being held on. Possible victims themselves.

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Angela learns more about her plight. Adam's interview begins

A chapter in the book Bel Air: A Bard's Guide

Kids At Sea, King Kong-The Truth

by michaelcahill

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