It was a chilly day in late October when the door to Old Mr. Drysdale’s store once again opened to the push of a boy who looked in a hurry. Mr. Drysdale stopped what he was doing, and walked over to the lad who stood eyeing the many dolls that were on display on a shelf to the left. “Can I help you young man?”

“No sir, I’m just looking for the right one.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I would suggest…”

“No– I mean– thank you, but I’ll know her when I see her.” The old man walked back to what he was doing. Picking up one of the dolls, the boy eyed it. It was a beautiful doll with flowing blond hair and a smile.

“How much for this one?” The boy asked the old man.

“That one, sir, will cost your whole life.”

“But this tag says five dollars!”

“That doll requires the perfect lighting and all the finer things money can buy. Though I will sell her to you for the sticker price of five dollars, you will have to spend more just to take care of it.” Setting the doll back down, the boy continues to look at the dolls.

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“And no one has the phone number?”

“That’s right also.”

“Then it’s settled. You take Tricia down to her room and get her a change of clothes, and I’ll take Laura to her house and do the same.” I talked the girls into it and took Tricia down to her room, my arm around her to keep her from shaking. We got the clothes and went to the office. I had two sleeping bags among the college accessories I had bought before leaving, and so did Noah. I moved the desks in each room. One room was designated ‘Hers’, the other ‘His.’ Noah and I were to sleep in my inner office, because of the big windows. The girls slept in the outer, because it had only the window between the offices, which was curtained. With this arrangement we all went to sleep.

The next morning, Noah got up and awoke me. We quickly got dressed and shut the shutters tight. The girls were still asleep. “I don’t think that we’ll be able to sleep in our own apartments until Michelle is found.”

“Sure. But how are we going to find her?”

“I don’t know.” I thought for a moment. “Did Matt and Noelle see you yesterday?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Then I have a plan. Here’s what we do. Tomorrow, Tricia and I dress in black and paint ourselves black. You and Laura, go to the front of the house and get Noelle and Matt to come to the front, while we sneak in the back. We’ll look around and see if we can find Michelle. If we can, and can get her out safely, we will. Otherwise, we’ll leave, and come back some other time.”

“Why not tonight?”

“Tonight they will be looking for a rescue attempt. We have to look like we are not even going to try.”

“Good thinking.”

“Hey, I just had another idea.”

“What?”

“Why don’t you, Mr. Inventor, invent some way of communication for us for tomorrow. You and Laura can stay here and work on it while Tricia and I pretend to do our normal, daily things, like . . . VOLLEYBALL!”

“Hey, why don’t you get a real sport, like basketball?”

“I like volleyball.” Then it hit me. It was almost time to play. I quickly awoke Tricia, and got into the car. We dashed back and hurried to the gym where the game was ready to start. Unfortunately we were swept, 5-0. This really made things bad. We changed, first Tricia in hers, while I waited in her living room, then I in mine. We did the thing I dreaded the most, to try to calm her down, we went to the mall. We shopped all day. It was night time and I decided that it was time to go back to the office. We had to stop by her house first to drop off all the things she had bought.

I bought a game called Rook, while I was at the mall, and we spent the night trying to figure out how to play the game. We each retired to our separate rooms. After I was sure that the girls were asleep, I woke Noah and we discussed the plan in detail. We synchronized our watches and tested the transmitting device he had come up with. Laura would go to the door, pretending to be selling encyclopedias. She would keep the two of them occupied while Noah stayed in the car monitoring our progress. Laura would be told the second that she could leave. I would be wearing the transmitting device to contact Noah if we ran into trouble. He had also obtained a copy of the floor plans of the building so I could study them. We were ready.

“You don’t have to shout!”

“You are to leave the area, and come back here, okay?”

“Sure.” Noah hung up and I sat down and thought out the whole situation. A short while passed and Noah arrived back at our apartment, with Tricia and Laura. Tricia ran in and threw her arms around me. I hesitantly proceeded to hug her, while she cried. I eased her over to the chair and sat her down.

“Where’s Michelle?”

“She’s with them.” Noah responded.

“What?!”

“Well, it was like this.” Tricia started. “We were talking, and the people all left, it was closing time you know. Well, Matt and Noelle came in and snuck up behind us. Before we knew it, we were bound and gagged. They called you and then they went into the other room to look and see if you’d followed instructions. They came back in, and knocked me out. When I awoke, I was untied and lying on some bench on the street. I found this note in my jacket pocket.” She unfolded a note and gave it to me. She burst into tears, and Laura offered her a tissue and took her into the other room. Noah sat down.

I read the note aloud. It said, “Dear Adam, If you ever want to see Michelle again, you will drop this case. In two weeks I will contact you and tell you where you may find Michelle. Don’t worry, she’s in safe hands, and nothing will harm her, unless you keep following me.”

“Look’s kind of bad, doesn’t it.” He said. A few moments passed and he said, “What’s for supper?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s go out. I hear the food at that new restaurant in town is good.”

“Fine.” I said, only half hearing him. Noah went and proposed this to the girls and they agreed. The girls went down to Tricia’s room to change. In a matter of minutes they returned. “What’s this?” I asked.

“I just had the most frightening phone call. Matt called up and threatened to come and get me tonight.” Tricia replied.

“Oh swell. Well, I guess I’ll have to stand watch outside your room tonight if that will make you feel less frightened. For now, let’s go and have a good dinner.” I got my coat and went to the car. We went to the new restaurant and I escorted my frightened secretary inside. She was shaking and stayed very close. We ate and then returned to the apartment where a phone call came for Laura. She said that it too was Matt, whether it was truth or not, no one knows, and refused to leave Noah. She claimed he had said, ‘I know where you live.’ I signaled for Noah to meet me in the kitchen. “Fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”

“I’ve gotten us into?”

“Yeah. All was fine, until you had to arrange a date for me.”

“Well, excuse me!”

“There’s no excuse for you. Anyway, what are we going to do tonight?”

“Let’s go to your office and spend the night.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Seriously. There are two rooms, right?”

“Yes.”