Dedicated to TahliePurvis

I'm not sure if I've said this, but she was my inspiration <3

•

            “WHAT?!” JOHNSON'S GRIP on the phone increased as his eyes became as wide as saucers.

             “Yes, it's on the news right now,”

             “Thanks, Will,”

             “Don't mention it,”

              The investigator hang up and tossed his phone on the couch as his hand desperately searched for the remote. Turning the TV on, he turned to Channel 4 news.

              Munching on his oats, he listened to the news anchor.

              “And here we are, live at the scene where the Prime Minister's son had been kidnapped a few hours ago. Are you getting this Carol?” He touched his headpiece which he was using to report back to the news station as well as the viewers.

               “Yes, Larry. Can you please tell us what exactly happened?” Carol asked, staring intently at the camera.

                The screen was divided into two. Larry was at the crime scene and Carol was at the news station sitting in a swivel chair behind a table which had papers and a bottle of water.

              The screen zoomed into Larry as he went on.

              “According to our sources, a few hours ago, at around four in the morning, the Prime Minister's son - 17 year old Jack Peterson - was kidnapped by an infamous group at the Game Center on 53 Lark Street,”

              Morsels of oats got lodged into Johnson's throat.

               “You don't mean...?”

               “Yes, Carol. I mean, D.A.B. They had control over everything. A few of them were already in the Game Centre, dressed as regular people. No one knows how they were able to take Jack and leave undetected. His disappearance was noted when his nanny went to wake him at six in the morning, but was surprised to the bed empty,”

                 Larry continued. “She, then, proceeded to call his friends - Jace Alexander Hamilton and Parker Andrews - to ask them if they had seen him or if they were with him, only to be answered by their worried parents, who hadn't seen their children either,”

                “What do you suppose they were doing at the Game Centre at four in the morning, Larry? ”

                “Beats me, Carol, but if I had to guess, I would say if this hapless incident didn't happen, it would be game over for these three,” He let out a chuckle.

                 Carol joined in, shaking her head. “No doubt about it. What happened next?”

                “A few hours after the parents of the three had alerted the police, the Prime Minister and the parents of Parker had all received an email from D.A.B who revealed that they had their children and that they wanted a large sum of money for the return of their children,”

           Carol stopped him. “You said that it was only the ransom was directed to Jack and Parker's parents. What about Jace Hamilton?”

            Larry's face hardened as he delivered his next reply. “Jace's father received a phone call saying that Jace will never be seen again, before the line went dead,”

           After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat. “ Since the CCTV cameras were taken down and destroyed by this infamous group, the police are relying on the phone call and the email to try and figure out the location of D.A.B—”

            Johnson turned off the TV.

            He was silent for about three seconds before throwing the remote to the corner of the room. For the next minute, his body went out of control as he punched the pillow, threw it over his head and kicked the table. 

               “Damn it!” He cursed, as his hand raked through his chestnut hair. “Good grief!”

               The investigator's mind replayed last night when he received the phone call hours ago.

             “Go to the Game Centre, on 53 Laker Street,”

            “Why should I listen to you?”

            “Just go there. Right now,”

             Whoever had phoned him must have known that this would happen. That's why she was so insistent! But how did she know?

             Unless, Johnson thought as his mind was racing. Unless she was on the inside.

             Letting out a frustrated sound, he sprawled himself on the couch.

               However, he decided to look at it from a new angle, instead of beating himself up about it. He now had a decent lead.

               The last place that these ruffians were at was at the Game Centre. He had the police working on their location, thanks to their phone call and email.

                Finally, the investigator was able to calm down. He just needed to see Mrs Martinez and contact the police during the course of the day. Also, he would try and stop by the Game Centre to see if there were any clues that the perpetrators left behind.

                As Johnson went to his room to take a shower, he was surprised at how many times he has nearly torn his hair from his head due to solving undecipherable and seemingly impossible cases or simply due to overreacting.

               The man was at his late twenties, yet at this rate, he was about to look like he was at least seventy years old. Though, he would never lose his hair - he forbade his hair from doing such a thing to him - and his looks, in addition to his body wouldn't give him away as being seventy.

              He had immaculate, rich café-au-lait hair which promised finesse. He had strong arched brows that radiated off intimidation and menace, hence working to his advantage when he was dealing with miscreants.

               In addition to this, there was his eyes - they were vibrant and viridescent, deep and catastrophic, however, they were hidden behind his contacts that made his eyes gunmetal grey and devoid of any emotion.

                His cheekbones were prominent and distinct while his jaw was angular and defined.

               Johnson stood tall at 6'2 with a sturdily built body, which he could thank his ex girlfriends for. Whenever he was dumped, he would go to the gym and blow off some steam there. At that moment, he thanked them in absentia for indirectly making improving his physical appearance.

                His body was able to withstand the manual challenges that he had faced, most of them involving him chasing around a criminal either on his own or with a group of men.

                And he would be always pull it all off, sharply dressed in a suit.

                His mother always told him look his best and he was never one to disappoint.

•

                   It took Johnson twenty minutes to prepare himself and leave his house.

                  Since he did not want to be asked questions by his overbearing boss on his whereabouts during the incident, the investigator decided to stop by the Game Centre first, so that it would look like he was there in the first place.

                  He parked his 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback at one of the available parking spots before heading over to the crime scene.

                  The Game Center was shut down and the entire area was yellow police tape. At nine in the morning, there was a handful of policemen questioning the owner and other neighbouring companies to see where they could find.

                  The sun had began its long journey of climbing up the sky. Johnson flashed his badge that he was given to fortunately by the police when a young man began to approach him when the investigator went beyond the permitted zone.

                   Johnson's eyes squinted as soon as he got in. The arcade was much darker than he thought it would be and it took him some moments for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

                It must have been easy for them to take the three unsuspecting boys. The lighting gives them the upper hand, Johnson thought to himself.

                 Once he could somewhat see again, he noted and observed the several pinball machines, redemption games coin-operated billiards, video games, merchandisers and electro-mechanical games which surrounded him.

                 Putting on the gloves he always kept in the inner pockets of his blazer, he walked to the left and asked a few men on what they had gathered so far.

                  Apparently, the place was dusted for fingerprints since a few of the D.A.B members were here before, acting as ordinary customers. There were a few which were found and they were preparing for analysis.

                  Johnson helped turn the place upside down to search for anything useful. After about half an hour, Johnson was very vexed.

                 “There is bound to be a clue here somewhere!” Johnson muttered as he stalked around the centre for the fifth time.

                 After another twenty minutes, he was ready to leave and see Mrs Martinez. However, first, he decided to humour himself by playing the merchandisers games, specifically the claw crane games.

                  He had seen a few other men play it, claiming to be 'searching for clues' and even though that was an excuse for them to slack off a little bit, he didn't think that the idea was ludicrous.

                 Still wearing his gloves, he inserted a coin before selecting what he wanted. Johnson settled on a tiny plastic basketball and placed his hand on the joystick.

                   He moved his hand forward and to the right to try and grab it but failed miserably, forcing him to put another coin in the slot.

                   Ten tries later, he gave up on the prize and decided to head to Mrs Martinez's house. He had already phoned her and she was expecting him in the next fourteen minutes.

                   As Johnson released the joystick, something caught his eye. As he kept moving it around anticlockwise reaching for the plastic basketball, it began to come out of its place.

                 Before he knew it, he continued to move it around until it came out all together. He peered inside the little hole and saw what appeared to be a crumpled white paper sitting inside it.

               Using his gloved fingers, he was able to remove it and he returned the joystick back to its original place, as if it was untouched.

                 His heart raced as he opened it up. It read:

~•~

                 If you found this, how clever you must be,

                Since people would have eyes, but they cannot see.

              Forget stuffed animals and toys, you have won the greatest prize,

               However, I am terribly sorry for its unfortunate size.

               Go to where two perpendicular lines meet,

              Your next clue will be found on that very street!

              And hurry!

~•~

A/N • Hello, Hipster Tipsters :)

• Question: What's your favourite place to go to?

(My answer: I love ice skating every now and then, so definitely the ice skating rink)

• Who do you think wrote this note? And what do you think the note wants our brave investigator to go?

• Find out in the next chapter, on Wednesday ;)

• If you enjoyed this chapter, please be sure to show it by leaving a vote or a comment! I would like to hear your thoughts! :)

• Have a good day! :D

[ PS: THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE 300 VIEWS, 100 VOTES AND 200 COMMENTS!! And for helping this book reach #323 in Mystery-Thriller!! THIS REALLY HAS MADE MY DAY <3 ]