CHAPTER TWO

“You brought him here?”

“What were we supposed to do? He had figured out to much just to ignore him?” Tod explained.

“You idiots, he is just a kid, how much could he know?”

“Look Frank, he maybe young, but he figured out our routine, and in the car, he told is a lot more that he observed, that just makes him too dangerous to this mission, to just let him go.” Tod, and his partner Eric, argued.

“Alright, what is done, is done, you just don’t get how many fires, I am going to have to put out. The least of which is to keep his family from filing a missing person’s report.” Frank, that was in charge of this mission, let out a sigh.

“Alright, here is what we need to do. First, get that brief case to the drop off point. I have a contact in the Mayor’s office, I think I can put enough pressure on them to at least delay the police taking any action until this mission is over. When you two get back, find out everything there is to know about “our guest,” where he lives, who his family is etc. Above all, keep him calm, quiet, and out of the way. If he is as smart as you say, we certainly don’t need him figuring out what is really going on.”

“Yes sir.” the two answered in unison and left.

As Margaret finished telling Peter everything about her brother, a call came in from the Lieutenant’s office.

“Working overtime tonight, Lieutenant? Yes, she is here, are you wanting a finder’s fee? Whats that? That’s odd. As you know, I do not always do what’s good for me… Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

“Well Miss Cummings, it appears someone important is putting pressure to have this investigation delayed.”

“Why would anyone not want my Brother found?” Margaret asked.

“That is a particularly good question, and one that I intend to find out. Do you have some place you can stay tonight?” Peter asked her.

Margaret dropped her head.

“No, I have no relatives in Chicago, and as hard as it will be for me, I still have to work tomorrow. As I said, we live pay check to pay check.” Margaret said sadly.

“I can put you up at my place,” Becky said.

“Oh, I don’t want…”

“You won’t be a bother. I will run you by your place so you can pick a few things.”

“But…”

“Miss Cummings, I have found it useless to argue with Becky.” Peter stated in fact.

Becky gathered her things and left with Margaret. When they reached Margaret’s apartment, there was a note on her door.

“Margaret, I am fine, sorry to worry you, I am staying a few days at George’s house. He is a new friend of mine, and he loves trains as much as I do. Be home soon, Love Bobby.”

“Bobby never calls me Margaret,”

“I am sure this is another attempt to delay looking for him. Don’t worry, Peter can find a needle in a hay stack. I will take this note back to him tomorrow. Let’s get your stuff and get out of here.” Becky told her.

The next morning Becky dropped Margaret off at her job and went to the office. She went straight into Peters office.

This was on Margaret’s front door last night, and two stools followed us to my place. The same two followed me to drop her off and to here. I got a few pictures of the car, but whoever they are they are pretty sharp in keeping their distance.”

“This gets stranger and stranger. Okay, listen, Sparky and I are going to start with the train station. Stay connected with Miss. Cummings the best you can in case Bobby or anyone else out of the ordinary tries to contact her. The same if you get any visitors. Now that whoever it is that has him knows we are on the case, we might get a stronger warning to back off.” Peter stated.

“Do you think Booby is in danger?” Becky asked.

“It is hard to say at this point, but someone is going to a lot of trouble to keep anyone from getting him back. Margaret has no money, so the motive has to be something else. Anyway, stay sharp and be careful.”

Peter and Sparky got in the car and headed towards the train station. Sparky went through a few scans of the radio frequencies when a light changed from green to red on the board in front of him.

“We have company boss.”

“Probably the same goons that tailed Becky. Are you picking up any radio transmissions?” Peter asked.

“No all seems to be… Wait a minute, yes, I have one but…Wow is it heavily secured, and they are really keeping their distance.” Sparky stated.

“Do you think they have planted a tagger on us?” Peter asked.

“If they did, it is beyond what our equipment can detect.”

‘What about you? Could you spot it?” Peter asked.

Sparky smiled,

“I can try.”

Peter pulled the car over and watched to see if the ones following them were still keeping their distance.

“It looks as if they do not want to be seen. I will watch to see if they move while you check out the car.”

Sparky got out and adjusted his lenes. He made a thorough search of the car, spending extra time on places the it would be.

“Well?” Peter called out.

“There is definitely something here, but it is like nothing I have seen before. I don’t want to try to remove it until I have more time to study it.”

Peter shook his head, as Sparky got back in the car.

“This is really getting on my nerves. I hope some of the people at the station can give us some insight on what is going on. It seems as if we are up against some big-time players, and I don’t have a clue as to why.”

As soon as he pulled back into the street, so did the car that was following them.

Peter pulled int the parking area of the station, and he and Sparky got out, The station was busy with activities. Peter and sparky questioned several of the ones waiting on the train. They also questioned the engineers, conductors, ticket agents, and the Station Master. All seemed friendly and cooperative, but only gave general answers. No one seem to recall anything different on the day that Bobby disappeared. They all expressed concern in hoping he was alright, and that they missed seeing him. It also seemed that no one could remember the time they last saw him.

“Look Mr. James, Bobby is well loved, but he is here almost every day. He has his routine with all the passengers as well as those who work here, so nobody really watches him, if you know what I mean.” The Station Master told him.

“A routine you say? If you were to guess, who would be the last one he sees every day?” Peter asked.

“Hum, that would probably be the conductor on the train that arrives between eleven and eleven forty-five.”

“Can you tell me what train came in on the day Bobby disappeared and who the conductor?” Peter asked.

“I don’t have records of the train personnel, but I can tell you the train.”

The Station Master went and checked his records.

“The Milwaukee Road 334.”

“Is it scheduled to come back through here again soon?” Peter asked.

“Yes, tomorrow at 11:15.”

“Great, thanks.”

Peter and Sparky Barely got two steps past the station, before both of them felt the end of cold steel poking them in the back.

“Stay calm, keep walking, and keep your hands in plain sight,” Someone said in a quiet tone.

“Calm? I am always calm, I also enjoy walks.” Peter said.

“Don’t forget the hands part, remember to show them off as often as you can,” Sparky added.

“Okay Abbot and Costello, just shut up and get in the car,” They were told by the one behind them, and helped into the back seat of the car by two more men.

The doors automatically locked and the was a steel partition between the front and back seats.

Peter tapped on the partition.

“It is really nice of you to offer us a lift, but we do have our own transportation.”

That was the last thing Peter remembered, because the back of the car filled with knockout gas. Sparky unaffected by this played along to see what he might be able to learn. When the car stopped, they were carried into a room and left on the floor. Sparky stealthy checked to see if there was any listening or watching devises in the room. When he was sure there was not any, he tried to wake Peter. He was still out, so Sparky made his way to the door and fine tunned his hearing. By time Peter came to, Sparky had plenty to tell him.