Ch 966 - Kidnapped Again

Todrick and Riley whipped their heads around and looked at each other. HALLE, their AI system, just revealed someone was attempting to locate Enrichment. Riley suspected he knew exactly who it was.

Dangles grabbed Riley by the shoulder. "Ask her where the attempt came from."

Riley rolled his eyes. "I was just about to do that." He paused. "And since when do you tell me what to do?"

Aggressively, he yanked Dangles' hand toward his face, holding his watch close to his mouth.

"HALLE, track the algorithm back to where it came from," Riley said instantly.

HALLE still responded through Todrick's wristwatch. "The software is complex. Its intricacy is making the system difficult to crack into."

Riley felt his stomach hardening. Difficult to crack? Sounds like Alex Ambrose to me, he thought. Why can't he give up?

Then, Riley stood up. "HALLE, do whatever it takes. We have to tell Lincoln."

Dangles swallowed hard. "Are you sure? He seemed awfully angry."

Riley tapped the surface of his watch. "I'm positive. Imagine if we didn't tell him. Then, Lincoln found out we kept a secret. If he's already angry, he's not going to be thrilled to find out that we lied."

Dangles nodded. "You're right."

Disgruntled, Riley scoffed. "Of course, I'm right. That's why I'm in charge."

Considering what Riley said, Dangles scratched the side of his head. "Well, technically Lincoln is the one in charge."

As he exited the room, Dangles followed suit. The men dashed through the empty halls of Enrichment until they reached Lincoln's office. The door was shut, and through its thick wood, they could hear Lincoln shouting at his captives, Debbie and Mark, from inside.

Riley and Dangles nervously stood outside the door, unsure of what to do.

Riley anxiously elbowed Todrick. "You knock."

With a shake of his head, Todrick refused. "Are you kidding me? I don't feel like having my organs ripped out and stomped on. I'm not going to disturb him. You do it."

Riley wasn't used to his assistant talking back to him. He shot him an intimidating glare. "Excuse me. Have you forgotten that I am your boss?"

Todrick tilted his head to the side. "Well, technically, Lincoln is everyone's boss."

Riley didn't like the sound of that. "Lincoln is my boss. I'm in charge of you." He pushed his pointer finger into Dangles' chest.

Dangles shoved his finger away. "Well, if you have a boss, and you're my boss, then Lincoln is my boss as well. It technically makes you the middleman."

Riley's eyes grew wide with rage. "I'm not a middleman. You take that back."

Dangles pursed his lips. "I'm not taking it back, not when it's the truth."

Just then, the door flew open. Lincoln stood there, his face bright red as he glared at the men. "I can hear you two bickering inside my office!"

A nervous chill ran down Dangles' spine. "Sorry, sir."

As Lincoln gritted his teeth, a vein throbbed on the side of his head. "What do you two imbeciles want?"

Frightened, Riley trembled at the sound of his boss's booming voice. He cleared his throat. "I, uh, well, we, um. Actually, it was Dangles. All of it was Dangles."

Lincoln huffed as he leaned forward. "Spit it out! I haven't got all day!"

Todrick pushed Riley to the side. "Someone is going to break into the facility!"

The old man's expression changed from annoyed to enraged. "Someone is breaking into my facility? How do you know?"

Todrick held up his wrist, showing off his watch. "Our AI–"

Riley interrupted. "That I made up!"

With a roll of his eyes, Todrick continued. "Our AI was able to detect someone using a localizer algorithm. They locked on our location."

Lincoln squinted as he tried to comprehend the information. "This location? As in Enrichment?"

Todrick nodded. "Yes, they locked specifically on this building."

Confused by the technology, Lincoln squinted at Todrick's wrist. "AI? How'd it do that?"

Riley stood tall with pride. "It's what it does. It scans for problems, security threats, and anything really. I invented it to help keep our lair of super soldiers secure. HALLE, it's called. See? The super soldier initiative wasn't as useless as you thought."

Lincoln tapped his chin. "So you talk to it through your smartwatch and it listens to what you say?"

Riley confidently nodded. "That's how I programmed the system. My vision was simple. I made it accessible thro–"

Ignoring Riley's bragging, Lincoln grabbed Todrick's arm. He brought the watch up to his face, an inch away. "HALLE! Who was it, HALLE?" He shouted as if the AI couldn't hear him. "Who scanned our location, HALLE?"

Riley blocked his ears. Then, HALLE replied, "Pinging location, analyzing data. Please stand by."

As the watch beeped, its face displayed a radar. Lincoln held his breath. "So, uh, how long is this going to take? Hopefully a few seconds."

Riley shrugged. "It depends on who hacked into the system. If it was Alex, it could take a long time. As much as I hate to admit it, he has very advanced tech. His system is more secure than the average person's"

Lincoln grimaced at the thought of his grandson hacking into his business.

It can't be Alex, he thought. He has nothing. He couldn't get to me if he tried.

***

Fortunately for Alex, he had the only thing that mattered, a supportive group of friends. When his bank account was drained and everything shut down, Yvonne offered to bring everyone to her house. She helped Alex get SCOT up and running, and together they discovered that Debbie was being held hostage at Enrichment.

Alex and Yvonne called everyone into the living room to break the news and hatch a plan.

After they got a hold of everyone, the two walked into the living room to see Ken Stokes and Alex's mother rearranging Yvonne's furniture.

"We have to whip this house into shape," Ken Stokes said as he carried a lamp from one corner of the room to the other. "She lives right by the Patapsco River. This is prime real estate!"

Flora smirked as she rearranged the pillows on the couch. "I agree. She could flip this place for a good profit."

Ken glanced up at the lamp in his hands. "Imagine if the house had more windows. She wouldn't need this thing crowding up the space."

Scrunching her nose in disgust, Flora picked up a fuzzy throw blanket draped over the edge of the couch. "Do you think she'll notice if I throw this way?"

Before Flora and Ken started tossing out all of her belongings, Yvonne threw her hands in the air. "Yes, yes I will notice. You cannot throw away my blanket!"

Startled, Flora dropped the throw. "Oh, sorry, dear. I didn't see you there."

Yvonne pointed at Ken. "And put down my lamp, Stokes!"

After Ken set down the lamp, he sauntered toward Yvonne. "You know what would really take this house to the next level? A rumpus room."

Yvonne had no clue what Ken Stokes was talking about. "And what is a rumpus room?"

Ken made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "A room where you conduct your fun and games."

Yvonne pursed her lips. "I need a special room for that? I can't just conduct my fun and games anywhere I want?"

Shocked, Ken clutched his chest, but before he could say anything else, Louis, Christopher, Tom Sawyer, and Gideon walked into the room.

Louis glanced at Alex. "What was so important that it couldn't wait? Christopher forgot how to play chess, so for once in my life I was kicking his ass."

Ken Stokes lightly elbowed Debbie. Then, he whispered, "See? They could play chess in the rumpus room."

Alex didn't care about chess or any sort of rumpus room renovation. He had only one concern. After taking a deep breath, he broke the news. "Debbie's been kidnapped."

Christopher and Louis spoke in unison. "Again?"

The rest of the room fell silent as the reality of the situation settled in.

The feeling of loss was becoming too familiar for Alex's liking. He felt a tightness in his chest. "Sadly, yes, she's been kidnapped again."

Tears welled in Flora's eyes. She dramatically tossed her head back. "Oh, not my Debbie! That poor girl. She was always like a daughter to me." She turned and furrowed her brow at her son. "Alex, this is all your fault."

Alex already felt guilty enough. The last thing he needed was for his mother to get on his case. "I agree with you, Mom. That's why I'm going to go make things right. I'm going to break her out."

As Louis listened to Alex, he also observed the pained expression on his friend's face. "Okay, where are we breaking her out of?"

Alex pointed toward Yvonne. "Yvonne and I were able to get SCOT up and running. He located her in a building in downtown Baltimore. It's owned by a company called Enrichment."

Enrichment sounded familiar to Ken. He scratched his head. "I believe I covered that company once on Channel 16. They deal in real estate and investments, right?"

Alex shrugged. "That's what I've heard, but it doesn't make a difference. All that matters to me is that we get Debbie home safely. So, here's the plan." He looked at Louis. "Louis, you and I are going to break out Debbie from Enrichment. Christopher and Tom, you both are in no shape to fight. The two of you, along with Yvonne, should stay back with my parents. And, Ken–"

Before Alex could get another word in, Ken Stokes interrupted him. "Of course, I will help you and Louis take down Enrichment. After all, wherever Louis goes, I go. That's the bro-code."

Alex looked the reporter up and down. Ken Stokes was a lot of things, but Alex wasn't sure if he would be a good fighter. However, Alex knew that Ken wouldn't take no for an answer. He let out a fatigued sigh. "Fine, Ken. You can come with us. The rest of you, hang back, but do me a favor and limit your contact. Try to hunker down the best you can."

Yvonne nodded. "I'll keep everyone in line here, Alex." She walked over to him and rested her hand on his shoulder. Then, she offered Alex a reassuring smile. "Just go get Debbie back. That's all that matters."

Thanks to his friends, Alex had a fighting chance at saving Debbie. He clapped his hands together. "Alright, Ken, Louis, let's go. Enrichment will never see us coming."

Little did Alex know, the algorithm he and Yvonne ran already alerted the very people he was trying to avoid. Riley, Dangles, and Lincoln were already hot on his trail.