Henry Stickmin: Secret Criminal (Mr Henry Toppat Book 1)

Chapter 8- Toppat Hunters (Part 1)

I shook in fear, not knowing whether to pick up or not. What was mother going to say? What was she even calling me in the first place?? As the thoughts raced through my mind, I knew I had to pick up eventually. Some people were looking my way because of the ringing.

I have become estranged from my parents when I started my life of crime. I was not really sure what they thought at that moment, but it surely wouldn't be a happy one.

Soon, I gathered my courage and clicked on the "accept call" button, and put the phone to my ear.

"H-hello?" I said, trying to mask up my fears.

The voice on the other side stayed silent for awhile. I think mother was thinking what to say to me. Suddenly, she spoke.

"Come home, Henry."

I gasped in shock, not believing what I just heard. Why would she want me to go back home? They wouldn't like how I groomed my life. I had to give a firm response.

"Why? Why after all these years?"

"It's time we sort some things out together, like how we should have done earlier."

"You treat me like that all those years and now you want me to just simply come home??"

"You think we approve of your crimes?? Now that you're good again, maybe you can come back."

"I have a job here, mother."

"Just... please come home. We may not have much time left together. I want to spend the time we have left, the right way."

"What do you mean by that?" I think I knew what she was talking about, but I just wanted to make sure.

"It's very hard to explain. I prefer to talk about it face to face."

"You watched the news right?" I hope mother knew what I was talking about.

"Yes yes, the leader of the Toppats escaped the clutches of the government."

"So good, you know why this is not a good time to return."

Mother sighed. She really wanted to see me. Maybe I should give her a second chance. I had some faults in the past as well.

"I'll find some time to visit this weekend. I'll text you the details." I said, hoping that what I am doing is the right choice.

Mother's voice turned to a sudden happy tone, "Wonderful! Thank you so much!" I chuckled back.

Just as I was about to hang up, I suddenly remembered something. Mother would be exhilarated.

"Oh yeah! I met someone. We're in a relationship now." I said just as I heard Charles calling me from down the hallway.

"Okay, I have to go now. I'll bring my mate over too!" We said goodbye to each other, then I hung up and tucked my phone in my pocket. I suddenly felt like things were really picking up between the two of us for some reason. Peering out the door, I saw Charles running towards me.

"There you are Henry! Come on, let's get to the coordinators overseeing room." I smiled and followed right beside him.

"Anyways, who was that I heard you talking to?" Charles asked me, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. I was a little lost in my thoughts that it took me awhile to respond.

"My mom, Martha Stickmin. She wants me to return to my hometown due to specific reasons. But I said I can't right now due to what's happening. So I promised to pay my parents a visit later this weekend. I told them that my mate will be coming. I think they really got the impression that I got a girlfriend. I guess that would be the normal reaction."

"I finally get to meet your parents? Oh good!" Charles exclaimed, smiling. After a little walk, we reached a door with two armed guards outside. Seeing us, the two immediately let us by. Charles swiped his security clearance card, and the door revealed a barely lit room which seemed like some sort of base of operations.

"Ah! You're both are finally here! I bumped into Ilas Hayes in the hallway after Charlie here gave me the interrogation report." Hubert Galeforce was the first one to invite us into the room. There were people working at monitors and computers in front of a big screen showing a map. There were numerous marking on it. I was informed that those were the locations where the airship as last sighted by civilians.

"Alright, come meet the team!" Hubert announced, and everyone turned around to stare at us.

"Hey there, the name's Frank Noel. I'm the commanding officer in charge of this whole operation."

A lady walked towards us, pushing up her glasses, she introduced herself: "Lily Haze, assistant to Mr Noel." She had a very sweet voice.

From the far end of the room, a young man stared at me, then proceeded to return back to whatever he was working on. I could feel the tension sparking between us. He looked frustrated. I stared at him for awhile, and Frank realised.

"Ah! That young man over there is one of our best! Come over here, kid!" Frank chirped in. Lily proceeded back to her documents and discussing with the rest of the personnel.

The young kid reluctantly walked over, but still wouldn't make direct eye contact with me.

Just as I was introducing myself, he interrupted me.

"Cut the crap, man. Don't you think you can fool me with your kind behaviour. Deep down, nothing about you has changed. You're still the same old Henry Stickmin that has been on our wanted list." The boy said.

Frank stepped in, knowing that this conversation wouldn't go anywhere if he didn't do so, "Ahaha, this is Mearui Phazer. He's going to need a little more time to get used to you, Stickmin. I sincerely apologise for his behaviour."

Mearui walked back angrily to his seat and continued his work. I guess I could understand how be felt, because it will be difficult for a young kid like him to understand the changes. He looked only about 20 years old. I don't expect his mindset to suddenly change at the flick of a switch.

Charles and I joined the big group of people in the middle of the room. I peeked at the big screen in front of me, then focused back to the table with a huge map laid on it. Reginald peered at the map from behind us.

"So, this is the spot where Mr Stickmin caught Reginald Copperbottom." Frank pointed out. "Other than that, we have no new leads on them."

"Wouldn't it be easy to track down a humongous airship?" I asked.

"It is true it has been seen in multiple areas of the country, but by the time we organise an air strike, they seem to have just disappeared into thin air." Lily replied.

"So, how are we going to track this thing?" Charles enquired, looking serious.

"Our scientists have invented a device that can track the wavelength of any vehicle. The signal gets stronger as we get closer to the subject we are tracking. This is new technology though." Frank explained.

"Well, as long it passed through the basic tests, I want it out in the field." Hubert chirped in.

Everyone nodded in unison. So this was getting serious. I had to send a message to the Toppats quickly, but I couldn't find a window of time. I have to see where will this lead.

"You know, we still need to find out who broke Copperbottom out." Lily reminded us.

"Finding him is much more important now." Frank said.

"But what if Copperbottom is broken out again by the same person?" Mearui asked.

"We then need to beef up security." I responded, which made him annoyed.