Spy School: Crash of Canada (#1)

Chapter 6 - Kidnapper

Hotel Room 323

Toronto, Canada

February 6th

0730 Hours

I woke up at 7:30 in the morning, with a mere one and a half hours of sleep. I got dressed and came out into the living room where Catherine and Erica were already up. Catherine was holding a piece of paper in her hands, and she looked horrified at what was written on it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking up to her. "What is that?"

"Oh hello Benjamin, this is, uh, well, it's a ransom note..." Catherine replied.

"What?!" I asked. "For who??"

It was at this moment that I noticed who wasn't in the living room with us. Zoe. She had been kidnapped by.. I now also noticed that the doors to the rooms that had been holding Murray, Ashley, Jenny, and Warren all hung open, and they were gone. And they must had taken Zoe with them.

"There is a plus side to this." Erica said. "We now have coordinates to the money drop-off location."

"Why is that a good thing?" Catherine asked, growing slightly angry.

"Because" Erica said. "We can follow potential SPYDER agents back to their HQ where they are most likely keeping Zoe, anyhow."

Catherine thought this over. Erica emerged from the kitchen, she was wearing a black cropped exercise top and leggings, as though she were about to go for a morning jog. Her hair tied up in a high bun.

"Alright, let's just go get some breakfast downstairs and we can form a plan afterward." Catherine suggested.

Erica and I both agreed to this and followed Catherine downstairs into the food court. We went to the counter, ordered our food, and ate at one of the tables. During this time, Erica came up with a plan to find SPYDER's headquarters. We quickly finished eating and headed back to our room. 

According to the ransom note, SPYDER was expecting us to arrive a specific location with 5 million dollars at exactly 10am. I was pacing about my room, hoping that Erica's plan wouldn't get us killed. I managed to convince myself everything was going to be fine and began getting dressed for action. I exited my room into the living area, where Catherine and Erica were also dressed in our standard perfectly tailored black suits.

Erica was already heading out the door, Catherine right on her heels, so I followed them. We slunk about the streets of Toronto for an hour before finally arriving at our destination at 0959 hours. Staying silent, Erica pointed to an oak tree 10 yards away. There, a SPYDER agent was posted, keeping a look out for us. Five minutes passed, the agent spoke into a radio he had in his utility belt and began walking away from the tree. We followed him. The agent rounded a corner, and we did the same, coming upon a three-story tall modern building. This must have been SPYDER's headquarters. The agent typed in a code on the keypad and went inside.

"Did you get that code?" Erica asked me.

"2-4-5-6-3-3-6-8-4" I replied.

Erica nodded approval and began to head back. Before she took one step however, there was a glass shattering scream from the building. We all froze in our tracks. Erica listened a bit longer, then she continued on without a glance back.

"That was Zoe!" Catherine said, a bit of fear in her voice. "Erica, we should be going to save her! I am the adult, I should make the call!!"

"No," Erica replied coldly. "It is far too dangerous to do anything right now."

"I am willing to take risks," Catherine said. "Zoe's life is on the line."

"Well then feel free to get yourself killed!" Erica snapped.

Catherine didn't reply to this, instead, she turned and ran toward the building, heading for Zoe. I knew this was the right thing to do, but for some reason, I stayed put. Erica scowled and started back to the hotel. I followed her. 

We made it back in half the time because there was no need to be stealthy. We took the elevator back to the 6th floor where our hotel room was. Erica scanned the keycard and opened the door. We were met with Murray, Ashley, Warren, and Jenny all aiming guns at us. 

Author's Note: the suspense! lol moving on to chapter 7, enjoy!