The Key To the Kingdom (39 page)

“Not funny.”

“Relax, we’re going to be okay,” he reassured her.

Kiran held his arm as they went deeper and deeper into the zoo. She reluctantly followed and at times Hawk had to pull her along to get her to keep moving forward. The further they went the more cluttered the zoo seemed to get. This was surely an area that had trouble keeping up with the high volume of activity that took place on an hourly basis. Soon they moved beyond the clothes racks near the back of the zoo. The hanging costumes were replaced with massive piles of costumes, costume pieces, and other items. There seemed to be an organized plan in place as each of these items were stacked on top of each other, but the clothing piles formed a mountain range along the back section of the Character Zoo.

“So do you have a plan?” Kiran whispered directly into Hawk’s ear.

“We’re going to hide in here until the day shift comes in.” He climbed between two hills of costumes. “When the park gets ready to open, we’re going to put on a couple of outfits and walk through the tunnels, right into the theme park.”

“You have lost your mind!”

“Maybe, but then we’ll find a place out of sight up topside to dump the outfits and get lost in the park crowd. Reginald Cambridge and park security will never know any different.”

“You really think that no one will notice a couple of Disney characters going rogue and just wandering off with guests in the park?” Kiran shook her head in disbelief. “These costumes are treated like gold. They’re valuable and closely guarded; no character leaves the zoo and walks into the theme park without being led by a cast member. Even if we got out of the zoo, we’d be mobbed by guests. Are you planning on wandering through the park, ignoring people as they follow you, taking off the outfit, and tossing it in the trash?”

“I didn’t say the plan was foolproof,” he admitted.

“More like fool fueled.” She smiled back at him. “Let’s get out of here, Hawk.”

Realizing he would need a better strategy, Hawk relented. Tilting his head in the direction from which they came, Kiran began to retrace the path they had used to discover the costumed mountain range. She stepped back between the hanging racks of cloth. Hawk watched as she walked away and then moved to follow.

He heard a muffled sound from the far corner. The stacks of clothing in the back corner were even higher than the ones he stood between. Hawk paused and strained to discern what he had heard. Lightly taking a step toward the deepest corner of the room, he again stopped to listen. Silence beckoned him to take another step, then another, and he found himself in the deepest part of the costumed mountain range. A footstep behind him startled him, and he spun in the direction of the new sound.

“I thought you were behind me,” Kiran said.

“I heard something.” He raised a hand for her to be quiet so he could listen.

“Let’s get out of here!” She tugged his shirtsleeve to get him moving. He allowed her to nudge him into motion as he continued to look at the heaps of costumes. Turning to follow her back out of the zoo, he again heard the same muffled noise he had heard before. This time he was positive he had heard something distinct and the sound was out of place for a deserted dressing area. Spinning on his heels and this time moving to the back of the zoo with purpose, he rounded the largest of the clothing mountains.

There, nestled in the costumes at the base of the mound, was Juliette.

Waves of relief rushed over Hawk. Seated in the mountain of cloth, she was bound with both feet together, her hands tied behind her back, and a wide strip of duct tape across her mouth and wrapped around her head. Juliette craned her neck to see who was approaching her. Her eyes excitedly widened as she saw Hawk, who rushed toward her and knelt in front of her.

“Are you all right?” He wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her upright.

She nodded affirmatively as tears flooded her eyes while he began untying her ankles.

“Hawk, where are . . .” Kiran rushed in and began to untie Juliette’s wrists.

“Mmm. Mmmm,” Juliette tried to speak through the tape wrapped across her face.

“Hang on.” Hawk worked at the knots. “Juliette, I’d like for you to meet Kiran, Kiran, this is Juliette.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kiran joined Hawk in grinning. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Mmmm. MMMM!” Juliette’s eyes widened again.

“Give me a second,” Hawk said, releasing the last knot at Juliette’s ankles. He stood and began to work at gently pulling the tape from her neck below her hairline.

Juliette grabbed Hawk by the wrist, forcing him away from the tape and pushing him back. Her gaze had turned to one of fear, and she was looking past him, trying to get him to do the same. On one knee he turned and looked up and saw the man who had just come around the corner.

Jim stood over the group with a disgusted expression across his face. Scowling, he held in front of him an electronic device about the size of a deck of cards. This black box crackled to life as he threatened the group. An arc of electricity surged between the probes on the box as he took another step toward them.

“You really have become a problem for me, Dr. Hawkes. This time I will take what I want, and sadly there is little you can do about it.” Jim pushed the button that ignited another spark from the Taser. “Now for starters, toss me the Pal Mickey on your hip.”

Hawk glanced at the stunned faces of Juliette and Kiran. Slowly he reached down and unclasped the stuffed animal from his waist. Methodically he rose to his feet and stepped away from the two women. Then nodding toward Jim he pulled back his arm to toss the small electronic wonder to him. He threw the mouse slightly off course. Jim reached for it but the Pal Mickey flew just beyond his fingertips, falling to rest at the base of a clothing rack. Jim smirked at Hawk as he bent to retrieve it.

Hawk sprang to his feet and hurtled into Jim just as he reached the stuffed animal. The collision of bodies threw Jim off his feet and the momentum of the flying pastor drove both men airborne through the curtain of costumes.

Juliette and Kiran stared slack-jawed as the men disappeared as if swallowed by the clothes. Kiran hastily went back to work removing the tape from Juliette’s mouth as they anxiously stared toward the wall of clothing. The distinctive tearing sound of duct tape releasing its grip echoed between the women as Kiran unwound the loops of tape encircling Juliette’s head. Juliette stretched her jaw to restart the stifled blood flow as the final loop fell free.

“All right?” Kiran asked helping Juliette to her feet.

“Yes, thanks,” she softly replied.

The wall of clothing, which at one time draped vertically from the rack, was now alive. Movement of clothes shaking, falling, and vibrating, urged on by the battle behind them, could be seen.

“Quickly. Follow me.” Kiran began moving.

“Wait,” Juliette said.

“Hawk would want me to get you out of here.”

“We aren’t leaving without him. We wait.”

A dull thud, followed by another, and then yet another was accented by a painful groan. Bodies colliding, clothes hangers straining with untested pressure sprang off the rack as forces raged against them. An unmistakable crackle sizzled in the stale air of the room as the Taser fired again. An agonizing scream accompanying a much heavier thud indicated that someone was about to emerge victorious. As the scream subsided another arc of electricity popped, causing an additional groan before silence wafted from behind the clothing.

Hangers screeched over the metal rod supporting them as the costumes opened like a curtain revealing a behind-the-stage look at some grand show. Grayson Hawkes emerged from the other side of the clothing, shoving himself through the opening. Grasping the Taser in his right hand, he stepped over the scattered clothes and back toward Kiran and Juliette. In a quick grasp he hugged Juliette.

“I was so worried,” he got out.

“I am so glad to see you.” She exhaled with relief. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.”

“How did you end up here?” Kiran asked her.

“Him.” Juliette gestured to the semiconscious form of Jim lying askew over the costumes. Looking closer she noticed his face had disappeared inside a massive wolf head. “What did you do to him?”

“I hit him with the head of the costume.” Hawk looked over at Jim. “It seemed appropriate.”

“Very appropriate. The Big Bad Wolf here, minus his head of course, approached me on my way to car as I was leaving the Contemporary. He asked if I was Juliette Keaton and said he had a message for you from Farren Rales I was supposed to deliver.” She rubbed her jaw as she felt the tingle of where the tape had been begin to dissipate. “He hit me with the Taser, and the next thing I remember I was here, buried in that pile of stuff. Hawk, I was beginning to think I would never see Tim, my kids, you, Jonathan, or Shep ever again.”

“What do we do with him?” Kiran walked toward Jim, cautiously making sure he was still suffering the effects of the Taser.

“Tie him up and leave him here,” Hawk stated. “Someone will find him, security already knows we’re running around down here, they’ll know we did it to him, and by then it won’t matter. We’re going to have him arrested for kidnapping.”

Juliette picked up the ropes that had been used to restrain her. Kiran reached over and took them from her and moved off to tie up Jim. Hawk handed the Taser to Juliette, wrapping her hand around it and guiding her finger to the power switch.

“The sheriff will probably want this,” he said as she took it from him inquisitively. “Do you want to pop him with it one more time before we leave him?”

“Is he going to get away?”

“No, but if you wanted to make sure, I would completely understand.”

“Maybe,” she pondered the possibilities of a little payback. “But who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?”

“Not me.” Hawk smiled.

“Me either.” She returned the grin.

“Well, that makes three of us.” Kiran joined them, dusting off her hands with a flourish. “He’s not going anywhere, and someone is sure going to be surprised when they find him.”

“Perhaps it will keep Reginald Cambridge busy for a while,” Hawk offered.

“Reginald!” Juliette jumped in. “Is he still chasing you? What have you been doing? Have you figured this thing out yet? And what are you doing here—where is here—and how did you find me?”

Her questions were coming in rapid bursts as the tension of being terrified melted into trying to make sense of all that had happened and catching up with all she had missed. The expression on Dr. Grayson Hawke’s face was one that Juliette had seen many times before. She knew there were answers for all her questions and they would come over time, but there was something else that had to happen first. As she had done ever since she had gotten to know Hawk, she would trust his instincts and follow his lead.

“You have a lot to catch up on.” He put his arm over her shoulder and turned her toward the endless line of costumes.

“That’s an understatement,” Kiran confirmed for her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?” Hawk raised his eyebrows.

“Your Pal Mickey!”

Hawk quickly stepped over the mess and picked up a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

“Where are we . . . and where are we going?” Juliette began to take in her surroundings.

“We’re in the Character Zoo, underground, in the utilidor below the Magic Kingdom,” Kiran said, helping Juliette get her bearings. “But we need to decide where we are going.”

“What time is it?” Hawk asked.

“About 4:30,” Kiran replied.

“Morning or afternoon?” Juliette had lost all track of time since she had been taken.

“It’s 4:30 a.m. and we’ve been running around the Magic Kingdom in the middle of the night, trying not to get caught but running out of places to hide,” Hawk summarized their current state of affairs.

“I almost forgot,” Kiran turned to face them. “We have reservations.”

C
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Day Seven Early Morning