"No! Don't go, Grace!" Kahlynn knew someone was bound to take that the wrong way. She didn't want to get in anybody's way, she just didn't want Micah to think everyone hated him. "Micah needs your help too!" She winked, hoping Grace would get the point.
Kahlynn never was interested in the things most girls were, especially not guys, but she knew nature... and better yet she knew a little something about camoflauge.

Peter said, "We can't just stand here! We have to hurry!"
Micah agreed with Peter, "He's right. But how are we going to hide? What if he's already seen us?"
Miley suggested, "How about my cousins and I distract him?"
Justin said, "You should probably go with Ian. It will be less dangerous that way."

"I see you too." Alec shoved his feet into his shoes and sprinted for the stair case. It was a no re-entry door, but it wasn't like doors exactly kept Alec back. He wondered where Micah was, maybe still at Ian's house, completely oblivious. No, he was a bright kid. Micah would definitely have seen Ian's car. On the other hand, he let himself be tracked down to Ditto.

Nate leaned against a tree on the edges of the park as Frank's car pulled up. He listened to his friends conversation silently through a sound amplifiery in his ear.

Frank was here, he had listened in on his conversation through a bug in Alec's house. Now all he had to do was wait.

Frank saw two bratty looking boys run across the Parking lot. He was sure they were with Micah. They appeared to be whispereing to another and debating something. He spoke into his phone. "We got some trouble. Two brats coming my way. Stop them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin asked, "Okay, how do we know which car is him. Are you suggesting we just walk into danger?"
Peter looked around, to find Nate standing against a tree. "Oh, look there's Nate! Let's say hi to him!"
As he turned, Justin grabbed his arm. "What are you doing? They'll probably hurt him too."
Remembering the situation, Peter said, "Oh. Sorry."
~~~~~~~~
Frank found that someone was listening in. He screamed into Alec's phone. "Hurry! We got trouble."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter looked to a house nearby and whispered to Justin. "Suspicious looking guy over there. Let's block him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miley toed the ground and turned to Ian. "Can we go now? Don't really feel like getting captured."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Micah ran with Kahlyn and Grace. He saw the woods they are approaching. "Are you sure they won't find us here?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank turned to more of his friends. "Search the woods. If he's not found all of you will pay severely."
He watched as his men fearfully left his car, going near the forest. A few of them ended up where Miley and Ian were."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miley screamed, as some burly men walked towards her and Ian. She grabbed Ian's arm. "Come on!"
One of the men laughed. "Don't worry missy. Give us information like a good girl."
Miley let out a scream and ran as fast as she could, until one of the men grabbed her and put a knife to her throat. She let out a whimper. "Please don't kill me."
The man asked, "Where's the traitor?"
Struggling, Miley asked, "Who?"
The man snarled, "Micah."
This was the only time in her life a lie could ever be justified. "He's at the restaurant down the street."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the goons grabbed Ian. "Remember me?"

"Trust me! I've got an idea! Grab as many leaves, sticks, as you can, but don't stop running. And here- get some mud on you..." She knew they were running out of time, but they would have to risk it for the mud- it gave them a better chance of being unseen. She threw herself down and skidded along the ground as they passed a small brook in the woods. She got back to her feet quickly, satisfied that she was covered enough. "It will help us hide," she encouraged them.

Micah quickly gathered the leaves, dropping a few. He skidded after her, when she told him it will help them hide. He crouched down as low as he could.

Nate decided now was the time to step in, he drew his pistol spun around the tree and yelled "This is the FBI, drop the weapon and put your hands above your heads" as he began advancing on Miley and Ian and the two goons.

When they did not imedeatly respond to his order he fired a bullet, which hit the ground just below the one of the two men.

"Micah! Grace! Can you guys climb trees, if not I'll help you but here..." Kahlynn took her sweatshirt off, laid it on the ground and put the leaves and branches in it. She then wrapped them up in her sweatshirt using it as a bag. She found the perfect tree not too tall, not too short, and scaled it. When she found a suitible branch she put the leaves down making a sort of cover, then she climbed back down to help the other two. "What ever you do, when you get up there don't make a sound, and don't you dare move a muscle. Our lives may depend on it." She was scared at the urgency in her own voice, but she tried not to show it.

Miley felt her insides jump at the sound of the bullet. She watched the jerk advancing on her put his arms up and was relieved to hear Nate's voice. She squirmed away and ran as fast as she could, to her brother and cousin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The goons were startled at th egun in fron of them. No longer interested in Ian or Miley, they put their hands up in mock surrender.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank saw that two of his goons were being stopped. He called them on their bug they wore. "You imbeciles! How could you let Miley get away. Capture Ian and ignore the little kid who thinks he's and FBI Agent."
Then, he called Alec. "Get towards those bratty boys (Justin and Peter) now, or else you'll be spending the night in a basement."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Micah climbed up the tree, only to lose footing. Down on the ground, he did his best to climb up a branch. He grunted, then heard Kahlynn tell him not to move a muscle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, boss," replied Alec, then hung up on Frank. He popped open his laptop again and looked at the WiFi signals. Night in the basement, huh? Well, what he was about to do was going to earn him a lot worse than a dank cellar in southern Virginia.

Alec spun on his heel (it was just so cool, he loved doing that) and unlocked the hotel room's deadbolt. "Hello, there, Mr. Hotshot Phone Keylogger. I know you're listening in, so why stop now?" There was silence, but Alec knew the connection was there. He'd hijacked his own share of phones.

He coughed. The actual laying down of a plan was the hardest part. "Let's see, you're probably in your little government-funded fox hole...and oh, look at that. Now you're listening, right?" It was total bluffing, but it was a shot.

"What you wanna know? How about a question for a question?"

Nate flipped his mike back to on and said "I only need one answer to solve this puzzle, what do heck is this operation of yours trying to gain? Usually groups like yours hit big time targets, the mayor, the sheriff, the DA, why a group of kids? What profit do you gain from capturing your bosses son?"

He turned his mike off, pulled out a pair of handcuffs and advanced on the two goon "Put your hands out in front of you, and hurry up about it" Nate said.

One of the goons surrendered to Nate, while the other put his arm around Ian's neck. The one who captured Ian grunted, "These are not just kids. Ian and Micah are traitors! And that little bratty girl was in our way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miley rushed up to Justin adn Peter, panting. She threw herself around Justin. "They almost killed me! I think the have Ian! Nate's there, but I don't think he can take on those two!"
Justin embraced his little sister, feeling every need to protect her. Here, you and Peter go to Ian's house. He has a gun, so you'll have a weapon. Meanwhile, I'm going to help Ian."
The younger ones obeyed, then Justin rushed off, to find Ian, only to be caught by some more goons. He couldn't make out their faces, but kicked one of them low.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another goon in the woods got near the tree Micah and Kahlynn, causing shivers to run up Micah's spine.

Kahlynn wanted to gulp, but she didn't dare. She watched him, yet tried to avoid watching him directly. She feared fear that if she kept her eyes on his face or his back, that she might set off that instict of being watched, causing him to look in their direction. Instead, she focused on his feet. He hadn't seemed to notice them yet- she prayed that he wouldn't.

Logan and Stacey walked through the revolving door into the small pizza parlor in downtown Ditto Town. The restaurant had a few Italian influences in decoration, but it wasn’t a super-fancy, super-authentic type of place. The two of them took a seat and ordered their food.

“Ever eaten here before?” Logan asked.

-------

Emmy snagged a light jacket from its hanging place as she went outside. Logan had left a while ago to hang out with Stacey, and her mother was out as well, so the house was empty besides her cat Prospero. She wanted to take a quick walk rather than sit around alone.