Kidnapped at the Capital Read Online Free Page A

from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. Heshoved KC into the room and closed the door behind them.
    The other janitor stood there with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face. His piggy eyes blinked rapidly. When he moved aside, KC almost fainted.
    Marshall was sitting on the floor beneath the Apollo. His hands and feet were bound, and a red cloth was tied around his mouth.

8
Doomed
    KC felt sick. Marshall stared back at her, mumbling something through his gag.
    The tall man laughed. “Waldo here caught your little friend trying to make a phone call,” he said.
    He held up the slip of paper with the president’s phone number. He ripped it into pieces and let them fall from his hands.
    KC watched the bits of paper flutter to the floor by her feet. Calling the president had been their only chance. Now no one knew where they were. She and her mom, Marshall and Casey were doomed.
    With tears in her eyes, KC looked up at the two space suits. One of them waved down at her.
    “Very clever of you to have found them,” the tall janitor said. “What tipped you off?”
    KC wiped her nose with her sleeve. “The flower you picked up,” KC told the man. “My mother dropped it there.”
    “Well,” the man said, “like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs, the flower won’t do your mother and the president any good.”
    “I hope you go to jail for a million years!” KC shouted.
    The man snorted. “First they have to catch me. And where I’m going, they won’t.”
    “Please let my mother down,” KCpleaded. “She gets dizzy from heights.”
    “What’re we gonna do with them, Chip?” Waldo asked, ignoring KC. “We don’t need four hostages.”
    Chip laughed. “We’ll take them with us,” he said. “With the president as our guest, nobody will bother us. I doubt anyone will try to destroy the space station with the President of the United States aboard!”
    He glanced down at the kids. “But I have other plans for the woman and these two. Once we get to the space station, they’ll be taking a space walk of their own. Only they won’t be wearing space suits!”
    The two men high-fived each other.
    “You’ll never get away with this!” KC said.
    “Wrong,” Chip said, holding up his cellphone. “We’ve just been notified that we’re cleared to get on the shuttle. Ralphy’s on his way with the helicopter.”
    “Prepare to say bye-bye to Earth,” Waldo said. He pulled a rope from his pocket and began tying KC’s hands behind her back.
    Suddenly he stopped and looked up. His tiny eyes blinked. “Did you hear that?” he asked Chip. “I think it’s our ride.”
    The taller man smiled. “Yes, it’s the chopper. Next stop, Florida.”
    Waldo finished tying up KC, then sat her next to Marshall. He and Chip walked away and stood by the closed door.
    KC moved closer to Marshall, directly under her mother. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She thought about her fatheragain, and her kittens. She wondered if Marshall was thinking about his family.
    Suddenly three things happened at once—a terrific crashing noise made KC jump, the door burst open, and two men thundered into the room. They were followed by about ten men and women wearing SWAT team uniforms.
    One of the women strode up to Chip and Waldo, who were cringing in a corner. “Hands out and mouths shut,” she said. She snapped her fingers at one of her team members. “Wrap these two to go.”
    “With pleasure,” the man said as he clicked handcuffs onto the kidnappers’ wrists.
    The woman strode over and knelt in front of KC and Marshall. “Are you okay?” she asked.

    KC couldn’t find her voice. She nodded instead.
    “Are you Marshall?” the woman asked, untying his gag.
    Marshall licked his lips, then grinned and said, “Yeah. What took you so long?”
    “Long?” The woman looked at her watch. “You called only ten minutes ago.”
    KC stared at Marshall. “You called the president’s number?”
    “Yup. That goon grabbed