Perils

I turned to my partner-in-crime, as we sat down on the couch in the Toews’ home. “Christina, where is that bastard holding them? Where is he holding my baby brother?” My eyes shone with a fury and were ablaze with a burning fire and passion to kill. My anger was getting the best of me and I wasn’t afraid to admit that it was clouding my judgement. I wanted to rip that Pittsburgh hockey player limb-from-limb. If my brother ended up dead, I would never forgive him and I would take it upon myself to get my revenge.

“I don’t know, the clue said “Okay, so your first clue is this, if you wish to find your brothers, come and rescue them were birds fly, land and take refuge”....but that could mean any number of things.”

“I tell you, I’m going to murder that asshole! You know I hate Sidney Crosby, but now I hate him even more!”

“There’s got to be an explanation. Maybe it’s a prank...I can see Sharpie doing something like this!”

“It’s not Sharpie. I know it isn’t! It’s that fucking Penguin from Pittsburgh!” I slammed my fist down on the coffee table, as I leaned forward on the couch. I gazed at the mantelpiece, where pictures of me and my brother sat. We always had one another’s backs and I tried my best to be respectful of him, but have his back. I never wanted Jonathan to get into trouble, but he was raised right and there wasn’t an issue with that.

It was the other players he bumped into on the ice.

“I want to save my brother, just as badly as you, but we don’t know much of anything!” Christina stated, justly.

“Well, let’s start with the clue. What could it mean by “birds land and take refuge?” Could it be some kind of location, if so what place could that be a reference to?”

I watched as she screwed her face up in thought. She gazed about the room, as though she thought the pictures and walls might help her to think and come to a realization. “A place where birds land and take refuge….it could reference something with the Blackhawks! There’s the Bar downtown, a literal Hawks’ nest, as in the animal, and the United Center, the practice rink...um….I think that’s it.”

I stood up and rounded the coffee table. Christina stared at me with a curious look. I could tell that behind her gaze, she was fighting to remain calm and collected. She was just as upset about her brother’s kidnapping, but she knew how to put on a facade. I, on the other hand, just blew up. In other words, I got angry really fast.

“I doubt its the bar, because that is a busy place and I’ve seen it top to bottom, front to back, and there is nothing in there that would be useful for holding two Blackhawks captive!” I deduced, shaking my head.

“And I don’t think an actual hawk’s nest would work either! Aren’t those things really small, like the size of a person’s foot?”

“There a tiny bit bigger, actually, but that is a good point. I think you are right, concluding that that is not our location. And that leaves only the UC…”

“But why would Sidney hold our brothers at the UC?” My friend looked at me with a serious, bewildered expression and she had a point. Why would Sidney Crosby be smart enough to evade us, but hold the two boys in a mundane place like the United Center?

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his stupidness. Was the evil mastermind for the Penguins really that dumb? Surely not, but what other place could he have possibly taken Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane?

There was a long moment of silence that followed, before we just decided to check out the United Center. We hopped into the car, which happened to be turned to the news station. The broadcaster was talking about some kind of airplane hangar that was exploding and catching on fire, just outside of Chicago. I was about to change the station, when they further explained that the airplane hangar was holding…..Blackhawk fighter jets! Blackhawk!

I jerked back and looked to Christina, who was also in shock. Her eyes were wide. I turned the key in the ignition. “We aren’t going to the UC anymore...we need to get to the hangar!”

Christina sharply nodded her head, as I stomped on the gas and sped out of the driveway and toward the location of the crime scene.

Notes