Okay guys, first I hope everyone had a good holiday. Second, I'm sorry for the lateness. I've been giving myself an ulcer as I try and find a new place to live. Remember six, seven months ago when I got a new job and was trying to find a place to live? Yeah, I'm doing that BS again and I'm not happy about it.
Anyway, we're heading to the end here; decided to break this up to chapters, so only one left plus the epilogue! Enjoy!
Chapter XIII
The hot California days usually gave way to cool California nights. On this night, a sleek black Harley Davidson motorcycle went rushing through the streets of Los Angeles, riding down the highway towards that of the city of San Mateo.
The traffic around the driver went rushing by, paying no heed to the bike nor that of the driver. The signs for the I-5 North went roaring past, but again, the motorcyclist didn’t pay that much attention.
This was literally a matter of life and death, with one life hanging in the balance if the cyclist didn’t get there in time. In any normal instance, the driver – Miss Piggy – would have enjoyed a nice, long drive through the streets of California; there was something about driving alone, on a long stretch of road that could be very liberating and very relaxing.
She had done this many times, both on a bike and in a car. There’s a sense of freedom that was had when driving; it cleared the mind in most cases, letting thoughts and ideas weave their way around one’s head, usually coming to a finale that can help reach decisions, both easy and hard. The decision that Piggy needed to reach was a simple one – save Gonzo by handing over the Rheingold Ruby to that of Royce La Chance.
It was an easy choice, but one she was loath to do.
However, it did ultimately prove her point and singled out La Chance as her one and only suspect. So in retrospect, she had been right in that not only had he been involved in the theft, but obviously he was probably the murderer of those three people that the police had been looking for. That was all well and good, if La Chance hadn’t called her bluff and kidnapped her partner in crime.
The drive from LA to that of San Mateo actually took around five hours to make, however the location where she would be meeting the cat burglar was about an hour into the drive and she was vaguely aware of where she was going.
LA County had started to build an office complex on the outskirts of the highway, thinking that perhaps the location would help to drive business because of so many people that would be going pass. The concept was good on paper, however when faced with an economic downslide, the idea in practice took millions of dollars that the state could not afford at the moment. That of course meant that a huge structure now stood on the side of the highway with no end in sight.
On the right of the highway, it stood. Nearly fifteen floors and about seventy-five hundred feet for each floor; the structure was just metal and steel, extending far into the night sky as the diva approached it.
La Chance had given her an hour to reach the massive structure and she had wasted no time in getting there, just in the case that the thief played his own tricks should she be late. The turn off for the office complex was on the right and Piggy took it, slowing down as she went around the turn.
This was an extremely dangerous situation she was getting into and the diva was well aware of it.
Dry dirt surrounded the construction site and there were still some construction equipment that were littered about, just sitting around as though waiting for their drivers and operators to return. There was an off path that lead from the turnoff to that of the construction site and that’s what the porcine princess took towards the looming building ahead.
She hadn’t wanted to take anything to chance – dressed as covertly in black leather as she dared, she had made sure that the jacket she wore was lined with pockets. They had to be, if she wanted to bring that ruby with her; that was the only thing that took a bit of time, as she needed to head out to the studios and to Kermit’s office in order to retrieve it.
Pulling up a distance from one side of the building, Piggy turned off the roar of the motorcycle’s engine, before throwing a leg of the side to get off. She removed her helmet, shaking out the blonde curls that had been trapped inside, and looked up at the structure before her.
She didn’t see La Chance or Gonzo, though as high as the building was and as dark as the night was, it wouldn’t have surprised her if she was looking right at them and just didn’t see them. She placed her helmet on the bike seat and dug in her jacket pocket for her phone. Pulling up Gonzo’s number, she waited for someone to answer.
“I’m here,” she stated, once she heard the phone pick up.
“Come on up,” replied La Chance. “Tenth floor, elevator’s on the west side, by the sign.”
She immediately heard the dial tone and shoved the phone back into her pocket, making her way towards a sign on the west side of the building that would direct her to the elevator.
Under a scaffold was the makeshift elevator that had allowed workers and managers up and down the building’s structure. Piggy didn’t want to think about what needed to be done in order to get a somewhat working elevator in a shell of a building, so she tried her best to think of other things as she climbed in and pressed the button for the tenth floor.
Never had the diva been afraid of heights, enjoying carnival rides in her youth and certainly being the first to volunteer to do the high dive and other dangerous stunts in all of their movies, but when riding in an open elevator through the outlined metal carcass of a building actually caused her stomach to flip something fierce. Piggy did her best to concentrate on the skyline or the lights of the city, but the prospect that at any moment, the power could go in her moving coffin or she could step out and fall weighed on her heavily.
Upon reaching the designated floor, she wasn’t all surprised to see both kidnapper and hostage at the other end of wooden planked flooring that allowed access to and from the steel beams.
“Right on time,” La Chance called to her, watching as the lift stopped and the pig got out. He waited until she had walked halfway to them and stopped her, saying, “Nuh uh uh. That’s as far as you go, Sweets. Hand over the ruby.”
Piggy halted as ordered, making observations as she went. La Chance had Gonzo in a tight grip by the shoulder, while his other hand held a small caliber weapon to the weirdo’s head; apparently, not trusting the guy to wiggle his way out, the daredevil’s hands were tied behind his back.
“Hand over the weirdo and you’ll get your ruby.”
The villain chuckled. “That ain’t gonna cut it, porkchop,” he said. “This ain’t my first barbeque, so don’t think you can play me.” With the last sentence, La Chance showed just how serious he was by pushing the gun harder against Gonzo’s head. “I’ll cut you some slack though,” he continued. “I’ll make you a trade; I send Gonzo over to the middle and you toss him the ruby. Then he’ll toss it to me.”
“How exactly am I gonna do that when my hands are tied?” the daredevil asked.
Feeling the hand leave his shoulder, it was only seconds in which Gonzo felt the rope around his wrists give way, allowing him to bring his hands forward. “Get going,” La Chance sneered, pushing the weirdo forward, causing him to stumble as he did. Gonzo almost made a comment as he walked forward, hearing the command for him to stop behind him.
“Remember Gonzo,” La Chance replied. “I know where you live.”
The color nearly drained from the stuntman’s face. He had been taken by surprise when La Chance had shown up at his door, making him drop the food and drink off at his door before escorting him by gunpoint to his car. He certainly hadn’t thought anything other than maybe the jewel thief had seen him and followed him, but it didn’t explain how he managed to be at his door before he was.
Which meant only one thing –
La Chance had been aware of his address long before he had shown up.
Gonzo fully admitted that he took his life in his hands with a devil may care attitude, but he never extended it to that of the people he cared about. He did his very and utmost best to keep them out of harm’s way; that was why he soothed Piggy’s fears because he meant what he had said. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
And if he was willing to keep an eye on his diva co-star, he would do absolutely anything and everything to ensure that Camilla was safe from harm.
Oh his poor chickadee! She was probably worried out of her mind. Gonzo knew she had called at least three times, with La Chance cancelling every call and he was fairly sure that she had probably called Piggy at some point too. And if the chicken couldn’t get a hold of either one of them, she would most certainly call Kermit or Scooter. So that meant help was hopefully on the way.
Now, how long it would take was another story.
The stuntman turned determined, resigned, and ultimately very terrified eyes on the diva. She would try something if she thought she could get away with it, but with that declaration, he hoped she wouldn’t. For Camilla’s sake, at least.
For her part, Piggy got the message loud and clear, though it was just one more thing that irked her. This was probably way over her head and at this point, she had to concede that she was well over her head in all of this, but she knew there had to be something that would give them the advantage.
She just didn’t know what that was yet.
Keeping an eye on both Gonzo and La Chance, Piggy reached into an inside pocket to pull out the very ruby that had started this mess in the first place, tossing it gingerly to Gonzo. “Thanks for coming,” he said.
She shrugged, stating, “It was a slow night.”
Nodding, Gonzo turned back around to face their combined evil. However, instead of tossing the ruby as previously instructed, he held his hand over the side of the walkway he stood upon. “Why should I give this to you?” he asked. “What if I just drop this over the side of the building and be done with it?”
The smirk La Chance gave him was sinister. Cocking back the hammer on the gun he had trained on the weirdo, he said, “Go ahead. See what happens.”
The two were locked in a staring contest, with Piggy frantically trying to figure a way out.
“I bet your girlfriend would make a tasty soup.”
“If you lay one hand on her, I’ll…”
“Watch her die,” La Chance finished. “Now hand over that ruby or I will drive to your apartment and fry up your sweetie.”
“Gonzo, give it to him.”
Sighing in both frustration and defeat, the performance artist had no choice but to do as he was told, tossing the ruby to La Chance’s waiting hand. The jewel thief examined the ruby, the jewel that he hadn’t seen in weeks since stealing it. Even after being in the possession of those crazy Muppets, the ruby didn’t look any worse to wear.
“Good,” he breathed, taking one last look before putting it in his pocket. Looking up to the two felt heads before him, he trained his gun on Gonzo before saying, “Thanks for keeping such good care of it. And now, for your reward.”
Even from behind the stunt weirdo, Piggy could easily see that this wasn’t going to go the way she had wanted or hoped. In the back of her mind, she wondered if maybe she should’ve sent that text to Scooter, telling him to call the cops thirty minutes after receiving it.
“Whoa!” Gonzo exclaimed, seeing the intention in the criminal’s eyes. “Hey man, you got your ruby, there’s no need to get all violent!”
“I hardly think you’ll be talking any sense into him, buzzard beak,” Piggy replied, huffing as she did. Why did all of her plans seemed to get ruined at the worse moment? “He’s a thief, a burglar, a suspected murderer…and a lousy motorcyclist.”
“Could you please not insult the man while he’s holding a gun on me?” Gonzo muttered, casting a disapproving look to his accomplice behind him. “Thanks.”
“You are smart,” La Chance chuckled. “I’m sure you got those little tidbits from your boy wonder Grosse. And incidentally, it’s only suspected when you haven’t been caught, which I haven’t; nor do I plan on getting caught this time. You two will be victims nine and ten, if you were keeping count.”
“I wasn’t,” Piggy countered, though did inwardly gulp. That…was a lot of victims.
“I’d let you choose who gets to go first,” La Chance responded. “But seeing how Gonzo has taken a step forward…”
The weirdo’s eyes widened in terror. He didn’t want to die! There were so many things that he hadn’t done yet! He hadn’t jumped off the Himalayas, nor had he licked the Statue of Liberty. There were so many things to be done and now, it looked as though he had very few minutes to do them in.
If only…
Looking around quickly, Gonzo spotted what he hoped would help; he just had to hope that Piggy had known him long enough to not freak out when he did it.
“Don’t even think about escaping,” the cat burglar sneered. “I don’t miss. Ever.”
Gonzo turned slightly to give the diva a reassuring smile. “I’d say don’t do anything stupid, but…”
“Right,” she muttered, almost afraid to contemplate what exactly he could’ve meant by that and equally afraid what he was planning to do.
Turning back to face the jewel thief, the daredevil smiled at him too. “Catch me if you can.”
Right as Gonzo made his move to grab onto a rope and pulley off to the side, La Chance pulled the trigger.
[hr]
Kermit was thankful to be in police custody because he was certain that as soon as he saw his girlfriend, he was going to kill her.
After sitting through an explanation of how a priceless gem wound up in the gas tank of Gonzo’s motorcycle and how Piggy was playing amateur private eye and roping who ever she could get her hands on, the police of Pasadena sent out the alert that the man they were looking for was Royce La Chance.
Not only that, but thanks to Scooter, Det. Day also sent out a wire to the police in New York that they had a suspect in a few of their cat burglaries and five unsolved murders. Thankfully, both Day and Hollertz were too caught up in having an actual suspect that they didn’t ask how exactly the young Muppet came across said information.
Both officers rounded up some of their own and were all set to go, until Kermit and Scooter insisted on coming too. As helpful as they had been and that their friends and co-stars were probably in danger, the detective was very firm in his no to both. It was only when Scooter suggested that they would just follow the police and that either he or Kermit would have a better chance of getting the pig did Day even listen.
Of course, it also helped that the technical Muppet could tap into anyone’s GPS system through their smartphones and he was well aware that Piggy hardly ever turned hers off.
Knowing that the lad and the frog would be willing to play hard ball if they couldn’t come and that they were the only ones who would know where the pig was budged the detective into begrudgingly allowing the two to ride in their unmarked car.
So now, the quartet were traveling to some site off the highway headed towards San Mateo, hoping to reach either the pig or the jewel thief. Gonzo was quickly added to that list when Scooter received a frantic call from Camilla, who stated that the daredevil had seemingly disappeared.
“Detective?”
“Yeah, Mr. Grosse.”
“I think we have a problem.”
Kermit could see the worry on his assistant’s face, even in the darkened night of the car and city. “That was Camilla,” he began. “Gonzo went out over an hour and a half ago to pick up food; she opened the door and noticed that their food was just sitting outside the door, but no Gonzo. She’s tried calling him, Piggy, and you. You really need to answer your phone.”
Scowling, Kermit began to reach for said phone, but then remembered that he hadn’t taken it with him; in fact, it was probably sitting on the desk in the theater. “Yeah,” he mumbled, embarrassed that he had once again been caught empty handed and without his phone. “Probably right.”
“Any progress on their location?” asked Hollertz.
Putting back his smartphone and readjusting his tablet to his lap, Scooter replied, “Her position hasn’t moved. According to Google’s terrain, it looks like they’re at some sort of construction site.”
Hollertz nodded, relying the information to the others in their group.
Kermit leaned over to look at the screen of the tablet. “Scooter?” he whispered. “What…what exactly does it mean if Piggy’s position isn’t moving?”
“It could mean nothing,” the page said, nervously.
“Scooter…”
The redhead looked at his boss and friend, knowing he couldn’t lie to him. “I mean it,” he whispered. “It could mean nothing. She probably just sat her phone down or she’s just standing around.”
“Or it could mean something worse,” Kermit murmured.
“C’mon Kermit,” the assistant whispered, urgently. “It’s Piggy! And it’s Gonzo! They’re fine, I’m sure of it. We shouldn’t worry; after all, what could possibly happen?”
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