Kidnapped at the Capital Read online

  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 cell phone. “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 father again, 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 me right after I hung up.” Marshall grinned. “I let him think he got me before I made the phone call.”

  “Marshall Li, I’m mad at you!” KC said. “Why didn’t you tell me you made the call?”

  Marshall held up the red cloth. “I was gagged, remember?”

  9

  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

  The next morning, another black car picked up KC, her mom, and Marshall. They were driven to the White House and escorted to President Thornton’s private residence. They found him sipping a glass of orange juice.

  “Good morning,” the president said when they entered. He looked much better. His eyes were still a little red, but he wasn’t sneezing anymore.

  “How are you feeling?” KC asked.

  “Much improved, now that I know you’re all safe.”

  “So where’s Casey?” Marshall asked.

  “Poor guy, I sent him on a vacation. He’s in disguise, so no one will mistake him for me this time.” President Thornton looked at KC’s mom. “Ms. Corcoran, please accept my—”

  KC’s mom interrupted. “Please call me Lois, Mr. President.”

  The president smiled. “Okay, if you’ll call me Zach.” He cleared his throat and started again. “Lois, I’m so sorry I didn’t come to meet you yesterday.”

  Lois nodded. “At first I thought Casey was joking,” she said. “He asked the secret service men to give us a moment alone and started to explain. That’s when those two men grabbed us.”

  “Who were they, anyway?” KC asked.

  The president took a sip of juice. “Chip Hornbeck and Waldo Weeks are disgruntled astronauts,” he said. “They were kicked out of NASA two years ago, and never got to go into space. They were unhappy and decided to get revenge.”

  “So they were only pretending to be janitors, right?” KC asked.

  The president nodded. “Because they were astronauts, they knew all the off-limit places in the Air and Space Museum.”

  Just then Marshall’s stomach growled.

  “Well, I guess we’d better eat,” said the president. “Please sit down, everyone.”

  They all sat and began passing platters of scrambled eggs, fruit, and bagels. The president’s cat sat by his feet and meowed loudly.

  “Sorry, George,” the president said. He dropped a cherry onto the carpet.

  “Why did you name him George?” Marshall asked.

  The president grinned. “For the first president,” he said. “And you know how he liked cherries!”

  George held the cherry with his front paws and took delicate bites.

  “Anyway,” the president continued, “Chip and Waldo will be in jail for quite a long time.”

  “There was a third man,” KC’s mom said. “He was waiting inside the rear door of the museum. He had rags dipped in something awful that they put over our faces. When I woke up, they were putting me in that space suit!”

  “Ralphy Bird,” the president said. “We’ve already got him. He was caught in a helicopter, hovering over the museum.”

  “Was it scary hanging up there?” Marshall asked KC’s mom.

  “Oh, honey, you have no idea!” she said. “When I saw you two walk into the room, I thought I was dreaming.”

  “And we might not have gone in if KC hadn’t seen the flower you dropped.”

  KC’s mother laughed. “I shook it out of my hair when they were stuffing me into that space suit,” she said. “I prayed someone would spot it there.”

  The president grinned. “Good thinking, Lois!” He picked up his juice glass. “Here’s a toast to KC and Marshall. What would the White House do without you two?”

  That night, KC and Marshall were watching TV. Lost and Found chased each other around the apartment.

  A buzzer sounded. KC’s mom walked over to the door and pressed a button.

  “Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Corcoran,” Donald’s voice said from the wall unit. “I have a package for you.”

  “For me? Okay, send it up.”

  A few minutes later, she opened the door. Donald grinned and handed her a long white box.

  “What is it, Mom?” KC got up and walked over to the door.

  “It looks like flowers,” her mother said. She removed the lid. Under a layer of tissue paper lay two dozen yellow roses.

  “Oh my goodness!” KC’s mom said. “Who would send me roses?”

  A small envelope was taped to the box. “There’s a note, Mom—read it!” KC said.

  KC’s mother opened the envelope and pulled out a card. She read it silently, then began to smile.

  “No fair,” KC said. “Read it out loud!”

  Blushing, Lois Corcoran read the card:

  Dear Lois,

  Please accept my apology for your terrible experience yesterday. May I make it up to you with dinner at the White House tomorrow night? This time I promise to show up!

  Fondly,

  Zach Thornton

  Fondly? thought KC. The president asked my mom on a date!

  About the Author

  Ron Roy can sympathize with the bad guys in Kidnapped at the Capital. He’s always dreamed of going into space, too. “When I was ten years old, I wanted to live in space and travel between the planets,” he says. “But now that I’m an adult, I’m pleased to live on planet Earth.”

  Ron Roy is the author of the popular series, The A to Z Mysteries. He lives with his black cat, Cabby, in a very old farmhouse in Connecticut.

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  by Gloria Whelan

  Mark opened the door to the preparation room. The boys crowded inside. The long, thin figure lay on the table shrouded in white. They could hear one another breathing.

  A minute went by. Mark
was pushing them back outside the room when the figure twitched.

  The boys stopped in their tracks and stared. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

  The figure slowly rose up from the table. The sheet moved with it.

  “It’s a ghost!” Kevin whispered.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  Kidnapped at the Capital / by Ron Roy; illustrated by Liza Woodruff.

  p. cm. — (Road to reading. Mile 5)

  Summary: KC’s mother and the clone of the President of the United States are kidnapped by disgruntled astronauts who want to take over the International Space Station.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-53518-4

  [1. Kidnapping—Fiction. 2. Cloning—Fiction.] I. Woodruff, Liza, ill.

  II. Title. III. Series.

  PZ7.R8139 Ki 2002

  [Fic]—dc21 2001033797

  A Golden Book • New York

  Text copyright © 2002 Ron Roy. Illustrations copyright © 2002 Golden Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Golden Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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