Hidden Mickey Adventures 1

by Nancy Temple Rodrigue

  “Uncle Wolf?” Knowing he wouldn’t get any answers, Peter suddenly thought of something else. “If Todd knew everything, why did he demand the answer to the last clue? I kinda think he doesn’t know where to go next.”

  They all had to stop and think on that question. Wolf began to pace the room. “He always seemed to know exactly where you were going to be, right? When did that stop?”

  Peter gave a shrug. “The last clue was in my backpack. He still had it after we got away. But,” he brightened, remembering something important, “he only had a partial clue. I had the whole thing written on my hand.”

  “Did you always have the backpack with you?”

  “Yeah, it’s my school pack. I take it everywhere.”

  Wolf pressed his point. “Did you have it when you first encountered Todd?”

  Peter shrugged. “In the Tiki Room? Yeah, but he never touched it. He just put his hands on our shoulders and got Michael and me out of the room.”

  Wolf couldn’t see an answer. “I don’t know. We’ll probably never figure it out. I doubt he’ll willingly tell us.”

  “What do we do next?” Adam spoke up. “I don’t want to allow either Peter or Catie to be put in any more danger. This quest of theirs will have to stop.”

  “Dad!”

  “Uncle Adam!”

  “I agree with Adam.”

  “We’re not done yet!”

  “Uncle Wolf!”

  “Mom!”

  “It’s too dangerous!”

  Again it was Wolf who had to step in. “Hold on!” His deep voice rattled the pictures on the wall. All six participants in the debate stopped. “I agree with Peter and Catie.” He held up a hand when the parents were ready to jump into the fray again. “Hold it. Now, I don’t want them to get hurt any more than you do. You know that,” he stressed and stared at each parent in turn. Backing down, they each had to nod in agreement. “Knowing that, you all also know how important these Hidden Mickey quests are to the ones running them.” Again he stopped and stared at the four adults.

  “But they’re so young….”

  “Age has nothing to do with it Kimberly.” Wolf cut her off. “You, of all people, should know the long-range idea Walt had in mind when he set these quests in motion so long ago. They don’t,” he indicated the wide-eyed young ones still sitting side-by-side on the sofa. “But, it might have a profound effect on their future. As it did yours,” he finished pointedly, including all of the adults in the room in his statement.

  He didn’t need to say any more. Adam and Beth thought about the way they had found each other again and how they were able to use the treasure they had uncovered. There had been ongoing donations to charities and multiple art scholarships. Adam had been able to fund a low-income housing development he had always wanted to do that was proving to be a tremendous benefit to the community. Lance and Kimberly reflected on the way their quest had brought them together and how they were now married. And—unknown to Adam and Beth—they had also become the next Guardians of Walt.

  Looking over at Wolf, Lance narrowed his eyes. Was Wolf going to go there? Did he plan on revealing their respective roles?

  Seeing his inquiring, silent look and understanding its import, Wolf gave Lance a brief shake of his head. That information was for Lance and Kimberly to disclose—if and when they saw fit. Throughout this discussion, no one had mentioned the War Room upstairs. It seemed to have been forgotten in all that had been disclosed and the danger Peter had been in.

  “Wolf, we need to know definitely that Peter and Catie will be safe. I don’t think even you can assure us of that.”

  Wolf looked over at Kimberly. He wanted to promise her that nothing bad would ever happen to Peter or Catie again. But, realistically, he couldn’t. He could try and take Todd out of the picture now, but doubted the man was still at his apartment or even in Southern California, for that matter. What he could assure her was that Todd would no longer work for Disneyland’s Security Department. That was a given. Even Todd would recognize that he had just blown his job out of the window. “I know this quest,” he quietly told her. “I was with Walt when he set it up.”

  Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Adam and Beth’s mouths open to ask how that was possible. Walt had been gone for over four decades. “Not now.” With those two simple words, he silenced the obvious question. Sensing something of greater import going on, their mouths snapped shut and, with an understanding nod, they became silent observers.

  Wolf continued. “There is only one more step to this quest. You know where to go, right, Peter?”

  Taken aback when everyone suddenly turned to look at him, Peter just mutely nodded.

  Satisfied, Wolf walked over to Lance’s desk and picked up one of the keys. “But you don’t yet know where these work. That’s your final task.” He turned back to face the parents before he continued. “They need to finish it. I’ll be there when Todd comes—as we know he will.” He held up a restraining hand to the objections that were about to fly at him again. “He won’t give up until it’s over, and he knows he needs these keys. Since we don’t want him coming back here to the house, we have to move quickly. I’ll be there, in the shadows, waiting for him.”

  “We’ll be there, too.” Lance was firm as he stated what each of the parents was thinking.

  Wolf wasn’t too sure that was a good idea. “If he sees all of you, he might take off and I won’t be able to grab him and do what I need to do.”

  Kimberly looked steadily at their friend. “You have a plan.” She said it as a statement, not a question.

  Wolf’s gaze was only at her. “I’ll take him somewhere so he won’t bother anyone again.”

  Kimberly gave a curt nod as a chill went over her arms, knowing full well what that meant. Lance saw her rub her arms and came over to take her hand. “Like Daniel.” Her whisper confused Adam, Beth, and the children.

  “You have to realize that there are too many questions left for that not to happen.” Lance’s eyes briefly darted upward toward the ceiling.

  Knowing he was indicating the still-undisclosed War Room, Kimberly had to agree. She could see no other way. Her family and that treasured secret could not be threatened.

  Trying to divert the tension that had deepened in the room, Wolf turned to Adam. “Did you ever tell Catie about your father working for Walt?”

  “What? Really, Daddy? Grandpa John knew Walt Disney?” Catie’s eyes got really wide and the delighted smile on her face was like a ray of sunshine that suddenly split the clouds in the room.

  After a brief stare at the security guard, Adam let Wolf have his diversion even though he wondered how Wolf knew his family history. He would ask the piercing questions at a later time—and he would get some answers. “Yes, honey, he did.” He turned from Wolf to his daughter. “Well, he worked for Disneyland, actually, not specifically Walt. He was working on the Haunted Mansion when it was being built.”

  “I didn’t know that.” Beth leaned back to look into his face. “You never mentioned it.”

  Adam gave a good-natured shrug. “Don’t know why not, actually. He worked in a lot of different departments in his effort to get his contractor’s license. He was doing electrical work on the Mansion. I do remember him telling me that Walt came up to him one day to ask about something for the train in his yard, but Walt got diverted by something on the ground. After he picked up a piece of electrical tubing, Walt asked him about it….” Adam’s voice faded away. Suddenly understanding what he had just revealed, he looked off into the distance, his sentence unfinished.

  “What’s the matter, honey?” Beth patted his hand, anxious to hear the rest of the story. “What else did Walt say?”

  Adam’s head snapped back to face her. At that moment, he had just figured out that the tubing Walt had questioned his dad about was the same tubing in which each of his and Lance’s Hidden Mickey clues had been found. He shot a quick, questioning glance at Wolf, but found his face unreadab
le. “Um, there wasn’t much more,” he finished, clearly distracted. “Walt never did say what he wanted for his train. He wished my dad a happy marriage, which really surprised Dad because he didn’t think Walt had ever met my mom….” Adam broke off again, looking over at Lance and Kimberly. They had wide-eyed expressions on their faces, like they knew, but didn’t know. “That’s all,” he finished quietly when no one else said anything.

  “Wow, that’s really cool!” Catie’s exclamation inadvertently broke the mood that had just fallen over the room. “I’ll have to ask Grandpa John about that next time I see him.”

  Adam glanced at her pleased face. “Ask him how they met, too.”

  Wolf looked out at the expanse of the back yard he could see through the window. “I think you all need to get back to the party. The natives are getting restless. It looks like one of the umbrella tables is now set up in the middle of the pool.”

  “Oh, dear.” Kimberly jumped up to look for herself and let out a small laugh. “There are four of them sitting at the table like they’re expecting a waitress to come by and take their order.” She gave a sudden sigh and turned back to the room, her face serious once again. “I vote that we trust Wolf and let this play out. He’ll do everything he can to protect the kids. I know he will.”

  One by one, though not completely agreeing with her, the other parents reluctantly gave their consent.

  With that decision made, they all filed out to return to the party. There were still hours to go before it would wind down and everyone would go home.

  Lance and Wolf were the last to leave the study. Lance put a firm hand on Wolf’s arm. “I know you treat Peter and Catie like they’re your own kids. Do what you have to do to protect them.”

  “I will.”

  Lance stared into Wolf’s blue eyes for a long moment. Satisfied, with a final nod of trust, he turned and left the study, shutting the door quietly behind him.

  Constantly checking his rearview mirror for any sign of a red Mustang in hot pursuit, Todd sped down Brea Boulevard as he headed for the relative safety of the Imperial Highway. Once on the highway, he could speed up even faster to put a greater distance between him and his pursuer—because he knew his car wouldn’t stand a chance in an all-out race against Wolf’s classic ’67 Mustang GT powered by a 427.

  Swerving in and out of traffic, Todd’s white-knuckle grip on his steering wheel didn’t relax until he hit his off-ramp in Brea and still saw no sign of pursuit. With no desire to call attention to himself and his broken window by getting a speeding ticket, he kept to the posted speed as he headed through the city streets to his apartment. Glancing at the shards of glass that covered his passenger seat, a chill went through Todd.

  It wasn’t the expense to repair the window that bothered him. There were enough stolen credit cards and cash on hand for that. No, it was the look of Wolf’s face, those eerie blue eyes filled with hatred that caused Todd’s forehead to break out in a sweat. He knew how close he had come to getting caught.

  After he screeched to a stop in his parking stall, he had to hold himself back from actually sprinting through the apartment complex to the safety of his rooms. Once the front door slammed shut and the deadbolt pushed in place, Todd began to breathe more evenly.

  But, his back pressed against the door, he knew, deep down, that if Wolf wanted to get through that door…he would.

  Working as fast as his limited computer knowledge would allow him, Todd desperately tried to figure out the meaning of the Cour d’A on the slip of paper he had stolen from Peter. Unlike Peter, he hadn’t learned the tricks of the search engines and was left completely frustrated and angry. Even the Gold Pass and the papers he had swiped from the kid and the knowledge of that secret room upstairs in the mansion didn’t bring him any measure of calm. Yes, now he did have plenty of leverage to use against the Brentwood family and he knew how to make it quite profitable for himself. Even though he didn’t fully realize what he had stumbled across, he sensed something bigger in what Peter was doing and wanted to focus on just that. The Brentwood’s secret could wait a while longer. He wanted to know what the boy was doing and he wanted to keep whatever it was that the boy would find.

  He just couldn’t figure out the clue Peter had written down. He needed help.

  Frustrated, he pushed away from his computer, and tried to rid his mind of the look on Wolf’s face when he threw that rock. That image blocked Todd’s attempt to come up with a plan—a plan that didn’t include Wolf’s huge hands wrapped around his neck and squeezing….

  Okay, that isn’t helping. He ran a shaky, sweaty hand through his hair. Who can help? I don’t even have to be told I’m fired from Disneyland. But, nobody else probably knows that little fact yet. Who can I call for a favor?

  As he mentally ran through the list of his friends on the security team, he came up with a very short list. Because of his a secret profession—that of a thief—it was impractical for him to form deep friendships among those who would, technically, be on the lookout for someone just like him…. Todd could only come up with two names—Tom and Steve. He quickly dismissed Tom. Too squeaky clean and by-the-book. Tom would never agree to go along with what Todd was going to ask.

  Steve, on the other hand, might be perfect. Todd sat a little straighter in his chair as he started to formulate a plan. Thinking about Steve’s personal life, Todd knew he had a fiancée named Lori. He couldn’t personally see the attraction to her, but that didn’t matter. A small smile started in the corner of Todd’s mouth. Lori was a very jealous person. She clamped onto Steve wherever they went. However, he didn’t recall seeing her with Steve at the Brentwood party earlier today. Steve was there alone. Todd’s smile deepened as he remembered something else: Steve didn’t remain alone at the party. Wendy, his ex-girlfriend, was there and they had a fun time of it in the pool. Too bad I hadn’t brought my camera, he thought ruefully. Just as fast as he had that thought, another brilliant realization came to his mind: Steve wouldn’t know that he hadn’t brought a camera….

  Leaning forward in his chair, Todd began to picture the scene as it played out in his mind. If Steve didn’t go along with his request, it wouldn’t go well with Lori. After he glanced at the clock on his faded walls, Todd figured he should probably wait until tomorrow. That would give Steve plenty of time with Wendy at the on-going party and then Sunday he would be back with his fiancée. Around four o’clock in the afternoon should be a good time to give Steve a friendly call.

  “Are you blackmailing me?” Steve couldn’t believe his ears. Having lowered his voice to a whisper after he heard Todd’s demand, Steve had gone out onto his patio, away from Lori’s inquisitive ears. “Is that what you’re saying, Todd? We’re supposed to be friends, man.”

  “Hey, as a friend I asked for your help and you said no.” Todd sounded completely calm, as if they were chatting about baseball scores or the weather. “I just can’t accept that as your final answer.”

  “I’m not going to spy on Wolf for you. I don’t have a death wish, you know. That’s absurd.”

  “All you have to do is tell me where he takes those kids. That’s all. I know they’ll show up at Disneyland some time tomorrow and I just need to know where he takes them inside the Park. I can’t watch every part of the Park at the same time.” He left out the part about his being more-than-likely fired from the force.

  “I don’t care. Do it yourself.” Furious, Steve looked back over his shoulder to see where Lori was. “I can’t believe you’d tell Lori about Wendy! Nothing happened. We were just talking.”

  Todd gave a sigh like you would give to a child who didn’t understand a simple command. “Now, Steve, you know that and I know that, but pictures don’t lie. Hmm. Do you think Lori would like an eight-by-ten glossy or a couple of wallet-sized shots to keep with her forever?”

  “This is bogus, man. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.” An unfamiliar feeling of hatred began to worm its way through Steve and he didn’t like it.
He pulled the phone away from his ear and contemplated hurling it into the bushes. But, that wouldn’t solve anything. “This ends it between you and me, Todd.” His words were ground out between gritted teeth. “I’ll do it because I have to, but never, ever speak to me or Lori again. You got that?”

  Todd gave a smug grin that came across the phone line. “Yeah, I got that, Steve. You just let me know where Wolf ends up with the brats and you’re off the hook. Even though you are still stuck with Lori.” He couldn’t help that final dig before he shut his phone and ended the call.

  Todd’s phone rang earlier on Monday than he expected. It being a school day, he figured Peter and Catie would get to Disneyland much later in the day. It seemed, though, that they were kept out of school.

  “Steve. Buddy. How’s life treating you?”

  Not liking Todd’s cheery attitude, Steve had to hold back some unpleasant words. “Cut the pleasantries, Todd. I still don’t like this.”

  “Fine, have it your way. You don’t like it. Noted. So, where are they? How long have they been inside?”

  “Hey, was that the Monorail horn? Where are you, Todd?”

  “At the main gate, waiting for you to do what you’re supposed to. So, give me my report.”

  “And then you’ll destroy the pictures, right?” The urgency and desperation in his voice came through the phone.

  “Right. Just like I promised.” Todd smiled at his own brilliance. “So? I’m getting bored here.”

  There was a long pause. It went against everything Steve believed in. He finally let out a deep sigh. “Wolf brought two kids in with him about half an hour ago. A boy and a girl. I recognized the boy was Lance’s son, as you probably already knew. If you do anything to those kids….”

  “Don’t hurt yourself, Stevie. The kids will be fine. Peter has something of mine that I want back, that’s all.”

  Steve didn’t believe him, but had no choice but to finish his report. He knew Wolf was with the kids and that, hopefully, would be protection enough. “Whatever. They came in the Disney Drive entrance, near the Grand Californian. Wolf made a show of taking them all around the Security Department, that kind of thing. Then they went through the back road toward Indy and the Jungle Cruise. I saw them go through to New Orleans Square.”