Prologue:

"Hey, Zack?" Cody asked. "I have to go use the bathroom really quickly. I'll meet you over there," he indicated, pointing to the entrance of the stadium.

"Sure, brother," said his twin, Zack. He waved to his brother, and hurried out to the front of the stadium to meet his mother.

It was Zack and Cody's first time to a baseball game alone: unsupervised without any adult chaperones. The Red Sox had won, and they were supposed to meet Carey at the front of the stadium after the game finished.

Carey was standing there, and as Zack approached, she asked, "Where's Cody?"

"He had to go use the bathroom," Zack told her. They stood there and waited for Cody to come out.

xxx

Cody headed for the bathroom. I have to go really bad, he thought, and sprinted through the door, pushing it open. He ran towards the nearest stall and emptied his bladder. After he was finished, he opened the door and headed over towards the sink, noticing two men standing off to the side.

He didn't really care about them being there until one came up behind him. Cody looked up nervously at the tall man.

"Let's take this one," the guy said, looking at the other one.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," said the other one, examining something on his head.

Cody backed up against the sink. "What… what are you doing?"

"Kid," the tall man said, looking down at Cody. Cody noticed that he had a scruffy looking beard. "What's your name?"

"C-cody," Cody managed to stutter.

"Cody. I think it's time that you come for a little ride with us."

Cody felt every muscle in his body tense up. No! No! his mind screamed, but he couldn't control his body. He couldn't make himself move. This can't be happening.

Carey had always told her sons that when they were faced with this, they were to scream, but Cody couldn't make his mouth function. He couldn't seem to make anything work.

In one moment, the man grabbed him and stuffed a dirty rag into his mouth. There went the chance to scream.

The man hit him over the head, and everything went black.

xxx

Carey and Zack had been waiting for about fifteen minutes by now, and they were becoming worried. Carey waited outside the men's room while Zack went inside.

"He's not there," he whispered, his face pale as he came out. "Cody's not there. I found this though," he said, handing Carey a blue hat. Cody's hat.

"Don't panic," said Carey, though she could feel the fear rising in her chest. "We'll look around first. Stay with me, I don't want to lose you too."

They looked and looked for every sign of a short boy with blonde hair. They saw a couple, but none of them were Cody.

Finally, Carey decided to go put in a report. She went to the front of the stadium and asked the ticket taker if he had seen Cody. He hadn't. Carey was panicking now. She called the police, not knowing that she would not see her son again for three years…

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