I didn’t like this angle.  I looked around but I could not find a better angle, oh well this would have to do.

Click, click, click.

I played with the settings and clicked away again, three times again. I looked at the screen, better than I thought.

That should do it I thought.  I found an empty bench and made notations in my notebook.  I put my pen away and sat back and took in the day.  It was one of those beautiful sunny winter Florida days.  The temperature was in the high 70s, there was a slight breeze and just a few puffy white clouds moving across the sky.  I smiled; I had a pretty good life somedays.

Like today, I was doing work that I enjoyed, I was in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and I had a great gal that I was going to be spending the evening with watching a movie.  I closed up my notebook, put the large rubber band around it and stuck it in my messenger bag, next to my camera.

I was still getting used to the bag, Millie had gotten it for me at Christmas and I still was unsure how much to put in it, or where to place things in it.  My old bag had been a black nylon job designed mostly for a laptop but it was getting kind of ragged, with more repair sewing then orginal stitching.   I was grateful, and it looked really cool, kind of like Indiana Jones, but I was still getting used to it.

I walked out to the parking lot and was looking at my phone for where my station wagon was and decided to walk instead of waiting for the tram.

I was a few feet from my car when I noticed someone coming towards me through the cars.  “Excuse me do you know where Unicorn is.”  I stopped as the man in typical tourist garb came between the two parked cars, that is when I heard a car come down the row of parked cars a bit faster than normal.  I was tackled into the van, strong hands grabbed me and put a black bag over my head.  After only a few seconds I stopped struggling, when I felt the zip ties go on my hands the sliding door slam shut.  My wallet was grabbed, and they unclipped my bag.

Professionals, multiple people, at least four, one the guy in the parking lot, one driver, and two in the back of the van.

I was yanked off the floor and put me on a bench seat between two large people and seat belted.  Then a voice. “You will not be harmed if you cooperate and answer our questions, truthfully and honestly.”  The voice was a bland mid-western American accent.  I guessed it was the guy who asked me where Unicorn was.

“Well, I would have done that without the bag over my head and the zip ties, so we got off on the wrong foot already. I hope you guys did not break my camera.”

There was a pause and then I heard my camera start up and then a few test shots.  “It works fine.” A different voice then the one who initially spoke.

“Well, that is good, I am guessing you guys would not have paid for it if you broke it anyways.  Hard to put in a claim with kidnappers.”

The midwestern accent spoke again. “Do not think of it as a kidnapping,” there was a pause as he looked at something, “Miles Mitchell, think of it an invitation to a discussion we did not want you to turn down.”  I was about to speak when Mid-Western spoke again. “A Private Investigator, no surprise there.”

I was about to say something funny, like ‘take a card, I am always looking for new customers’ but instead I stopped talking and thought.  These guys did not know who I was.  They did not know I was a private investigator, not even my name.  No one had sent them, whatever they wanted me for it was recent, like within the last twenty-four hours, no prep time and with their moves I knew these guys were professionals.  So why did they grab me, I was not working anything high profile or high priced right now.  In fact, the case I was working right now was downright silly and frivolous and of no consequences to anyone but a very specific person.  So, what had I done to make these guys take me on this forced jaunt.  I had the feeling they were telling me the truth about not hurting me, but it is hard to convince yourself that with a black bag over your head.

I had been distracted the first few minutes by the bag and conversation now I took a breath and began to concentrate on the movement of the van, making turns and such.  We were already out of the parking lot by the time I was paying attention. I could tell we were stopped, and it was longer than a stop sign, it must have been the traffic light right outside the park on Osceola Parkway and Sherberth Road and we made a right onto Sherberth.  Then the turn around the power substation. Then we slowed down. Traffic? A little early in the day for traffic on this road. Then we turned off the main road to the right. Were we pulling into the dirt road after the substation?

Maybe they were going to do some violence upon my person.

Then we stopped and continued on but I realized it was a smooth road.  So not the dirt road next to the substation.  Were we in that private resort right off Disney property?  Well, I was born on property and if this was the end, then I only died a couple miles from where I came into the world.  Not much of a trip from beginning to end, only three or four miles.

I could see the headlines ‘Private Investigators Body Found Only Miles From His Birthplace’. See what I said earlier about not totally convinced this not a one-way trip.

We made a couple turns, then we backed into a spot, the door slide open, someone said ‘clear’ and I was escorted roughly but efficiently out of the van into the sunlight and into an apartment and seated in straight back chair.  I could tell there were people standing around me so I did not try anything.  I listened and could tell there was very little furniture in the room or wall coverings because the echo of an empty room.  One side of room was warmer so I suspected there was a large patio door on my left side and I was probably facing the kitchen.

I decided to speak up.  “Where did the spokesman for your little team go.”  I had not heard him talk since we came into the condo and I suspected he went to talk to the big boss.

“So, you guys been here long?”  There was no response. “You know I can get you a good deal on a drapes and curtains, I know a guy.”  Still no response.  “So is the big boss close by, or did the team leader have to go call him?”  I heard a little bit of shuffling around the room and was trying not to tense in case I had annoyed them enough to forgo their mostly non-violent approach so far.  Being stiff when being hit was shown to increase to injuries, that is why so many drunks survived crashes, whereas awake and alert people got injured so badly, tension.

I heard a person or maybe two people enter the room. Then the hood was taken off my head suddenly.  I blinked at the bright light and took in the room.  The guy from the parking lot was on my left and an older women in a dark pant suit was on the right.  The boss and the team leader I concluded.

“Mr. Mitchell who is your client?” The team leader asked.

“None of your business.” I stated. “But since you know my name, tell me yours.”

The team leader looked to his boss, who gave a slight nod. “I am Scott and this is Ms. Gray.” There was a pause. “Who are you working for that brought you to Animal Kingdom today?”

I sighed.  How far was I going to go with this?  “I cannot tell you, professional ethics and all that, but what I will say is whatever I am doing has nothing to do with you, or whoever you are working for.”

Scott spoke without getting permission from his boss this time. “You were observed in the vicinity of certain individuals numerous times, taking pictures in their direction and then making notations in your notebook.”

I shrugged, which is not really hindered when your hands are zip tied together. “I am sure there is a lot of overlap with people and where I was today, the park is not that big, but I assure you I was not taking pictures of anyone, you have my camera, go ahead and check it.”

The boss lady nodded to someone behind me.  A younger woman dressed similar to the boss, but in a tan pants suit, a little more forgiving in Orlando sun, she had a tablet and handed it to the boss. I pegged her as tech support.  The boss looked it over and the room came to a standstill as she flicked through the information.  She handed it to Scott who did the same. That is when Ms. Gray spoke directly to me for the first time.

“You have an impressive background Mr. Mitchell.”

To finish the story: 

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If you want to read the orginal collection of Miles Mitchell Mysteries you can buy it at Dorrance Publishing.  (Physical Copy or e-book format)   Also there are various places to purchase the Miles Mitchell Mysteries in audio format. 

Volume 2 of the Miles Mitchell Mysteries can be found at Smashwords.com.  (e-book format only)

Categories: A Miles Mitchell Story, Outrageous Lies and Tales

Tags: A Miles Mitchell Mystery, Animal Kingdom Disney, defection, disney, Frogs, goverment, Miles Mitchell, MMM, mystery, PI, private investigator, state department, Stormalong Bay, Walt Disney World