Cady bolted straight up in bed, her heart pounding, and her eyes darting wildly about the darkened room. She wasn't quite sure what had caused her to awaken; she hadn't been having a nightmare, and Micky was still sound asleep at her side. She slowed her breathing down and carefully listened, but the only sounds she heard were the soft music drifting from her hi-fi and Micky's breathing. She thought that maybe she'd heard something out of the ordinary, but it had obviously been her imagination. She lay back down and snuggled against Micky, who mumbled a bit but didn't awaken.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard it again-this time she recognized it as a creaking noise, almost the sound of someone's weight on the wooden floorboards. This time she knew she hadn't imagined it, and she reached over to prod Micky.

"Mick? Wake up!" she whispered.

He shifted position slightly in his sleep but still didn't awaken, his light snoring starting up again.

'I guess I really wore him out,' she thought with a slight smirk. 'I'll take care of this-it's probably not anything at all…just the floorboards settling or something…'

She climbed out of bed and pulled on a T-shirt and shorts, stopping to grab her baseball bat on the way, just in case. Wielding it over her shoulder, she silently tiptoed down the hallway and peered around the corner into the living room. Her mouth dropped when she spotted Bulk clumsily stumbling about, as if he were trying to find something.

'What the hell is he doing in here?' she wondered, her mind working furiously to put together the connections between Shah-Ku's apparent insistence that Micky hock his drums, her spotting of Shah-Ku and Bulk together on the beach, and now Bulk's appearance here in her apartment. She didn't like what she was coming up with one bit.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let him just barge in her apartment and do whatever he planned to do. Letting out a wild banshee yell, she flew into the living room, her bat swinging. The element of surprise was on her side; Bulk barely had time to react before she struck him neatly in the knees, and he dropped to the floor in pain. Before she could demand of him his purpose for being in her apartment, a hand clapped a damp, sweet-smelling cloth over her nose and mouth, and her body sagged as her world swirled into darkness…

Micky's eyes slowly fluttered open as the sunlight filtering through Cady's lacy white curtains brightened the room, and he mumbled a few invectives to himself as he rolled over, his arms searching for Cady.

She wasn't there.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning and stretching. One glance at the alarm clock told him that it was seven-thirty in the morning, and he wondered where she would be. He knew she wasn't fixing breakfast; no smells of cooking food or brewing coffee drifted into his nostrils when he breathed in, and though she was an early riser, she preferred to exercise in the late afternoon or early evening, so he knew she hadn't gone jogging.

He threw aside the covers and pulled on his clothes from the previous evening, peering into her bathroom. Everything was as she had left it when he'd arrived; the now ice-cold bath water was still in the tub, and her towel still lay in a heap on the floor. The only thing missing, he noticed, were her clothes, but maybe she'd thrown those into the white wicker hamper. Curious, he walked over and lifted the lid, digging through the clothing inside only to find that no, her jogging clothes from the day before were not inside.

'What the hell is going on here?' he thought, a pit of worry beginning to grow in his stomach, which growled at him impatiently for food.

He stepped out into the hallway, all the time searching for clues as to Cady's whereabouts, and it wasn't until he entered the living room that he realized something had gone horribly wrong.

Her sofa had been shoved out of place; her coffee table overturned and the area rug beneath bunched up, telling Micky that there had been a struggle. Cady's baseball bat lay on the floor, slightly splintered on one side as if something had been struck with tremendous force. His heart sinking, Micky carefully took off his t-shirt and wrapped it around the handle of the bat, lifting it to see if there were any signs of blood. Much to his relief, there were none.

But his fears were not completely assuaged.

If Cady had been going somewhere, she would have woken him up, or if unable to rouse him, she would have left him a note.

The scene in her living room made it abundantly clear that Cady had not left the apartment of her own free will, that she had fought whomever had taken her until she had been overpowered.

He sank onto the sofa, burying his face in his hands, his heart drumming rapidly with worry and fear. Who had taken Cady? And why? Why hadn't he heard what was going on? His eyes burned with tears, and as he lowered his hands, something near the corner of the coffee table caught his attention. He leaned over and realized that it was an envelope with his name written across the front in vaguely-familiar handwriting. Curious, he opened it and the blood in his veins turned to ice as he read the note within.

"Mr. Dolenz:

We have your girlfriend Cady, and we are holding her hostage to ensure that you meet our demands.

Hock your drums and bring the money and the pawnshop receipt to 24 Main Street by noon today, and we'll negotiate her release.

The Atlas Club"

Micky sank back down onto the sofa, the note hanging limply from his hand. He knew now without a doubt that Shah-Ku was behind Cady's disappearance-the "Atlas Club" was the tip-off-and he also realized why the handwriting on the envelope had looked so familiar to him. It was the same handwriting from the poster of Charles Atlas hanging in Shah-Ku's office building. Except Micky knew there was no way Charles Atlas had written this ransom note, so that meant that Shah-Ku had forged the bodybuilder's name on the poster.

'So he's a fake,' Micky thought. He could understand that the man was out to con him out of his money, but why was he so specific that Micky hock his drums, right down to asking him to bring the pawn shop receipt? There was more to this situation than met the eye, but Micky was damned if he could figure it out.

But now what was he going to do? How was he going to get Cady back? He knew he couldn't go charging into Shah-Ku's alone; he needed help-from his friends and from the police.

A plan began to formulate in his mind, and he got up, walking over to Cady's phone and dialing a number he hadn't dialed for quite a while.

"Malibu Police Department," the voice at the other end said.

"Yes, I'd like to speak to Captain Reynolds, please."

"Who may I ask is calling?"

"Micky Dolenz. He'll know who I am…"

Cady fought her way to consciousness through a thick, heavy haze that seemed determined to weigh her down. The first thing she was aware of was the painful throbbing of her head, the sort of ache she'd felt the morning of her first-and last-hangover. 'Man, what'd they give me?' she wondered.

Slowly she raised her head. She was tied to a chair in the middle of an exercise room, her hands bound behind her and her legs strapped at the ankles.

"Good morning, my dear," Shah-Ku said, smiling at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been drugged, kidnapped from my apartment, and tied to a chair. How do you think I feel?" she shot back, glaring at the rotund little man.

"I'm sorry for that, my dear, but you left me no choice, the way you attacked Bulk and all. He's had to go to the hospital-I'm no doctor, but I do believe you broke one of his kneecaps."

"Good," she spat, glaring at him. "I only wish I'd broken his other one, too."

"My, my," Shah-Ku said, moving closer to her. "Such a feisty young lady. I can see why Mr. Dolenz has fallen for you. Unfortunately, you've managed to foul up my entire scheme, which is why I've had to resort to kidnapping."

"What are you talking about?" She just wished he'd shut up and let her use the bathroom, maybe even get a drink of water. Her mouth was so dry it felt as if someone had laid carpet in it, and her bladder ached for release.

"My scheme for revenge against Mr. Dolenz and those Monkees."

"What have they ever done to YOU?" Cady asked, stunned.

Shah-Ku laughed harshly. "Only stolen my life's work from me! But never mind-I'll explain it all to you once Mr. Dolenz arrives with the ransom money."

"Ransom money?"

"To get you back, my dear. I left him a note telling him to hock his drums and bring me the money with the receipt from the pawnshop. That will take care of his band."

"You bastard," Cady whispered.

"Ah, but my dear, I haven't even told you the rest of my plan yet. You see, I have no intention of allowing you to leave this building today." From the sleeve of his robe he pulled out the longest knife Cady had ever seen. "Watching you die in front of his eyes will be absolutely devastating for Mr. Dolenz…so devastating that he will never recover from it. And thus my revenge will be exacted-for I will never recover from the damage he and those Monkees have done to me."

'He's nuts!!' Cady thought, eyes widening at the sight of the knife.

"Actually," Shah-Ku said with a smile, "you haven't ruined my plan at all. In fact, you've only improved it. I had intended for Brenda to humiliate Mr. Dolenz, to completely destroy his self-esteem, but I think killing you will be much more soul-wrenching for him. But more on that later, once our guest of honor has arrived."

Cady had suddenly forgotten about her thirst and need to use the bathroom. All she could think about was that she only had a few short hours left-she could only hope that Micky would figure out what was going on once he arrived at the building, and that she could come up with a way to free herself by that point. Whispering a prayer, she subtly began tugging at the ropes around her wrists…

Peter and Davy were surprised to find policemen swarming around Cady's apartment building when they arrived, and even more surprised when they entered Cady's apartment, only to find Micky in deep discussion with Captain Reynolds.

"Who's that bloke?" Davy asked Peter. "He looks important."

"He should," Peter answered. "He's in charge of the Malibu Police Department. We helped him catch Babyface Morales while you were in England for your sister's wedding-remember, that crook that looked just like Micky?"

"Oh, yeah," Davy said. "But where's Cady? And why are all the police here?"

"I don't know, Micky wouldn't say on the phone." Peter began to wring his hands as he noticed the mess in the living room. "But I don't think it's good."

Micky spotted them and jumped up from the chair, racing over to hug the both of them. "Hey, guys, I'm glad you got here so fast."

"What's going on, Micky?" Davy asked.

"Where's Cady?" Peter soberly added.

Micky's jaw tightened and his eyes gleamed with tears. "She's been kidnapped."

"WHAT?!" Davy and Peter chimed, both looking shocked.

Micky nodded and held out the ransom note, crumpled in his hand. "Shah-Ku and his thugs came early this morning and grabbed her right out from under my nose. I didn't even hear her fighting them, or call out for help….." His voice wavered, and he took a deep breath, his lower lip quivering.

"But Micky, I thought you stayed at Niles's house…." Peter trailed off, and his eyes widened when he realized the truth.

"I lied, Peter," Micky quietly said, "and I shouldn't have, but I didn't feel like explaining everything to you. Cady wanted me to stay last night, and so I did…not that it did much good…."

"You can't think that this is your fault," Davy said.

"In a way, it is," Micky quietly replied. "Shah-Ku's using her to get to me."

"But why is he doing that?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. All I do know is that he's a big phony, and he's desperate for me to hock my drums."

"So what's the plan?" Davy questioned.

"I need you guys to run home and pack up my drums-make it look as if we're getting ready to hock them in case Shah-Ku's spies are around. Then I want you to put them in the trunk of the Monkeemobile and come here."

"Then what?"

"You guys wait here with the police while I go to the pawn shop. Captain Reynolds has already called and spoken with the owner-he's going to dummy me up a slip to show Shah-Ku and he'll hold on to the drums until later. Then I'm going to go and get Cady."

"Alone?" Peter exclaimed, looking frightened.

Micky smiled, shaking his head. "No, Peter. There are going to be a couple of undercover officers following me, and they're going to listen for my signal to come in." He raised his shirt, showing Peter and Davy that he was wired.

"Are you sure about this, Micky?" Davy asked.

"The only thing I'm sure of," Micky said, tugging his shirt back down, "is that I'll do anything to get Cady back. I just found her, and I'm not gonna lose her." His eyes were steely and determined. "Now let's go."