Todd came home from school to find Geoff in the family room, talking on the phone. Seeing Todd, he quickly turned away slightly and spoke into the phone like he was hiding something, and then quickly hung up. He turned around to face Todd, looking a little sheepish.
“What are you doing, Geoff? You didn’t tell whoever that was where you’re staying, did you?”
“NO! You know I wouldn’t do that. I just, uh, well…”
“Well what?” Todd slipped his backpack off and wiggled his shoulders, loosening them up. He sometimes thought he didn’t really need to lift weights in the basement; carrying his backpack full of books should be enough.
“Well, if you have to know, I’m a growing boy.” Geoff grinned at him, managing to look both pleased with himself and embarrassed at the same time. “I need women, lots of women, in my life. And right now all I have is Monica. I mean, she’s great, and I love her, but not that way. She’s too old for me, more like a mother. I need, uh, age–appropriate feminine companionship.”
Todd laughed with him, then shook his head. “But you can’t be talking to girls on the phone!”
“I didn’t say anything. I blocked caller ID, too, and besides, I told Diana that where I was staying was a secret.”
“Diana? You called Diana?”
“Well, yeah. I like Diana!”
“Wow. I’m impressed. Did she say anything? Anything that might make you think she might like you?”
Geoff frowned. “Not really, but she didn’t hang up. That says something, I think.”
“What did she say?”
“She sort of was ragging one me for picking on kids, for fighting and all that stuff I did. I told her I wasn’t like that anymore. That I had been a different guy when I was doing that, and now knew how wrong I’d been. She didn’t seem to believe me. She was giving me shit about it. She’s really feisty!” He stopped and grinned at Todd. “I like that.”
“But won’t she now tell everyone she knows that you’re still in town someplace?”
“I asked her not to talk at all about me, that it wasn’t safe. I think she’s OK. She did make a sarcastic remark when I said that, but I told her again it was important, and I think she’ll be OK.”
Todd stared at him for a moment, frowning, then said, “I’m going to go see what Monica has fixed for my snack. Then I’ll see you in the basement. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to punish you for that phone call.” He adopted a hard face and pointed at Geoff. “On the mat. Ten minutes. Be there!”
Todd was glaring at Geoff, his fiercest glare possible, but couldn’t hold it when Geoff began laughing, and they were both laughing when Todd left the room.
»»»» 0 ««««
“Guenther, sit!”
Guenther sat, and Todd rubbed his ears. Guenther remained sitting, but his rear end started sliding on the hardwood floor, set in motion by the vigorous wagging of his tail.
Mr. McCluskey was doing the dishes while Gordon changed clothes. They were going out for a movie. Todd was going to be taking care of Daniel while they were out. Guenther, of course, was going to help him.
Daniel had scampered into the bedroom with Gordon when he’d gone to change. Now, the boy was helping him choose what to wear. His high–pitched voice was a continual buzz, and as Todd played with Guenther, he smiled and wondered if he himself had talked like that, a mile a minute, full of enthusiasm, when he’d been Daniel’s age. He had only fragmented memories of being that young. But he doubted he’d ever felt as secure as this boy obviously did. Feeling secure was a concept that had been foreign to him for most of his life.
Gordon walked out of the bedroom just as Mr. McCluskey had finished up in the kitchen.
“Ready to go?” Gordon asked him.
“Yep.” Daniel had come out of the bedroom with Gordon, and the man’s hand was resting lightly on his shoulder.
Daniel held up his arms, and Mr. McCluskey picked him up. Even though he’d been given answers to all the forthcoming questions earlier, Daniel asked again where they were going, when they’d be back, if Todd was staying with him, if Gunny was going to stay too, and on and on, not paying much attention to the answers in his eagerness to ask his next question.
Gordon grinned. “You know, it’s too bad we can’t do a transplant. Put half Daniel’s chatter into a boy we got a couple weeks ago at the hospital, and put half that boy’s silence into Daniel. We’d have two perfect boys that way.” He chuckled and rubbed Daniel’s head affectionately. Daniel ducked his head into Mr. McCluskey’s shoulder and giggled.
“Hospital?” Todd asked.
“I’m the Chief of Administration at Hope Lodge. It’s a place for children with psychiatric or developmental problems. I’m not a doctor, so I mostly do paperwork, with a little bit of staff administration and management thrown into the mix.”
“So both you and Mr. McCluskey work with kids.”
“Yep.” He grabbed his coat from the peg it was hanging on. “We’d better take off or we’ll miss the beginning of the movie. See you guys in a couple of hours.” He leaned down and kissed Daniel. Mr. McCluskey ruffled the boy’s short hair, set him on his feet next to Todd, and the men left.
Daniel was a handful, but Todd loved every minute of it. They played Chutes and Ladders, Daniel winning every game, to his delight and with Todd’s unnoticed help. Then Daniel wanted to wrestle, and, not surprisingly, he beat Todd at that, too, pinning him down and giggling so hard Todd couldn’t help but giggle along with him. Todd read him three books, and then they watched the animated movie Cars together. It was clear Daniel had seen the movie more than a few times already as he sat and excitedly identified Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks, Sally Carrera, Luigi and all the rest for Todd.
Todd put Daniel to bed at the appointed time. Daniel had to be read The Little Engine that Could again, but after that settled down easily to go to sleep, calling, “Gunny, bed time,” after Todd kissed him. The dog was on his bed, turning in circles, immediately, and Daniel giggled.
Daniel was asleep and Todd doing homework when the two men returned home.
»»»» 0 ««««
Vic was wondering if he was doing the right thing, putting out feelers about Geoff. Maybe he should just hit the road. He could always do that, just get the fuck out of town, then in a couple months, maybe call his police department contact at home, where the call wouldn’t be recorded, and see if Geoff had turned up. If he had, coming back some night at that point and taking care of him would be easy. It might be safer to do it that way. He’d heard there were more people looking for him now.
He glanced around the basement room. Staying in this cramped place was out. It was starting to feel more than simply claustrophobic. He felt caged and more and more restless. He’d spent too much time there already.
Time to go. First off, he needed to pick up his stash, and then sell some of it off. Most of it. He needed the cash if he was hitting the road, and didn’t want to be in a strange state where he didn’t know the lay of the land when he was carrying a lot of product on him. Better to get rid of most of it.
Well, maybe he could kill two birds with one stone. Sell some shit, but maybe sell it to some teenagers. He was usually reluctant to do that because the cops came down harder on anyone selling to kids, but he was leaving anyway, the kids always had money, and maybe one of them would know something about Geoff. If he was leaving, he could get away with asking right up front. The kids he’d sell to were the sort that didn’t have any more truck with the cops than he did.
Vic looked around the basement room, making sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind. There wasn’t that much there, just the cot, a blanket and the coolers with the cases of beer in them. He wasn’t going to bother with wiping the place down. So what if they found his fingerprints there? They wouldn’t prove anything except that he’d been there. Once. Sometime. No law against that.
He grabbed his jacket and looked at his watch. 3:32 PM. Good a time to go as any, he guessed.
»»»» 0 ««««
Mr. McCluskey was at his desk. Todd was sitting in front of him, watching. Mr. McCluskey was looking at a book lying on his desk. A book that Todd had brought him to look at.
“These are incredible. You say Andy took these?”
“Yeah. I want him to get on the school paper, maybe the yearbook staff. He’s a great photographer, but he’s too shy to talk to anyone about taking pictures for the school. I thought if you saw them, maybe you could help. You helped me. Maybe you can help Andy, too.”
Mr. McCluskey looked up from the album he’d been paging through. “It would help him more if he could find the courage to do it himself, Todd,” he said seriously. “That’s usually the way I help kids; I get them to do what they need to do themselves.”
Todd didn’t agree. “It won’t be much help it he just ends up not doing it at all. He needs to take baby steps, and going up to some teachers he doesn’t know, then asking them to allow him to take pictures for the yearbook, that would be a giant step for him. I don’t think you understand shyness!”
“You don’t think I understand much of anything, do you?”
“Sometimes you don’t! Your way isn’t the only way, you know!”
They glared at each other for a moment, then both grinned. “OK, OK, I’ll see what I can do,” Mr. McCluskey said, caving in. “Can I borrow this?” He raised the album. He paused a moment, then said, “But you do know, don’t you, that all Andy’d have to do is show this to either Mrs. Parson or Mr. Streeter and they’d be begging him to be on their staffs?”
“Sure, but he won’t do that. Yeah, you can borrow it, but I have to get it back. He doesn’t know I’m doing this. He needs to build his self–esteem, and I don’t want him to know I did anything to help. I want him believing it’s all of his own doing.”
Mr. McCluskey slowly raised his eyes and looked at Todd. He started to make a comment, then restrained himself. “OK. I’ll be done with it by tomorrow. And I’ll tell both of them to be very gentle in approaching him. I’ll have them say someone saw him with a camera at school and they need someone who can take pictures for them.”
His face softened then as he changed the subject. He asked, “You two getting along with each other OK? I’m probably not supposed to ask that, huh? None of my business?”
Todd grinned, and got up to leave. “Probably not, but yeah, we’re great together. It’s getting even better all the time. And thanks for the help with this. If Andy can do this, it’ll help him and he’ll get to know more people and they’ll get to know him and see how special he is. I think he needs that.”
When Todd was gone, Mr. McCluskey opened the book again, and just marveled at what he was seeing. Then he asked his secretary to find out when Barbara Parson’s and Wes Streeter’s free periods were.
»»»» 0 ««««
At lunch, Andy laughed at Todd. “See, I told you!”
Todd groaned. It was a fake groan. At least it was partly fake.
Andy was going on. “Now that you’re dressing like a normal kid, the girls are noticing you. I watched when you carried your tray over here. About half the girls in the room turned to watch you.”
“They did not!” Todd squirmed, trying to cover his embarrassment. “Maybe one or two. No more than that.”
“Hah! So you noticed. Won’t be long and they’ll be asking if they can sit here. I think I know one who’s really interested. She’s been watching you all week.”
“Well, they can watch all they want. I already like someone myself, and it isn’t any of those girls.”
“Oh? And who may that be?”
“There’s this boy in my gym class I like. I’m not saying any more than that. I wouldn’t want it to get out.”
Andy looked up quickly, then grinned. Todd looked back at him innocently for a moment, then returned the grin.
They ate in silence for a while, then Andy asked if Todd could go to the mall with him that evening. He had to buy a birthday present for his mom.
“I think I can catch a ride. Monica told me she was going shopping at the mall this evening. I can bum a ride off her. Maybe I can ride back with you? When she shops, she really shops. She’ll probably be there till the place closes, and it won’t take you that long.”
“OK, phone me when you’re leaving, and I’ll meet you there.” Andy raised his hand, and Todd, grinning, slapped it.
»»»» 0 ««««
Vic was hanging around the mall, stationed back in the parking garage on the second level. There was a space behind one of the stairwells that was pretty much hidden. You had to know it was there to find it, and there was no reason to walk back behind the stairs unless it was to get to it. Vic had sold from that spot before, but not often. Tonight, he was doing a pretty brisk business. Once kids found out he was there and selling cheap, they made their way to him.
None of them had been able to tell him where he could find Geoff. Most of them knew who Geoff was, but no one had seen him or heard anything about him for weeks. Even the promise of free meth for any useful information didn’t get him anywhere.
»»»» 0 ««««
Monica pulled into a parking space on the second level. “You sure you don’t need a ride back?”
“No thanks, Monica. I’ll get a ride back with Andy.”
Monica locked the car, and they headed for the stairs down to the main floor. They were just starting down the stairs when Todd said, “Oh, I almost forgot, Geoff wanted you to get him a birthday card he’s going to send to a girl he likes.” They started down the stairs, still talking.
»»»» 0 ««««
Vic’s head snapped up. He’s heard someone say ‘Geoff’. He quickly put the baggies he was counting back in the gym bag he used to transport them and, heart beating faster, stepped out from behind the stairs. He was about to turn and step into the stairwell when he saw a cop car, cruising slowly toward him, performing a routine parking lot prowl.
He quickly stepped back, and then was behind the stairs again. He waited till he heard the car go past and pull away, then quickly jumped to the stairs and took them two at a time, racing down to the ground level as rapidly as he could.
He got to the bottom, slammed through the door and into the mall. The wide aisles were full of people. Any one of them could have said his son’s name. He stood there only a second, then turned back and began climbing the stairs. His stash was still on the second floor. He needed to get back to it.
»»»» 0 ««««
Andy was waiting. Todd found him at the fountain where they were supposed to meet. Andy had decided to get his mother a cookbook he knew she wanted. They headed toward the Barnes & Noble located in one of the wings of the mall.
Andy found the book he wanted, paid for it, and they headed for the mall doors. His father was going to be waiting at the curb for them.
»»»» 0 ««««
They didn’t see him, but he saw them. He watched them meet at the fountain. He saw them walk toward the bookstore. And while he was watching, something came back to him. He remembered being surprised by a lucky punch Todd had thrown. He remembered the pain of his nose being hit. He remembered falling to his knees, covering his face in his hands. But what was important, what might be a good deal for him, was remembering what he’d heard through his pain, what he’d heard the other kid who’d been with Todd say as they were walking off. Something about Geoff having taught Todd how to fight!
Yeah, he’d heard that. And hadn’t that guy selling meth just been asking about Geoff? Hadn’t he said he’d give free meth to anyone who could tell him where Geoff was?
He’d spent all the money he had for the meth he’d just scored. The stuff wouldn't last long. A free baggie would be great, and if it got either Geoff or Todd or maybe even both of them in trouble, that was even better.
Feeling good about this, Frank made his way back to the garage, up to the second floor, back to the stairs where Vic was selling, and then behind them.
Vic was just leaving. He’d sold his entire stash, to his surprise. Maybe, with a customer base like this, he should rethink leaving. If only he could find Geoff, he wouldn’t have so much reason to leave. Let the cops question him then. Without any testimony from Geoff, what could they do? Let them think what they wanted. They had shit for a case against him, without Geoff.
He was thinking that when a boy he’d sold to earlier came around the corner to where he was standing.
“You wanted to know something about Geoff Harper?” the boy asked, looking a little nervous.
“Yeah. What you got?”
“Uh, you said you’d give me free meth for the information.”
“Yeah. But the info first.”
Frank started to say something, then thought better of it. “Let me see the meth. If I rat Geoff out and you don’t give me the meth, there’d be nothing I could do about it. This is business, man. Give me the stuff, and I’ll tell you. I know who he’s staying with.”
Frank didn’t know that, of course, but this man didn’t have to know that.
Vic had sold all his meth and couldn’t buy what this guy knew. But it didn’t matter. Getting him to talk would be easy.
“OK, OK, come back behind here a little farther. I don’t want anyone seeing us.” Vic stepped back deeper into the hollow space. Frank followed him.
Vic grabbed the boy, put one hand behind his neck and the other in his crotch and began to squeeze. “Tell me where Geoff is, right now, motherfucker.”
The pain hit Frank hard, and kept getting worse. “OK, OK, stop,” he squeaked, and Vic let up just a little. The pain continued, but was no longer getting worse.
“Tell me!”
“OK, let go for Christ sakes.” The pain was constricting his voice. “He’s staying with a kid named Todd. Todd Mortensen. Let go.”
Vic just squeezed harder, much harder, and when Frank started to scream, stopped it by wrapping one massive hand around his throat. He squeezed that hand, too, and shortly thereafter, released the boy’s body to the floor, then kicked it back out of sight into the shadows.
Vic got his car, pulled it up next to the stairs, popped the trunk, then waited till no one was around. Quickly, he grabbed the body, threw it in the truck, then got in the car and slowly drove away. Much cleaner this way, without some kid telling everyone that he’d told Vic where Geoff was. This kid wouldn’t be doing that.
He drove out of the mall and kept going till he came to a public phone booth, where he parked. It took but a moment to look through the phonebook and find the Mortensen address. He tore the page out, then got back in the car and drove off.
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd had just arrived home from the mall when the doorbell rang. It was followed almost immediately by a loud knocking, and a sharp voice calling, “Geoff, you in there?”
Mr. Mortensen folded and laid the newspaper he’d been reading on the end table and rose to answer the door. The knocking continued, and then the bell rang again before he could get to it.
He was just reaching for the knob when Todd ran into the entryway. “Father! Don’t open the door!” he yelled.
His father paused, turning to look at his son.
“I think it might be Geoff’s father! Don’t open it!”
Mr. Mortensen glanced back at the door. The knocking was getting louder. He frowned, then turned back to the door. “If it is, I’ll just send him away. I’ll tell him I’ll call the police if he doesn’t go,” he said.
“No!” yelled Todd.
Geoff appeared behind Todd just then. Todd saw his father was ignoring him, reaching for the doorknob, and quickly shoved Geoff toward the hall that led to the door to the basement, at the same time hissing, “Hide downstairs. I’ll try to get him out of here.”
By the time Mr. Mortensen had opened the door, Geoff was out of sight.
When Mr. Mortensen swung the door open, the imposing figure of Vic Harper filled the doorway. Mr. Mortensen started to say something, but never got the words out. Vic Harper simply reached out and shoved him aside, knocking the smaller man off his feet as he strode into the house, slapping the door shut behind him. Todd shrank back against the wall behind him. His eyes were riveted on the sawed–off baseball bat the man was carrying.
Vic looked at him and started forward. “Where’s Geoff?” he asked, his voice rough and demanding. “He’s going with me. Get him out here right now.”
Mr. Mortensen was just getting back onto his feet. Vic was now between him and Todd, who was standing terrified against the wall at the rear of the entry hall.
“Stop!” said Mr. Mortensen in his commanding, professional voice. “You can’t come in here like this. Get out of my house.”
Vic turned to look at him. “You. Shut the fuck up. You don’t say a word and you might not get hurt. I’m getting my son. Anyone that gets in my way will regret it.” He turned back and took another step toward Todd. “Tell me where he is,” he said to the boy, “or I’ll break your arms.” He raised the baseball bat menacingly.
Mr. Mortensen’s eyes opened wide, and he immediately ran past Vic so he was between him and the boy, facing the man. “Stop!” he yelled. “Stay away from him! Get out of this house!”
Vic kept coming, and when he reached Mr. Mortensen, seemed to simply flick the bat at him. There was a sickening crunch as it hit his head, and Mr. Mortensen collapsed onto the tiled floor, no longer moving.
Todd looked at his fallen father, then at Vic still coming toward him, not having been slowed down by what he’d just done. In another step, Vic would have him, and Todd knew it would be all over.
Todd had never had physical courage. When attacked by bullies, when criticized by teachers or his father, when teased or harassed by other kids his age or older, he’d always frozen, unable to move, unable to protect himself. Always-until his last encounter with Frank. Now, in a situation far more threatening, he knew, in the split second it took to realize it, he had to move or he’d be in Vic’s control and the man would get him to tell where Geoff was. He knew, too, that it would be done painfully. He doubted the man would have any regret even if it came to killing him. His entire fate would be in Vic’s hands.
For the second time in his life, Todd reacted. Vic was one step away, but that was enough for Todd to feint to his left, drawing Vic in that direction, then dart right towards the staircase. He bounded up the stairs as fast as he could.
Vic was right behind him, but not running nearly as fast, his weight slowing him down. Vic wasn’t afraid the boy would get away, however. Going upward, the boy was trapping himself in the house. Vic was fairly certain there would be no way down other than the stairs he was now climbing. And he could keep the boy in sight while he was trying to escape. It was just a matter of time now, he thought. He unconsciously slapped the shortened bat against his thigh.
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd raced up the stairs. Even as he was running, he knew he was trapping himself, that there was no way down. He was thinking hard, thoughts brought on by desperation, and an idea came to him. Something that might work. Something, anything, no matter how crazy, was better than nothing. At the top of the stairs, he kept going, up to the third floor. He saw Vic was still coming, but slower than he himself was going; Todd was gaining time with each step he took. Not much time, but time.
He climbed to the third floor. There were three bedrooms here. One had its own private bath, the other two did not. Accordingly, there was a separate, communal bathroom off the hall for use by people staying in either of those rooms. That was where he ran.
He entered it, closed and locked the door behind him, then ran to the window over the toilet. He unlocked it and yanked. The window hadn’t been opened recently. This floor of the house rarely had anyone occupying it. He had to get the window open. And he only had seconds to do it.
He hammered along the edges of the window with the palm of his hand, trying not to panic, then took a deep breath and again tried to pull the window open. This time, it reluctantly came free.
He slid it as far up as it would go and stuck his head out. The ground was a long way down, but the roof overhang of the second story was about 10 feet below him. Could he jump down there without killing himself? The roof was steeply sloped. Would he roll off it and fall to the ground if he did jump down to it?
»»»» 0 ««««
Vic finally reached the third floor. He’d seen Todd climbing the second staircase and so hadn’t had to stop to search the second floor. He had slowed down to a walk coming up the last set of stairs. Too much beer and lying on that damned cot, he told himself. He was breathing hard.
Standing at the top of the stairs, he saw the doors to the three bedrooms standing open, and the other two doors closed. He walked to the first one and yanked it open. It was a linen closet.
The other closed door was locked. He hammered on it, then yelled, “You’d better open this right now, boy. You’re just making me angry. When I get you, I’m going to make you tell me where Geoff is, and I’m going to enjoy it. You know what it feels like to have someone twist your arm until it comes out of the socket at your shoulder? It’s about the worst pain you can have, a dislocated shoulder. But it’s even worse if someone then starts jerking on that arm, working it back and forth some.
“You open this door right now, or I’m breaking it down. These doors are easy. You’re just making me mad, boy. You don’t want me mad.”
There was no response. Vic was about to break the door open when he had another thought. Should he search the other rooms up here first? If he was looking around in the bathroom and the boy was in one of the bedrooms, might he slip past him, back to the stairs? He turned, started to go towards the first bedroom, then stopped. The bathroom door was locked. That had to have been done from the inside. The boy, and maybe even Geoff if he was lucky, had to be in there.
He stepped back to the bathroom. When he got there, he raised his foot and slammed the sole of it against the door near the knob. He put as much of his 280 pounds behind the kick as he could. The door exploded inward.
Vic walked into the bathroom. It was empty.
He saw the open window and walked to it. He looked down, saw the roof below, and didn’t see anything else. The roof below showed leaves and dirt on the tiles. Nothing looked like it had been disturbed.
He stepped back and looked at the bathroom. It had a toilet, two sinks built into a counter with a cabinet underneath, a shower stall with a frosted glass door on it, some towels hanging on racks, and that was all. He opened the cabinet under the sinks and found only shelves holding bathroom items.
He moved to the shower stall. He softly tapped the bat against the frosted glass, then said, “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” in a playful voice, as playful a voice as it was possible for him to use. There was no response. He opened the shower door. No one was there.
He turned around, again looking at the room.
That was when he saw the small door flush with the wall, next to the toilet. It was only about a foot and a half square. He pulled it open, and found it was hinged so it folded down. Inside there was an opening. Looking into it, he could see that it went straight downward.
It was a laundry chute. And it was the only place the boy could have gone.
Vic stuck his head in and listened. He could hear voices! And whimpering. The sounds from below were transmitted clearly up through the laundry chute. He heard, “My ankle! I think it’s broken. You’d better run!”
And then another voice. “No. I’m not leaving you here alone. I’ll carry you. We’ve got to go. He’ll kill us if he gets us.”
Geoff’s voice! Vic turned and started for the stairs.
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd had decided jumping out of the window was just too dangerous. He’d known of the laundry chute when he’d run up here. It was part of his crazy idea. It was why he’d come all the way up to the third floor. He knew if he could get up the nerve to go down it, it would buy them some time. They desperately needed time.
He’d opened the door to the chute, very aware of the seconds rushing by. He started to look in, then stopped. It would be too frightening to look and was a waste of time. He had to do this. No choice. Had to.
He got up on the toilet, then turned around so he was facing away from the chute. He had to back into it. He put one leg in, then put one hand on the edge of the frame and reached his other foot back into the opening. Carefully, he lowered himself down so his stomach was on the lower edge of the sill. He used his other hand then to also grip the frame. For the first time in his life, he was thankful he was small. A normal–sized boy his age wouldn’t have fit.
He reached out, pulled the chute door up so the spring–loaded hinges were engaged and trying to close it against its frame, only his fingers preventing it from closing, then slid back and down into the chute so that only his fingers, still overlapping the sill, were holding him. He moved his grip so his fingers were curled over only the inside edge of the chute doorframe. The chute door closed and he was in the dark except for the small amount of light coming from the opening at the bottom.
Todd spread his legs and arms as wide as possible. He knew if he simply plummeted to the bottom, he’d get hurt, maybe badly. It would be a fall of maybe 40 feet, maybe more. His idea was to get as much friction as possible from his arms and legs on the sides of the chute to slow his descent. The chute was a snug fit, which would help him.
He was ready, but scared to let go. He dangled, his fingers beginning to hurt from his weight. Then he heard the bathroom door crash open. Shutting his eyes, he let go of the sill above him.
»»»» 0 ««««
Vic ran down the two flights of stairs. He had to keep the boys from getting outside. One of them being hurt surely would slow them down. He was sure he’d catch them now, but he still hurried. Getting Geoff was vital. He’d get him, get him out of here, then kill him somewhere private and dispose of the body. Geoff’s testimony was the only thing that could put him on death row, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.
Of course, he’d have to do the same with the man still lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs if he was still alive, and the other boy, but those were no problem either. Killing people to save his ass was just something that had to be done. No problem at all, no reason even to waste time thinking about it.
He stopped and listened while standing over the fallen man in the hall, but heard nothing. He had to find the basement stairs. There were two hallways to check out. He walked down one, and found the kitchen, a half bath, and what looked like a family room. Back to the entry hall, then down the other corridor. The second door he came to was the door to the basement. A flight of steps was in front of him. The stairs were wide open, no walls on either side, just a handrail on one side. He’d be able to see what was in the basement as soon as his head cleared the floor he was standing on now.
Gripping the handrail, he started down, slapping his baseball bat against his leg as he descended.
»»»» 0 ««««
The descent down the chute was much less terrifying than he’d feared. By wedging his arms and legs against the sides of the tight space, he was able to prevent himself from dropping too quickly. The only problem was some minor friction burns on his arms. His long pants protected his legs.
When he reached the bottom, he dropped onto a pile of sheets that Monica had put down the chute the day before. Geoff was there to meet him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, but we’ve only got maybe a minute. We have to hurry.”
“Yeah, we need to run.”
“No!” Todd was adamant. He didn’t have time to explain, however. He just told Geoff what he had to do, had to say, only a few words, and then they got ready. Geoff looked at him like he was crazy, but could hear the urgency in Todd’s voice, he’d learned to trust Todd absolutely, and so he didn’t hesitate.
Todd waited, and when he saw light coming from up above, knew Vic had opened the chute door. He whimpered, then said, “My ankle! I think it’s broken. You’d better run!”
He pointed at Geoff, and Geoff said what he’d been told to say: “No. I’m not leaving you here alone. I’ll carry you. We’ve got to go. He’ll kill us if he gets us.”
Then Geoff moved back behind the stairs out of sight, and Todd moved to where he’d be seen when Vic was halfway down the stairs. He lay down on the floor, then grasped his ankle. And waited.
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Vic started down the stairs. When his head cleared the floor above the basement, he could see the entire room before him. Near the bottom of the stairs, he could see Todd, lying on the floor holding his ankle. He was looking up at Vic. His eyes were filled with terror.
Vic smiled, and slapped the bat against his thigh. Then he did so again, making a cracking sound. He kept descending, slowly, enjoying the fear in Todd’s eyes, delaying his descent. If he let the fear build, the boy would probably be more cooperative, tell him where Geoff was all the sooner. But there was no rush now. He had them.
He took another step down. “Where’s Geoff?” he asked.
»»»» 0 ««««
Geoff was waiting. When Todd had got down on the floor and grasped his ankle, he’d done as Todd had told him. He’d picked up the nail gun from the work bench, checked the air compressor was up to full pressure, then moved closer to the stairs, staying where he’d be out of sight, directly behind Vic as he was coming down.
Vic slowly descended. When his left foot stepped onto the stair tread at a height level with Geoff’s shoulder, the man stopped, and said, “Where’s Geoff?” With Vic’s foot stationary on the stair tread, Geoff stepped out from behind the steps and in one swift motion laid the tip of the nail gun against the top of his father’s foot and pulled the trigger.
Vic screamed as an excruciating pain shot through his foot. He reacted immediately and started to lift the foot, but the pain of trying to do so stopped him.
Geoff didn’t hesitate. He moved the gun and shot again, and then again. Each time he did, another piercing scream came from his father. In less than two seconds, Geoff had fired three nails through his father’s foot. He stepped back, letting the nail gun fall to the floor. Todd was standing next to him by then. Vic’s foot was nailed to the stair, the trio of four–inch nails penetrating through his foot and all the way through the step as well.
Vic was still screaming. Todd looked at him, then at Geoff. “Should we nail his other foot?”
Geoff was trembling. He looked up at Todd and said, “I don’t think I can.”
Todd’s emotions were mixed. He was upset by the violence, but he was still pumped full of adrenaline, still not completely recovered from the mortal fear he’d felt only moments ago.
He thought they were safe from Vic now. Even Vic, as strong as he was, couldn’t endure the pain of trying to pull his foot from that stair tread. Todd watched him, still standing on the stairs, completely immobilized.
“How are we going to get past him to get upstairs?” he asked Geoff. He felt his voice shake when he spoke.
Geoff was still trembling, perhaps worse now. He appeared dazed, and didn’t answer.
Todd badly wanted to get upstairs. He was sure his father needed help. Thinking of that, it suddenly occurred to him what to do. He had a cell phone! It was so new to him, and he so rarely used it, he’d forgotten.
He took it from his pocket and turned it on. Not great reception, but enough. He dialed 911 and asked for both the police and an ambulance. He told the operator that when people came, they should just come into the house, that no one would be there to open the door. He said they should tend to the unconscious man in the entryway first, then come to the basement. He said he was trapped there with a friend. When the dispatcher told him people were on their way, Todd turned off the phone and put his arm around Geoff and led him away from the stairs to a distant corner of the basement. Vic had finally stopped screaming. He’d sat down, and was simply staring at his foot. His face was pale, and he was trembling with pain.
Todd and Geoff sat down in the corner, Todd’s arm still around Geoff’s shoulder, and simply waited.
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd didn’t like the hospital. He didn’t like the smell, he didn’t like the looks in the eyes of the people waiting, he didn’t like the crying of some of the small children. Mostly, he didn’t like the waiting, sitting on the hard plastic chairs not knowing what was going on, or when he’d be told anything.
He’d been waiting for an hour now. Geoff was sitting next to him. Geoff had refused to leave his side. Todd wasn’t sure if Geoff was reassuring him or he was reassuring Geoff. Whichever it was, he was happy Geoff was sitting there with him.
“Hey,” he heard, and looked up. Andy was standing next to his chair.
“Andy!” Todd stood up and hugged him. “What are you doing here?”
“I called, and Monica told me you were here. I got my dad to drive me down.”
Todd smiled the best he could, his worry never leaving his eyes. “Have a seat. I don’t know how much longer it’ll be before we know something.”
“You don’t know anything?”
“Not really. They brought him here in an ambulance. One of the policemen brought Geoff and me. We checked in, they told us to sit here and they’d come get us when they knew something.”
Andy sat down. They waited together, the three of them.
Todd had been there for almost two hours when a lady in a white jacket came to Reception, spoke with the person behind the desk, then walked to where Todd was sitting.
“Todd Mortensen?”
Todd stood up. “Yes?”
“Todd, I’m Dr. Fredericks. I’ve been looking after your father. He was brought in with a serious concussion. We never know how they’ll progress, but this may be resolving itself better than we’d hoped. He regained consciousness a few minutes ago. He’s a little spacey, a little mixed up, but he’s asking for you, and the more we delay bringing you in, the more upset he gets. He seems to think you’re dead. I thought I’d better bring you to him. Just for a moment. He needs rest, but I don’t think he’ll get any without seeing you first.”
“Can my friends come?”
“No, just you and you can only stay for a moment. And no arguing in there. When I say time’s up, it’s up.”
She turned and started walking, and Todd was right behind her.
His father was lying on a narrow bed in the Emergency Room. Todd walked to the side of the bed and said, “Dad?”
Mr. Mortensen slowly opened his eyes. He winced when he tried to turn his head, and Todd immediately put his hand on his arm and said, “You don’t have to turn. I’m here.”
Mr. Mortensen opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried again. His voice was just a whisper. “You’re alive? You’re OK? How?”
“I’m OK. Geoff and I stopped Mr. Harper. The police have him. I’m fine. You’ll be too. You’ll get better.”
Mr. Mortensen slowly rolled his eyes over so he could see Todd. Todd saw him try to smile. Mr. Mortensen whispered again, but this time Todd couldn’t hear him. He leaned down so his ear was next to his father’s lips.
“You called me Dad!” he said. Todd could see tears in his eyes before he closed them.
Todd was still leaning down. In his father’s ear, he whispered. “You tried to protect me from that man. I think you’ve earned being called Dad.”
The doctor saw Mr. Mortensen had closed his eyes and told Todd he had to go.
As she was escorting him out, he turned and said, “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow… Dad.”