Undercover Justice (15 page)

“Don’t worry about it, we all make mistakes,” Kent said, kindly patting her knee.

Jed slid into the driver’s seat suddenly startling them both. “Climb in Barton, we’re going to take this truck to the parking lot to wait for the police.”

“What about Tony?” Kent said apprehensively, trying to peer through the dark for him.

“He is currently indisposed. He’s going to wait here.”

Kent stared at Jed. Jed was starting to scare him. Kent realized that Jed was much more than just a trouble-making teenager. He was dangerous. Nobody else Kent knew carried a gun around with them.

“What?” Jed asked seeing the look Kent gave him. “I didn’t hurt him. Much. I tied him to a tree. After hearing his little plan, I thought it would be better to get back to the girls and get her,” gesturing to the girl, “out of here also.”

“What did he say?” Kent asked, relieved to hear that Tony was only tied to a tree.

“He was waiting for his boss, to come take care of some garbage back at the mill. He offered me something to let him go. I tied him to the tree and took everything instead.”

Jed and Kent shared a look. They knew that Jed had been offered the girl, as a gift. She was lucky that they had rescued her. Softly crying into the Kleenex, she didn’t look up.

“What’s her story?” he quietly asked Kent as he backed the truck up in the narrow two- track turning it around.

Kent quickly filled him in. “She said he was coming out of the mill, do you think that’s where Ollie could be?”

“I think that’s a real possibility. I called the police. They should be here soon. In the mean time, let’s get back to Nora and Charlotte in case Tony’s boss shows up. ”

Pulling into the parking lot, Jed parked the truck near his. Glancing over to catch Nora’s eye, his heart dropped into his stomach. His truck was empty.

Chapter 12

I kept glancing up at the old mill as we sat waiting for Jed and Kent. “Something about the mill, keeps calling to me,” I told Charlotte. “Do you remember Jed saying anything about looking in the mill for Ollie?”

“I don’t think so…” Charlotte said, looking up at the mill nervously. The clouds kept moving past the moon, casting eerie shadows along the walls. It has been abandoned for a long time, but local teenagers still use it for a hangout. The city kept trying to block off the entrance, but kids were still finding ways in.

“What do you think?” I asked. I hated the idea of Ollie lying in there, hurt or helpless, with us just sitting out here in a warm safe truck.

“It looks a little dark and empty.”

“I think we should go check it out. Yes, that’s what I am going to do. Do you want to come with me or stay here in case the guys come back?”

“I can’t let you go alone. I’m coming with you. If we hurry we can be back before they get here. They won’t even know we left.”

“That’s my plan, I know they won’t be too happy with us if they find out we got out of the truck.”

“Here is a small flashlight I carry in my purse. Is there another flashlight of Jed’s in the front seat?”

Turning on the overhead light, I looked around the truck. A huge flashlight that had to be about one and a half feet long lay across the floor console. Picking it up, I showed it to Charlotte, “This should do, it will be a great weapon if we run into any animals.”

“Animals? I didn’t even think about animals being in there,” Charlotte said worriedly.

“As long as it’s just animals we run into, I’ll consider us lucky,” I told her matter-of-factly.

“True,” she agreed.

Climbing out, we quickly walked over to the old mill. The huge flashlight really lit up the whole side of the building. The only door on the front side of the building was open about 8 inches. Using the light we scanned the rest of the building, but couldn’t find any other way in.

Walking back to the door, I looked around for signs that someone had been there.

“On the floor,” Charlotte pointed.

Just on the other side of the door was a black backpack with a dark red flap.

“Does that look like Ollie’s?” I asked her.

Shrugging, she said, “I don’t know, I guess I never paid attention to what kind of backpack he carried.”

“
Me either,” I admitted, shining the light over it.

“At least we know someone was here,” Charlotte paused. “Or is here.”

Nervously looking around for signs of someone else, we heard a vehicle pull up. The doors slammed shut and a male voice said, “Lets grab the kid and go. This place gives me the creeps.”

“Tony said the kid was in the mill. He must have left,” a second man said. I recognized his voice from the mall. It was the man who had threatened us, Martin somebody or other. Grabbing Charlotte’s arm, I quickly shut off the flashlight and motioned for us to go inside. We had to find somewhere to hide. They had to be talking about Ollie. That meant that he was somewhere inside the mill. If we didn’t find him before these men, then who knows what they were going to do to him, if he was still alive that is.

Squeezing through the narrow opening, we hurried inside calling softly for Ollie. Without the flashlight, it was hard to see where we were going. Hanging on to each other, we shuffled along using our hand on the wall to guide us.

Abruptly, I tripped over a large bundle of cloth on the ground. When the bundle started to move under me, I had to bite down to keep from screaming. It felt like a person. Mumbling sounds came from the pile and I realized that the person’s mouth must be covered.

Charlotte pulled out her small flashlight. Using her hand to disguise the light, she shone the light over us as I struggled to sit up.

Ollie! His hands and feet were bound with black bungee cords and he had a piece of duck tape over his mouth.

Hearing the men looking around outside, I quickly undid the bungee at his feet.

Standing up, Charlotte and I pulled Ollie to his feet. “Where can we hide?” I whispered.

Pointing over by the opposite wall, Ollie motioned to a set of stairs. The three of us rushed over to the stairs trying to be as quiet as possible. They were probably a century old, or at least they looked that way.

“I don’t think these will hold us,” I whispered.

Ollie frantically nodded his head. It was our only option. I hesitantly stepped on the first step, trying it out. It held, so I cautiously walked up a few more. The staircase creaked and groaned from my weight. Looking back, I saw Ollie holding Charlotte back. Ollie held up one finger. One at a time made sense. I don’t think this old staircase could hold our combined weight.

When I reached the top, Charlotte quickly followed me up stepping cautiously. Just as the men came through the door, Ollie started up.

We froze and tried to stay as silent as possible. Ollie had only a few steps to go. The men were scanning the room with their flashlights.

“He’s not here,” Martin said.

“Search the place. Tony said he left him tied up.”

Every time the beam to their flashlights moved away from Ollie, he silently climbed another step.

Only one more to go I thought. Only his shoes were visible from the first floor. As long as their lights didn’t find him, he was going to make it.

Suddenly, Ollie tripped trying to make it up the last step with his hands tied.

“What was that?” Martin shouted.

The beams of light danced around the room, looking for the source of the sound. Ollie, figuring the game was up, quickly scrambled up the rest of the way.

“Over there by the stairs,” Martin told his partner.

Quickly we backed up further into the loft. It was hard to tell in the dark exactly how far or big it was. All I knew for certain was that there felt like a million cobwebs brushing me in the face and hands. I tried not to think about that, so that I wouldn’t freak out. I searched for somewhere to hide, or better yet escape.

“Go check it out,” the other man told Martin.

We heard his footsteps as he ran over to the stairs. Figuring it was too late to hide and knowing that we didn’t have any other options, I ran back toward the stairs. They were so old that maybe with a little help the staircase would collapse. Grabbing onto the railing, I pushed with all my strength. The stairs swayed.

A beam of light hit me straight in the face.

“Well, hello there honey. We meet again,” Martin said huskily. “If you’re the present Tony mentioned, I might have to give him a raise. Come on down from there,” he said gesturing to me. “We won’t hurt you.”

From the door, the other man laughed.

Fear filled my senses; I frantically pushed at the staircase. Seeing my intention, Charlotte rushed over to help me.

“Ah, your little friend is here too, even better,” he smiled evilly.

Martin started up the stairs. When he reached the third step, his foot broke through. Cursing, he untangled his foot and continued up the staircase. This time a little more cautiously.

I started kicking at the top step. They were starting to crack, but Martin was getting closer. He grabbed my leg, and I screamed, trying to fight him off and get out of his reach.

Remembering the flashlight that I had set down next to the railing, I picked it up. Thankful for its weight, I swung it as hard as I could at where I thought his head should be.

He yelped and let go of my leg. I took advantage of being free from his grasp and kicked out at him. He fell back, crashing down the stairs. The weight of his body hitting the stairs and bouncing down must have knocked something loose, because the stairs crumbled down after him.

I turned my light on and saw him. He struggled to his feet groaning. Holding a hand to his head, he stumbled back.

“I won’t forget this. I will find you and you’ll wish you had never heard of me.”

We heard him stumble his way back toward the door. The other man said, “Idiot! Let’s get out of here before they call the cops.”

We didn’t relax until we heard their car doors shut and the sound of them driving off. Sighing with relief, Charlotte and I hugged each other, tears falling down our faces.

Ollie touched my sleeve. “Umph” he mumbled through the tape. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I quickly unwrapped his hands.

He immediately reached up and pulled the tape off. “Whew!” he exclaimed. “Am I ever glad you two found me. I would have been toast. I owe you one.”

“What do we do now?” I asked shinning my light down the broken stairs. There was no way we could get down. The ground was at least eight foot down.

Looking around, the only window was on the other end of the loft. It must look out over the back of the mill I thought. Even if Jed and Kent came back, we wouldn’t be able to see them.

Wanting to call Kent, I reached into my pocket for my cell phone. It was empty. I realized I had left my phone in the truck. The adrenaline was starting to wear off giving me a chill. How long were we going to be stuck up here?

At the sound of a vehicle pulling into the parking lot, we froze, straining to hear.

“Do you think they came back?” Charlotte whispered.

“Not after the wallop Nora gave them,” Ollie teased nervously.

“Then who is it?” I whispered back. “Should we yell for them?”

“Let’s wait and see what they do,” Ollie suggested.

“Charlotte?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have your cell phone? I left mine in the truck.”

“So did I, the only thing I brought with me is my little flashlight from my purse.”

“Wait!” I said grabbing Charlotte’s arm. “Did you hear that? I thought I heard Kent calling my name!”

Rushing over to the window, I pressed my ear up to the glass. Sure enough, this time I heard Jed calling for Charlotte and me.

“In here!” I yelled banging on the glass. “We’re over here!”

Charlotte and Ollie started yelling too. We were so loud, that I knew they wouldn’t be able to miss hearing us.

Pretty soon there was banging on the side door as they pushed it open. In no time at all, they stood at the bottom of the stairs shining a light up at us.

“What are you doing up there, Darlin’?” Jed drawled. “And it better be a good reason for you to have left the truck after we asked you not too.”

Ollie popped his head into view, “Hey Jed! Am I glad to see you.”

“Ollie! Where have you been? And, what happened to these stairs?”

Kent interrupted, “Let’s get them down and then you can question them. The cops should be here soon anyway.”

“Why are the cops coming?” I asked.

Looking a little nervous about that comment, Jed ignored me and said, “You’re right. Let’s get them down.”

The only way we could see to get down was to back over the ledge and then lower ourselves into their arms. The only problem was that the top two stairs were still attached. They wouldn’t be sturdy enough to hold our weight, but would be in our way if we tried to back over the ledge.

“I think if we jump up and grab the steps we may be able to pull them down. What do you think Barton?”