The bike was of average quality, it had a spot for a water bottle that wasn’t there. It also had reflector lights in all the right places. It even had a nice pedometer attached to one of the handlebars along with a GPS.
“I don’t think Ollie would have left his GPS attached if he was going to just leave his bike, do you?” Charlotte asked. “He would have taken it with him so that it didn’t get stolen.”
“You’re right,” Kent said looking around. “I think he grabbed whatever he could before he hid, thinking that he would be back to his bike before anyone else found it and stole anything. But where is he?”
They spent a few minutes picking up scraps of paper near the parking lot, hoping one of them would lead them to where Ollie might have gone.
“It’s time to send Nora a message. They should be back to the park by now,” Kent said pulling out his phone. Quickly sending a message checking in, he said, “Let’s walk down this trail a little ways until they respond. It’s starting to get dark, and we won’t be able to do anything else until they get here with flashlights.”
Nervously, Charlotte looked around. “Ok, but I want to be back to the car before it’s totally dark. This park gives me the creeps at night, especially now that I know they found a body here.”
Taking her hand, Kent gave it a squeeze. “I know what you mean. Let’s look around and then we can go wait in the car. Come on.”
Walking hand in hand down the two-track, they were able to follow the tire tracks. The tracks looked like they were big enough to belong to a truck. The road was muddy with the rain from last night, so it made it very easy to follow the tracks in the soft dirt.
As they came around a curve, they saw a big black truck stopped on the side of the track, in a little crescent shaped clearing. They could hear the soft rumble of the engine. It was still running.
Pulling Charlotte quickly behind a big beech tree, hearts pounding, Kent said, “Jed did say it was a black truck he saw, didn’t he?”
Charlotte nodded too scared to say anything. They were out in the middle of nowhere and the truck was just sitting there.
“You stay here, I’m going to go see who’s in there.”
Shaking her head Charlotte frantically grabbed onto Kent’s sleeve. Finding her voice, she reasoned, “I don’t want you going over there by yourself. Besides, I don’t want to be left alone, let’s just stay here and watch it for a minute. Please.”
Knowing Charlotte was right about waiting for a few minutes, Kent pulled her down onto the ground to sit behind the tree. “Let’s just sit here and wait,” he whispered. Pulling out his phone, he saw that Nora had sent him a text. He had his phone on vibrate, but must not have felt it while they were trying to hide.
In Pk, No Sgn Whr R U was her response. Kent quickly typed back their location and the situation.
The phone vibrated immediately with a message: Jed says Do Not apprch. Meet at Mill 10 min.
“They want us to meet them at the Mill in ten minutes,” Kent told Charlotte. “Let’s try to keep near the shadows, now that the sun is almost down it will be harder for them to see us in the woods.”
Glancing back at the truck, it didn’t look like anything had changed, so they quietly started walking back the way they had come. Staying in the shadows near the trees, they walked as silent as they could, trying not to make any noise.
“I just want to run,” Charlotte whispered.
“I know you do, but that could attract more attention. Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”
Just as they made it back to the parking lot, they heard the sound of what they hoped was Jed’s truck coming down a different two track.
“There they are,” I told Jed pointing out the window. Kent and Charlotte were quickly walking toward the Camaro.
Pulling up next to the Camaro, Jed rolled down the window and shut off the truck. “Hop in.”
Relief flashed across Charlotte’s face as she climbed into the back seat. She told us what they had seen. “I am so glad you guys are here. That was so scary. We weren’t expecting to see anything, really. Do you think it has something to do with the case?”
“Case?” Jed asked, with an amused look on his face.
“You know what I mean,” Charlotte said, slapping him in the arm. “I feel like we are investigating a real live case.”
Turning serious, Jed told her, “Just remember, this isn’t Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, these people are truly dangerous, you don’t get to turn the page and live happily ever after.”
“I know,” Charlotte said, “I’ve had enough excitement for one night. First, sneaking into the president’s office, and now this!”
Jed and Kent turned to look at me, “Is there something you forgot to tell me?” Jed asked interested.
“I saw the Mayor come out of the president’s office and the door was open, so I went in,” I explained turning around in the seat to look at everyone. “I think we found something too.”
“I want the full story when we get back,” Jed said, turning to look at Kent. “You coming with me?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Kent said, with a hint of excitement. Men! Always ready to go off and have an adventure.
“Ok, Kent and I are going to go check out that truck. I want you girls to stay here with the doors locked. After that we can figure out our plan to search for Ollie and you can tell us about what you found at the country club.”
“Do not get out of the truck,” Kent said to us again as he and Jed climbed out of the truck. To Jed and Charlotte he said, “Trouble has a way of finding Nora wherever she goes.”
“Oh, Yeah?” Jed asked
“She’s talking to you isn’t she?” Kent asked, clearly not pleased by that fact.
“Yes she is,” Jed said catching my eye. Holding my gaze, he gave me a warm look.
“Ok, we’ll be back in a bit,” he told us, as he shut his door.
“Nora, I called home and let them know we were going to be later than we planned.”
“Good idea,” I told Kent as he left.
“What about you Charlotte? Do you need to let your parents know you’ll be late?” I asked.
“No, I already did. I told them that Kent and I were going to go see a movie later after the meeting.”
Raising my eyebrows, I teased, “Why didn’t I know about this?”
“It was last minute and I haven’t had a chance to let you know,” Charlotte explained embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it, I am glad that you two are together,” I said.
“We may not get to see it anyway, if we can’t find Ollie soon,” she said seriously.
We were silent as we thought about what could have happened to Ollie, and wondered how the guys were doing with the truck.
“Keep your flashlight off, so no one in the truck can see us coming,” Jed told Kent.
“Do you really think someone is still there?”
“I don’t know. It does seem a little strange that the truck would still be there. I saw it leave the parking lot about an hour ago.”
“How do you want to do this?” Kent asked. Jed was the kind of guy who knew about these things. Kent was man enough to admit that he was glad Jed was with him. The sun had completely set and it was very dark, especially in the woods. Clouds dotted the sky, covering up the moon and casting shadows on every tree.
“We’re going to sneak through the woods until we are on line with the driver’s side door. Then I will try to get close enough to hear if anyone is talking in the truck. You stay back in case I need backup.”
“It sounds like you have done this before,” Kent said joking.
“Once or twice,” Jed admitted not realizing that Kent was joking.
That gave Kent pause. What kind of guy went around sneaking up on people? Looking sideways at Jed, he felt a new apprehension. He didn’t know much about him, after all.
Sneaking through the woods proved to be easier than Jed thought it would be. Kent was pretty good at b
eing silent. It was a skill Jed had mastered years ago, following his grandfather on hunting trips. His grandfather has taught him all he knew about hunting and tracking. The skill had come in handy a few times with his job at the Sheriff’s department.
Whispering quietly to Kent, Jed said, “It looks like someone is in the driver’s seat. Can you see anyone else?”
“I thought I saw someone move in the passenger seat when we first walked up. It’s hard to tell though,” Kent said, carefully stepping over a fallen log for a better view.
“Ok, I am going to sneak up closer.”
Jed crouched down low to the ground and silently began making his way toward the truck. After fifteen feet, Kent lost sight of him in the darkness. He strained to hear Jed, but couldn’t decipher between the animals and the wind, to tell if it was Jed he heard or not. Covering his watch with his hand, so that the light couldn’t be seen, he glanced at the time. It had been about five minutes since Jed left.
All of a sudden the driver’s door opened and the person got out and took a few steps into the woods. Kent heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down and then urine hitting the forest floor. Kent strained to hear what the guy was mumbling to himself. Then he turned and yelled to the person in the truck. He didn’t sound like he was in a great mood.
A few minutes later, Jed snuck back, coming from the opposite direction, startling Kent.
“The driver is Tony Whelan, he’s a local thug, a kid who always gets into trouble and never went to college. Instead, after high school, he stayed around here. The last few years he has been working for a man named Martin Vecelli. Neither one of them are good news.”
Recognizing the name Martin as the man who had chased Nora and Charlotte at the mall, Kent decided not to question how Jed knew about them. Instead, he said, “I couldn’t believe it when he got out of the truck, I thought you were going to get caught for sure. What do you want to do now?”
“He has a teenage girl in the truck with him. I don’t think she wants to be there. She sounded scared.”
“Could you hear what he was mumbling as he took a leak?”
“Yeah. He said ‘if that dumb kid hadn’t ruined things for him he wouldn’t be stuck hear waiting.’ He must mean Ollie, but who is he waiting for and where is Ollie?”
Just then the girl screamed, even though it was muffled inside the truck, it was still loud enough that they both were startled by the sound.
Reacting quickly, Jed stood up and pulled something from the waistband of his pants. The unmistakable sound of a handgun being loaded brought Kent up short.
Nervously he said, “Uh… Jed.. What are you planning on doing with that? I don’t mean to be… um… goody two shoes or anything, but should you be carrying around a gun. Is that legal?”
“Relax Barton, I know what I am doing ok. And yes, it’s legal for me to have this.”
“It’s just that geesh man, every time I start getting used to the idea of you and Nora, you do something...something like pull a gun out of your pants. You are one scary dude sometimes.”
“We don’t have time to debate that, just follow me and when we get there, just go with my lead. I know how to handle guys like Tony. I guarantee he’s been drinking. When he is drinking, he gets mean and stupid.”
Knowing they had to do something, Kent pushed his anxiety about Jed aside, and followed him.
“I’m right behind you.”
“Ok, here’s the plan,” Jed said, running for the two- track in front of the truck. “Our car broke down somewhere in the park, we were out partying, and we’re looking for trouble.”
“Oooo-Kay” Kent said nervously.
Walking quietly up to the front window, they could hear struggling going on inside the truck. Jed pulled his gun and holding it in his right hand he banged loudly on Tony’s window and yelled, “Get out of the truck!”
“What the....?” Tony roared, sitting up suddenly and banging his head on the rearview mirror.
Quickly grabbing the door handle, Jed yanked it open and said in a gruff voice, “This is a carjacking. Get out.”
Tony lunged for something under the seat, Jed grabbed him by the back of the collar and slammed his head against the steering wheel before yanking him out of the car. “I said get out!”
Standing there, with his mouth hanging open, Kent didn’t know what to do.
“Get the girl out,” Jed yelled to him.
Kent quickly walked around and opened the other door. The girl who had to be about Nora’s age was huddled up against the seat cowering. Tears were running down her face.
“It’s ok,” Kent said softly. “We aren’t going to hurt you.” At least he was pretty sure they weren’t. Even he was a little scared of Jed.
Looking over the driver’s seat, to the other side of the car, he could see Jed roughly searching Tony for any weapons using the light, the open door provided.
“Please don’t take the truck,” Tony whined in a scared voice. It looked like the tough guy image was quickly fading in the face of someone scarier.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t,” Jed demanded. “You deserve to be stranded here, if you were too stupid to let two guys sneak up on you.”
“It’s not my truck, it’s my boss’s,” he whined “He’ll kill me if anything happens to it.”
“Yeah? Who’s your boss, maybe I know him?”
“Martin, Martin Vecelli.”
Jed pretended to look impressed. Whistling, Jed said, “That’s a bad dude. You are going to be in so much trouble when you tell him you lost his truck. What are you doing out here anyway?”
Handing the girl a tissue to blow her nose, Kent helped her gather all the things from her purse that were spilled all over the floor. “What are you doing with this guy? It didn’t sound like you were having a good time.”
“I was supposed to meet him at the old mill to talk about selling term papers for money,” she said, looking down at her shoes. “I had my friend drop me off, she had to run over to grab her pay check from the market where she works. She said that she would be right back. I know it was stupid to stay here alone, but other cars where around. I didn’t think anything would happen.”
“Then what happened,” Kent encouraged slowly.
“I saw this guy coming out of the old mill, he went over and talked to another man who got into a car and left. Then this man,” she said, pointing to Tony, “came over and greeted me.”
“Did you see who the other man was?”
“No but he got into the passenger side of the car, so someone else was driving. Tony seemed a little nervous. He told me to wait a minute because he had to make a phone call. Then he asked if I wanted to wait in his truck for his friend who was meeting him here. I was so stupid.”
“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 luc
ky 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.”
Undercover Justice Page 11
