The Trespasser's Unexpected Adventure: Middle School Books for Kids: The Mystery of the Shipwreck Pirates Gold [An exciting kids mystery book / adventure ... (Crime Stopper Kids Mystery Books 1)

by Karen Cossey

  “Let’s jump it,” said Meeka. Logan frowned—that might not be such a good idea. But Meeka was pulling at his hand, so he jumped with her. He kicked at a stone as he landed, sending it jolting against the wall. It seemed as if the wall shook and shivered, then started pelting them with rubble.

  “Get back!” Logan called to Nate and Poet, as he pulled Meeka further up the tunnel. A large slab of rock fell down, followed by a whole lot of smaller stones. It only just missed them.

  The tunnel was blocked with Logan and Meeka on one side, Nate and Poet on the other.

  “Are you guys all right?” Logan shouted at the wall of rocks.

  “We’re good. How about you?” Nate’s muffled voice came back to him.

  “We’re okay. What’s Poet saying?” Logan asked, straining to hear what she was yelling.

  “Be quiet, Poet.” Logan heard Nate shout.

  “Don’t worry; she thinks she can morph through the rocks to get to you guys.” Nate called out. More noise from Poet. She sounded mad.

  “We’ll head back to the house and keep a look out. You guys go careful, all right?” Nate yelled.

  “You, too. We better stop shouting now, or someone will hear us. See you later.” Logan sure hoped he would see them later. Meeka squeezed his hand.

  “We better get going,” she said. “Before any more rocks come down.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Logan listened at the door. He could make out two voices coming and going. It sounded like they were collecting something from the room across the hall, going upstairs then coming back. Was it coins they were moving?

  The first time it went quiet Logan timed how long it took for the voices to return. Four minutes. Not long.

  After they heard the men move back up the stairs, Meeka bent down and picked the lock. It was harder than the door at the other end of the tunnel. It took her almost the whole four minutes before she could push the door open. They shut it again, and waited for the men to come and go one more time.

  Once the coast was clear, Logan pushed open the door and scooted across the hall, then leaned against the wall next to the open door. Someone was talking inside the room. He peered cautiously around the doorway and saw Zach, standing over Cole, who was tied to a chair. Zach was sporting a bruised face. Nate had been right. Cole had had a good go at him. Cole was sitting side on to Logan. His face was red near his eyes. He must have been hit in the last few minutes. Zach was saying something about giving him a piece of his own medicine. Logan couldn’t let Zach do that—he should rush in there and stop him!

  How though? Zach was twice his size and probably four times as strong. Logan knew from experience that he was no match for someone Zach’s size. The few times he had tried to fight back against his father had proven he would always lose.

  He heard the voices approaching again. Aargh! Too late to do anything now. He managed to get back behind the door to the tunnel in the nick of time.

  He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. Anger, fear, frustration—his emotions were all over the place. When he opened his eyes he saw Meeka looking at him, her body tense, her face scrunched up with worry and questions. She would never stay behind the door if he tried to rescue Cole by himself. They’d have to go together and hope for the best.

  He scratched out a layout of the room in the dust on the floor. Cole in the centre of the room, with Zach guarding him. Some white buckets stacked on the left wall, and a big pile of something covered by a tarpaulin near the shelving on the right. There was a door on the far wall behind the tarpaulin—it must go outside.

  Meeka frowned, scribbled a path on the other side of the door, and drew some stairs and trees. Trust her! Bet her parents banned her from going back there, so of course she had checked it out. Thank goodness.

  Maybe she could pick the lock on the outside door and they could escape that way. If only Zach would leave the room.

  Meeka started scribbling a plan in the dirt, accompanied by lots of actions. If it had been a game of charades, she would have been the star player. She wanted to run past the doorway and make Zach chase her upstairs, while Logan freed Cole and took him out the back door. She whispered that she knew a couple of good hiding places, and she was fast. She was certain there was no way Zach could catch her.

  She might be right, but she might be wrong. What if she did get caught? There had to be another way! But he could hear the men starting to leave. Zach might start hitting Cole again any minute. Meeka’s plan was dangerous, but it could work, and it was the only plan they had.

  Meeka handed him the paperclips for picking the outside door lock. They heard the men’s voices and footsteps retreat up the stairs.

  She slipped out the door and closed it so Zach wouldn’t notice it when he went past. Logan listened from behind the door, his whole body tense. He heard Meeka call out, “Oh no!” as if she was surprised to see Zach, then her footsteps raced up the stairs. The next moment he heard the sound of the Zach’s feet stomping up the stairs as he gave chase, calling out to the others for help.

  Logan ran into the room, crouched down behind Cole, and yanked at the rope around his hands. Lucky he was good with knots from all his abseiling. It didn’t take long to untie them. He came around the front of Cole and ripped off the tape covering his mouth.

  “Ow! That hurt more than the punches,” Cole said. “Man, am I glad to see you! Let’s get out of here and find Meeka before they do.”

  He headed for the hallway door.

  “This way.” Logan grabbed Cole’s arm and pulled him to the back door, then pulled out the paperclips from his pocket. He handed them to Cole, who picked the lock in about five seconds flat. As they opened it, they heard the men coming back. Cole shot up the outside stairs, but Logan headed the other way instead, hiding behind some big rubbish bins he spotted at the end of the path.

  “He’s getting away,” Zach shouted. Logan watched as Zach ran out of the room and chased Cole.

  “These kids are nothing but trouble!” Logan heard Oscar say. His heart sank as he made out Meeka’s voice.

  “Let me go! Let me go!” She sounded mad! Bet she was putting up a fight.

  “You deal with her, Jake. I’ll help Zach.”

  “Sure thing. I don’t want to take on that other kid anyway. My face might end up like Zach’s.”

  Jake’s voice physically jolted Logan, making him clutch at the wall for support. He would never forget that voice.

  His father was here.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Poet was so determined to shove the rocks blocking the tunnel out of the way that she didn’t even notice more stones falling.

  “I’ve got to get to Cole!” she shouted at Nate.

  “You’ll kill us both if you don’t stop!” Nate shook her shoulders and yanked her away as another large slab came down right where she had been standing.

  “Look at that!” Nate jabbed his finger at the fallen rock. “Right now Cole has got more chance of staying alive than either of us! I’m your brother too, remember!”

  She stopped still, staring at him, her mouth dropped wide open.

  “What?” Nate asked, his face angry.

  “Nothing. It feels like something’s pounding my head, that’s all. You know, like how the ground would pound you if your parachute didn’t open.”

  No way she was going to say she’d just realised Nate was as important to her as Cole. He was more than her best friend. He was her brother, same as Cole.

  Nate relaxed and smiled at her. “I’d catch you. Though I might let you drop the last few feet, just for fun.”

  Poet gave him a half-hearted smile. “We better go,” she said, looking at the crumbling walls. They hurried back the way they came until they were safe in the boathouse again.

  They decided to scout out what was going on, so they crept down to where the trees bordered the beach. From there they could see the veranda and the side of the house. Nothing was happening—nobody was around.

&n
bsp; They crept back through the trees, past the boathouse to where the trees met the edge of the driveway. The white van they’d spotted at the racetrack was parked with its rear doors open towards the house. The two guys from the racetrack kept coming out the front door, carrying heavy-looking white buckets which they stacked in the van. Poet pointed to one of them and said that Logan had called him Zach. Then Zach spoke to the tattooed guy, calling him Oscar.

  Oscar acted like the boss, dropping off a load then prowling around checking on things. He even roamed up to the top of the driveway like he was expecting someone else to arrive.

  “Idiot,” Nate said. “Why haven’t we rung Mum and Dad?” They ducked back deeper into the trees and sent Steve a text. Hopefully he would believe them, though he and Abby were having dinner with Jason and Lia in Plymouth, which meant they were at least forty minutes away. Poet told Nate to phone the police, but then they heard something happening back at the van. They needed to go take a look.

  A motorbike had turned up—Alex from the racetrack! He was telling Oscar the guys at the track were waiting for their load so they should hurry up. Oscar and Zach headed inside.

  “Logan said Alex was all strange and rude about Meeka’s family staying here,” Nate whispered to Poet. “Alex must’ve known those buckets of coins were being kept here, and that the racing guys were coming to collect them.”

  “Mr MacAdden told me they were heading to France after this, to race on some tracks over there. I bet they unload the coins at all different spots around the continent. But where does it all come from?” Poet asked.

  “From the sea, of course,” Nate said, letting out a deep breath. “It’s just like Dad said. Some salvage company has found a huge treasure of old coins which they’ve been storing at the lodge, waiting for the racing guys to come collect it. They’re going to sneak it into Europe so they don’t have to declare it.”

  “Because then they’d have to wait at least a year to convert it to cash …”

  “And they’d have to pay some of it to the government,” Nate said, running his hand through his hair.

  “Greedy pigs,” Poet said. “If they hurt Cole over a bunch of old coins I’ll … I’ll …” She didn’t get a chance to come up with a threat because Cole himself sprang up from the stairs at the side of the house. He spotted the van and ran in the opposite direction, down the side of the house towards the beach.

  “Get him,” Zach yelled as he came up the stairs. Alex jumped off his motorbike and joined in the chase, overtaking Zach. Poet and Nate moved through the trees, trying to keep quiet. Cole ran fast, but Alex was just as fast as he was. If only Cole could get away! But no, Poet saw Alex leap at Cole’s back, pushing him to the ground. She started to call out, but Nate clamped his hand over her mouth.

  Cole landed on his shoulder and rolled onto his back, then used his momentum to spring to his feet and face the punches Alex was trying to shower on him. Cole dodged them, then grabbed Alex’s wrist and twisted it, put him to the ground and stomped on his stomach. Alex lay there groaning, clutching his middle.

  “Jerk,” Poet whispered. Cole should have knocked him out.

  Zach was close behind Alex. He ran straight at Cole and grabbed him by the neck with both his hands, as if to choke him. Cole reacted by kneeing him hard in the groin, causing Zach to yell out, but he didn’t let go.

  In one fast movement, Cole slammed the palm of his hand into Zach’s chin, pushing his head back. Cole then pulled his hand back and rammed his fingertips into Zach’s throat. At that Zach let Cole go, and Cole grabbed his shoulders and pushed him aside as he moved past him, ready to run.

  “I wouldn’t go anywhere,” the big tattooed guy said. Oscar. This time he wasn’t pointing his gun at Cole, but held it to Poet’s head, grasping her by the arm. He let her go to push Nate on ahead of him, and then he grabbed her arm again, so tight it hurt.

  She’d let them all down by calling out. It was her fault they were all caught now.

  All except Logan.

  Chapter Twenty

  Logan was leaning over, hands on knees, fighting off a wave of nausea. His father was some kind of criminal, a hired thug at the least! Why was he surprised? When he thought about it, it was the kind of behaviour he would expect from his father. Logan had been deluding himself with his daydreams of a wonderful father, champion of the world in hiding. He wasn’t hiding. That father didn’t exist.

  Logan shook his head and stood up. Now the initial shock was over, he could push it aside and focus on what needed to be done.

  Meeka. He had to get Meeka out of there.

  Logan crept to the edge of the door, and listened to the struggle Meeka was causing. She sure knew how to kick.

  “What you need is a good whack to quieten you down,” Jake said.

  Logan’s blood ran cold and he started to tremble, like he used to do when he knew his father was about to lash out.

  But this time his mind reasoned with his emotions. His father wasn’t in charge any more. Jake had no right to hit him, and he had no right to hit any of Logan’s friends, either. He had to do something even if he did get hurt. And he had to do it now.

  Logan stormed through the door and launched himself onto his father’s back.

  “Don’t you hit her. Leave her alone you jerk!”

  He threw his arms round his father’s neck and tried to yank his head back. Jake grabbed Logan’s arms and swung him over his head, throwing him hard onto his back on the floor, winding him. Jake looked like he was ready to punch Logan, then he realised who it was. Shock and some other emotion registered on his face. Was it guilt? Whatever it was, it was gone in a moment.

  “Logan!” he shouted, “What are you doing here?”

  “What are you doing here?” Logan gasped through the pain. His father looked at him with something close to remorse on his face, but then he glanced at Meeka and his expression changed to anger. He grabbed her, and then tied her up. Next Jake tied up Logan, back to back with Meeka.

  Logan stared hard-eyed at Jake the whole time, not saying a word. His own father was tying him up. Not exactly the caring father he had dreamed about. It was almost funny. He could have laughed, if only the ropes weren’t so tight.

  Jake’s hands shook as he took out a cigarette, lit it, put it in his mouth, and took a long slow drag. Finally he spoke.

  “I only took this job because I was sure you’d be nowhere around. I figured even though you lived pretty close, there was no way you’d ever meet the kind of rich crooks that stay here.”

  “You’re the crook. The family that stay here are the best kind of people. And they’re worth a hundred, if not a thousand of you.”

  Anger flickered in Jake’s eyes, and then he sighed and said, “Sorry you feel that way, son. Not that I don’t deserve it—I know I do.” His shoulders dropped. “I’m not a crook, just so you know. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this. I got in some trouble and needed some money. It’s supposed to be easy money. Nobody said anything about you and your foster family turning up.” He paused, looking at Logan.

  How did that make a difference? He was still a criminal.

  Jake kept going. “We’ll be finished soon and we’ll be out of here. Someone will find you later, so you’ll be okay.” He seemed like he was trying to reassure himself. “Sorry I missed your birthday. I guess I’m going to have to go find somewhere quiet to live now you and your foster family have seen us here. I’ll be missing most of your birthdays for a few years.”

  “They’re not my foster family. They’re my real family. Steve’s my father, and Abby’s my mother. They’ll remember my birthday so don’t trouble yourself.” Logan felt cold and hard. Jake went and stood outside for a minute. He threw his cigarette away and came inside, rubbing his hands together.

  “Right then. Two more loads and we’re out of here.”

  He took a bucket and went upstairs.

  “I’m sorry about your father, Logan.” Meeka sounded tragic. Logan le
aned his head back against hers, glad for her kindness.

  “I’m sorry he tied you up. I don’t know what I would have done if he had hit you,” he whispered to the air.

  Meeka laughed. “You were wild-eyed awesome! You looked like some mad bull in a bullring. I almost saw froth coming out your mouth!”

  “Gross!” Logan managed a smile.

  “Sprayomatic! A little longer and you could have drowned him in saliva.”

  Meeka’s imagination was kicking in again. She was going to be all right. If they waited it out, someone would find them. Surely his father wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. Would he?

  Jake came back in and took the last load to the inside door. He stopped and came back to lock the outside door again.

  “The door to the stairs will be locked too, and I think I’ll pull that bookcase in the hall in front of it for good measure,” Jake said. “We’ll be long gone before anyone finds you. Goodbye, Logan. Sorry I’ve been such a disappointment to you. Hopefully you’ll make a lot better choices with your life than I have with mine.”

  And then he was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cole stared at the gun. If Oscar hurt Poet or Nate, Cole would make him pay.

  Oscar forced them all—Cole, Poet and Nate—inside the house, and had Alex tie Cole up while Zach held onto Nate. Oscar kept hold of Poet.

  “We’ll take these two with us,” Oscar said, nodding at Poet and Nate. Anger and frustration ripped through Cole and he strained against the ropes.

  “Cut it out, or I’ll put a bullet through her foot,” Oscar said.

  Surely not! He looked like he meant it though. Cole froze. Oscar kept his gun pointing at Poet as he handed her over to Alex, and rung through to someone he called Boss. Obviously Boss was really in charge.