Friday Night Frights (Jack and Ashley Detective series Book 1)

by R. D. Sherrill

  “Be careful,” Ashley warned. “There’ll be a lot of innocent civilians around. Taking a shot from under that mask isn’t something I’d recommend doing.”

  “Agreed,” Randy replied as he walked out of the locker room to join the school spirit squad.

  Ashley watched from a distance as he met up with the cheerleading team. From the looks of things, he was able to pass without suspicion as the group headed over to the nearby football field to await the team’s arrival.

  “Keep on your toes, Randy. We don’t know when he’s going to make his play,” Ashley warned, following them from afar as they entered the stadium.

  The lights were already on when they arrived, the late afternoon sun about to give way to the encroaching darkness. The interior of the stadium was a sea of red, fans stuffing the bleachers and spilling out onto the grass, making it a standing-room-only crowd. It was homecoming and floats representing the high school classes filled the track around the football field.

  The band, also dressed in fire red just like the fans, played the fight song as the Demons took the field. Their flashy red jerseys with gold helmets caught the light as they ran under the Saturday night lights. Ashley jumped as a volley of fireworks heralded the arrival of the home team, the fans coming to their feet in a unified roar that rattled the metal bleachers. Football was alive and well in Red Boiling Springs. They had no idea of the evil that was descending upon them.

  In the midst of the pageantry and excitement, Randy was putting on an award-winning performance, helping whip the crowd into a fever pitch.

  “I swear Randy, you missed your calling,” Ashley said into her microphone.

  Her comment was never heard by Randy. It was drowned out on the other end by the roar of the crowd inside the bowl of the stadium.

  The crowd noise gave Ashley rise for worry. What if she saw danger coming Randy’s way? Would he be able to hear her warning over the deafening crowd noise down at field level? Even where Ashley was standing, a few rows up on the visitor’s side, the roar was so loud she could barely hear herself think.

  “Can you hear me, Randy?” Ashley yelled into her microphone, turning away so the fans nearby couldn’t hear her speak.

  There was no answer over the two-way or any motion from Randy confirming he could hear her voice. His lack of response told her he couldn’t hear her over his earpiece. The noise level got no better after kickoff as the crowd stayed on its feet, rooting on the Demon defense as they smothered the visitors in their first drive.

  “Don’t these folks ever take a breath?” Ashley wondered out loud, the rabid fans giving no sign of slowing down.

  Ashley found out, shouting over the noise with one of the Colville Academy fans, that this was the rivalry game to end all rivalries. The schools were bitter adversaries. Upping the stakes even more was that the winner of the gridiron tilt would win their district, giving them a high seed in the upcoming playoffs. As football went, the game was a perfect storm, keeping the fans in a frenzy, rising and falling on every play.

  The half continued with very few lulls. The crowd even cheered during time outs. Randy’s attempts at communication came out garbled by the time Ashley received them on her earpiece. Whether it was the noise or electronic interference, their communication system was worthless. However, Ashley didn’t dare move closer to the field as heading down to field level would mean sacrificing her overall view of the stadium. She just had to hope the killer wouldn’t try anything in front of a stadium full of witnesses. Fortunately, his history told her he would wait and seize his opportunity when no one else was around. That was, if the killer was even in Red Boiling Springs. It had occurred to Ashley several times as she stood amongst the crowd that they might be on a wild goose chase, wasting their time while their killer was home plotting his next move.

  Scanning the crowd, constantly looking for anything out of the ordinary, Ashley found herself nearly exhausted as the second quarter wound down. The first half had flown as she kept herself busy keeping a look out. Randy had also been busy, playing the role of the mascot to perfection. At that rate, he might supplant Chance as official mascot, especially since the boy would likely never put on the costume again.

  The half ended as it started. The fans exploded with emotion as the Demons made a goal-line stand, leaving the game deadlocked at fourteen apiece as they headed off the field, led to the locker room by Randy.

  “What are you doing?” Ashley yelled into her headset, not believing he was leaving the field. “Are you crazy?”

  Ashley pushed through the crowd as the team, along with their mascot, disappeared at the gates heading toward the field house. However, due to the press of the still-frenzied fans, freeing herself from the human traffic jam took a few minutes. She finally emerged from the crowd and headed for the gate.

  “Where are you at?” she yelled into her communicator, again, getting no answer. “Damn it, Randy, answer me!”

  Making her way to the field house, Ashley was about to push her way into the entrance when the door burst open leaving her face to face with the mascot and his harem of cheerleaders. Ashley stood staring at him as he walked past, giving him a questioning look. He caught her eye as he walked by giving her thumbs up as if signifying everything was fine.

  “If he doesn’t kill you, I will,” she snarled into her microphone, aggravated he had given her such a scare. “I know you can hear me. You do that again and I’ll shoot you myself.”

  Ashley trailed the merry band of cheerleaders as they raced ahead of the returning football team, the squad was again welcomed with a deafening roar as they entered the stadium like conquering heroes. This time, Ashley resolved to stay as close to Randy as possible, sacrificing the high ground to be only a few steps from her partner.

  Her ears rang as the thundering cheers again reverberated around the stadium marking the beginning of the second half. The noise level was twice as bad close to the field. No wonder their communications system didn’t work. She would certainly have the mother of all migraine headaches later that evening.

  She quickly did another scan of her surroundings, looking for anything or anyone who seemed out of place.

  “Where’d he go?” Ashley mouthed as Randy, who had just been a few yards from her on the home sideline, had disappeared.

  She worked herself along the fence, looking back and forth trying to get a glimpse of the Red Demon, her mission made doubly hard given the sea of red surrounding her. She caught sight of him after a few panicked moments. He was heading out the gate of the stadium.

  “What are you doing?” Ashley yelled into her communicator as she emerged from the crowd, waving her arms in the direction of her partner.

  Her exasperated waves were answered as he stopped and motioned for her to follow. He was pointing to something outside the stadium. Had he stumbled upon something? Why was he leaving the relative safety of the football field? Even if he did have a lead he was following, his actions were irresponsible.

  Ashley tried to repress her irritation with her partner as she quickly made her way outside the gate, following him as he made his way outside the perimeter of the stadium. He disappeared around the corner before she could catch him.

  “Would you slow down?” Ashley yelled. The roar from inside the stadium was still loud enough to drown out her shouts.

  “Randy, wait up!” she yelled again.

  Rounding the corner, Ashley caught sight of the red-clad mascot. He was standing in the shadows of the stadium lights with his back to her. He was looking off into the open field which separated the campus from the woods. Did he see something in the open field or in the woods? He better be onto something good to give her such a scare.

  Ashley walked boldly up to her partner, intent on getting an explanation of his actions. She reached out and grabbed his arm just as the realization hit her. He wasn’t wearing the hat! She caught just a glimmer out of the corner of her eye as the figure turned, prompting her to instinctively throw up her arm.
The next instant a burning pain raced through her arm. She’d been cut. Blood instantly spewed from the wound as she fell backwards with the demon still coming toward her. Her screams were drowned out by another roar from the crowd inside the stadium, all oblivious to the horror that was taking place just outside the arena gates.

  Falling onto her back, Ashley pulled out her gun and aimed at the charging figure, getting off a shot as she was still reeling from his attack. The shot, while missing its mark, startled her attacker. He turned and ran, the ear-splitting report of the shot leaving Ashley momentarily deaf as she could hear only the ringing. She cried out in pain as she pushed herself off the ground, intent on trying to stop her attacker.

  She stood and looked for a second shot at the fleeing demon. However, even as she poised to drop the scampering figure, she spotted a young couple downrange. Her first shots must have caught their attention, prompting them to step out from the shadows. She supposed they were a couple that had snuck off to make out. They were now squarely in the kill zone if her aim was off by even a hair.

  “Get down!” Ashley screamed as she drew a bead on the running figure who pushed between the pair and headed toward the woods.

  The couple dove out of the way as they saw her gun pointing toward the fleeing demon. She ran a few steps, making sure the couple was clear before squeezing off another shot at the moving target. Had she hit him? It was hard to tell as he disappeared into the darkness in the direction of the woods.

  The subdivision! He was making a run for it. She couldn’t let him get away. Desperation began to overtake Ashley as her sense of duty compelled her to pursue.

  “I want you to go in and find a police officer and tell them I’m pursing a murder suspect,” Ashley barked as she ran toward the couple. The girl cried out when she saw the officer’s bleeding arm. “Hurry up and go! Now!”

  “Are you going to be okay?” the boy asked. He had a horrified look in his eyes at the sight of so much blood. “You’re bleeding real bad.”

  The youth then whipped off his shirt and handed it to Ashley to place over her wound, still eyeing the gash.

  “Just hurry up and do what I said!” Ashley yelled as she paused to rip the shirt, wrapping it as tight as she could over her arm as the teens ran toward the stadium.

  Her pause gave the demon a head start. She saw him dash out of the shadows for an instant. Ashley raised her gun and fired again, this round more of a shot in the dark as she began sprinting into the darkness toward the demon.

  What are you doing, Ashley? He’s going to kill you.

  TO THE KIA

  Jack woke to the worst headache of his life. His skull was splitting as he tried to focus his eyes. What had happened? Where was he?

  Slowly but surely it came to him. He was in a hospital. But why? Jack struggled to remember through the fog in his mind. It was like trying to recall a dream. The specifics evaded him.

  “Mr. Looper? You’re awake!” a nurse said with a smile. “You gave us quite a scare.”

  “Where in the world am I, darlin’,” Jack asked as he struggled to sit up in bed, the attempt making his head swim.

  “You’re in Seymour General Hospital,” she replied, the name starting to bring back his memory. “You were in a serious car accident.”

  That’s when it hit him like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t an accident. He was intentionally run over and he saw who was driving! Or at least he thought he did. In his mind, clouded by the concussion and a cocktail of drugs, it was difficult to separate dream from reality.

  “Where’s Agent Reynolds?” Jack asked. “The female agent that I suspect came in here with me.”

  “Oh yes. She stayed right there in that chair all night,” the nurse revealed. “She left around lunchtime.”

  Jack wasn’t surprised Ashley had stayed at his bedside. He realized in their short time together that she was that type of person, one who was loyal and would never leave a friend in need. He would have done the same if the roles were reversed.

  “Oh, and she left you a note,” the nurse remembered, handing the piece of note paper to Jack from the bedside table.

  Jack tore open the note as his mind began to clear, leaving him with the realization that what he had seen the night before was, in fact, reality and not a figment of his imagination. It was as he was opening the note he noticed the cast on his left arm.

  “Broken?” Jack asked holding up the arm which immediately began to pulse.

  “Yes, your wrist,” the nurse replied. “They put a couple of pins in it last night.”

  Jack gingerly spread the note open as he wiggled his way to a fully upright position in the bed. The words he was about to read would leave him frozen in fear, not for himself, but instead for Ashley.

  We may have one more chance. Agency is going public Monday. Going to Red Boiling Springs. Game was postponed cuz of weather so they’re playing it tonite. Have a plan. Randy is with me. Waited as long as I could but u were sleeping like a baby. Hope you get feeling better. You got a hard head. See you tomorrow – Ashley

  “No, no, no, no!” Jack exclaimed as he wadded the note and threw it in frustration, his reaction startling the nurse. “Where’s my phone?”

  “Well, I really don’t know where …” she began only to be cut off by her exasperated patient.

  “It’s got to be here somewhere,” Jack said, still in an excited state as he threw the covers off and slid to the side of the bed. “Help me find it.”

  “Mr. Looper, you don’t need to be moving around like that!” the nurse warned. “You have a serious head injury.”

  Jack found his phone at that moment, snatching it off the night stand by the bed. He quickly dialed Ashley’s number, hoping he could catch her in time. His hopes were dashed a moment later when Duran Duran started playing, the sound muffled but nearby.

  “Where is that coming from?” Jack quizzed as he began to rise from his bed only to fall back down.

  “It’s here,” the nurse yelled as she ran over to make sure Jack didn’t fall onto the floor.

  The nurse pulled the still-ringing phone from underneath the seat cushions where Ashley had slept the night before. The phone had fallen out of her pocket.

  Jack sat on the edge of his bed for a minute, trying to figure out how to proceed. He noticed a large brace on his knee as he looked down. He felt a breeze on his backside where his hospital gown had flown open.

  “Torn meniscus and perhaps some tendons,” the nurse said, noticing Jack look at his latest injury.

  “Is there anything else I need to be aware of before I find it broken or missing?” Jack asked as he tried to move his leg, the joint barely working enough to straighten out his leg.

  Jack realized he had only one course of action. He had to go to Red Boiling Springs. The information he had was too sensitive to be passed on to anyone but Ashley.

  “What time is it?” Jack blurted, suddenly realizing he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious.

  “It’s right at five in the afternoon,” she replied.

  “Five!” Jack exclaimed. “This is Saturday, right?”

  “Yes. You were out for nearly a whole day,” the nurse replied. “The doctor will be in to see you in just a moment and explain.”

  “He’s going to have to explain to me later because I have to go right now,” Jack declared as he began plucking the monitor wires off his body, sending the array of machines into a symphony of sounds and alerts.

  “Mr. Looper, you are in no condition,” the nurse argued.

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Jack said as he ripped a needle from his arm, wincing as he drew the metal from under his skin.

  The nurse watched helplessly as Jack slowly rose to a standing position, swaying like a tree in the wind for a moment before finding his balance.

  “See, good as new,” Jack said, holding out his hands and almost falling.

  “What are doing out of bed?” boomed the doctor as he walked into the room to find his pa
tient upright. “You were in a serious accident, Mr. Looper.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Jack retorted as he continued removing the tape from his skin. “I ought to know. I was the one who was there.”

  The doctor walked over to Jack and tried to encourage him to get back into bed.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Mr. Looper, but I can’t in good conscience let you walk out of here,” the physician protested. “You’ve had a very serious head injury.”

  “Yes, and it must be making me think I’ve heard the same thing before, because it seems like someone else just told me that,” Jack said, looking at the nurse as he finished freeing himself of the medical equipment. “The fact remains, I’ve got to be on my way, so darlin’, if you’d be so kind as to hand me my clothes. I think I’d turn some heads wearing this out. Besides, I suspect it makes my ass look big.”

  “Mr. Looper, you obviously don’t understand the seriousness of your injuries,” the doctor said, determined not to let him leave.

  “And you obviously don’t understand the seriousness of obstruction of justice,” Jack retorted. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you saving my life and all but I won’t hesitate to cite you for interfering with a federal investigation.”

  The doctor stood quietly for a moment, sizing up his patient. Jack’s fixed gaze and serious expression told the physician he meant business.

  “If you go, it’ll be without my permission and I’m going to insist on taking a look at you before you leave,” the doctor countered. “If you pass out halfway down the hall it’s obviously not going to do anyone any good.”

  Jack agreed to the doctor’s terms and submitted to the protocols. Despite being in a hurry, he realized having to fight his way out through hospital security would hamper his departure even longer.

  “Don’t worry doc, I’ll be back later tonight and then I’m all yours,” Jack assured as the doctor gave him an uneasy look. “Besides, the knee isn’t bending so well so that’ll have to be patched up. And, while you’re at it, give me a handful of ibuprofen for the road.”