“What’s your problem, Josh? Why are you pacing around like this? You’re safe. You have that big-screen TV over there to watch. You’re not hungry, and you’re not tired. So, why all the pacing? What’s the problem?”
“For one thing, even though it’s dark in here and no lamps are on, televisions give off a glow. Someone outside might see it. I should go outside to check it out. I don’t think I should have called that lady reporter. I think it was a mistake. I’m scared, Tom, and I don’t feel safe here. I think I should leave now, while I can.”
“Where will you go? Besides, it’s pouring rain outside. This is as safe as it’s gonna get, Number 8446.”
“I’m going outside to check to see if any light can be seen. You coming with me, or are you staying in here?”
“Scaredy-cat.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re dead. I don’t want to be dead. I want a family, and I can’t find one if I’m dead. Don’t give me any more of your bullshit either.” Josh flicked on the television and watched as a rerun of Law & Order came onto the big screen. He ran to the kitchen and out the door, a towel over his head. He sloshed his way around to the front in time to see a big black car turn into the street. He stopped next to a scraggly bush and watched the red lights of the huge vehicle. His blood ran cold when he thought he heard a dog inside the vehicle start to bark.
In this particular section of the apartment complex, there weren’t that many operable cars. Most people walked to the bus stop. He’d watched through the curtains earlier in the day. This vehicle was definitely out of place in this area. He strained to see through the rain. He literally stopped breathing when he saw the red taillights stop in front of Charlie’s apartment.
Josh waited a moment longer until the car doors opened. He watched four people and a dog get out, the tall man from the library holding on to the dog with a leash. Faster than lightning, Josh ran back inside. The moment the door closed behind him, he started yelling at Tom. “I told you! I told you! They’re here. I have to get out of here right now.
“You’re pretty damn quiet, Tom. See, you aren’t always right! My gut instincts warned me. I saw a slicker in Mr. Dickey’s closet. Oh, shit, I forgot to turn off the TV.” Josh rushed back to the living room, turned off the TV, then checked the front door to make sure the dead bolt was in place. He ran back to the bedroom, jammed things into a duffel from the floor, pulled on the slicker, and was out the back door in minutes.
Josh knew he had to run, and he had to run fast because the dog had his scent. He knew it as sure as he knew he needed to take another breath to live.
How did they find him? “How’d they find me, Tom?”
“I guess it was the reporter. She probably traced the call, and the trace led them to Charlie’s apartment. You’re safe, Number 8446. You didn’t see them coming here, did you? No, they went to Charlie’s. He doesn’t know you broke into his apartment.”
“Bullshit, Tom. Those people are determined to find me. All they have to do is turn that dog loose, and I’m toast. Where should I go?”
“You know what, Josh, you’re just panicking. Even if they turn the dog loose, he’s looking for Mr. Dickey’s scent, not you. You’re wearing his clothes.”
“That didn’t make one bit of sense, so I’m going to pretend you didn’t say it,” Josh gasped as he ran at the speed of light. Before he knew it, he was out of the complex and on a main road. He dodged to the side and tried to stay in the underbrush as he looked for an escape route.
“I got it! Find a church. Any one will do. Churches offer sanctuary. No one can make you leave a church.”
“That’s bullshit, too, Tom. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were smoking some of Mr. Dickey’s weed. They lock churches at night, and sanctuary is a thing of the past. You need to shut up now and let me think. Look, I’m not mad at you, but right now your advice stinks, and I have to concentrate on staying alive. Don’t make me remind you again that you’re dead.”
His heart pounding, his ears buzzing, Josh raced on as he tried to figure out what the next move should be in his quest to stay alive.
Charles Garrison opened the door and peered at the gaggle of people on his doorstep. “What can I do for you?” he asked pleasantly. “That’s a beautiful dog you have there. I’ve always loved animals, but we aren’t allowed to have them here. Would you like to come in out of the rain?”
“Yes, we would, Mr. Garrison. My name is Tessie Dancer, I’m a reporter for the Chronicle, and this is Miss Madison, Mr. Kelly, and the big man is Zolly. The dog’s name is Winston.”
Everyone shook hands as Charlie tried to figure out what was going on.
“Look, Mr. Garrison, I know this is probably going to sound very strange, but this afternoon a call came in to me from your telephone number. I’m trying desperately to find the young man who made the call. Were you here today, or did you have any guests who would have called me from your phone?”
A lightbulb went off in Charlie’s head when he heard the words “young man.” He needed to keep his wits about him. “I rarely have guests, and I was working today. I usually work the night shift, but today I had to take over for Dorothy because she had to go for a CAT scan. As far as I know, no one was here. Check my locks. The place wasn’t broken into. Did this young man do something wrong besides making a phone call? Are you sure the call came from here?”
Charlie knew he was old, but he still liked to think he was sharp as a tack. He thought about the young man who’d come into Hotdog Haven looking so lost and hungry. He’d given Charlie a dollar tip, something he never got. Nice kid, polite and respectful. He recalled in perfect detail their conversation of the night before and how he’d told the boy where he lived.
“He’s in danger,” Tessie said.
Charlie looked from one to the other and decided he didn’t give two hoots what they said. The boy was scared, that was for sure. But when reporters and people like this group that were standing in front of him wanted to gang up on a youngster, well, he didn’t see any need to help them.
“Zat so?” He thought he was being clever when he asked, “Is it drugs? Did something go wrong? These kids today, you just never know what they’ll do next. So, do you want to look around or what? I live alone, as you can see. The place is a little untidy. My cleaning lady only comes once a month. Sometimes she forgets, and I have to call her.”
So now he knew who it was that had left the twenty dollars on his kitchen table and who it was that had finished his crossword puzzle and gave him a star at the top. No sirree, he wasn’t telling these people a darn thing.
Tessie took Charlie up on his offer and walked around the apartment, opening closets and looking under the bed. When she returned to the living room, she said, “You don’t seem concerned that someone broke in here and used your phone. Now, why is that?”
“Because I think you made a mistake. No one broke in here today. I have the only key to this place, and it’s still on my key ring. Sounds to me like that young man who you say is in danger is smarter than you think he is. If there’s nothing else…” Charlie said pointedly, looking toward the door.
Pete stepped forward. His voice was tortured. “Mr. Garrison, are you absolutely sure you don’t know this boy?” he asked, pointing to the picture Tessie held in her hand.
“I think I’d remember meeting such a nice-looking youngster. Kind of looks a little like you, mister.”
“Yes, he does. Just a little,” Pete said in a choked voice.
Charlie walked toward the door. He knew people like these people. They reacted after the damage was done, preferring not to see what was going on before something bad happened. He opened the door and stared at the big, fancy vehicle sitting out there in the rain. Your secret, whatever it is, youngster, is safe with me.
Back in the car, Tessie said, “I think he was lying, but I can’t tell you why.”
“That old man? Winston would have picked up on something. He didn’t. Sorry, Tessie, it’s just
another dead end,” Pete said.
“Then how do you explain the fact that the boy called me from Garrison’s home phone?”
“I can’t explain it. What reason did that man have to lie to us? I watched him. He looked me right in the eye when he was saying no one broke into his home. Maybe the telephone wires got crossed, or they were wet or something.”
“That’s a bunch of crap, Pete. I just remembered where Adam Dickey lived. Right there,” Tessie said, pointing a finger at the huge “#9” on the front door of the Dickey apartment. “Call me stupid or whatever, but this is just too much of a coincidence for me to swallow. You up for a little B&E?”
“No!” Zolly bellowed.
“Yes!” Lily and Pete said in unison.
Winston growled. In approval.
Chapter 23
“Boss, this is not a good idea. We got away with it once, so why push your luck? It’s not going to look good in the newspapers if we get caught,” Zolly pleaded.
“Zolly’s right, Pete. You and Lily stay in the car with Winston. He and I will go in through the back, assuming there’s a back door. I’ll park farther down the road just in case Mr. Garrison is watching us from his front window. It’s entirely possible the kid picked his lock and just relocked the door when he left so he’d be none the wiser. I’m telling you, the call originated from his apartment. The fact that Garrison is so steadfast in his denial worries me. Okay, we’re here. Come on, Zolly. Stay in the car, Pete. I mean it. I can talk my way out of this if we get caught, but you won’t be able to.”
“I heard you the first time. Go on. We’ll wait for you,” Pete said.
“I wonder why that teacher kept an apartment here when he lived at the school?” Tessie muttered to herself as she led the way around to the back of Adam Dickey’s apartment building.
“Privacy,” Zolly volunteered. “He must have had time off occasionally. Living and working in the same place could get to you, I’m thinking.”
“You’re probably right,” Tessie agreed as she pointed to the back door of Apartment 9. “I think I can pick the lock with my nail file. I’ve done it a time or two in the past.”
“You’re not very ethical, are you?” Zolly asked virtuously.
“It depends on the situation, Zolly. Like right now, the end justifies the means, if you get my drift. If you’re not up to it, stand out here in the rain and watch my back. Another way of looking at this is that your boss certainly has enough money to bail us out of jail if we get caught. In addition to that, this isn’t exactly the kind of neighborhood where the neighbors call the police for anything.
“Okay, it’s open. Do you want to go first, or should I? You know, just in case there’s a big, bad bogeyman in there.”
“Put a cork in it, Miz Smart-ass. I’m not afraid of anything.”
“That’s a big fat old lie, Mister Smart-ass. You’re afraid of me. Admit it,” Tessie said, as though she were discussing the weather. She stepped into the kitchen and looked around.
“Where’d you get the idea I’m afraid of you? Don’t go flattering yourself. You should think about going on a diet.”
“More of me to love this way,” Tessie snapped as she opened cabinets and the refrigerator. She checked the garbage can under the sink. “Aha! Someone was here. See the orange peels! You could stand to lose about forty pounds yourself. You look like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Now, shut up, I need to pay attention to details here.”
Zolly clamped his lips shut as he followed the reporter from room to room.
“This is a decent enough place, and the rent is probably doable for someone on a teacher’s salary who wants a bit of privacy from time to time. Bed’s been slept in. Towel’s still a bit damp. Yeah, the kid was here.”
Zolly opened the clothes hamper and pulled out Josh’s sweatpants and shirt. “I bet there’s DNA on these clothes. The boss is gonna want these.”
“Right. See if you can find a plastic bag. I think I saw some under the sink.”
When Zolly returned with a trash bag, Tessie said, “It would be a straight run from this door to Mr. Garrison’s back door. He picks the lock the way I picked this one. The big question is, why did he choose Charlie Garrison’s apartment?”
“Maybe the kid has been watching to see who lives where and who’s home during the day. Maybe Garrison was the only one not home. But, that was by chance. He said he usually works nights, and he would be home sleeping during the day.”
“My point exactly. That has to mean the kid met him somewhere and knows him even if it is just slightly. Maybe he’s trying to protect the kid. Who knows what he told the old guy.”
“So, what’s our next move?”
Tessie whirled around, stunned at the question. “Did I hear you right? Did you actually ask my opinion?”
Instead of answering her, Zolly stepped forward, grabbed Tessie, and kissed her so hard she thought she was going to black out. “What’ya think of that?” Zolly asked in a shaky voice.
In a voice just as shaky-sounding, Tessie gasped, “What do you do for an encore?”
“Guess you’re gonna have to wait and see. You were right, you’re a lot of woman.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Time to get out of here. I think we need to fall back and regroup. How are you going to lock the back door?” Zolly asked.
“It’s self-locking,” Tessie said as she tried to come to grips with the kiss she’d just experienced. She tried to remember when she was last kissed like that but had to give up when no occasion came to mind.
“You drive!” she said magnanimously.
“Guess I rocked your world, huh?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I need to think and, no, not about you. Kissing is one thing. Performing…now, that’s a whole different ball game,” she said ominously.
Zolly started to sputter and squawk as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
Tessie was grinning from ear to ear as she fastened her seat belt. She turned to face Lily and Pete. “He was there. He ate some oranges, and he took a shower. The towel was still a little damp, and it looks like he slept in the bed. We took what we think were his clothes out of the hamper. You can have them checked for DNA, Pete. If it matches yours, you’ll know for sure he’s your son. Talk about luck.”
“Damn. That’s great, Tessie. I know just the guy to run the DNA, too. The kid is thinking, that’s for sure. Each time I think he’s run out of steam, he surprises me. He’s a thinker. He plans. Now we have to put our heads together and try to figure out what his next move is.”
Lily squeezed Pete’s arm. “This is so wonderful, Pete. How long will the DNA take?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe a week. That’s just a guess. He’s my kid, Lily, I feel it in every bone of my body.”
Lily crossed her fingers. “I feel it, too, Pete.” Please, God, let it be true.
Josh didn’t think he could possibly be more miserable. The rain had turned colder, and he was chilled to the bone, not to mention soaking-wet. If only he could get warm. And he was tired. He closed his eyes and thought about his bed back at the academy and how good it always felt when he went to sleep at night. “I can’t do this anymore, Tom.”
“Yeah, I know. Are you going to go to the police and turn yourself in?”
“What other choice do I have? Nothing’s working out. I can’t keep running like this. I’ve been thinking, Tom. If they kill me, I’ll be with you and Sheila.”
“Boy, is that some dumb thinking. I can’t believe you said that. You need to refocus and think of something else. The last thing you want to be is dead. You have to carry on for all of us. We’re depending on you to do all the things we promised we’d do when we came of age.”
“Staying alive is a lot of work. I just know I’m going to get sick. You can die from pneumonia. I don’t feel good, Tom.”
“What are your options? You can’t go to a hospital because you don’t have any health insurance. If you go to the police, they’ll turn you over t
o the bad guys. That reporter isn’t going to help you. Think…who can you count on?”
“You, but you’re dead. I’m alone, Tom. Look around, do you see anyone here to help me?”
“There is one person. Think, Josh. Think!”
Josh heaved himself upright. “Charlie!”
“Exactly. Return to the scene of the crime. Those people are probably gone by now. Just go up to his door, knock, and beg him to help you. He looked like a nice man.”
“I guess because you’re dead, your memory isn’t so swift, buddy, but when I returned to the scene of the crime at the academy, at your suggestion, it didn’t exactly work out.”
“Well, if you have a better idea, go for it. The temperature is falling. You need some hot tea and soup. Maybe some aspirin. Turn around and head back. It’s not that far. It seems far because you were walking against the wind and rain. Pick up your feet and run. Forty minutes, Josh, and Charlie will have you eating soup and drinking hot tea. I guarantee it.”
“Do ya think?”
“Yeah, I do. Get going, Josh. The wind is whipping up harder, but it will be at your back. You know, like a tailwind. I’ll be with you all the way.”
Tom was wrong about the time, Josh thought an hour later, when he trudged up to Charlie Garrison’s door and rang the bell. When the door opened, Josh asked, “Will you help me?”
Charlie looked up and down the courtyard before he pulled the boy indoors. It took only one good look to tell him the young man standing in front of him did indeed need his help. “First things first, get out of those wet clothes and into a hot shower. We can talk later. Don’t worry, I’m not going to call anyone. People were here looking for you, but I didn’t tell them a thing. You’re safe here with me. I’ll leave some warm clothes on the sink for you. While you’re showering I’ll make you some hot tea and soup. Can you take aspirin?”
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