“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?”
“Sure, let’s try it,” Kent said rubbing his hands together.
On the count of three, they both jumped up and grabbed at the remaining steps. Their combined force was enough to pull them easily free. It was a good thing they were both tall.
Lowering the steps to the ground, Jed reached up and said, “Ok, who’s first.”
“Ollie, you go first, you’ve been in here the longest,” I suggested. He was reluctant at first. I think it was the whole ladies first thing, but Charlotte and I insisted.
“Ok, here it goes,” he said sliding his feet over the loft edge. Turning over onto his stomach he lowered himself over. There was an ‘umpf’ from all three of them as he let go and dropped. It didn’t sound like the guys did as much catching as they did breaking his fall.
“Go ahead Charlotte,” I said. I was content to prolong having to answer why we got out of the truck. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. At least we found Ollie, which ought to count for something.
Charlotte backed over the edge and slid into Kent’s arms easily, with little help from Jed.
“Ok, your turn babe. That’s it, back down slowly.”
I felt their strong arms wrap around my legs and waist and catch me as I let go. Suddenly, I found myself sliding down Jed’s hard chest until my feet hit the ground. His arms wrapped tightly around me in a quick hug before letting me go. As he set me free, I wasn’t too steady on my feet. I convinced myself it was because I had just dropped over a ledge.
“Let’s get back outside. Then we can compare stories.”
As we slid out the side door, we could hear the police siren heading toward us. They would be here in a matter of minutes. Seeing a black truck parked next to Jed’s with a woman in the passenger seat, I asked, “What happened? And who’s she?”
“It’s a long story,” Kent sighed.
“Why don’t you take the girls to get coffee and warm up or something while Ollie and I stay here and talk to the cops? We can meet up with you after,” Jed said.
“How about at the science club room?” Ollie suggested. “I have the key with me.”
“That sounds good,” Jed said quickly as the police car pulled up. “We’ll meet you there as soon as we’re done.”
Kent gave Jed a skeptical look. “I think I should stay and talk to the police also.”
“Don’t worry so much, Barton! I’ll tell them everything.”
Kent must have noticed us standing there shivering, because he reluctantly agreed. He ushered us to the Camaro, with a quick glance back at the black truck.
Jed walked over to greet the police, as we pulled away. The Pine Hill officer was not one Jed was familiar with. Making sure the Camaro was out of sight; Jed reached into his back pocket and pulled out his badge. Flipping it open, he showed it to the officer and introduced himself as the one who called it in.
“I have two victims and one suspect. The suspect is tied to a tree just down that path,” Jed said pointing in the direction he had left Tony.
“This isn’t going to be a simple call is it?” the officer sighed.
“Not today,” Jed said with exaggerated cheerfulness.
The officer called for Detective Cooper, and they got it all straightened out and took all the statements. Jed and Ollie followed them back to the station. It had taken some acting, but they managed to convince Tony and the girl, that Jed was a local guy who was often in trouble with the law.
The girl Jed and Kent rescued was Kristen Meyer from the neighboring town of Clyde. Her parents came and got her from the station. She was still a little scared, but was more than willing to answer all their questions.
Ollie stayed with Jed while he finished up his report. “Tony wasn’t very happy with you,” Ollie told Jed. “He was cursing and threatening you as they took him away. I can’t believe you had the police pretend to arrest you also. He’ll never guess you are a cop. Why did you do that anyway?”
Jed looked up from the desk where he was almost finished filling out the report. “Geesh Oll! What did they give you back there? Candy?”
Ollie had been pacing the whole time Jed worked. He couldn’t sit still. While he paced, he was asking Jed questions about everything.
“Does he ever shut up Greyson?” Detective Cooper said, from the next desk over.
“Don’t look at me,” Jed said holding up his hands. “I didn’t give him any sugar.”
“You’re very funny Jed,” Ollie said having a hard time sitting still. The adrenaline from the last couple of hours was starting to have side effects.
“That’s it,” Jed said, pushing away from his desk and picking up the report. “Let me just put this on Lieutenant Davis’s desk.”
The officer, who had responded to the call and arrested Tony, came over as Jed was getting his things. “I just thought I would warn you, Whelven is yelling that you took the girl meant for Vecelli and that they are going to take yours. Do you have a girl Jed? If you do, you better keep an eye on her.”
“Thanks, man,” Jed told him feeling panic settle in the pit of his stomach. Nobody knew that Nora was the only girl Jed thought of as his girl. Martin was already coming after Nora from what Ollie said in his statement. If they knew she was with him, they would be after her even faster. He had to get to her and tell her. And Kent, he thought reluctantly. Kent was never going to let her anywhere near Jed now. He knew that her brother would keep her as safe as he could, but it wasn’t the same. Jed wanted to be the one to keep her safe. He knew that he was capable of doing it better.
“Give your mom a call,” Jed said to Ollie as they headed out of the station. “I think I may have spooked her with all my calls to your house, asking her if you were home yet.”
“They let me call her earlier, while you were writing your report. She knows that I am with you, and safe and won’t be home for awhile.”
Nodding, Jed said, “Good, then let’s go meet up with the group and see what else they’ve thought of.”
The group. That sounded good. In high school, Jed had been a loner. He didn’t have a group of friends that he considered close. He was really starting to enjoy being with th
ese kids. Even Kent, he kind of grew on you when you weren’t looking.
Ollie gave them a call to see what the plan was. He hung up the phone as they got into the truck. “Charlotte says that they are heading to the high school now. They stopped to pick up some chicken wings and buffalo chips to snack on.”
“Sounds good, I’m starving,” Jed said, heading toward the high school.
“So are you finally going to admit that you like Nora?”
Jed glanced up surprised. Where did that come from? Was he that obvious?
“Why don’t you mind your own business, Cuz.”
“Whatever you say, Cuz,” Ollie exaggerated with a smirk. It was pretty obvious that big bad Jedediah Greyson had fallen for Nora Barton. Apparently it was still going to be awhile before either of them would be willing to admit it.
Chapter 13
“They’re on their way,” Charlotte said hanging up the phone.
“Both of them? You’re sure Jed was there too?” Kent asked.
“It sounded like it. I could hear a car radio playing. Ollie is too young to drive, so he must be with Jed,” Charlotte reasoned.
“Why didn’t you think Jed would be coming?” I asked from the back seat.
“Um… I just thought he might have to go to the police station for awhile.”
“Is there any particular reason why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. He was hiding something, I could tell. We have never been able to keep anything from each other. It has always been easy to tell when the other is not being truthful.
“Does this have something to do with what happened with the black truck? You still haven’t told us what happened and who that girl was.”
“I was waiting until we all got together to tell you. Why don’t we wait. It shouldn’t be more than a few minutes until they get here.”
I was finding it hard to wait. My curiosity was starting to get the most of me. If it was true that curiosity killed the cat, then I was toast.
Charlotte kept me distracted until we got there by asking me which movie they should go see. She and Kent were planning on catching the nine o’clock movie at the local cinema. I was glad for them. But I didn’t want to go home by myself and have to face mom and dad. I knew that we were going to have to tell them something, but that was always Kent’s job.
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