Daniel’s father, Gary, was a financial advisor who ran his business along with Daniel’s mother, Melissa, from their house. He was meeting with a couple of clients, so Daniel just caught his eye and waved goodbye. He then went to the garage, got his bicycle and his baseball glove. “Will I need a bat, too, Jason?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“In that case I will pack along some waters, so we can have a cool drink when we need it. Now tell me again why Merriam High’s promising new basketball star is going out to do some batting practice with a twelve-year-old kid?”
“I thought I told you that story about when I was in Little League a few years ago, the coach had some of us help out new kids that were struggling with the fundamentals. Justin was one of the kids I helped out. Last year when we were investigating my kidnapping, and meeting at the bank with his father who is the bank manager, Justin heard about it and sent over a valuable Willie Mays baseball card. He enclosed a note thanking me for helping him out many years ago, and saying how upset he was about what had happened to me. Receiving that card and note made my day. I still have that card framed on my dresser.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember now. You gave him your cell phone number in case he wanted to bat around some balls sometime, but he never called you back until this week.”
“Well, he was always a shy kid. I did promise him the session, and you know we Hunters always keep our promises!”
“I know that all too well,” Daniel said with a laugh, and thinking about some of the adventures that he had gotten into with Jason due to Hunter promises.
“Besides, it will be good for us to go on a bike ride and get a little exercise batting around some balls. It will be a lot more fun with you there fielding all of my home runs!”
“Listening to you, Jason,” Daniel said as he was getting on his bike, “you would think Willie Mays was going to be at this session instead of resting on your dresser.” It took the boys about twenty minutes to ride over to where Justin was staying at his cousin’s house. “I don’t think I have ever been over in this part of town before,” Daniel said as they were approaching the Burr residence.
“I think that the school or park diamonds where Justin wanted to play are five or six blocks away from the house. I think they are down off of Santa Clarita Avenue.”
When the boys arrived at the Burr residence, Jason went and rang the front doorbell. About 30 seconds later, the door was opened by Ralph Burr, Justin’s cousin who was Jason’s age.
“Hi, my name is Jason Hunter. I and my friend Daniel here have come to play some baseball with Justin.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ralph responded. “He mentioned something about that. I don’t think he is here right now.”
“Where is he?” Jason asked.
“I’m really not sure. He mentioned something about going to check out the fields over at the school.”
“Well when did he leave?” Jason continued.
“I’m not exactly sure. I think it was a couple of hours ago.”
“Was anyone else with him when he left?”
“No, he just went on his own. No one else here was interested in checking out the baseball fields.”
“So you haven’t heard from him for a couple of hours, and no one knows exactly where he is?”
“That’s about it. Maybe he is over at the school waiting for you there.”
“No, he made a point of having us meet him here. This was a big deal for Justin. I don’t think he would just forget about it. Are either of your parents here?”
“My mom is here, but she was running errands when Justin left. I don’t think that she would have any more idea about where he went than I do. If you want to check out the school, it’s four blocks off of Santa Clarita Avenue on Palmar Street.”
After the front door was closed, Jason looked at Daniel and said, “Would you leave the family jewels with these people?”
“No way, Jason. It’s like these people could care less what happens to Justin, and he was supposed to be their guest!”
“Let’s go over to the school and see if Justin is there.”
Daniel and Jason got on their bicycles and rode over to the school on Palmar Street. When they arrived at the school, the baseball fields were basically empty except for one or two kids. Justin was nowhere in sight. Jason went up to one of the kids and asked him if he had seen another boy named Justin here anytime in the last hour or so. He gave a quick description of how Justin looked.
“Sorry, but we haven’t seen anyone else around here since we arrived about an hour ago.”
“Are there any other baseball diamonds near by?” Jason asked.
“There is one at the park a block away, but it isn’t in very good shape right now. I doubt if anyone would want to try to play ball on it..”
“Thanks for the information. If you should see Justin, tell him that his friends Jason and Daniel are looking for him.”
Jason and Daniel biked over to the park just to be sure, but the area around the baseball diamond there was deserted. “I’m beginning to get worried about Justin, Daniel. What could have happened to him?”
“I don’t know, Jason. What would a kid by himself do to kill a couple of hours around here?”
“Good question. Let’s retrace his likely steps to the school. I would think our best possible lead might be back on the main street. Maybe he stopped to get some food or browse in a store.”
The two boys rode back to Santa Clarita Avenue. There weren’t more than a couple of little shops on the right side of the street, which would have been the most direct route to the school. They went into each store that was open, a drug store, a fast food place, and a convenience store. They had no luck in any of the stores. No one remembered seeing anyone recently matching Justin’s description.
“This is very frustrating, Daniel” Jason said after they had stopped in the last store. What could have happened to Justin? He couldn’t just disappear into thin air!”
“Let’s try the other side of the street,” Daniel replied. “Remember Justin had a lot of time on his hands. Maybe he crossed over the street to check out something over there.” The two boys got on their bikes and crossed over to the other side. There were even less stores open on the other side. Mostly there were a lot of office buildings, some deserted and some closed. They walked past a lunch place, but it was closed.
“There doesn’t seem to be much to see on this side,” Jason said. “Look at that huge building next door. I wonder what it is?”
“It looks like some large warehouse or factory,” Daniel answered. “It doesn’t look like there is a business located there any more. But let’s check it out. Maybe Justin decided to check out what it is.”
As the two boys started to walk over to the warehouse, Jason noticed a small black object on the ground. “Hey, Daniel, what’s that black thing over there?” Jason walked over to it and picked it up. “It is a wallet.” Jason opened it and looked inside. “Oh my God. Daniel, come here and look at this!” Jason showed Daniel the wallet. Inside was a student body card with the name Justin Thorne.
“Well clearly Justin was here earlier. But why would he leave his wallet, or even have it out of his pocket. There is nothing to spend money on around here.”
Jason started to search around the entire area very carefully. “Look, Daniel. There is a soda can over by the wall there, and it looks like some of the soda spilled onto the ground.”
“There is a soda machine by that lunch place. Maybe Justin stopped to buy one from the machine.”
“Sounds possible, Daniel, but why would he go to a soda machine on this side of the street when there is a fast food place and a convenience store on the other side of the street, both of which would be a lot easier to get to?”
“There must have been something on this side of the street that attracted his attention. The question now is what?”
“I think that we need to check out this warehouse building. It is the most interesting looking
thing on this side of the street. But why would he come over here? I would think that there would have to have been something unusual or at least out of the ordinary to check out for Justin to cross over to see it up close.”
The two boys walked over to the warehouse. “Look!” Jason exclaimed. “Look at all of these tire tracks! Why would there be all of these tire tracks if the warehouse is vacant and unused?”
“Maybe that is what Justin saw. A bunch of trucks at the warehouse.”
Jason followed the tire tracks to the warehouse large roll up doors. “It appears that these tracks continue inside the doors.”
“I definitely think that we need to check it out,” Daniel said. “Can we get in these doors?”
The main doors were locked. “Let’s see if we can find another way inside, Daniel,” Jason said.
The boys brought their bikes to the side of the warehouse. As they were approaching the end of the building, Daniel put his hand out and told Jason to “Stop! Check out the ground here.” There was a lot of dirt with several sets of footprints. “Look at how these recent footprints are all bunched together!”
“Good eyes, Daniel. The only way people would walk close together like that would be if they were really good friends walking arm in arm, or… “
“Someone being brought here against their will!” Daniel finished the thought.
The boys went around the side, parked their bikes, and locked them. They also set down their backpacks. They then started checking the other side doors but they were all locked. Next they started checking out the windows to see if one was unlocked. After checking out a half dozen windows, Daniel found a window not locked all the way.
“Jason! I think we can get in here. Help me loosen it.” The boys worked on the window until there was an opening large enough for one of them to get through. Jason then boosted Daniel up and he was able to crawl through the opening. Once Daniel was inside, he was able to open the side door and let Jason in.
It was fairly dark inside the warehouse. Not much light filtered in from the windows, which were covered with grime. As their eyes became adjusted to the darkness, Jason noticed a switch by the door. Curious, he flipped it on. To his surprise, some work lights came on. “The electricity is still on in this place. That makes it more likely that someone has been in here recently.”
The boys first searched the main warehouse floor. “You can see where the truck tire tracks stop,” Daniel said. “It sure looks like several trucks have been in here recently. What are those white spots on the floor over there?” The boys knelt down and checked it out.
“That looks like fresh paint!” Jason said. “Maybe they were in here to spruce up some old trucks.”
“More likely someone wanted to change the markings on a truck!”
“Wow, good thought, Daniel. I wonder if Justin saw some trucks coming in here and decided to check things out.”
They continued looking over the rest of the main floor area, but saw nothing else of significance. “Look, there are some office rooms over on that side of the building. Let’s look in those before we leave,” Jason said.
Jason and Daniel walked over to that part of the warehouse and began checking all of the rooms. They called out Justin’s name. When they got to the third set of rooms, they heard a muffled sound in response. “Did you hear that, Jason?” Daniel said.
Jason found another light switch and some light came on in the office. “Justin!” he called out in a loud voice. “Are you in there?” Again they heard a muffled sound.
Jason hurried over to the door of the next room and opened it. He turned on the light switch by the door and looked inside. He was shocked by what he saw. Justin was lying on the floor wearing only his underwear, and was bound with ropes and gagged and blindfolded with rags.
“Justin! What did they do to you?” Jason exclaimed as he hurried over to Justin and began removing his blindfold and gag. Daniel came over with his pocketknife and began cutting at the ropes binding Justin’s wrists and ankles.
“Justin, are you okay? Do you know who did this to you?” Jason said. Even though Justin had been released from all of his restraints, he still seemed quite dazed and unresponsive. There were tears in his eyes and he was shaking with fear.
“Jason, he is in shock!” Daniel exclaimed. “It will take him some time to come around. Sit with him while I go and get a bottle of water.”
“Good idea, Daniel!” Jason replied. After Daniel took off, Jason sat beside Justin, put his arm around his shoulder, and began talking to him in a soft and soothing voice. “Justin, you are safe now. I’m your friend, Jason. Remember? My buddy Daniel is going to get a bottle of water for you. The three of us were supposed to play ball together this morning.”
“Yes,” Justin finally responded in a weak voice. He still was wracked with sobs and couldn’t talk coherently. Jason continued to talk softly and encouragingly.
“Don’t worry, Justin. Your ordeal is over. Everything is going to be all right. We will soon get you out of here, and get you some clothes to wear. Soon we will be able to take you home again.”
Daniel arrived with a bottle of water, and had Justin take several good sips of the water. “That should help you to feel better, Justin.”
Gradually Justin began to calm down, and his tears and sobbing ended. “Can you tell us anything about what happened to you this morning?” Jason asked one more time. Justin tried responding but his story was barely coherent.
“Jason, he is still in shock from what was done to him,” Daniel advised. “I think you are wasting time trying to question him now about the crime. Right now a lot of questions are going to upset him even more than he already is.”
“You are right, Daniel. Justin is still very disoriented. He needs more time to recover before we can find out who did this to him. Let’s see if we can move him out of this room.”
Jason then talked to Justin. “Are you hurt in any way? Do you need medical attention?” Justin shook his head ‘no’. “We are going to get you out of here now, but we also need to get you some clothing to wear. Should we take you back to your cousin’s house where you have been staying? Don’t you have some extra clothes back there?”
Justin started to get hysterical again with this suggestion. “No, no, I don’t want to go back there. Please don’t leave me and don’t take me back there!”
“It’s okay, Justin. I didn’t mean to upset you with that idea. What if we take you to my house? Would that be okay, Justin?”
Justin then calmed down a little and nodded his head yes. “Please don’t leave me, Jason.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, Justin. I’m going to stick to you like glue. Tell you what, I am going to call my dad. He can pick us all up in his SUV and he will bring you some clothes to put on. How does that sound?”
“Thank you, Jason, thank you. That sounds good.”
“Okay, I am going to call my dad now and arrange things. Daniel will stay right here with you.” Jason then went outside the room and got out his cell phone. Soon he had Bill Hunter on the line. He explained what had happened this morning, where they had found Justin, and that he was severely traumatized by his experience. He then told his dad to bring along a pair of shorts and a tee shirt from his room because Justin only had on his underwear. He then gave directions to where they were and arranged to meet by the side door of the warehouse. Bill Hunter said that he would rush right over, and to expect him in about fifteen minutes.
Jason went back into the office where Daniel and Justin were sitting. Daniel was singing a soft folk song which was having a calming effect on Justin. Jason said in an enthusiastic voice, “Hey guys, it’s all set. My dad is coming over right now in his SUV to pick us up. He is bringing some clothing for you Justin, and when you get to my house, I can give you a new pair of shoes to wear. Now let’s get out of here! I told Dad that we would meet him at the side door.”
Daniel helped Justin get up and they walked out of the office room. Jason turn
ed off the lights and then they went to the side door. “Would you rather wait here, just inside the door, or outside in the sunlight?”
Justin was still ashamed that he only was wearing his underwear, so he wanted to stay just inside the door. Bill Hunter arrived about fifteen minutes later. He had a tee shirt and a pair of elastic shorts for Justin. While Justin put on the clothes, Jason and Daniel packed up their bikes and baseball equipment in the back of the SUV. Soon Bill and the three boys were driving back to the Hunter house.
Chapter 7
A Prickly Situation
(Saturday Afternoon and Sunday)
When Bill Hunter and the boys arrived at the Hunter home, Edith Hunter was waiting for them in the screened front porch. Edith was an attractive and outgoing lady with straw yellow blonde hair the exact same color as Jason’s. As soon as she saw Justin get out of Bill’s Explorer with that dazed and fearful look on his face, all her mothering instincts kicked in and she moved in to take over Justin’s care. She told Bill, Jason, and Daniel, “He really needs a mom right now, I think.” She ushered Justin inside into the kitchen, had Bill go get some takeout sandwiches for lunch, and told Jason and Daniel go to Jason’s room to find better fitting clothes for Justin, get him a pair of socks and a new pair of sneakers from the inventory Jason had for his foundation giveaway program.
When they were alone in the kitchen, Edith gave Justin a long extended hug, and told him how happy she was that he was safe, and that he could come and spend some time with her family. She wanted him to feel some real love after all of the horrible things that had happened to him. Edith then had Justin sit down at the table, and she heated up some milk for him to drink. The warm milk had a real calming effect on Justin, and Edith could sense that he wasn’t so stressed out. She then helped him clean up, wiping his face with a warm washcloth, drying his face and having him blow his nose now that the crying and tears were over.
When The Chips Are Down Page 5