“Then a call came in from Santos’ office to bring me over there. I was handcuffed and brought over to Santos. At first it seemed like he was going to let me go, when he realized I didn’t know anything about the DCC chip case you guys were investigating. Then a call came in and he went away for a few minutes. When he came back, his whole attitude had changed. He said, ‘You are coming with me!’ He grabbed me by the shoulder and brought me into that storeroom. He sat me down in a chair, got out his gun, and said, ‘You are now my hostage! Once false move out of you or if you refuse to do anything I ask, I will shoot you! Understand?’
“After I said ‘yes’ he went over to a shelf and got a couple of rags that he tied in my mouth to gag me. ‘Do not make a sound or it will be your last! Got it?’ Again I nodded ‘yes’ for fear of my life! Next he brought in a couple of suitcases and stacked up the crates and cans by the door as a primitive alarm. He then began packing the suitcases for his escape. Ten minutes later Captain Garcia and Sergeant Malone came in the room, but because of the alarm and me as a hostage he got the drop on them, and soon had them disarmed and tied up. As we were starting to leave the storeroom and go into the garage the same thing happened to the other detective. He never had a chance against Santos, who slugged him unconscious.
“Then Santos ordered me to carry the small attaché case into the garage area while he followed with the other two suitcases he was bringing. I was so surprised when you knocked him out, Jason, and it was real music to my ears to hear Daniel’s voice. How were you able to get the drop on him?”
“It’s because we went through the same thing you did earlier, Eric,” Daniel answered. “Santos used his security guards to capture first Jason and later me. Eventually he had both of us tied up and gagged in that same storeroom. We were going to be his hostages! But he hadn’t figured on how smart Jason was. Jason thought that something like his might happen so he came prepared, with a nifty super sharp metal disk hidden behind his Levi patch on his jeans that he used to cut the ropes once we were left alone. After he released me, we discovered the door to the garage, and that’s how we made our escape. When we told Captain Garcia all of the things that happened, he said he still didn’t have enough to go inside, because complete evidence was lacking. Even the fact that we were held against our will didn’t work because we escaped so quickly.”
“But you saved the day, Eric,” Jason continued. “Because you were missing inside there and we had been held as potential hostages, it was clear that Santos and the others would probably try the same thing with you. So that gave the police the major crime they needed to go inside. When they couldn’t find you, we were sure that you were being held in the same place that we had been held, and we figured that Santos would want to make his escape the same way. When Detective Nguyen went in, and then didn’t return, we knew that Santos was in there, but had the drop on everyone probably because he had you as a hostage! We had to do something right away before Santos could escape. I quickly found that tire iron and the stool, and hid by the doorway to try and nail him. Daniel found a fire extinguisher that he was going to spray in Santos’ face if I somehow missed or he discovered me first. We figured that he would not suspect us being there, so his guard was down when he came through the door and I was able to take him out. Boy did that feel good after what he did to us!”
“You guys are amazing!” Eric said. “Your Hunter & Holmes detective team has had the most incredible week! Maybe you should be doing this full time, you are so good at it!”
“Yes, I guess we have been very fortunate. And we have ended up helping some really deserving people, like you Eric!” Daniel replied. “But I am more than happy to put down our magnifying glass and get back to playing music and being a student! I’m really sorry we couldn’t have our practice today, Eric!”
“That will just have to be put on hold for today,” Jason said. “We need to stop by Mr. Liu’s office and explain to him what we have found out, and that the chip case is solved. Then we need to go out tonight and have a celebration because everything has worked out okay!”
The three boys went to Mr. Liu’s office and Jason gave him a full report on the case. “You boys have done me and the DCC Chip Company an incredible service. Thank you very much. I am in your debt!” Mr. Liu said nodding his head in a bow.
“It was an honor for us to be of service to you and Richard,” Jason replied, shaking his hand and bowing in return. “Now that you know the truth, the company can reorganize and come up with another chip line. I am sorry that so many of your employees had to suffer because of what Mr. Ling and Mr. Santos were doing to cover things up!”
“And I apologize for what Mr. Santos and Mr. Ling did to you boys. Attacking you, holding you against your will, tying you up and making you hostages — that is totally unacceptable! If I have anything to say about it, the DCC home office will make restitution not only to you but to all of the other employees and people who were harmed!”
As the three boys were walking toward the DCC exit, Jason said, “Let’s all meet for pizza at the House of Pepperoni tonight at 6:30. Let’s call our parents and set it all up. That way we can tell them the story all at once. Hopefully they won’t be too upset about another crazy Hunter & Holmes adventure!”
“Then after dinner, I want you to go with us over to the hospital and meet Tim and Cody,” Daniel said to Eric. “I think that you will really like meeting them. I know you have some things in common!”
As the boys reached the main reception desk, they saw Captain Garcia with a couple of the other team officers. “Is everything under control now, Captain?” Jason asked. “We’d like to go home!”
“Yes, our suspects have been taken in and will be booked on multiple charges shortly. Later in the week I’ll have Justin look at our friend Santos in a lineup. That will give us one more charge against him. Jason, are you going to be in school tomorrow?”
“Yes, Captain Garcia, I was planning to,” Jason answered. “Why do you ask?”
“Thank goodness for that! I don’t think I have the energy to handle another full day of Hunter & Holmes cases!”
“Oh come on, Captain,” Jason answered. “You know that your life would be boring without us popping up every now and then!”
“I think I could use some boring days after the past few,” Garcia said. It was hard to tell whether he was being serious or not.
“Don’t worry, Captain. Daniel and I are going to focus on school now,” Jason told him reassuringly. “Our current cases are solved and we want to become normal teenagers again for a while.”
“Yeah, Eric and I are working on forming a band, Captain,” Daniel added. “I am more than happy to leave the detective work in your hands for now.”
“Plus I want to spend some time getting Timothy and Cody all healed and ready to return to normal lives again.” Jason continued. “That should take some time and effort!”
“If there is any more paperwork or interviews to be taken care of, I will give you a call,” Garcia said wrapping things up. “I might need you to write up a report of your encounters with Urbano Santos or the others. We will see how cooperative they become when they realize the seriousness of the charges against them!”
“Throw the book at them, especially Urbano Santos. You saw how mean he was!” Jason said.
“Oh, I have a special place in my heart for Mr. Santos,” Garcia said with a big smile. “You can be sure we will give him our full hospitality suite downtown!”
“That’s the spirit, Captain!” Daniel added. “Be sure to give him everything he deserves. And also to Chang Chao Ling for what he did to us and to his own employees!”
“It will be my pleasure,” Garcia replied. He came over and shook hands with the boys. “Eric, Daniel, Jason take care! If you ever need anything, give me a call!”
Chapter 29
The Reconciliation
(Monday Afternoon)
Monday afternoon Tim had two visitors. The first to see him was his siste
r Grace who came over after school. Like every else, she was shocked at Tim’s appearance. She gave him a gentle hug and sat with him, holding his hand. “I am so sorry about what happened to you, Tim. The things that were done to you are just appalling! And of course Mother is absolutely mortified about what happened.”
“Well she should be!” Tim replied. “I know I was a handful but just up and sending me to that boot camp was a real over-reaction!”
“She really wants to come and visit you, but she doesn’t want to upset you or have a scene in public. I know she wants a chance to at least apologize.”
“I don’t think I am ready for that yet, Grace. My life is still up in the air. I don’t have any idea about what to do next. I do know that I don’t want to go back and live with Mom and Frederick! Right now I just want to deal with getting well.”
“That’s understandable,” Grace told him looking in his eyes. “Tim, I want you to know how much I have missed you, and missed having you around.”
“Grace, you are the one stable person in our whole family!” Tim replied. “You are the rock that keeps whatever we still have left as a family together! I know I was a royal pain in the ass at times, but it was so difficult for me to handle the divorce. I really felt abandoned by both Mom and Dad and took it out on whoever was around. I guess I was really stupid about things. You handled everything so smoothly and easily. I don’t know how you were able to do it, Grace, but you did!”
“I guess in my situation,” Grace explained, “I decided not to take their divorce as a personal rejection. I was upset when Dad dropped out of our lives, but Mom always was there for me. And she always made a point of telling me that she would continue to support me through college.”
“Enough about our family problems!” Tim exclaimed. “Give me an update about school and your friends or other people we both know. I’ve been so isolated the past few months!” Tim and Grace sat talking and having a good time getting caught up on their friends and activities.
About forty-five minutes later, a man appeared at the doorway to Tim and Cody’s hospital room. He was well tanned, about six feet tall, and was wearing a blue denim shirt, jeans, and a scuffed pair of brown work boots. It was Jeff Wilkinson, Tim and Grace’s real father.
Both Tim and Grace looked up at him. “Dad, is that you?” Tim asked.
“Yes, Son,” Jeff replied. “I had to come see you and try to reconnect when I heard what had happened to you. I feel so guilty for abandoning you and Grace. It’s a long story about a lot of things that went wrong. I know I’ve missed you both terribly, and mostly it’s my fault for letting that happen. Can the two of you ever forgive me?”
“What exactly happened then?” Grace said. “Why did you just walk out of our lives?”
“Just like you, I was devastated by the divorce. That was the worst period of time in my life. When the divorce became finalized, I didn’t know how to handle it. Your mother got everything, the house, custody of you, and alimony. It was like my whole family life was taken from me! A lot of it was due to my own personal irresponsibility. I was running around with other women, drinking heavily, and blaming everyone else for my own problems. My construction business went to hell, your mother got remarried to Frederick — I basically lost everything! Instead of dealing with my problems, my solution at the time was to just walk away and ignore reality!
“I was on the verge of becoming another homeless vagrant, when an old high school buddy ran into me. He ended up taking me to his apartment where he had a spare bedroom and basically saved my life. He literally shook me, looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Is this how you want your life to end, as an alcoholic vagrant bum, with no family and no job?’ He told me that I needed to completely stop drinking, sober up, and then take a look at my life. The next day he took me to an Alcoholic’s Anonymous meeting and I started taking the steps to rid my life of that addiction. I haven’t had a drop to drink since! Then I looked at myself. I had pretty much lost all of my assets, but I still had my old pickup truck and the talent to build things. I started getting spot work from other contractors. With those subcontractor jobs, I was able to start earning a good income again. It took me about a year, but I was able to save enough to start up my own business again and do contracting work like I used to. I paid my friend back rent for staying in his apartment. Now I have my own house again. It’s a fixer-upper, but that’s what I do!”
“That’s great that you have gotten through your personal problems, Dad, but why didn’t you try to get back in touch with us?” Grace asked pointedly.
“I tried to a few months ago, but your mother wouldn’t let me talk to you or even set up a meeting. She said that Tim was away at a camp and that I would have to get a court order to get visitation rights back. She said that since I had opted out of your lives, I should stay out of them. She certainly wasn’t going to do anything to change the current situation!”
“Well, it looks like I need to have a talk with Mother about this. We just thought you had abandoned us for good! I think I will leave now and do just that!”
Jeff put his hands out in front of him. “Grace, it’s so good to see you again. You are a sight for sore eyes! Can you ever forgive me? I know it will take a long time for you to trust me again, but I want you to know that I am serious, sober, and will never abandon you again.” Grace came over to his father, and they hugged. Jeff then reached into his pocket and took out a business card. “This has my new address and cell phone on it. Please stay in touch! It would mean everything to me if we could start being a family again!”
Grace left the room, and there were tears in Jeff’s eyes as he sat down beside Tim’s bed. He took Tim’s hand and held on to it. “Son, I don’t know where to begin with you. You have been the most wronged person of anyone in the family. And I know I am partly responsible for what happened to you! After the divorce you needed a father more than ever, and instead I walked away. I have to shoulder a lot of the blame for letting you become so neglected, unloved, and out of control. Just like I do, Son, you have that Wilkinson trigger temper. When everything is okay it can be under control. But when it’s not…, well let’s just say that it isn’t a good thing! Please tell me everything that you can about what you have been through, and what you plan to do with your life now.”
Tim and Jeff talked together for a long time. Tim described the bitterness and anger he felt after the divorce, how it began to affect his schoolwork and his attitude toward things, and finally led to his estrangement from his mother to the point where she sent him to boot camp. Then he told his father what it was like being taken to Camp Chinquapin, how he was constantly being disciplined, and then sent to the horrors of the anger management prison.
“Son, I know you went through all kinds of hell that no kid should ever have to endure. But I am so proud of you for sticking to your guns, and protesting your treatment. That took an incredible amount of guts, Tim. I hope you understand how exceptional that was!”
“I discovered in the process that even though I was being a jerk to just about everyone I knew, I still had one true friend, Teresa Barnwell. Without her belief in me, and intervention on my behalf with Jason and Daniel, the two kids who rescued me, I would still be rotting away in that prison today! Or worse yet be dead!”
“Who is this Teresa?” Jeff asked.
“She’s a girl who lives in a foster home. Like me she was on the outs from everyone. She was abandoned by her father and her mother turned over custody of her to the state! Somehow we understood each other, and could communicate at a high level. The camp forced us to send out letters every week that looked like we were adjusting well and having a good time. Of course that was totally bogus. She was the only one who could see through the code of what I was sending. I owe her my life! I don’t think that Mom had a clue or even cared what was happening to me. She even thought that Teresa was a bad influence on me and completely cut her off when she tried to ask about me.”
“Well I would certainly li
ke to meet her, and Jason and Daniel, the boys who rescued you. They all sound like really cool people, and great friends for you.”
“Ever since the divorce I have had very little if any hope in my life. Now all of a sudden, thanks to Jason especially, I do.” Tim told his father about how Jason wanted to support his full recovery through his Whatever Foundation.
“He is paying for my medical care, giving me counseling services to help me deal with what I have been through, and is planning to assist me in getting involved in music again by providing me with equipment and lessons. Daniel and another good friend Eric are both talented musicians. I would really like to play in a band with them sometime. But right now I don’t even know where I am going to live! I know that I don’t want to stay with Mom and Frederick anymore! It will take me a long time to forgive them for sending me to that camp!”
“Tim, that’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I would like you to come and live with me. I have just acquired this property with a house on it. There is plenty of room in the house, but it needs to be completely fixed up and remodeled. I am committed to do that right away, and I have the money to get started. I would be willing to build you a whole area in the house where you could practice and record music. We could build a soundproof studio and practice area and you could have your own bedroom and bathroom nearby. I think you would be very happy in this new set up! Son, I really want you back in my life. Would you consider my offer?”
“Consider it?” Tim said excitedly. “Your offer sounds great, Dad! My own soundproofed studio and practice area so I could play drums whenever I wanted! That sounds like every young musician’s dream.”
“Yeah, we would design it so a whole band could fit in there. The house is bi-level. I think it would be easy to make the entire bottom level into music studios and your living quarters. There is probably even room for a small kitchenette.”
When The Chips Are Down Page 25