See Tom Run

by Scott Wittenburg

  Once his eyes adjusted, he could make out two queen-sized beds and what looked like a body lying on the furthest one. He made his way across the room, went in between the two beds, located the lamp on the nightstand, found a switch and clicked it on.

  There lying face down on the bed was Erin Myers, her hands tied behind her back with thick rope. Her head was turned so that she was facing him, her mouth bound by duct tape, her eyes swollen red.

  “Erin!” Tom cried.

  He leaned down and removed the duct tape from her mouth as delicately as he could.

  “Jesus, am I ever glad to see you!” Erin cried when the tape was off. “How did you ever find me here?”

  “I was confronted by your captors at Macy’s. They brought me here to join their little party but I haven’t been feeling particularly welcome, to say the least. Here, let’s get you onto your feet.”

  Tom rolled Erin onto her side and pulled her over toward the edge of the bed. The moment she was on her feet, he encircled her thin waist and hugged her tightly. Tears of relief and joy came to his eyes as he embraced the girl.

  “I’m so happy to see you! I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again after you left my place.”

  Erin laid her head on his shoulder and heaved emotionally. “God, Tom, I can’t believe you found me! I’ve been so scared!”

  Tom pulled away and faced her. Erin planted a big kiss on his cheek and stared directly into his eyes.

  “You’ve been my savior twice now. Thank you so much,” she said softly.

  “It’s the least I could do,” Tom replied, wishing he could have done more.

  He went over and rummaged through the nightstand drawers in hope of finding something to cut the rope binding Erin’s hands. All he found was a small notepad, a TV remote and a Gideon’s Bible.

  Then he remembered the serrated bread knife he’d stuffed into his back pocket. He pulled it out, stood behind Erin and began working on the rope.

  “Kyle’s dead, Tom. You wouldn’t believe what they did to him-it was horrifying!”

  Tom tried to imagine what it had been like for this young girl to be forced to stand by and watch while these misfits mutilated her ex-boyfriend. No matter what her feelings may have been for Kyle, it had to have been absolutely terrifying.

  “I saw him, Erin, down in that room. I’m really sorry. No one deserves to be subjected to that kind of inhumane torture and violence,” was all he could say.

  “Those boys are animals! I couldn’t believe how they strung up Kyle like that and did all of those awful things to him. And then they made me-oh shit, Tom! It was so sick and insane!”

  Tom wondered what the demented bastards had forced Erin to do but he didn’t ask, not sure he really wanted to know. He continued sawing back and forth on the rope with the knife, becoming more and more nervous and frustrated at how long it was taking. He knew they needed to move, quickly, before the two boys found them.

  Tom said, “They are certainly a screwed-up crew, that’s for sure. And we are going to be their next victims if we don’t start moving soon. Jesus, this knife is about as useless as tits on a boar hog-pardon the expression!”

  Erin managed a weak smile. “Now that’s one I’ve never heard before.”

  “Showing my roots and old age, I reckon. Listen, we need to go somewhere to find something better to cut this rope off with. They could bust in here any second.”

  “Where should we go?”

  “Hell if I know-just out of this room would be a start. Let’s work our way down to the lobby. I’m not sure, but two of them may still be out on the street looking for me now. There’s really no way of knowing for sure. If we make it to the lobby and see that the coast is clear, we’ll book out of here before they get back.”

  “You said two of them. Where’s the third one?”

  Tom paused a moment then said, “I think I killed him. He’s up on the fifth floor.”

  “Good-it serves him right! Which one was it?” Erin said, clearly feeling no remorse.

  “The short stinky one-Bummer.”

  Erin grinned triumphantly. “That’s the one that beat Kyle to a pulp- I hope he burns in hell!”

  “I’m thinking that they will all end up there eventually. Let’s get going now.”

  Tom held Erin by the arm and led her out of the room to the corridor. They stood there for a moment, looking both ways and listening quietly.

  “Let’s take the stairs down,” Tom whispered.

  He led the way down the hallway and held the door open for Erin. They descended briskly until they reached the third floor. Tom slipped through the door first, took a peek in either direction then motioned for Erin to join him.

  “This way.”

  Erin followed him down the corridor until they reached what appeared to be a huge deserted banquet room. They proceeded further through the corridors until they reached The Grand Ballroom. Erin let out a gasp.

  “Look how big it is!”

  “Yeah, and unless my eyes are deceiving me, I see food!” Tom exclaimed when he spotted a crate of apples, several boxes of Carr’s stoned wheat crackers and a wheel of cheese stored on one of the serving tables.

  “God, I am so hungry! Let’s eat!”

  “We have to be careful, though-this could be a trap,” Tom cautioned. “Stay here until I case it out first. I also want to get something to cut that rope off. If the coast is clear, we’ll snag some food then go somewhere to hide out while we eat.”

  “Okay.”

  Tom walked cautiously across the ballroom toward the table that was located along the wall near the east entrance. As he drew closer, he saw a double-handled cheese knife lying beside a ten-inch wheel of smoked cheddar. When the aroma of cheese greeted him, his pace quickened appreciably. He reached the table, looked either way, snatched a firm ripened gala with one hand and the knife with the other.

  There wasn’t a soul around, thank god.

  He returned to where Erin was standing at a brisk pace.

  “Try this,” he said, offering her the apple.

  “Thanks!” Erin said. She took an enormous bite of the fruit and gobbled it down ravenously.

  Tom began sawing at the rope binding her hands with the cheese knife. In twenty seconds, the rope was off.

  Erin rubbed the welts where the rope had rubbed her raw. “What a relief that is!”

  “Now, let’s go get some more of that food.”

  They ran over to the table and Erin sliced off several wedges of cheddar while Tom picked out a half dozen apples. Grabbing an unopened box of wheat thins, Tom said, “Let’s go back toward that meeting room. We’ll find a place to hide out and chow down.”

  Erin nodded and followed Tom out of the ballroom. They discovered a cluttered storage room and meandered their way through the stacks of tables, chairs and serving carts to the rear of the room and sat down. Nearby was a second door that opened up to a small closet that could be used for a quick hideaway if need be. Erin winked at Tom as she pointed her finger at a six pack of bottled Evian water stored on the shelf.

  “That should complete our meal quite nicely,” she said before reaching up for the water.

  Tom sat across from Erin on the floor with their bounty lying between them. Like a couple of hungry wolves, they proceeded to stuff their mouths as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks.

  “That sure hit the spot!” Tom finally said, chasing his last bite of cheese down with a slug of water.

  “For sure,” Erin replied. “Now I’m so full I can hardly move!”

  “I hear you. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for a siesta. We need to see if we can get out of this place before our luck starts running out.”

  “Do you think either of them is in the hotel right now? I mean, we’re just above the lobby and haven’t heard or seen anything at all.”

  “I’m beginning to think they’re still outside looking for me. When I escaped, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see which way I went. They probably assumed that
I’d bale out of this place rather than stick around.”

  “So why did you stick around?”

  “I wasn’t going to leave without you,” Tom replied simply.

  Erin reached over and gave him a huge bear hug. “I still can’t believe you drove all the way here to look for me. I wrote that little note out of sheer desperation, not really sure if you’d even see it and definitely not thinking you would actually act on it!”

  Tom held her tightly. “I’ll admit I was a little confused at first. I mean-I was faced with the dilemma of either continuing to look for my family or go chasing after you. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was useless to search Columbus for Peg and the kids any longer.”

  “I feel really guilty, you know.”

  “Don’t, Erin. I will find my family eventually if they are anywhere to be found. But we need to get moving now-we can talk later. All I want to do is get the hell out of this hotel, out of New York and back to Columbus!”

  “Me, too!” Erin said.

  They both stood up and Erin hastily gathered up the plates. Tom was reminded of her experience as a waitress and smiled to himself.

  “Let’s go check the lobby and if the coast is clear, get out of this godforsaken place,” Tom said.

  CHAPTER 12

  Tom’s heart was pounding hard as he and Erin slipped through the stairway door and into the lobby. He brought his finger to his lips and motioned for Erin to wait while he went ahead to scout the area. Then he tiptoed along the wall toward the lobby’s main corridor.

  When he reached the end of the corridor, he peeked around the corner past the registration desks toward the Park Avenue entrance. He spotted the table where he’d snatched up the keys and saw the plates of food and beer bottles, still in the same positions they’d been before. Encouraged by this, he walked quietly along the registration area toward the entrance several yards further, stopped, looked around and listened.

  Not a sign of anybody.

  He walked back until he saw Erin then motioned for her to come over to him. She moved toward Tom stealthily until she drew up beside him.

  “Looks good,” Tom whispered. “If we can get as far as the entrance, we should be home free.”

  “Great, let’s do it!” Erin whispered excitedly.

  “Stay right behind me and don’t make a sound. They could still be around the corner for all we know. We’re just going to have to creep along until we can case the scene better.”

  Tom started moving with Erin close behind. He stayed glued to the wall, keeping his eyes trained on the entrance and to his right, just in case he spotted someone around the corner. In another few steps he could see the doors to the death chamber where Kyle no doubt was still hanging from the ceiling. The thought made Tom feel nauseous and he inadvertently turned and glanced at Erin. Her face was white as a sheet as she stared in the same direction. God only knew what she had been forced to endure in there, Tom thought.

  He squeezed her hand in encouragement. They were about twenty yards from the foyer leading to the Park Avenue entrance. It was obvious now that no one was in the immediate area.

  They were almost home free.

  Tom took Erin by the hand and quickened the pace when they reached the foyer. He could now see the doors clearly and the waning darkness outside.

  “Let’s run for it!” he whispered to Erin.

  “Okay!”

  The two sprinted toward the doors. Tom flung open one of them and ran out onto the street, Erin right on his heels. He immediately noticed that the hearse was gone, prompting Tom to think that they just might make it after all. They headed south on Park Avenue.

  “We’ll head back to my Jeep and see if we can get it started-maybe the battery has recharged itself after some rest. If we see any kind of vehicle on the way, we’ll check it for keys just in case,” Tom told Erin between breaths.

  “Sounds good-where is it parked?”

  “On Thirty-Fourth Street.”

  They ran all the way to Forty-Sixth Street then stopped long enough to peek inside a parked taxicab: unlocked but no keys. They continued their run and paced themselves, slowing down to a moderate gait to conserve energy. Tom was already winded and marveled at Erin, who was barely breathing hard. Of course she was still a kid and had youth on her side. He was not, did not and felt like an old man.

  They ran a few more blocks, checked another cab for keys and discovered that it was unlocked but had been vandalized. The windows were all busted out, the seat covers sliced and indecipherable graffiti was scrawled all over the hood and side panels. Apparently Chappy and the boys had been particularly bored one night.

  By the time they approached Forty-Second Street and spotted Grand Central Station, Tom knew he was going to have to rest before his lungs totally collapsed.

  “Gotta stop and catch my breath,” he told Erin breathlessly. “Used to smoke and it’s catching up with me.”

  “Me, too,” Erin replied, probably just to make him feel better.

  “Let’s duck in there for minute,” Tom said, pointing toward an electronics store with a busted out door window on the north side of Forty-Second Street.

  The two headed toward the store and stepped inside. Tom stood for a moment to catch his breath then started searching the trashed display cases for anything they might be of value in them. He found a decent flashlight/radio combination then looked around for batteries that would fit the thing. When he found a pack of double A’s, he popped them in, turned on the flashlight and the radio.

  Nothing but static on the radio. He twirled the tuning knob and continued getting static across the band.

  “Oh well, at least we have a decent flashlight now. Speaking of light, it’s getting lighter every minute. We’d better get going before day breaks.”

  “What are we going to do if the Jeep won’t start?” Erin asked.

  “Hell if I know. I guess we’ll have to take a battery out of one the cabs parked nearby. That could be a real problem, though. I don’t know if we can afford that kind of time.”

  “I can’t believe we haven’t seen them yet! I wonder where they are.”

  Tom led the way out of the store. “I have no idea. All I know is that the odds are running against us every second we stay in this place. Manhattan may be huge, but they know we can only get so far without any wheels.”

  Tom looked both ways on Forty-Second Street and recalled how lively and bustling the popular venue had always been when he’d lived here. Now it looked like the set of a Hollywood ghost town.

  The two broke into a run down Park Avenue.

  The eastern sky was now becoming a dark blue over the tops of the buildings on Park. It was light enough now for Tom to recognize some of the places now-the posh apartment buildings with their awning adorned entrances, the delis and pizza shops, a Duane Reade drugstore.

  When they approached Thirty-Eighth Street, Erin let out a gasp.

  “Kyle’s car!”

  Up ahead, Tom saw a beat up Toyota Tercel parked near the corner of the street. When they reached the car, Erin opened the door and began rummaging through the back seat. She found her coat, got out and put it on.

  “I love this coat!” she said. “It was expensive, too.”

  “Any chance this thing still runs?” Tom asked.

  “No way. It totally broke down. Kyle said something about dropping the transmission. That’s how we got caught in the first place.”

  “Oh. Hell, it’s damn near daylight out-we have got to get moving!”

  “I’m with you!” Erin cried.

  They sprinted the remaining four blocks to Thirty-fourth Street fueled by sheer anxiety and adrenalin-they knew they would be sitting ducks if the boys found them now. They rounded Thirty-fourth and made it as far as the Empire State building before Tom finally admitted to himself he simply had to stop to rest-even though they had only one more block to go.

  He pushed one of the doors open and the two ducked into the lobby of the historic
skyscraper. As he stood there catching his breath, Tom looked around and recalled the many times he’d been in this lobby, for he had made frequent trips up to the observatory to view this wonderful city whenever he needed encouragement or reassurance. It had always worked miracles.

  The memory made Tom recall how many questions he had for Erin once they got out the city and back on the road. He especially wanted to know about her connection with New York and what part Kyle had played in her life.

  “Let’s do it,” he panted, making a silent vow to start working out again if and when things got back to normal.

  They exited the lobby and broke into a full run west on Thirty-fourth. In another forty seconds, Tom saw his Jeep parked ahead in the growing light, looking like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara.

  “God, I hope the damn thing starts!” he exclaimed, casting a final look behind for any sign of the hearse, elated that they had made it this far. Now, if only their luck would hold out and the engine would turn over The loud blare of a car horn suddenly broke the silence. Tom whipped around and to his horror, saw the hearse flying directly toward them “Jesus, there they are!” he cried.

  “Screw it-we’re dead!” Erin exclaimed.

  “Not yet, kiddo. Step on it and see if we can make it to the Jeep!”

  Tom glanced back quickly again and saw that the hearse was only a couple of blocks away. It was going to be awfully close-and a fricking miracle if the Jeep started.

  They stumbled up to the Laredo, flung open the doors and hopped inside in unison. Tom reached for the keys in the ignition only to discover that they were gone. Chappy and the boys had taken them. The hearse was now less than a block away-it almost seemed to be moving in slow motion now-which meant that this nightmare was almost over and he would suddenly wake up the moment he died.

  They were screwed…

  Then Tom remembered his spare key-the one he had ditched in the console after misplacing his keys one too many times.

  “Frick an a!” Tom shouted. He reached over between the seats, snatched the key out of the compartment and fumbled around trying to guide it into the ignition. Tom looked in horror at the hearse heading straight for them at full speed They were going to ram them head-on!