Boardwalk Cottage

by Barbara Cool Lee

  "Kyle," she whispered. "Do you think they shot Windy?" He could feel her shoulder trembling under his hand.

  "Nah," he lied, thinking furiously. The kids may be dead for all they knew. He pushed down a wave of fury that threatened to betray him. He had to get control.

  He clutched Hallie tighter against his body, drawing strength from her warmth. He felt sure now that Julian must be the one who'd made two attempts on Hallie's life. Julian was getting more efficient at killing, it appeared.

  Kyle stroked Hallie's hair. How was he going to get her out of here? He'd made for the dark cover of the haunted house's service doorway when he saw Julian raise the gun to fire, but now they were trapped.

  In front of them in the darkness glowed the lighted rectangle of the open service door. He could hear Charlie still sobbing outside. He crept back to the opening to peer out.

  Tom lay in a crumpled heap on the ground in front of the van, with Charlie bent over him, crying. She pulled out a rag and pressed it against a dark stain on Tom's shoulder. Julian stood over them with an unconcerned look on his face. Charlie's sobs carried in the still night. "Shut up," Julian said to Charlie. He handed her the gun. "You take this one." She took it from him with shaking, bloody fingers. "Don't drop it," he said gruffly. She took a firmer hold on it. "Good, baby," he said.

  She smiled shakily at him, like a whipped puppy. Kyle felt sick, wondering what kind of man brought a woman to that point. Julian pulled another gun out of the waistband of his jeans, an old Colt. He held it in his hand, caressing it nervously with his fingers. "Get yourself together. We've got a lot of work to do." He patted Charlie on the head, and she turned away.

  Kyle glared at Julian. He wanted to kill him just for the look on Charlie's face alone. Who was he? And why was he trying to destroy the Madrigals? Most importantly, how could they keep him from succeeding?

  Kyle felt Hallie press up against his back. She peeked around him and saw Tom's body lying on the ground. "Is he breathing?" she asked softly.

  He saw Tom's hand move convulsively to clutch at the ground. "Yup," he whispered. But for how long? He turned, and wrapped his arms around Hallie. "We've got to try to get out past them and go for help," he whispered in her ear.

  "Let's go for it," she whispered back. Tough lady. Now if he could just keep her alive long enough for her to realize it.

  "Let's try—" he began. She gripped his arm in warning.

  "We can't just leave him there," Charlie said to Julian. Her voice sounded louder. Julian had grabbed her by the arm and was pulling her toward the door where he and Hallie now stood.

  "Shut up and move," Julian growled.

  Hallie pulled on Kyle's arm, and he followed her back into the deeper blackness of the haunted house, leaving the light of the doorway, and escape, behind. Charlie and Julian were heading their way.

  Hallie reached her hands out in front of her in the pitch black, her only goal to get away from the light of the doorway. She stumbled over something in the dark and fell on her knees on top of a hard-edged piece of metal. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. She felt Kyle's arms pull her back up. "The track," she whispered. They felt their way along it until they turned a corner and the light of the service doorway was out of sight behind them.

  Charlie's pleading voice and Julian's gruff responses still seemed to be getting closer. Two beams of light had switched on when Julian and Charlie entered the building, and Hallie and Kyle stumbled along the track, trying to get further away from the dangerous, revealing lights. The flashlight beams bounced off the walls and ceiling behind them, occasionally reflecting some light in Hallie and Kyle's path, but it was still hard to find their way. Hurry up, she said silently to her eyes as she strained them wide open, trying to see anything in front of her. Dilate, you stupid pupils!

  They struggled on, passing by the eerie forms of mannequins on either side of the track. They didn't dare leave the path of the track. There was too much risk of running into one of the displays and bringing it down with a crash. So they struggled on, pausing before each display to carefully work their way around the electric eye, and then rushing ahead, only to pause again, a jolting stop-start that left them both breathless.

  Behind them somewhere, a bobbing flashlight beam bounced off an angle in the wall, reflecting on a large silvery object directly in front of them on the track, bringing them up short. It was the flying saucer, tipped on its side. She and Kyle dodged around it and continued on around the next corner.

  Behind them, the lights stopping coming their way, and the voices stopped getting louder. She and Kyle stopped in the middle of the track. They held each other close, hearts pounding. Hallie could feel sweat pouring off her body in spite of the cool, damp air around them. She burrowed her face under Kyle's jacket and pressed her ear to his chest. His heart was racing.

  Kyle took her hands in his and led her further down the track. Some light from Charlie and Julian's flashlights continued to glow behind them, and spilled over the top of the partitions. Finally, when they rounded the last corner, Hallie was able to make out the shape of King Kong in front of them. "We're all the way to the entrance," she whispered.

  Kyle nodded. He gestured for her to stay behind him, and slowly crept up to the arched doorway leading outside. She peeked out after he'd gone through, then followed.

  "Just what I was afraid of," he said softly. He put his hands up to the steel gate that barred the entrance to the ride. Hallie stood there beside him.

  "I don't suppose you have a key?" she asked.

  "Sure." He chuckled and rested his head against the bars. "It's hung up next to the kitchen door. Wanna call up Halloween and tell her to bring it down here?" He put his arm around her.

  "Chris has the phone," she whispered.

  He lifted his head from the bars. "And mine's in the barn."

  "But I told Chris to call Joe Serrano if I wasn't back in an hour."

  Kyle held his wrist up against the bars. She saw the shimmer of gold as his watch caught the reflection of the building's exterior lights. "It's only ten after twelve. What time did you leave?"

  "I don't know."

  Worst of all, Hallie could see a pay phone across the promenade, maybe thirty feet away from them in the fog. It might as well be a mile.

  She turned away, and saw the control panel for the ride. "Hey," she whispered, pointing it out to him. "Maybe we should turn on all the lights."

  Kyle shook his head. "Then they'd know somebody's in here."

  "And it would make it easier for Julian to aim straight with all the lights on," Hallie said. "No need to give him any more advantages."

  "The gun's enough," Kyle agreed. "This isn't an old Humphrey Bogart movie. Those are real bullets. And he's obviously not afraid to really kill people."

  She nodded.

  He turned around and leaned back against the bars. "I think we can bet we haven't been here an hour. We've got to hold on for a little longer before the cavalry rides in."

  Hallie touched his arm. "Tom might be dead by then," she whispered.

  He nodded. "But we've got to stay alive or we won't do Tom any good either." He shook his head. "It's a no-win situation."

  "And what about Windy and Zac?" she whispered.

  Kyle straightened up. "Well, I'm not gonna just sit here while Tom's bleeding his life away out there."

  They went back through the arched doorway into the blackness of the haunted house. They stood for a couple of minutes in the murkiness until their eyes adjusted to the dark, then started back along the track.

  They passed King Kong and the headless horseman, then they stopped. Around the next corner was the flying saucer. That was where Charlie and Julian had stopped before. Kyle motioned for her to stay behind him. They crept up to the corner. Charlie and Julian's voices could still be heard, but they seemed to be coming from farther away. Kyle leaned around the corner, then gestured for her to follow him.

  Around the corner Hallie saw the silver glitter
of the flying saucer, tipped onto its side and blocking the track. Now that her vision was better, she could make out the outlines of a large open trap door where the saucer had stood, with light streaming out from the hole in the floor. She touched Kyle's sleeve and he turned around. She pointed down. "Are they in the cellar?" she mouthed.

  He shrugged his shoulders and pointed down the track to the trap door. They stepped carefully around a bald alien who'd been knocked over in their way, then crept toward the service door to the outside. It still stood open to the night air, and they could see the glow of the van's headlights outside.

  "He's heavy," Charlie said from just outside the door. Both Kyle and Hallie froze.

  "Just shut up and help me get him inside in case anybody else comes along asking questions." Julian's voice, as before, made Hallie want to cower into some dark hole and hide. "I went to a lot of trouble to get the hot dog van. I don't want anything outside that'll look out of place."

  She heard a shuffling sound, and pictured them dragging poor Tom along the ground. She started back along the track away from the noise, but Kyle held back.

  "Come on!" she whispered to him, pulling on his sleeve. "They're coming."

  Kyle shook his head. He looked around him. "I've got to find some kind of weapon," he muttered.

  "No!" she whispered fiercely. "They've both got guns. You can't outrun a bullet, Kyle." She put one hand on his shoulder. The thought of him lying on the pavement, a circle of red spreading across his chest, made her almost physically sick with fear. "I know men like him, Kyle. He'll kill you."

  Kyle stood there, as if rooted to the ground. Hallie could hear Julian and Charlie getting closer. She dragged at Kyle's arm and he reluctantly allowed her to lead him back along the track.

  "This way," he whispered. "Maybe they'll pass us and we can get outside." He pointed to the vampire display. The nightgown-clad lady sat at her vanity, brushing her hair, while the vampire stood poised above her. They ducked into the shadow of the vanity and crouched down on the floor. They huddled together as the voices got closer.

  "There." Julian grunted. Hallie heard more shuffling around, and footsteps on the floor close by. She couldn't see anything from where she sat, and she felt an overwhelming urge to peek out and see what was going on, but she didn't dare. "We're running late. First shift shows up at 5 a.m. Leave him there and get back to work," Julian said. His voice sounded so close she wanted to cry.

  Charlie murmured something and then Hallie heard her footsteps go back outside. Hallie squeezed Kyle's hand. He shook his head at her. "Julian," he mouthed, and pointed directly in front of the vampire display. Hallie held herself still and waited.

  Several minutes passed. Hallie heard a lot of shuffling and then more footsteps. Finally, Kyle tapped her shoulder and took her by the hand. He motioned for her to follow him. He set off on a circular route around the back of the displays, heading back toward the center of the haunted house. She followed him, creeping along as quietly as she could. Now that the first rush of adrenalin had worn off, her muscles felt stiff, and it seemed difficult to move.

  They stopped within sight of the trap door. "They're camped out right in front of the outside door," Kyle whispered. "I don't think we're going to have a chance to get out that way."

  "What're we going to do?" she asked. She looked around them. They were surrounded by displays with frozen mannequins staring at them. There had to be a way out.

  "I'm going down." He pointed to the trap door. "I've gotta see if the kids are down there. I didn't know there was a cellar there. I don't know if there's a hiding place down there. Let me check it out first," he whispered.

  They looked down into the trap door. There was a set of steps leading down, faintly lit by a light somewhere below.

  He started down, but his footsteps sounded loud on the stairs. The sound seemed to echo in the building and they both held their breath. The murmur of Charlie and Julian's voices continued unabated, and they both sighed with relief.

  Hallie watched him disappear into the hole beneath her. She watched the hole for what seemed like a long time, but nothing happened. Her neck felt sore from leaning down and staring into the darkness. She rubbed it, and looked around her.

  There was a mannequin sitting on the floor in front of the school bus. She hadn't noticed that before. She stared at it and one of its legs moved.

  Hallie jumped back, hitting the track rail, which made an absurdly loud rattle. She froze, staring at the mannequin in front of her. She saw a glistening pair of eyes stare back at her. She held her breath, all the while straining her ears to hear Julian and Charlie. They still talked together back by the entrance. She took a step toward the figure on the floor.

  Hallie saw a slender boy, hands and wrists tied with zip ties. A shock of hair fell across his face, and she could see the glint of familiar green eyes. A gag was tied across his mouth, obscuring the lower half of his face. "Chris!" she whispered. "How did you get here?" She was on her knees in front of him. He pulled away from her, as if scared. "We were counting on you to call the sheriff when we didn't get back." Her hands fumbled at the ties. "Turn around." His hands were tied behind his back. She pushed him and he grunted into his gag, almost a stifled cry.

  "I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"

  He nodded, and gestured with his head toward his shoulder.

  "I'll try to be careful," she whispered. She leaned forward so she could reach his wrists. The zip ties were biting into his wrists. She worked on the ties, but they were hopeless. She finally gave up. "I need a knife or something to cut them."

  She bent down to his ankles, and saw those ties seemed to be looser. "We've got to get you out of here," she whispered. She noticed his sneakers were badly worn, with holes in them. She fought with the ties, but they were tight, as if he had been straining against them. He grunted, and she looked up. "The gag!" she whispered. "Sorry." She pulled it off him.

  "My glasses," he whispered. "They're in my pocket." He nodded toward the chest pocket in his shirt.

  She reached into the pocket. Sure enough, there was a pair of glasses there. "I never noticed you wearing glasses before," she whispered back.

  "Please put them on me," he whispered. She did, and then started on the ankle ties again. She stared at his worn sneakers. He never wears his good sneakers to work, they get gross.

  She looked up at his face. It was slightly rounder than Chris's. It was the face she'd stapled to a hundred telephone poles. "Zac!" she whispered.

  He nodded. "You're Hallie, right? Windy's friend."

  She nodded, working furiously on the zip ties.

  "There's a bunch of tools over by the aliens," he whispered. "Julian was messing with them."

  She dashed over there, and saw an opened toolbox. She got a pair of pliers and came back.

  "There," she whispered, cutting the last one. She threw the ties aside. "Can you stand up?" She helped him to his feet. "We've got to get you out of here."

  Zac sagged against the front of the school bus. "Are you hurt?" she whispered.

  He shook his head. Was he okay, or was it just adolescent bravado? She couldn't tell in the dark. She took hold of his hand. "Hey, look, both of us are shaking."

  "How are we going to get out of here?" he whispered.

  "In a body bag," said a voice from behind them.

  Chapter Ten

  Julian had a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He jabbed the gun into Hallie's side and shone the light straight in her eyes. "You again? Haven't you learned to stop snooping around?" The gun hurt, pressed against her ribs, but Hallie stood still. He looked at Zac. "I see you got his legs untied," he snarled. "Good."

  Zac smirked at Julian. "Want me to tap dance, JJ?"

  Julian swung the gun around to point it at Zac. "Watch it, kid."

  Zac shrugged his shoulders. "Hi, Charlie," he said as Charlie came up behind Julian.

  Charlie smiled at him. Her eyes widened when she saw Hallie. "What's she doing here
?"

  "Getting in the way, just like before," Julian said.

  Charlie stepped forward. "We can use her, too, honey," she said softly. "There's a lot of stuff to move." She put a hand on his arm. "You said no one was going to get hurt as long as we got clean away."

  There was a trace of an accusation in her tone, and Julian didn't miss it. He turned to her with raised eyebrows. "Whose fault is it?" He moved closer to her and his voice was menacing. "It's your fault you couldn't get that guy out of here. You killed him, not me."

  Charlie's eyes widened in horror.

  "Killed who?" Zac whispered.

  "Tom," Hallie whispered back. Zac gasped.

  Julian turned toward Hallie again. "I thought I'd taken care of you when I ran you off the road in that stupid little car."

  He smirked when he saw her confused look. "Yeah. You really don't remember anything, do you? Doesn't matter now."

  "Where's Windy?"

  "Come see," he said, pointing with the gun toward the open trap door.

  Had Kyle found Windy? She had to distract Julian to give Kyle time. "Why did you try to choke me, Julian?"

  He smiled. "Charlie said you were getting close to the mark with all your stupid questions about the carousel. I wasn't going to take the chance on your wrecking this deal."

  "What deal?" she asked. She looked at the displays around them. What was he talking about?

  "You mean you still don't know?" Zac said. "Charlie seemed to think you had it figured out."

  "Charlie talks too much," Julian said. "Not that it matters."

  "You're going to let them go, JJ, aren't you?" Charlie said softly. "You promised."

  "Sure, baby, sure." His voice sounded completely different from the snarling accusations of a minute ago, soothing, reassuring. Hallie had heard that soothing voice before, in David Cooper's promises: you be a good girl, baby, and I'll take care of you. They'd all be dead as soon as Julian completed his deal, whatever it was.