Boardwalk Cottage

by Barbara Cool Lee

  "You promise?" Charlie whispered.

  Hallie heard an echo of her own voice in that submissive question. Don't listen to him, she silently pleaded. Men like him use you for their own ends. They tell you you're nothing without them, and then they strip away your dignity and pride until there's nothing left of you.

  "Move," Julian said to Hallie. Hallie jumped back a foot. He brushed past her to the cellar door. A cord dangled down into the hole. She hadn't noticed that before. Julian plugged it in, and suddenly a pool of yellow light shone up out of the hole. Great. With the lights on, Kyle had just lost the element of surprise.

  Julian gestured at Hallie. "Take her downstairs," he said to Charlie. "And you," he said to Hallie, "remember this." He pointed his gun at Zac's head. "Don't mess with me."

  Hallie nodded.

  Charlie gestured with her gun for Hallie to go down the stairs. She did, with Charlie following close behind. At the bottom she looked around her, and gasped. The cellar was as big as the attic had been—thousands of square feet, all filled with junk. But this wasn't junk. In the harsh glare of work lights, the room glittered with gold and glass jewels and a hundred shining glass eyes staring back at her. She gaped at the sight. Boxes had been thrown helter skelter into the corners, and a large open area had been cleared in the middle of the room. Piled in the middle were at least fifty carousel horses.

  Everywhere horses. Dozens and dozens of carved horses, each more lifelike than the last.

  "It's the Illions," Windy said.

  "Windy!" Hallie ran over to where Windy was tied up to a bunch of pipes in the corner. "You're all right?"

  "I'm all right," she said. She looked a bit ragged and tired, but she was alive. Hallie hugged her. "You're alive. But what's going on?"

  "Don't you know?" she asked. "This was the surprise."

  Windy nodded toward Charlie. "She overheard Zac and me talking about what we'd found. Then when Julian bumped the Little Guy off the road, and you got run off the side of the hill, I was sure it was the last time I'd ever see you."

  "I didn't remember any of it," Hallie said.

  "Yeah. They finally told me that you had amnesia. You picked a fine time to lose your memory."

  "But this—" Hallie looked around at all the horses. "This was the big secret you were going to tell me?"

  "Of course. The Illions."

  "My Illions," Julian corrected her. He had joined them again.

  "So what's an Illions?"

  "So you didn't figure it out?" Windy said.

  "No. I don't understand."

  Windy looked at Julian.

  "Go ahead," Julian said. "She might as well know everything." Julian lit a cigarette.

  Windy turned back to Hallie. "Marcus Charles Illions," she recited. "Considered to be one of the greatest carousel carvers ever."

  Hallie nodded. "Yes, I read the newspaper clippings about the antique carousel being destroyed, but—it was destroyed...." She looked around. "Wasn't it?"

  Windy smiled. "That's what we thought."

  "And you just happened to come down here and find it?"

  She laughed and shook her head. "You don't know what this place looked like. The horses were buried behind fifty years of junk. I never would have found them if I hadn't been looking for them."

  She must have looked confused, because Windy explained: "There was this newspaper article, about the fire that happened here—"

  "—when your parents died? I saw it. But it said they died trying to save the carousel..."

  "...and they were overcome by fumes from burning fiberglass and died."

  Hallie's eyes widened.

  "Exactly," Windy said. "What fiberglass? These horses are made of wood. So I did a little more research and found out that my grandparents had updated most of the rides regularly, especially back in the 1940s and '50s. Back in those days an old wooden carousel would have been considered a piece of junk by most people. It would have been considered an upgrade to replace it with a shiny, new, factory-made fiberglass one."

  "But nobody knew about it?"

  She shrugged. "My grandparents must have known—but they died a long time ago. My parents would have known, too—but they were killed in the fire. By the time the carousel collectors' market went into overdrive, and people began looking for the old wooden carousel horses, nobody was left alive who had seen them at this park. Anyone who checked would assume they had been destroyed. You have to realize, until recently, people were chopping up the old wooden horses for firewood. Nobody put it together that the carousel wasn't found twenty years ago, and of course anyone looking since would assume it had burned. With all the business records destroyed in the fire, there just wasn't any way to figure out what had really happened."

  Hallie sighed. "And then you found the diary mentioned the basement storage room."

  "Yeah. Zac was convinced the carousel destroyed in the fire was made of fiberglass. And then we found out about another storage place we'd never heard of. If the carousel was anywhere, that's where it would be."

  Hallie shook her head. "But all this." She turned to Julian, who lounged against yet another King Kong with a bored expression on his face, and the gun aimed right at her stomach. "I mean I get that this is a great find for the Madrigal family. But it's just an old carousel. Why the guns?"

  Julian snickered. "It's not just an old carousel, baby, it's over four million dollars, on the hoof, so to speak." He laughed at his own joke. "Collectors buy 'em and put 'em in their living rooms so they can show the world how rich they are."

  "But how are you going to sell a whole carousel?" she asked.

  He went over to the stairs. "Charlie!" he shouted. "Get that kid tied up again and get down here."

  "A lot of carousels have been lost over the years, and people still come across individual horses in attics and barns and odd places like that. He can sell the horses one at a time and make up any story he wants," Windy said softly. "As long as there's no one around to contradict him."

  He went up the stairs and quickly returned with Charlie trailing behind him.

  "Curiosity satisfied?" Julian asked. He stubbed out his cigarette on the floor. He took out a knife and cut the zip-ties on Windy's legs and hauled her to her feet by her bound wrists. "You're going to help lift all this junk. For now, get over there." He pointed to the corner with his gun. "Keep an eye on them," he said to Charlie. "I don't want anybody sneaking up behind me."

  Kyle. Where was he? Hallie tried to look around without being obvious. Had he found a way out?

  "Have you been here all the time?" she whispered to Windy.

  She nodded. "In a storage room that's over there in the corner at first, then out here. When Zac showed up, we put the whole story together."

  Hallie looked toward the storage room, wondering if Kyle was in there. There was too much stuff in the way to tell.

  JJ motioned again with the gun, and she and Windy were shoved into the corner of the basement. They ended up backed up against a huge, dusty machine.

  "The Wurlitzer!" Hallie said.

  "Huh?" Windy said.

  "It was in the diary, too."

  This band organ was even bigger than the one in the attic. It was covered in painted scenes of Pajaro Bay. She recognized the wharf, and the houses on the hill.

  Windy leaned up against one side of the contraption, looking worn out. Hallie leaned against the other side and watched Charlie and JJ. "Keep an eye on them," he told Charlie again.

  She pointed her gun at them, a scared look on her face.

  Julian started to work, going through all the stuff, tossing aside things he didn't think were valuable, pulling out the horses and gathering them in the center of the room. The horses were big, and he grunted and complained as he worked. He put his gun in the waistband of his jeans so he had both hands free, but Hallie didn't think it would take him long to pull it out and fire.

  Hallie glanced back at Charlie. Would Charlie really shoot them? Hallie tried to
gauge her expression. She tried to recall her own frame of mind back when she'd been trapped under Dave Cooper's evil influence. Charlie believed at least half of the lies JJ was telling her, but seeing Tom shot had shaken her badly. Could they use that?

  Hallie glanced over at Windy. She leaned against the Wurlitzer with her eyes closed. She looked exhausted, and very young. "Are you okay?" Charlie said quietly to Windy.

  She opened her eyes and nodded slightly. Charlie settled down on a box to watch them. She put the gun in her lap and pulled out a cigarette, which she lit with shaking fingers. She did care about the kids. She didn't want them to get hurt, and she apparently was deluding herself into thinking Julian was going to let them go when this was over.

  Charlie smiled tentatively at them, an apologetic smile. So she had divided loyalties. She wasn't letting Julian in on everything she was thinking. Hallie gave Charlie what she hoped was a friendly smile. Charlie looked down, embarrassed.

  "What are we going to do?" Windy whispered.

  Hallie gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. She turned around and ran her hand over the dusty front of the band organ. She traced the "Wurlitzer" etched into the glass with one finger. In the reflection she could see yet another old King Kong looming behind her, and another pair of eyes as well. She brushed the dust off the glass. Kyle.

  She turned around and leaned back against the machine with what she hoped was a neutral expression. She stared blankly off into the middle distance. There he was, standing behind the gorilla, barely ten feet away. Their eyes met. She quickly looked away. When she glanced back, he was gone.

  There he was, on the other side of the gorilla. He seemed to be working his way toward the stairs, where Julian was working. Please, Kyle, she silently begged. Don't do it. Julian reached into his waistband and adjusted the gun there. He looked up and saw her staring at him, and grinned. "Ready to go to work, baby?" he sneered.

  She turned away. She looked around the cellar. With all this stuff in here, there should be something they could they use against JJ and Charlie. Charlie's hand shook as she held the gun, but if they jumped JJ, she could fire and kill them all.

  She couldn't just stand here. She had to do something.

  Hallie looked at the machine she and Windy leaned against. It was a giant thing, towering over them. It seemed even larger now that some of the other junk had been cleared away from it. Light glimmered off the dusty front of the machine. She could still see Kyle's form reflected in the sections of glass not covered by the logo. She quickly stepped in front of the glass to block the reflection. She glanced at Julian and Charlie. They hadn't noticed. She rubbed her hand over the glass again, seeing her own pale face reflected. Her hair was a mess, as usual. She brushed the stray strands into place. No sense leaving a messy-looking corpse.

  She was going to die. Julian would make sure of it this time. And Charlie? Charlie would go along, if for no other reason than because she was too scared not to. But what about Kyle? Somehow the thought of him dying was more horrible than anything that could happen to herself. He had a mission in life. He had to live. His life had a purpose and a meaning, not the least of which was the young woman leaning against the machine only a couple feet away from her.

  She set her jaw. Maybe she didn't have any important mission in life, but she wasn't going to give up yet. She wasn't much, but she was a survivor. Dave Cooper hadn't defeated her, and this little worm Julian wasn't going to either.

  Her eyes refocused on the glass in front of her, and she noticed the logo again. Wurlitzer. She traced it with one finger. A band organ. She wondered if it was as loud as the music at the carousel was. She couldn't hit Julian over the head with it, and that's all that mattered at this point.

  She noticed Windy was looking at her quizzically.

  She shrugged and stepped back to lean against the side of the machine and survey the room again.

  Something bumpy rubbed on her shoulder. She looked down. There were two buttons on the side: one said "lights" and the other said "power." She glanced up. Charlie was watching her. Hallie tried to look casual. Charlie looked away again. Hallie leaned against the buttons, pressing as hard as she could with her shoulder.

  Nothing happened.

  Her mind started racing. What did these things run on? Steam engines? Solar power? Little hamsters jogging on exercise wheels? She took a step back and glanced down. There was an electrical cord coming out of the back of the machine. How mundane, she thought. Now, where did that cord go? It ran along the floor out of sight on the opposite side of the machine. There was an electrical outlet near her, but it was too far away to grab the cord and plug it in. Could there possibly be an outlet over by Windy?

  Hallie felt her heart start to thump in her chest. She looked up and saw Kyle edging closer to Julian. He would have to cross several feet of open floor to reach him, though. Kyle saw her looking at him. She gave the tiniest shake of her head, trying to convey, somehow, don't move yet. I've got a plan.

  Hallie took a step forward, so she could see Windy leaning against the other side of the machine. Windy's eyes were on her, and they were wide and shocked-looking. She frowned, and Windy nodded imperceptibly toward the corner where Kyle hid. So she'd seen him, too?

  Hallie looked at Charlie and Julian. They were still oblivious.

  She looked back at Windy, who was making an admirable effort to look casual. Good kid, she thought.

  She motioned with her eyes to the switches hidden on her side of the machine, praying that she really did know "every obscure detail" about her family's history.

  Windy looked at her quizzically. She rolled her eyes again, then looked significantly at the Wurlitzer name.

  Yup. Windy got it. She nodded slightly.

  Hallie tilted her head just a bit toward the back of the machine.

  Windy looked up at Julian. Hallie shuffled her feet, and Julian started, glaring at her. Windy used that moment to look behind her, then quickly bent down out of sight.

  "All right, you two. Time to get to work," Julian growled.

  "Just tying my shoelace, JJ," Windy said.

  "Well get on with it. Start with those horses there—and be careful. They're worth a lot of money."

  Windy straightened up. "Sure, no problem," she said. She glanced at Hallie, and winked. Windy went over to Charlie and held out her hands. "You should probably untie my hands if you want me to do anything."

  Charlie glanced at Julian for approval. He nodded. Charlie set the gun down next to her and got the zip-ties off of Windy's hands.

  "What about you?" Julian said, turning to Hallie. "Are you just going to stand there? Get moving."

  "Okay," Hallie said, and leaned against the side of the machine.

  There was a loud whoosh like air escaping a giant balloon, then a huge blaring chorus of The Carousel Waltz broke loose. She had never heard such a lovely sound as the 100-decibel blare of that music.

  Charlie and Julian both turned toward Hallie at the first whoosh of air, and Kyle leaped out from behind the gorilla toward Julian. Julian raised his gun toward Hallie. She dived behind the nearest box, accompanied by the cheerful musical din. She felt something on her head, and realized she was covered in rubber bats. She brushed them aside impatiently. Hallie peeked out from behind the cover of a bumper car to see Julian and Kyle struggling over the gun right by the stairs.

  Charlie stared dumbfounded at the band organ, apparently not noticing Julian and Kyle across the room.

  Charlie covered her ears to stifle the roar of the music. Windy used that moment to slip behind her and toward the struggling Kyle and Julian.

  Charlie turned to see where Windy had gone. Hallie used that moment to creep up behind Charlie. The gun lay on a box right beside her. Hallie reached for it, but Charlie glanced back and saw her.

  Charlie quickly picked up the gun, then looked around for Julian.

  Kyle had him down on the floor, and with one hand he was pressing Julian's gun-hand back against the c
ement floor. Kyle reached with his free hand to try to wrest the gun away, but Julian kicked him savagely in the stomach, and Kyle's grip loosened. Windy sprang up behind him and tackled Julian from behind.

  Julian rolled over and pushed Windy into the gorilla, and it came tumbling over on top of her. She lay still.

  Kyle had tried to catch the gorilla as it fell, and that gave Julian the upper hand. Julian twisted Kyle's arm back, and he raised the other hand with the gun.

  "No!" Hallie screamed and she dashed over to grab at the gun hand. Julian hit her across the temple with the gun, and she fell back on top of the gorilla, and Windy.

  Windy let out a cry and tried to sit up. They both were struggling to their feet when Julian said, "stop."

  They turned around and saw Julian and Kyle sprawled halfway up the stairs, Julian's gun at point-blank range against Kyle's temple.

  Hallie watched in horror as Julian cocked the pistol. The band organ blithely played on.

  "Julian!" Charlie shouted over the roar of the music. They all looked up.

  Charlie's hand was remarkably steady as she aimed dead-center at where Julian's heart presumably lay.

  He pointed his gun straight at Charlie. "You little—" he started to say.

  The sound of two shots echoed through the cellar. The glass front of the band organ shattered, and the music ground to a halt.

  Kyle sat down on the stairs abruptly.

  Windy fell back against Hallie and she held her up. "I'm all right," she whispered. "He missed."

  Hallie watched as Julian stood poised, his shirt bright red, an astonished look on his face. The gun fell out of his hand and bounced on the floor, but it didn't go off again. Finally, Julian fell after it, his body hitting the ground with a thud.

  Charlie ran to him. She sat down on the floor with Julian's head cradled in her lap.

  Kyle gently took the gun out of Charlie's hand, then bent over to take Julian's pulse. He shook his head. Charlie didn't seem to notice.

  Kyle grabbed Charlie by the arm none too gently and dragged her up the stairs. Hallie and Windy followed them up. Tom lay on the floor, Zac sat tied up near him. Hallie could hear Tom breathing, but his breaths seemed to be coming in great gasps. Kyle pushed Charlie into a corner, where she sat down on the floor and sobbed.