Tee spins his eyes around our surroundings. “We’re trapped!”
My eyes careen in all directions. Nowhere to run. A tall fence in the backyard and a thick, impassible, high hedgerow on the side box us in. Our lone option to flee requires us to run up the driveway to the street. And that isn’t an option because Mr. Wadlow will catch us for sure.
“Spread out in the bushes and hide!” Devin jumps to his feet, runs a ways and dives between two hedges.
Tee and I scurry on all fours and hide in a cluster of bushes, both curled into the fetal position, trying to shrink our bodies as much as possible and dissolve into the cover of shrubbery. Robby runs across the driveway and finds a small opening in the hedgerow. He forces himself inside it and slinks into the bush.
The loud thuds of footsteps round the corner of the house. Tee’s rapid breathing steams my face, his eyes swelling with the intensity of the moment.
An older man’s voice booms out. “Who’s there?”
I peer around the corner through the bushes. It’s Mr. Wadlow. He looks agitated and out of breath, his roaming eyes focused lasers. He inspects the bushes near the basement window. He looks around for a minute. What will he do to us if he finds us? He’ll kill us, surely.
Tee’s cheek hugs the dirt, facing me, arms tucked into his chest with his elbows together, his lips trembling. His eyes scream please help me. His hands quake, perpetual aftershocks rocking them. I shake my head at him, my eyes frozen wide. Don’t do it, Tee. Don’t you dare make a noise! I reach out my hand and take hold of his shaking hands, gripping them tight.
“Damn kids!” Mr. Wadlow fumes, followed by his retreating footsteps ascending the driveway.
A car engine sputters to a start on the street, tires briefly squealing. Robby peers out before running across the driveway. Devin rises from his hiding spot between two bushes.
Devin flashes big eyes at Robby. “Holy shit. That was close.”
“Thought he had you for sure, Dev. He was right next to you.”
Tee and I vacate our spot and run to Robby and Devin. Instead of moving away from the house, Robby ventures to the basement window. Once Robby catches the scent of something, it’s difficult to pull him off.
“What are you doing?” Tee throws his hands in the air at Robby. “We gotta get the hell out of here!”
“No. This is our chance.”
“It’s our chance to get away!” My voice quavers, adrenaline still rocketing through me.
“Wadlow’s gone. We’re golden.” Devin’s eyes sparkle with mischief.
“He could be back any minute.” I cut a glance to the street. “People go to jail for this stuff.”
“This is what we came here for. To find out what happened to Mysterious Margo. I’m not going anywhere.” A stubborn rigidity settles into Robby’s tensed jawline.
“Yeah. And if anyone’s going to jail, it’s that Wadlow creep.” Devin moves to the window with Robby.
Tee and I stand in the driveway with our mouths slung open. Robby drops to his knees by the basement window. He fiddles with it for a moment and the window comes open.
Robby casts eyes in our direction. “Who’s going in?”
“What? Are you crazy?” My words fly out like a siloed missile, coordinates locked in on Robby.
Devin steps forward. “I’ll go.” Robby holds the window for him.
Devin crouches and slides a leg inside. He tries to work his body inside the window but can’t fit in the small opening.
“Damn. I’m too big.”
Robby’s eyes lift suddenly. “Tee. Tee can get inside.”
“No way, man!”
“Keep your voice down, bro.” Devin pushes his palms at the ground.
“Come on, Tee. You’re the only one who can fit.”
“Yeah man. Don’t you want to save your friend Margo?”
Tee throws eye daggers at Devin. “She’s not my friend. You guys are my friends, but you’re not acting like it.”
Devin taps his wrist with his forefinger. “We’re wasting time.”
Robby levels his eyes at Tee. “Do it, Tee.”
This is crazy. “Guys come on. This is—”
“Fine. I’ll do it. But you guys better not leave me.” Tee hurries to the window.
“No way, man. You know that,” Robby replies.
“Tee, you don’t have to do this.”
Tee looks at me and frowns.
Tee lifts one leg inside the window followed by the other. Robby and Devin each hold one of his arms, lowering him inside. A moment later his head disappears inside the basement. Robby and Devin both fall backward, and Tee’s shoes smack on the basement floor. I surge to the window to secure a better view.
Robby scrambles to his knees and calls out. “Go see what that thing from the woods is.”
Tee weaves past the wire rack with the dusty books and newspapers. A shaft of sunlight pours into the basement from behind me, collecting on a wall-mounted shelf that’s lined with large glass jars, containing different animal specimens embalmed in fluid. Tee lingers by it, his eyes wandering the row. I crane my neck for a better view. In the jar closest to the window, a fetal pig’s snout presses up against the glass lifting its mouth at the gumline, exposing its canines and sharp needle teeth. Another contains some type of strange, fan-finned sea creature.
“There’s some weird shit down here, guys.”
Tee steps closer to examine one of the jars. He tilts his head sideways, squinting his eyes at it before reaching for the jar. He screams and my head flinches as a cat jumps out from behind the empty jar of amber embalming fluid. It flies past Tee’s head, lands on its feet, slides sideways, and scurries away. My heart hammers in my chest, growing more frantic with each ticking second that passes.
“What was that?” Devin calls out.
“A cat just jumped out at me!”
“Quit wasting time! Go see what’s on that workbench.” Robby barks the order with a quick headshake.
Tee scampers to the workbench. He stalls by the microscope and shuffles around the desk.
“I can’t find it.”
“Keep looking. It’s got to be there.” Robby draws in a deep breath through his nose and expels it through his mouth, his eyes fastened to Tee’s every movement.
This is bad. He needs to get out of there. “Maybe he took it with him.” Robby’s lips tuck into a momentary frown as my words stumble out, but he doesn’t reply or alter his gaze. I scooch in for a closer view, my forehead breaching the opening of the window.
Tee picks up a white cloth from the table, examining it closely. As he inspects the cloth, a visible tremor passes through his body, and it dangles from his shaky fingers. “Oh shit! Blood.” His head rifles around the basement before returning to the cloth. “I gotta get outta here.” His muttered words ride the coattails of his frantic exhale. As Tee goes to return the cloth to the spot where he found it, he abruptly recoils. His pallor grows ashen, and his eyes inflate like balloons on helium nozzles. The scarlet speckled cloth falls, fluttering from his fingertips. He takes a tentative step forward before anchoring his legs in place. He slowly cranes his head forward, squinting at something on the surface of the workbench. His head jerks back and his eyes burst wide.
“Oh Jesus!” He stumbles backward.
His back slams into the wire rack shelf, and it begins to tip. A car comes to a stop on the street, the squeak of its brakes alerting us to its arrival. Tee scrambles to hold onto the heavy wire rack to keep it from toppling, his fingers blanching white as he strains against its accumulating weight, his sliding feet surrendering ground.
Robby cuts big eyes to Devin. “Dev, go check that out.”
Devin skirts the side of the house, running to the corner and peers around the rosebush at the street. “Wadlow’s back! Get him out of there!”
The accumulating weight of the wire rack overpowers Tee. He loses his grip and jumps out of the way as it goes crashing to the basement floor, making a huge clamor. I cringe and sta
gger back a few steps into the grass. I gasp a breath before my whole body flash-freezes, becoming inanimate granite as Wadlow moves through my peripheral vision. But he doesn’t see me. He’s fumbling with his keys while hustling for his door. Shit! He heard it! I race back to the window. The boards on the front porch creak, marking Wadlow’s steady advance.
“Get him out now!” Devin yells as he runs to us at the window, his voice a hushed torrent emanating from his throat.
Tee shakes his head, trying to clear the daze. He brushes off several old newspapers strewn on his body.
“Come on, Tee! Come on!” I twirl my hands in frantic circles, motioning him to the window.
Robby leans into the opening of the window and yells. “Tee, get out of there! Wadlow’s back!”
The front door groans on its hinges. I crowd the basement window with Robby. Swift, thudding footsteps move through the house above, and corresponding sprinkles of dust rain from the unfinished ceiling as Wadlow makes his rapid advance. Tee sprints to the basement window, his gaping eyes glistening. Devin surges in from behind us, the force of the incidental collision knocking me aside. Robby and Devin reach their arms inside the window but can’t reach Tee’s raised arms. Tee’s jumping, trying to grab their outstretched hands, but he isn’t quite tall enough. The footsteps above close in on the basement door at the top of the staircase. My heart stampedes.
“We gotta go!”
Robby flashes cutting eyes in my direction. “Never leave another member behind!”
Tee’s eyes ricochet around the room. He runs to a box in the corner of the room and sleds it to the window. The basement door squeals, and a widening sliver of light illuminates the basement staircase. Wadlow’s going to catch him for sure. He’s dead!
Tee makes one last jump from atop the box as the racing footsteps descend the staircase. Robby and Devin catch Tee’s hands by his fingertips and work fast to secure their grip on his wrists. They tug him out of the window as Mr. Wadlow storms into the basement. Tee falls onto Robby and Devin in a jumbled pile.
“Let’s go!”
My shrill shout springs all three boys to their feet. We break into a sprint on the driveway. Tee and Devin flash their speed, building a lead on Robby and me. Our arms pump with the ferocity of pistons in a redlining engine as we barrel down High Street to the vacant lot, adrenaline surging.
In a flash we grab our bikes and Devin grabs his skateboard. Running them out onto High Street, we mount our moving bikes and Devin jumps onto his board. We scream up High Street, a whirling blur of pedaling. Devin’s leg churns, giving him more and more speed. After a quick turn onto Chambers Road, we continue our furious pace. We don’t slow our speed until we reach the base of Slippery Hill.
We stop on the corner of Chambers Road and Slippery Hill. The speed of our escape prevented Mr. Wadlow from following us. Tee collapses in the grass, grasping for air to fuel his lungs. I’m doubled over desperate to pull more oxygen into my fiery lungs and calm my pounding heart. Robby hunches with his hands on his sides, his breathing devolving into loud, slobbery pants. Devin takes a seat on the deck of his skateboard. He pretzels his body, arms wrapped around his folded knees as he tries to quell his frantic breathing.
Chapter 18
Undercurrent
WE’RE STILL CATCHING our breath from our desperate escape from Mr. Wadlow’s house. Tee lands shrieking eyes on me, his body caught in a perpetual cycle of tremors. Robby works to compose himself, managing words between heavy breaths.
“What…did you see? Did you…see Margo?”
“No, a finger.”
Devin’s head recoils. “What do you mean a finger?”
“A finger, a human finger!”
“Oh my god.” My words crackle like a windswept flag. Did Wadlow see us? Maybe. Oh God, he’s going to kill us!
Devin’s burgeoning eyes settle on Tee. “Seriously?”
In the huddle of blood-drained faces, my thoughts race. That was SO STUPID! What did we expect? It felt like a game. But oh Jesus. A finger… He’s got a finger! He’s a killer. We’re so dead. We gotta tell someone.
“We gotta go to the cops.”
“What are we gonna tell ‘em, Brooks? That we broke into Mr. Wadlow’s house?”
“I’m not going to jail, man.”
“Nobody’s going to jail, Tee.” Devin places a steadying hand on Tee’s shoulder.
“But he’s a killer!”
“We don’t know that for sure, Brooks.”
“What are you talkin’ about, Robby? I’d say having a human finger in his basement’s a pretty good sign. It’s probably poor Margo’s finger. He’s probably got the rest of her body in his house somewhere, too.”
Robby’s eyes pulse wide, and he lifts his head. “Wait, didn’t you say the finger was the thing you guys saw him pick up in the woods?”
“Yeah, so?”
Devin scrunches his lips. “But if he’s a killer, why would he pick up a finger and bring it back to his house?”
Robby nods at Devin. “Yeah, why wouldn’t he just get rid of it?”
“He’s probably just covering up for his crime. Dude’s a psycho. You should’ve seen all the creepy stuff in his basement.”
“Or maybe it’s like a trophy. My mom reads these books, crime books. She says sometimes killers take trophies.”
Robby turns to Tee. “Well, did it look like Margo’s finger?”
“I don’t know. How am I supposed to know that?”
“Where’d you find it?”
“On his workbench. Under a cloth. Looked like he’d been taking slivers out of it. There was a razor blade by it.” An animated shiver roars through Tee’s body. “It was cut to the bone. I could see the bone!”
Robby shakes his head. “Why would he do that?”
“When me and Tee were at the window, I think I saw him put something he had cut on a glass slide and put it under the microscope.”
Devin paces beside us. “That still doesn’t make sense. I can’t see why he’d do that.”
Tee scowls. “Why? ‘Cause he’s a sicko! That’s why.”
“There’s got to be another reason.”
“No there doesn’t, Robby. And why don’t you think he’s a killer?”
“I’m not saying he’s not, Tee, but it just doesn’t make sense is all.”
I flash wide eyes at Robby. “Neither does picking up a finger in the woods and running off.”
“True. That’s why we need to keep an eye on him.” The glimmer in Devin’s eyes accompanying his words troubles me.
“Let the police do that. They can arrest him.”
“We can’t go to the police, Brooks. They’ll know I was in his house.”
“So, we make an anonymous phone call. Like a tip.”
Devin shakes his head. “They can trace those calls back now. We’ll get busted for sure.”
“I say we just keep an eye on him.” Robby pauses and surveys the group. “We don’t know that he did anything yet.”
“We know he took a finger!” My words explode like a cannon shot.
Tee shakes his head at Robby. “You can keep an eye on him, but I’m not getting anywhere near him or his house again.”
“Dudes, even if we went to the police, Mr. Wadlow knows someone was in his house now. He knows someone was in the basement. There’s no way he doesn’t get rid of that finger. The police aren’t going to find anything. And then, Mr. Wadlow’s going to find out who was in his house.”
Robby nods. “Good point, Dev.”
A deep frown forms on Tee’s face. “No way I want that creeper to know who I am.”
I gulp hard at Devin’s proclamation. We’re screwed! Can’t go to the police. Can’t go to our parents. Not like we can leave town. We’re sitting ducks.
“I say we find out whatever we can on him.”
“I’m not going back there, Robby. Dare or no dare.”
“No. That’s not what I mean, Brooks. We can’t go back there now, anyw
ay.”
“You wanna like ask around about him?”
Devin stops pacing. “That’s a bad idea, Tee. Somebody might tell him we’ve been asking about him. He’d put two and two together.”
Tee’s eyes brighten. “We should search the internet. See what we can find on him.”
Devin and Tee turn in my direction. I shake my head. “We can’t do it at my house. My mom will know something’s up for sure. Especially since school’s out.”
“Our stuff’s not even unpacked yet.”
“We can go to my house. Use my laptop.”
“Sounds like a plan. But what about your mom and dad?”
A frown fissures Robby’s face at Devin’s mention of his dad. He lowers his eyes, scraping ground with his gaze, his hand drawn by instinct to the canteen on his belt. A solitary tear streaks Robby’s cheek.
“What’s wrong, man?”
“Robby’s dad.” I glance at Robby before wincing out more detail. “He was in an accident… A drunk driver.”
“Bro, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, Dev. You didn’t… It’s just…it just still…” Robby sputters before he can no longer choke back the tears.
Robby’s eyes cloud with darkness. Tears stream his cheeks. He pulls his trembling arms tight around his quivering chest. His stomach tightens, growing concave, pulling into the turmoil beneath his skin. It’s as if I can see the darkness moving through him, overtaking him. His posture slumps, his body curling in on itself like a wilting daisy. His tear ducts open like a faucet. He takes in abbreviated, rapid breaths through his nose—sobbing. Tee puts his arm around his shoulder, and I place my hand on his back.
Tee firms his hug. “It’s gonna be okay, man. You got us. We’re here. We’re always gonna be here for you.”
“I just miss him so much.” Another powerful wave rocks Robby’s body, whipping him toward the emotional jetty. His sobbing grows louder.
“Go ahead and let it out. Let it out, Robby. It’s okay to let it out.” A tear escapes Tee’s eye with his words.
“You guys are the best friends I’ve ever had. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what. Brothers.” My voice fractures, the tortured grimace on Robby’s face leaving my stomach as hollow as an empty grave. It’s not fair. Man… It’s just not fair. I deliver several soft pats on Robby’s back, moisture gathering in my eyes.
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