The Black Cadillac (15 page)

He ran as fast as he could back to Braxton Street. While he flew as fast as he could, crazy thoughts ran through his mind:
Was
his
friend
okay?
Should
he
have
gone
in
the
house
instead
of
running
to
a
pay
phone
to
get
help?
What
if
the
guy
wasn’t
bad
at
all?

Zach wanted to believe the last question so much, but something in his heart told him that his friend was in trouble. In the pitch-black, he ran as fast as he could back to Braxton. Shortly after he arrived in front of the corner house, a squad car was driving down the street, and Zach waved it down. Two officers stepped out of the police car.

“Are you the kid that called 911 about your friend?” said the first officer.

“Yes, I am. Please help my friend. His name is Cody, and he is in that house,” Zach said with urgency.

“Calm down. I’m Officer Harris, and this is Officer Quinn. We are going to help you, but please explain some things,” said Officer Harris.

The second officer said something into his radio while Officer Quinn started walking toward the driveway of the house with Zach.

They stopped at the sidewalk.

“Why are you guys at this man’s house?” asked Officer Quinn.

“It’s a long story, but I can explain quickly.”

Zach proceeded to tell both officers what he and Cody had been doing over the last month. The second officer radioed for some backup assistance. Zach’s tone became more hysterical.

“We are wasting time out here. Please go check on my friend,” instructed Zach.

“If you are wrong, Zach, you are going to be in a whole lot of trouble. We will go knock on the door,” Officer Quinn replied with an annoyed look.

“I understand. Now please, please go check out my friend!” said Zach.

The officers proceeded to the side door of the house.

CHAPTE
R
XIV
Par
t
II
:
Hide

W
hile Zach ran for help, the side door flew open, and the man stormed into the house, locking the door behind him. Cody was upstairs when he heard the door open. Cody desperately looked around the room for anywhere to hide. Looking to his right, the boy found a closet and peered in it. The closet was big with more items hanging on the wall. Cody flipped on a light and couldn’t believe what he was looking at. There were locks of hair pinned to the wall. Polaroid pictures of girls tied up were side by side on the wall. On the floor, there was bucket with tools and knives in it. Dozens of jackets were hanging up on a rack. One jacket had some sort of badge logo on it.

Hearing the man moving down stairs, Cody quickly thought of an idea. He turned the closet light off and walked back in to the room. He purposely left the closet door halfway open. He was trying not to make the floor creak as he paced, but a floorboard made a tiny creak. The man stomped through the downstairs of his house as he heard a noise.

“I know someone is in here!” the man’s voice echoed angrily.

Cody put his hand over his mouth and stayed as quiet as he could while wrapped in the sheet hanging from the ceiling by the wall. Room by room, the man stomped through, looking in every closet and hiding place he could. He walked violently through the kitchen, unlocked the door to the breezeway, and walked in. He saw a long metal item on the floor.

Getting angrier and angrier by the second, the man opened the back door to the house and saw that it had been jarred. The man stormed down the basement stairs for a brief moment and came back up. He turned around, flew back through the kitchen, and ran up the stairs.

“I know you’re in here. I’m sorry to inform you, but this is a bad day for you. How did you find out, anyways?” the man calmly said as he stepped up to the top floor. “Do you know who I am?”

The man had a crazed look on his face as he walked slowly. He continued, “I bet you saw my souvenirs, didn’t you?”

Cody’s heart was racing like crazy, and he could hear it through his chest. The man looked around the room and went straight to a closet on the opposite side of where Cody was. It took every ounce of effort to keep quiet as the man reached for the handle on the door. Before the man could open the door to the closet, Cody bolted from the sheet he was wrapped in and headed for the stairs. Part of the sheet was still wrapped around his leg as he made it to the stairs. The man lunged for Cody and missed as the boy flew down the stairs.

Cody ran into the kitchen, looking around, and the man was coming down the stairs not far behind him. Cody saw the side door to the left and hurried down the few stairs to the side door. The door was dead-bolted, and the handle was locked as Cody tried twisting the handle to open the door. The man stared at Cody as he saw that Cody was trapped between him and the basement. Having no choice, Cody sprinted down the old basement stairs. The man slowly followed the helpless boy.

Cody reached the bottom of the stairs and saw something more shocking than what he had discovered in the upstairs loft. There in the corner of the basement was a little girl in chains, lying on a mattress. Cody knew right away it was Mandy Coefield, the girl who had gone missing in Sheldon Township. She was in dirty clothes and had a bandana wrapped around her mouth. She looked starved and weak. The little girl appeared lifeless as she saw Cody at the bottom of the basement stairs in the dark. Cody ran to her and pulled a string to a light switch right in the area of where she was.

“It’s okay, little girl. I’m going to help you. You’re Mandy, aren’t you?” he told her as his voice trembled with fear. She didn’t respond.

The slow knocking of each step of the man’s shoes sent shivers down Cody’s spine as he tried to loosen the chains on Mandy’s wrists. There was no hope of freeing her. The chains were attached to the basement wall.

Through the pitch-dark, the man’s voice boomed through the cold and damp basement.

“Hey, I know you. I know you from somewhere, yeah. You’re that kid at the gas station last week. The real quiet one. Say, how did you find out about me?” the man said.

Cody didn’t say a word as the footsteps came closer and closer, then he spoke, “I found your car by the church on Lincoln Street in Tippwood.”

The man continued, “Wow! You have been spying on me. What are you trying to accomplish coming here, kid? You think you are some kind of hero? I do give you credit, though, and you do have courage.”

Cody spoke up as a tear dripped down his cheek, “I know who you are. You’re Melvin Werner, and you offered me a ride to school a few weeks ago. I have spent every day since trying to find you. Why was your car parked on Lincoln Street?” said Cody bravely.

The man stood in the dark, just beyond the stairs.

“Very good, kid. Very good. I knew that I saw your eyes before the gas station. My car is on Lincoln Street because I volunteer at the church. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” the man said, motioning over to the little girl. He continued, “I am impressed. I really am. Your parents taught you well, didn’t they? Had it been you that decided to get in my car that day, it would be you locked to the basement wall like her.” He thought for a second. “Well, maybe I would still have her too.”

More tears came down the boy’s face as he tried to hold Mandy, who was now slowly gaining consciousness.

“You are a monster! And if—”

Cody was interrupted by the man.

“Save it, kid! Was that your friend out there with the ‘lost dog’?” the man said, mocking the boy.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Cody, lying, wondering if Zach went to get help or if the man did something to his friend.

“Mmm… well, let me ask you something. Was it really worth it? Did you think you were going to come here and do something to me? This isn’t a movie, kid. I am going to do bad things to you, and your parents will never see you again,” said the man convincingly. “In fact, I will be the last person you will see just like all of the others. Do you have any clue what I have done in my past, kid? I am responsible for many missing children over the years. Who are you to try and stop me?”

Cody stared in the direction of the man and thought for a second, scared out of his mind. Tears fiercely dripped onto the ground. He ignored the Melvin’s crazy rant.

“Would you make me a deal?” the boy asked, shaking.

The man started laughing at Cody.

“Sure, kid, let’s hear your offer,” he said. “Your tears don’t affect me one bit kid, let’s hear your offer though.”

“Let Mandy go. I’ll take her place. She’s just an eight-year-old girl. You can have me,” Cody said, still trembling.

“You are something else, kid,” the man said with a laugh. “Still trying to be a hero. Why can’t every kid I take be like you? Now, you know I can’t do that, kid. It’s a great offer, it really is—but I can’t take it,” the man explained, still chuckling. Melvin’s laugh was creepy and sinister.

The man stepped out of the shadows and walked toward a sink nearby then turned on a light. He picked up a brown medicine bottle and a rag. With his eyes on Cody, he unscrewed the cap and poured some of the contents in the rag. Setting down the bottle, the man started walking toward Cody.

It was at that moment that Cody snapped out of his fear and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his black pocketknife and opened it behind his back. The man didn’t see it. Cody took a few steps away from Mandy, who watched hopelessly. The man started walking faster toward Cody, holding a rag in his hand.

“I’m sorry, kid. You should have kept to yourself. You have ruined my big plan, and now you belong to me,” the man said with anger in his voice.

The man lunged toward Cody, knocking him against the concrete wall face-first. A cut formed over Cody’s left eye from the wall. With the pocketknife still in his right hand, Cody turned his body and swung his hand toward the man. Cody sliced the man’s arm, and blood dripped to the floor. The man looked at his arm and then punched Cody in the chest area, and the boy fell to the ground. Blood dripped down right next to Cody’s head as he lay hunched over, gasping for air. The man reached down and pulled Cody’s hair up, making the boy look at him.

“Remember this face. This is the face that took you from your family. It will be the only face you will ever see again, kid,” the man said with more anger.

The man grabbed Cody and put the rag up to his face. The past few weeks flashed in the boy’s head. He quickly pictured his best friend running to get help. He wondered if the man knew Zach was connected with him. With drooping eyes, Cody looked over at Mandy and saw Olive’s face. His eyes slowly faded towards the back of his head. Just as Cody started to pass out, he heard a siren in the distance.

His eyes shut, and he fell asleep.

The man turned in the direction of the basement stairs with a look of disappointment. The man grabbed Cody and threw his sleeping body like a rag doll against the concrete wall next to Mandy’s mattress. There was a loud thud as Cody bounced off the concrete and lay passed out on the floor.

“Do you see what has happened? I thought we would be happy here. Don’t you like it here?” the man asked the little girl with a crazed look. The little girl just put her head down and cried.

His face was sweating and growing pale. He looked at his arm where he was sliced. The man walked over to the sink, put his arm under the spout, and turned the water on. Dark-red blood splattered all over the sink and poured out of his arm. He reached down to the floor where a sock was on the ground next to the dryer. He picked it up, wrapped it around the deep cut, and tied it off. He pulled down the sleeve of his flannel shirt to cover up his arm.

Suddenly, there was another quick loud siren outside and a pounding on the side door.

“Police! Open up, please,” said a loud voice.

“Crestwood Police, open this door please!”

The man walked up the stairs grabbing the wooden railing to help pull himself up, unlocked the side door, and opened the door halfway.

“Hello officers, how can I help you?” the man politely said.

“Sorry to disturb you sir, we received a call about a disturbance.” the first officer said.

“No disturbance here. Quiet as the night, officer.” The man calmly replied.

The officers tried to peak around the man. The second officer spoke,

“We have reason to believe that someone broke in to your house. Do you mind if we come in and inspect?”

The man looked at the police officers, then replied and chuckled, “Sure no problem. I assure you no one broke in my house though, I would definitely know that.”

“Well, let us just have a look, then we will be on our way.” the second officer suggested.

The man opened the door all the way and took a step back blocking the basement stairs. He motioned for the officers to go up to the kitchen. The officers entered the kitchen and looked around. The first officer glanced around towards the living room and the second officer motioned towards the breezeway room.