The Black Cadillac (16 page)

“Sir, do you mind if I look in this room?” the second officer asked.

“No, not at all, let me open that for you.” the man replied.

He unlocked the door between the kitchen and breezeway, then let the officer in. It was dark and the officer turned his flashlight on. Just as he started to shine the light towards the floor by the back door, the man spoke, “Hey guys, can I offer you something to drink?”

The second officer turned his head before he saw the mangled metal piece on the floor.

“That won’t be necessary, sir. We will get out of here and on our way. Sorry to disturb you like this.” the first officer said.

“Well, thank you for stopping gentlemen. You guys are great police officers, keep up the good work.” the man said reaching to shake the first officer’s hand.

The first officer gave a nice thorough handshake to the man and the man winced a little. The officer noticed, but didn’t say anything. Melvin walked the officers to the stairs to the side door and turned the light at the landing on. The second officer noticed something on the wooden railing going down the basement stairs. There were some blood stains on the top of the railing.

“Are you sure everything is okay here?” the second officer asked.

“Yes, everything is fine. You two have a good night.” the man replied as he opened the side door.

It was at that instance that a small cry came from the basement. With every ounce of energy, Mandy let out another cry. Still holding the door, the second officer turned and looked at the man. The man’s eyes had a different look to them. Melvin turned around and ran down the basement stairs. The officers stormed back in through the side door.

The man stumbled over to the bed Mandy was on and attacked her. He wrapped his hands around her neck and started squeezing.

“Hold it right there! Hold it!”

The officers rumbled down the basement stairs after the man.

“Sir, come back here!” said the second officer as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

The first officer followed right behind down the basement stairs and flipped on the light switch at the bottom. They saw the man choking a little girl.

“Freeze! Take your hands off her!” the first officer screamed. Both men had their guns drawn.

The man turned to look at them, still grasping Mandy’s neck. The man looked at the officers and smiled. Mandy’s eyes closed. The second officer took two shots at the man, one to the knee and one to the shoulder. The man fell to the ground and let go of the little girl. She gasped for air as she fell to the ground.

The first officer raced over to the man and restrained him. The second sprinted toward the girl.

“I need an EMT down here right away!” the first officer reported into his radio.

“Here’s the boy,” said the second officer, looking at the wall nearby.

“I repeat: we need multiple EMTs down here now!” the first officer said.

Cody was passed out against the wall where he had been thrown.

The first officer grabbed a hold of the little girl. “Can you hear me, sweetie? You’re safe now. Do you know your name?” the first officer said.

The little girl was breathing, but just barely, and managed to whisper, “Mandy.”

“What’s your last name, Mandy?” the first officer asked, already confident he knew the answer.

“Coefield,” she whispered with her eyes closed.

“Okay, Mandy, we are going to get you out of here. Just hang in there, okay? I’m Officer Harris, and that’s Officer Quinn over there. You’re going to be all right,” said the first officer.

Officer Quinn got on the radio right away. “We believe that we have found Mandy Coefield,” said Officer Quinn.

She closed her eyes. Officer Harris looked at the shackles on her wrists. He went to the man, who was on the floor facedown in handcuffs. He patted the man’s pant pockets, looking for keys. The kidnapper had passed out from loss of blood. There were small puddles of blood all over the basement floor.

Officer Harris pulled out a keychain with multiple keys on it out of the man’s pant leg pocket. He tried every key he thought went to the shackles. On the third try, the restraints released, and Mandy was free. Officer Harris cradled the girl in his arms and ran up the basement stairs with her.

He ran out the side door to where an ambulance was waiting at the end of the driveway toward the street. Multicolored lights were flashing everywhere from all the emergency vehicles on the scene. Neighbors in houses on the street had started crowding around. People started to talk as they saw a little girl being carried by a police officer.

“Oh my god, is that the girl that has been missing?” a voice out of the crowd yelled to the officers on the scene.

Officer Harris handed the girl to two medics at the ambulance and stayed with the little girl. A boy came out of the crowd and yelled to Officer Harris while being blocked by authorities. It was Zach.

“Please tell me if my friend is in there!” screamed Zach.

The officer motioned to let him through. Zach came running over to the officer and looked at the little girl in the ambulance.

“Your friend is in there. He’s not doing well. You did the right thing, but you two were stupid for going in this by yourselves,” said Officer Harris.

“I know, but where’s my friend?” said Zach hysterically.

Just then, two officers with a restrained man came out of the house. It was Melvin Wermer, and he was in police custody. The officers basically carried him down the driveway. The man’s beady eyes looked down the driveway and saw Zach. The boy turned away.

The man responsible for taking Mandy Coefield was being carried down the driveway and placed into the back of a squad car. Two more medics came out of the side door with a boy in a stretcher. It was Cody. The squad car with the kidnapper in it drove off, sounding the sirens. Another ambulance and unmarked police car followed right behind it.

Zach ran past two more officers and up the driveway. He met his friend who was being wheeled to the ambulance.

“Cody! Can you hear me? It’s Zach. Can you hear me, buddy?” Zach exclaimed to his friend who had both eyes shut.

Officer Harris grabbed Zach and put him in a bear hug. A shower of tears poured down the boy’s face as his friend was put into a different ambulance. The officer then let go.

News vans and media started to arrive, filling the street. A woman frantically ran through the crowd. The woman was Zach’s mother. Zach threw his hands up and yelled for his mother.

“Mom!” he screamed as loud as he could. The woman spotted her son and ran toward him. She grabbed him and hugged him and didn’t let go. Her eyes were completely red, and she was crying hysterically.

“What did you guys do?” she screamed, still crying.

“I’m sorry, Mom! I’m so sorry, Mom!” Zach said, crying into his mother’s arms. “Cody is in that ambulance, Mom. We need to get to the hospital.”

“What did you guys get into?” she repeated, still gripping her son tight.

Zach just hugged his mother.

CHAPTE
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XV
Heroes

T
wo ambulances pulled into the ER entrance at Sheldon General Hospital. The first had Cody in it, and the second had Mandy. The back doors of the ambulances flew open, and two stretchers went rolling into the ER. A police brigade surrounded them. Cody opened his eyes as he saw the ceiling of the hospital quickly going by.

“Where am I?” the boy softly asked.

“You’re at Sheldon Hospital, and you have been injured. What’s your name?” the medic said.

“My name is Cody Roberts. Did we get him? Is Mandy safe?” said Cody in a daze.

Officer Harris was walking next to the stretcher. He grabbed the boy’s hand. “You did it, Cody. We got ’em, and Mandy is safe,” said Officer Harris.

Cody carefully smiled and clutched his chest. From the kidnapper’s punch, Cody had suffered three badly bruised ribs. The boy also had multiple lacerations on his face from being thrown against the concrete wall by the man. Cody was brought into a room and moved to a hospital bed by the medics. Officer Harris kept walking with Mandy who was up ahead in another stretcher. Two officers waited at the door of Cody’s room. A nurse and a doctor entered the room.

“Cody, I’m Dr. Panella. What you did was very brave. We need to get you X-rayed, but I believe you have some bruised ribs. You have cuts on your face that need to be fixed and a sore around your mouth. The man that did this to you made you breathe a substance called chloroform. It slightly burned some areas around your mouth. It also made you pass out. You’re very lucky,” the doctor told Cody.

Cody licked his mouth, and there was a sweet flavor still on his lips. He made a face and looked at the doctor.

“We are going to get you taken care of. Just get some rest and try not to move those ribs,” said Dr. Panella. “Let’s get him on a ventilator and hooked up to an IV,” the doctor told the nurse. “Also, we need to get some stitches on that cut above his eye.”

“Can someone please find my mom?” asked Cody.

“Your mom has been notified, and we are told she will be here soon,” the nurse said with a smile.

Even though he would be grounded for the rest of his young-adult life, Cody felt relief and just wanted his mama. He lay his head down and closed his eyes. The nurse started hooking Cody up to an IV and put an oxygen mask over the boy’s mouth. Dr. Panella came back in with some metal devices in his hands and set them on the counter. He carefully examined Cody’s head.

“We are going to stitch this up for you, buddy,” said Dr. Panella.

Dr. Panella had a super-thin needle and some tweezer-like objects on the counter by the wall. The doctor poked a needle above Cody’s eyebrow. It took ten sutures to seal up Cody’s nasty cut above his eye.

“See, no problem. Quick and easy. Completely painless, right?” Dr. Panella said, trying to make light of the situation.

“I guess,” the boy grumbled.

His pants and shoes also had drops of blood all over them. Cody looked like an underdog boxer that had just gone ten rounds with someone twice his size. The nurse cleaned up Cody’s face and put a bandage over the stitches. Cody’s black sweatshirt had dark bloodstains on the sleeves and chest area. Cody shut his eyes.

Within a few minutes, Cody’s mother and sister ran into the room. Both were crying as they went to the side of the bed.

Cody’s eyes opened.

“Mom? I’m sorry,” whispered Cody; it was painful to talk.

“Oh, Cody, I don’t think you will ever know how extremely upset I am with you. What were you two thinking? You and Zach were stupid for what you did.” She paused for a second then continued, “However, you saved a little girl’s life today, and I am proud of you.”

“Mandy is Olive’s age, Mama,” replied Cody as he looked at his sister who was hunched over, giving him a hug.

“I know, Cody. I know,” she said with some understanding.

“I will tell you the whole story when we get home. Have you talked to Zach?” said Cody.

“Mrs. Madden called me. Zach called 911 from a pay phone and then called his mom. She called me after, and I had to find a ride. Mr. Durkbridge brought us to the hospital. I thought you were…” Her words drifted, and she started sniffling.

“Mom, I’m okay. My chest hurts, but I’m okay. I know it’s hard to believe right now, but this is a little bit of a happy ending,” explained Cody.

His mother didn’t say anything else; she just sat next to her son. Cody looked at his sister and mustered a smile. Olive just smiled back and held her brother’s hand. Dr. Panella and the nurse walked back into the room.

“It’s time to get some X-rays on those ribs, Cody. We will get you right back with your family after we are done,” a nurse explained, acknowledging Cody’s mother.

Cody was taken out of the room by the nurse and doctor. Georgiana and Olive stayed in the room.

“Mommy, why did Cody do this?” the little girl asked.

Georgiana sighed and tried to explain to her eight-year-old girl.

“Your brother is a very smart person and thinks about things differently than other people. He and Zach found out about a bad man. Instead of going to adults or the police about the problem, they decided to not tell anyone. Your brother and Zach are very brave for what they did. They saved the girl that was missing. As much as we are upset with him, your brother is a hero,” explained Georgiana to her daughter, trying to be careful with her words.

“Like a Superman? That kind of hero?” Olive asked, raising her tone.

Her mother let out a small laugh and replied, “Yes, Olive, like Superman.”

“Mommy, will Cody be able to come home with us?” asked Olive.

“I don’t know, sweetie. He is a little hurt right now,” her mother told her and continued to tear up.

“But I want him to come home,” the little girl whined.

“I do too, Olive. Try to get some rest, babe, it’s very late. There are two chairs over there. Go put them together, and I will find a blanket for you,” Georgiana said.

“Okay, Mommy,” replied Olive, letting out a big yawn.