The Journey Home (14 page)

Jake elbowed him in the ribs. “You do know those things are made up, right? A rabbit with horns?”

“Duh. I still want to see it, though.”

As they drove, Cody quickly became a secret celebrity for the kids in the back of the coach. A dozen kids scrounged through their daypacks to find him leftover sandwiches and other treats, and took turns petting and playing with the terrier.

As the miles rolled by, Jake pulled out Marty's phone and thought about calling their mom again. She'd told them not to come back to Pittsburgh, but Chicago wasn't Pittsburgh, was it? And they could hardly turn around and go back to Abe now.

He made up his mind and keyed in the numbers.

Click.

“
Hi, this is Jennifer Wilder. . . .”

Jake waited for the beep.

“Mom?” he whispered. “Are you there? Mom, pick up.”

There was no answer. Jake told himself not to panic. There were plenty of good reasons why his mom might not be answering. Maybe she was out at the supermarket.

“We're on a bus headed to Chicago,” he said, glancing at Taylor's sleeping form humped over on the seat next to him. “We get in to Union Middle School at around noon tomorrow, okay? You could meet us there, if you want . . .”

Jake fought the growing suspicion that something was badly wrong. He gabbled out the number of Marty's phone, told his mom he loved her, and hung up.

Afterward he lay back and closed his eyes, savoring the comfort of the bus and the gentle hum of the engine.
I wish Dad were here,
he thought uneasily.
Dad would know what to do.

Despite his anxiety, Jake slowly surrendered to the night and let his mind drift as the bus rolled through the gathering darkness.

With a jerk, Jake woke to the sight of cloudy skies reaching all the way to the horizon, and Taylor jabbing him in the side.

“Ow! Quit it!” he complained, pushing Taylor away from him.

“Time to get up, Bro. Look where we are.”

Jake had slept the whole night as the coach had made its way across the country. Through the coach's smudged window, Jake could see the odd snowflake begin to fall as they passed the sign for Chicago, Illinois.

“We're nearly there!” Taylor said.

Jake groaned, still in a haze of sleep.

“Where are you guys going to stay?” Tess asked, leaning over the aisle between the seats. “We're nearly there.”

“Nowhere,” said Jake. “We have to keep moving.” He said nothing about their mom maybe meeting them at the school. He wasn't even sure she'd gotten the message.

“Well, listen,” Max interrupted, “we live pretty close by. Maybe you could come stay with us?”

“Thanks, but we can't stop.”

As the coach pulled into the school parking lot and unloaded the passengers, the band members did their best to bunch up around Jake, Taylor, and Cody, hiding them from view. By the time they walked down the bus steps, all the bags and instruments were already stacked up in the parking lot next to the coaches. Taylor and Jake grabbed their backpacks and snowshoes, and turned to say quick good-byes to Marty, Max, and Tess.

“Thanks for your help,” Jake said.

“No problem,” Max replied.

“Yeah, it made the trip a lot more exciting,” Marty said.

Tess smiled sadly. “Good luck, guys. If things don't work out in Pittsburgh, maybe you can move to Chicago?”

Taylor laughed. “We'll keep it in—”

“Hey!” a voice suddenly yelled. “Stop right there. Police!”

They all turned to see two men striding toward them, wearing long coats and dark glasses despite the overcast weather. One had dark hair and stubble, the other straw-colored hair that stuck out like a haystack. Jake caught sight of what might have been a gun under the unshaven man's coat.

“It's the cops!” Max gasped.

“How did they know?” asked Marty.

“Jake and Taylor Wilder? You need to come with us,” called the policeman with dark hair as they approached.

Before anyone could react, Mrs. Ratzlaf came barreling over. “You two! I knew you were trouble. Don't move!”

Taylor gripped Jake's arm in panic. “Jake, what do we do?”

Jake's mind raced, even as his body stood frozen in stark terror.
Now it'll all come out. Bull's death . . . the money . . . Dad . . .

He thought about running. Maybe they would make it halfway across the parking lot, but not much further. The cops had nearly reached them now. Even if Jake and Taylor managed to outrun them, the police would call for backup.

“Come on, Jake!” Taylor wailed. “Quick—we need to run!”

Jake put his arm around his brother and hugged Cody tight with the other arm. “No,” he said in a hollow voice. “No more running.”

17
Mrs. Ratzlaf's heavy hand clamped down on Jake's shoulder. “I knew these two weren't who they said they were,” she announced to the approaching men. “Max and Marty, you have not heard the last of this! I'll be speaking to your parents!”

“I'm sorry,” Jake told the boys. “Really.”

Max shrugged, looking down at the ground. “I'm not. It was fun.”

The stubbly man gave Mrs. Ratzlaf a tight-lipped smile. He pulled a badge out of his coat, flashed it quickly, and tucked it away again. “Detective Lorenzo, ma'am. This is my partner, Detective Blake.”

Blake nodded. Jake noticed he was chewing something. Gum, or tobacco? Either way, it made Jake a little queasy to watch.

“These two boys—” Mrs. Ratzlaf began, but Detective Lorenzo hushed her. “We'll deal with them, ma'am. I'm sure you're very busy.”

Mrs. Ratzlaf narrowed her eyes. “They lied to me! Don't I even get to know who they are?”

Lorenzo and Blake looked at one another.

“Well, I dunno who they claimed to be, but their names are Jake and Taylor Wilder,” Lorenzo said. “They're runaways. There's been some trouble at home, but everything's okay now.”

“Yeah, everything's just peachy,” Blake chimed in, and grinned. Lorenzo gave him an irritated look. Blake shrugged and shut up.

“What do you mean, trouble?” Mrs. Ratzlaf demanded. She still had her hand on Jake's shoulder.

“Well, uh . . .” Lorenzo shuffled uneasily. “It seems their mom got mixed up with some nasty people. Criminals, you know? And these boys thought she was in danger, so they came all the way back from, uh, wherever they were. To help.”

“But it's okay now,” Blake said, cracking his knuckles. “Boys, your mom got your message, and she's come all the way to Chicago to meet you.”

“She has?” Taylor burst out. “Jake, did you hear? Mom's okay!”

The two cops beamed.

Jake didn't even crack a smile. Something wasn't right.

“So, if you two boys would just come with us,” Lorenzo said, holding out his hand, “we'll take you straight to your mom. Won't that be great?”

Mrs. Ratzlaf relaxed her grip on Jake.

“You should have told me something was wrong,” she told him. There was real concern in her voice. “I could have helped you.”

Jake hung his head. He couldn't think of what to say, so he said nothing at all. Grudgingly he followed Lorenzo and Blake through the parking lot, Mrs. Ratzlaf's eyes boring into the back of his head the whole way.

Taylor couldn't stop grinning. “Mom's in Chicago, Jake! We're finally going to see her again!”

“Yeah,” said Jake.

“How did she know where we'd be?”

“I called her while you were asleep,” Jake said. “Left a message on the answering machine. I wasn't sure she'd got it. . . .” His voice trailed off.

As they walked through the parking lot, shepherded by the two men, Jake's thoughts swirled in his mind. A troubling suspicion had started to form. Was he just being paranoid?

If Mom is really here in Chicago, why didn't she come to meet us herself?

They reached a shiny black car with tinted windows. Blake spat out the gum he'd been chewing and opened the door for them. “Get in, kiddos.”

Cody wriggled and barked in Taylor's arms. “Easy, boy!” Taylor laughed, petting him.

Lorenzo climbed in and slammed the door. “Keep that mutt under control, okay?” he snapped. “I don't want to have to clean up no mess, you understand?”

“Oh . . . okay,” said Taylor. “He'll be fine.”

“Give the kid a break, would ya?” Blake said, giving Lorenzo a warning glance. “He's been through a lot!”

Lorenzo grunted and started the engine.

Jake sat in the back with his pack across his legs. His heart was pounding now. He was sure they were in more danger than they'd been since Bull was alive. His mind raced.

Something's not right
.
Mom didn't want to go to the police even to speak to Officer Grasso.

What was going on?
Was that even a real badge Lorenzo flashed?

He licked his lips and tried to act normal. “So, where are your lights?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Huh?” said Lorenzo.

“Your roof lights. The ones that flash.”

There was a long, long pause. Cody whined. Lorenzo pulled out into traffic. Eventually he said, “Er . . . they're in the trunk.”

“Yeah,” Blake added. “We're undercover cops, so we've got those stick-on magnetic lights.” He leaned back, satisfied with his answer.

Jake wasn't satisfied at all. What kind of cops didn't
have their lights ready to go? And why would they go undercover to pick up two kids?

The fear that had been growing now suddenly exploded into full-blown terror. Jake was certain that these two men weren't cops at all.

Taylor was talking to Cody in a low whisper, trying to calm him down. Jake's mind whirred as loud as the car's engine as he tried to piece everything together.

Who could have known we'd be arriving in Chicago on that bus?
he asked himself. When he'd phoned home yesterday, nobody had answered. So he'd left a message. A message that anyone could have listened to.

In a flash he knew.

Valenti and his men were in the house yesterday! He must have been there and heard me leave my message. Then he called up two thugs in Chicago and gave them our names and our descriptions. And enough information to make their story convincing.

Jake looked out the window. They were in slow-moving traffic, heading over a bridge. And it wasn't the police driving them but criminals.

His mind went into overdrive. He thought about flinging the door open and running, but Taylor was a problem. He'd totally bought these guys' story.

Jake dug his water bottle out of his pack and took a swig. His hands were shaking.
I need to warn him.

Blake twisted round in his seat, giving Jake a fake smile.
“So, buddy. You got any special souvenirs in that pack of yours?”

The money. He knows we've got Bull's money.

It took all of Jake's effort to keep his voice steady. He replied, “Just a half ton of deer jerky. You want to try some?”

“No thanks, I'll pass.”

Lorenzo seemed to have an idea. “Hey, you kids must be hungry if all you've had to eat is crap like that. I'm going to take us to a diner, okay?”

“But what about our mom?” Taylor protested.

“Your mom's fine, kid, I told ya. We'll go see her straight after we've had something to eat. I promise.”

They were heading out of central Chicago now. The buildings were looking more and more run-down.

Wherever these two are taking us,
Jake thought,
it won't be a diner.

He tried to guess what would happen next. Valenti's men might hold them hostage and use them to force their mom to do whatever he wanted. Or they might go through their bags and find the money. . . . Would that be enough to keep their mom safe anymore? She knew too much now. They all did.