OMG, A CUL8R Time Travel Mystery (26 page)

“Zoey’s in there.  And so is Wendy.”  Kelly nodded toward the room, and Scott eased over until he could look inside. 
Suddenly, the door to the bedroom opened and Decker walked in.  He stood looking down at the two girls and smiled.  He glanced over to the wall and studied the rows of Polaroids that Kelly hadn’t previously noticed.  There was excitement and pride in his expression as he looked, first at the photos, then back to the girls, and Kelly knew, at that moment, what pure evil looked like.

He leaned over until his face was just inches from Zoey’s.  “I’m so glad you decided to join us.  I wasn’t planning on doing two of you, but I’ve got all weekend.”  He reached out and pushed her blond hair away from her face.  “You’re really beautiful, you know.  Probably the prettiest girl I’ve ever killed.  Does that make you feel any better?  Knowing you’re the be
st?”

He stroked her cheek with the tip of his finger, and Kelly saw that Zoey was crying.  Decker noticed too, and flicked away a tear as it rolled onto his finger.  “Ah . . . but you won’t be my last.  I’m sure there will be prettier ones later.”  Zoey whipped around and bit his finger as hard as she could
, then she screamed bloody murder.  Decker yelled and jerked his finger out of her mouth, then turned back to her and slapped her . . . hard.

“That wasn’t very nice.  Here you are, a guest in my home and you act like this.”  He looked down at his finger and saw that it was bleeding.  “I’m going to take care of this, then I’ll be back,
and we’ll talk about who I get to play with first.  Maybe we’ll draw straws or something.  Wouldn’t that be fun?  I know how competitive you girls can be.”  He wrapped a tissue around his finger, then checked to make sure the bindings were secure and tight and took a bandana off the desk and shoved it into Zoey’s mouth and tied it at the back of her head.  “I’ll be back soon.  Don’t go anywhere.”  Again, the slimy smile, and he left the room.

Scott wave
d to Kelly to follow him, and they quietly ran back to the street where they met up with Austin in front of the house next door.

Scott
quickly filled Austin in, then took the lead.  “Here’s the plan . . . unless you guys have a better one.”  Kelly and Austin both shook their heads, so Scott continued.  “We need to create a diversion . . . to get Coach Decker out of the house.”

Austin held up his hand.  “I’
ll do that.  I’ll start a fire or something.”

“Good, then
Kelly and I will go back to that bedroom window.  Once we hear Coach go outside, we’ll break the window and I’ll boost Kelly in so she can untie Zoey and get her out.”

“Boost me in?”
Kelly asked with alarm.

“Who weighs more?”

She shrugged, not really wanting to go into a truth or dare about body weights.  “Go on.”

“So
, once we get Zoey out, we’ll call the police and wait until they get here.”

“What about Wendy?  Aren’t we going to rescue her, too?” Kelly asked.

“No, she’ll be okay.  The police have to find her or the coach will get away with it.  Once they get into his house, he’ll be a goner.”

Kelly’s eyes narrow.  “Look, I know you don’t want to save her, but . . .”

“That’s not it at all.  The police will take care of her.  That means she won’t be a body under a pier tonight.  She’s going to survive and will go on to live a normal life.  But, we’ve got to get away and not be discovered or we’ll be trapped here . . . in 1966.”

Kelly considered this and nodded.  She didn’t like it, but it made sense.  “Okay, then let’s do it.”  They started to walk back to the house when Austin stopped them.

“Wait, I don’t have anything to light the fire.”

Scott took off his backpack and dug through it.  He pulled out a lighter and handed it to Austin.  “Here, don’t lose this.  It belongs to my dad, and he’
d kill me.”

Austin
nodded.  It was totally like Scott to be thinking about something so trivial even at a critical moment like this.

“So, go make so
me noise and get Coach occupied,” Scott urged.

“You’ve thought of everything,
haven’t you?” Kelly smiled.

“
Not really,” Scott admitted.  “There have been some surprises.”

“Okay, I’ll find something good to burn
, and you guys go get Zoey out of there.” Austin smiled and held out his hand, like they had when they first made their plans.  Kelly put her hand on top of his and Scott placed his on top of hers.  They said a very quiet, “Travelers!” and lifted their hands to the sky.

If only it was that easy.  Austin headed toward Decker’s carport and Scott and Kelly crept back across the yard to the window.  A peek inside showed that the coach hadn’t returned yet.  But they dare not alert Zoey yet.

Austin found a stack of newspapers and a gas can apparently used to fuel the mower that was parked in front of the truck . . . a mower that hadn’t been started in a long time.  He gathered the trash up and began to place it on the lawn mower.  With any luck, the mower would catch on fire.  There wasn’t very much gas in the can, but it should still cause a little boom that would capture Decker’s attention.

Scott lifted the screen off and tossed it aside.  “Look for a big rock,” he instructed Kelly, and she starting looking around.  Unfortunately, the only one she found was in the neighbor’s flowerbed.  As she picked it up, she hoped they would forgive her for the minor larceny.  After all, it was for the greater good.

Kelly held the rock and Scott stood next to her, waiting for Austin to start the fire.  As the bedroom door opened and Decker returned, Kelly’s breath sucked in so loud she hoped he hadn’t heard.  In his hand was a big knife.  He was leaning toward Zoey when from the front, there was a little explosion.

Decker froze, then ran from the room.

“Throw the rock,” Scott whispered, then held his hand up to stop her.  “Wait, I don’t think it’s locked.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Swiss Army Knife that he opened.  He pushed the blade under the bottom of the window and levered it up.  The window eased up enough for him to be able to get his fingers under it and push it open.  He closed the knife and held it out to her.  Then he cupped his hands and said, “I’ll boost you up.”

Kelly
tossed the rock back in the neighbor’s yard and pocketed the knife.  She stepped into his hands and, using the window ledge to steady her, she heaved herself over the sill and swung her legs into the room.

Zoey’s face was white as she watched, helpless. 
Kelly ran over to her and took off the gag.

“Hurry,” Zoey hissed.  “If he catches you here . . .”

Suddenly, a shadow filled the doorway and Decker stood there.  “Ahh . . . someone new has joined the party,” he breathed with obvious excitement.

Kelly gauged the distance to the window and started to run for it, but Decker was faster.  He lunged forward and took her to the ground.  The Swiss Army knife fell out of her hand and skittered across the floor.   Kelly screamed until he clamped his hand over her mouth.

“I didn’t buy enough rope for all of you,” he laughed.  He was much bigger and stronger than she was, and even though she was struggling and kicking, he was able to pin her down.  He let go of her mouth long enough to yank the phone cord out of the wall and unclick the other end out of the phone that had fallen off the desk.  He quickly tied her wrists together, then yanked her to her feet.

“So who else did you bring along?”  He dragged her to the window and looked out.  Kelly held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t see Scott.

Beneath the window, Scott was flattened against the house, hoping Decker didn’t look down.  All the while, his gaze was searching for something to use as a weapon, terrified that Kelly would become another Decker victim.

All of a sudden, there was a boom so loud that it shook the house.  Kelly and Zoey exchanged startled gl
ances.  Decker paused, then hurriedly tied the phone cords binding her hands to the back of Zoey’s chair before running from the room.

Scott wasted no time.  He grabbed the windowsill and dragged himself up and over.

“The knife is over by the desk,” Kelly yelled.

He found it and hurried over to release her first, then
cut through Zoey’s ropes.  Zoey rubbed her bruised wrists while he cut her feet free.

“Where have you been?
” Zoey asked, a little too loudly.  “He was going to kill me, too.  He was going to . . .”

Kelly gently slapped Zoey’s cheek
to get her attention. “You’re going to be okay. Let’s go.”

“Not without Wendy.”

“We have to let the police rescue her,” Scott said.  “But don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

Zoey stood, but her wobbly legs wouldn’t support her and she plopped back down on the chair.  Kelly grabbed her arm and jerked her up.  “Okay, okay, I’m right behind you.”

Kelly quickly went to the window, turned and stuck her right leg out the window and looked back.

Scott
walked behind Zoey, pushing her toward the window.  But just before she reached it, she detoured to the wall where she grabbed hers and Wendy’s photos.  There was a sweatshirt draped over the desk, and she took that also.

Kelly, satisfied that Zoey was right behind her, put her other leg over t
he sill and slid out, tumbling on the ground.  Zoey tossed the sweatshirt out first, then jumped out the window, clumsy in her urgency to leave that terrifying room.  Scott followed, falling into Zoey and they both fell to the ground.

Kelly helped pull them both up and tossed Zoey the sweatshirt.  Zoey pulled it on, and since it was several sizes too large, it hung halfway down the middle of her thighs. 
They quickly ran to the front yard where they saw that not only had Austin started a small fire, but it had somehow managed to spread to the pickup truck which had been the second and much larger explosion.

Coach Decker was running around his burning truck screaming obscenities.  He turned and saw the four teenagers standing at the edge of his yard.

“What have you done?” he shouted.  In the distance could be heard the scream of sirens as the fire department headed their way, and his expression changed from anger to panic.  He glanced back at the house, then starting running.

“Holy crap,” Austin muttered, and ran after him.  His long legs ea
sily caught up to Decker, and he lunged forward, grabbing the coach around the knees and bringing him crashing to the ground.

Scott and the girls ran over and stood over him as Austin pinned him down.  Two large fire trucks screeched to a stop at the curb and a dozen firemen jumped out.  Some of them went to the fire hydrant while others unloaded the hoses.  Kelly ran over to one of them.

“There’s a girl still in the house.  In the second room on the right.”

“Thanks,” he said
, signaled to his fellow firefighters and rushed inside the house.

A police car parked at the curb, and Austin stood up and jerked Decker to his feet.  “This man lives here.  He kidnapped that girl in the house.”

Decker looked around wildly, but he knew it would be hopeless to try to run again or even to deny the charges.  The cop took him and clicked on a pair of handcuffs.

“Let’s sort this out at the station,” the officer said and pushed Decker into the back of his patrol car while his partner headed for the house.

Seconds later, the fireman came back out, carrying Wendy in his arms.  He had draped a blanket over her near-naked body.  The cop followed and shouted out to his partner, “Come inside.  You’re going to want to see this.”

The other cop locked the car doors and ran inside.  The firemen started blasting water on the house and foam on the still b
lazing car.

Scott whispered, “I think it’s time we disappeared.”  The others exchanged nods, and they slowly stepped away from the scene and melted away into the darkness.  Austin retrieved the bike, and as quickly as they could without creating suspicion, they eased into the crowd of neighbors that had come out of their houses to watch the excitement.

They walked quickly, cutting through yards and avoiding the streets until they reached Wendy’s house which was on their way back to the motel.  Because they were constantly looking over their shoulders and anticipating a police car sneaking up behind them, the trip seemed to take forever.  They left the bicycle in the yard where they had found it, then proceeded to the motel.

Once inside the girls’ room, they all just stood and stared at each other.  No one wanted to actually voice how terrified they had been or how close they had come to not saving Zoey and Wendy.  It wasn’t the first time they had been struck by the seriousness of their adventure, but it was the most frightening.  It wasn’t just Wendy who had had a close brush with death.  All of them were lucky to be alive.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The room was quiet as 11
a.m. came and went before the first of the South Beach time travelers was awakened by the door to their room jerking against the safety chain, bringing it to a hard stop.  “Maid service,” someone called.  Then another knock.  “Maid service . . . do you want your room cleaned?”