Mr. And Miss Anonymous Page 16

  “Don’t know, sir, I’ve been kind of busy with this,” Warner said, waving his arm toward the line of SUVs. “They have a dog inside.”

  Morgan pulled out his cell phone, pretended to dial a number, then spoke to himself, his back half-turned to Agent Warner but still within ear-shot.

  “Special Agent Lionel Lewis. I’m up at the California Academy of Higher Learning. My task force is stuck at a roadblock ten miles away, and I’m on my way to straighten that out. We have an incident here, and this is a request for additional agents ASAP. I’m leaving Agent Warner in charge. No IDs but obvious firepower. Civilians or media would be my guess. They aren’t going anywhere, I shot out all the tires. There is a K-9. Send four of ours. I thought it best not to bring the rent-a-cops into it, ma’am. It was my call. I’m in charge here. Fine, fine.”

  Morgan clicked the cell phone shut. He’d never make an FBI agent. He’d totally forgotten the rent-a-cops. He turned to Warner, and said, “Get those rent-a-cops down here and keep these people in their vehicles. Now, Agent Warner.”

  Agent Warner ran over to the guard shelter and used his squawk box to call in the rent-a-cops, who responded on the run.

  Morgan could feel a panic attack coming on. He had to get out of there before it all blew up on him. The moment the rent-a-cops skidded to a stop, he was in the Toyota, speeding out to the highway.

  “Josh, wake up! Wake up! I hear gunfire! C’mon, c’mon, wake up! You have to see what’s going on.”

  Josh struggled to a sitting position. Tom was right. He clamped his hands over his ears, his eyes burning. It sounded just like that day when all his friends were killed. Where were the gunshots coming from? Inside or outside? Outside, he decided. Who was that skunk shooting this time? The guards? The police? Maybe someone was shooting at the shooter.

  “C’mon, Josh, you have to check it out. You need to stay on top of what’s going on. If you don’t, they’re going to catch you, and you can’t let that happen. Can’t you move any faster?”

  Josh picked up his feet and ran, staying close to the wall as he hit the first floor and the long hallway that led to the main entrance. He looked down once to see hundreds of shell casings littering the floor. He’d seen the same casings that day when all his friends had been gunned down.

  “Don’t look at them, Josh, they’re just pieces of metal. You need to keep your wits about you and you also need a weapon. Think… Agent 8446.”

  “The baseball bat in the dean’s office. The one Adam hit the grand slam with last year. I can break the case it’s in. Adam… Adam doesn’t…won’t… He won’t ever need it again. Maybe I can kill someone with it to avenge him.”

  “Just get the damn thing and worry about killing someone later. It’s to protect yourself. You’re no killer, Josh. C’mon, c’mon, hurry up. You got lead in those legs today. Move it!”

  Josh raced back down the hall to the dean’s office. He took a second to stare at the dead plant on the desk, wondering if he should water it. I must be crazy to think about watering plants at a time like this.

  A heavy glass paperweight in his hand, Josh smashed the glass case that housed the winning bat and baseball. He pocketed the ball and gave the bat a few wild swings. Now he felt like he had a little control.

  “You just going to stand there, or are you going to do something?”

  “What? What? You want me to go out there and show myself with that crazy guy shooting people? I don’t think so. I have to get out of here. I just want to see what’s going on down by the gate. What if he shot everyone? If he did, then I have to call the police.”

  “Well, if that did happen, there’s nothing you can do. When you’re dead, you’re dead, and calling the police can’t help them.”

  “They might not be dead, just hurt. I have to help.”

  “At the risk of getting caught?”

  Josh debated the question. “Yes.”

  “Go out through the kitchen, walk behind the shrubs. They’re so thick against the building, no one will see you. Just don’t make any noise. I’m here, Josh, right beside you. Be careful, now.”

  “If he’s gone, he’ll be back. I have to get out of here, Tom.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. First things first. Check out the situation first. If that guy even thinks about coming back, he’ll know you’re gone. No more talking, now. Be as quiet as you can.”

  Josh looked around to study the terrain. Even though he knew it intimately, he studied each bush, shrub, and tree to see what would afford him the best cover. He eyed the sycamore tree with the low branches that were thick with fresh green leaves. Before he shinnied up the tree, he slid the baseball bat under a bush. With the dark gray of his sweat suit, he’d blend in with the foliage.

  Josh climbed steadily. He didn’t like the idea that he had to go as high as he was going. Talk about being a sitting duck. But, if he wanted to see all the way to the guardhouse, he had to go midway up the tree. The limb was sturdy, so there was no problem about its holding his weight. Still, as he stretched out his body, he hung on for dear life.

  The view was startling and definitely not what he expected. People, lots of people. No shooter. The guards with guns, the FBI agent. He knew it was an agent because it said “FBI” in bold yellow letters on the back of his Windbreaker. Eight men. Five big utility vehicles, all with flat tires. Shell casings all over the place. The lady and the man from the library.

  The FBI guy was holding a gun on the people. The lady in the hat looked like she was going to cry. The guy with her, the one from the library, looked pissed to the teeth. The dog looked like he wanted to take a chunk out of someone. Josh closed his eyes, and whispered, “What’s this all mean, Tom?”

  A strong gust of wind whipped through the trees just as Tom was about to respond. “Uh-oh, get out of here right now, Josh. That dog just picked up your scent. Quick. He’s straining at the leash and looking right here where you are. Try not to disturb the branches. Move, Josh, hurry. Everyone is looking at this tree.”

  “Oh, shit!”

  “Yeah, oh, shit!” Tom said.

  “Okay, okay.”

  Chapter 17

  Pete and Winston saw the movement in the sycamore tree at the same moment. The boy! So he’d been right after all. He was going to lose him again if these dumb clucks didn’t get out of his way. Still, did he want to take on the FBI and the rent-a-cops, who were all holding guns pointed at the SUVs? He looked down at the driveway to see all their own firepower as well as all their cell phones in a tidy little pile.

  “This is bullshit!” Pete said, opening the door and stepping out onto the concrete apron. He and the others would have been fools not to hear the click of seven guns. Even Winston knew enough to freeze in his tracks. Pete raised his hands high over his head. Winston, at his side, growled menacingly, the fur on the back of his neck standing straight up. Inside the SUV Pete could hear Zolly’s and Lily’s protests.

  Even though his hands were high in the air, Pete’s eyes were on the sycamore tree and the branch that was weaving and bobbing. Without the interference he was facing, with his long legs he could have snagged the boy before he slid to the ground. Goddamn it!

  “That’s far enough, mister,” Agent Warner said.

  To Pete, his voice sounded shaky. His firing hand didn’t look exactly stable to him either. The rent-a-cops looked nervous.

  “Look, we didn’t do anything. We stopped at the taped line when you told us to. We came here to see if we could find the boy. I think I know him. Now, either let us go or charge us with something. We have all the paperwork to carry those guns lying on the ground. What’s it going to be?”

  “You’re staying right where you are until I get orders telling me otherwise. Now, get back in that vehicle and stay there.”

  “See, now that’s where you’re wrong. We’re leaving, and we’re taking our property with us. You want to shoot me, then damn well shoot me. Before you can get that gun into firing position, this dog will have your th
roat ripped to shreds. I also want to remind you that I’m the CEO and founder of PAK Industries and have friends in some very high places, like 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, for example. I bet with one phone call I could have your ass booted out of the Bureau with no trouble. And those rent-acops—well, I understand Walmart is looking for help. And the bill for all these tires is going to be sent to the Bureau since you allowed a bogus agent to use an Uzi to flatten all our tires. Bogus agent, Mr. FBI Agent. How’s that going to look in your file? So back off, hotshot.”

  Agent Warner longed for a deep, dark hole to swallow him up. During his nine years at the Bureau, this was his first confrontation. Damn that stupid Robbins. Everything this guy said made sense. Still, to back down in front of all these people was going to be one hell of a humiliating experience. Sometimes you just had to bite the bullet.

  Warner holstered his weapon, the rent-a-cops did the same.

  “This is a crime scene, so get your gear and your posse and get the hell out of here. Don’t let me see you within a mile of this school again. You hear me?”

  “Screw you and the horse you rode in on,” Pete responded. “Zolly, get the guys, and let’s go!”

  On the short walk to the road, while Pete called for transportation, Zolly was stewing and fretting. “We could have taken them, boss.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Pete replied, snapping his cell phone shut. “We don’t have time to spend in custody waiting for bail and the paperwork that goes with it. That asshole got away, and I saw the boy up in the tree. I told you he’d come back here. Now he’s going to run again. I need to get back up there. Me and you, Zolly, and, of course, Winston. We need to find a way in through the back, and this time I’ll let you take on the rent-a-cops. We can do it, Zolly, but we have to do it right now. That bumpkin back there won’t think we have the chutzpah to do something so quick. You game?”

  “Yeah, boss.” Zolly’s honor was at stake here, and he knew it. “It’s almost dark, so let’s go for it. What about Miss Lily and the others?”

  “They’ll wait for our transportation.”

  “Do not ever make the mistake of speaking for me again,” Lily warned. “I’m going with you. I have as much invested in this as you do, Peter Aaron Kelly. Don’t give me any guff either. Let’s go.”

  Zolly rolled his eyes as he cut through a mass of brambles at the foot of the long driveway, with Pete, Lily, and Winston bringing up the rear.

  Josh raced into the kitchen, where he fell against the counter as he struggled to bring his breathing under control.

  “That was certainly an experience to write about in your journal. They saw you, you know. What’s your game plan now?” Tom asked.

  “No shit! Why do you think I’m standing here breathing like a racehorse? I need to get the book, Tom. Then I have to split, but I don’t know where to go. Do you have any ideas? That’s my game plan unless you have a better one,” Josh gasped.

  “Actually, I do have an idea, Josh. Mr. Dickey kept an apartment in town. He went there on weekends. If you can find his address, you could go there and hide out. It’s a complex. He told us about it, don’t you remember? He told us about all the weird people who lived there and how hard he had to work to get along with them.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just what I need, more weird people. Like this isn’t weird enough,” Josh said, waving his arms about. “That means I have to go back to the library.”

  “That’s exactly what it means, Josh. You should be safe at his place because the FBI went through everything there already. I bet his rent is paid to the end of the month. But maybe the people who own the apartment already rented it out. It’s a chance you have to take. Sheila agrees.”

  That was all Josh had to hear—his two best friends agreeing on a course of action.

  “So do I take the book with me or not?”

  “Yeah, yeah, take the book, but I don’t think you should leave it there. Sooner or later the apartment will be up for rent. Maybe you can find a place in the library that will be safe. You know, some book no one will ever look at. I think you should make copies first, though.”

  “I can do that. Yeah, yeah, I can do that. It’s almost dark out. Should I leave now?”

  “First go get the book and, yeah, go out the way you got in here, through the back. Stick the book in your pants and, for crying out loud, don’t lose it. It’s all you got going for you, buddy, to prove what’s been going on around here.”

  “Wait for me, Tom.”

  “You know it, buddy. Sheila’s here, too. She said to tell you that you’re going to need an ice pick to open Mr. Dickey’s lock. You better take some food, too.”

  Josh’s mind raced as fast as his feet as he ran through the building. Fifteen minutes later he was back in the kitchen, Tom’s spiral-bound notebook tucked securely in his sweatpants. He jerked at the string holding up his sweatpants to make sure the book was secure.

  Within seconds he had an ice pick in his pocket and a paper sack filled with food. “Wait a minute, I forgot something. I have to go back.”

  “Josh, there’s no time. I hear a commotion outside. What’s so important you have to go back for it?”

  “My photo album with all our pictures. I can’t leave without it. I don’t ever want to forget what you and Sheila look like. Our other friends, too.”

  “All right, all right, but hurry up.”

  “Fan out, people,” Pete hissed. He placed a cautionary hand on Winston’s head to warn the big dog to stay close. Winston whined.

  Thirty minutes later, Zolly had taken out three of the rent-a-cops. “They’re sleeping like babies, boss, and, no, I didn’t really hurt them. They might have a headache when they wake up a few hours from now, but that’s it. Do you want to go inside, or are we just checking the grounds?”

  “I’ll take the inside, you do the grounds. Keep Winston with you. Lily, come with me. You take the first floor, I’ll take the second.”

  “Pete, it’s pitch-dark inside, we aren’t going to be able to see a thing. The boy could be standing in the same room with us, and we’d never know it. This isn’t going to work unless we feel our way around and call his name. We both know he isn’t going to answer us. We need a better plan.”

  Pete knew she was right. How did he get to be this stupid? “You’re right. You stay here, and I’m going to wander around and call his name. I can’t leave here without giving it a shot.” There was such anguish in his voice when he said, “I have to try, Lily.”

  “I know, Pete. I’ll do the same. There’s a little light coming in some of the windows. Don’t call out too loud,” Lily warned, as Pete moved off.

  Lily ventured forth, wishing she had Winston at her side. From time to time she called out to the boy, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on the fear in her voice and know she was in a state of panic. Thirty minutes into her search she also knew she was hopelessly lost. Her heartbeat kicked up several notches as she broke out into a cold sweat. “Pete!” she croaked. “Can you hear me? I’m lost.”

  Josh Baer stopped dead in his tracks. Was his mind playing tricks on him or did he just hear a female voice no more than a foot away? He thought his heart was going to explode right out of his chest. He moved quickly to the opposite side of the hallway that led to the biology lab.

  “Oh, shit! Be careful, Josh. This isn’t good, buddy. Don’t even breathe. Let her pass you. She sounds scared. We both know scared people do crazy things.”

  Josh flattened himself against the wall, hardly daring to breathe. He clutched at the spiral-bound notebook and the thin photo album he’d stuck in his sweatpants. He just knew they were going to fall out, so he pulled them out and stuck them under his sweatshirt, which he tucked into the sweatpants. Too bad he didn’t have a Windbreaker with a zipper.

  “C’mon, c’mon, you ditzball, get the hell out of here. She’s calling someone who must be upstairs. How’d they get by us?”

  Did Tom really think he was going to answer him? The woman was whimpering, or it s
ounded like she was whimpering, although he’d never heard anyone doing that. Who was she? What was she doing here? Who was the guy upstairs? Tom was right, he had to get out of here. He moved then, the toe of his sneaker sticking on the slick tile underfoot. He’d made a noise. Damn.

  “Pete, is that you? Thank God. I thought I heard something. I have to get out of here before I pass out. You know the way out, don’t you?”

  “I know what you’re thinking, Josh. Don’t do it. Do you hear me, don’t do it!”

  Josh wished he could tell Tom to shut up. Instead he whispered, “Follow me.” He felt movement then, the air stirring around him as he started down the hall. Please, he prayed, don’t let this be a mistake. Please, please, please.

  Lily was babbling as she followed him, but he was so intent on getting safely away that he had no clue what she was saying. At the doorway that led into the kitchen, Josh reached out and pushed her forward. He whispered, “Kitchen. Wait.” He raced past her and out the door.

  “That was probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in your whole life. Now, how the hell are you going to get out of here? There are people out there, and they have that big dog. What are you going to do, Josh?”

  “I’m going to pretend I’m you and run like hell; then I’m going to go back to being me and hurdle any obstacle that crosses my path. You know, like Superman. Unless you have a better idea.”

  “Go for it, buddy.”

  And he did.

  Lily listened to the sound of the door closing and frowned. Why was Pete leaving her alone? She called his name, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

  “What’s wrong, Lily? You sound scared out of your wits,” Pete said as he came up behind her. He put his arms around her shaking shoulders.

  “P… Pete? Didn’t you just go out the kitchen door? How did you get back in here so quick?”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t go out the kitchen door, I just got here. I was looking for you. It’s too damn dark, so all I could do was call his name. But Josh didn’t answer. Did you have any luck?”