Mistaken Identity, Part 2

[If you missed Part 1 last week, you might want to go back and read that first.  Enjoy!]

The fact that the footsteps had followed Jack and Emma onto the side street proved that someone (at least) was following them.  In the still night air, they sounded far too loud in Jack’s ears.  Gripping his sister’s hand for dear life, he and Emma ran through the slush.

At that moment, Jack realized he didn’t know exactly where they were.  He’d been so obsessed with calming Emma down, he’d stopped paying attention—not a great thing to do at night.  He looked around quickly for any sign of a clue.

Suddenly, he and Emma ran out onto a wide street, lit by rows of streetlights up and down.  Jack looked around.  Ah, of course.  He knew this street.  It bordered his neighborhood and an old business district.  Right across from them was a large, rambling old warehouse building that had been out of business for goodness knows how long.

No cars were coming, so Jack led Emma across the street.  Now, if whoever was behind persisted in following, Jack would be able to get a look at them.  He turned to see whether pursuit would continue.

It did, and the look Jack got didn’t serve to put him at ease at all.  He and Emma were being pursued by two men, both dressed in black.  They still had not spoken; in fact, no one had said anything above a whisper during the chase.  Right then, that changed as Emma let out a scream!

Jack looked at his sister, afraid that something had happened to her.  She was fine, but she had gotten a look at their pursuers to, and now she knew why Jack had wanted her to run.

“Shh!” hissed Jack.  “We’ll fool them.”  They reached the other side of the street, with Jack just barely remembering to jump the curb.  Instead of turning, though, he led Emma straight onto the slush-covered parking lot.  She slipped on something, but he kept her up, and they continued running, not stopping until they’d reached the side of the building.

“There should be a broken window here some—in here!” Jack whispered, dragging Emma through.  The window had broken so long ago that no glass was left in it, which meant Emma did not cut herself on the way in.  They landed—thud—on the floor, which was a little lower than the parking lot outside.

“Now get away from the window!” ordered Jack.  They were in a large, open room, and he led Emma across it.  Their footsteps echoed eerily across the abandoned factory.  When they were about halfway across the floor, their pursuers jumped through the window as well.  Jack dragged Emma behind a piece of machinery, and they stopped.

Trying to breathe as quietly as possible, Jack peered around the edge of the machine.  He could just make out the two men looking around, curiously.

“Where are they?” said one.

“They can’t have gone far,” said another.  “They must be hiding in here somewhere.”

“Find them,” said the first.  “We can’t let that boy spill our plans.”

“What plans?” thought Jack.  He didn’t know of anything he could spill.  Life had been far too boring for him lately to have anything to reveal.

Fortunately, it was dark enough that by the time either of the men thought to look behind the machine, Jack and Emma would be able to sneak off somewhere else to hide.

Aaah-choo!

Emma picked the worst possible time to sneeze.  “Over there!” shouted one of the men, and they took off running.  So did Jack and Emma, who sprinted for a door at the side of the room.  They got to it, opened it, and darted out.

They found themselves in a short hallway that extended to the left of the door.  Jack looked for a way outside but didn’t see one, so he led Emma all the way down the hallway.  At the end, there was a door to the left.  Jack opened it and found himself back in the room they’d just come from!

The two men were, at the same moment, darting through the door Jack had entered the hallway on.  “Come on!” said Jack, dragging Emma through.  They darted back the way they’d come.

BAM!!!  Jack thudded into an old furnace.

“Jack!” shouted Emma!

Stars flew around Jack’s head.  He struggled back to his feet and tottered around for a second.  “I’m alright,” he said.  Where was the window?  Dizzy, Jack couldn’t make it out.

“There they are!” came a voice from the pursuit.

Jack looked.  The men had charged out and were gaining on him and Emma fast.  “Up here!” said Jack, pointing to a metal staircase to the left.  Emma darted up first, with Jack following.

The staircase led to an old catwalk that ran around the room.  Emma ran down it, with Jack right behind.  “There’s probably another way down,” he whispered to his sister.  “We’ll just—”

At that moment, the catwalk tilted alarmingly to the left!  Jack grabbed for the railing just as part of the structure came off the wall.  Swiveling out into space, Jack heard Emma scream!

“Emma!” he called.  Suddenly, something grabbed his leg.  He looked down.  It was Emma.  She now hung on to him as he clung desperately to the catwalk.  Apparently, the upper bolts holding it to the wall had given way.  How strong the lower ones were, Jack didn’t know.

The two pursuers, meanwhile, had stopped at the top of the old staircase.  A flashlight turned on and trained itself right on Jack, who was momentarily blinded by the sudden light.

“Ha!  We’ve got him!” said a voice.  “Where’s the other one?”

If the men had thought to aim the flashlight down a little bit, they would have found out.  However—

“Who cares,” said the other.  “This is the one we want, anyway.”

“You won’t escape us now, Charlie!”

Charlie? thought Jack.  They had the wrong person!  He wondered what they wanted Charlie for.

“What should we do with him?” said the first man.

“I don’t know,” said the other.  “He looks stuck.  We could go down and wait for him to drop off.”

Speaking of dropping off, the grip around Jack’s ankle suddenly ceased.  He started to yell, “Emma!” but checked himself.  Instead, he looked down.

He couldn’t see anything.  The darkness was almost worse than knowing what might be further down.

“That’s a good idea,” said the first.  “Then, it would just be an accident.  Our hands would be free of the matter.”

“You won’t tell anybody anything, Charlie!” said the other, laughing.  The flashlight beam moved away, and there was squeaking as the men headed down the staircase.

Then, it happened.  The railing jerked.  Apparently, the lower bolts weren’t any too strong, either.  There was a creak, a groan, and—

Jack let go, deciding to try his chances with the drop.  He landed hard on the cement floor down below.  A sharp pain shot through his ankle.  He looked around for Emma, but didn’t see her.

Then, there was a loud noise above.  With his good foot, Jack hopped out of the way and just missed the heavy iron catwalk falling on him.  To his right, the flashlight dropped, and there were loud shouts.  The staircase had been dragged down too!

So, three wounded, and one missing in action.  Where was Emma?  Jack hoped she wasn’t under the misshapen pile of metal in front of him.  He couldn’t leave without knowing where she was, though.

That furnace!  Jack snuck over to it, found a large opening, and crawled in.  Unlike its working days, the structure was quite cold and even a little damp.  He peered out to see what was happening at the old staircase.

Clang!  A piece of metal moved, and someone stood up.  “Ed!  Ed!”  No answer.  “He’s out,” said the voice.  Then, the standing figure moved.  One of his arms hung at his side, limp.  He was also limping, though not too badly.  However, he began staggering over towards the furnace!

Jack crawled out and hobbled behind the furnace.  Reaching around, he found a large piece of metal.  Rearing back his arm, he threw it across the factory.  It clattered noisily at the other end.

“Ah-ha,” said the crook.  “So you’re over there, are you?  Take that!”  Two gunshots went off.  Jack’s heart leapt into his throat, as he realized Emma might be over there.  Where was she?

At any rate, the man started over towards the spot.  Jack crawled over to the old catwalk and found another large piece of metal.  He grabbed it and stood.  His ankle hurt, but it held.  Apparently, it wasn’t broken.  He limped across the floor, towards the man with the flashlight.

“Where is he,” said the man, not realizing Jack was almost behind him.  He reached the man and—

Just as the man was bending over, Jack brought the piece of metal down.  Instead of catching the man in the head, though, it caught him squarely in the back.  “Oww!” shouted the man, his good arm going over towards his back.  Jack started to hop away, then swung again.  He caught the man squarely in the hand, and the his gun dropped onto the floor.

The man turned.  In the dim light, he saw Jack.  “So, you want to fight, do you?” he said.

Actually, Jack didn’t much feel like fighting.  He had preferred the ambush, but it hadn’t worked.  He got an idea, though.  There was still no movement where the other man was lying; he was still out.  If Jack could just find that window, he could lure the man out and away from Emma, wherever she was.

Jack ran for the side of the building.  He got there and felt the windows.  Which one was—ah, this one was out.  Jack climbed through and instinctively ducked when he got out.  It was none too soon, for two shots went flying over his head.

Trying to get up, Jack slipped in the slush.  He finally pulled himself to his feet, and he flattened himself against the brick wall.  He would have tried making a run for it, but there were too many windows on the side of the building.

At that moment, two new lights joined the mix—one red, one blue.  They were moving, too.  A police car!

The welcome sight skidded to a stop, and two men jumped out.  They started towards the building.  Ducking, Jack ran along the side.

Soon, the police saw him.  “Stop, or we’ll—oh, it’s you Jack.”

“Officer Williams!” Jack exclaimed.  “Careful, there are two men in there!  One’s unconscious, but the other has a gun.  Emma’s in there too, so you’d better be—”

“I’m right here, Jack!” called Emma, waving from the police car.

“Stand back,” called Williams, pushing Jack behind him.  “Alright in there!  Come out!  We’ve got you!”

“Come in and get me,” called Hassler.  At that moment, three more police cars pulled up, and Jack saw some lights from the other end of the building.

“I think his arm’s hurt,” said Jack.

“Don’t worry,” said Williams.  “We’ll get him out.  Hassler!  I’m warning you!”

“Hassler?” said Jack.

“A wanted criminal,” said Williams.  “Some kid named Charlie Harris came by our office today with some interesting information on him.  Now, we’ve got what we need to pick him up.”  Raising his voice, “You’d better come out now, Hassler.”

No response.

“Alright!  You asked for it,” said Williams, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small object.  He lobbed it through an empty window, and Jack heard a hissing sound.  Tear gas!

It took a couple more tear gas bombs, but Hassler eventually came out, where he was quickly apprehended and taken down to the police station for whatever crime he’d committed.  His partner, once the tear gas had cleared, was retrieved from the building.  He had no bones broken; he was just unconscious.  Hassler’s arm, on the other hand, would be in a sling for a while.

Meanwhile, Jack had a big hug waiting for Emma.  “I was so worried when you let go of my leg!”

“The ground was right under my foot,” said Emma, “and I decided to go get help.  Sorry I left you in there alone.”

“I’m glad you did,” said Jack.  “That was a brave thing you did, getting help.  I couldn’t ask for a better sister.”