“Inconceivable! Incredible!
Infathomable!”
“I do believe the word
you’re thinking of is unfathomable,”
Valentine told Blackwell’s beleaguered chief of police. The two men sat in the police office the
morning after the kidnapping, Morris looking like he needed more sleep. Valentine seemed all caught up; he was ready
and raring to go.
“You realize how humiliating
this is?” the chief said. “I saw that
car, stolen, on the way to the site of a kidnapping, and I dismissed it! I completely ignored what I saw, and a girl
is now missing. Worse, the thief is the
criminal we’ve been using these cars to look for! He uses our own equipment against us! Embarrassing.”
“If I were you,”
suggested Valentine, “I’d dust the steering wheel for fingerprints—”
“For crying out loud,
Valentine, who do you take me for? An
idiot?” The chief paused. “Maybe I am, but I’m not that stupid.”
“I was just wondering,”
Valentine mused. “You see, this incident
leaves no doubt in my mind as to the identity of the Porcupine.”
“You mean you know who it
is?”
“Not specifically, but I
can gauge the general class of people that produced someone like this. Stealing a police car is a pretty bold
act. Kidnapping a girl in broad daylight
is worse. This criminal’s laughing in
our face, spoon-feeding us every clue we need to catch him, and we can’t find
him. Why?”
“Why?” asked the chief.
“Because the criminal is
someone no one would ever suspect,” said Valentine. “Someone of unimpeachable reputation, above
the threshold of suspicion. Someone
everyone in Blackwell trusts.”
The chief shivered
uncomfortably. “For goodness’ sakes,
Valentine, that describes me—”
“It’s not you,” said
Valentine. “I’m your alibi. Now, the mayor, on the other hand—”
“What about the mayor?”
the chief asked.
“Why, don’t you see?”
asked Valentine. “He’s popular, isn’t
he? He got elected, after all. No one would ever think of him. He’d have all the cover he needed—”
“Valentine! If you start going after the mayor, you’ll
put my job on the line—”
“Are you more concerned
about your job, Morris, or are you more concerned about catching the Purple
Porcupine? I’ll start investigating at
once…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Right at three o’clock
that afternoon, Francis drove up and parked at the Highway 11 Conoco
station. A few moments later, Brittany
McPherson came out, off for the rest of the afternoon. Her face broke into a smile as she saw who
was waiting by her car.
“We’re good to go!” she
said.
“They weren’t
suspicious?” Auburn asked.
“I think they were at
first,” said Brittany, “especially when it turned out that there wasn’t any
money missing. Once they found your
sticker in the car, though—well, that convinced them.”
“Perfect,” said
Auburn. “Now, all we need to do is move
Pollyanna into the hotel.”
“You think we can do it?”
Brittany asked.
“I don’t see why not,”
said Auburn. “The police aren’t looking
for you.”
“No, and thank goodness
for that,” Brittany chuckled. “Porter
was kind of relieved when they found the sticker. I think he was afraid he’d be a suspect.”
“What did Richards say
when he found out about the assignment?”
Brittany shrugged. “He hasn’t contacted me yet. My guess is that Billy got a phone call he
paid very little attention to. We’ll
have to let him know what happened.”
“First, let’s get
Pollyanna to the correct building,” Auburn leaned back on the tan upholstered
seat of Brittany’s Camry. “If you hadn’t
had that gas station handy, I’m not sure what we’d have done.”
“Oil’s common enough in
these parts,” said Brittany. “Ever heard
of Pawhuska?”
“What’s that?”
“The first town to the east
of this one, but they’re about thirty miles apart,” said Brittany. “I’m absolutely not exaggerating when I say
that the only things between there
and here are windmills and an abandoned Sinclair station.”
“Doesn’t surprise me that
much,” mused Auburn. “Kansas has parts
like that.”
“Of course, if you arrive
in the wrong part of Ponca City at night,” said Brittany, “you’ll think you’re
in Houston—if you’ve never been to Houston, of course. Ponca City’s got a big refinery, right on the
railroad tracks. At night, the place is
brighter than the moon itself! I always
think it looks cool when I’m driving by.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever
seen a refinery before,” noted Auburn.
“How big is it?”
“Ooh, I’m not sure,
exactly, but it covers a lot of ground,” said Brittany. “Let’s put it this way. It covers way more territory than all of
downtown Blackwell. They’ve got all
these circular white tanks—I assume that’s where they store the oil—with
ladders wrapping their way up the sides.
By the tracks, they’ve got these masses of pipes that funnel products
into tank cars, waiting to deliver the stuff.
I couldn’t tell you a whole lot more than that, though, never having
worked at one.” Brittany pulled the car
to a stop. “Well, here we are.”
“Oh, I hope Pollyanna
hasn’t left,” said Auburn. “If she’s
gone, I don’t know what we’ll—” she breathed a sigh of relief as she briefly
spotted a face at the window.
“Where’s the police car?”
Pollyanna asked, as soon as Auburn came inside.
“We had to give it back,”
Auburn explained, without bothering to tell how. “I hope last night wasn’t too boring.”
“Well, it was rather
tedious,” Pollyanna remarked, yawning.
“You’d better not be lying to me about the toys—”
“Oh, you just wait and
see,” said Auburn. “You won’t believe
how many toys there are at the hotel.”
The girls headed back to
the car, Auburn keeping a sharp lookout to make sure no one spotted them. “Keep your head down at all times,” she told
Pollyanna. “We don’t want Richards to
see us.” Or anyone else for that matter, she thought, but she kept it to
herself.
“Should I park in front
of—”
“No,” said Auburn,
guessing the question. “Go around to the
alley. I think that’ll be out of the way
enough that no one will spot it. Even if
someone does see you, they won’t necessarily get suspicious.”
In a matter of moments,
Brittany was swinging the car into the alley.
Auburn unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door at the exact same
moment that the alley door flew open.
Allie was at the door, face white with fear.
“I was just about to go
try to find you all,” she blurted out.
“Find us! I thought I told you all not to go outside—”
“It’s too late for that,
Auburn. Leila’s gone.”
“Gone?!”
“Will spotted her six
minutes ago, walking towards the railroad tracks. He opened a window and called her name, but
she acted like she didn’t hear him.
Valerie and I didn’t want to go after her, but—”
Auburn had heard
enough. “Is anyone else missing?”
“No, just Leila. Valerie checked—”
“Then you take
Pollyanna,” said Auburn. “Brittany and
I’ll go search. If anyone besides us
comes back, then hide! Don’t answer
unless you hear the secret knock.”
Without waiting for a
reply, she raced back to the car.
“Brittany, Leila’s gone! She up
and left!”
“Oh, no!” said Brittany.
“Oh, yes. Now, here’s what we’ve got to do. Call Jimmy, Will, Billy, Penny—anybody else
on the list and tell them to start searching right away. Allie said she headed west, so she’s probably
wandering around there somewhere. Meanwhile,
tell them not to draw attention to
themselves. If anyone figures out what
we’re looking for—”
“On it!” said
Brittany. “There’s a phone at the gas
station; I’ll go make a call.”
“And if you see
Pollyanna—”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll bring
her back.” Putting the car in reverse,
Brittany tore out of the alley in a spin move that would have turned heads at a
European sprint car rally. Gunning the
throttle, she tore up the street towards the gas station.
Auburn watched her go for
a moment, then started running towards the railroad tracks.
What
is it about these things? she asked herself. Seems
like I’m always running towards them.
First Brittany, now this.
She was glad Leila was
only seven. Seven-year-olds didn’t do
anything drastic—at least, not that she knew of. She didn’t think Leila had any ideas
involving the railroad cars, but still…
Auburn hurried on,
looking both ways as she went over the tracks.
When she got to the other side, there was still no sign of Leila. She paused, wondering what to do.
Where
does Leila live again? she asked herself. 25th
Street, not very far away from me. She
might be trying to go home… Auburn
sped up the street, wind whipping at her shirt.
She was starting to run out of breath, but adrenaline kept her
going—that, and the knowledge that if Leila should fall into the wrong hands…
Not a whole lot of people
were out this afternoon. Most were still
at work, Auburn guessed. Whatever the
reason, the neighborhood was mostly empty.
No one else was outside on this street, and Auburn kept her head down,
not worried about running into anyone.
She only looked up every now and then to see if she could spot Leila.
Not
in that garage, she thought, running past a house. Not
on that street, she thought, running past an intersection. Not in
any of those trees, she thought, glancing up at the tall elms that overhung
the street. Then, she saw something in
one. However, as she got closer, she
realized it was just a kite, caught in the—
Wham!
Auburn hit another side
street and charged full force into a pedestrian coming from her left. He didn’t fall down, but the forced of the
blow caused Auburn to stagger backwards.
“Oh, I’m sooooo sorry,” she began—
And then, the man’s face
registered in her mind.
RICHARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh
no, oh no, oh no oh no OH NOOO! ran through her head, and
she just barely managed to keep from screaming.
“Well, hello there,”
Richards said, pleasantly enough.
“You’re in quite a hurry.”
He
looks happy, Auburn observed, the thought adding to
her misery. Has he found her already? Does
he know I’m—
“Y-yes, I know,”
stammered Auburn. “I—well, I’ve got to
be home soon.”
That was somewhat true,
though she didn’t have to be home until five.
“I don’t think we’ve ever
met,” the man said, offering his hand.
“I’m Jack Richards. Ever heard of
me?”
Quite
a lot, Auburn thought, but she shook her head as she took
his hand. “Chelsea,” she said, using the
only name she could come up with.
“Chelsea Coronado.”
“Lived here long,
Chelsea?” Richards asked.
“No, I don’t live here,
I—” Auburn suddenly stopped, her eyes fixated on something behind Richards.
Leila
had just come off a side street!
The missing girl stood,
not more than twenty feet behind Richards, moving very slowly. Obviously, she didn’t have a destination in
mind. However, if Richards turned
around, he would—
Mustn’t
let him suspect! Auburn realized urgently. “That is—my great-aunt lives here. I’m visiting her for a couple days.”
“Oh, you’re from out of
town,” said Richards. “You wouldn’t have
heard of the Brotherhood Club then, would you have?”
“Brotherhood Club?” said
Auburn. Behind Richards, Leila had just
come to a stop in the middle of the road.
She was staring intently at Auburn, clearly wondering what her “kidnapper”
was doing here.
“Yes, it’s a community
service organization,” said Richards, pleased to have the opportunity to show
off. “All the kids in town between 10
and 18 are in it. We meet a few nights
each week to engage in fun activities, build character, things of that
nature. Also, we go around doing service
projects, working to make a difference in this town. I’m actually the head of the organization.”
“You are!” said
Auburn. “Then, you must control every
kid in town!”
Leila got the
message. Auburn saw her duck behind a
bush.
She also saw Richards’s
eyelids raise about a half inch.
“Control every kid in town? You
say that like I’m some sort of dictator—”
“Oh, I don’t mean that,
Mr. Richards. I mean—well, I’m
from—from—” suddenly, Auburn was at a loss for city names—“I’m from Dallas, you
see. My church there has a huge youth
group, and Mr. Greene—that’s the leader—Mr. Greene does a great job of getting
to know the kids. I’m only twelve, but
I’m observant enough to know that there’s not anyone in the organization that
hasn’t been touched in some way by him.”
“I see,” said Richards,
relief wafting into his voice. “Well, it
was wonderful meeting you, but I’ve got a meeting of my own coming up
tonight. An oil man wants us to do a
project for him at a refinery. I do hope
you have a wonderful vacation, and if you’re ever in town for an extended
period of time, you’re welcome to come to our meetings.”
“Thanks,” said Auburn,
shyly. She walked up the street,
relieved to hear Richards walking away behind her. She didn’t dare to turn around, for fear
she’d see him looking her way. She just
kept up her pace until reaching the bush, then glanced at the ground. For once in her life, she was pleased to see
that her shoelace was untied, and she wasted no time getting to work on it.
“Stay right behind that
bush and don’t go anywhere,” she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, without
even looking to her left. “Did you see
that man I was talking to?”
“Mmm-hmmm,” came a
voice. Leila was still there.
“That’s the man that
wants to kill you,” Auburn said. “Sorry
to be so blunt about it, but he’s the reason that you’re hiding.”
“I didn’t trust him,”
whispered Leila. “Something about—”
“Did you speak to
him? Did he come to the hotel?”
“No, I was just getting
lonely. I miss my home.”
“Is he gone?”
“Yes.”
Auburn straightened up,
then glanced for the first time at the little girl hiding in the bush next to
her. Leila stared straight back, tears
in the corners of her eyes, as if she’d been just crying. Auburn almost felt like doing the same thing,
but she kept it to herself.
“You were right not to
trust that man,” said Auburn. “He’s a
liar, and his business is trouble. If
you turn up now, he’ll either kill you or keep forcing your brother to commit
crimes. It’s a horrible situation,
Leila. I don’t need to tell you
that. Sometimes, it gives me
nightmares! We can’t stop fighting him
until he’s behind bars. In the meantime,
you’ve got to stay out of sight. For
your brother’s sake. Now, can I trust
you to wait here while I go get Brittany?”
Leila nodded. “I think I understand.”
“Don’t move a muscle!”
said Auburn, in the most serious tone she could muster. “Unless Richards figures out you’re back
here. Then, run—hide—fight—do whatever
you have to, but don’t let him find you.
Or else!”
Auburn started up the
street, still not daring to glance back.
She hoped Richards had actually moved on, and that he wasn’t circling
back, suspecting that something was up. I didn’t know he walked in this part of town,
she thought to herself. Why, oh why, of all places—
And then, Auburn saw what
was at that moment the most beautiful sight in the world. An older model, light blue Toyota Camry,
coming straight her way. In a few
seconds, the car was close enough for her to make out Brittany as the
driver. Relief flooded over Auburn’s
face as she waved for her friend to stop.
Now the mayor will get arrested???
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