Brian and Rob walked the next two blocks in almost silence. Both were thinking about another long night with nowhere to go and nothing to do. They were both lost in thought when the black Trans Am pulled in next to them.
"Could I offer you guys a ride?" Bill asked through the open passenger side window.
Both boys looked over at the driver but didn't recognize him. "No thanks," Brian answered, then quickly looked over at Rob, who had a worried look on his face.
"Why not? You don't like my car?" Bill sneered.
"No, it's not that. We would just rather walk home, that's all," Brian answered.
"What about your little boyfriend? Are you sure he wouldn't rather ride than walk?" Bill asked.
Brian and Rob looked quickly at each other. Their eyes grew wide. "B.B. Bill?" Brian stammered.
"That's me, lover. I was hoping that we could meet in a less public place. Now, why don't you both get in so we can have a little talk?" Bill growled.
Brian and Rob quickly looked over at each other. Then Brian said, "Let's get out of here." They both turned and sprinted the other direction as fast as they could.
Bill quickly turned around in a driveway and took off after them. Brian and Rob had turned the corner and ran across the street into a back yard on the corner. There weren't any fences in the next several backyards, so they kept going for three houses, then ran towards the front of the house.
Bill drove to where he could see them running, then drove quickly past, hoping to head them off at the end of the next block.
Brian and Rob hid in some bushes near the front of the house until they saw Bill drive slowly past. Once they saw that he had turned right at the corner, they ran across the street into another back yard.
They kept going until they had come to another street, which they also crossed after looking to see if the could see Bill coming and then ran down the backyards that were shaded with lots of tall trees. They were soon three blocks from where Bill had pulled beside them.
Both boys were starting to pant from the exertion but also from the adrenalin flowing through their bodies. Both were frightened almost out of their wits. Neither knew what Bill was capable of, but they had seen what he had done to Rob's Mustang in a fit of rage.
"Let's leave our back packs here. We can come back for them later," Rob said, as he took his off. Brian also took his off and they hid them in the corner next to the back steps.
"Do ....... do you see him?" Rob panted.
"No. I think we're safe here. Let's just rest here for a few minutes. I'm going to knock on the door and then go to this side of the house. You go to the other. If someone comes to the door, we can call Mike. If he doesn't answer, we can call the police. Bill won't get out of his car. At least I don't think he will. But we can watch around both sides of the house and run the other way if we see him. Ok?" Brian asked.
"Ok. You'd better be right," Rob said, shaking. Rob was clearly scared out of his mind.
Brian walked up to the back door and knocked loudly, then ran back to the right side of the house and peered around the corner. Rob went to the left side and did the same. Neither saw Bill approaching.
No one came to the door for several moments, but then an older woman stuck her head out of the back door and said, "Who's there?"
Brian ran up to the bottom of the steps and said, "Sorry to bother you. A man has been stalking us for several days now and he just drove up beside us. Could we please use your phone?"
"A man? What man?" the woman asked.
Rob had experienced enough for one day. He ran up beside Brian and said, "Please let us in. I swear we won't do anything to you. We're really scared and he might come back at any time. Please let us use your phone and we'll leave as soon as we can." A tear ran slowly down his cheek as he struggled to control his emotions.
She stared down at him for a second, then opened the door. "Come on in. Hurry!" she said.
Both boys ran inside and Rob locked the screen and then locked the inside door. "Thank you so much, Mam. Can we use your phone to call his brother?"
"Surely. There's one right here," she said, as she stepped away, showing Brian the wall phone in the kitchen. Brian ran to it and quickly dialed Mike's cell phone as Rob collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs. He sat there, shaking a little bit, as Brian waited for Mike to answer.
"Hello?"
"Mike. Bri. Where the Hell have you been? Oh, sorry, Mam. Bill found us. We had to run for it. He was chasing us in his car. We're in some old lady's house. Oh, sorry again. I didn't mean the old lady part," Brian said, looking at the old woman. "I don't know what I'm saying. He really scared Rob and I. He could be coming back at any time. Where are you?"
Brian had said all of that so quickly Mike could barely understand him. "Bri, calm down. Tell me where you are."
"I don't know the address. All I know is it's on Mason Street on the way home. We were walking home and he stopped next to us and tried to force us to get in the car with him," Brian answered, clearly scared.
"Was it a black Trans Am?" Mike asked.
"Yeah," Brian answered.
"Find the address and we'll be there as soon as we can," Mike replied.
"What's the address here?" Brian asked.
"1224 Mason Street", the woman answered.
"1224 Mason Street," Brian repeated.
"Ok, we'll be there as soon as we can. Stay inside until we get there." Mike ordered.
Bill drove around for a few minutes looking for the boys, but he had done what he had wanted to do. He had scared them to death. That was enough for now.
He knew he couldn't risk getting out of his car in a neighborhood and going after them.
He just wanted Brian to understand that he wasn't going to get away with what he had done to him. Brian's time was coming and Bill wanted him to know it.
It wasn't long before they heard the pounding on the door. Brian looked through the curtains at the side window and saw Mike and Justyn, then quickly unlocked the door.
"Bri, are you both all right?" Mike exclaimed as he pushed his way into the living room.
"Yeah, we're fine now. This is Mrs. Wilkens. She was kind enough to let us into her house," Brian said.
"I have two sons of my own. Would you like to see their pictures?" Mrs. Wilkens asked.
"Maybe another time, Mrs. Wilkens," Justyn answered, wanting to leave as soon as they could. "I think it would be better if we got the boys home as soon as we can."
"Here's a sack of extra cookies for both of you," she said as she handed the sack to Rob. "Now you make sure and come back by and tell me all about this when everything is over. You understand?"
"Yes Mam, we'll do that," Rob promised, accepting the bag of cookies.
"Let's go, boys," Justyn said. "Mrs. Wilkens, I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything about this to anyone. Another Police Officer will be by shortly to take your statement. Thanks for helping them."
"It wasn't a problem at all. I enjoyed their company. If I have more company coming, I had better bake some more cookies. I gave the boys the last ones I had left," she answered.
Justyn just smiled. "Yes Mam, that might be a good idea. Policemen really enjoy good cookies. Thanks again."
All four started to walk towards Justyn's Mustang when Rob said, "we have to get our book bags." He ran back to the backyard and came running back with both in his hands.
They all piled into Justyn's Mustang and Justyn drove away.
"Why the Hell were you walking home, anyway?" Mike yelled.
"Because we were tired of sitting on the steps waiting for you," Brian yelled back. "You were the one who was late, not us."
"But you should have known the risk you were taking when you left the school," Mike yelled back.
"Everyone calm down, OK? Nothing bad happened and now Brian and Rob both know that they have to be extremely careful until we can arrest him. We know he's dangerous and there's no telling what he might do. Especially after what he did today to Mike's Cobra," Justyn said calmly.
"What did he do to the Cobra?" Brian asked loudly.
"He flattened all four tires and totally ruined the paint job," Justyn answered.
"Oh no! I love that car," Brian wailed.
"It'll be as good as new in a week or two. I'm having it stripped all the way down to the sheet metal. Then, it'll be yours," Mike said, turning to look back at Brian.
"What?" Brian asked, his eyes wide.
Mike smiled at him. "You've been telling me that you needed a car of your own. I guess this was a good excuse to buy the truck I have been wanting for a while now. I knew you would scream bloody murder if I traded in the Cobra, so I thought it might be a good used car for you."
"MIKE!!! THANKS!!" Brian yelled from the back seat, as he reached around to awkwardly hug his big brother. "I love you."
"I love you too, little brother. But if you do anything like walking home again, I'm going to beat your butt until it's read as a stop sign. Agreed?" Mike said, laughing.
"Agreed," Brian said. "But you can't keep dropping us off at school and picking us up. Like you said, it could be a long time before Bill is caught. Can't we get a rental car or so0mething until the Cobra is painted?"
"You know, a friend of mine on the force has a car he is about to put in the paper to try and sell. He might rent it to you cheaply for a couple of weeks," Justyn said.
"Really? Is it in good shape," Mike asked.
"Yeah. 1999 Trans Am. T-tops, Monsoon stereo. It's really pretty. Kind of a sky blue with black leather seats. My buddy treats it like his baby. He wouldn't part with it except he's buying a Corvette Z06. I think I can talk him into letting you boys use it for a couple of weeks," Justyn answered.
"GREAT!!! That sounds awesome. I might decide to buy it and let Mike sell the Cobra," Brian exclaimed.
They picked up the Ford Lightening truck at the dealership. Mike got the garage door opener out of the Cobra and put it into the truck and then all four of them headed to Mike's house.
Mike pulled into the two car garage first, then went to the manual button so Justyn could also pull in beside him.
They went inside the kitchen and Brian got Mike in a bear hug. "Thanks again for the Cobra. I'm so pumped up I can't stand it."
"You're welcome. But no more chances until we get this guy, Ok?" Mike answered, hugging him back.
"No problem. But Mike, Rob and I can't spend the rest of our lives in this house. What if Bill doesn't do anything to make him get arrested? We're like prisoners here. We have to be able to do something. ANYTHING! But we can't just stay cooped up here forever," Brian exclaimed.
"Bri, you have to be patient. After today, you have to understand that we can't take any chances with this guy," Mike argued.
"I know. Today was really scary. But we also can't stay in this house for the rest of our lives," Brian answered, raising his voice.
"We have to do what we think is best to keep you both safe," Mike said, also getting loud.
"I have an idea," Justyn said.
"What's that?" Mike asked, glad for a diversion from the argument.
"I have a cabin up at Lake Lanier that my father built years ago. It's in a small cove away from almost everybody. There aren't any houses within about half a mile. It's in the north end of the lake, where construction of new houses hasn't reached yet. My father came into some money and decided to use it to buy real estate. We have 20 acres and lots of water frontage. I think we could drop the boys off there for the weekend when they get out of school on Friday. They could fish, swim, and just get away by themselves. There's no way Bill could ever find them up there," Justyn said.
"That would be really cool," Rob said.
"Yeah! We could take a cooler with food and cook anything we needed. I'm a good cook. I'd have to keep Rob out of the kitchen, though," Brian kidded. "He could burn the cabin down."
"Thanks a lot, Bri" Rob answered, as he faked a punch at Brian.
"There's plenty of frozen fish in the freezer. The kitchen is fully stocked. All you'll need is milk, eggs, and anything you want to drink. No alcohol! I'll take you up there myself. It'd be good for you two boys to get away from all of this for a while," Justyn said.
"That's awesome. Thanks," Brian said as he walked up to Justyn and started to offer to shake his hand, hesitated for a second, then hugged him quickly. "If we didn't have anything to look forward to, I think we would have gone completely crazy."
"I can second that. Thanks a lot for everything you have done for us, Detective Jones," Rob added, as he also hugged him quickly.
"You're welcome, guys. But we have to set some new rules, OK?" Justyn said sternly.
Both boys were taken aback a little, but both nodded their heads yes.
"Number one, no more Detective Jones, Ok? Call me Justyn. I'm not that much older than you are. And I'm lots younger than Mike, who is definitely over the hill. You agree?" Justyn asked with a smile on his face.
Both boys got smiles on their faces and each nodded in agreement. Mike just had a smirk on his face.
"Number two, I'm going to be your roommate for the next several days. Maybe longer. I'm going to set up in the guest bedroom. Anything in there is off limits, OK?" Justyn asked. "I don't want either of you even opening the door."
Both boys nodded again.
"Ok, last thing. I know going to school and coming straight home is going to suck, but that is what you're going to do. If you don't trash my cabin, that can be your home away from home on the weekends as long as you don't bitch and complain every day. You're beginning to drive Mike crazy. And if I am going to also live here for a while, I don't want to hear it either. Agreed?" Justyn asked.
"Agreed," Brian said.
"Me too," Rob answered.
"Me too," Mike said, as he beamed at Justyn.
"Me too," Bill said. He had heard every word. A cabin in the middle of nowhere. The two boys alone. How could be have gotten so lucky? He got a big smile on his face as he got out his knife attached to his leg and ran his finger down the sharp blade. `Payback time is coming. And the time is almost here,' he thought to himself.
To Be Continued
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