On the Run Page 8

“You’re blinking right now. What’s the matter with you?”

  “I’m —

  “What’s the matter?” the big guy who had been chasing them said as he stepped out from behind the RV. In his hand he held a gun pointed at Cody.

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Zach asked Cody.

  “Or try to signal me? And what was with all the blinking and nodding?”

  Cody shook his head in dismay. “That was me signaling you.”

  “Oh,” Zach said, suddenly feeling anything but smart.

  “So, uh, your brother’s in the hospital, and your sister’s looking for him?” the big man asked as he flipped open his cell phone.

  “What?” Zach exclaimed. “Where’d you get that idea?”

  Unfortunately, the only thing Zach was worse at than understanding blinking and nodding signals was his ability to act. And, even though the big guy wasn’t the brightest candle on the cake, he saw through it in a second. He pushed a number on his cell phone. After a moment, he spoke into it.

  “Yeah it’s me, Bruno,” he said. “The older brother came back. His sister’s looking for the kid in the — What?

  You got him already? Great . . . Yeah, we’ll, uh, wait right here.”

  Zach and Cody exchanged nervous looks as the big man hung up and flashed them a menacing grin.

  Piper had gone downstairs to the lobby to meet the others when she froze. There, coming off the elevator, was the woman with the bright red hair. Next to her was the skinny assistant. And between them, holding their hands, was . . .

  “Elijah!” she gasped.

  She ducked around the corner and watched from across the lobby. Desperately, she looked for a policeman, for any security.

  There were none. Only —

  She had another surprise. There, coming from the opposite direction, was the old man they had helped who had been having a heart attack. Only now he looked perfectly healthy!

  He spotted her and gave a nod. But not a “hi-there, good to-see-you” nod. No, this was more like an insider’s nod, the type that said, “You and I know something those others don’t.”

  Piper stared at him, not understanding, as he continued walking . . . straight toward Elijah and the two grown-ups.

  When he was ten feet from them, he suddenly broke out coughing — huge, violent coughs, like he was choking. He grabbed his throat as if he couldn’t breathe.

  The woman and man tried to sidestep him, but he suddenly reeled as if he was going to fall. And he did.

  Right into the woman with red hair.

  She let out a yelp and lost her grip on Elijah as she and the old man tumbled to the ground. Her assistant tried to grab the boy, but the old man went into another coughing spasm and threw himself onto the assistant.

  Suddenly, Piper understood. She darted around the corner and raced at them.

  “Run, Elijah,” she shouted. “Run!”

  Her brother looked up and grinned as Piper arrived and grabbed his hand. But as they turned for the door, she spotted something. The woman’s cell phone had spilled out of her purse and onto the floor.

  In one quick move, Piper scooped it up, and they raced for the exit.

  Back on the fourth floor, the little girl’s parents stepped out of the conference room. They looked worn, tired, and very scared. Beside them was the doctor.

  “I’ll have the nurses begin prepping her for surgery right away,” he said. “We’ll begin in one hour.”

  The couple nodded sadly, and the husband did his best to support his wife.

  Then, a young nurse from ICU rounded the corner.

  “Nurse,” the doctor said, “I want you to start prepping LeAnne Howard for surgery. We’re going to — ”

  “But Doctor,” she interrupted. “That’s why I was coming to see you. LeAnne’s awake. She’s out of the coma!”

  “What?” the doctor exclaimed.

  “She seems to be fine. I know it’s hard to believe, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her!”

  The doctor traded looks with the parents. Then, without a word, all four broke into a run toward the ICU.

  Piper raced down the street toward the parking garage. She glanced over her shoulder, but neither the redhead nor her assistant had left the hospital yet. That old guy must really be keeping them busy.

  Piper noticed the woman’s cell phone had begun to vibrate. She looked at it in her hand and hesitated.

  Should she answer it?

  It vibrated again.

  Approaching an alley, they ducked into it and she came to a stop.

  The phone vibrated again.

  She stared at it. Then, with a deep breath, she opened the lid and listened.

  The voice on the other end paused a moment, then asked. “Monica?”

  Piper fumbled with her shirt sleeve and brought it up to the phone. In a deep voice, she answered, “Yes?”

  “I’m, uh, just checkin’ in,” he said. “You about here?”

  Using her deepest voice, she answered, “Yeah, we’re on our way.”

  “That’s, uh, real good. ’Cause I got them other three all tied up nice and neat in the RV.”

  Piper’s mind raced. They’d found the RV! They’d tied up Zach, Cody, and Willard! Now what? Where could she go, how could she help them, and what should she say?

  Fortunately, the guy on the phone saved her the trouble.

  “You, uh, want me to come pick you up?”

  Piper’s heart skipped. “Yes!” she cried. Then, remembering to lower her voice, she repeated, “Yes, leave the others, and pick us up in the van at the front of the hospital.”

  “Good, and then maybe we can buy you some cough drops.”

  Piper frowned. “Cough drops?”

  “For your voice. It sounds like you’re getting a cold.”

  “Uh, yes,” Piper said, then gave a couple coughs for good measure. “Cough drops would be nice.”

  “Okay. Roger, ten – four, over and, uh . . . uh . . .”

  “Out?” Piper suggested.

  “Yeah.” He giggled. “And out.”

  Piper pushed the End button and leaned against the wall with a huge sigh. Reaching down for Elijah’s hand, she poked her head back out of the alley to check for the redhead, and then she turned and started for the parking garage.

  Thirty seconds later, she arrived at the entrance only to hear a car racing down the ramp. She pulled Elijah out of sight just as the green van sped out and screeched a hard left toward the hospital.

  As soon as the coast was clear, she raced into the garage and down the ramp where they’d parked the RV.

  As she came closer she thought she heard muffled sounds from inside.

  Once she arrived, she opened the door and, sure enough, there was Zach, Cody, and Willard all tied together with duct tape over their mouths.

  “We’ve got to get out of here fast,” she said as she and Elijah clambered inside.

  “Hmmmph! Hummph!” Zach said.

  “Hang on,” Piper said as she kneeled down and tore off his duct tape.

  “Ow!” Zach cried. “That hurt.”

  Grabbing a knife from the kitchen drawer, Piper quickly cut his ropes then removed Cody’s tape — much more carefully.

  “Thanks.” Cody flashed her his grin.

  Piper nodded.

  Zach was already up and heading over to start the RV. “You guys hold on,” he said. “Going up this ramp might be bumpy.”

  He fired up the RV, hit the gas, and they lurched forward.

  “Zach!” Piper cried as she nearly fell.

  But that was only the beginning. They hit the first speed bump and the RV’s roof slammed hard into the ceiling, knocking the rest of the sky light off.

  “Zach!” everyone shouted.

  He slowed but paid no attention to the concrete beam hanging down in front of them . . . until there was the sickening SCREEECH! K-THUNK! as the RV wedged itself underneath the beam and completely stopped.

  “ZACH!”


  He gunned it, but the RV wouldn’t budge.

  He threw it into reverse and revved the engine.

  Repeat in the no-budge department.

  Finally Monica and Silas broke free of the coughing old man and raced outside the hospital . . . just in time to see Bruno pulling up in the van.

  “What is he doing?!” Monica cried.

  “Maybe he caught the kid,” Silas said.

  Monica threw him a look. Somehow she suspected that wasn’t the case.

  Back in the RV, Piper shouted, “What’re we going to do? They’ll be here any minute!”

  “Let’s all get out and push,” Cody suggested.

  It was as good an idea as any. Everyone but Zach piled out of the RV and lined up behind the rear bumper.

  “Ready,” Cody shouted. “One, two, three . . . push!”

  They pushed, and Zach revved the engine.

  Nothing happened.

  “Harder!” Zach called out the driver’s window.

  Again he revved, and again they pushed. But nothing seemed to work. They were stuck for good.

  “Maybe we should run for it on foot!” Piper shouted.

  “Five youngsters running on foot,” Willard said. “I am afraid that will draw far too much attention.”

  “I’m open to other suggestions,” Piper snapped.

  Unfortunately, everybody seemed to have one . . . all at the same time.

  As the noise and shouting continued, Piper looked for Elijah. She spotted him kneeling at the front wheel.

  “Eli!” she called. “What’re you doing?”

  The group came to a stop and looked.

  “He’s letting air out of the tire!” Cody said.

  “Eli, stop that!” she shouted.

  “No, no,” Willard said. “That’s a good thing. A little air out of each tire may lower the vehicle enough to allow the appropriate clearance.”

  The kids exchanged surprised looks . . . and then each raced for a different tire.

  “I didn’t tell you to pick us up in front of the hospital!”

  Monica shouted.

  “On the phone . . . you, uh, said to hurry,” Bruno argued. “You said you had the kid and — ”

  “You idiot! I don’t even have my cell phone! How could — ” Monica stopped in mid-sentence, suddenly realizing who did have her phone.

  “Hurry!” she screamed. She threw open the van door and crawled inside. “Get back to the parking garage!”

  Bruno frowned. “Does this mean we won’t be getting you the cough drops?”

  “Hurry!”

  “That should do it,” Zach called from the driver’s window. “Now everyone get back inside!”

  The group climbed back into the RV, and Cody had barely shut the door before Zach pressed his foot on the gas.

  There was another crunching sound, but this time it was different — more scraping and less screeching.

  The RV finally began to move, and everyone cheered.

  Zach picked up speed and headed for the exit.

  Congratulations were given and high-fives shared until the green van bounced into view. It squealed to a stop directly in front of the exit.

  “What do we do?” Piper shouted. “We’re blocked!”

  Zach gave no answer, but punched the gas harder.

  “Zach?!”

  They picked up speed . . . heading directly for the van.

  Piper screamed, “Zach, what are you — ”

  They plowed into the side of the van with a loud CRASH, pushing it four or five feet to the side.

  Zach shifted the RV into reverse, rolled back several yards, and shifted into first. Again he hit the gas.

  “ZACH! ”

  And again they hit the van — this time smashing its front side and spinning it around until it slammed into the wall. Water began spewing out of its radiator immediately. The people inside seemed okay, but their van was definitely not going anywhere.

  Everyone cheered as Zach squeezed the RV past the van, gave a wave to the red-haired woman, and bounced onto the street. He gunned it, and they took off , throwing Piper backward. She would have hit the floor had Cody not been there to catch her.

  Chapter Ten

  Wrapping Up

  Once they were far enough away, Zach pulled into a gas station to put air back into the tires.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Cody said as he hopped out of the side door.

  Piper leaned back in her seat. It had been a long, hard day that had taken its toll on everyone. Well, everyone but Eli. He just sat there beside her, humming away like everything was peachy keen. But it wasn’t, not by a long shot.

  “Hey, Willard,” Zach called from up front. “Any luck on that computer yet?”

  “Yes, I believe so,” Willard said as he stared at his handheld device.

  Piper looked over to him. “What are you doing?”

  “I gave him our email address,” Zach said. “I wanted him to see if we got anything from Mom or Dad.”

  “And the answer is an affirmative,” Willard said. “It appears you have two messages.”

  Piper sat up in excitement. “Two messages?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “It appears to have come from an organization entitled The . . . Organization.”

  “The Organization?” Piper asked. “Who are they?

  What does it say? What do they want?”

  “Probably just spam mail,” Zach called back.

  Willard snorted. “With my latest in software technology? Highly improbable.”

  “What do they say?” Piper asked.

  “Patience, child. Patience.” He took a moment, cleared his throat, and finally read the message.

  DEAR KIDS,

  WE ARE FINE! WE WILL CONTACT YOU SOON. DON’T TRY TO FIND US! IT’S TOO DANGEROUS. DON’T SEND ANY MESSAGES THAT REVEAL YOUR LOCATION. THEY MAY BE CHECKING OUR MAIL.

  “They?” Piper asked. “Who’s they? ”

  Trying to ignore the interruption, Willard again cleared his throat and continued:

  WE WILL FIND YOU. WE WILL CONTACT YOU WHEN WE CAN. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER. KEEP ELIJAH CLOSE. WE LOVE YOU.

  MOM AND DAD

  — ROMANS 8:28

  Willard looked up. “What is a Romans eight, verse twenty-eight?”

  “It’s a Bible verse,” Zach explained. “Mom and Dad always end their messages with some Bible quote. But what are they saying — that we’re just supposed to go on like this?”

  There was a moment of silence broken only when Cody opened the door and climbed back inside. “All set to go,” he said.

  “Right,” Piper nodded. “But where?”

  “Say what?”

  Zach explained. “We can take you and Willard back home, but what are we supposed to do?”

  “What about the other message?” Piper asked Willard. “You said there were two?”

  Willard scrolled down to the second message. Once again he cleared his throat and read.

  DEAR KIDS. DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGE. NEED HELP. BEING HELD AT COMPOUND IN MOUNTAINS. COME FOR US. MAKE SURE ELIJAH IS WITH YOU. DIRECTIONS ARE BELOW.

  MOM AND DAD

  With a heavy sigh, Zach turned forward in the driver’s seat, reached for the key, and started up the RV.

  “What are you doing?” Piper demanded.

  “Mom and Dad need our help,” he called back as they pulled from the station.

  Piper frowned. “Yeah, but . . .”

  “But what?” Cody asked.

  “That second message doesn’t even sound like Mom and Dad.”

  Willard added, “And there is no Bible reference, like you say they always include.”

  Silence stole over the RV.

  Finally, Zach called back. “It doesn’t matter who sent that second message. The point is Mom and Dad are in trouble.”