The King's Highway (Days of Dread Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

McKenzie glared at him. “What are you doing? Don’t waste it.”

“Wait a minute, please. I’m developing an assessment.” He put his wrist under the water for a minute then turned it off. “It’s getting warmer. The district must have installed a passive solar heater system on the roof.”

“Are…you saying…there’s hot water?”

“Yes, sir, it is definitely getting warmer.”

McKenzie jumped up and down with her hands clasped below her chin and a smile stretching across the entire width of her narrow face. “Warm enough to take a shower?”

“I’m quite certain.”

She ran her fingers through her greasy locks. “I hate dirty hair. Let’s find the gym showers.”

Jackson took another bite.

A hot shower and a full belly.

In such days, what more could someone ask for?

The warm water cascaded down her body. Aria hadn’t used bar soap in forever, but the suds cleaned and were way better than nothing. The fresh smell of it alone seemed like Heaven. She didn’t want to get out, but turned the luscious water off. Drying with one of the school’s rough white towels, she wrapped the itchy army blanket around her then walked into the dressing room.

McKenzie, wearing the other one, worked on wringing out their freshly washed clothes.

She didn’t want to help. Her poppy always did her laundry, but only having one outfit and Jackson’s sister not being a maid... She smiled. The girl might never be anything more than a sister either if she treated boys the way she treated her brother. Well, the nerd seemed to be a bit smitten with her, but who’d ever want that jerk?

“Here, let me help.”

The girl handed over her jeans. “Put them on the other side of those lockers. I’ve got a bench out in the sun.” McKenzie nodded to her right.

“Sure. Do you have any idea how long it might take? This blanket is like, not me.”

McKenzie laughed a deep chuckle. Aria liked the sound of it. Maybe there was more to Jackson’s sister than she thought. She spread the jeans out, pressing them with her hands. Didn’t do much for the wrinkles, but oh well, at least they would be clean. She turned. An arm went around her throat and jerked her backward.

“Jackson!” She struggled and screamed at the top of her lungs. But a hand covered her mouth and muffled her cry. The arm at her throat closed off her air.

The scream pulled McKenzie into the other room. A man had his hand over Aria’s mouth. He held her by the neck, his other arm under her throat. He dragged her toward the door. The poor girl clutched the blanket, her only cover. Fear filled her widened eyes.

“No! Stop!” McKenzie stepped toward them and screamed over her shoulder. “Jackson! Help!” She gathered her blanket up, hitched it tight, and ran straight for the guy. Just before she plowed into him, she put her forearm up in front of her face. She knocked them both to the ground.

Aria kicked and fought hysterically. She wiggled free, frantically pulling her blanket with her. The man swung at McKenzie with his right arm.

She blocked his swing. Grabbing hold of his wrist, she yanked his forearm to her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could.

The guy screamed a string of curse words. He whopped her head with his other arm. “Stop it, you little spit!” He flailed at her with his free hand.

She ground her teeth in deeper until she tasted hot, salty blood, and kept a tight hold.

Aria scrambled away from the struggle. “Help, Jackson! Al, help!”

The door flew open. “Stop, you, you! Release that girl!” Al charged the guy and hit him hard. McKenzie squirmed free and spit out a mouthful of the guy’s blood.

The man got the best of Al. Got him in a choke hold.

Jackson ran in with the gun pulled. He aimed right at the man’s face. “Freeze, or I’ll blow your head off.”

McKenzie gathered her blanket tight and stood.

“Whoa, kid. Put that hog leg away. We’re good here.” The guy cowered against the wall.

“Let my friend go.”

The man released Al who scurried over next to McKenzie.

“Shoot him, shoot him dead!”

She glanced at Aria—was she crazy?—then back to her brother. “No, Jackson, don’t.”

The vengeful girl stepped beside him and shook his shoulder. “He almost choked me to death. Shoot him! He’s an animal.”

“No, Aria! That’s murder!” McKenzie glared at the girl. “Jackson, you can’t. You just cannot kill him.” Her stomach knotted, and her breath caught in her throat. Jackson cocked the gun. She couldn’t let him do it. “Oh, Lord, please don’t let my brother murder this man in cold blood. Please stop him!”

He pulled the gun back a bit, but kept it pointed at the intruder. “Where’d you come from?”

“You going to shoot me?”

“Yes, he is.” Aria elbowed Jackson. “Stop talking to the filthy rat and kill him. He put his hands on me. He hurt me. If McKenzie hadn’t have been here…” She stepped toward the guy and kicked him again, this time in his kidney. “Kill him, Jackson. He doesn’t deserve to live!”

McKenzie stepped between her brother and the girl, pushing her aside. “That’s enough, now hush! He’s not shooting anyone.”

Jackson nodded at the man. “Not right this minute, anyway. Now answer me. Where did you come from?”

“The neighborhood.”

“How’d you get in?”

The guy looked up. “The sky window.”

“You by yourself?”

He nodded. “School here’s a goldmine. My secret. Ain’t told no one.”

“Al.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go get that duct tape we found in the coach’s desk.”

“Right away, sir.” While the nerd’s footfalls echoed, Jackson studied the guy. How could any decent  man do what he’d obviously planned on doing?

“You run a tight ship. I like the little dude calling you sir.” The gangster grinned. “So how come you ain’t gonna shoot me?”

Jackson glanced at the girls then back. “I still might.”

The man wiped his mouth. “Well, if you ain’t, want to barter?”

“No.”

The guy looked from him to Aria to McKenzie then back to him. “We got a lot of good stuff. Weed, meth, ammo, tools, food, about anything you might need or want.” He nodded toward Aria. “That one there, she’ll bring a big premium. Might even get yo’self an AK-47 for her.”

She was right. This guy was an animal.

Al burst through the door holding out the gray tape. “Shall I perform the honors, sir?”

“Please, and start with his mouth. If he says much more, I might just have to shut him up permanently.” Jackson looked at his captive. “Turn around and put your hands together behind your back.”

Al stepped forward and pulled out a length of tape.

The banger faced the wall and held his hands together behind him. Both trembled. He turned partially back. “Wait, go ahead and shoot me, man. If you tape me up and leave me here, it’ll be way worse than a quick one to the head.”

“Tempting.” He nodded toward Al. “Tape him good.”

“Don’t be troubled, sir. I concentrated on Lupe’s boyfriend’s methodology when he constrained me with the multi-function adhesive tape.” He wrapped his hands making figure eights around them. “You may trust that your prisoner will not be able to liberate himself. No, not at all.”

“You can’t leave me like this.”

“I can do about anything I decide at this point.”

Al smiled and slapped the next piece over the man’s mouth then continued with the task at hand. Real quick the nerd had him bound hand and foot with a fat strip over his mouth. Al faced him. “What do you think, sir?”

“Nice job.” He looked around. Cooper leaned against the door jam with wet hair. “Where’s Boggs?”

“He just got back.” Jackson stepped aside, and Coop spotted the captive. “What happened while I was in the shower?”

“Boggs, here boy.”

The dog trotted into the room wagging his fluffy tail.

“Dude, this nice friendly dog here? He will rip your throat out if you should manage to slip my friend’s duct tape job.”

The guy nodded, his eyes wide and twitchy.

He faced his sister. “Gather your stuff; you ladies can take the other locker room until you’re done.”

Snuggling her blanket tighter, she did what he said without any drama at all. Aria glared at him and followed silently. He un-cocked the revolver and stuck it back into his belt. Shame her Poppy hadn’t added a holster in his drum.

Letting the girls take their showers first definitely proved to be a wise decision. His reasoning had been to see if the warm water held up. How could he have dreamed they’d be attacked? He didn’t want to even consider what might have happened if he’d been in the showers, too.

One more time, when times got tough, things had just gone right.

Jackson followed them out and escorted them personally. He started to tell Boggs—sitting and staring at the banger—to stay put, but it looked like the dog had already assigned himself the job of jailer. Man, if he had to bet right then, he’d have to go with Coop’s alien theory. No way the animal could be a regular mutt.

“Al, Cooper.” The boys followed him into the hall. “We’ll need to gather some more stuff before we’re ready to leave.”

While the girls relocated in their new locker room, the farthest one away from where the banger attacked them, he and the boys hunted for a ladder, string, rope and a sharp knife. For sure, Jackson didn’t want to leave one of his for the guy. A good time after, he had everything ready.

McKenzie emerged first, clean all the way around. “What’s with the ladder and rope?”

He smiled. “The guy’s right, a bullet to his head would be better than leaving him all taped up.”

“You’re not going to shoot him, are you? Jackson, you just can’t. That’d be coldblooded murder! Listen to –”

“Calm down. No. And I’m not leaving him all taped up either, so that’s what the ladder and rope are for. Go see if you can find a candle. One of those tall ones.”

“A taper? What are you going to do?”

He glanced at the skylight. “You’ll see in an hour or two.”

The two boys cleaned up first, then Jackson took his turn. The shower wasn’t hot, but warm enough to enjoy. Felt great to be clean. He kept the revolver with him, just outside on the bench; uncomfortable to leave it with anyone. Aria still wanted to kill the guy. As much as he enjoyed the cascading water, he cut his shower short.

Putting dirty clothes back on? The pits. But at least he’d brought change of underwear and socks.

Not that he had to worry about being in an accident and going to the hospital. The staff would see that his mother hadn’t made sure he wore a nice clean pair of boxers. He needed to remember to ask Pop about that bit of phobia his generation had passed on to his mother and most the other ladies her age.

What a stupid thing to worry about.

From the window, the girls cooed over the beautiful sunset. Some things still hadn’t changed. Full of more shared stew, cleaned and filled water bottles replenished, and all the extra canned goods they could carry loaded, he looked around.

“Okay, people, I think we’re ready. Only one more chore before we leave. Let’s get it done. Bring a couple of those desks, too.”

Cooper dragged the ladder out and down the hall toward the locker room. His sister picked up the knife and string, still twirling the candle. Al grabbed a desk and pushed it out the door. Aria crossed her arms over her chest. “We should forget all this nonsense and just shoot him.”

She might be right. The next female he would try to kidnap hadn’t escaped Jackson’s thoughts. He also considered offering the pistol to her, but she’d probably use it. “No, we’re doing this my way, and if he gets loose, fine. If not, then…” He shrugged. “Grab another desk.” He hurried past the others and walked into the locker room first. Boggs still sat guard.

“Al, go ahead and cut the tape off his hands then re-tape them in front of him.”

Cooper cocked his head. “But then won’t he be able to cut his hands free?”

“That’s the idea.”

The nerd stepped toward the guy then turned and smiled. “Sir? Maybe you should get the pistol out, just in case.”

“Good idea.” He pulled it from his waistband and pointed it at the man. Short and slim, the fellow wasn’t much bigger than Jackson. Al leaned him forward, cut the tape from his hands, then re-taped them in front. “Girls, drag those desks out in front of him a little ways, over there, and put them a little bit apart.”

“Go ahead and wrap a time or two all the way around his back so he can’t move his hands. Tape him up real good.” He looked over to his little brother. “Open that ladder and work it over him. You.” He nodded toward the man. “Scoot back all the way to the wall. Al, tape one leg to each side of the ladder.” He leaned in closer to the guy. “Sit still or you die.”

Once the boys had all that in place, Jackson measured the cotton rope, taped the butcher knife to one end, then attached the other end to the top of the ladder. Next, he tied a piece of the string between the two desks, so that it held the rope with the knife back. He placed a candle right next to the string running between the desks and looked around.

“We ready?”

“Wait.” Aria marched through the door and straight over to the guy.

“For what?”

She leaned over and slapped the guy’s face. He winked at her. She kicked him in the groin. He grunted and moaned. Facing Jackson again, she smiled. “Now, I’m ready.”

He looked at Al. “Think it’ll work?”

“Yes, sir. In approximately one hour, or less, the candle’s height will diminish sufficiently that the twine now quiescent against its base will shift above the flame, catch fire, and burn through. That should release the suspended butcher knife to swing toward the banger. By all calculations, it should swing to his lap and enable him to employ it to cut the tape and free himself.”

“Are y’all sure that the knife won’t stab him when it swings toward him?” McKenzie glanced at Aria.

“Most unlikely, ma’am. Its angle and velocity wouldn’t be sufficient to even slice through his clothing. Retrieving it and severing his bindings will actually require a bit of maneuvering.” He faced Jackson. “We’ll be long gone, sir. And from the appearance of his condition, his full interest would be focused on acquiring whatever drug that’s necessary to settle his internal instability.”

“You’ve got that right. He’s clearly skitzing.” Aria rolled her eyes and walked toward McKenzie. “I don’t know why you’re so worried over a drug addict getting hurt anyway. You obviously have no idea what he intended to do with me—and probably you, too, for that matter.”