Back Before Dark (28 page)

K
ing clamped the lock back on Gordy’s ankle.

“Wait,” Cooper said. “Don’t do this. This is just a game, remember?”

“New rules,” King said. “And I always win.” He grabbed the chain looped around Cooper’s neck, whipped a padlock from his pocket, and connected Cooper to Gordy’s chain. He did it so fast Cooper didn’t have time to react. Not that he could have fought off the guy anyway.

“Let him go,” Cooper pleaded. “Look at him.” He pointed to Gordy—who was obviously confused. Disoriented. “He’ll die if he doesn’t get help soon.”

King just looked at him, but made no attempt to undo the locks. Even with the fake beard, Cooper recognized him now.

King took the flashlight from Cooper. “He can ID me.”

“Impossible,” Cooper said. “He doesn’t even know who
he
is. Or me. Both of us down here would be overkill.”
Literally.

King paused. Obviously processing.

Cooper studied his face—his eyes. Looking for a glimmer of hope. King’s eyes darted from Gordy’s face to his ankle.

“Why have
two
deaths hanging over you?”

That didn’t seem to move him.

“Look,” Cooper said. “He’s my cousin. He’ll die before I do. I couldn’t bear that.”

King appeared to be thinking. Measuring the odds. Making sure sparing Gordy wouldn’t jeopardize his chances of winning. He bounced the key in his palm.

Cooper’s mind was whirling. He had to get this right. “It will drive Hammer nuts. You release the captive—and the cops won’t get credit for finding him. And no way can Gordy help the police ID you. You were too careful. It’ll be a crime they can’t solve but can’t ignore.”

“Too risky,” he said. King tossed the padlock key to the other end of the basement. It pinged off the cement wall and immediately disappeared in the black water.

Cooper stared in disbelief. He memorized the spot, but instantly realized there was no way the chain would reach that far.

Tyler King quickly backed away from them. He’d probably already been in the basement longer than he’d planned. He swept the beam of the flashlight around the perimeter of the room. The water was rising fast. Really fast. The circle of light focused on the sheet of black plastic—obviously covering the window well escape hatch. King jerked the plastic off the wall. The window well was completely full of muddy water. Salt Creek was weeping into the basement between the window and the frame. It was like the basement foundation was a dam, holding back the floodwaters surrounding it. A dam with windows.

“Calculated risks,” King said. “You don’t win by making crazy gambles.”

As if that explained everything. Like that was a good enough reason to leave the two of them chained in a flooding death chamber.

King wrapped the plastic around and around his right fist and forearm and punched out the window. The entire window imploded, and the floodwaters roared in. Apparently he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

“No,” Cooper said. “P-please.”

King didn’t even look Cooper’s way. He waded to the other two window wells and did the same thing. Water poured in from three sides—turning the basement into a giant pool. But Cooper and Gordy weren’t going to be doing any swimming. Not with these chains.

The water level was rising fast. Really fast. Water crested the top of the double slop-sink and rushed over it like a broken levy in a flood. The dual sinks filled in seconds, making a sickening gushing sound as they swirled around Gordy.

With his hands tied, Cooper couldn’t even help Gordy stand. His cousin sat there, a wild look in his eyes. Cooper rubbed Gordy’s back vigorously, trying to give him some warmth. “Stay with me, Gordy.”

The light from King’s flashlight jerked and ricocheted off the black water ahead of him as he headed for the stairs. “Okay,” King said. “Time to say goodbye.”

Cooper fought back panic at King’s announcement. His voice sounded detached. Like this was just some imaginary scene in one of his cyber-games.

Halfway up the stairs King turned and trained the flashlight on Cooper. “You’d make a good gamer. You take risks. Make sacrifices.” He didn’t even bother to disguise his voice this time. “Too bad in the real world you only get one life.”

“Coop?” Gordy’s voice—sounding
normal.
Lucid. “Coop—c’mon. Let’s go.”

Was he rousing out of the hypothermia somehow?

“N-not this time, Gordy.”

King took another step, stumbled and came down hard. His flashlight flipped out of his grip and landed in the water behind him. The light bobbed there—beam up, casting a parade of freakish shadows on the stairwell wall.

King didn’t go back for it. He grabbed the basement door, swung it open, and stepped out of view. The basement door slammed shut.
Cooper couldn’t hear if the guy padlocked the door, but unless he got free of these chains, it wouldn’t really matter.

“Coop,” Gordy’s voice sounded thick. Slurred. “We gotta g-get out of here!”

“Working on it, Gordy. W-working on it.”

Cooper listened to hear if King was still upstairs. But it was impossible to tell with the roar of the water shooting in through the window wells.

The kidnapper’s flashlight rode lower in the water, then slipped below the surface. A murky glow revealed the edge of the stairs. Then everything went black.

“C-coop?” Gordy said. “We’re in d-deep w-water.”

Yeah. And getting deeper by the second. “W-we’ll figure out s-something,” Cooper said. But they were locked in a tomb. Buried alive.

The freezing water rose to Cooper’s chest, sending violent shivering spasms through his body. It was only a matter of time before the flooding rose to the ceiling. If the hypothermia didn’t get them … the water definitely would.

T
yler King hated leaving the kids in the basement like that. He really did. He should have made sure they were really gone. But it wouldn’t be long. He looked at the Salt Creek floodwaters lapping against the house. No, it wouldn’t be long at all.

The boys were collaterol damage. And Hammer would only have himself to blame for it. None of this would have been necessary if the detective had treated Tyler differently.

The police wouldn’t have any idea where to start looking. It would likely be days, maybe weeks, before the bodies were discovered. The important thing to do now was to get himself home and into some dry clothes.

Leaving the boys in a flooding basement wasn’t the original plan. He’d had to improvise a bit. But he’d stick with the escape plan. Leave the stolen car in the garage, go the rest of the way on foot—just like the first time.

King opened the door on the back wall of the garage and stepped outside. In ten minutes he’d be home taking a hot shower. The game ended a little quicker than he’d planned—and got a little messier—but he’d pulled it off. He looked at his ring and smiled to himself. He really was the
Deathking.
He’d won. Two kidnappings in one week. Detective Hammer wasn’t able to stop him or help the boys. Hammer would come up empty-handed—and looking really stupid. And he might be looking for a new job.

B
y the time Lunk wheeled up to the entrance of Kimball Hill Park with Hiro, Hammer was already there. So were three other police cars. The flashing red lights reflected off the falling rain, making it look like streaks of fire falling from an angry sky.

And Lunk was feeling some definite anger himself. Angry at himself for not camping out in front of Coop’s place. Angry at Coop for doing this alone. Coop’s bike lay on its side near the fence.

“Detective?” An officer squatted on the grass a good twenty paces away from the bike, pointing to the ground. “Phone.”

Coop’s phone. In the spot he’d dropped it while talking to Hiro. When he was attacked. Lunk glanced over at her. She looked so small. So weak.

An F-150 barreled down the alleyway behind the Jewel, water spraying left and right in a steady wall. Lunk didn’t have to wonder who was driving. He hadn’t envied Hiro making that call to Cooper’s dad.

The truck skidded to a stop and both front doors flew open. Cooper’s dad rushed onto the crime scene, with Gordy’s dad right behind him.
Why do bad things happen to good people? How could God let this happen?

“Hold my bike.” Hiro ran to Cooper’s dad. He hugged her—lifting her off her feet.

Hammer was in total cop mode. And he was good at it—Lunk had to give him that. Pointing. Directing. On his radio. Making things happen. Lunk just hoped it wasn’t too late.

Cooper’s dad pulled away from Hiro, dropping to his knees beside Cooper’s bike. “Nooooooooooo!”

Lunk had never heard anything quite like it. An agonized growl of rage from deep within. Primal. Savage. Goose bumps rose on Lunk’s arms.

A father’s love. Something Lunk had never known. Clearly, Cooper’s dad would die for his son. Or kill for him.

Lunk didn’t want to see it. He should let the man have some privacy. But he couldn’t help watching.

Mr. MacKinnon stood and hustled over to Detective Hammer. Hiro joined them, pointing and explaining. She was going over Coop’s theory, no doubt. Her conviction too. That the kidnapper stayed in the area. In the zone Coop had circled on the satellite view maps. The guy had crawled out from under his rock.

Hammer looked across Kimball Hill Park in the direction Hiro pointed. Like he was trying to make a decision. His face as hard and as fierce as Mr. MacKinnon’s.

Hammer’s look said this was
his
town, and protecting these people was
his
job. He looked like he was ready to tear apart whoever did this. Lunk hoped Hammer got his chance.

Hammer turned and jogged back to his car, shouting orders. “You’re with me.” He pointed at Mr. MacKinnon and Mr. Digby. The three of them piled into the squad car and roared down the alleyway. The other cars followed.

Hiro ran toward Lunk. “They’re setting up a perimeter with the help of Palatine and Arlington Heights PD. They’re initiating a massive house-to-house manhunt down Campbell, School, and off on the other side streets.”

She looked to the sky. “God help the Police, please. Protect Coop. Bring him back to us!”

That would be a total miracle, the way Lunk saw it. And it didn’t seem like God did miracles anymore.

She wiped her eyes. “God is still in control, Lunk.”

What—could she actually read his mind now
? “What about us?” he asked. “Are we going to sit here in the rain—or bike over to watch?”

Hiro shook her head. “Neither.” She pointed to his wiffle-ball bat secured to his bike frame. “We’re going to look for him ourselves.”

A fresh rush of adrenalin surged through him. “My kind of plan.”

C
ooper hadn’t figured on losing the use of all three phones. The one duct-taped to his leg wasn’t good for more than a fish tank display now. The one in his pocket wouldn’t be much better. And he hadn’t figured on being up to his chest in cold water.

“Hang in there, Gordy, I have a flashlight.”

Coop pulled the waterproof flashlight from his pocket with fingers already tingling with numbness, and immediately fumbled it. He heard it plop in the water in front of him.
No.
Cooper carefully shuffled in the darkness in a deliberate grid pattern until his foot tapped it.

He held his breath and went under—the freezing water instantly disorienting him. He opened his eyes and saw absolutely nothing but terrifying blackness. Sweeping the floor with his hands, still nylon-tied together, he bumped the flashlight—then grabbed it and stood. Cooper burst back through the surface, clutching the flashlight. He pressed the button.

Light.

“You doing okay, Gordy?” He had to keep his cousin talking.

“Shh-ure.”

Gordy’s hands were free, but balled up in tight fists. He looked
way beyond being able to help Cooper get free from the nylon tie binding his wrists.

Cooper tried to steady his breathing but gave up. It was too stinking cold for that. He held the flashlight between his chattering teeth and picked free one of the utility razors from under his belt.

His fingers were too cold. He was losing his muscular ability. Fast. The razor slipped from his fingers and disappeared below the dark water.

He retrieved a second razor. This time he held the flashlight and clamped the razor between his teeth. Raising his wrists to his mouth, he carefully sawed at the nylon strap holding his wrists together.

God help me. Make this work. And save Gordy.

His hands shook so much it was hard to keep the razor in the same groove. Again and again he sawed. Water roared through the window wells like waterfalls, swirling as it climbed the foundation walls.
C’mon. C’mon. C’mon.

Suddenly the nylon tie burst open and dropped into the black pool.

YES!

He rubbed his wrists and eyed the washer and dryer. The water was about six inches above the lids.

“Lets get you to higher ground, Gordy.” He helped Gordy to his feet, and steadied him while he stepped across to the washer. Gordy’s legs buckled, and he collapsed on top of the lid.

Cooper struggled to get on top of the dryer. With the wet clothes and numbness setting in, even that was surprisingly difficult. At least he had the majority of their bodies out of the frigid water. For now.

Shaking, Cooper reached for the dive knife strapped to his calf. More than a weapon, this was an ally, a tool to help him get free. But, as rugged as the stainless steel blade was, it wouldn’t do a thing against the chain.

He pulled up the slack chain hand-over-hand to get an idea of its length. It gave him ten or twelve feet of leash. He gripped it the best he could with both hands and pulled. The chain didn’t budge. The
Deathking
obviously had it securely fastened around the base of the furnace.

Which meant they couldn’t get to the stairs. Perched on the washer, they were already on the highest spot in the basement. And the water continued to rise. Way too fast. Any solution for escape or survival had to be found in this tight radius he had with the chain.

God help me. Give me an idea.

The water crept above his shins. He couldn’t feel his toes anymore. Gordy looked like he was falling asleep.

“Wake up, Gordy!” Cooper prodded him. “Stay with me.”

Gordy seemed to rally. His eyes brightened.

Cooper gripped the knife in one hand and shined his light around the room with the other. “Show me the way, God. Give me an idea.”

He eyed the electrical box mounted on the concrete wall. Every kid had been warned about touching something electrical while they were in water—like a tub. It would mean instant death. The electric panel had a lot of power running through it—and he was in a giant tub. The box was still above water—but not by much. Obviously the power was off.

But if the main breaker was off, a current would still be going to the box, wouldn’t it? Only if the power had been cut off by the utility company would they be safe.

Obviously they were in an empty house. If it was in some kind of foreclosure situation, the power company likely cut the power to the house—and the box was dead. If not, as soon as the water hit it—
they
would be.

Cooper eyed the electrical panel like an enemy. At the rate the water was rising, it wouldn’t be long before the two came in
contact with each other, and he’d know if power was going to the box for sure.

Terrific.
Drown. Hypothermia. Electrocution. Three ways to die, but not a single idea how to stay alive. The thought of dying in any one of those ways terrified him—although the idea of getting fried had a certain appeal. At least he’d be warm.