Jason Deas - Benny James 02 - Pushed (24 page)

“Unfortunately, I think I love you at this moment. I doubt she is in her car, but what would it take for you to read the tracker and give me a location?”

“Usually, a hundred dollars, but since we have…”

“Just do it,” Benny screamed. “I might not have much time.”

“This one is free. Because of our history, you get one on the house. Let me see,” he said walking over to his computer. Benny could hear typing. “It looks as though Rachael’s car is moving and, no, it looks as though it has stopped. It just stopped and it isn’t moving. It could be at a stop light.”

“Where?”

“The Royal Park Bridge.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Hey, am I ever going to get my car back?”

Benny hung up the phone without answering.

Benny was not incredibly familiar with the West Palm Beach area, but he had driven over and inspected the Royal Park Bridge on his first day in town and remembered how to get back. His faint memories of the time he spent in town with Lizzy Clark also aided his navigation. It was a few minutes after one a.m. and the streets seemed to be empty. Benny’s face radiated worry as he sped through red lights and tore past stop signs without hesitation.

Red rode along as if he and Benny were on a Sunday drive in the country. He trusted Benny with his life and showed no signs of worry for Rachael whatsoever. Red believed Benny could do anything and solve any problem.

“I should have tell you,” Red said.

“Told me what?” Benny took a corner and the tires screamed as they gripped the road.

“Reverend Jim not look like he self on he show last week.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, Red, but can we talk about this later?”

“Yep. I ask he myself.”

Benny was not sure what Red meant by this, and quickly forgot it as he punched the gas on the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am. As Benny and Red neared the draw bridge, they both noticed simultaneously hazard lights flashing. The bridge was beginning to rise. Benny quickly looked up and down the waterway that was now in view and did not see a boat in sight and knew Reverend Jim must have taken over the bridge-tenders quarters to manipulate the bridge. Benny wondered if the bridge-tender was still alive.

As the arms guarding the bridge came into sight, Benny did not think twice about what he had to do. He knew he was on the wrong side of the bridge. The bridge-tenders quarters were on the other side, and he was sure that was the side of the bridge Reverend Jim and Rachael were on. He floored the gas pedal.

Red tightened his seatbelt as he figured out what Benny was about to try. The draw bridge had risen enough that the two sides had completely separated. Benny blew through the hazard lights and through the arms protecting cars from entering when the bridge was being raised. When the vehicle hit the arms, they did not shatter into a million pieces as they sometimes do in the movies and television, but they ripped off the mechanism which raised and lowered them with great force and a terrific noise.

Benny and Red were about to brace themselves for a wild stunt-like jump across the bridge when Benny spotted something and slammed on the brakes. At the end of the other bridge, rising into the air, were Reverend Jim and Rachael. Reverend Jim was laughing, out of his mind, crazy with glee. Reverend Jim thought Rachael would fall back to her death, as the rising road neared its apex. He planned to climb to the point facing the heavens, and wait until the bridge-tender came to and lowered the two sides. Jim had only given the bridge-tender a small dose of his knockout elixir. Reverend Jim felt he had spiritual powers on his side and he would get away, as usual.

Benny slammed on the brakes as the car reached his side of the road’s end. The car skidded to the end, and the front two wheels of the Trans Am slipped over the edge of the bridge. The car dropped down and made a horrible noise as the undercarriage met the pavement.

“Get out!” Benny yelled to Red.

Benny and Red exited the car. The two sides of the draw bridge were now at forty-five degree angles. Without the car hanging over the edged of the bridge, both Benny and Red would have slipped to the bottom. Opening the car door and slipping out was quite a task, but both men were able to accomplish it with great effort. The doors shut themselves and Benny screamed for Red to hang onto the car. They both did, as Benny tried to think about what to do next.

“Climb onto the roof of the car!” Benny yelled to Red. 

The windows of the car were down and Benny and Red each grabbed the roof of the car and planted their feet on top of the doors and vaulted to the top of the Trans Am. The bridge continued to rise.

“We have to get to the end of the road, at the front of the car,” Benny said. “The car is going to fall in just a minute, but it’s our only hope. We’ll have to balance on the end until the bridge lets down.”

Benny and Red climbed to the roof of the car, down the windshield, and across the hood to the top of the road which continued to rise into the air.

Reverend Jim hugged the top of the road on his side and continued to chuckle as he seemed to continue to come unglued. Rachael was obviously fighting through the haze of her drugged mind and had one hand and arm over the side of the road. The bridge was three quarters of the way through its rise.

Benny and Red pulled themselves up and sat atop the road’s surface that pointed skyward as the bridge reached its highest point. The Trans Am toppled backwards and landed with a deafening crash. Reverend Jim had pulled himself up as well and Rachael had one arm and one leg over the side of the road. Her body trembled with her struggle and Benny’s mind searched for a way in which he could help her. As the two pieces of road reached their stopping points, he realized the distance was too far to be able to do anything. Benny did not carry a gun and cursed himself for not doing so as the situation at hand could have easily been resolved with one good shot.

As the two sides of the draw bridge pointed to the sky, with Benny and Red on one side, and Reverend Jim and Rachael on the other, Benny knew the only thing he had on his side was a conversation with a fractured mind and maybe a little luck.

“You don’t have to do this,” Benny shouted to the other side.

“I must do this,” Reverend Jim yelled back. “This woman must be baptized!”

“This is not the way it is done in the good book.”

“What do you know about the good book? You fraternize with unmarried women and bring shame upon yourself.”

Rachael pulled herself over the side of the road and sat on top, next to Reverend Jim. She did not realize as she sat up how close she was to him. Benny saw her and shuddered as she rocked back and forth as the drugs still coursed through her body. Reverend Jim grabbed her by the back of the head, filling his fist with hair and gaining control of her once again.

“Is this your whore?”

Benny did not know what to say and found himself at a loss for words.

Red came to the rescue. Inside, he had been boiling with emotions. It all came spilling out with one question.

“What happen to you mustache and you head?” Red screamed at the top of his lungs.

For a split-second, Reverend Jim was confused. He was not sure who he was and that was all Rachael needed. In her drugged haze, she noticed Reverend Jim’s confusion and acted. Rachael balled her fist and threw it back toward Reverend Jim’s nose. The pain and the impact of the blow rocked his body back and he fell off his perch atop the end of the draw bridge. As he fell, Jim was able to grab the road’s edge and keep himself from falling to his death. He looked up to Rachael, who had slid over to be right above him.

“I know not what I do,” Reverend Jim tried.

“Me neither,” Rachael said. She pounded her fist against his clinging hands. Reverend Jim’s hands released, and seconds later, Rachael heard a splat on the ground at the bottom of the road. She smiled and collapsed onto the top of the road as a wave of the drugs rolled over her body.

Benny and Red witnessed all of what happened on the other side. They both hung onto their sides of the bridge for dear life. As they did, Benny asked, “Is the mustache thing what you were wanting to tell me earlier?”

“Yep. Been really bothering Red.”

“I can see that now,” Benny said, with a smile.

Chapter 33

The Juno Beach Pier rocked with good times. Benny had somehow convinced the manager to rent it out to him for the night. He promised to let any hardcore fishermen aboard and a few old curmudgeons fished as the others partied. Benny offered the old guys beer and they accepted.

Ted was already drunk. Shocker. He promised Benny he would work on his drinking and try to keep his grass cut. He also asked for Benny’s Sloppy Joe recipe. Jessica laughed and drank with Ted. They talked shop and Jessica even told Rachael she was happy she was safe.

Rachael couldn’t believe what had happened to her. She barely remembered it, but her producer told her the ratings were off the charts. When Rachael went to the bathroom, Jessica told Benny that she would never forget him and that she knew their paths would cross again sometime soon. Jessica told Benny that she would wait for him to come to his senses. She said she sensed Benny’s desire. Benny tried to pretend he was uninterested.

Benny had also invited Dirk. Benny was unsure about the invite, but Dirk ended up being the life of the party. Dirk took the death of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am pretty hard, but had already framed one of the pictures from the newspaper. In the print, the car was in a heap at the bottom of the bridge. It was a great shot. Dirk felt he had, in some way, helped solve the case, and he had. 

Red stood at the end of the pier, staring off into the ocean’s depth. Benny approached from behind.

“What’s on your mind?” Benny asked, as he took a spot next to Red.

“I like lady ocean,” Red said.

“I know you’ve fallen in love with the ocean.”

“But…”

“You miss your plants and Galaxie,” Benny finished.

“Yep.”

“I’ll get you home tomorrow, buddy. I called my brother and he’s going to take us home.”

“OK,” Red said.

Benny stood next to Red. He could tell the young man was still struggling with his thoughts.

“What is it, Red?”

“Red just need to knowing something.”

“About what?”

“How did Bendy ever solve all he cases without Red?”

“I don’t know buddy,” Benny said, laughing. “I don’t know.”