The Black Cadillac (8 page)

“Great-looking or not, we need to find who owns this car,” said Cody.

“Well, what should we do? Do you want to ride over to the store and keep watch from there?” replied Zach.

“Let’s split up. I’ll ride up and down Lincoln, you hang out across the street by the store,” said Cody.

At that moment, Zach reached into a drawstring sack he had on his back and pulled out two gray-and-black walkie-talkies. He handed one to Cody.

“Dude, I forgot to tell you about these. My mom got me these a long time ago. I completely forgot I had them. I knew that we might need them someday, so I brought them. They’re not the best, but they do work and should help us,” explained Zach.

“These are great, Zach! Nice job!” said Cody. “Really good thinking, buddy.”

“Thanks. Just try not to get too far away from me or they won’t work well,” Zach explained.

The boys went to their respective stations. Both of them had their eyes pinned on the vehicle like a snake waiting to strike its prey.

“Check. Check. Can you hear me?” Zach’s voice was muffled over the walkie-talkie.

“I can hear you, Zach. Let me know if you see anything,” said Cody.

“Will do. Same to you,” the voice in the walkie-talkie said.

An hour went by, and still, nobody approached the car. It wasn’t anybody in church because all the people that went to the morning services had already filed out of the building thirty minutes ago. Cody snapped pictures of the car as people were walking out of the church.

Thirty more minutes went by, and Zach was getting tired of riding his bike.

“No one is coming, dude. Let’s just write down the plates and get outta here,” the walkie-talkie mumbled.

Cody replied back, “I know this isn’t fun, but someone owns that car, and we are going to find out who. You can go if you want, but I’m hanging out…” His voice faded.

Cody stopped talking into the device. A larger-sized man with gray hair was walking toward the car with keys dangling from his hand.

“Dude, get some pictures,” Zach’s voice informed through the device.

Cody reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his rectangular camera. He was just parallel with the man and the car. The man unlocked the vehicle and hopped in. Cody very carefully snapped off two pictures, holding the camera near his stomach and while straddling his stationary bike. The man did not see him. The vehicle rumbled on and slowly pulled away.

Cody stood still. Was that the same rumble he had heard on that cold and windy Monday?

The voice came back through the walkie-talkie. “Um, dude, he drove off. I wrote down the plate number. Should we try to follow him?”

Trying to keep up with a motorized vehicle with a large engine in it would be impossible to do on bicycles.

“No.” Cody’s tone changed. “We have enough for now.”

Cody tried not to forget every detail he could remember about the somewhat plump man. Sketches were already forming in his head, and he needed to get home to get them on actual paper.

The boys rode back to Cody’s house. As Cody and his friend were passing Mr. Durkbridge’s house, he noticed that the garage was completely empty. After they pulled into the backyard of Cody’s house, Zach went home shortly after. Cody ran straight up to his room and pulled out his sketch pad from the top drawer of his desk. He started drawing everything he could remember about the man he saw. He asked himself more questions like
What
was
the
man
wearing?
What
did
his
face
look
like?
He continued to draw. Trying to draw multiple angles of the man was a little hard, but Cody managed.

When he was finished, just like with the vehicle, Cody had a pretty decent idea of what the man looked like. He was content. A few hours went by as Cody analyzed his drawing.

The slim black phone on Cody’s wall in his room began ringing.

“Hello,” answered Cody.

“Hey, dude,” said the voice on the phone.

Cody knew right away it was Zach.

“We need to find out where the car was going and where that guy lives,” said Zach.

“I know, we will. I just finished drawing everything I remember about the man we saw today. I think we need to come up with a game plan,” said Cody.

“I agree. We do know a couple of things. The car has been seen twice on Lincoln Street in the last two weeks, which might mean the guy lives in town. And two, it’s a Cadillac,” explained Zach.

“Yep. I will see you at school tomorrow,” replied Cody.

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” said Zach.

Cody hung the phone up on his wall. He looked down and gazed at his recent drawing. Was this the man responsible for missing kids in the area over the last ten years? Was this the man that took Sam Jennings? He pondered the questions intensely in his head for a minute.

Cody’s bedroom door swung open. He quickly put his sketch pad on top of the drawing. It was Olive.

“Whatcha doing?” asked Olive in her cheery voice.

“Oh, nothing. Just getting ready to do my math homework,” Cody responded, reaching into his book bag.

“How about we play a board game instead?” Olive asked sort of strictly. “You promised me a week ago,” she continued.

“Okay, you twisted my arm, Ol. Go grab a game, and we will play in here on the floor. How about Sorry?” said Cody.

“Yes!” the little girl said excitedly.

Olive skipped into her room and went under her bed to grab the board game. While she was gone for the brief moment, Cody removed his drawing from under his sketch pad and put it in the secret compartment in the bottom drawer of his desk.

Olive ran back into her brother’s room and almost tripped because of how excited she was to spend time with him and play the game.

The two siblings played for a couple of hours. Even when Cody was actually trying, Olive beat him every time.

The time flew, and it was already time for dinner.

“I’ll meet you at the dinner table, Ol. I will clean up the game,” said Cody.

“Thanks for playing with me. Sorry you’re not good at Sorry,” she said, trying to sound sincere.

Olive gave her brother a hug and left for dinner. Cody smiled and put away all the game pieces back in the box.

Dinner was quiet and peaceful. Cody’s mother and sister had a conversation about unicorns while Cody chimed in a little bit.

“Mommy, if we ever do see a unicorn, can we please keep one?” asked Olive.

“Yes, Olive. We will put him or her in the backyard,” Georgiana told her daughter.

“I’ll help you train it, Ol,” said Cody before taking a forkful of his corn.

“Yes!” exclaimed Olive.

Olive had a smile on her face from ear to ear.

It was a normal Sunday night, and Cody felt good for once as he spent time with his family.

After dinner, Cody helped his mother clean up and headed upstairs to bed. Olive came in and hugged her brother before she went to take her bath. Cody gave her an extra-long hug.

“Good night, Ol, I love you!” said Cody.

“Night, brother. Love you too!” his sister replied.

Cody showered, dressed in to some comfortable sleeping clothes and laid down in his bed.

Afterwards, he dressed into some comfortable sleeping clothes and lay down on his bed. Before he could remember the day’s events, he was out. Like always, the dreams started—this time, only weird ones.

The first dream was strange and made no sense. Cody was sitting on some sort of rooftop. He was really high up and could see all the cities around him. There was a fishing rod next to him. Cody picked up the rod and cast it out. Slowly he reeled in the line. Over and over again, he cast out the rod. Each time, the line came back empty.

Another dream was more real. He saw Olive waiting at the bus stop with Phyllis. The yellow school bus pulled up, and the doors opened. The bus driver was the man in the black Cadillac. Cody was watching from inside his house and ran outside to try to stop Olive from getting on the bus. He was too late, and Phyllis just laughed at him. Cody was angry and threw a lawn chair at the babysitter. The dream ended with Cody back in his room.

The final dream that he would remember had Zach in it. They were riding their bikes on Lincoln Street. The black vehicle was parked at the top of the street. The two friends rode over the car over and over again. The man saw them and came running out of a store, yelling and screaming at the boys to stop. They stopped and looked at the man in the dream.

“It’s him, Zach!” said Cody. “That’s the guy.”

“What are you talking about, kid?” the man asked. “That’s my car you guys keep riding on.”

The boys rode as fast as they could at the man and trampled him and kept on going. The dream jumped ahead to the boys being chased by the car. The man hit Zach with his car and ran him over. The dream ended.

Cody woke up in another dead sweat. He looked at the alarm clock on his desk. It was 2:05 in the morning. The boy suddenly thought of one lingering question. What car was underneath that tarp in his neighbor’s garage? Cody sprang from his bed, threw on a sweatshirt, and pulled out a flashlight from his desk drawer.

Opening his bedroom door as quietly as he could, he tiptoed through the hallway and down the stairs. The house was super quiet, and he could have heard a pin drop. Still moving ever so slowly, Cody walked toward the back door. The boy grabbed his shoes off the floor and held them in his left hand. Like he was in slow motion, he twisted the dead bolt on the door then turned the knob.

Cody’s heart began to race as he took a step outside into the drafty cold air. He put on his shoes quickly and walked toward the fence. The crickets were loud, and the night was pitch-black. Turning on his flashlight, Cody pointed it through the slits of the fence toward his neighbor’s garage. It was tough to see anything.

He needed a better look.

Cody walked behind his garage where there was a stack of firewood that would be a good boost to hop over the wooden fence. The boy placed his right foot on the stack then his left and grabbed the top of the fence. He peeked over. Mr. Durkbridge’s house was completely dark.

He pulled himself over the fence and dropped down to the yard. Cody looked around to see if anyone had heard the thud. He turned the flashlight back on, cupping it in his hand. With his heart still beating fast, he crept over to the garage. There was a padlock on the door. There were two dirty windows on the wooden garage. Cody got up on his tippy-toes and shined the light through the windows. There was a car in the garage, but that’s all the boy could tell. The tarp was once again covering it. As Cody peered closer through the window, he noticed something.

The tarp had some sort of lettering on it. He couldn’t make out what it said. Cody got off his toes and looked around by the fence. He found a cinder block that would give him a step stool to see better. He placed the block in front of the garage and stepped up. Peering through again, Cody shined the light at a better spot on the tarp in the garage.

The first letter was
C
as he moved the flashlight down the line of letters. The tarp was hard to read. He tried to make out the second letter. It looked like either an
H
or an
A
. He wasn’t sure. Cody tried to lean in closer to make out the letters. Losing his balance, the block slipped from under him, and he tumbled to the ground. Cody let out a painful scream as his ankle twisted against the concrete.

A light turned on in his neighbor’s house on the top floor. Cody grabbed his ankle and sprang to his feet. It hurt, but the boy’s adrenaline was flowing. He pushed the block back over to the fence and hobbled out of the backyard and down the front driveway. The upstairs light in the house turned off.

Cody walked on the sidewalk and back up the driveway of his house. He opened the wooden gate and rushed to the back door he’d left unlocked. He quietly opened the door and removed his shoes as he was safely back in his home. The boy returned to his room and passed out on his bed.

CHAPTE
R
IX
A
Missin
g
Girl

M
onday morning came quickly. Cody did not get a decent night’s sleep, and it was filled with weird dreams. He remembered a few dreams but didn’t recall the realistic nightmares he had been having for the last couple of weeks. He did, however, recall the dream about Olive. He also had a very sore ankle.

After getting ready for school, Cody grabbed his book bag, hobbled gingerly downstairs, and sat at the kitchen table. Olive was eating a bowl of cereal, and Phyllis had just walked through the front door.

The babysitter always arrived in the morning so Cody’s mom could catch the bus for work. Phyllis acted so fake in front of the kids’ mother.

Cody pulled his math homework out of his book bag and started working on it.

His mother looked at him with disbelief.

“Tell me that’s not homework that was supposed to be done already?” Georgiana said to her son as she grabbed her purse and brief bag.