Caretakers (Tyler Cunningham) (28 page)

“It’s clean, and I won’t tie it too tight, okay?” I said as I moved in closer. This was the time that she would lose her cool, but I think her half-knowledge of what went on out in the workshop had her in its thrall, and she let me loop the cloth around her head, opened her mouth to position it, and let me secure it in back without any trouble at all.

“And now … we wait,” I said … and we did.

Six minutes later the two Reineger men walked in through the front door, mid-conversation, and the house filled with both sound and the smell of the fire in an instant. I heard them kick off heavy boots by the front closet (
I wondered briefly if I had remembered to tug the pullstring to turn off the light in the closet after grabbing the box, and was sure that I had … just nerves
). Sophie and I sat waiting for them in the kitchen, and 17 seconds after entering the house, they came.

“Please stop where you are and don’t do anything stupid until after you’ve heard what I have to say … actually, just don’t do anything stupid, period (
again … nerves
),” I said, and they noticed Sophie, tied to the chair. They didn’t do anything, stupid or otherwise, waiting for me to speak/act/move.

“There’s a bomb under Sophie’s chair. If you move it, it blows up. If I don’t send the correct code every two minutes, it blows up. If you do everything I say, and don’t do anything stupid, I’m gone in ten minutes, and as soon as I’m out the door I send a code to disarm the bomb. Nod if you understand, both of you,” I said. They both nodded.

“Good. Bobby, go and lock the front door, and turn off the lights at that end of the house. Be back in 30 seconds, and remember my ‘don’t do anything stupid rule,’ okay? Please nod if you understand.” He nodded again, and I gestured him away. He went, and I noodled with my cell-phone for a few seconds to placate a worried-looking Robert.

Bobby came back in 27 seconds later, and started to speak. I cut him off.

“Ah,” I said, “only when I tell you to talk, okay?” He nodded.

“Good. This next part is going to be tricky for everyone, but remember that I’m doing this so that nobody gets hurt. Everyone get it?” Nods all around.

“Bobby, go to the backpack on the table and get out the tubes of crazy glue.” He did. “Now take them out of the packaging … yes, all of them. Now, Robert, take off your shirt, grab that empty kitchen chair, go over by the fridge, and get down on your knees … doesn’t have to be in that order, but I need those four things done in the next eight seconds … good.” Compliance all around (
I felt a bit bad about scaring them with bomb-talk, but much less bad than I would if I had to kill them all to make this work, so I was still in the ‘win’ column
).

“Okay, great so far, now listen up, it gets a bit complicated here, but it’s all about me feeling safe from people who tried to stomp me flat multiple times in the last few days, without
my having to hurt anyone. The prison you and the Edelmans have been running for the last 55 years (
now was no time for my ordinary level of precision, so I rounded up
) is finished … as of tonight it’s done. Once I release whoever you have down there, I’m leaving and as far as I’m concerned, you can too (
this was a lie, but I have a pretty good poker face, and I wanted to give them a sliver of hope to focus on, in the hopes of preventing something stupid and dangerous … to all of us, last ditch effort to escape or overpower me
). Bobby, when this is all done, and I leave with the people out in the oubliette, I’ll let you go. I bet that your mom has some nail polish remover in the bathroom. That is all you’ll need to set your daddy free from the glue that we’re going to use to immobilize him. Do you understand?” Three sets of nods, although I’d only been talking to Bobby. I fiddled with the cell again for a few seconds. I had anticipated some cursing and threats, but they just seemed tired and stressed; I think that they knew it was all falling apart, and maybe there was even some relief as the pressure of a decades old secret was lifted.

“Bobby, squeeze out the whole first tube onto the front of your dad’s left hand … fingers and palm. Good, now Robert push that hand against the clean surface of the fridge door and move it around gently until the glue sets. Good, now pull to show me how it set. Good. Now put your right arm through the gap in the backrest of the chair, and hold it out to Bobby, like last time.” He did, but I could see his back muscles tense as he thought about doing something stupid.

“Robert … don’t. Good, stay relaxed. This will all be over in ten minutes, and once I’m gone you can all leave too for all I care.”

“Bobby, squish out all of the next tube on your dad’s right hand, same as last time. Good. now keeping that arm looped through the chair, press his hand again his side … just there, right. Looks like he’s a little teapot now (
I thought this might break the tension a bit, but I am a horrible judge of emotions and tense situations, so my little joke fell flat
).”

“Almost done now, Bobby, you’ve done a great job, and this is helping you keep your family safe (
I felt like a monster as these words came out of my mouth, but it was true, and I think it was helping Bobby focus and keep his cool
). Get the blue bandana out of the backpacks, and tie it like the one on your mother. Good, tie a square knot, nothing fancy needed.”

“Last bit, Bobby, and then we’ll head out to the workshop. I know this isn’t what any of you want, but you’ve all been trapped in this thing your whole lives, and it’s sick … a sickness that has to end … and it will, tonight. Take off your shirt Bobby. Good, now squeeze the next tube out on the inside of your upper arm … just like that, right. Now press it down against your side and hold it ...perfect. This last one is gonna be a bit awkward, but do the same with your other arm … and press it down.” I breathed a literal sigh of relief now.

“I’m sorry for all of this, but you guys are big and strong, and if I hadn’t hobbled you, first with your mom, and then with the glue, you might have done something stupid for no reason. This,” I said, gesturing out towards the garage/workshop, but also all around the camp and the caretakers’ cottage, “is over and done with. I know. The secret’s out, and it all ends tonight. I’m taking your prisoners with me, and as soon as we’re gone, you’re free to go … that’s my deal.” I made a show of looking at my watch, and then fiddled with the cell again (
to keep up the bomb charade, although I was no longer sure that I needed it
).

“It’s now 8:21 p.m., assuming we’re done in forty minutes, which is generous, I will give you until 9:01 a.m. tomorrow morning before I call the police … sound fair?” Nods all around.

“Bobby and I are going out to the workshop now, but I’ll come back to check on you Robert, and if you’re trying to escape or alert anyone, I’ll come back in and seal your mouth and nostrils with the remaining tubes of crazy glue … is that clear?” I got an emphatic nod from Robert on this point, and once again was grateful for my lack of affect, which makes me convincing at times like this (
it also, happily, helped me avoid the pangs of guilt I might otherwise feel for terrifying this family, who had simply been brought/married/born into this evil cabal by poor luck
).

“I’m going to turn out the rest of the lights, now, but that’s all that’s happening. Bobby will be back to release you within fifteen minutes,” I said, grabbing my backpack, then Bobby and I turned off the rest of the lights in the house, and exited through the back door, into the cool and dark night.

I could hear noises of fire and water battling for primacy down by the lake still, but less loudly than before, so the fire was dying, one way or another (
I didn’t care much, it had done its job, and the darkened house and restrained Reinegers would be enough to get me through the rest
). Edelman, if he and/or his son was here, wouldn’t come back to check on the prisoners in the oubliette while the firefighters were here, and I’d be gone before they were.

Bobby and I went in through a side door, and I told him not to bother with the lights. I clicked on my headlamp at its dimmest setting, and walked with him in front of me across the clean/clear concrete floor.

“We’re almost done. Bobby, are you okay?” I asked. “You can speak, as long as you keep your voice down.”

“I’m okay, scared, I guess. Worried about my mom … and Dad. I’m sorry about before. We wouldna’ hurt you, we were just gonna scare you,” he said.

“Bobby, you were doing so well up until now. You’re not sorry about before … you’re sorry that I beat you, and that you got caught … and yes, you would have hurt me plenty (
which, to be fair, likely would have scared me as well
).”

“Where is the door down to the oubliette, the cells?” I asked.

He kept walking over to a grated pit that looked designed for cars to park over, so mechanically minded individuals could work on them from underneath.

“I don’t know if I can get down the ladder like this,” Bobby said, waving his dramatically shortened arms around.

“How do you get down to the cells from there? Is there a lock or booby-trap or something?” I asked.

“Nah, you just slide the metal plate at the far end towards you, and there’s a steep set of stairs, almost a ladder, down about eight more feet. There are two insulated doors, you know, for sound, and then a hallway and the cells are on either side. Light switch is at the bottom of the stairs.” Bobby related all of this with a bit of excitement in his voice, as if he was sharing a cool secret with a friend for the first time, after years of wanting to … maybe he was (
except for the friend part … I don’t have friends, as such, and if I did, he wouldn’t be one of them
).

“Okay, then … change of plans (
it wasn’t really, but this made for a convenient transition without scaring him into doing something dumb, like trying to jump me
). Sit down on the floor by that column over there, put one leg on either side of it, and bring your ankles together.” I had brought two tubes of crazy glue with me, along with a handful of cable ties. I looped a pair of the ties around his ankles and tightened them down. Next, I squished out the glue onto his palms and fingers, one tube on each hand, and had him press them both onto his belly. I didn’t have another bandana handy, so I scavenged a roll of duct tape and ran it around his mouth and head a few times.

“Bobby, can you breathe okay?” Nod. “Good. This doesn’t change the original plan by much. When I’m done, I’ll let your mom go, and she can release you and your dad, okay?” He nodded, looking relieved, and trusting … sitting there on the floor.

I went down the ladder carefully (
falling now would really suck
), and then pulled the metal plate towards me, revealing the stairway down to the cells. The stairs had grooves worn in the middle of each tread, which gave me pause momentarily … thinking of generations of Reinegers (
and sometimes Edelmans
) walking up and down thousands, tens of thousands, of times. I clicked on the light at the bottom of the stairs and went through the double set of doors.

On the other side of the doors was a hallway maybe eight feet by twenty feet, with a water heater and furnace in the middle, and pumps and pipes going everywhere. There was a small locked cabinet door partway down the hall, on each side and a plain steel panel door with a lock on it at the end of the hallway. I could see keys hanging on the wall by each cabinet door and each of the panel doors. I walked down and unlocked the door on the left.

I was surprised, for a second, to see the back of a shower stall, but then it made sense to me; the oubliette had been made to have no visible door. The occupant might have woken up inside, and never had an idea how they had gotten inside (
or more importantly, how they could possibly get out
). I reached out to touch the back of the shower stall, and felt the solidity of the thing; this was heavy-duty fiberglass that I wouldn’t be able to kick my way through ... I went back upstairs.

Without shining my light directly on Bobby, I ascertained that he was still in position, and looked around at the tools on the walls of the workshop/garage, finding what I needed in seconds. I took the Sawzall, along with the biggest extension cord that I could find back down into the dungeon, and plugged it into one of the numerous sockets in the room between/outside the cells, and went back to the door I’d unlocked a minute ago. The Sawzall made a lot of noise, but I’d closed the soundproof doors, and was pretty sure that nobody up in the world would hear me. I was able to cut a me-sized entry hole in the back of the shower in a bit under two minutes, and after kicking the cut door into the cell, I stuck my head in.

“Hello. Is anyone there?” I asked. “I’m a good guy.” It was stupid, and lame, but I didn’t have anything else on tap, having never entered an oubliette before.

There was a single bed on the far side of the room with a lump under the blanket, so I repeated my greeting; a tiny pale face poked out from underneath the blanket and goggled at me through red-rimmed eyes.

“Is this it? Are you here to kill me, finally?” she asked with a dry and raspy voice. She was as pale as any human I’ve ever seen, and thin, and wouldn’t look at me … she looked at a spot on the floor two feet in front of where I was leaning into her room.

“My name is Tyler Cunningham, and I came here tonight to take you away from this place. If you’re able to walk, we can leave as soon as I open up the other cell.”