Page 17 of Bump in the Night
John
Did we walk her straight into the devil’s den? In the fury of the moment, I shoulder my way through the brownstone, taking my phone out of my pocket and checking the security feed at her house. Where I should see views of the interior and exterior of the house there’s only static – stillblackness.
The party erupts. People are scattering everywhere. The sound of a revving engine tears through the night as I crash though the house, chasing after Pumpkin. She’s thrown over the shoulder of a big, rough beast dressed in black. A form running next to him is smaller and slender – a woman, I presume – and as I rush against the torrent of flailing arms and sorority girls screaming their way toward the front door, I keep pushingon.
My eyes are kept with rapt attention on the back of the big thug’s head. He turns and I see that fucking hockey mask over his face. I try to crane my neck to get a better angle as I bust through the throng of party-goers. The fact that it’s dark and smoky in here isn’t helping. Of course, thishadto happen on the one night of the year that everyone’s dressed up like someone else – drunk, high, driving like a lunatic, or otherwise impaired. The woman next to the beast turns. My heart leaps into my throat as adrenaline-soaked blood courses through my veins. She’s wearing the samemask.
Instinct kicks in – and where thought should be, there’s only movement. I have no time to find Elliot. I keep trailing Pumpkin and her captors, and she keeps beating her fists on the man’s back, kicking her legs to try to pry herself from his grasp. It only makes him hold her harder. Eventually, she stopskicking.
I crash through a door to the kitchen. A pair of girls in angel costumes scream as I barrel past them and onto the back porch. A short flight of stairs leads down to a narrow backyard garden, and when Pumpkin and her duo of thieves find the narrow slats of wood that fence us in, the man kicks them down with one, big thump from the bottom of his boot. On the other side of the fence is the alleyway betweenbackyards.
Shit.
I race toward them, but they’re fast – almost too fast. There’s a black Cadillac with Jersey plates parked in front of the backyard next door, and the woman grabs the handle while Pumpkin is thrown into the back of the car. The woman gets into the driver’s seat and the man takes the passenger’side.
As I watch them peel away, I see the headlights from a car behind me speeding toward my back. I spin around and motion for the driver to stop and get out of thecar.
A man in skeleton paint stops short and I flash my police badge athim.
“Jesus man, take it easy,” he stutters as he gets out of the car. I take him by the collar and throw him out of the seat and into the fence behindhim.
When I’m inside, I throw the car into drive and peel down the alley. I’m closing in on the car holding Pumpkin – and as it approaches the end of the alleyway, it careens onto the street ahead and makes a sharp right turn. I lean on my horn and follow with blind faith, throwing myself onto the street behindthem.
My cell phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s Pumpkin’sfather.
“I’m on them,” I say, putting the phone on speaker and throwing it onto the seat next tome.
“We received an email ten minutes ago with Pumpkin’s picture. The people behind this are demanding ransom – and they’re giving us awarning.”
He doesn’t have to finish. I know what he’s going to say. It’s ransom,andwe drop ourinvestigation.
Are these fuckers really stupid enough to kidnap the police captain’s daughter? They’re either that stupid – or thatbold.
“We have cars on them and the NYPD has been instructed to not shoot. They know she’s in the car. Just be careful, John, and bring her home safe. Don’t let her gethurt.”
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to her, sir. You have myword.”
I don’t know if my word counts for shit right now, but I’ll move Heaven, Hell and Earth – do everything within my power – to ensure her safe return home. And then, I’ll deal with the people who took her. Butshe’smy priority. She comes first,always.
“Where is Elliot?” the Captainshoots.
“I don’t know. You’ll be the first to know when I hear fromhim.”
“And.John?”
“Yeah,boss.”
“They disabled the cameras at the house. They meant to take her there. If you hadn’t had her with you… Well – let’s just say these people would have had a big headstart.”
I nod as we end the call. I focus on following the car in front of me, white-knuckling the steering wheel as Idrive.
I promised everything within my power to bring her home – and right now, that means jerking the steering wheel to the right as I check my rearview mirror. The car in front of me is gaining on the night in front of us, and I narrow my eyes to look for its next possible move. A sharp, screeching turn to the left makes me follow the car down a residential side-street.
Up ahead of the speeding car in front of me, I see headlights closing in on us, rushing toward us.Shit. The car in front of me hits reverse and I watch with my pulse in my ears as the driver turns around to grab the back of the passenger’s seat. I want to hit a narrow three-point turn, but there’s noroom.
I curse under my breath as I throw the car into reverse. The thing’s good and it hits on a dime, squealing to a stop before allowing me to move backwards onto the smooth, rolling earth. The acceleration sends the blood pumping in my head into overtime, and when I check my rearview mirror, I also lean on thehorn.
As the horn assaults my senses, the passenger in the car carrying Pumpkin plants a portable police siren on the dashboard and hitsit.
