Across the street Teddy spotted a guy in a hoodie and dark jacket. Something about him made Teddy take a second look, something familiar. Teddy remembered Kodi and his friends on the front lawn, taunting him and Darwin. That walk. One of the guys that night had the same walk, kind of a swagger. Was it him?
When the guy saw Teddy looking at him he turned his head quickly away. Teddy called out, "Hey!" and the guy started walking faster. When Teddy stepped onto the street toward him, the guy broke into a run. Teddy went after him and Jello and Byron followed.
"Wait up!" Teddy shouted after him. "I just want to talk to you!"
"Be careful!" Teddy heard Uncle Joe shout behind him as he rounded a corner in pursuit. The guy was fast but Teddy was faster. As they cut through a parking lot going from Fort Street onto Langley, the guy looked back over his shoulder.
"Hold on a sec!" Teddy shouted. "It's about Darwin!"
The guy didn't slow down at all, but Teddy was gaining on him. He was only five or six strides behind now and Teddy debated what to do if he caught him. Tackle him to the ground? What if he had a knife? The plan didn't matter because suddenly the guy stopped running. Teddy stopped too.
They stood catching their breath a few metres apart, staring each other down. The guy made some ludicrous motions like he was going to rush him, but Teddy stood his ground. Behind him Teddy heard Jello and Byron stop running. They were ten or fifteen metres back.
"All good, T?" Jello called out. Teddy motioned for them to stay there.
"You know Kodi, right?" Teddy said to the guy. "You were with him at my house the other night."
He just smirked and didn't say anything.
"Do you know what's going on with Darwin?" Teddy asked. Still no answer.
"Do you know where she is?" Teddy asked.
The guy smiled again and shook his head. He knows, Teddy thought.
"Somewhere you're not gonna find her," the guy said.
"Listen," Teddy said, trying to sound calm and friendly, "if you guys just let her go, the police don't even have to know anything, OK? But, if you guys... if anything happens to Darwin, it isn't only Kodi who goes to jail. You know that, right?"
"Accessory to a kidnapping, dumbass!" shouted Jello. Teddy hadn't realized that he and Byron had moved to within earshot.
"Pretty fucking serious!" added Byron.
"Fuck you!" the guy yelled and bolted. Teddy went after him.
Hoodie guy raced up the pedestrian walkway running between Langley and Government Street, cut right on Government then left onto View Street. Teddy kept pace with him but didn't try to get closer. He didn't think the guy was going to lead him to Darwin, but he figured he'd get tired pretty soon and then maybe he'd talk.
A very loud, short burst of a siren startled Teddy. A police car was coming up a side street. Should he keep going and hope the cops wouldn't chase? He thought better of it and slowed down. The car turned onto View Street and pulled up next to him.
"What's going on?" asked the driver, a blonde-haired guy, probably in his thirties. Teddy could see his partner in the passenger seat, an Asian guy. They looked more amused than anything else, perhaps pleased that something was livening up a boring early morning.
"Nothing," said Teddy. "Well, not nothing. I'm chasing that guy cuz I think he knows where my friend Darwin is. She's missing. I filed a report."
"Uh, yeah," said the driver. "We were briefed on it. Why do you think that guy knows something?"
"I know who kidnapped her," said Teddy, "and I'm pretty sure that guy is a friend of theirs."
Teddy was getting anxious. He'd seen hoodie guy turn left onto Douglas but he could have gone anywhere from there. Now the police were losing the only lead they had because they were asking him too many questions!
"He's getting away!" he said. "Just go after him!"
"We'll watch for him," said the driver. "But leave the police work to us, OK? No more chasing people."
The police car drove off and turned at Douglas Street. Teddy reluctantly headed back to find the others.
"You catch him?" Jello asked as he approached them.
Uncle Joe was leaning against the car, arms folded, and Jello and Byron sat on a parking block across the sidewalk from the car.
"No," Teddy said. "He ran up to Douglas and a cop car saw us and stopped. I talked to them but the guy kept going."
"What did the cops say?" Byron asked.
"Asked me why I was chasing the guy. I told them I thought he might know something about Darwin, and they should, like, go get him but by the time they got what I was saying, he was long gone."
Uncle Joe said, "We were just thinking how it might be a good idea to try calling this Kodi guy on the phone he stole from Peter. What do you think?"
"Hmm," said Teddy. He hadn't really considered that. He didn't have Peter's cell number but he could get it from Neea.
"We could tell him we've got the money," said Jello. "Maybe lure him away from Darwin."
"You think he'd buy it?" said Byron.
"Who knows?" said Jello. "But even if he didn't maybe we could get him to say something. You know, give away where they're hiding her."
"You've seen too many movies, dude," said Byron. "I just don't see it working out that way."
As they debated whether or not to call Kodi and what to say if they did, Teddy's phone rang. It was a VicPD officer who said he was part of the team investigating Darwin's disappearance. He said that Constable Mackie wasn't on duty at the moment but he heard that Teddy and his friends were out looking for Darwin. He said his name was "Constable Scrangle" or something like that, and after the usual admonishing about taking matters into their own hands, he asked if Teddy and his friends had found anything. Teddy told him about seeing Kodi's friend, and about the police car that stopped him from chasing the guy. The officer asked Teddy what he and his friends were going to do next.
"Keep looking," Teddy said.
"All right," said the officer. "Stay out of trouble, but let us know if you find anything."
Teddy felt like the VicPD had spent more time talking to him than looking for Darwin. He hoped they were actually investigating like they said they were. If they found anything would they let him know? He doubted it. There was something else that had been bothering him too, ever since the confrontation with Kodi's friend. He turned to the guys.
"Hey, what do you think he meant by 'somewhere you're not gonna find her'?"
"Who?" asked Uncle Joe. "Oh, the kid you chased? Probably just meant they've got a really good hiding place."
"Yeah..." said Teddy. "But he's so confident about it. Why?"
"Cuz... it's a really good hiding place?" said Jello, shrugging.
"OK, so what could that mean? Like, not just a room in an abandoned building, right? That's the kind of place we might actually look, so he wouldn't be extra-confident about that, right? Or, I don't know, at their dealer's house, or in a damn storage locker or something? Those are places you might hold someone hostage but would you really be that confident that no one was going to find them? Those are the kinds of places people would look!"
"Storage lockers, huh?" said Uncle Joe.
"What's your point?" Byron asked Teddy.
"Yeah, dude?" said Jello.
"My point is maybe we can narrow down our search by leaving out the more obvious places. I take what he said to mean that they're keeping Darwin someplace you wouldn't expect. So we need to think of places that are, you know, unexpected."
"And you're jumping to that conclusion just based on a guy just shooting his mouth off that we aren't gonna find her?" said Jello, skeptically.
"There's only four of us and not a lot of time. We can't look everywhere. I'm just trying to be smarter about it."
Teddy realized he wasn't making much sense but he was going with his gut, and his gut was telling him that the reason hoodie guy had taunted him like that was because he thought their hiding place was so damn clever. Which meant they have her in a place they're pretty sure people won't think to look.
Teddy's phone rang. Neea calling again from Finland. She was still upset but now she had that determined tone of voice that Teddy knew well.
"I spoke to the police," she said. "Constable Strangle? Can that be right? He said you talked to him."
"Yeah, I just did. I think it might be 'Sprangle' or 'Scrangle' but I'm not sure."
"OK, good. He said they were working hard to find Darwin. He told me that you brought them the photo. That's good, Ted."
"Of course, Mom. No problem. We're doing everything we can."
"Have you spoken to Peter?" she said.
"No, it's still really early. What time do you think he gets up?"
"I don't know. You can probably go over after seven, how does that sound? I'll give him a call to let him know you're coming."
"OK, and I should get his home and cell numbers from you too," Teddy said.
"But he doesn't have his cellphone, remember?"
"I know. We might call Kodi on it."
Neea read out the numbers to him and said, "Ask Peter about the night he got robbed. It must have been Kodi and his friends, right? It makes sense. How else would they have gotten Peter's phone?"
"Yeah, it must have been them."
"Oh..." She was going to say something but stopped. Teddy thought she might start to cry again.
"It's okay Mom," he said. "We'll find her. I'll talk to you later after we talk to Peter."
Soon after 6:00 they spotted a coffee shop that was open and went in. It was called Joe, which pleased Uncle Joe quite a bit. They ordered three lattes plus a large dark roast drip coffee for Uncle Joe, who didn't do espresso drinks. They also bought some pastries because they were getting hungry. There was a huge clock face on one wall. It read 6:25. As they waited for their coffees, Teddy showed the photo to the guy behind the counter.
"We're looking for our friend. Have you ever seen her?"
The guy shook his head but the barista looked over and said, "Let me see?"
He frowned and spoke to the other guy. "Isn't she the one who was in here yesterday? Waiting outside when we opened up?"
"Maybe?" said the guy, shrugging.
"No," said the barista "it's totally her!"
He swirled a metal cup of steamed milk as he tilted it over one of their lattes, forming concentric circles of white and brown on the surface of the hot coffee, then dragging the milk upward through the circles, creating a leaf shape in the foam.
"I'm an artist," he said, putting the latte on the counter. "I don't mean with coffee, I mean for real. I paint people, so I'm pretty good with faces. She was in here right when we opened up. She had a coffee and a croissant, and sat right there drawing in a sketchbook for a while. Oh, and she bought a bunch of these cookies before she left. She didn't say much but it was her."
They wolfed down their pastries and took their coffees to go. They thanked the barista and Teddy left one of the photos with him, writing his cell number on the back and asking him to call if she turned up again. It was finally late enough to head over to Rockland Avenue to drop in on Peter Cavil.
⢠⢠⢠â¢
Someone's coming again. It's Kodi and Bryn. I hear them talking as they get close.
I'm so thirsty I think I could actually die of thirst on this boat if I don't drink. If they bring me water again I'll have to drink as much as I can even though it'll mess me up. Will they bring food too? If I'm dead they've got nothing to bargain with. Have they talked to Teddy and Neea to ask for ransom money? God, Neea must be absolutely freaking...
They drop the keys, then pick them up and open the lock on the door. "There's the little princess," says Bryn, coming down the steps or ladder that lead into the cabin. "See, right where we left her. Told you she wouldn't get out. You think you're so smart but you can't even untie yourself, can you bitch?"
There's the rustle of a plastic bag as someone takes something out of it. I hear one of them coming closer. Bryn grabs my arm and yanks me over onto my stomach to check the ropes.
"Jesus, she pissed herself," she says. "And yeah, she tried to get free too. Look, she fucking cut herself on the ropes!"
I hear Kodi come over. He tugs on the ropes and seems satisfied that they're still tightâor maybe he checked to make sure they aren't too tight, I don't know which.
"Don't bleed to death on us, OK?" says Bryn. "I don't want to have to deal with your fucking dead body."
⢠⢠⢠â¢
Uncle Joe knocked on Peter's front door, pounding a little louder than Teddy thought was necessary. When Peter opened the door he looked rough, Teddy thought. Still had a faint black eye, but it wasn't just that. Maybe he'd been drinking again last night. He was wearing pajamas with a bathrobe and slippers and he was clearly annoyed to see them.
"Which one's Teddy?" he said, gruffly. "Oh, there you are. Your mother told me you were coming here. What's this all about?"
"It's about a kidnapping," Uncle Joe answered for Teddy.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" said Peter, frowning at Uncle Joe.
Teddy answered this time. "He's Joe Muscat. He's helping us find our friend Darwin. You know, the girl my mom's been taking care of. We think some people kidnapped her, and we think it might be the same people who robbed you."
Peter waved them into the house and closed the door behind them. He walked around the group of them as if to block them from going any further into the living room. Teddy had been here once before but the place looked a lot messier now. Back when Peter was trying to impress Neea he probably cleaned it up. Teddy guessed this was more like how it usually lookedâa bit of a dump.
"You fellows are getting an early start," said Peter.
"Actually, we've been up all night," said Byron.
"I see. So what do you want from me," Peter said.
Uncle Joe cleared his throat. "We're hoping you can tell us about the night you got robbed," he said.
"All right," Peter said. He thought for a moment before he continued. "It happened in the parking lot down at the marina where I keep my yacht. I drove there at about 11:45."
"Why did you go to the marina at 11:45?" Uncle Joe asked.
"I left something on the boat that I needed. What does it matter?" said Peter. "But you said something about a kidnapping."
"Uh, yeah," said Teddy. "Our friend..."
Uncle Joe interrupted, "We have reason to believe the same group of people who robbed you may have abducted a young woman."
"I see," said Peter. "And it was one of this group who phoned Neea using my cellphone, is that right?"
"We believe so, yes," said Joe.
"Interesting," said Peter, mulling over the information. Teddy noticed a large white and orange cat on a couch across the living room. He hadn't seen it before because it was camouflaged among piles of books, magazines, newspapers and plastic bags.
"Well, as I was saying," Peter went on. "I don't know if they were waiting for me or if I was just unlucky but as soon as I got out of the car they were on me."
"Did you get a good look at them?" asked Uncle Joe.
"No, I didn't get a good look at them," Peter answered, irritably. "I was too busy being pummelled by their fists! They came at me from behind as I was locking the car door. It happened so quickly I didn't have time to react."
"Could you tell how many there were?" asked Teddy.
"At least four. There was a girl there too. I heard her voice. I believe she was among those hitting me. I was on the ground beside the car and they were still punching and kicking me. I pretended to be unconscious and they soon got bored. That's when they took my wallet... But you said you think you know who did this to me. Why would the four of you know when the police clearly have no idea?"
"Because," said Jello, "our friendâthe one who got kidnappedâknows them. She used to hang out with them."
"Why would they kidnap one of their friends?" asked Peter.
"We don't know," said Uncle Joe.
"Maybe they think my mom has money and she'll pay the ransom," said Teddy. "They're asking for fifty thousand."
"Ridiculous," said Peter. "Neea doesn't have that kind of money, obviously. But tell me, wasn't this girl living on the streets and addicted to drugs before she came to live with you?"
"Yeah, but she was getting better. My mother helped her get off the drugs and then was helping her get her life together..."
Peter let out an irritating nasal laugh. "You're wasting your time!"
"Why do you say that?" said Uncle Joe.
"Because no one's been kidnapped, of course!"
"What are you talking about?" said Jello angrily. "Yes, she has!"
Peter looked at them smugly. "It seems perfectly obvious that this girl is conspiring with her friends to extort money from Neea. They probably assume that she and I are closer and that I'll pay the ransom."
He looked very satisfied with himself, like he'd just turned the tide of a trial in his favour.
"Darwin wouldn't do that," Teddy said loudly. "Not to my mother. She's not like that!"
"I'm sure you think you know her well," Peter said, condescendingly. "People like that are very good at lying. It's how they operate. Believe me, in my practice I've seen it countless times. And addicts need money to buy drugs. They'll do anything for a fix. Even betray people close to them."
Teddy stood there, his muscles tensing, fighting the urge to punch Peter right in his smug face. Maybe sensing that, Uncle Joe piped up.
"Be that as it may, Mr. Cavil, I'm sorry you had to go through that, the robbery, I mean. I hope you weren't hurt too badly. Is that all they took from you? Your wallet and your phone?"
"It was enough, wasn't it?" Peter said, angrily. "I had three hundred dollars in my wallet and all of my credit cards!"
"Right," said Joe. "That must have been upsetting."
"It was three days before I could even walk across the room. I had huge bruises on my side where those bastards kicked me. It's only because I have strong bones that my ribs weren't broken. I had to cancel my credit cards, get a new phone, change my locks, it was a major inconvenience!"
"Mhmm," said Joe, nodding.
"Did you have a phone locator app on your phone?" asked Byron.
Peter was confused and irritated by the question. "What good would that do if I don't have the phone? You're not making sense."
"No," said Jello, "you use a computer to find your... never mind. I guess you didn't."
"Wait," said Teddy. "Which locks did you have to change? Did the people who robbed you come over here?"
"No, but they have my keys and they would have my address from my driver's license. I'm not an idiot. Of course I changed the locks."
"Oh, they took your keys too?" asked Uncle Joe. "You didn't mention that."
"Yes, of course. All my keys, car, house, office. All of it. I had to change two locks at home and one at the office!"
They talked to Peter for another five minutes or so, hearing about his ordeal in great detail but not learning anything more that could help them find Darwin. Teddy was relieved to finally say goodbye and leave.
"Your mom dated that dipshit?" said Jello as they walked to the car.
"Not for long," said Teddy.
"Weird that he couldn't describe any of the people who jumped him," said Byron.
"Cuz he was piss drunk!" said Jello, getting into the front seat of Uncle Joe's Tercel. "Teddy saw him that night and he was shitfaced, right Ted?"
"Yup," Teddy said. "I doubt he would have recognized his own mother. Scary to think that he drove from Oak Bay to the marina like that."
____________________
If you liked this chapter I hope you'll kindly consider giving it a vote. Votes really help to increase a story's reach and my little tale could use a boost. Thank you for reading!
â D.B.