Cody failed to tell Zach about the tarp that was hiding a car that he saw through the fence. The two friends moved onto other subjects throughout the night and eventually fell asleep.
When they woke up, Zach leaned over the top railing of the bunk bed.
“All right, dude, let’s check the church out,” he said.
“Let’s do it,” said Cody.
After breakfast, the both of them walked outside in the backyard to get their bikes. Mr. Durkbridge was on the other side of the fence, doing something to his bushes.
“Hey, you two! What are you guys up to today?” said Mr. Durkbridge in a cheesy voice.
“Good morning, Mr. Durkbridge! We are going for an early bike ride,” replied Cody, trying to sound excited like his neighbor.
“Well, you guys should wear a jacket or something. It’s only going to reach forty-five as a high today,” informed Mr. Durkbridge.
Cody gave his friend a long stare. Zach let out a small laugh, walked his bike toward the gate, and opened it.
“Okay, thanks. We have sweatshirts on. We will be fine,” said Cody.
“Well, you two have a nice ride and be careful. You really should wear helmets,” said the neighbor peering through the fence.
“We’ll be all right. See you later, Mr. Durkbridge,” replied Cody.
The two of them got on their bikes and headed for the church.
“See, I told you. You get it now?” asked Cody as the two rode down the sidewalk.
“Yeah, I get it. Just a creepy old guy like I said,” blurted Zach.
They pedaled as fast as they could toward Lincoln Street and came to a sudden stop a street before their destination.
Both of them saw the same thing at the same second. There, sitting less than forty yards away from them, was a black vehicle parked on the opposite side of the church on Lincoln Street.
“Oh my god, dude, is that the car you saw last Sunday?” asked Zach.
“Yes! I knew it would be there. Let’s get a closer look,” said Cody.
The two of them rode their bikes closer to the car. They were now staring at the vehicle from the sidewalk. No one was in or around the vehicle. They heard music coming from the church.
The vehicle was parked in the same spot Cody saw a week ago. The sleek black color of the car was shining in the early morning sun. The wheels had multiple spokes in them, and the tires had a clean white ring around the edge. Chrome edges surrounded the rear bumper. The vehicle’s windows were darkened with a black film. There was an ornament on the shiny black hood. The car was a Cadillac Brougham and was immaculate.
“It is a great-looking car, I’ll give it that,” Zach said, lowering the intensity.
“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.