Chapter 146

word count 1262

Buzz's computer was booted up and a New Albany Police emblem blazed on the screen. Priscilla eased into his desk chair, marveling at the huge, comfy seat and flexed her fingers ready for action. She clicked a key and a password screen appeared.

“Hmmm, a favorite dog, a lost loved one....ah, maybe this...” She typed in 'jeannie'--but no luck. “Spike” and “bullet” and a variety of other dog names were fruitless, as well.

“Perhaps the big man has an even bigger heart than I thought,” she murmured, typing in “adam,” Still nothing. “Oh, come on, Miller. I know you're not that complex.”

Hand on head, she reeled through his profile in her head. She'd studied it for hours before coming on board with this caper. She threw her head up, eyes widened. “No! You didn't!” Typing carefully, she spelled it out. “trudy.”

Bingo! The police files opened up. She knew her way around this sort of system to pull the dump/diamond police report, the records and mug shots for Lenny and Nick, since they both had previous records.

So these young fellows were playing in the dump, and they found the princess diamond, and in the end the local mafia found out about it, and they want it as badly as I do, she mused. “Piece of cake,” she murmured. She set the computer to sleep and sat back to enjoy her victory. “Just one more thing.”

Reaching into her nearby handbag, she shuffled around in it and pulled out something tiny. Bending down, she placed it on the underside of the giant desk.

“Just to keep us in touch, Detective Miller, a little buggy boo for you.” God, she loved her work.

“Oh, one more thing!” Lifting the telephone receiver, she unscrewed the microphone end and deftly placed a small item inside. She screwed the cover back and placed the phone on the receiver.

“Now, it couldn't hurt to get a few more personal details on the revered detective. There's nothing like the water cooler for a little scuttlebutt,”

Checking her lipstick, she sashayed out to the police station proper.

***

Lenny and Nick were sweating it. It took them a whole day to figure out where Buzz and his boy were living after the fire. Now they were parked down the street, watching the place from afar with binoculars.

“We shouldn't break in, in the middle of the day.”

“Why not? His dad will be at work, and I bet the kid's at home alone.” Nick lit a cigarette and blew a long, satisfying spiral of smoke upward.

Lenny didn't respond at first. When he did speak, his eyes were wide and troubled. “Nicky, do you feel bad, going after a little kid. I mean, I remember what it was like to be young. Jesus, Nicky, we're gonna scare him to death.”

“Just so we find out where the kid with diamond is. We're not gonna hurt him.”

“I guess so.”

They sat in silence for a moment, only to be interrupted by a tapping on the passenger side window. An elderly fellow stood there, hands on hips looking authoritative.

“You in there, Can I help you? Were you looking for something?”

Nicky was so startled, his hand reached under his jacket to caress the handle of his holstered gun. Seeing the older fellow with his wrinkled face and snow white hair, he relaxed. He rolled down the window when he saw the guy was speaking.

“Are you looking for something? What are you doing in our neighborhood? I'm the neighborhood watch!”

Nicky stared at the fellow. The gangster's eyes took on an angry, steely glow. Lenny, on seeing his cohort's reaction, spoke instead.

“We're looking for Adam Miller's house. My son asked me to drop something off for him.” Normally, Lenny couldn't think on his feet that fast, but today was a good day.

“Adam is Detective Miller's boy, but he doesn't live here anymore. He lives over on Oak Drive, with his step parents and their boys. He only visits here once in a while. I only know because Detective Miller brought him down to see my train set. I'm a train buff.” He pulled an engineer's hat out of his pocket and placed it on his head.

“Yeah, yeah. Hmmph! So what's the address on Oak Drive?” Nicky asked without even an ounce of sociability or eye contact.

Once they had the address and were on the road, the fellows both smiled. Things were looking up. They were on their way to get the diamond. When they arrived, they cased the house carefully.

“I don't see any cars out front or in the driveway. Maybe the kids are home alone,” Nicky noted. “Let's check the garage and poke around a little.” Like ninja-wannabes the two dashed the block from their car and scurried up the driveway, bypassing the front door and ending up leaning against the garage door. Sneaking to the side, they peered into the garage. Nothing.

“Looks like we hit the jackpot, Lenny. No car. Nobody home but the kids. Unless they are out, too. But it's 9:00 in the a.m. in the summer. Kids always sleep in during the summer.” With that, Nick fist-bumped Lenny in glee. “Let's check the doors,” he added.

Inside, Adam had noticed them first. He was looking outside to check the weather—they were up early, anxious to go play baseball before it got too hot—and he saw the two scurrying past the window. The little boy freaked and ran to his brothers. Soon a shadowy figure loomed at the front door and, when they raced to the kitchen, someone was at the back door, too.

The boys all huddled behind the sofa.

“What are we gonna do?” Elliot asked. He was clearly the most nervous of the three. His hands were shaking and his face drained white.

“A booby trap! We should make a booby trap,” Adam said.

At that moment, they heard the back door rattling. Someone was trying in earnest to get in. They rushed there. The little drape on the door was closed, so all they saw was the door knob wiggling.

“Come on! We gotta get to work fast! Elliot, grab some oil from the cupboard. Erik, you run down and get a box nails from Dad's toolbox.”

In the kitchen, Adam and Elliot spread oil all over the floor in front of the back door, streaming in a massive spill across the kitchen. When Erik returned with the nails, they tossed them onto the oil making a dangerous combination of sharp nails and slick floor.

The knob kept rattling, and the sound of wood being chipped froze the boys in place. Elliot, in particular, was shaking like crazy. He looked ready to explode, until suddenly he doubled up.

“OW! My belly hurts really bad!” He spoke as quietly as he could, not wanting to make any noise. But he hurt bad. He hit the floor with tears in his eyes, moaning, and rolling back and forth.

“What the heck? Boy, he looks bad,” Adam said, kneeling closest to him. The others plopped down, too. Elliot whimpered when Adam tried to touch him, but the boy persisted placing two fingers on Elliot's abdomen.

“Holy crap! Is your belly hard! I mean it feels like a rock!”

Elly looked back with tears in his eyes, gritting his teeth in pain.

At that moment, the kitchen door gave way and it opened. Daylight streamed in and the faces of their tormentors appeared.