Max, page 13
A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER, JUSTIN WOKE WITH A START to the sound of the house phone ringing. The lights were still on in his bedroom. His comic book lay facedown on his chest. His neck ached from sleeping sitting up. He had fallen asleep while he was reading. He checked the clock—it was midnight.
He heard his mom’s muffled voice downstairs, talking to someone on the phone. The conversation was short.
“Justin!” she called up.
Justin sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his groggy head.
“Justin!” she yelled again.
“I heard you, Mom,” he said impatiently. “I’m coming.” He hopped up and headed downstairs.
She stood in the kitchen, clutching the cordless phone and waving it in his direction. “What did you and your dad talk about earlier?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged, still standing on the stairs.
“Well,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously, “after you talked about nothing, he stormed out of here without a word. I assumed he went to the office for something, but he’s been gone for hours. And he just called to tell me not to worry, that everything’s fine, but he’s going to spend the night at our hunting cabin, and he’s not sure when he’ll be back.”
A horrible thought dawned on Justin, but he told himself to remain calm.
“Do we have a hunting cabin?” he asked nervously.
“Not that I ever heard of,” his mom said, her voice full of concern. “That’s my point.”
The knot of dread tightened in Justin’s gut. A snippet of conversation—something Tyler had said to Emilio’s guys in the clearing—nagged at him. He’d thought it was weird at the time, but after things went crazy, he’d forgotten about it. “It’s stored in a nice, safe place,” Tyler had said about the weapons he was going to sell. He had to stash them somewhere safe, where no one would think to look. Like a storage space. Like his dad’s business.
Justin and his mom locked eyes. There was so much he wished he could tell her.
His mom was worried enough without knowing about Tyler and the weapons. She turned from him and dialed 911. She spoke quickly and anxiously into the phone. Justin could tell from her side of the conversation that the police weren’t going to do anything to help. His dad hadn’t been missing long enough to warrant any kind of response, and he couldn’t tell them what he knew. If the police tracked Tyler and his father down, sirens blaring, wouldn’t Tyler know that Justin had ratted him out?
No, the only way to save his father was to find him by himself. But how?
His mom hung up the phone in tears. Justin wrapped her in a hug.
“He’s fine, Mom,” he said, though he didn’t believe his own words. Justin had never felt more helpless—or hopeless—in his life. With no Kyle or Max to help him, how would he ever find his dad?
Just then, they were startled by a loud scratching noise at the back door. Before Justin had a chance to wonder what it was, he heard a familiar whimper, followed by a bark that made his heart soar. He had no idea how it could be possible, but there was no denying who was in their backyard.
It was Max.
TWENTY
JUSTIN BOUNCED HIS LEGS NERVOUSLY IN THE CAR. IT was hard to sit still, even for the short drive over to Chuy’s house. His mom was an extremely cautious driver, which most of the time didn’t bother him. But right now, he just wanted her to step on it.
They didn’t speak. Justin was grateful that his mom was so distracted with worry about his dad that she didn’t ask any questions. He’d simply explained that Chuy and Carmen might know something about where his dad had gone, and she had offered to drive him over. He just hoped they’d make it to Chuy’s before she decided to be her usual curious self.
They pulled up out front. When Justin opened the car door the sound of a thousand yapping Chihuahuas floated over to them.
“I’ll be right back,” Justin said. “I just need to talk to them.”
“Maybe I should come in with you,” his mom said. “I still don’t understand what Carmen and Chuy might know about your dad.”
“Mom, please—I’ll explain later. They’re not going to talk to me with you there.”
“Okay, but hurry back.”
Justin hopped out, with Max following closely on his heels. Chuy answered the door, very surprised to see them. They stepped inside, and Max was instantly swarmed by tiny dogs.
Carmen hopped up from the couch with a worried look on her face. “Justin—is everything okay?”
“Can we talk outside?” Justin said to Chuy and Carmen in response. He didn’t want to wake up the rest of Chuy’s family. “Out back, I mean.” Chuy gave a nod and led them through his living room. They stepped into the backyard.
“My dad’s MIA,” Justin said. There was no time to sugarcoat it. “He told my mom something weird about going to a hunting cabin, then just disappeared. The police don’t care because he hasn’t been missing for more than forty-eight hours yet.”
“What’s the big deal?” Chuy asked. “Maybe he’s just working late or out with his friends or something.”
Justin filled them in on Tyler and Stack’s visit to his house, Tyler’s threats, and Max’s trip to Animal Control. Chuy’s eyes grew wide, and Carmen chewed on her lip, deep in thought.
“What did you tell your mom you’re doing here?” Carmen asked.
“I told her you guys knew something about what was going on,” Justin replied apologetically.
“Uh, J., are you saying you lied to your mom about us?” Chuy slapped himself on the forehead. “Thanks a lot, man.”
“I’m sorry, Chuy, but I needed to get here as fast as I could. And my bike is busted. Please—I need to find my dad. You don’t have to do anything other than loan me a bike. And cover for me with my mom—I just need a five-minute head start. Okay?” Justin looked from Chuy to Carmen and back.
Without a word, Carmen stepped over to a bike leaning against the garage.
“Sure,” she said with finality. “But I’m coming with you.”
“No way.” Justin shook his head. “This isn’t your problem. It’s mine.” He couldn’t bear the thought of dragging one more person into his mess. If anything happened to Carmen . . . He shook his head again.
“Are you going to waste time making an argument you’re going to lose?” she asked him. “Or are you going to get on that bike?” She pointed at a second bike near hers.
“That’s my bike,” Chuy cut in. “And you can’t have it.”
Justin raised his hands in frustration. Hadn’t Chuy just heard him explain that his father’s life was in danger?
Chuy grinned. “You can’t have it because I’ll be riding it. Let’s get a move on, people!”
“Chuy,” Carmen interrupted, a skeptical look on her face, “I admire your enthusiasm, but are you expecting Justin to walk?”
The smirk fell from Chuy’s face. He cast a nervous glance toward the house, then at a bike glistening in the moonlight a few feet away. It was a pristine Stumpjumper, with top-of-the-line rims and tires, a fancy cushioned seat, and a dozen of other custom extras. Justin knew it well.
“You can take my brother’s bike,” Chuy said, sounding like a man sealing his own doom. “But you know it’s his prized possession. If you mess this thing up, you’re going to have to save my life next.”
“Deal.” Justin nodded at his friends, grateful but nervous. He knew it was huge for Chuy to offer up his big brother’s bike—no one touched that thing. If anything happened to it . . . if either of his friends got hurt . . . he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
Justin didn’t want to put Carmen and Chuy in harm’s way, but he was certainly happy to have their company.
“Let’s go,” Justin said. “We have to take the back way so my mom doesn’t see us.” He felt a twinge of guilt for abandoning her in Chuy’s driveway with no explanation. Justin shuddered at the thought of the awkward conversation his mom was going to have with Chuy’s parents in a few minutes—but by then he’d be long gone. She was going to be pretty angry when she realized that he’d taken off, but he was just trying to protect her. He wasn’t going to take her anywhere near Tyler. He would just have to count on her understanding later, after his dad was back home, safe and sound.
Justin rode off into the darkness, with Carmen and Chuy right behind him. Max raced along beside them. They reached Open Range Storage in a few minutes, but Justin could tell right away the place was empty. The entire facility was dark and quiet. Still, he and Max rode between the rows of storage units, until they came to one with the door rolled up. The unit was bare. Max sniffed around it carefully, running his nose across the floor and along the perimeter. Justin spotted something in the far corner of the storage space. He leaned down to pick it up and recognized it immediately: It was his father’s gun holster. And it was empty.
Adrenaline shot through Justin’s body. They needed to move faster. He held the holster under Max’s nose. Max’s eyes lit up and his whole body started to vibrate with energy. This was what he was trained to do—this was what he was best at. He whimpered a little as he waited for Justin’s orders.
“Max,” Justin commanded. “Go search!”
JUSTIN SLOWED HIS BIKE TO A NEAR CRAWL AS HE approached the SUV in the parking lot at the edge of the woods. It was his father’s truck. Max sniffed around its tires as Justin hopped off his bike and peered inside. The truck was abandoned, but when he felt the hood over the engine, it was still warm. His dad couldn’t be that far ahead, unless they’d taken another car.
Chuy peered into the woods, a nervous look on his face. The forest was dark and pretty spooky at night.
“You having second thoughts?” Justin asked them.
Chuy shook his head. “My second thoughts are having second thoughts,” he said. “But I’m good.”
“Me too,” Carmen said. “Let’s go.”
Max guided the way, following the scent to a dirt road that led into the woods. There were fresh tire tracks in the soft earth. Justin rode first, followed by his friends. The trees closed over their heads, and they could barely see the path in front of them. Moonlight occasionally peeked down through the branches, offering the only light on the dark road. The only sound Justin could hear was his own heavy breathing and the whirring of his bike tires.
They rode for what seemed like ages. The trees overhead began to thin out, and Justin could see dawn starting to lighten the sky. Finally, Max came to a halt at the edge of a rapidly moving river. Justin, Carmen, and Chuy came to a stop behind him. The river was at least a hundred yards across, and above them and to their left, the water dropped off over a steep waterfall, causing the current to churn and twist over rocks that jutted out at sharp angles.
“Oh, come on,” Chuy said under his breath, looking up at the waterfall. Everything had just gone from bad to worse. It was going to be really tough to get across.
Max put his front paws into the water, then paused. He looked back at Justin.
“He’s not going to do what I think he’s going to do, is he?” Chuy groaned.
Max did. He hurtled his body forward into the water, paddling frantically against the rushing force of the water. Justin and Chuy exchanged a glance. Chuy shook his head but got off his bike and lifted it up over his head. Justin looked at Carmen, she nodded, and they did the same—hopping off their bikes and raising them over their heads. Chuy led the way, and the three of them resolutely waded right into the icy water.
Justin’s skin felt like it was under attack. The water was so cold he actually felt paralyzed for a split second, and he had to stop moving until his body adjusted. His arms shook with the weight of the bike above him. He looked at Carmen. She wore an expression of such fierce focus and determination; he almost had to smile at her.
They moved forward slowly, following Max’s lead.
“I hope you guys know how to swim, by the way,” Carmen half joked.
“I know how,” Justin said, though it was pretty clear to him that swimming here would be a lot harder than doing it in the local pool.
“When did you ever swim?” Chuy asked, his face contorted with effort as he sloshed forward.
“It’s just something you know how to do,” Justin said, annoyed that Chuy would challenge him in front of Carmen.
“Whoa!” Chuy suddenly exclaimed. “It’s getting deep right here. Watch out.”
“If Max can do it, we ca—” Justin started to say, but his words were cut off as his feet slipped out from under him and he was sucked down into the water. The river closed over his head, flooding his nostrils and spinning him around in a circle.
He needed to use his arms to pull himself back up, or the current would carry him down the swift river. With no other choice, he dropped the Stumpjumper and swam wildly until he broke the surface. He gasped for air.
“Justin!” Carmen yelled. “Are you okay?”
“Justin, man, you scared me!” Chuy yelled.
“I dropped your brother’s bike,” Justin spluttered, coughing up water.
Chuy shook his head, as if to scold Justin. “I’d rather have you than that stupid bike. I got it. Just go ahead.”
Chuy dropped his own bike and dove under the water. When he popped back up he was dragging his brother’s bike behind him. Justin trudged forward, wading after Carmen. Max waited for them on the far bank, his ears perked up, looking anxious.
They pulled themselves onto the shore and collapsed with exhaustion and relief. They lay there panting and dripping for a moment, collecting themselves. Max licked Justin’s face from left to right, top to bottom, and back again. Justin laughed and swatted him away.
“I’m okay, Max. I’m okay.” He looked at Chuy. Justin never imagined his friend would do something like that for him. He held up his hand and Chuy high-fived him. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“No problem,” Chuy said casually. “Just don’t expect me to lick your face, and I think we’re good.”
“Ha.” Suddenly Justin realized something. He sat up and looked into the water.
“Chuy—what about your bike?”
“We’re not going back for it, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Carmen said.
Chuy shrugged. “I needed a new one anyway.”
Justin clapped his friend on the back in appreciation. “This was a terrible idea,” Justin said. He buried his face in his hands.
“You think?” Chuy shot back. The three of them broke down into exhausted laughs.
Max’s sharp bark brought them back to the business at hand. He was a few yards away, at the bottom of a steep hill. He spun in circles and wagged his tail, letting them know he was waiting for them to get up and follow him.
Justin sighed. He wasn’t looking forward to pushing his bike up that huge incline. He really hoped that they were closing in on Tyler and his dad.
“Guess we better go see what’s on the other side,” Justin said as he got to his feet, his clothes still dripping onto the ground. “Max, you are hard-core, pal.”
Justin and Carmen walked their bikes, and the group began trudging up the hill. Huffing and puffing, they arrived at the top of a ridge. The sun was high above them now. Their clothes had already dried in the heat.
Directly beneath them, a steep and rocky mountain dropped off sharply into a ravine about a hundred feet across. They stood for a moment looking around at the expansive view and catching their breath.
Justin scanned the horizon. About a mile in the distance, he saw a strip of highway. Tiny cars zipped across it like toys on a plastic racetrack. He looked a little closer. About halfway down the mountain and to the right, an old wooden railroad bridge extended across the ravine. Even from his vantage point, he could see that the bridge was in bad shape. There were gaping holes in the bottom and planks dangling off the sides. Just beyond it was the churning stream they had crossed and the waterfall.
Max leaned over the edge and looked down the mountain. He started to growl. Justin followed his gaze and saw a campground in a large clearing tucked behind a stand of trees. Tyler, Stack, and Emilio sat on rocks around the edge. They weren’t talking. They looked like they were just . . . waiting.
Justin scanned the campground, until his eyes fell on the sight he had been hoping for. His heart leaped in his chest. Tyler’s truck was parked at the back of the clearing with the passenger side window down. Justin could just make out a familiar figure in the cab.
It was his dad—he was alive.
“Look,” Justin whispered to his friends, “now that we know my dad’s okay, I think someone should go for help. Those psychos buying Tyler’s guns could be here any second. But I’m not leaving my dad here by himself.”
Carmen nodded, her face serious. “I’ll head for that road.” She pointed at the highway in the distance. “And I’ll come back with the police.”
“How about some Navy Seals?” Chuy said, only half joking. “Why don’t we just use my cell phone?” he asked, pulling it out of his pocket.
“They won’t be able to track us closely enough,” Justin said. “They’ll just ping the closest tower, and then it could take a while for them to find this spot. It’ll be faster if you go get someone.”
“How do you know all that?” Carmen asked.
Justin shrugged. His cheeks felt hot.
He had been so grateful that Carmen and Chuy wanted to help him, but now he just wanted to get them as far away from this scene as possible.
“Go with her, Chuy,” Justin said. “I got this.”
“No way, J. I’m not leaving you alone out here.”
“I’ll be fine,” Carmen insisted.
Justin could tell from the looks on their faces that they weren’t going to take no for an answer. He forced himself not to worry that Carmen was going to be alone. Even in the short time he’d known her, he’d already figured out that she could take care of herself. He looked at her, and they held each other’s gaze. Justin’s whole body felt strange—like he was floating, but also kind of like someone was squeezing the air out of his lungs. Sort of like when he had jumped across Cutter’s Doom.
