“It’s pretty strong,” she said. “Better not fall in.”
Luke sat down on the edge of the bridge and stuck his feet in. The current was quick and powerful. He had to grip the wood to keep from being pulled off.
“Be careful,” Ellie said.
“Come on,” Luke said. “Stick your feet in!”
They all sat and put their feet in the rushing water.
“Damn! That’s cold!” John said.
“It feels like it’s gonna pull me in,” Ellie said, yanking her feet out of the torrent and standing back up. Suddenly, two kids on bikes came barreling down the path straight onto the foot bridge. They were side by side and taking up the whole trail. As they sped across the bridge, one of the kids stuck his foot out and knocked Ellie backwards. She was apparently in the way. She stumbled, falling against John who was just barely hanging on, the strong current pulling at his feet. He went over into the water and disappeared under. Luke was able to hold on to Ellie and keep her from following John in.
“John!” Jimmy shouted and ran off the bridge to the shore of the creek, chasing after his brother. Luke pulled Ellie up and they followed after him. John still had not come up.
“Where is he?!” Jimmy yelled, panicking. “I can’t see him!”
Luke searched the water trying to find any sign of John in the foaming liquid. Suddenly, fifty yards downstream, his head popped up and his arms flailed air as he tried to grab hold of something.
“There!” Luke pointed.
Jimmy saw him and chased after his brother who was racing away in the current. “Hold on John! We’re coming!”
Luke ran after them and watched as John was able to catch hold of a branch hanging low over the creek. The branch was straining against his weight but holding fast. Jimmy got to him and frantically looked around for something he could extend out to his brother. Luke tripped and fell. Grabbing his shin in pain, he looked at what he tripped over. It was a long branch. He grabbed it and dragged it over to Jimmy.
“Here! Use this!”
“Oh man! That’s good! Got it! Help me.”
“I’ll try,” Luke said, limping.
“I’ll help,” Ellie said, and grabbed hold of the branch too.
John was holding on but he looked tired and he kept choking on the water when it lapped into his face as it rushed by. They extended the branch out to him, but it kept getting pushed away by the current.
“We need to move a little more upstream,” Jimmy said, and they moved up the shore a few feet. They tried again and the branch hit John in the head.
“Grab it, John!” Jimmy yelled. “We’ll pull you in!”
“I can’t! It will pull me under!”
“We won’t let go! Come on man, it’s gonna pull you under in a minute anyway!”
John thought about it for a second and then made up his mind. He let one hand go, grabbed the branch they were holding out to him, and then let his other hand go. He floundered for a second and Luke thought he was going to get swept away, but he managed to get his other hand on the branch and they all pulled him quickly to shore. He stumbled climbing up the bank and then collapsed from exhaustion as his brother held onto to his arm like he would never let go. After a few seconds John said, “You can let go now Jim, I’m ok.”
“I know,” Jimmy said, letting go of John’s arm. “I know.” And he grinned at his brother who, despite his exhaustion, grinned back at him.
“Thanks,” John said.
Ellie hugged him around the neck saying, “I’m sorry, John! I didn’t mean to make you fall in. I’m so sorry!”
“It’s ok, Ellie,” John said. “I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“Who were those kids anyway?” Luke asked.
“One of them was Jason Margot,” Ellie said. “I don’t know the other one. Jason was the one who stuck his foot out.”
“Sounds like Jason deserves a little payback,” Jimmy said.
“Let’s just let it go,” Ellie said. “John’s ok and nobody got seriously hurt.”
“Bullshit!” John said. “I’m not letting this go. They almost killed me!”
Ellie let go of John and sat back on her knees looking distraught. Luke wasn’t sure how to feel about this. He wasn’t one who liked revenge, but John was right. They almost killed him.
“I got a cool idea and nobody will get hurt,” Jimmy said, “but it should scare the crap out of them. Come on.”
John got up slowly and they all followed Jimmy back to Cotton Court.
Chapter 17
After five long months of nothing breaking in the case, Jaxon received a call that got his blood going. He grabbed Sally from the break room saying, “Come on! We’ve got a lead on the pool kids. Let’s go!”
They drove into the familiar neighborhood and made their way to a house which sat directly across from the pool complex. It was a two story, brick affair with a perfectly manicured yard and fresh paint on the eaves. A man stood in the yard watering a patch of flowers planted around his matching brick mailbox. They parked in the driveway and stepped out into the bright morning sun.
Jaxon could see what looked like a swim team practicing at the pool. A man who appeared to be the coach was blowing his whistle and gesturing at something in the water Jaxon could not see.
“What are we doing here?” Sally asked as they watched the man put his hose down and make his way toward them.
“You’ll see,” Jaxon said and grinned.
As the man walked up, Jaxon produced his I.D. and asked, “Are you Mr. Lolly?”
“Yes sir,” the man said. “Glad you two could get here so quick. But please, call me Burt.” And he stuck out his hand to shake. His grip was like shaking a stone statue. Only one that gripped back. It took everything for Jaxon not to flinch.
“Detective Jennings, FCPD and this is Detective Winston.”
“Nice to meet you two,” Burt said. “Come on in and I’ll show you what I got.”
They followed the short stocky man of about seventy in through the garage, entering the house through the kitchen. An older woman with bright red hair stood at the sink washing what looked like the breakfast dishes. She turned as they stepped in behind Burt.
“This is my wife Marie. Honey, this is Detective Jennings and Detective Winston.”
“Nice to see you,” she said as she wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Can I get you some coffee or something to eat?”
“Coffee would be great,” Jaxon said.
“And you young lady?”
“A cup of coffee would be spectacular,” Sally said with a smile. “What a lovely kitchen you have.”
Marie beamed, said “Thank you,” and grabbed two coffee mugs from the cupboard behind her.
“We’ll be in the den, sweetie,” Burt said. “Could you bring the mugs in there?”
She smiled and nodded.
Jaxon followed Burt through the house to a room which was in the rear of the spacious first floor. It was lined with books and had a dark wood desk on the wall opposite the door. Small and tidy, it was a man’s space and Burt had it decorated with small models of military jets along with pictures of a younger Burt in uniform standing next to various aircraft and servicemen. Framed medals hung on the wall behind the desk and Jaxon recognized the Distinguished Flying Cross in a frame all by itself.
Burt saw him looking the medal over and said, “Were you in the service?”
