ACT VII
Someone thudded heavily onto the bench next to Sam, whose eyes popped wide open with surprise and a jolt of additional pain at the impact. He knew without looking that it had to be Cord. "We win or lose?" he asked. It sounded stupid, but it was the only way Sam could think of to get the other boy to talk.
"Hurt ya, did I, you little pansy-ass traitor?" Cord muttered, ignoring Sam's question and responding instead to the wince of pain. Sam rolled his head against the locker door so that he was looking at Cord, whose sweaty face bore an expression of utter satisfaction. "It was my touchdowns that got us the game. I put you outta the action, I win the whole thing all by myself, and now I'm goin' out to celebrate. It's gonna be some night, Becker." Cord leered at Sam, who simply gazed at him.
"How'd you ever get my sister to agree to a date with you?" Sam asked, almost pleasantly.
For just one moment Cord looked taken aback. "How. . . " he began, then shrugged. "She probably told you. Hell, it was easy. We both know she's nothin', nobody. She's a classic wallflower. She oughta be grateful that the big football star noticed her and asked her out." He smirked. "She'll have a REAL good time, don't you worry, big brother."
"Oh, I bet," Sam said, closing his eyes for a moment and swallowing. "I suppose you're going to the local burger joint, seeing as that sounds like your idea of a big date." He managed to inject enough pain into the remark that the sarcasm eluded Cord entirely.
"Sure the ribs ain't broken?" Cord taunted. "Want me to finish breakin' 'em for ya?" Abruptly he leaned in toward Sam (who instinctively withdrew, and grimaced and gritted his teeth when the ribs reacted), his face within millimeters of Sam's. "You made me look like a total asshole in front of the guys, Becker. You broke the creed, man. We were friends till the end. Never thought you'd go Benedict Arnold on me. Well, now you're gonna pay for that. You made a helluva big mistake, Becker. So I'm gonna make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."
"Damn it, Cord, leave Colleen out of it." The words came out in an agonized moan. "She never did anything to you. If you got a problem with me, you take it out on me, but keep your hands off her. If you have any sense of honor . . . "
"Honor?" Cord exploded in an incredulous whisper. "Why should I show you any honor after what you did to me? First you pay, then your sister." He turned the air blue with one fierce expletive and stalked off for the showers. His aura dared anyone to say one word to him.
Desperation drove Sam to his feet despite the raging fire in his left side. Heedless of the fact that he was still wearing Nick's football uniform, cleats, pads and all, he yanked open the locker labeled "Becker", grabbed Nick's keys, wallet and street clothes, slammed the door shut again and lurched for the exit to the parking lot. Sam's reasoning was that he might be able to get to Colleen before Cord did, and warn her about what was coming. Failing that, at least he'd be closer to Nick's car, and with any luck he'd be able to follow them to wherever they were going.
Try as he might, Sam could not find Colleen anywhere in the departing crowds. The parking lot was about half empty and a line of cars was moving slowly toward the access road that led off campus. Breath hissing through his teeth, he started towards Nick's aging Datsun, all his focus on reaching the car. As promised, Al was there waiting - inside the car. Sam rolled his eyes and managed to fit the key into the lock.
"Least you could've done was unlock the door for me," Sam twitted Al with a faint grin, easing into the driver's seat and yanking the door closed.
"Hilarious, Sam," was all Al would say to that. "Where's Cord?"
"In the showers," Sam told him. "I couldn't get it out of him where he's taking Colleen, and what's more, I couldn't find Colleen on the way out here. I don't know why - I figured she'd be waiting for Cord by the exit I came out of. Since she wasn't there, I came over here. Trying to get a head start on Cord."
"Good thinkin', Sam," Al encouraged him. "Actually, Cord probably told Colleen to wait for him in the bleachers. He might be a slimeball, but he's not stupid."
"Damn shame," Sam remarked and started to get out of the car.
"Hey, wait a minute, where you goin'?" Al demanded frantically. "If you're thinkin' of heading to the bleachers to warn Colleen, let me tell you this, buddy - you don't have enough time for that. Right now you're ahead of the game. Sit tight and wait, and for cryin' out loud, don't start the car till you see which one Cord and Colleen get into. Don't make it obvious you're followin' 'em, or else - "
"Here they come," Sam cut him off. "You can tell me how to drive without my lights on later." He stared intently at Cord and Colleen, walking leisurely under the sodium lamps that threw a sickly pinkish-orange glow over everything. Cord had his arm around Colleen's shoulders, and she was giggling. Old Jekyll-and-Hyde, thought Sam. His side still pounded, but he ignored it.
Cord stopped at a small white Trans Am and astounded both Sam and Al by opening the passenger-side door for Colleen and handing her inside. "What a freakin' gentleman," spat Al derisively. "Damn hypocritical dirtbag."
They watched Cord walk around the car and get into his side, and a moment later they heard the engine roar to life and saw the lights go on. "Now, Sam," Al blurted, leaning forward with a look of . . . was that excitement Sam saw on his face? Sam snorted softly to himself and turned the key in the ignition.
The engine cranked but wouldn't turn over; Sam let go of the key and then tried again. Still he couldn't get the car to start. Each time he tried, the resulting desolate whines from the engine were fewer and slower. "Aw, sweet paradise, not now!" Al moaned.
"Of all the times for this to happen," muttered Sam. "I knew something was gonna go wrong." He left the key in the ignition and struggled out of the car, intending to open the hood and see if the problem was simple enough for him to fix quickly; but then a voice hailed him.
"Nick! Hey, Nick, you okay?" Sam looked up and was amazed to see Charlie Mason approaching him at a run. "Anything wrong?"
Sam got an idea and ran with it. This might just turn out to be a godsend after all. "Yeah, Charlie, could you do me a huge favor? My car just broke down and I really need help."
"No problem," Charlie agreed instantly. "Come on, my car's right over here."
"Hallelujah!" Al rejoiced, following along behind Sam and Charlie. Sam shot a glance across the parking lot where Cord's Trans Am had joined the line of cars waiting to get off the school campus. 'Thank God for traffic,' he thought and grinned to himself over the absurdity of that.
"You need to get to a shop or something?" Charlie asked. "Need a tow? Jumper cables?"
"Actually," Sam said, "I need you to follow that white Trans Am over there."
Charlie's gaze followed Sam's pointing finger. "That's Cord Ericson's car," he realized. "I thought you guys weren't speaking anymore."
"Yeah, well, he's got my sister Colleen with him," Sam said urgently. "He's out for revenge, not just against me but Colleen too. I need to get to her before he hurts her somehow." Knowing how much and how little of his prescience to reveal came almost instinctively now, after all the Leaps he'd made. "I was gonna do it, but then my car wouldn't start."
Charlie looked alarmed. "Oh man," he said. "Well, let's get this show on the road, then." He unlocked his door, threw himself inside and leaned over to unlock Sam's door. Al conveniently popped into the backseat while Sam tried to move faster than his tortured ribs wanted to allow. He was still buckling up when Charlie pulled out of his space and headed for the end of the line waiting to leave. In the time it had taken them to get moving, two other cars had gotten in line, separating them from Cord and Colleen.
"Tell him not to be quite so gung-ho, Sam," Al suggested wryly. "Otherwise Cord'll discover he's being followed before he gets off campus."
Sam relayed this information to Charlie and drummed his fingers nervously on the dashboard in front of him. For all its length, the line kept moving, and it wasn't long before they saw Cord make a right-hand turn off the school grounds. "There he goes," Al yelled, getting into the spirit of the chase. Sam wished for a moment that Charlie could hear Al too, just so Sam would have the freedom to turn around and tell him to be quiet.
"This is the way to Starlight Pond," Charlie noted after a few minutes. They had already left Maple Crossing behind by now and the road wound through thick, black forest. "Think he's going there?"
"Uh . . . " Sam hedged, hoping Al would fill in the blanks.
Obligingly Al said, "Naw, that's the local lovers' lane. Too many people there, especially on a Friday night. Cord's gonna want some privacy."
"No," Sam said, "Cord would have witnesses if he went there." Something Al had said earlier came back to him. "The park."
"Which one?" Charlie asked.
Horror bloomed in Sam's gut. "Uh, well, uh - the one where everyone jogs," he said, verbally groping. "With their dogs. You know." He hoped Charlie did know.
"Right," Charlie said and brightened. "So you think he's headed for Rossum's Park, then. But that won't work, it's closed this time of night."
"All the better for what Cord's got in mind," Sam replied grimly. He felt as if he were stuck in a bad TV show with a well-meaning but inept sidekick. Well, he reflected, they didn't need a Mensa member to achieve their objective, just a willing helper. Which, Sam realized suddenly and with great hope, was exactly what he had wished for back in the locker room. Perhaps God or Fate or Whoever was smiling on him after all, at least a little. He certainly liked his chances a little better.
"Ease up on the gas, Speed Racer," Al warned from the back. "We're gonna catch up with Cord."
"There," Sam said abruptly. "That sign said Rossum's Park, and I just saw Cord's taillights turn."
Charlie coughed nervously. "I hate this back entrance," he complained, slowing and making the turn onto what proved to be a rutted, single-lane dirt road. "They should've called this part Rossum's Forest. Ten to one Cord parks somewhere in here - it's so pitch-black out, he could count on no one seeing him."
"I'd like to know how WE'RE gonna see him," Sam muttered, staring so hard out the windshield and the side window by turns that his eyes were beginning to ache right along with his ribs. "I wish we had some kind of infrared sensor. The minute he turns his car lights off, we've lost him."
"No problemo," Al announced cheerfully, and a beam reminiscent of the blue light Sam experienced every time he Leaped appeared from the handlink and probed into the trees. "No smartass high-school jock could possibly be a match for Ziggy and her trusty gimmicks." He waved the handlink around like a flashlight and Sam almost sighed, cutting it short when his ribs howled at him. He couldn't help but wonder how he was going to rescue Colleen with only a hologram and a junior Barney Fife as backup.
Someone thudded heavily onto the bench next to Sam, whose eyes popped wide open with surprise and a jolt of additional pain at the impact. He knew without looking that it had to be Cord. "We win or lose?" he asked. It sounded stupid, but it was the only way Sam could think of to get the other boy to talk.
"Hurt ya, did I, you little pansy-ass traitor?" Cord muttered, ignoring Sam's question and responding instead to the wince of pain. Sam rolled his head against the locker door so that he was looking at Cord, whose sweaty face bore an expression of utter satisfaction. "It was my touchdowns that got us the game. I put you outta the action, I win the whole thing all by myself, and now I'm goin' out to celebrate. It's gonna be some night, Becker." Cord leered at Sam, who simply gazed at him.
"How'd you ever get my sister to agree to a date with you?" Sam asked, almost pleasantly.
For just one moment Cord looked taken aback. "How. . . " he began, then shrugged. "She probably told you. Hell, it was easy. We both know she's nothin', nobody. She's a classic wallflower. She oughta be grateful that the big football star noticed her and asked her out." He smirked. "She'll have a REAL good time, don't you worry, big brother."
"Oh, I bet," Sam said, closing his eyes for a moment and swallowing. "I suppose you're going to the local burger joint, seeing as that sounds like your idea of a big date." He managed to inject enough pain into the remark that the sarcasm eluded Cord entirely.
"Sure the ribs ain't broken?" Cord taunted. "Want me to finish breakin' 'em for ya?" Abruptly he leaned in toward Sam (who instinctively withdrew, and grimaced and gritted his teeth when the ribs reacted), his face within millimeters of Sam's. "You made me look like a total asshole in front of the guys, Becker. You broke the creed, man. We were friends till the end. Never thought you'd go Benedict Arnold on me. Well, now you're gonna pay for that. You made a helluva big mistake, Becker. So I'm gonna make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."
"Damn it, Cord, leave Colleen out of it." The words came out in an agonized moan. "She never did anything to you. If you got a problem with me, you take it out on me, but keep your hands off her. If you have any sense of honor . . . "
"Honor?" Cord exploded in an incredulous whisper. "Why should I show you any honor after what you did to me? First you pay, then your sister." He turned the air blue with one fierce expletive and stalked off for the showers. His aura dared anyone to say one word to him.
Desperation drove Sam to his feet despite the raging fire in his left side. Heedless of the fact that he was still wearing Nick's football uniform, cleats, pads and all, he yanked open the locker labeled "Becker", grabbed Nick's keys, wallet and street clothes, slammed the door shut again and lurched for the exit to the parking lot. Sam's reasoning was that he might be able to get to Colleen before Cord did, and warn her about what was coming. Failing that, at least he'd be closer to Nick's car, and with any luck he'd be able to follow them to wherever they were going.
Try as he might, Sam could not find Colleen anywhere in the departing crowds. The parking lot was about half empty and a line of cars was moving slowly toward the access road that led off campus. Breath hissing through his teeth, he started towards Nick's aging Datsun, all his focus on reaching the car. As promised, Al was there waiting - inside the car. Sam rolled his eyes and managed to fit the key into the lock.
"Least you could've done was unlock the door for me," Sam twitted Al with a faint grin, easing into the driver's seat and yanking the door closed.
"Hilarious, Sam," was all Al would say to that. "Where's Cord?"
"In the showers," Sam told him. "I couldn't get it out of him where he's taking Colleen, and what's more, I couldn't find Colleen on the way out here. I don't know why - I figured she'd be waiting for Cord by the exit I came out of. Since she wasn't there, I came over here. Trying to get a head start on Cord."
"Good thinkin', Sam," Al encouraged him. "Actually, Cord probably told Colleen to wait for him in the bleachers. He might be a slimeball, but he's not stupid."
"Damn shame," Sam remarked and started to get out of the car.
"Hey, wait a minute, where you goin'?" Al demanded frantically. "If you're thinkin' of heading to the bleachers to warn Colleen, let me tell you this, buddy - you don't have enough time for that. Right now you're ahead of the game. Sit tight and wait, and for cryin' out loud, don't start the car till you see which one Cord and Colleen get into. Don't make it obvious you're followin' 'em, or else - "
"Here they come," Sam cut him off. "You can tell me how to drive without my lights on later." He stared intently at Cord and Colleen, walking leisurely under the sodium lamps that threw a sickly pinkish-orange glow over everything. Cord had his arm around Colleen's shoulders, and she was giggling. Old Jekyll-and-Hyde, thought Sam. His side still pounded, but he ignored it.
Cord stopped at a small white Trans Am and astounded both Sam and Al by opening the passenger-side door for Colleen and handing her inside. "What a freakin' gentleman," spat Al derisively. "Damn hypocritical dirtbag."
They watched Cord walk around the car and get into his side, and a moment later they heard the engine roar to life and saw the lights go on. "Now, Sam," Al blurted, leaning forward with a look of . . . was that excitement Sam saw on his face? Sam snorted softly to himself and turned the key in the ignition.
The engine cranked but wouldn't turn over; Sam let go of the key and then tried again. Still he couldn't get the car to start. Each time he tried, the resulting desolate whines from the engine were fewer and slower. "Aw, sweet paradise, not now!" Al moaned.
"Of all the times for this to happen," muttered Sam. "I knew something was gonna go wrong." He left the key in the ignition and struggled out of the car, intending to open the hood and see if the problem was simple enough for him to fix quickly; but then a voice hailed him.
"Nick! Hey, Nick, you okay?" Sam looked up and was amazed to see Charlie Mason approaching him at a run. "Anything wrong?"
Sam got an idea and ran with it. This might just turn out to be a godsend after all. "Yeah, Charlie, could you do me a huge favor? My car just broke down and I really need help."
"No problem," Charlie agreed instantly. "Come on, my car's right over here."
"Hallelujah!" Al rejoiced, following along behind Sam and Charlie. Sam shot a glance across the parking lot where Cord's Trans Am had joined the line of cars waiting to get off the school campus. 'Thank God for traffic,' he thought and grinned to himself over the absurdity of that.
"You need to get to a shop or something?" Charlie asked. "Need a tow? Jumper cables?"
"Actually," Sam said, "I need you to follow that white Trans Am over there."
Charlie's gaze followed Sam's pointing finger. "That's Cord Ericson's car," he realized. "I thought you guys weren't speaking anymore."
"Yeah, well, he's got my sister Colleen with him," Sam said urgently. "He's out for revenge, not just against me but Colleen too. I need to get to her before he hurts her somehow." Knowing how much and how little of his prescience to reveal came almost instinctively now, after all the Leaps he'd made. "I was gonna do it, but then my car wouldn't start."
Charlie looked alarmed. "Oh man," he said. "Well, let's get this show on the road, then." He unlocked his door, threw himself inside and leaned over to unlock Sam's door. Al conveniently popped into the backseat while Sam tried to move faster than his tortured ribs wanted to allow. He was still buckling up when Charlie pulled out of his space and headed for the end of the line waiting to leave. In the time it had taken them to get moving, two other cars had gotten in line, separating them from Cord and Colleen.
"Tell him not to be quite so gung-ho, Sam," Al suggested wryly. "Otherwise Cord'll discover he's being followed before he gets off campus."
Sam relayed this information to Charlie and drummed his fingers nervously on the dashboard in front of him. For all its length, the line kept moving, and it wasn't long before they saw Cord make a right-hand turn off the school grounds. "There he goes," Al yelled, getting into the spirit of the chase. Sam wished for a moment that Charlie could hear Al too, just so Sam would have the freedom to turn around and tell him to be quiet.
"This is the way to Starlight Pond," Charlie noted after a few minutes. They had already left Maple Crossing behind by now and the road wound through thick, black forest. "Think he's going there?"
"Uh . . . " Sam hedged, hoping Al would fill in the blanks.
Obligingly Al said, "Naw, that's the local lovers' lane. Too many people there, especially on a Friday night. Cord's gonna want some privacy."
"No," Sam said, "Cord would have witnesses if he went there." Something Al had said earlier came back to him. "The park."
"Which one?" Charlie asked.
Horror bloomed in Sam's gut. "Uh, well, uh - the one where everyone jogs," he said, verbally groping. "With their dogs. You know." He hoped Charlie did know.
"Right," Charlie said and brightened. "So you think he's headed for Rossum's Park, then. But that won't work, it's closed this time of night."
"All the better for what Cord's got in mind," Sam replied grimly. He felt as if he were stuck in a bad TV show with a well-meaning but inept sidekick. Well, he reflected, they didn't need a Mensa member to achieve their objective, just a willing helper. Which, Sam realized suddenly and with great hope, was exactly what he had wished for back in the locker room. Perhaps God or Fate or Whoever was smiling on him after all, at least a little. He certainly liked his chances a little better.
"Ease up on the gas, Speed Racer," Al warned from the back. "We're gonna catch up with Cord."
"There," Sam said abruptly. "That sign said Rossum's Park, and I just saw Cord's taillights turn."
Charlie coughed nervously. "I hate this back entrance," he complained, slowing and making the turn onto what proved to be a rutted, single-lane dirt road. "They should've called this part Rossum's Forest. Ten to one Cord parks somewhere in here - it's so pitch-black out, he could count on no one seeing him."
"I'd like to know how WE'RE gonna see him," Sam muttered, staring so hard out the windshield and the side window by turns that his eyes were beginning to ache right along with his ribs. "I wish we had some kind of infrared sensor. The minute he turns his car lights off, we've lost him."
"No problemo," Al announced cheerfully, and a beam reminiscent of the blue light Sam experienced every time he Leaped appeared from the handlink and probed into the trees. "No smartass high-school jock could possibly be a match for Ziggy and her trusty gimmicks." He waved the handlink around like a flashlight and Sam almost sighed, cutting it short when his ribs howled at him. He couldn't help but wonder how he was going to rescue Colleen with only a hologram and a junior Barney Fife as backup.