Chapter 13

He returned to his classroom, finished grading the papers, and stuffed them into the desk drawer. He locked the desk, picked up his books and bag, and headed for the parking lot, locking the classroom on the way out. The lot was almost empty of cars, except for the board members' vehicles and a few spectators to the proceedings. I can't believe that Jack and Mike never showed! He didn't see either of their cars in the lot, further evidence that for some reason they left him to pull his own bacon out of the fire. But a part of him knew something wasn't right. They would never willingly leave him alone in a situation like this. He glanced around the lot, but it was clear, so he continued walking to his car. At that point, his concern for Mike and Jack was greater than that for his own safety.

He unlocked the driver's side door and threw his things in the passenger seat, then got inside. Before he could get his foot in and close the door, someone reached in, grabbed him by the shirt, and violently threw him out onto the pavement. He slid a couple feet and tiny pieces of dirt and gravel embedded themselves into his hands as he tried to stop himself. Despite the sting, he used his hands to push up, but a foot came from the darkness and slammed into his side. The momentum threw him to his back. He groaned and stared up at five figures dressed in black and silhouetted against a lone mercury light.

"Time to teach the teacher a lesson!"

He recognized Joel's voice muffled slightly by a ski mask. Hands grabbed and picked him up, setting him on his feet. He elbowed one of his captors in the chest and chopped at another's throat. They fell back and everyone let him go. For one second, he thought maybe he could make a break for it. Then he felt the prongs of a taser dig into his back and the electricity rushed through his body, sending him to his knees. By the time he collapsed face first, he was out cold.

"Come on, man, hurry up!"

"We gotta do this before he wakes up, or someone comes."

When Sam regained consciousness he was being carried somewhere. His hands and feet were bound by duct tape and his mouth was covered with it. He faked unconsciousness until he knew where they were taking him and he could find a means of escape. Besides, it would irritate them to no end to have to drag his carcass around for awhile.

"Okay, you got it open?"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, get him in here!"

Sam smelled the strong odor of chlorine. They're taking me to the pool. No doubt they're going to dump me in and expect me to drown. Nice try, guys! He continued to pretend that he was unresponsive as they moved him closer to the water.

"Crap!" Joel stepped into the gutter that ran around the edge of the pool and got a wet foot for his efforts. "Okay, throw him in! Now! Then let's get out of here!"

The back of Sam's shirt got wet Then he felt himself being lifted high. It was his last chance to fight, but if he let them throw him in, he could then make his escape. His body hovered for a moment over the water, and as he broke the barrier between air and water, he inhaled one last breath through his nose. He quickly discovered that he was in the deep end, and he sank to the bottom. It was dark, inky black without the usual overhead lighting. But he had no time to think about that. In about two to three minutes he would be without air, if he still had the chops to hold his breath that long. He had no choice. His life depended upon it.

He'd been well trained in underwater escape, even if he were bound as he was at the moment, so he attempted to swim to the shallow end, just far enough to get upright and catch some fresh air. Then he could worry about freeing himself. But something caught hold of his feet and held him in place. He struggled and kicked at it, but it wouldn't budge. Then he realized that they'd weighed him down with a cinderblock. He tried dragging it, but that caused him to lose air. His lungs were beginning to ache. He felt lightheaded. Only one more chance, that's all he had left.

With his hands bound, it was difficult but not impossible to pull the block toward himself. He fought to keep the last of his air while expending energy to pull the block. His head felt as if it would explode from the effort.

It's no use. This is one mess I'm...not...getting out...of...

Sam lost consciousness and sank back down to the bottom of the pool. He never knew just how close help was and missed seeing the flicker of light across the surface of the water.