Dreams

Part 12

Pov: Cody
   We arrived at the second, also the last ranger station, at this park.
We had all been disappointed when the first cabin had been empty, but a new hope was rising when Tyler pulled up to the second cabin. Fresh tracks were imbedded in the ground which was a good sign.
   We split up, and I got stuck with Tim.
   "What do you think they did with Cory?" Tim asked as we entered the main building.
   Two small sheds sat a couple hundred yards back in the woods according to the map. Tyler had gone to check them out, while Coby stayed in the truck. Chad hobbled into the cellar.
   I ignored Tim. I really wasn't in the mood to talk. All I wanted was to beat up whoever had taken Cory.
   I opened the cupboards, revealing rows of canned foods. Tim walked into the adjoining room.
   "There is nothing here," Tim called from the room. "What if this is a dead end? Maybe Coby was wrong."
   I peered into the trash can. A canteen that was stained purple on the rim was on top of a stack of papers. "I don't know, Tim," I replied.
   "Whoever was here last left a mess. Aren't they supposed to clean up after themselves? It's a pig pen in here," Tim remarked. I could hear him tossing things aside.
   "Don't break anything," I warned.
   He groaned. "We aren't getting anywhere!" He complained. "We're wasting time."
   "Just keep looking," I snapped. I was getting tired of Tim's attitude.
   He was silent; a real miracle for sure.
   I glanced out the window to see Tyler rushing towards the house.
   "Hey, Tim, I think Tyler found something," I called excitedly before dashing out the door.
   Tyler bounded up the porch steps.
   "Cody!" He gasped. "We need to go!"
   Tim stood behind me. "What's wrong?" He asked.
   Tyler held up a dusty object.
   "What the f*ck!" Tim exclaimed, leaning closer to get a good look at the object.
   We glared at him, and he ducked him head. "Sorry," he apologized.
   "It's fine," Tyler answered.
   "What is it?" I inquired, not quite catching on.
   "A syringe," Tyler responded, holding it right in front of my face. It shook from Tyler's hard breathing.
   I examined it. The handle was broken off, but a couple drops of a white liquid remained on the side.
   "Ok?" I raised my eyebrows at him.     "So?" I wasn't sure how this was related.
   "We don't have time for this, Cody, but I think Cory was drugged," Tyler explained hurriedly.
   "Drugged?" To be honest, I was a little skeptical. We really had no proof.
   Tyler must have seen the doubt written on my face. "Come on, this is our only lead, Cody. Just go along with it. Say he was drugged. Just think about it. He needs our help."
   I nodded slowly. "Ok, but where are we supposed to go. If Cory was here, they must have moved him, right? We have no idea where he is."
   Tyler nodded. "Ok, you make a good point."
   "Let's just find Chad first. Then we can decide what to do," I suggested.
   "Ok," Tyler agreed.
   "Did either of you find anything?" He asked.
   Tim shook his head. "I could barely see the floor of the living room. The guy that was here before us left a mess."
   "How about you?" Tyler questioned, looking at me.
   "There were some papers in the trash can that I didn't have time to sift through," I replied.
   "Ok. We can start there," Tyler concluded.
   We went back into the cabin, and I pulled the papers out of the trash. Patches of purple dotted the top page.
   "Here." I handed Tim the papers, and he set them on the crude oak table.
   "Here's a profile of some high school student," Tim acknowledged, laying one of the papers in front of Tyler.
   "Julian Keller Demaree," Tyler read aloud. "Age seventeen. Missing from Raymond, Mississippi on October thirtieth. Attended Raymond High School before his disappearance. Six foot with white hair and blue eyes. Around eighty pounds, with rotten teeth: a result of morphine use. Last seem wearing a dark red t-shirt and jeans."
   "Think he's connected?" I asked.
Tyler shrugged. "Maybe a target or accomplice. Apparently he went missing last week, so he could of already been a victim."
   Tim took out his phone. "There's a missing person report online. Says he got into drugs after a life-threatening injury in middle school where he was prescribed highly-addictive painkiller. It says here that it's highly likely he took off with someone so that could get him more substances."
   Tyler nodded. "I hope we can find this kid in the process of getting Cory back," he commented.
   I agreed. "It's a shame this kid got into drugs."
   "Yeah," Tyler replied.
   Tim put his phone down and held up another paper. "It's a profile on Cory."
  "That means this was planned," I commented.
   Tyler took the paper from Tim.   "There is a name written on the bottom of this page: Sam."
   "Is that all?" I asked.
   "I think," he replied, flipping the page to look on the back. "I'm not seeing anything else."
   "What'd you guys find?"
   I looked to find Chad limped towards us.
   "Find anything?" I asked him.
   He pulled out a chair, sat down, and took a page from the pile. "No."
   "Why are these pages soaked in this?" He asked, holding up his page which was dotted with the purple liquid.
   "Found them in the trash can," I replied.
   Chad grimaced. He sniffed the page.   "So we know this guy was on drugs?"
   I nodded. "How much of our conversation did you hear?"
   "Not a lot," he answered, "but these pages are splashed with lean."
   I pulled out my phone and did a quick Google search. I sniffed the page as well. "Yeah. I guess you're right," I agreed.
   Tim pulled a paper from the bottom of the stack. "Here's an address, guys!" He exclaimed, laying the paper in the middle of the table. Sure enough, an address was scribbling in the top corner. Tyler entered it into Google maps.
   A disappointed look crossed his face. "It's just the address of that bar on Eighth Street." He crumpled the page and tossed it back into the trash can.
   "Hold on," Chad said suddenly. He took Ty's phone, and zoomed out a little bit. "There's a vacant warehouse just down the road."
   "We can't just chase any random lead," Tim reminded him.
   "Can we just look?" He implored.
Tyler looked at the rest of us. "What do you think?"
   "It can't hurt to try," I shrugged.
   Tim gave us a skeptical look. "Ok, but don't expect to find him."

Pov: Kidnapper (His name is Charles, remember?)
   We pulled into the warehouse parking lot. Neither of us had said a word the entire ride.
   The twin hadn't woken up either.
   Jules had driven even though he was as high as hell. He was used to driving high, so I trusted him more than myself.
   We had injected the ice into our skin after the successful knockout, but now I was craving more. I knew Jules had more. I needed it horribly, but I didn't want this job to end in orange jumpsuits. We couldn't afford to f*ck this up even more.
   I jumped out of the truck, almost falling to the ground. Cars sped by on the main road. My head swam, and my vision was blurred. The cars seemed to blend together, and the noises agitated me. One of these cars was my client though. I had to keep it together.
   When I had started this business, I had promised never to get high during a job. It was risky to get high during a job, that's for sure, but it felt so good. If you're never gotten high, you're not living correctly.
   Once, a couple years back, I had tried to withdraw completely, but it was of no use. The drugs had me just like they had Jules. At least I had tried to break the addiction. I get points for that, don't I?
   Anyway, when this guy comes, I'll have money for months. There was no way this deal was falling through. And it wasn't like I was going to have a drug crash; ice highs last for days, even weeks sometimes.
   I smiled at me cleverness. Two shots of ice and a dose of dreamer wasn't going to mess this up. I was invincible.
   I turned my attention to Jules. That b*tch had taken two shots of ice, a dose of dreamer, and a large dose of oxy. Plus the lean was starting to kick in. I could tell by his posture. He stood by the back of the truck, leaning slightly to the left.
   "You stay here," I demanded.
   Jules looked up. His eyes were dilated. "I wl sta wit tha vicm," he slurred.
   I scratched my face and arms. "Be careful. Don't let anyone around."
   Jules bobbed his head. It threw him off balance, so he sat down on the pavement. "Iya niw," was his response.
   I didn't trust Jules right now, but I needed to meet my client behind the bar. I hadn't heard back from Cory's friends so I guess they weren't coming.
   "Watch him carefully," I repeated before jogging off-balance to the bar.