Trouble is a Friend of Mine

‘Um, this is great conversation, but where are we going? We seem to be walking away from the motel,’ I said.

‘We’re going to check out some storage places nearby to figure out which this belongs to.’ Digby held up a set of keys.

‘Where’d you get those from?’ I said.

‘Ezekiel’s bag,’ Digby said.

‘You stole them out of his bag of guns and explosives?’ I said. ‘What a great idea. How is that going to help us get her out of there?’

‘Who?’ Felix said.

I’d forgotten we were still keeping Marina a secret from them. Great. More secrets.

‘Relax … it’s all part of the plan,’ Digby said. He knit his fingers together. ‘Don’t worry, it’s very cohesive.’

‘I can’t even tell you how confident I feel now,’ I said.

‘Me too!’ Felix said.

‘I don’t really, Felix,’ I said.

Digby took out his phone and got on his map app. ‘All the storage places are close by …’

‘How do you even know those are storage keys?’ I said.

‘Clearly, your mom moved the classy way and hired movers. One thing you learn a lot about when you have divorced parents who can’t afford movers is self-storage units. The ones in Texas have AC. Upstate, they’re heated. Good ones have pest control. Seen them all,’ Digby said. ‘This is an RFID keycard and this is a key to a radial pin tumbler lock. I opened one with the shaft of a Bic once.’

Felix took the keys. ‘J22. Row J, door 22?’

‘So we just walk to these places and try all the J22s? My feet hurt,’ I said. ‘Can I see your phone?’

I didn’t really expect to do anything useful, but to my surprise, one name on the list of storage place actually rang a bell.

‘This one,’ I said. ‘The U-Store on Irving.’

‘Are you saying that because it’s the closest?’ Digby said.

‘No, but it’s a bonus that it is,’ I said. ‘When Ezekiel and Floyd were talking by the Dumpster, I thought they were calling someone a “used whore” but …’

‘U-Store,’ Digby said. ‘Okay. Let’s go.’

He grabbed my hand and ran, dragging me behind him. I would’ve begged him to slow down, but I could hardly breathe. My tap shoes sounded like rifle shots on the pavement. Felix ran ahead. Man, that kid was fast. His streaming cape made him look superhero speedy.

We used the keycard to open the U-Store gate. It was an open lot with huge lockers lined up in infinite rows that filled the horizon endlessly. Totally creepy. We found J22.

‘What do you think we’ll find inside?’ Felix said.

‘Silence of the Lambs scenario? A twisted murder museum?’ Digby said.

‘I’m excited,’ Felix said. ‘I’ve never seen a corpse that wasn’t a mummy.’

‘Or it could be a roomful of smuggled diamonds,’ I said.

‘We’re not in a Tintin adventure, Princeton,’ Digby said. ‘These guys are small-town dealers. It’s probably a whole locker of chemicals or something.’

‘At least we know it isn’t going to be Marina’s rotting corpse,’ I said.

‘It could be somebody else’s corpse,’ Felix said.

‘I’m going to do it.’ Digby opened two heavy locks and when he got the roll-up door open, we got a shock of a different kind. ‘It’s an ambulance.’

‘Maybe the corpse is inside,’ Felix said.

‘You should let the whole corpse thing go,’ I said.

‘It’s the ambulance stolen from the Children’s Hospital. Remember? Sloane’s parents were in the mall raising money to replace it,’ Digby said.

‘An ambulance? They’re car thieves too?’ I said.

‘It’s a weird thing to steal if they are,’ Digby said. ‘But … it’s a great thing to have for delivering or picking up stuff without people noticing.’

‘Maybe there’s something inside already,’ Felix said.

The ambulance doors were locked and none of Digby’s stolen keys opened them. Felix noticed a small window on the side of the ambulance was slightly ajar.

‘If you lift me up, I could get inside,’ Felix said.

Digby hoisted Felix through the window. Once he was in, we heard rummaging noises.

‘He sounds like a raccoon in a trash can,’ I said. ‘Now what? He’s stuck.’

Through the window, we saw Felix struggling to pull free from something.

‘That damned cape, I bet,’ I said.

‘I just realized … we probably shouldn’t stay here too long,’ Digby said. ‘Since we swiped the keys to this locker, they’d have a pretty good guess where they’d find us. I mean, they’re probably headed here now.’

‘That’s right, kid. Like, right now.’ We turned. Ezekiel’s gun mainly pointed at Digby, but in case I thought my pumped-up kicks could run faster than his bullet, he waved it in my direction a little too. Schell was with him. Ezekiel peered into the ambulance.

‘See, I told you … she sent them. Look out! There are three of them. The third one will jump us from out of nowhere. That’s how they got me,’ Schell said.

‘Shut up, Leo, no one’s here.’ Ezekiel jerked his gun at Digby. We left the locker. ‘Close up.’