Enemy Match Chapter 11

Enemy Match

Chapter 11

Justin? Are you OK, I heard a voice as if off in the distance. Then I felt someone shaking me.

What! I blurted. Ouch something under me was hurting my back. I tried to move but my hands were behind my back. I blinked and opened my eyes.

Man, my head hurt! I turned to see Raj sitting beside me. I then noticed his ankles were tied up with twine and turned my head to see that mine were also tied up.

Justin, are you awake, the voice said again. I turned to see Raj’s face, then everything came into focus. What happened? I muttered.

It was Jori Prestwick. She clobbered you when you went to look at your engine. I got out to help you but she clobbered me right on my knee. I fell down and she clobbered me again.  I woke up here a few minutes ago. My leg really hurts, he said with a grimace. I think it’s bleeding again.

I looked down to his knee and the bandage was soaked with blood and it was streaming down his leg.

My nose was bleeding again as well. She must have smashed me in the face after she hit me on the head. My face really hurt now. I was going to need plastic surgery I think if this nose ever healed up.

Why would she do this? Raj said sadly. She was like a wild person.

I’m afraid money will do that to you, I said ruefully. She was greedy.

I don’t understand, he said, looking away.

Look, I’ll explain it to you later, as soon as we get out of this mess, OK, I said a little more gruffly than I intended. Sorry, Raj, I added a moment later. I didn’t mean that to sound like it did.

Don’t worry, Justin, he said. I understand. I was trying to get my phone from my pocket but I think Jori took it.

I tried in my pocket but it was empty. You’re right, she took our phones. Where are we?

Looks like a maintenance room at school. In the tech wing. I have been in here before, Mr. DeVries keeps some of the car parts in here.

It was dark in the room and I could now make out shelving with boxes and metal car parts strewn around.

Only our ankles were tied up so I bent forward to try to undo the knot but it was done up really well. I tried to stand up, but when your feet are tied it’s hard to keep your balance. But I did manage to stand up and lean against the wall. I spotted a door on the far side of the room but there was shelving and tables in between. And the floor was covered in some kind of slippery substance, like engine oil. It smelled in here as well. Like motor oils and machinery oil and dirt.

There was a humming noise, like an engine running but not in this room.

Are we next to the main auto shop, Raj? I asked, turning to my buddy. But Raj was laying back on the floor and appeared to be sleeping. I was feeling light headed myself and found it hard to concentrate.

Raj? I asked again but my voice sounded disembodied, like in a dream. What was happening?

For the second time that day I lost consciousness.

Justin! Justin! I felt someone calling my name and shaking me awake. I opened my eyes to see a stranger staring back at me. There was a bright light over my head blazing in my face.

Had I died and gone to heaven? Pastor Jax talked about heaven last Sunday but I don’t remember bright lights.

Justin! A voice again, but not the strange man standing over me. It was a woman’s voice.

Melissa? Is that you? I asked, finally recognizing the voice.

Yes, she said with a crack in her voice.

He’s coming around, Mrs. Macdonald, the man standing over me said, then moved away, the light blinding me.

Turn off the light, I said, trying to move my arms to shield my eyes, but nothing happened.

Uh-oh, what happened? I spluttered, trying to get up, but I couldn’t move. Why couldn’t I move? I asked as much.

You will be able to shortly, the man said again. A doctor? He was familiar as well, now that I had a moment to think about it.

Thanks, Dr. Gilman, I said, realizing the doctor was my best buddy Van Gilman’s father.

Just give it a moment, he said soothingly, then left the room. I gazed around and saw Mom and Melissa on one side. Van was on the other side. What happened? Where’s Raj?

He’s OK, Mom said. What were you guys doing at the high school auto shop? Canning found you guys there. He said you were supposed to meet him at police headquarters but you guys didn’t show up. He went back to the high school and saw your SUV still there. He knew something was up. He found you two unconscious on the floor of the maintenance room next to the auto shop.

Yeah, Jori Prestwick clubbed us both out in the parking lot. She must have fiddled with my car so it wouldn’t start then took us by surprise. Why were we passed out in the maintenance room?

Mom, Melissa and Van exchanged glances. You were poisoned by carbon monoxide. Someone left a car running in the main auto shop, the fumes filled up the room and seeped over into the room where you two were, Mom related.

Jori must have taken us there—along with her boyfriend Marcus Bricker.

Marcus and Jori are a couple? Melissa said. I didn’t know that.

I explained my theory, that Jori was helping Marcus “eliminate” his competition and get the contract for the basketball team in the US.

The scout was going to be here at the end of the week, so Marcus had to move fast to eliminate both Daryl Peters and Jori’s own brother Jake.

By poisoning Daryl, then inciting a feud between you and Jake so he would be off his game, even suspended from the team, Van surmised. That’s sick.

Yeah, I said, and two star players ill in the hospital would have looked suspicious, I added. Jori and Marcus—well everyone at PSC knows of my animosity towards Daryl Peters.

Canning said that Courtney Clubine reported that Jori had filled her water bottle the day of the challenge. She didn’t think anything of it as Jori and Courtney are friends.

Has Jori been caught, I asked.

No, Mom said, she’s disappeared. Her parents have been notified and are understandably shocked.  

Figured as much, I said with a sigh. Say, when can I get out of here?

When you’re back to normal, Melissa said.

OK, so you’re in here the rest of your life then, Van quipped and we all laughed.

Later this afternoon if you’re up to it, Mom said.

I want to see Raj, I said. To see if he’s OK.

Two hours later, Raj and I left the Port Salser Hospital feeling a lot better. We hadn’t been exposed to too much of the carbon monoxide but we were still a little weak. We were ordered to go home and rest but I wanted to talk to Canning and search for Jori Prestwick. Mom vetoed that suggestion.

We drove Raj home and his parents were there. We related what had happened, and his mother sent him right to bed.

Back at our place, I headed up to my room and was going to try to get some sleep but my mind was racing. Where had Jori gone?

And who had hacked into my Facebook? Were either Jori or Marcus good at hacking? They must have hacked in, or how else issue the challenge to Daryl Peters?

There was a knock at my door. It was Matt, dressed now in casual pants and t-shirt and bare feet. Heard you had a little excitement, he said as he sat on the corner of my bed.

Yeah, I said, then related my adventures of the last couple of days. Jori Prestwick is one messed up girl, I said. I can’t believe she did what she did.

Greed is a powerful motivator, Matt said.

You read that off a poster? I quipped and he smiled.

Look, he said. Sorry your dad and I couldn’t tell you about the case we’re working on.

It’s about Carlton DeVries and Lyle Detmar?

How did you—know about that, Matt said with a smirk. Did you see my notes at the lab?

No, I said. I guessed. The reason you couldn’t say anything was because they were teachers at my school and a big scandal would break out if their little secret got out. I also know that Carlton DeVries used to work at Eminotech and that they’re having problems now with someone hacking into their system. I did see the name “Eminotech” on the box you had on the desk in your office.

You know about Detmar’s doping charges and DeVries with his computer hacking charges?

Yes, I said.

But—how?

Trade secret, I said mysteriously. You keep your secrets, I keep mine.

Matt just looked at me for a moment. You’re full of surprises, he said finally. Remind me never to get on your bad side eh?

You know it, I said.

I suppose you want to look for Jori, he said. You should really rest. Tomorrow’s another day.

Yeah, and school. It’ll be all over the school too, what Jori and Marcus did.

Matt nodded. You’re probably right, he said. But I just came to add my support. If there’s anything I can do to help. Now that you know about our investigation of DeVries and Detmar—what we found is inconclusive. They lied on their applications to PSC and covered for each other but that’s about it.

What did you hope to find, I asked.

I guess I can tell you now, he remarked. Eminotech, the company that hired Carlton DeVries has had trouble with their systems—someone is hacking into their servers and messing up their files. Since DeVries used to work for them and was charged with hacking years ago, he is currently a suspect, but we couldn’t find any evidence linking him to the current trouble.

That’s too bad, I said.

Say, if I’m not careful you’re going to get my job, Justin. Your dad has to see what a valuable asset you would be to his team.

Let me finish school first, I replied. Dad and I have had this conversation before. There was no way I could work for him full time until I was done school.

Well, let me know if I can help you, Matt said, getting to his feet.

I will, thanks Matt.

He left and I went to my laptop and booted it up. A few things were still bugging me about the case. Who had hacked into my Facebook account? Surely Jori or Marcus, as they needed to issue the challenge to Daryl. But hacking into someone’s account isn’t that easy. And how did Jori get the auto shop door open to steal the car. She wouldn’t have had a key.

Did they have help? They must have. But who? I suddenly had a brainstorm, like two pieces of a puzzle finally clicking. I picked up my cell and called Evan.