Jessica's Shortcut

JESSICA’S SHORTCUT

Copyright Johnnie McInnis



Jessica had this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she turned down the narrow street. She had come this way a few times, but always before it was in the daytime. After all, it was a shortcut and she had so much to do tonight to get ready for the party tomorrow. As she glanced from side to side, nothing but decrepit wooden houses cluttered both sides of the street while shells of rusted-out automobiles seemed to keep some long forgotten vigil in the front yards.

Shuddering, Jessica pushed harder on the gas pedal, but as she did there was a loud clunking sound. Then the car just sputtered and coughed and died right there in the street. She desperately tried to start it again and again, but nothing happened. Finally giving up, Jessica just sat there for what seemed like hours, but it could only have been a few moments. The darkness seemed to be a living thing surrounding her, moving ever closer. Her heart was beginning to pound wildly, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a man walking towards her car. He was tall with a shaggy beard and disheveled hair. His clothes looked grimy and in desperate need of repair. Fear gripped her now and she began to panic. What could she do? There was no place to run. She was trapped on this lonely, dark street. In an instant, he was standing outside her car door and her window was half open. He reeked of whiskey and stale sweat as he leaned over to speak. “You need some help?” he asked in a slow drawl.

“Y-Yes,” she stammered as she tried to convince herself things were going to be alright. He seemed nice enough, but just as she began to relax a little, his rough, clammy hands grabbed her wrist. The pizza she had eaten for lunch suddenly was revealing itself again in her throat. Nauseated and afraid, she heard her husband’s warning echoing in her ears, “Don’t ever go on Elm Street alone.”



“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing all alone?” he sneered. “You can get into all kinds of trouble if you’re not careful.” His eyes seemed to transform into the glowing, hateful eyes of the devil himself.



Jessica screamed and tried to pull her wrist from his grasp, but he was too strong. As they continued their tug-of-war, Jessica reached for her purse. She fumbled around inside with her free hand as his reeking breath got nearer. Finally she felt something. It was her nail file. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had. She pulled the file out of her purse and jammed it as hard as she could into the back of the man’s hand. He let out a howl and jerked his hand back. When he did, she rolled up the window and immediately locked the doors. He stood there glowering at her for a minute then started pounding on the window. Jessica grabbed her cell phone and frantically started dialing her husband’s number. To her dismay, there was no answer. She forgot, he was probably still in his meeting and had his phone turned off. She put the phone back into her purse.



Should she blow the car horn to get someone’s attention? What if there were more demons in this neighborhood and they joined in? Should she risk it? What other choice did she have? She hammered down on the horn as hard as she could and held it down for what seemed like a couple of minutes. She saw a few people come and peek out their windows, but no one ventured outside. Maybe they were used to commotion on this street and just didn’t pay attention, or maybe they were afraid to come out. She blasted the horn again and again. Finally a screen door opened and a man stepped out onto his porch. He slowly surveyed the situation and eventually walked down the crumbling sidewalk towards Jessica’s car.



He said, “What’s all the commotion about?” He then noticed the demon’s bloody hand.



Jessica cried out, “I sure could use some help. My car stalled and I can’t get it started.”



The demon man said, “I got this Mac, she’s all mine.”



The Good Samaritan looked suspiciously between Jessica and the demon man.



“No!” Jessica screamed. “He grabbed me and I was trying to get away.”



Demon man swung around and punched the Samaritan with all his might. The Samaritan immediately returned the favor. They kept trading punches until both were tired and bruised. The Samaritan finally got the better of demon man and knocked him to the street.



The Samaritan wobbled a little at first, but then was able to walk normally. He motioned for Jessica to follow him. She had gotten out of the car and started to walk away when she suddenly remembered her purse. She got back inside the car, grabbed her purse and shakily got out again. She cautiously veered around demon man lying in the street. Walking behind the Samaritan, she slowly climbed the creaky steps with the peeling white paint and went inside his house.



The small room had a musty, moldy smell, and flowered wallpaper that had huge rips in several places covered the walls. There was very little furniture in the room. There was an overstuffed red chair by the window and an old couch that was well-worn and sunken in. The curtains were old, with shreds of fabric hanging from rusted curtain rods.



Samaritan man finally spoke. “My name is Bill,” he said. “What’s yours?”



“Jessica,” she whispered. She was struggling to get her voice back.



“Well, Jessica, have a seat.” “Can I get you something to drink?”



“Yes, some water would be nice.” “Thanks Bill.”



“I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come along. It was very frightening.” “Do you know that man?”



“I’ve seen him around, but I don’t really know him. He always seemed a little shady to me.”



“I’m very grateful you came along to help.”



“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Bill said.



Jessica thought to herself that Bill wouldn’t look half bad if he was cleaned up and had some decent clothes on. He had a medium build and brown hair. His eyes were a pretty shade of blue.

She didn’t think he was as old as Demon man, but she couldn’t be sure.



Bill went into the kitchen and brought back a disposable cup filled with water.



“Thank you. Do you have a telephone so that I can call my husband?” Jessica asked.



She took a sip of water to rid her of the terrible taste left in her mouth.



“Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t, but maybe we can get your car going again,” Bill offered.



“That would be great. I’m sure my husband will be getting worried.”



“You rest here and I’ll take a look at the car,” Bill said as he slowly opened the screen door.



She heard his footsteps on the old porch and then silence again.



After several minutes passed she heard footsteps again, but it distinctly sounded like more than one person walking.



She turned when the screen door opened, just in time to see Demon man coming through the door behind Bill. Jessica dropped the cup and let out a bloodcurdling scream that should have wakened the whole neighborhood.



“Hello again girlie,” Demon man said with a big toothy grin.



Demon man turned to Bill and said, “That was pretty smart getting her to come inside like that. I’ll have to remember that next time.”



“Hey, the fake fight got her out of the car, didn’t it?” Bill said.



“Well, you didn’t have to punch me so hard,” whined Demon man.



“I had to make it look real, didn’t I?” answered Bill.



“Y--you were working together?” “How could I be so blind?”



“Well, don’t feel so bad—old Bill here can be very convincing,” he snickered.



“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but if it’s money you want, I can contact my husband and get some for you.”



“Oh, we’re not interested in money, though we will take what you have and your car to boot,” Bill ventured.



“I haven’t done anything at all to you. Why do you want to hurt me?”



“We don’t want to hurt you, sweetie. We plan to treat you real nice, don’t we Bill?” Demon man said as he winked at Bill.



Jessica had never known terror as she did at this moment. She was in a strange neighborhood, no one knew where she was, especially her husband, Jack.

Please God, she prayed, let me get out of this wretched place and away from these terrible people.



Bill and Demon man walked into the kitchen.

“Tie her up while I check out the car. We need to get it started and move it out of sight before someone comes nosing around and finds it,” Bill said to Demon man.



“My pleasure,” said Demon man as he grabbed Jessica’s arm. He yanked her through the kitchen where he grabbed an old piece of rope that was lying on the counter. A giant cockroach scurried away as he moved the rope. He was enjoying this immensely as he dragged her along to the back room.



Jessica dropped her purse on the floor, but it didn’t matter. As Demon man was so caught up in the moment, she fumbled inside her jacket pocket and found her cell phone. They hadn’t seen her sneak the cell phone into her pocket while they were chatting in the kitchen. She pushed 911 and then hastily tucked it back into her pocket. She hoped someone would hear what was going on and maybe track her phone, if the phone didn’t die. She had to stay calm and think clearly. She knew that she had very little time to do something or she would be at their mercy until they did what they wanted to her and then possibly kill her. She felt a cold chill down her spine as she thought about the possibilities.



“What are you going to do with me? You can’t just kidnap someone from their car driving along Elm Street like that and get away with it. My husband is Jack Williams. He will never let you rest if anything happens to me.”



“He’ll have to find you first, sweetie,” replied Demon man.



Demon man sat her down in an old wooden chair and roughly pulled her arms behind her back. He jerked the ropes tightly and Jessica yelped in pain as they cut into her wrists. He put his face close to hers and she could smell his foul breath as he jeered, “I’ll be back to take care of you later.” Jessica could feel her skin crawl as his grimy hand touched her cheek. Before he even got out of the bedroom door, Jessica was struggling, trying in vain to loosen the ropes around her wrists. As she was staring down at the floor, something shiny caught her eye. It looked like a necklace there next to the wall by the old bed. Yes, it seemed to be a locket. There was not a woman in the house and nothing else here seemed to belong to a woman, so who could it belong to? Jessica tried hard not to dwell on it because the possibilities were too frightening.



After a few agonizing minutes, she heard a car outside. Bill must have fixed her car. Please God, let me get back to my car, she prayed silently.



Bill pulled the car around to the back of the house, out of sight until they could decide what to do with it. He threw the keys haphazardly on the kitchen counter.



Back at the dispatch office downtown, Rita, the officer on duty, heard the conversation between Jessica and Demon man, although the service was in and out. She did hear the name Jack Williams and the part about Elm Street. She alerted the local police station.



Luckily, the police station wasn’t very far, and within 15 minutes a cruiser was driving slowly down the street. The two officers inside were looking around for Jessica’s car and any sign of Jessica herself. They drove to the end of the street and turned around.



“It looks like they ditched her car,” said the older policeman who was driving the patrol car. He had slightly graying hair and a pudgy beer belly. “They haven’t had much time to do anything with it,” said the younger cop. “It must be close by somewhere.”

The young cop calls dispatch on the radio. “Have you gotten a lock on the cell phone yet?” There’s the usual crackling sound as dispatch answers, “Not yet, but we should have it soon.” Even though they don’t have the flashing lights turned on, there are a couple of people already peeking out their windows. Cops weren’t seen too much in this neighborhood.



“I wonder what possessed that woman to come down this street,” said the old cop. “This area gives me the creeps.”



“I don’t know, Harry, but I’m sure she regrets it right about now,” said Elliott. “I wouldn’t let any of my family come this way.”



All at once the radio comes alive with static as the dispatcher breaks in, “We’ve got her. She should be on the 1800 block.”



“Thanks, Rita. Have you notified her husband?”



“A couple of guys are on the way over to his house now.”



“We’re on the 1600 block now. We should be there in a minute,” said Elliott.



“What kind of car does she drive? Do you have her tag number yet?”



“Her car is a blue Nissan Sentra. License number WAN 689,” Rita answered.



“How will we be able to find her?” asked Elliott. “It’s not like they’re going to have her sitting in the front room waving.”



“We’ll just have to get out of the car and track her on foot,” replied Harry. “Look for anything weird or out of place.”



Harry pulled the car over at the start of the 1800 block and they got out.



A mangy looking black dog barked at them as they started to walk down the street.



“I say we get to a vantage point so we can look behind several houses at once and see if we can spot the car,” offered Elliott.



“Sounds like a plan,” replied Harry.



They went to an open area between houses and walked as far back as they could behind the houses to get a better view. Harry spotted something about 3 houses down.

They went back out to the street and carefully made their way to the third house. Elliott signaled for Harry to stay out front while he eased behind the house. Staying close to the side of the house, Elliott made his way to the back. When he looked around the corner, though, the old Ford that was sitting there looked like it hadn’t moved in years. It was definitely not Jessica’s car. But while back there, he looked down behind the other houses. He thought he saw another car about 4 or 5 houses down. Elliott slowly went back out front.



“There’s an old Ford back there,” he said to Harry. “But I think there was one a little further down the street.”



“Let’s keep moving then,” Harry answered.



While the two cops were walking down the street, Bill walked back to the room where Jessica was tied up. He saw her purse there on the floor. He grabbed it and motioned for Demon man to come into the other room. He emptied the purse out onto the old coffee table with the wobbly leg. He opened her wallet and pulled out $50 in cash and her credit cards.

“Not much loot, but the car will be worth something,” said Bill. “Why don’t you take the cash and go to the 711 and get us some supplies and beer and get me some cigarettes.”



“Why not use the credit cards?” asked Demon man.



“Because, you idiot, we don’t want to use them around here. They might track us. We will use them miles away from here, so they’ll have no idea where to look.



“Yeah, right, that’s using your head,” Demon man said as he headed to the door. He walked out onto the porch and down the creaky steps. He was halfway down the sidewalk as the two cops were even with the house. When he spotted the cops, Demon man whirled around and started back towards the house.



Both cops found his actions suspicious and started running. Elliott was faster so he reached him and tackled him just at the steps. He held him down and put handcuffs on him.



“Why’d you run?” asked Elliott.



“Running? I just forgot something and was going back in to get it,” Demon man lied.



“Yeah, and what did you forget?” asked Harry.



“Uh-uh my wallet,” stuttered Demon man.



“Well, that’s funny because your wallet is right here,” Elliott said as he patted his back pocket.



“Who else is in the house with you?” asked Harry.



“Nobody,” said Demon man. “I live alone.”



Elliott yanked him up and dragged him to the side of the house where they wouldn’t be seen.

Just as they reached the side of the house, they heard a toilet flush. Elliott glared at Demon man.



“So, you’re toilet flushes all by itself, huh?” whispered Elliott.



Elliott glanced over at Harry. “I think he needs a little attitude adjustment to make him tell the truth, don’t you, Harry?”



Harry replied, “Yeah, I can put the silencer on my gun and shoot him in the leg. That might make him talk a little more freely.”



“Don’t shoot me.”



“Then tell us who your friend is and what you’ve done with the woman,” Elliott replied.



“I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no woman,” Demon man said.



Harry started pulling his gun out of his holster and glaring at Demon man. Demon man nervously looked from one to the other, weighing his options.

“Alright, alright, I’ll talk. My friend is Bill, Bill Matthews.”



“Where have you got the girl?” asked Harry.



“She-she’s tied up in the back room,” replied Demon man. “It was all Bill’s idea.”



“Sure it was,” jeered Elliott. “The woman better be okay or you are in some serious trouble.”



“She- she is fine.” “We ain’t done nothin’ to her,” he told the cops.



Bill walked into the back room and slowly moved around Jessica’s chair. “You are a pretty little thing, he said. He touched her cheek. “Soft skin, too.” “I like that.”



“I’m going to untie your hands so we can have some fun.” “Now, don’t you try anything stupid, Jessica.” “I’d hate to have to mess up such a pretty face.”



Jessica thought about her husband, Jack, and wondered where he was and what he was doing. Did he know she was missing? Was he worried about her? She just hoped that she would be able to see him again.



Jack had been notified just a few minutes earlier. Two policemen showed up at the door and informed him that they thought his wife had been kidnapped. Jack was in shock. How could this happen? She was on her way home from work and they were planning a party tomorrow night.



Elliott and Harry forced Demon man to show them the window to the back room. They heard the chair scrape the floor as Bill untied Jessica and shoved the chair out of the way.



There was an old wooden bed with a floppy mattress on it. Bill steered Jessica over to it and shoved her down on the bed.



“Stop it,” she yelled as loud as she could. She knew that no one would probably hear, but she had to try. “Get off me.” “My husband will kill you if you hurt me.”



Now that they knew that Bill was in the back room, Elliott hurried around to the front door and slipped inside, easing the screen door shut behind him. Harry stayed with Demon man to make sure he didn’t try to get away.



Bill was too occupied with Jessica and her screaming to notice the creaking floorboards as Elliott made his way to the room. In a flash, Elliott grabbed Bill by the collar and dragged him off Jessica. Elliott punched him in the nose then quickly grabbed his gun and aimed it right at his head.

“Feeling a little frisky, are we?” “Too bad you can’t get a woman except by kidnapping one,” said Elliott.



“Kidnapping?” “Why, me and the lady were just having some fun,” Bill lied, very unconvincingly.



“Are you having fun, Miss?”



“No, of course not,” said Jessica, as she got up embarrassedly pulling her blouse back down and straightening her hair. She reached over and slapped Bill as hard as she could.



“You two are vile and despicable. I hope you rot in hell,” Jessica said as she coldly stared at Bill.



“They’ll have to rot in jail first,” laughed Elliott. “Then hell can have what’s left of them.”



They walked out onto the old porch and down the cracked walkway. Elliott and Harry put their prisoners into the back of the police car.



“Can you drive your car home, Jessica?” Harry asked.



“I’m still a bit shaky. Would you mind dropping me off?”



“Your husband is waiting at the station. You can ride with us and we’ll worry about the car later,” replied Elliott.



“Thank you for saving my life,” gushed Jessica.



“Well, you were smart to have your cell phone on. We would never have found you in time otherwise,” said Harry.



“I will listen to my husband from now on,” said Jessica. She shivered thinking back to the events of this awful night.



“Nothing good happens on this street,” said Elliott. “I’d steer clear if I were you.”



“You won’t have to worry about me anymore,” sighed Jessica.



“One adventure is enough for a lifetime.”