Dunc and Amos Meet the Slasher (4 page)

The gang had pulled some wooden crates and a ragged old sofa into a circle. Dunc searched the area carefully. All he found was more trash, an old shoe, and a few broken bottles.

He almost missed it. He walked by it twice. If he hadn’t thrown the shoe on the sofa, he might never have seen it.

Wedged in one corner of the sofa, almost hidden from sight, was a folded slip of green paper.

He picked it up carefully and read it.

“Bingo!” yelled Dunc.

Amos was nervously walking up and down the alley behind the store when he heard Dunc yell. He ran over to the window.

“Are you okay in there?”

No answer.

“Dunc.”

Amos looked up at the window. He looked around the side of the building. The two Mafia guys were still waiting across the street.

He tried to think. What did Dunc say to do?

Whistle.

Amos started whistling. At first it was a low, raspy whistle. The more excited he got, the louder he got. Finally he worked up to a world-class whistle.

They came out of nowhere.

Dogs.

Big dogs. Little dogs. Mangy, slobbering,
hungry
dogs.

It seemed as if about twenty dogs were coming straight for him. Amos closed his eyes. “This is it. I’m going to die. Dog food in a back alley of the sleaziest part of town …”

“Duke. Angel. Stop that.”

Amos opened one eye. The dogs were backing off. A scraggly old woman with a shopping cart full of junk was petting the dogs—the whole pack of them. She was scolding them, and they seemed to understand.

She had on two heavy winter coats. Her gray hair was jammed up under a floppy
purple hat. She looked as if she hadn’t had a bath in a year. Maybe five.

Amos took a grateful breath. “Are these all your dogs?”

“These ain’t nobody’s dogs, boy.” The old woman smiled. All Amos could see was gums. No teeth. “They’s jest like me. They ain’t got no home. You can have ’em if you want.”

Amos looked at the pack of dogs. “I guess I’d better pass this time. Thanks anyway.”

The woman didn’t answer. She pushed her cart around the corner. The dogs followed.

“Amos?”

Amos looked up. Dunc was standing on some boxes looking out the window.

“I heard you whistle. Is there a problem?”

“Oh, it’s nothing that would concern you. I almost got torn to shreds by a pack of vicious wild animals. No big deal. Don’t worry your little head about it.”

“Amos, I may be onto something big. Help me down.”

“Get up, Amos. We’re going to be late for school.”

“I can’t. I’m sick.”

“Quit fooling around. We’ve got work to do.”

“I’m too sick. I was fine when I went to bed. But then I started thinking about school and all the ways Slasher could rearrange my body, and I started throwing up. Big chunks. My mom heard me. She said I don’t have to go. So I’m not going.”

“But Amos, I told you about finding the silver bead and the piece of paper. Don’t you
want to put a stop to this guy once and for all?”

Amos sat up. “If you’re right—and you rarely are—I have even more reason to stay in this bed.”

He plopped back down on the pillows.

“I need your help, Amos. If Slasher and his gang are the stereo thieves, it’s our civic duty to put them out of business.”

“Why don’t you call the cops? This is their line of work, not ours.”

Dunc sighed. “I’ve explained all that to you. We know the silver bead came off of Slasher’s jacket. And we know that green slip of paper is a tally sheet for the stereos. But the cops only have our word for it. We’ve got to get some solid evidence to tie the gang to the crime.”

Amos pulled the covers up to his chin. “If you want to play boy detective, go right ahead. But I’m sick. I may be sick for a few days. Weeks. Maybe years. You can never tell about these things.”

Dunc waited a few minutes. He hated to do it. But he knew it was the only way. He started walking toward the door.

“Okay, Amos. I understand. No hard feelings. I was sure you’d want the reputation, though. Because of Melissa and all.”

Amos moved toward the end of the bed. “Reputation?”

“Sure. When we get through, it’ll be all over school how you got the best of Slasher Davis. I mean, it
would
have been all over school.”

Amos swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I suppose anybody who got the best of Slasher would be a kind of hero, wouldn’t he?”

“I suppose.”

“And Melissa would probably hear about it, wouldn’t she?”

“Probably.”

Amos started to get dressed. “Like I always say, no guts—no glory.”

He tied his shoes and hurried past Dunc. “Come on. What are you waiting for?”

“Amos?”

“What? What’s the matter?”

“Before you go for the glory, don’t you think you’d better put your pants on?”

“All things considered, aren’t you glad you went to school today?”

Amos snorted. “My head is covered with noogie bumps. My life has been threatened. And you think I should be glad? I should have stayed right here in my room, that’s what I should have done.”

“Don’t let Slasher’s little threat worry you.”

“Little? He said if I don’t have his homework tomorrow, he’s going to cut me up in small pieces and flush me. I don’t consider that a little threat.”

Dunc leaned against the wall. “After we
get through, he won’t be around to threaten anybody. You’re sure it was tonight?”

“Spit told Crusher they were going shopping in the mall parking lot tonight. Shouldn’t we call the cops now?”

“Not just yet. Tonight, after they go for another stereo, we’ll follow them. When we find out who the buyer is, then we’ll call the police.” Dunc looked at his watch. “We’d better get going. We don’t know what time they’re coming. We need to find a good place to hide.”

They made good time getting to the mall. The parking lot was about half full. There would be cars parked there until midnight, when the last movie ended.

They looked around for a hiding place. Everything was out in the open.

Almost everything.

“You call this a good hiding place?” Amos shook his head. “A Dumpster. Have you noticed that we spend a major portion of our time with garbage? Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”

Dunc looked over the side. “It’s clean.
And you can watch the whole parking lot from here.”

“What do you mean,
I
can watch? Where are
you
going to be?”

“I’m going to cruise up and down on my bike. I might be able to spot them when they first pull into the parking lot.”

Amos folded his arms. “Why do I have to hide in the garbage while you ride around in the open?”

“If they see you, they might get suspicious. If they see me, they’ll think I’m just another kid on the way to the mall.”

Amos climbed into the Dumpster. “Somehow I knew you’d have it covered.”

Dunc pulled away. “Whistle—I mean, call if you need me.”

The Dumpster was fairly empty. A few boxes and plastic bags were piled in one corner. Amos stood in another corner and watched the parking lot.

He watched cars and people until he thought his eyes would pop out. He had been watching for over two hours, and the gang still hadn’t shown up.

The door of the Dumpster rattled. Someone was opening it. Amos crouched in the corner. A man wearing a white apron tossed in some pizza boxes. He barely missed Amos. Then he threw in a big plastic sack full of old spaghetti and salad.

This time he didn’t miss.

Amos pulled a lettuce leaf off his head. Some of the spaghetti stuck in his hair.

“This is it. I’ve had enough.”

He started climbing out when Dunc rode up.

“What happened to you?”

“Don’t ask.”

Dunc helped him down. “I’ve spotted them. Slasher is in that blue car on the fifth row. Get ready.”

They watched the gang spread out to look for security guards. Slasher was fast. He was in and out in three minutes. The gang met him by the stop sign with his bike. They took off down the street.

Dunc started after them. “Come on, Amos.”

They followed at a distance. The first
stop was a pawnshop called Fast Eddie’s. Slasher was only inside for a few minutes. Apparently Fast Eddie didn’t need any stolen car stereos today. Slasher stuffed it under his jacket and rode off.

The gang took off again. This time they headed for the waterfront. They rode straight to the old store without stopping. Slasher kicked the door open and walked in.

Dunc pulled over a few blocks from the store. “We’ll go around back. It might be possible for us to hear something from the window.”

“Haven’t we got enough to call the police? We could go on home and let them take care of it from here,” Amos argued.

Dunc chewed his lip. “We could do that. But we’re already here. It won’t hurt to listen. Just a couple of minutes, then we’re gone. I promise.”

They hid their bikes in the bushes and quietly inched up to the window. Amos boosted Dunc up.

He could see the gang sitting in the circle. They were discussing their next move.

Apparently Fast Eddie bought from them once in a while, but most of the time it was another man—an important businessman who sold car stereos and electronics in a fancy store uptown.

Dunc memorized the information. He was ready to go. He started to step down.

An alley cat had been eyeing Amos. She could smell the spaghetti on his clothes. First she rubbed up against his leg. Then she jumped up onto his shoulder and licked his face.

Amos let go of Dunc, which left him hanging from the window ledge. The cat started yowling and dug her claws into Amos’s back. He was turning circles trying to reach her.

Someone jerked the cat off.

“Look what we have here, boys! A couple of peeping geeks.”

Slasher pushed Amos toward the door. “Get the Brain!” he barked over his shoulder.

Dunc dropped to the ground and followed Amos inside the building.

Slasher took out his switchblade and
clicked it open. He pointed it at the couch. “Have a seat, geeks.”

Amos looked at Dunc.

Slasher pointed the knife at Amos. “What are you doing down here, Barf Bag?”

“That’s Dirt Bag,” Amos corrected. “Would you believe we were out for a late-night bike ride, and of all places we ended up here?”

Spit, the short one with his name shaved in his hair, stepped over. “Like, that’s a major coincidence, man.”

Slasher shook his head. “Shut up, stupid. Anybody with half a brain can see they’re down here spying on us.”

Amos leaned over and whispered in Dunc’s ear, “That leaves him out.”

Spit’s shoulders drooped. He put his head down and stepped back.

Slasher started cleaning his fingernails with the switchblade. “We can’t have you geeks talking to the cops now, can we? What are we gonna do with you? Anybody got any ideas?”

The front door flew open.

“We may have a few.”

It was the two Mafia guys from across the street. “You punks get up against the wall and spread ’em. You have the right to remain silent ….”

Dunc was reading the newspaper in his room. “ ‘Car stereo burglars nabbed by police. Ring busted wide open. Prominent businessman in custody.’ ”