See Tom Run (12 page)

“I’m so happy to see you! I wasn’t sure I’d ever see
you again after you left my place.”

Erin laid her head on his shoulder and heaved
emotionally. “God, Tom, I can’t believe you found me! I’ve been so
scared!”

Tom pulled away and faced her. Erin planted a big
kiss on his cheek and stared directly into his eyes.

“You’ve been my savior twice now. Thank you so much,”
she said softly.

“It’s the least I could do,” Tom replied, wishing he
could have done more.

He went over and rummaged through the nightstand
drawers in hope of finding something to cut the rope binding Erin’s
hands. All he found was a small notepad, a TV remote and a Gideon’s
Bible.

Then he remembered the serrated bread knife he’d
stuffed into his back pocket. He pulled it out, stood behind Erin
and began working on the rope.

“Kyle’s dead, Tom. You wouldn’t believe what they did
to him—it was horrifying!”

Tom tried to imagine what it had been like for this
young girl to be forced to stand by and watch while these misfits
mutilated her ex-boyfriend. No matter what her feelings may have
been for Kyle, it had to have been absolutely terrifying.

“I saw him, Erin, down in that room. I’m really
sorry. No one deserves to be subjected to that kind of inhumane
torture and violence,” was all he could say.

“Those boys are
animals!
I couldn’t believe how they
strung up Kyle like that and did all of those awful things to him.
And then they made me—oh shit, Tom! It was so sick and
insane!”

Tom wondered what the demented bastards had forced
Erin to do but he didn’t ask, not sure he really wanted to know. He
continued sawing back and forth on the rope with the knife,
becoming more and more nervous and frustrated at how long it was
taking. He knew they needed to move, quickly, before the two boys
found them.

Tom said, “They are certainly a screwed-up crew,
that’s for sure. And we are going to be their next victims if we
don’t start moving soon. Jesus, this knife is about as useless as
tits on a boar hog—pardon the expression!”

Erin managed a weak smile. “Now that’s one I’ve never
heard before.”

“Showing my roots and old age, I reckon. Listen, we
need to go somewhere to find something better to cut this rope off
with. They could bust in here any second.”

“Where should we go?”

“Hell if I know—just out of this room would be a
start. Let’s work our way down to the lobby. I’m not sure, but two
of them may still be out on the street looking for me now. There’s
really no way of knowing for sure. If we make it to the lobby and
see that the coast is clear, we’ll book out of here before they get
back.”

“You said two of them. Where’s the third one?”

Tom paused a moment then said, “I think I killed him.
He’s up on the fifth floor.”

“Good—it serves him right! Which one was it?” Erin
said, clearly feeling no remorse.

“The short stinky one—Bummer.”

Erin grinned triumphantly. “That’s the one that beat
Kyle to a pulp— I hope he burns in hell!”

“I’m thinking that they will all end up there
eventually. Let’s get going now.”

Tom held Erin by the arm and led her out of the room
to the corridor. They stood there for a moment, looking both ways
and listening quietly.

“Let’s take the stairs down,” Tom whispered.

He led the way down the hallway and held the door
open for Erin. They descended briskly until they reached the third
floor. Tom slipped through the door first, took a peek in either
direction then motioned for Erin to join him.

“This way.”

Erin followed him down the corridor until they
reached what appeared to be a huge deserted banquet room. They
proceeded further through the corridors until they reached The
Grand Ballroom. Erin let out a gasp.

“Look how big it is!”

“Yeah, and unless my eyes are deceiving me, I see
food!” Tom exclaimed when he spotted a crate of apples, several
boxes of Carr’s stoned wheat crackers and a wheel of cheese stored
on one of the serving tables.

“God, I am so hungry! Let’s eat!”

“We have to be careful, though—this could be a trap,”
Tom cautioned. “Stay here until I case it out first. I also want to
get something to cut that rope off. If the coast is clear, we’ll
snag some food then go somewhere to hide out while we eat.”

“Okay.”

Tom walked cautiously across the ballroom toward the
table that was located along the wall near the east entrance. As he
drew closer, he saw a double-handled cheese knife lying beside a
ten-inch wheel of smoked cheddar. When the aroma of cheese greeted
him, his pace quickened appreciably. He reached the table, looked
either way, snatched a firm ripened gala with one hand and the
knife with the other.

There wasn’t a soul around, thank god.

He returned to where Erin was standing at a brisk
pace.

“Try this,” he said, offering her the apple.

“Thanks!” Erin said. She took an enormous bite of the
fruit and gobbled it down ravenously.

Tom began sawing at the rope binding her hands with
the cheese knife. In twenty seconds, the rope was off.

Erin rubbed the welts where the rope had rubbed her
raw. “What a relief that is!”

“Now, let’s go get some more of that food.”

They ran over to the table and Erin sliced off
several wedges of cheddar while Tom picked out a half dozen apples.
Grabbing an unopened box of wheat thins, Tom said, “Let’s go back
toward that meeting room. We’ll find a place to hide out and chow
down.”

Erin nodded and followed Tom out of the ballroom.
They discovered a cluttered storage room and meandered their way
through the stacks of tables, chairs and serving carts to the rear
of the room and sat down. Nearby was a second door that opened up
to a small closet that could be used for a quick hideaway if need
be. Erin winked at Tom as she pointed her finger at a six pack of
bottled Evian water stored on the shelf.

“That should complete our meal quite nicely,” she
said before reaching up for the water.

Tom sat across from Erin on the floor with their
bounty lying between them. Like a couple of hungry wolves, they
proceeded to stuff their mouths as if they hadn’t eaten in
weeks.

“That sure hit the spot!” Tom finally said, chasing
his last bite of cheese down with a slug of water.

“For sure,” Erin replied. “Now I’m so full I can
hardly move!”

“I hear you. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for a
siesta. We need to see if we can get out of this place before our
luck starts running out.”

“Do you think either of them is in the hotel right
now? I mean, we’re just above the lobby and haven’t heard or seen
anything at all.”

“I’m beginning to think they’re still outside looking
for me. When I escaped, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see which way I
went. They probably assumed that I’d bale out of this place rather
than stick around.”

“So why did you stick around?”

“I wasn’t going to leave without you,” Tom replied
simply.

Erin reached over and gave him a huge bear hug. “I
still can’t believe you drove all the way here to look for me. I
wrote that little note out of sheer desperation, not really sure if
you’d even see it and definitely not thinking you would actually
act on it!”

Tom held her tightly. “I’ll admit I was a little
confused at first. I mean—I was faced with the dilemma of either
continuing to look for my family or go chasing after you. It didn’t
take me long to realize that it was useless to search Columbus for
Peg and the kids any longer.”

“I feel really guilty, you know.”

“Don’t, Erin. I will find my family eventually if
they are anywhere to be found. But we need to get moving now—we can
talk later. All I want to do is get the hell out of this hotel, out
of New York and back to Columbus!”

“Me, too!” Erin said.

They both stood up and Erin hastily gathered up the
plates. Tom was reminded of her experience as a waitress and smiled
to himself.

“Let’s go check the lobby and if the coast is clear,
get out of this godforsaken place,” Tom said.

CHAPTER 12

Tom’s heart was pounding hard as he and Erin slipped
through the stairway door and into the lobby. He brought his finger
to his lips and motioned for Erin to wait while he went ahead to
scout the area. Then he tiptoed along the wall toward the lobby’s
main corridor.

When he reached the end of the corridor, he peeked
around the corner past the registration desks toward the Park
Avenue entrance. He spotted the table where he’d snatched up the
keys and saw the plates of food and beer bottles, still in the same
positions they’d been before. Encouraged by this, he walked quietly
along the registration area toward the entrance several yards
further, stopped, looked around and listened.

Not a sign of anybody.

He walked back until he saw Erin then motioned for
her to come over to him. She moved toward Tom stealthily until she
drew up beside him.

“Looks good,” Tom whispered. “If we can get as far as
the entrance, we should be home free.”

“Great, let’s do it!” Erin whispered excitedly.

“Stay right behind me and don’t make a sound. They
could still be around the corner for all we know. We’re just going
to have to creep along until we can case the scene better.”

Tom started moving with Erin close behind. He stayed
glued to the wall, keeping his eyes trained on the entrance and to
his right, just in case he spotted someone around the corner. In
another few steps he could see the doors to the death chamber where
Kyle no doubt was still hanging from the ceiling. The thought made
Tom feel nauseous and he inadvertently turned and glanced at Erin.
Her face was white as a sheet as she stared in the same direction.
God only knew what she had been forced to endure in there, Tom
thought.

He squeezed her hand in encouragement. They were
about twenty yards from the foyer leading to the Park Avenue
entrance. It was obvious now that no one was in the immediate
area.

They were almost home free.

Tom took Erin by the hand and quickened the pace when
they reached the foyer. He could now see the doors clearly and the
waning darkness outside.

“Let’s run for it!” he whispered to Erin.

“Okay!”

The two sprinted toward the doors. Tom flung open one
of them and ran out onto the street, Erin right on his heels. He
immediately noticed that the hearse was gone, prompting Tom to
think that they just might make it after all. They headed south on
Park Avenue.

“We’ll head back to my Jeep and see if we can get it
started—maybe the battery has recharged itself after some rest. If
we see any kind of vehicle on the way, we’ll check it for keys just
in case,” Tom told Erin between breaths.

“Sounds good—where is it parked?”

“On Thirty-Fourth Street.”

They ran all the way to Forty-Sixth Street then
stopped long enough to peek inside a parked taxicab: unlocked but
no keys. They continued their run and paced themselves, slowing
down to a moderate gait to conserve energy. Tom was already winded
and marveled at Erin, who was barely breathing hard. Of course she
was still a kid and had youth on her side. He was not, did not and
felt like an old man.

They ran a few more blocks, checked another cab for
keys and discovered that it was unlocked but had been vandalized.
The windows were all busted out, the seat covers sliced and
indecipherable graffiti was scrawled all over the hood and side
panels. Apparently Chappy and the boys had been particularly bored
one night.

By the time they approached Forty-Second Street and
spotted Grand Central Station, Tom knew he was going to have to
rest before his lungs totally collapsed.

“Gotta stop and catch my breath,” he told Erin
breathlessly. “Used to smoke and it’s catching up with me.”

“Me, too,” Erin replied, probably just to make him
feel better.

“Let’s duck in there for minute,” Tom said, pointing
toward an electronics store with a busted out door window on the
north side of Forty-Second Street.

The two headed toward the store and stepped inside.
Tom stood for a moment to catch his breath then started searching
the trashed display cases for anything they might be of value in
them. He found a decent flashlight/radio combination then looked
around for batteries that would fit the thing. When he found a pack
of double A’s, he popped them in, turned on the flashlight and the
radio.

Nothing but static on the radio. He twirled the
tuning knob and continued getting static across the band.

“Oh well, at least we have a decent flashlight now.
Speaking of light, it’s getting lighter every minute. We’d better
get going before day breaks.”

“What are we going to do if the Jeep won’t start?”
Erin asked.

“Hell if I know. I guess we’ll have to take a battery
out of one the cabs parked nearby. That could be a real problem,
though. I don’t know if we can afford that kind of time.”

“I can’t believe we haven’t seen them yet! I wonder
where they are.”

Tom led the way out of the store. “I have no idea.
All I know is that the odds are running against us every second we
stay in this place. Manhattan may be huge, but they know we can
only get so far without any wheels.”

Tom looked both ways on Forty-Second Street and
recalled how lively and bustling the popular venue had always been
when he’d lived here. Now it looked like the set of a Hollywood
ghost town.

The two broke into a run down Park Avenue.

The eastern sky was now becoming a dark blue over the
tops of the buildings on Park. It was light enough now for Tom to
recognize some of the places now—the posh apartment buildings with
their awning adorned entrances, the delis and pizza shops, a Duane
Reade drugstore.