Minutes later they neared Town Hall.
"You guys keep going and meet me by the Fire Hall," said Jimmy. "I'll give you a minute head start."
Adam and Kevin walked as normally as possible past Town Hall. They didn’t look at it, even though they wanted to - given the events that evening. Instead, they walked until they were past the Fire Hall, turning back to see Jimmy closing the door behind him.
Adam watched the door, anxious to see Jimmy come out again. As time ticked on, he began to worry. In his mind, Jimmy ran into the faceless thing that followed them through the last part of the tunnel. It was at least 400 pounds of pure muscle and 9 feet tall. It grabbed Jimmy and forced him to recount his evening, including the names, descriptions, and locations of his accomplices. It finished him off by doing horrible things. When it was done, it would sneak up behind Adam in the dark, grabbing him and...
A hand touched Adam's shoulder. He jumped and let out a quiet scream, similar to the one Kevin had done earlier. It was only Kevin.
"Whoa, calm down," he whispered. "Look." He pointed up the street toward Jimmy's house where a car was pulling into the driveway. Jimmy's parents had just arrived home.
Adam watched as the car pulled into the driveway and 2 people stepped out. He heard the doors close and the murmur of quiet conversation as Jimmy's parents walked toward the house.
A hand clamped down on each of their shoulders in the darkness. They both jumped in shock, but managed not to scream. Jimmy was standing behind them, trying to hold in the laughter from shocking his friends.
“Don’t do that!” exclaimed Kevin.
"How did you get here? We only took our eyes off the door for a minute," said Adam.
Jimmy was trying to control his laughter. "That was so worth it! You two look like you might need to change your pants!"
Kevin and Adam looked at him unimpressed.
He composed himself and continued. "When I let you in the side door earlier, I noticed an alarm panel. I locked the front doors from the inside, ran to the side door, and was out of there in no time. I went behind Town Hall and walked to the Fire Hall through the trees. "
Kevin and Adam were still looking at him unimpressed.
Jimmy was still smiling. "Ok. You don't owe me anymore. The look on Kevin's face alone was priceless!" Jimmy was enjoying his moment.
"Good to hear...,” said Kevin. “Oh, by the way, your parents are home," he continued, grinning because he was able to give Jimmy the bad news.
Jimmy's smile disappeared in an instant. He looked at his watch.
"I have 3 minutes to get home. You two have to come in and distract my parents while I take the key back to their bedroom." Jimmy's tone implied there would be no discussion.
They nodded their heads and ran toward Jimmy's house.
"How are we supposed to distract them?" asked Kevin.
"Why don't you show them your interpretive dance? That'll keep them occupied," said Adam.
"Not until you show them the pink tutu you wear when no one is watching."
Even though they were still wound up from the night's events, they all had a good laugh at the comments.
Arriving at the house, Adam and Kevin followed Jimmy up the steps to the back door. They stepped in and took their shoes off in the small entryway. Jimmy looked at them and mouthed, "I need 2 minutes."
"Trevor or Jimmy?" Mrs. Jones' voice came from around the corner.
"Jimmy - and Adam and Kevin," Jimmy replied as they entered the kitchen single file.
"Oh, hi boys!" said Mrs. Jones, "Isn't it getting late for you to be out?" She was standing behind the counter holding a glass of water. James Jones the Second (his friends called him Jim) entered from the living room as she spoke.
"Wait here, guys. I have to use the bathroom." Jimmy motioned his head slightly toward his parents.
"Uh, well...I don't really have a curfew,” Adam answered, “but Kevin needs to be home in about half an hour. We just figured we would walk Jimmy here on our way home.”
"Where did you get the Doritos?" Mr. Jones glanced at the bags and then looked at them with a fatherly ‘don't-lie-to-me, I-can-read-your-thoughts’ expression on his face. It made the boys feel even more uncomfortable than they were already. They had forgotten about the Doritos, even though Adam was still holding his and Jimmy's bags from when they parted at Town Hall.
"Actually, we bought them from Mr. Argue at the bar," replied Adam. "We knocked on the door and no one answered, so we just sort of stepped inside...a little..."
Mr. Jones had a surprised look on his face. "I don't know if that was smart, brave, or incredibly stupid." He laughed, but Mrs. Jones still wore a frown. Upon seeing his wife, he also returned to a frown, staring at them once again.
There were a few awkward moments of silence, and once more those moments felt like minutes to the boys.
Mrs. Jones took a sip of her water and set it on the counter. Mr. Jones started to turn in the direction of the bedrooms. They had to think of something quick.
"Uh...so...I hear Trevor is dating Kevin's sister," blurted out Adam, grasping for any subject.
The awkwardness created by that one simple statement worked. Mr. Jones stopped in his path and turned to listen to the conversation to come. Kevin had a look of I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that on his face mixed with a small amount of anger that he kept contained.
"Oh...We thought they were just friends right now," said Mrs. Jones, looking at her husband to see if he knew any different. "That would be wonderful for Trevor. She's a lovely girl."
Mr. Jones was nodding his head in agreement with his wife.
Adam had a bad feeling deep in his stomach. He knew the discussion made Kevin very uncomfortable, but it was all he could think of at the time. It was necessary, though, and worked long enough that Jimmy appeared in the kitchen again.
"Here's your Doritos." Adam handed the bag to Jimmy.
"Thanks…I'm just going outside for a minute, ok?" Jimmy looked at his mom.
Mrs. Jones nodded. "Don't be too long. Kevin needs to be home soon," she added, glancing at the clock on the stove.
Adam and Kevin said goodnight to Jimmy’s parents and made their way outside. The group crossed the street before saying anything.
"I can't believe we made it!" said Jimmy. "Thanks for keeping my parents occupied guys. You did great! What did you talk about?"
Adam looked at Kevin. "I'm sorry. It's the first thing that came to my mind,” he said.
Jimmy looked puzzled at first, but caught on quick. His face twisted in fake pain. "Oooooh, you did? Wow."
Kevin looked at Adam. "It's ok, man. I have to learn to deal with it from other people too, not just my friends. If they're dating, they're dating."
"Still, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"If you don't quit apologizing I really will get uncomfortable. People know I hang out with you." Kevin grinned.
Adam smiled as well. All was fine between him and Kevin again.
"Ok, you can hug on your way home," said Jimmy, "I better get in the house."
They laughed and turned to part company. Kevin stopped and turned back. "Your dad asked where we got the Doritos, so we told him the story about going into the bar. He laughed, but your mom doesn't look impressed."
Jimmy nodded at Kevin. "Thanks. I can talk my way out of that, no problem!"
With that, Kevin and Adam waved a quick goodbye, turned and walked for home.
The moon was nearly full that evening, and the air was cool, but not cold. The boys walked to the end of the block in silent thought.
Adam was going through the evening in his head, although it wasn't in order. His thoughts skipped from scene to scene out of sequence. It skipped from running through the tunnels to opening the first door, then back to Jimmy's house and stopped at the point where Lorne Argue brought them the Doritos.
"He asked us if we saw anyone leaving in a hurry," Adam muttered in a quiet voice.
"What
was that?" asked Kevin, bringing Adam out of his thoughts.
"Lorne asked us if we saw anyone leaving. I forgot about it until now, but it seemed a little strange at the time. He said ‘in a hurry’."
"He was probably looking for someone who skipped out on his bar tab," said Kevin.
"But this is Grayson. Lorne knows everyone in this town, and would know exactly who ran out without paying. I don't think he was asking for himself."
"Wait, are you saying that whoever was behind us in the tunnels asked Lorne if he saw anyone?"
"Yep."
"That would mean we would have just stepped outside when the person came up from the cold room into the bar."
"Yep."
They both stopped.
"They have to suspect us," said Kevin.
"I don't think so. I bet Lorne didn't even say anything about us being in his bar. He's got a keen sense for drunks lying to him, but Jimmy even convinced me that we just went in for something to eat."
"Still, I think we need to be on our guard. News that we were in the bar will spread through this town fast."
"When we go back into the tunnels, we'll have to make sure we're quieter. Hopefully tomorrow." Adam looked serious.
Kevin nodded, "I just want to look through the files. There's got to be something in there to explain all of this."
"You must be curious if you're willing to read. Not to mention breaking into Town Hall again." Adam laughed, soft punched Kevin in the shoulder and started walking again.
"It's not really breaking in when you have a key and know the alarm code. We're not looking to steal anything...I just hope you can convince Jimmy to 'borrow' the keys again."
"He won't be a problem. He wants to know what's going on as much as we do."
They stopped at the corner where they would have to part.
"Come and get me as soon as you can get out of the house tomorrow," said Adam, hoping it would be early.
Kevin nodded. "See ya tomorrow."
"See ya."
Adam turned toward his home and remembered he had dishes to wash in the morning.
CHAPTER NINE