“Derek, hold on. I don’t understand. Go over the plan one more time,” Brent said.
“Alright. You said that you’re team is eating at the House of Pizza, right?”Derek asked.
Brent nodded.
“Okay, you two go in like you’re actually there for the party so don’t sugarcoat it. Then you two talk to him like normal students, then try to get into the topic about last night. Like I said, if anything goes wrong, I’ll be outside and I’ll be in there in a second. Just don’t get into trouble. The last thing we all need is to get arrested for crashing a party.”
“We’re going to get arrested for talking to a teacher?” Kris asked.
Derek shook his head. “Oh, no. We’re going to put the crash in party crashers.”
“I’m still not sure about this, Derek,” Brent said.
“Quit worrying, Brent,” Derek said. “We have to do this.”
“Why?! Why do we have to do this. I don’t really see a good reason to do this,” Brent said, loudly.
Kris looked up at Brent. “We’re doing this for Brooke, Brent. And whether you like the idea or not this means a lot to me. Seeing Brooke laying in that hospital bed, makes me feel helpless because while she’s beaten and in bed, I’m stuck in this chair for at least two more months.”
Brent sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just really frustrated.”
“The Xbox?” Derek guessed.
Brent nodded. “Yeah. Now I’m not saying this in a mean way, but while we’re wasting all of our time planning this out we’re giving the Xbox more time to take over the world.”
“Don’t worry, Brent. As soon as we’re done with this we’re going to stop the Xbox. I promise,” Kris said.
Brent nodded. “Okay. So, are we leaving right now?”
Derek walked over to his counter and grabbed his car keys. “Yeah,” Derek said, spinning the keys around one of his fingers.
The three boys got into Derek’s car and drove off down the road towards the House of Pizza. Several minutes later when the boys arrived, they all gazed through the windows of the restaurant. They spotted Coach Guiles sitting with the rest of the football team eating pizza and drinking soda.
“Okay, guys. You two go in. I’ll keep watch and when it’s time, I’ll come in we will crash that party,” Derek said.
Brent and Kris got out of the car and entered the restaurant. Coach Guiles saw them and waved them over. Brent and Kris walked towards the tables their team was at and sat down. They received high fives from each member of the team. Then they started to talk to Coach Guiles.
“Glad you two could make it,” Coach Guiles said in a deep voice. “Now that you’re here, dig in and eat as much as you want. If the pizzas are all finished, I’ll order some more. This my money we’re talking about and I’ll do what I want with it. And besides, this team is worth it.”
“Thanks, Coach,” Kris said, acting like actually cared.
“No problem. Anyway, you two took this team above and beyond. I thank both of you for
that. I’ve been coaching here for ten years and this is the first team to win the championship.”
Kris couldn’t take the wait any longer. “So, uh… just out of curiosity Coach, what did you do last night? Did you watch t.v. or walk around the neighborhood? What did you do exactly?”
Meanwhile, Derek was slouching in the driver’s seat of his car watching as Brent and Kris continued to talk to Coach Guiles. He reached down into the glove department and pulled out a mini-sized bag of Cheetos. Derek sat for several minutes just watching the boys and crunching on Cheetos until he noticed Kris stand up suddenly and point his finger towards Coach Guiles. Derek had noticed that Kris had said something, too. He made out the “liar” and sat straight up in his seat. “Oh, man. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car immediately. He slammed the car door shut and ran into the restaurant. He grabbed Kris’s arm and told him to calm down.
Kris eventually calmed down and sat back in his chair. “Sorry.”
Derek knelt next to Kris and whispered to him. “You’re not sorry enough. You’re jeopardizing what we’re trying to do. Don’t go insane. Remember what you said earlier. You said that we were doing this for Brooke.”
“Right. You’re right, I did say that didn’t I?” Kris said, disappointedly.
Derek patted Kris’s shoulder. “Yes. Yes, you did.”
“Alright,” Kris said. “Well, you’re already here Derek so you might as well stay.”
“Whatever. Just as long as I have my Cheetos,” Derek said, raising the half eaten bag. He sat down. “So, anyway, Coach… where were you last night around 10:00 p.m.?”
Coach Guiles leaned back in his chair. “What kind of question is that? Is this some kind of interrogation?”
“Maybe,” Derek said. “Then again, maybe not.” He grabbed a Cheeto inside the bag and ate it.
Then, all of a sudden, three big, strong men wearing ski masks barged into the restaurant. They went straight towards the counter and the register. Then one of them turned around and yelled out, “alright, listen up everybody! Put your hands in the air and keep them there. If anyone does anything funny, things are going to get really ugly. So, I suggest that you all listen!”
Everybody in the restaurant raised their arms, including Brent, Kris, and Derek. The second robber looked straight at Coach Guiles and waved his gun towards the door, motioning for Coach Guiles to leave.
With a smirk, Coach Guiles calmly left the restaurant with innocent lives being held. Kris turned his head to watch Coach Guiles leave when the second robber walked up to him. “Hey! Turn yourself back around, Wheels.”
Kris became angry. He looked down at the wheels of his wheelchair and clenched his fists.
Several long minutes later, the robbers got the amount of cash that they wanted and ran to the door. Two of them left while one stopped and said, “If anyone talks to anyone about this, we’ll find out. Then, we’ll hunt you down.” With that the third robber left and let the door slam shut.
“Coach Guiles got away! Dang it!” Kris yelled.
“Calm down, we’ll get him soon enough,” Brent said, calmly.
“Yeah, but what if soon enough is too late?” Kris asked.
“What do you mean?” Derek asked.
“He could find Brooke and maybe go after her again. I don’t know why exactly, but he could,” Kris said.
Derek looked Kris right in his eyes. “Kris. I promise on my grave that we’ll find him. We’ll stop him. We’ll do everything we can to get him.”
Kris nodded. “Okay.”
Brent spoke up. “Let’s go. We all know that Coach Guiles won’t be at Weitan High during the weekdays. He knows we’re after him now. I bet that he’s with those goons, too.”
“He is,” Kris said, abruptly. “One of the robbers waved their gun towards the door. Then he left. He was smirking, too.”
“Well, lucky for you two, I know where he’ll be. While I was investigating, I’ve noticed that Coach Guiles goes to the gym every day,” Derek said.
“Great, we’ll head there tomorrow,” Brent said.
The three boys started to leave. They walked through the parking lot towards the spot where Derek had parked. Derek said, “okay, so I’ll pick you both up by…” He trailed off. “Where’s my car?”
Brent and Kris looked around the parking lot with Derek, yet there was no sign of Derek’s car. “No!” Derek screamed. “My car’s missing!”