Title: Caribbean Nights
Part: 14/15
Author: Wendy
Category: 98º
Rating: PG-13
Copyright: 1999
Drew woke up at the sound of a phone ringing. He had finally been able to catch some sleep, as did everybody at the summerhouse. He stumbled downstairs to the phone.
"Hello?" he answered groggily.
"Good morning," Pete gibed at Drew.
Drew’s eyes shot open in hearing the voice of Pete. "Talk to me."
"You want to get down to business now, don’t you?"
"Yes. Now where and when do I meet you?" Drew asked gravely.
"Meet me at five in the afternoon, right under the bridge at Walkill Creek," Pete instructed him carefully.
"I’ll see you then and there."
"And remember that I want cash and only bring one cop with you to confirm that you’ve dropped the charges. No backups, no nothing. Understand me?"
"Don’t worry, I get it."
With that Drew hung up the phone.
"Who was that?"
Drew turned around and found Nick at the bottom step of the staircase.
"That was Pete, our dear friend Pete. He wants us to meet him at Walkill Creek at five this afternoon with one cop and no backups," Drew explained to his brother.
"Did he say anything about Wendy?" Nick asked concernedly.
"No, not in particular."
"How are we going to get him the money?"
"I don’t know, but he wants it in cash," Drew said. "The police have better come through for us."
"I hope so too. I do," Nick said under his breath.
~*~*~At the warehouse~*~*~
Pete entered the warehouse with Wendy sleeping peacefully in her chair. As soon as he got near her, she woke up.
"Today is the day to determine the rest of your life," Pete said.
"I can say the same for you," Wendy said sarcastically.
"You think that you’re so funny, don’t you? Well, you’re not!" he yelled.
"No, I just want to know how much you think you will accomplish by five today. You’re threatening Drew with all this crap, but he’s not that stupid. You know that you will be caught, so you should just give this up now," Wendy reasoned with him.
"I’m not in the mood for these little talks, I’m going to get the two of us ready."
~*~*~In a jeep~*~*~
It was 4:30 in the afternoon that day. Nick, Drew and Officer Stevens were heading towards Walkill Creek. They had told Jeff, Justin, Jen, Pamela and Sarah to stay back at the summerhouse. It was definitely much easier and safer for three people to see Pete instead of eight people together in a group. Reluctantly, they all agreed that this was the plan that they would go ahead with.
Earlier that day, the police got the million ransom dollars. Each bill was marked with a special device so that it would show up as fake money even if Pete were to run away with the money.
~*~*~In a van~*~*~
Pete started to drive Wendy to Walkill Creek. He had her blindfolded as well as a handkerchief over her mouth. Her hands were tied to the seat to prevent her from escaping.
"We’re almost there…" Pete mumbled to no one in particular.
So many thoughts were running through Wendy’s head at the same time. Although she was still under captivation, she had a lot of adrenaline running through her body.
‘Sooner rather than later, I’ll get to see everybody again, I just have to believe that for now,’ Wendy thought.
The van began to slow down as Pete drove onto a rocky road and then it came to a full stop.
"We’re there!" Pete said and got out of the van.
She went to the other side of the van and pulled Wendy out. He started to drag her to the bridge where he said he was going to meet Drew.
~*~*~In a jeep~*~*~
"I think that we’re here," Nick said as he pulled to a stop behind a van.
All three people in the jeep got out and slowly and carefully walked down a little grassy trail.
In a couple of minutes, they found themselves under the bridge where they were told to meet Pete. In a short distance, they made out the body of two people.
It was the first time in a couple days that Drew or Nick had seen Wendy. They walked closer and closer to her with Officer Stevens close behind the two of them.
"So you are finally here!" Pete exclaimed sarcastically.
Pete had taken off the ropes on Wendy’s wrists and the blindfold off her eyes, but he had a gun pointed to her neck.
Drew brought up a briefcase and cleared his throat. "Here’s what you wanted, let her go."
"Open it and show me that it’s not just an empty suitcase," Pete instructed.
Drew slowly kneeled down to the ground and opened the briefcase. It showed a lot of hundred dollar bills. Then he closed the briefcase again and stood back up.
"And are the charges dropped?" Pete asked.
Officer Stevens walked up. "All of your charges have been dropped."
"Are you sure?" Pete asked suspiciously.
"Yes!" Drew screamed. "Now just give her back!"
Drew started to approach Pete and Wendy, as the two of them started to back up. Wendy’s eyes grew large.
"Don’t threaten me," Pete said solemnly.
"Wendy, don’t worry," Drew called out.
Wendy was on the verge of crying, but she nodded for Drew.
"What else do you want from us?" Nick asked as calmly as he could.
Impatiently, Drew ran toward Pete. It caught everybody off guard as Pete released Wendy on the impact of Drew landing on him.
Wendy ran to Nick, as Officer Stevens ran to Drew and Pete, who were struggling for the control of the gun.
Pete started to punch Drew in the face and the two of them rolled over so that Pete was now on top of Drew. Officer Stevens grabbed Pete, trying to get him off of Drew. However, he wasn’t much of a help.
In the mist of struggling, Drew and Pete rolled down the bank of the creek and then into the water. Pete started to punch Drew in the stomach and Drew tried to give Pete his best blow to the head.
"Drew!" Wendy screamed.
She tried to run to Drew, but Nick held her back. The two of them stood there, just watching the battle between Drew and Pete.
The gun kept on evading from both Drew and Pete. Instead of trying to put down Pete, Drew leapt for the gun, which had landed on a rock. He quickly grabbed the gun and turned around to point it toward Pete, who had been trying to catch up to him.
Unexpectedly, Pete stopped in his track and put up his hands slowly. Drew glared at Pete and pointed the gun to Pete’s heart. For a moment there, the two of them were trying to catch their breath.
Suddenly, Pete jumped onto Drew as the gun landed in between the two bodies as a loud gunshot filled the air.
"NO!" Wendy screamed as collapsed in Nick’s arms.
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