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phone and called my
dad, knowing that by doing so I'd be in deep trouble. But nothing
could be worse than what was going on right before my very
eyes.
    He answered on the first ring with his usual
angry voice.
    "Dad...I...I need your help."
    "What's wrong?" he asked.
    I gulped. "I'm being chased on my bike by a
madman."
    "If this is some kind of joke, I'm not
laughing."
    I looked back and saw the car picking up
speed. I tried to zigzag, as if that would do any good.
    "It's not a joke! He wants me dead!" I
screamed.
    "Who wants you dead?"
    "The man who just slammed his car into
Stewart's bike—with him on it."
    "This doesn't make any sense," he said.
"You're grounded, remember? So what am I missing?"
    "I went to Jasper Hill with Stewart," I told
him. "And we spray painted this old car for kicks. But the man who
owned it saw us and got really pissed. He came after us in his car.
And he's catching up to me..."
    My dad uttered an expletive. "Where are you
now?"
    "I just turned off Halstead onto
Linwood."
    I pedaled as fast as I could toward an
industrial park. I could hear his tires screeching on the pavement
in fast pursuit while his dog barked ferociously.
    "Please, Dad, you've gotta do something
before he kills me!"
    "Calm down," he ordered. "Get the hell off
that bike and find somewhere to hide till I get there. And keep
your cell phone on."
    "Okay." I put it back in my pocket and
crossed to the other side of the street where there was a furniture
warehouse. Maybe I could hide in there and wait for my dad.
    I ditched the bike and helmet near some
dilapidated furniture by a trash bin and ran past some bushes and a
pickup truck with the tires missing.
    With only a single light post nearby, I
hoped the crazy man had lost sight of me.
    The warehouse door was locked, so I went
around to the side and found an opening in some rotted wood.
    I squeezed through it and made my way behind
some furniture, trying to keep dead silent even as I heard the car
drive up.
    * * *
    The double doors were unlocked and slid
open. Bright car lights illuminated the inside of the
warehouse.
    Crouching behind an armoire, I watched in
disbelief and horror as I realized the person holding the keys was
none other than the man I was hiding from. The same man who had
slammed his car into Stewart, leaving him for dead.
    He had his Doberman on a leash while it
barked viciously and tried to break free.
    Maybe the crazy man had no idea I was hiding
in there.
    I waited, holding my breath, praying that he
would leave.
    Then I heard him say, "I know you're in
here, vandal!" His taunting voice seemed to echo throughout the
warehouse. "Brody knows it, too. He can smell your fear. Might as
well come out and get what's coming to you. Just like your buddy
got what he deserved."
    My armpits were soaked with perspiration and
my heart was pounding so loud I figured the dog could hear it. I
envisioned him ripping me to shreds. There seemed to be no way out
for me alive.
    "All right, have it your way," the man said
gleefully. He released his dog from the leash. "Go get him,
boy!"
    I saw the dog rushing straight toward me.
Knowing I wouldn't last a minute waiting where I was, I ran for my
life further back into the warehouse, knocking down anything I
could to distract the crazed animal.
    But the dog easily slipped around the
obstacles, determined to get its teeth into me.
    I climbed on top of a dresser and used it to
get to a stack of tables that were piled high.
    The dog flew into the air and tried to land
on the tables, but couldn't get its footing and fell back down.
    I was trembling, frightened to death as the
dog looked up at me growling and baring its teeth. It jumped up at
me time and time again, barking madly as if possessed or rabid,
determined to eat me for dinner.
    I saw the man coming over and knew that he'd
do whatever it took to let his dog have a piece of me.
    I climbed over to some sofas that were
stacked on top of each other. The man quickly moved in front of