Laffy Taffy sticks out of the bag and gave it to Olive. Outside, they both got on their bikes and rode out of the parking lot. Olive had a stringy piece of candy hanging out of her mouth.
On the way back home, Cody once again gazed across the street at the church. The car was no longer there, and frustration took over. Cody and Olive continued home, pedaling slowly.
They pulled up to the wooden gate in the driveway. Olive threw her bike down and ran inside. Cody gave her the other piece of candy before she ran inside.
“It’s okay, Ol. I will put your bike away for you,” Cody said sarcastically.
“Thanks, brother!” a little voice said from far away.
As Cody was putting both bikes back in the garage, he heard a voice from over the fence.
“Hello, Cody!” said the voice.
“Oh, hey, Mr. Durkbridge. You kind of scared me for a second,” said Cody.
“I’m sorry, son. I was just outside in the garage, doing some spring cleaning,” said Mr. Durkbridge.
Cody wasn’t very fond of Mr. Durkbridge. He was always calling him “son” every time he saw Cody. There was something about him that just didn’t sit right. Even Olive, who was one of the friendliest kids Cody had ever seen, didn’t like Mr. Durkbridge.
In his midforties, Mr. Durkbridge was a friendly neighbor. He had moved next to the Roberts family ten years ago. In some way, Mr. Durkbridge felt bad for Cody’s mother because she had to raise the two kids on her own. He was always working in his yard or outside of his house. There was something about Mr. Durkbridge that both Olive and Cody did not like. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Durkbridge was the same age as the kids’ stepfather that had left their mother.
Mr. Durkbridge lived alone and was always home. No one knew if he had a job or what he did for a living. Cody and Olive always tried to stay clear of Mr. Durkbridge. He always wore these V-neck sweaters that people wore twenty years ago. The man had thinning gray hair and had a large nose. When Cody actually thought about it, Mr. Durkbridge looked sort of on the creepy side. The guy was probably harmless.
“Well, have a good day, Mr. Durkbridge,” said Cody quickly.
“You do the same, Cody, and tell your mom I said hello,” replied Mr. Durkbridge.
“Okay, I will,” said Cody even though he had zero intention to do so.
Cody walked in the house through the back door. His mom was washing dishes, and Olive was reading a jumbo-sized book in the living room. She had her Laffy Taffy pieces right next to her on the coffee table. His sister looked content.
Cody had some thinking to do. He ran upstairs into his room, shut the door, and sat at his desk. He pulled out the bottom drawer, opened his secret compartment, and grabbed his drawing of the vehicle.
Staring long and hard at the drawing, Cody tried to remember what the vehicle looked like at the church. More questions came to mind.
Did the black car at the church have darkened windows? What did the wheels look like? Whom did that car belong to? Why was it there? And was that the car Cody saw that frightening morning?
Cody knew he had to tell Zach what he’d seen. However, it was Sunday, and Zach wasn’t available today. It would have to wait till tomorrow.
He grabbed his sketch pad and started drawing what he saw today in the limited time he saw it. While he was drawing, he wondered what the odds were that the same vehicle would be there next Sunday or any other day of the week.
It took another hour, but Cody’s drawing, when it was finished, was eerily similar to the first drawing. Was it enough, though? He kept wondering what the odds of it being the same vehicle were. Cody put the drawings back in the drawer’s secret compartment.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and Cody was getting hungry and headed downstairs to make something to eat.
“Ask your sister if she wants something, Code,” his mother said, seeing her son open the fridge.
“Okay, Mom. Ol, do you