Chapter 24
Across the street from the Burke Police Station, Dr. Bowman and Jimmy Newton sat in his 57 Studebaker that was parked in the parking lot of Doris’ Delightful Donut Shop. They kept a vigil on the police station and watched while Chief Hanson drove his squad car down the street.
Chief Hanson pulled his squad car into the station parking lot, and he was pissed with being called back to the station this late at night.
He parked his car, turned it off, and got out.
He headed into the station.
Across the street at the donut shop, Dr. Bowman and Jimmy still waited in the Studebaker.
“Now what?” Jimmy said.
Dr. Bowman pondered for a few seconds. “We’ll just have to wait until he leaves. I don’t think he’ll be in there for very long,” he said and hoped his theory was correct.
Inside the station, Chief Hanson stood by the front desk of his station where it was quiet. “What the fuck is so important that you have to call me this late at night? Waking me up!” he screamed, and it echoed in the station.
Officers White and Jacobs walked out of the hallway and into the front area.
“Sorry about that, Chief, but I felt that you need to see this picture immediately. Before anybody else sees it or finds out,” said Officer White, and he fought to prevent bursting out in laughter.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” said Chief Hanson and he was getting pissed.
Officer White handed Chief Hanson the Polaroid.
Chief Hanson looked at it. “You caught the homos we suspected were down at the lake,” he said then looked at Officer White and Jacobs.
“Yes, but did you see who I caught?” said Officer White.
Chief Hanson looked at the picture again. It took a few seconds with double-takes for him to realize it was his son Robbie performing oral sex on another guy down at the lake. “What the fuck?” said Chief Hanson and his blood started to boil, thinking that his son was a homo.
“Who the fuck is this other kid?” said Chief Hanson through gritted teeth.
“We don’t know. He might be from a neighboring town,” said Officer White.
Chief Hanson shoved the evidence in his shirt pocket. “You won’t tell a soul about this. Not a fucking sole. Do you understand?”
Officers White and Jacobs nodded in agreement.
“Cause if you do, you’ll be fired,” said Chief Hanson and he was dead serious.
“Yes sir,” said Officers White and Jacobs in unison.
“Good,” said Chief Hanson, and he walked away and headed out of the station.
Kenny sat on his bunk in his cell with a smirk on his face thinking that Robbie was finally caught being gay. “It’s about fucking time,” he quietly muttered happily this day finally arrived.
Darin sat on his bunk, and he couldn’t come up with a viable plan to escape back to the future.
Across the street at the donut shop, Dr. Bowman and Jimmy’s eyes widened the second they saw Chief Hanson get in his squad car, start up the engine, back up, and drive out of the lot.
“Things are falling into place,” said Jimmy while they watched Chief Hanson drive his squad car down the street.
“We’ll give it a few minutes,” said Dr. Bowman.
Jimmy nodded in agreement.
A few minutes had passed.
“Let’s go do it,” said Dr. Bowman.
Jimmy nodded in agreement and got out of the Studebaker.
Dr. Bowman watched while Jimmy walked over to the payphone on the wall of the donut shop.
Jimmy deposited a dime into the payphone and dialed a number. He got nervous while he heard the phone ringing from the end of the call.
It was quiet in the police station when the phone rang at the front desk. Officers White and Jacobs were at their desks reading their Penthouse magazines.
Officer White rushed over to the front desk and grabbed the phone. “Burke Police Station, Officer White, how may I help you?” he said, answering the call.
“Ah. There’s trouble down by the lake,” said Jimmy disguising his voice with a low pitch to sound manlier.
“What kind of trouble?”
“My wife and I went down the lake. We like going down there to gaze at the stars and the Moon on nights like this. But then we saw four guys having sex with each other near the woods. It was disgusting,” said Jimmy in his disguised voice. “Nasty and disgusting. You need rush to go down there and arrest them in the act.” Dr. Bowman said as he had heard the rumors of possible men having sex down at the lake from some of the students. He figured this has their best chance of working.
Officer White shook his head in disgust, as he figured Robbie might be back in action. “Thank you. We’re on our way,” he said and slammed down the phone.
“Who was that? The Chief again?” said Officer Jacobs while he walked up to the front desk with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.
“No. Someone called and said to him, and his wife saw four guys having sex with each other down by the lake.”
Officer Jacobs’ eyes widened. “Robbie Hanson?”
“Could be,” said Officer White, and he picked up the phone and made another call with a smile.
“What the fuck now?” said Chief Hanson answering the call.
“We got a call that there are four guys having sex down at the lake,” said Officer White into the phone.
“I’ll meet you there,” said Chief Hanson and he was furious that maybe Robbie was still down there, as he hadn’t come home yet.
Officers White and Jacobs rushed out of the station.
Across from station, Dr. Bowman and Jimmy watched from the Studebaker Officers White and Jacobs rushed out of the station and over to the squad car.
“It’s working,” said Jimmy.
“It sure is.”
The two waited until Officer White made a screeching turn out of the police station entrance with its bubble gum light flashing red.
After the car was racing down the street, Dr. Bowman started up his Studebaker.
He drove out of the donut shop parking lot, then across the street and into the entrance of the police station.
It was quiet in the police station when Jimmy rushed inside. He scanned the area over when he stopped by the front desk. He didn’t see any signs of any other police officers.
Jimmy rushed around the front desk and over to the entrance to Cell Way.
On the wall to the right side of the entrance to Cell Way was a rack of four keys. Jimmy knew they were there from Dr. Bowman noticing it the other day then they came to see Darin.
Jimmy rushed around the front desk and over to the keys.
He grabbed all four keys and quietly slipped into Cell Way.
Jimmy gingerly walked up to Cell No. 1 and saw it was empty.
He gingerly walked up to Cell No. 2 and saw Darin on his back on the bunk of that cell.
Jimmy unlocked the cell door. Darin didn’t’ stir as he was sound asleep.
Jimmy gingerly walked into the cell and up to Darin’s bunk. He lightly shook Darin.
Darin’s eyes popped open, and he looked up to see Jimmy standing over him. He jumped up being startled, but after a few seconds, he recognized his old high school history teacher.
“Darin, I’m here to get out so you can go back home,” Jimmy said quietly.
It took a few seconds for it to dawn on Darin that he was being rescued. He jumped up off the bunk and followed Jimmy out of the cell.
Jimmy quietly closed the cell door, and it automatically locked.
Jimmy and Darin gingerly rushed down the hallway and out of Cell Way.
Jimmy hung the keys back on the rack and wished he could see the faces of the officers when they try to figure out how Darin escaped.
Jimmy and Darin rushed out of the police station.
Once they got outside the station, they rushed over to the waiting Studebaker.
Jimmy hopped in the back while Darin got in the front passenger seat.
Darin looked over at Dr. Bowman while he drove off through the lot. “How did you know?”
“I found my machine in the basement of the science building. It was the interview that had me convinced you came back to nineteen seventy-one,” said Dr. Bowman while he turned out of the station lot and drove off down the street.
“We know you came back in time to save Sheryl Hanson’s life,” said Jimmy from the backseat.
“She was killed that night. Right?” said Dr. Bowman.
“Yes. It ruined my life. I never went to college and eventually became a janitor at the university. My life was a fucking living hell,” said Darin.
“How did you find my machine?” said Dr. Bowman.
“You often left the door unlocked in a room down in the basement, and I got curious.”
Dr. Bowman thought about Darin’s answer. His eyes widened. “Then I wanted you to come back and save her life,” he said and looked proud.
“What was the year in the future?” said Jimmy from the back seat.
“Nineteen ninety-five,” said Darin.
Dr. Bowman looked happy that he was at least still alive twenty-four years in the future.
“Am I still around then?” said Jimmy, and he was a little afraid of the answer.
“Yes.”
Jimmy looked relieved.
Darin extended out his hand to Dr. Bowman. “Thank you. You helped me save Sheryl’s life and my life,” he said.
Dr. Bowman shook Darin’s hand. “I truly hope your life changes for the good.”
“Me too. Me too,” said Darin and he wondered what would nineteen ninety-five be like for him when he returned.
It was a quiet ride while Dr. Bowman drove to the university. He thought about asking what the future brings but decided he wanted it to be a surprise.
Chief Hanson, Officers White, and Jacobs stood by their squad cars in the parking area of Lake Willow.
“Nobody is down here,” said Chief Hanson and he looked a little mad. “Are you sure this caller said he and his wife saw four guys having sex down here?”
“Yes, Chief. That’s what he said.”
“Did you get his name?” said Chief Hanson.
Officer White looked like a deer staring into headlights. “Aw, no sir,” he said and cringed realizing he screwed up.
Chief Hanson thought about that call for a few seconds. His eyes widened when he figured it out. “Our prisoner. Someone must have helped him escape from the station,” he said and wanted to slap his two officers for being so gullible. He refrained. “But where could he have gone?” he said and pondered a possible area to hide. His eyes lit up with an idea. “Didn’t Eastwood state that Vince Barnes said that guy was in town to get a teaching job at the university?”
Officers White and Jacobs looked at each other for a few seconds. “He did,” said Officer White.
“Plus we did have that alarm go off at the university on last Thursday night,” said Officer Jacobs.
“Let’s check out the university for starters,” said Chief Hanson, and he rushed over to his squad car.
Officers White and Jacobs were a little slow, but they finally figured out what Chief Hanson wanted them to do. They rushed over to the other squad car.
Officers White and Jacobs got in one of the cars with White behind the wheel while Chief Hanson got inside the other one.
Both squad cars raced out of the parking area and down the dirt road with their red bubble gum lights flashing.
The two squad cars raced south on Primrose Avenue.
Dr. Bowman drove his Studebaker down Brightwood Avenue when all of a sudden there was a thump, thump sound coming from the rear left side of the car.
“Crap. We got a flat tire,” said Dr. Bowman, and he slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the road.
Dr. Bowman, Darin, and Jimmy all got out of the Studebaker. They walked over to the rear left side of the car and saw that it was indeed a flat tire.
“Let me change it for you. It’s the least I can do,” said Darin.
“Okay,” said Dr. Bowman, and he walked over to the trunk, unlocked it and opened it up. He reached inside and started to remove his spare tire.
“Ah, we got trouble coming our way,” said Jimmy.
“What?” said Dr. Bowman while he pulled his head out of the trunk and looked at the direction Jimmy pointed.
The three saw two flashing red lights that had to belong to police cars racing at high speed down Thorndale Avenue.
“You better run to the university. That’s your only chance,” said Dr. Bowman and he glanced back to check up on the two squad cars. “We left the basement loading door at the rear of the science building unlocked. The room with my time machine is also unlocked for you,” he added.
Darin saw the racing squad cars and knew running was his only chance. He extended out his hand to Dr. Bowman.
“No time for that. Get out of here,” said Dr. Bowman.
Jimmy nodded in agreement.
They watched while Darin ran off across the street. He ran down the sidewalk heading to the university.
“I sure hope he makes it,” said Jimmy.
“We’ll find out in twenty-four years,” said Dr. Bowman.
“That’s such a long time to wait.”
“I know, I know,” said Dr. Bowman then he proceeded to remove his spare tire out of his trunk.
Dr. Bowman and Jimmy took one more glance down the sidewalk where Darin ran into the darkness.
The flashing red lights from the two squad cars started to reflect off the Studebaker.
They turned around and saw the two squad cars getting closer.
“I sure hope he makes it,” said Dr. Bowman.
“Me too,” said Jimmy why he assisted Dr. Bowman with changing the tire.