The Hero Next Time: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 4)

Chapter Fifteen: Sunny, Summer, 1979

Sunny never thought the first time he took his shirt off in front of a girl would be in the cause of saving another. 

Al had just thrown a rock through the window into Danny Trybek's room, and it was such a good shot that it left barely any glass. "Holy shit! Good job, Al!" Sunny said, examining the window frame. "Wait!" he warned as they made to climb through. That was when he pulled off his shirt, feeling no bashfulness at all even though Lauren was looking at him, because they were in a hurry, and laid it over the rim. "So we don't get cut on the bits of glass still on it."

Al went through first, then the others followed one by one. The shirt did its job; no one said ouch or had bloody hands once they finished climbing through. Sunny dusted his shirt off and put it back on when they were all in. It was a little worse for wear; the remaining glass must have sliced through the fabric and left a few holes. Still, it was a small price to pay to get in here and save Rachel, and he'd probably toss the shirt into the trash as soon as he got home. If they got home. That wasn't a sure thing right now.

"Rachel! Where are you!" Al shouted before they could even discuss whether to reveal themselves. Sunny put a hand on his shoulder to shut him up in case Mr. Trybek was on the other side of that door. He was nearly trembling with fear, unable to believe they'd broken into the house of a man known to be abusing his son and maybe his wife; at the very least they'd be in a lot of trouble for breaking the window, and if Mr. Trybek caught them, he might hurt them just as bad as he hurt Danny, or worse. 

The only reason he was here at all was because Rachel was; Mr. Trybek had pulled her into the house right in front of Lauren's eyes, and Lauren had come running back to plead for their help in saving her. At the time he hadn't even thought twice; he and Al had ditched the paper route they'd just been about to start, grabbed their bikes and raced back here with Joe and Lauren, who'd stopped to get her grandfather's sword, which was probably the most sensible thing ever, an equalizer in case Mr. Trybek tried to hurt them, because he was much bigger than they were.

"Be careful!" Rachel called out from the other side of the door. "He's dangerous! Call the police!" Thank goodness, she was still alive, at least.

Lauren gestured to the others to stay against the wall on either side of the door. Then she slowly drew the sword so as not to alert anyone on the other side of that door. The metal gleamed as it emerged from the scuffed leather scabbard. Sunny stared at it in wonder. It looked lethal, and his friend, who was smaller than he was, planned to use it if she had to. This was a nightmare, and yet he couldn't imagine anyone he'd rather be with to face it together. Lauren was a warrior, a beautiful, dangerous entity, and he prayed he could be of service to her if she needed it when the time came to strike.

"We did already!" Al shouted, even though that wasn't entirely accurate. "They're on their way!"

Lauren looked at the door jamb, then stood on the opposite side of the door knob and slowly raised the sword, gripping the hilt with two hands.

A man's voice yelled, "Fucking... meddling little shits!" And then something hit the floor hard. Sunny hoped that wasn't Rachel hitting the floor. That sounded painful.

"He's coming!" Rachel shouted. "Be careful!"

Lauren took a deep breath. The sword quivered at the top of its arc.

The door opened.

Sunny saw it all happen from where he stood. 

Mr. Trybek entered the room, fist raised. For some reason, his pants were down, and his pee-pee was out, and it was large and hairy and ugly. 

Lauren brought the sword down.

Mr. Trybek's pee-pee fell to the floor, and blood gushed from the stump where it used to be.