Ryan Ruiz - The Black Cadillac

“Thank you, Cody. Thank you for saving our daughter from that man. Thank you for saving her life. Thank you for allowing us to hold our daughter again,” she said with a scratchy voice.

Mandy’s father just looked at the boy with a concerned look on his face. Mrs. Coefield reached for her husband’s hand. Cody looked at both of them and replied, “You’re welcome. I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through, and I’m sorry I couldn’t find her sooner,” responded Cody softly.

“Well, you found her, and that’s all that matters. Our little girl stayed locked in that basement, thinking no one would ever find her. And you did, and I can’t thank you enough. We don’t have a boy of our own, but if we did, we would want one just like you,” the father said, and a tear dripped down his face.

Cody started to cry too as he hugged them both.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me,” he said with chills running down his arms.

Cody’s mother and sister walked into the room. They saw Cody hugging Mandy’s parents and stayed quiet. Georgiana looked at her son with both of the parents and started to cry. The moment was so surreal.

“I really appreciate you coming to see me. I have a sister that’s your daughter’s age, and she means the world to me,” said Cody, pointing in the direction of his sister.

“Thank you again, Cody,” Mandy’s mother said and walked out of the room. Mandy’s parents walked past Cody’s mother and sister, looked, and managed to smile at them. They exited the room.

Georgiana and Olive walked over to Cody.

“Hey, Code, there is a bunch of people waiting to see and meet you out there. Just be prepared, you are famous now,” his mother told him.

“Yeah, Code, the police are everywhere trying to keep people from talking to us,” said Olive in her cheery voice.

The nurse brought in a tray with breakfast on it. “Here you go. Some cereal, juice, milk, fruit cup, and toast for you. Please hit the red button on the phone if you need anything.” She then left the room.

“Eat up, Cody, you need some energy,” his mother told him.

Cody certainly needed energy as he looked at the tray. Cody picked up a piece of toast and took a bite out of it. He was starving and scarfed down his breakfast. He paused in between sips of his juice.

“Is Zach still here?” he asked.

“Yes, sweetie, Zach is still here. I’ve been talking with his mom. You two are grounded for a while, we’ve decided,” his mother said in a playful but stern tone.

“Kind of figured that, Mom,” said Cody.

“Well, at least, we can have more time to play together,” added Olive.

“Very true,” replied Cody to his sister.

“You need to let your brother get better first, Olive,” their mother said.

“I know,” said Olive.

Dr. Panella entered the room.

“Hi, Cody! I have great news. We are going to get you out of here today! The nurse will have your discharge papers in about an hour. You need to get home and rest. Your ribs need to heal on their own. Try to stay off your feet and not walk too much,” Dr. Panella explained with enthusiasm.

“Okay, Dr. Panella, I will stay off my feet. Thank you for taking care of me,” replied Cody.

“No, Cody. On behalf of everyone here at Sheldon General Hospital, thank you for your bravery in finding Mandy,” said Dr. Panella. The doctor shook Cody’s hand and left the room.

“Mrs. Madden is taking us all home. Her husband flew home last night. Mr. Madden is in the waiting room too. He will take Zach home,” explained his mother.

“Okay, I just want to get home, Mama,” said Cody.

“Very soon, babe, very soon,” Georgiana said.

“Me too,” whined Olive.

“I know, sweetie. We are going soon,” her mother told her.

“Hey, Code, I have to ask you something. When the man in the car asked you if you wanted a ride to school that day, why didn’t you tell me?” his mother asked.

“I wanted to, Mom, I really did. I felt that if I told you or others, no one would believe me. The secretary at school certainly didn’t,” said Cody.

“I am your mother. You can always trust me with anything, Cody. I love you and your sister more than my own life. You must know you can always come to me, Cody, even if you think you can get into serious trouble,” his mother replied.

“The sad thing is, deep down, I already knew that,” said Cody.

“Mom, Papa always told me to protect you and Olive. I felt that a man like Melvin Wermer should not be out there preying on kids. I thought about what if it was Olive that went missing—of how terrible that would be. When Mandy went missing, Zach and I really focused on our investigation,” explained Cody.

“Though it was a very stupid thing to do, I understand, Cody,” replied Georgiana.

An hour went by fairly quickly, and the nurse came in with the discharge papers. His mother signed them while another nurse brought in a wheelchair for the boy.

“Code, I brought you clean clothes from home to change into. As soon as your IV comes out, get some clean clothes on,” said Georgiana.

“Okay, Mama,” replied Cody.

The nurse disconnected the IV and adjusted some of the machines on the other side of Cody. The nurse helped Cody up and into the bathroom. Cody slowly put on his clothes as the soreness in his ribs made it difficult to breathe and maneuver. It took ten minutes, but he eventually was able to get all his clothes on and rinse off his face. He noticed a cut above his eye in the mirror. The boy wondered when that had happened as everything was very foggy in his memory.

Cody hobbled out of the bathroom, and his mother helped him into the wheelchair. The nurse wheeled him out of the room, and two police officers followed on the side. When they went out the double doors of the hospital wing to the waiting room, there were hundreds of people in the large waiting room, holding more balloons and flowers. The crowd of people, led by Zach and his parents, let out a large cheer as Cody turned the corner. Everyone was standing and clapping. Even nurses and doctors stopped to join in the hospital hallway.

A huge sign someone was holding read “THANK YOU, CODY! Love, the people of Sheldon Township.” The boy couldn’t believe his eyes at the amount of people that were there to see him. Zach ran to greet him.

Mr. Durkbridge was standing in front of the crowd clapping.

Cody looked up at his mom next to him.

“Mom, what is our neighbor, Mr. Durkbridge doing here? asked Cody.

“Oh, honey I told you. Mr. Durkbridge brought us to the hospital and hasn’t left since. You and your sister need to be more nicer to him. He is harmless and really is a nice man.” said Georgiana.

“Oh. I forgot you told me. We will Mom, we will.” said Cody.

The nurse stopped wheeling Cody.

He gingerly looked up at his friend next to him and grabbed his hand then threw both arms in the air. The crowd of people erupted as the two friends smiled back at everyone.

It didn’t take very long for the authorities to convict Melvin Wermer of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree murder of Sam Jennings, and first-degree sexual assault of both children and others. The evidence found all over the house was more than enough. The FBI turned the Wermer house over and found many disturbing things. The jurors found all elements of the unspeakable crimes beyond reasonable doubt.

Wermer’s defense attorney was a spectator and had no chance of saving his client. The judge sentenced Wermer to life in prison and listened to the prosecution’s push for the death penalty. The death penalty was still a possibility even though Wermer would die in prison.