The Devil's Syndicate

by Chris Draper

  “You know, I’m not sure if I've told you this before but I'm really grateful for you coming to save me. I wouldn't have made it long here if you hadn't.” She seemed to nudge closer to him on the cot and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You're my hero.”

  Hawk looked down at her with a smile, “I'm glad you think so, but I was only doing my job. Your father paid me well to come here and find you.”

  She sat up a little, drawing her body closer to his, then leaned over a little and brought her face next to his. Then she planted a light kiss on his cheek and he felt the electricity move through his body, thought about how he hadn't felt this way in a long time. Not since he had been alone with Helen, over a year ago now. Dottie drew in closer and he could hear her breathing quicken as she placed her lips firmly against his for a kiss. He made the motion with his lips but then caught himself and turned his head away abruptly before she could continue.

  “What's wrong?” She asked. “Is it me?”

  “No,” He said and gently pushed her away. “Dottie, this isn't what you want. I'm a married man.”

  “Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know.” She said with a hurt expression and Hawk felt bad for a moment, rubbed her arm in comfort.

  “You don't need to be sorry. I'm honoured really, that you would feel those things for me.”

  “Really?” She asked looking back at him.

  “Scouts honor.” He said placing a hand over his heart and they both laughed again.

  “I guess I've just felt so lonely since being here.” She said twisting a lock of her hair between her fingers. “Maybe ever since I got to Florida even. It was selfish of me to run away from what I had back in California. I used to think my dad was the boogie man, that all he wanted was for me to do homework and live under his control like a servant. But in the end, it turned out the boogie man was here all along, waiting for the day I showed up at that bar with nothing more than the clothes I had on and a credit card. But now I feel, I realize, that maybe it wasn't so bad after all when I was living with my dad. Maybe I should have felt lucky even having it the way I did. I met a lot of people while being here, some strippers and some in that counselling group, that had it very tough in life. People that had to go through things I couldn't even begin to imagine. I should be grateful for what I had back home. And the more I think about it the more I realize my dad was probably just looking out for me all along...he never wanted to control me in the first place.”

  “Do you know what you'll do when you go back?”

  “Finish college, get a real job I guess. Maybe forget all of this ever happened one day.” She said. “And you, you'll go back to your wife?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She must love you a lot to let you go away risking your life this way.” Dottie said. “I always wanted to be loved, maybe that was why I got involved with Byron in the first place. He made me feel special, you know? I hadn't had that before.”

  “You'll find other guys.” Hawk said patting her shoulder. “Better guys.”

  She laughed. “And your wife, you must love her a lot too?”

  “I do.” Said Hawk. “She's the reason I took on the case to begin with.”

  “How so?” She looked at him curiously.

  “Well,” Hawk began. “It's a lot to explain but she needs some special care...she's in the hospital at the moment. The money your father is paying me for saving you is going towards making sure she receives the best care possible. He also has a lot of connections in the medical industry and it's my hope that one of those connections can do something for her.”

  “I'm so sorry Simon.” She said and he could hear the sincerity in her voice as she gave him a light hug. "That's really wonderful you'd do this for her...I hope I find someone who loves me that much someday. May I ask what happened?”

  “Car accident.” He said laconically. “I was driving with her and my baby daughter. The accident left my wife in a coma and...”

  “-your daughter? Did she?” She asked and he could hear the last syllables rise up tensely in her voice waiting for his answer. He looked at her gravely and nodded his head. It was the only answer she needed. She immediately started to tear and Hawk shook her a little.

  “No sense in getting sad over it, what's done is done. Now all I can do is try to make things good again.”

  “It's just... you must be in so much pain.” She said between sobs. “I can't imagine losing two people in such a way.”

  “Pain is a way of life for a lot of people.” He said. “It takes getting used to like any other feeling. I've learned to live with it and try to look towards a brighter day.”

  Dottie put a hand on his and looked at him seriously. “If you ever need anything at all, I mean anything, you can give me a call. I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with healthcare but I'd be willing to learn if it helps.”

  “I appreciate that.” Hawk said smiling and he saw her tears had slowed a little. “Look, tomorrow is going to be another big day for the both of us and I don't want to spend all night talking about my past. What's say we try and get a little sleep and be ready for when the police come tomorrow. That sound good to you?”

  “Yes...we can do that.” She said wiping the last of the tears away on her jacket. “I suppose I'll need my beauty sleep if there's going to be a lot of cameras and media people around.” She said choking out a laugh.

  “Exactly.” Hawk said and tucked her in with his jacket. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Simon?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really hope things work out for you.” She said. “I mean I really do.”

  “So do I.” He said warmly. “And for you as well.”

  She turned away and a few minutes later he heard her light snores mingle with the rain outside the window. The storm had wound down and the cacophonous thunder from earlier had faded into a distant rumble off in the distance. Eventually he drifted off into a deep sleep as the last remnants of night winded down in the Everglades and a silent dawn began to creep through the darkness.

  26

  When they awoke early the next morning Hurricane Hector had died down considerably and was replaced by the largest torrential rainfall Hawk had ever seen. They'd been awakened by the sound of a police helicopter hovering overhead in the early morning and had greeted State Trooper Brandon Voight bleary-eyed and exhausted. Voight had apologized for the delay telling Hawk that the area was a wreck of downed powerlines, collapsed homes and flooded areas making travel throughout the Everglades difficult. Apparently news stations were already reporting that Hector had been the worst storm the state had ever seen and Hawk believed it too. Voight had also told Hawk that they'd had trouble finding them at first and had stopped in Imokalee where Clyde's friend Abji had given them more information on their location.

  Hawk had then told Voight everything that had happened, including how he'd been hired to find Dottie and why he'd come to the Everglades. He also explained what happened at Fiesta Lochez and how Byron had been the main instigator behind what had happened there. Having been a police officer before Hawk knew it was important to include everything he could remember, even if it took him extra time to recount small details in his weary state.

  After finishing a formal report for Voight they had went back out to the front of the compound where media people had already picked up on the police call and had started showing up in their own helicopters. The news teams attempted to climb under the yellow police tape cordoning off the area but were quickly shooed away and told they would be given a formal account of the events at a news conference to be held at a later date.

  Eventually more emergency crews made their way through the dirt path to collect bodies and forensic evidence as well as to complete a more extensive investigation. Hawk and Dottie were packed into an medical helicopter and sent to Westchester hospital in Miami to be treated for their wounds while investigators stayed behind to comb through the area for bodies and take photographs. Hawk would later hear from Voight tha
t Byron's body had been found badly mangled about half a mile from the compound, killed by crocodiles he said.

  Before leaving in the ambulance Hawk had used Voight's cellphone to contact Wagner and let him know that both he and Dottie were safe. Wagner was overjoyed at the news and had been on his way to the abandoned air strip in the Everglades to meet Byron as originally planned when he received the call. He promised to meet them both at the hospital and laughingly told Hawk he would wait there a year if it took that long to see them.

  When they arrived at Westchester Hawk was taken into the intensive care unit right away. A rifle bullet had lodged into his shoulder bone and would need to be removed as soon as possible. His arm would have to be placed in a cast for a few months afterwards but the prognosis was that it would eventually return to regular mobility. Dottie's wounds were less noticeable – besides a few bruises on her face that the doctor's said would heal up within a month she had been lucky to have been relatively unscathed. The internal wounds – the ones she kept to herself – were far more malignant and would take longer to heal if they ever did at all. She'd been having nightmares since arriving at the hospital and twice woke up the first night in screaming hysterics that someone was trying to break into her room and attack her. A nurse had come and calmed her down, telling her that there was security guards and cameras posted at all areas of the hospital and that it would be near impossible for anyone to break in. She'd calmed down after that a little and had slept like a baby the rest of the night.

  Wagner had arrived to see his daughter as well as Hawk but had been told that the earliest he would be allowed to visit would be the next day as both were still recuperating. He had then driven back to his hotel in Miami and had suffered through a restless night watching the clock count down the hours until the next day.

  He was now back at Westchester in the waiting room, thumbing through a Reader's Digest he found on a coffee table in front of him. He was restless, fidgety, wasn't sure how Dottie would feel when she saw him again. What if she was still angry with him? What if she screamed at him to go away? Small beads of sweat had formed around the nape of his neck and he withdrew a handkerchief from the pocket of his dress shirt and dabbed it a little. He hadn't seen his daughter in close to 4 months and had no idea how she might look now. He worried that he might not recognize the woman he saw laying on that hospital bed when the time came to go in and see her. The large clock on the white wall said that it was now nine in the morning and he'd been waiting here for over an hour. Finally at about a quarter after a lanky doctor with dark hair and a small goatee emerged from the double swinging doors and came over to him. Others in the waiting room looked up with expectant faces that he had come for them, saw that it was not so, then went back to watching the television in the corner of the room or playing on their cellphones.

  “Mr. Wagner? I'm Doctor Keyes.” He stuck out a hand and Wagner shook it. “You can come and see your daughter now.”

  “Hello.” Wagner said standing up uneasily. His chest felt like it was being weighed down by a thousand anvils.

  The doctor led him through a maze of white corridors with fluorescent lights and blank walls, past several rooms where orderlies tended to other patients with their own problems. He had been in hospitals many times in his career for his medical investments as well as meeting with specialists, but he realized that this was the first time he had come to visit someone on a personal basis since Dottie's mother had passed away all those years ago. It left him with a surreal feeling, like he was in a movie almost, and that mixed with his own stress about how his daughter would react when she saw him made him feel extremely anxious.

  They walked for another minute and before Wagner could worry any further they reached a door and the doctor opened it and led Wagner inside.

  “Please take your time.” He said warmly. “I'll be down the hall, please come and see me when you're finished.”

  “Thank you.” Wagner said and the doctor shut the door behind him.

  There was a bed in front of him and he saw Dottie in it sleeping, her face turned towards his. He took a step closer and looked at her in the soft morning light being cast in from a frosted window nearby. There was a small bandage covering one side of her face and he saw a few scratches that ran down her left cheek to below her jaw. When Hawk had first told him she had been working at a strip cub he had worried that his once beautiful daughter would be sucked into a life of hard drugs, booze, partying and lord knows what else. He had seen the daughters of others on talk shows that had adopted this lifestyle, and how it had aged them beyond their prime so that even their own families didn't recognize them anymore. This had been his fear for his own daughter as well. But now seeing her laying there so peacefully Wagner was struck by the change in her. She had not aged at all, in fact she looked more beautiful than he had remembered. The last time he had seen her she had still been mostly girl, but now she looked more woman, the way her cheekbones had narrowed, like those of her mother's, and also the way her lips had become more full, rounder like those of her mother's as well. And it wasn't only the way she looked. He knew that she had been dragged through an ordeal no one should ever have to endure and it gave her an aura of survival even when she was resting. He sat down on the bed next to her and she stirred, opened her eyes slowly and a large smile swept over her face when she saw him sitting there.

  “Hi Daddy.”

  “Hello sweetheart.”

  She sat up and wrapped her arms around him and Wagner felt the weights in his chest loosen and he started to cry. He had told himself he would keep his emotions in, but being here now, knowing that his daughter accepted him again had washed away all of his doubt.

  “I'm so happy you're okay.” He said and pulled back his face a little to look at her. “I'm so sorry for pushing you away. You must have hated me.”

  “No, don't say that.” She said and now she was tearing a little too. “I never hated you. I was young and stupid...I thought I needed to get away to find what I was missing when in reality I had everything I needed back home.”

  “I should have been a better father.” He said and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. “I was too controlling, too domineering. I never should have treated you the way I did.”

  “It's okay Daddy, really...” She broke in but he continued.

  “But I give you my word that things will change from now on. We can start fresh. I'll cut back hours at work, let you have friends, let you have a life. I'll be there for you, like a father should be. I give you my word.”

  She smiled and hugged him again, then laid back down on the bed cradling his hand in her lap.

  “Look we were both wrong okay? I don't want you to cry anymore about it. Everything is going to be okay from now on.”

  “How are you feeling?” Wagner asked looking at her head with concern. “It looks like you've been through so much.”

  “I'm feeling better.” She said. “I was having nightmares but I think that's just a reaction to what I've been through. And as for my head and my face the doctors say that will heal in time.”

  “Did they say when they will release you?”

  “Doctor Keyes said I should be able to go home in a few days.” Dottie said and her face became more serious. “Dad there's something else I have to tell you.”

  “Sweetheart, we can talk about everything when you get out.”

  “No, I want you to know the whole story.” She said. “I want you to know what happened before the news gets a hold of things. You know how they can spin things around. I want you to know what really happened.”

  Wagner smiled and placed his hand over hers. “Don't worry about that.” He said. “We can talk about everything when you get out of here okay? I promise I won't pay attention to any news stories and I won't even attend the conference the police are having for the media until we talk first. Deal?”

  She laughed. “Thanks Dad, that means a lot.” And then: “Have you had a chance to see Simon yet?”

&n
bsp; “No not yet.” Wagner said. “I was hoping to go and see him after I'm done here. I'm going to talk to Keyes, see if he can let me visit with him for even a few minutes. Even if it means a little bit of bribery on my part...”

  “Oh don't do that.” She said playfully slapping his hand and they both shared a laugh. “Doctor Keyes is a nice man, I'm sure he'll be willing.”

  “I hope so.” Wagner said getting up. “You should get some more rest now. I'll be waiting for you when you get out okay?”

  “Okay Dad.”

  They hugged each other once more and then Wagner left her and went down the hall to find Doctor Keyes.

  Doctor Keyes had been reluctant at first to allow Wagner to see Hawk as he was still under sedation and might not be very responsive. Wagner had assured him though that if he felt Hawk was unable to speak then he would leave him be and come back later. Hawk had undergone surgery the day before to extract the bullet casing in his arm and was now in the recovery ward on the third floor. Keyes took Wagner up the elevator and led him to another room where Hawk was resting in a bed.

  “Make it quick if you can.” He told Wagner before leaving. “I'm not supposed to allow him to have any visitors just yet.”

  “I will.” Wagner promised then stepped into the room.

  Hawk was already awake and smiled at the sight of Wagner coming into the room. Wagner stepped over to him and they shook hands. Hawk's right arm was heavily bandaged and slung up to a metal pole running overtop the bed. He looked different than how Wagner had remembered him. His face had become thinner, grown in with heavy scruff, and his bloodshot eyes told Wagner all about what had happened before he even opened his mouth. The top of his head was bandaged lightly and a few strands of greasy brown hair stuck out from underneath. He reminded Wagner of the soldiers he'd seen in a CBS documentary about war veterans, how they all looked after coming back from weeks on the front lines.

  Keyes had told him on the way up that Hawk's injuries had been more severe and the bullet wound on his shoulder would most likely leave a scar. He also had two fractured ribs that would take time to heal but Keyes was confident that they would return to normal within a year. It all made Wagner feel horribly guilty inside and standing before Hawk now made him feel even worse. How could he ever thank this man enough for bringing his daughter back to him? How could he take back the things he must have experienced? How he wished he could go back in time and change everything. He would have called the police right away, had let them handle the situation. And if news of that got to the media then so be it – his family name wasn't worth it after all. He had been a fool to try and keep the disappearance of his daughter a secret. And look how things turned out, now everyone in the country would soon know the story. Maybe even the world. It all made him feel sore inside and the joy he'd felt only a few moments earlier at seeing his daughter started to morph into a guilt as deep as a valley.