"So when do we get the answers we need?" groused Tucker.
"Be prepared for never. That way, whatever we do get is gravy," said Edge. "Any objections?"
The office remained silent.
“Great. Now where’s the nearest snack machine?” Edge said as he slapped his hands.
۞۞۞۞
They stood in the observation room watching Arslan on the monitors. Edge wanted a look at the boy's environment and his overall demeanor before he entered to talk to him. Arslan had been placed in a fairly large office with big windows that gave a spacious and airy feel. The daylight gave a bright, warm glow but the windows also had room-darkening blinds that allowed him to sleep. Reid commented that the fairly senior agent who had been displaced was not too pleased about it, especially because he wasn't told why. He was simply told that the room was needed for some kind of safe-house, and the identity of the occupant was need-to-know only: everything remained confidential.
A cot had been set up along the wall with a TV, next to which was a small office table with a box of clothes for him on the bottom. Another table and chairs sat in the middle of the room with some cards and games on it. A settee and some upholstered office chairs were randomly arranged around the room. It wasn't bad, but it was still a few steps short of cozy.
Arslan sat at the table only to eat; otherwise, he sat cross-legged on his bed.
"We tried to make the room as comfortable as possible," said Dana, "but a government office with government furniture still looks like a government office with government furniture."
"Did you try a local day care center for some decorations?" asked Edge.
"All they had were wall decals of ponies and rainbows, so we said no," she said.
Reid suddenly perked up and said, "Hey, I remember at the cabin we found pennants with some emblem on them in what we figured was the kid's bedroom. Do you think he'd like them? We've got just about everything from the place down in storage."
"I'll ask," said Edge, thinking he might now have another path to winning the boy's confidence.
One of the psychiatrists commented that Arslan had yet to sleep until he was rested: the nightmares kept returning whenever he got to REM-stage sleep and dreaming began. Edge reflected that he had his share of things he'd rather not remember, a few which occasionally came back to haunt his dreams. Still, he was older and had a toughness of mind that comes with experience and with his friends' support he was able to keep those memories from consuming him. Arslan, however, was barely a teenager and, at that moment, at least, had no support network at all. Edge was not sure how, or even if, Arslan could successfully overcome what had happened to him. The psychiatrist explained that Arslan refused any medication to help him sleep. Yeah, I remember, thought Edge. They do make you sleep, but they don't keep the dreams away.
"Doesn't look like he ate much of his lunch," Reid observed.
"Figured the standard cafeteria mystery meal wouldn't be much of a winner," said Edge. "That's why I'm going with Plan S, as in sugar. So, Dana, you're going in first to make it OK for me to come in, right?"
"Yeah, I think that will work best," she replied. "Don't be surprised if he keeps you at arm's length for a while. Do you want the earpiece so the psychs can talk to you?"
"No," said Edge. "Not a big fan of coaches calling in plays from the sidelines. I'm going with my gut. Actually," he said, flipping the candy bar in his hand, "I'm going to try going with his gut."
Reid accompanied Edge and Dana to Arslan's room door. It was guarded by an armed sentry, with two more at either end of the hallway. Reid held up his badge and the guard at the door nodded. "He cries out in his sleep a lot. I can hear it all the way out here," he said.
“Thanks, Sam,” Reid said turning to Dana and Edge. “Alright, good luck.”
Dana knocked on the door and after a brief pause, when a voice said, "Come in." Opening the door, she went inside.
Arslan paid little attention to them as they entered, his eyes focused on the TV. “Hey, Arslan. How are you?” Dana asked.
“Hi Dana,” he responded, a slight smile emerging across his face.
“I heard you just woke up. How did you sleep?”
“About the same as last time. I get some sleep, but then the dreams come back,” he said as he went back to staring at the television. Dana frowned as she examined his face. He looked aristocratic, but the fatigue had certainly been taking its toll, and the loneliness and sadness inside was cracking through.
“What’cha watching? Anything good?” she asked, trying again to engage him in conversation.
“I never remember the name. It’s on a lot, and I enjoy it.”
“Is it funny?”
“Yeah, but I don’t understand a lot of their jokes., They have funny stories with them doing crazy things to each other,” he responded with another small smile. Dana walked around to take a peek. She recognized the show: it involved a zoo and some arctic animals from a movie she had watched.
“Well, I came by to check on you, and see how you were feeling. I’m happy to hear that you slept longer this time. That’s good to know.” Arslan simply nodded in agreement and then let out a laugh at the cartoon. “I also brought a friend of mine to come and meet you. He’s a nice guy and wanted to see how you were. Mind if I bring him in?”
“OK,” he said, without enthusiasm.
Dana smiled and went to the door to bring in the new member of the clubhouse. “Arslan this is my friend. He goes by the nickname of Edge.”
“Hey, Arslan. It’s nice to meet you.”
"Hello," said Arslan, reservedly.
“So I heard the food they were getting you wasn’t too good, so I snuck you in a snack.” Edge pulled out the candy bar and soda and offered them to Arslan. In his experience he knew sugar was a nearly universal language with kids and given that Arslan had been on a diet of sandwiches and juice, a candy bar would be a sure home run. Arslan looked at the new man. He was dressed casual, much more so than Dana and he recognized the build of a military man when he saw it. At first, he was hesitant to take the gift, but he looked to Dana, who nodded, and he accepted them. “Thank you. Nice to meet you. Are you a soldier? ”
Boy’s direct, Edge chuckled inside as he pulled up a chair near the bed. He sat a little bit further back than Dana. “Yes, I am.”
“So why did you come to see me?”
“Well, Dana told me that she’d been talking to you and figured you might like someone new to talk to.”
Arslan took a small bite of the candy bar and a sip of the soda. Even though he was a small boy sitting cross-legged on a cot, he seemed like a wine connoisseur savoring a fine vintage. The manners of royalty, thought Edge.
"This is very good. Thank you again. But still, why would Dana bring a soldier to talk to me?" Arslan asked.
"I'm a friend of Dana who happens to be a soldier," Edge said. "I've worked a lot with kids your age and, like she said, she thought you might like someone else to talk to."
Arslan thought this over for a moment and gave a slight nod.
“I heard about what happened. It was probably really scary,” Edge went on. “Well, I’ve got to give you credit for staying alive and not getting caught. I don’t know if I would’ve handled the situation so well.”
“My father’s man, Zeki, took me on walks around the house and forest and showed me places to watch out for,” Arslan responded. “When I saw them kill my father, I ran as fast as I could to hide in the woods.”
“Wow! That’s smart thinking. Did you have to sneak out of the house?”
Arslan shook his head. “I wasn’t in the house. I was outside, watching the meeting on the camera my dad gave me that morning. When it happened, I ran and hid. Does…Does that make me a coward?”
Edge looked at the boy. That comment alone told him a lot. Part of his stress came from the idea that he thought he had let his father down. From what Edge read about Gamze, he could tell that this boy was probably exposed to some serio
us life lessons early on. He’d also interacted with kids who grew up in war-torn cities, and they took things better than most adults.
Well, let’s see how he responds to this. “You’re not a coward. You did the right thing. If you had tried to help him, they probably would’ve killed you too.” Edge watched the boy’s reaction. Arslan wiped away a tear from his eye and shook his head. It didn’t fix everything, but I’m sure that’s one less thing he’ll struggle with for a while. “How did you escape?”
“When they found me, I ran further into the woods, to those places Zeki showed me. I’d hope to lure them to a hungry alligator or the quicksand.” The boy stated. “I found the quicksand first,” Arslan continued, showing no remorse for the man’s death.
Edge encouraged Arslan to continue talking. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but the more he spoke, the more he seemed to let down his guard. Edge was not a psychologist by any means but over the years, he had learned the right questions to ask. Eventually, he came to a big one. “Did you recognize any of the men who visited your father?”
Arslan shook his head. “I’d never seen them before. That’s why I recorded the meeting.” Edge and Dana had to hold back their excitement. That means he’s got the killers on tape. We can identify them. Sweet, a break. This is one smart kid.
“Fast thinking again. You know Arslan; you handled this situation like a man. You would’ve made your father proud, boy.”
“Really?” He asked with a small amount of pride showing.
“As a soldier, I’ve been in some very dangerous situations. I’ve seen grown men crack in them. You didn’t. Trust me; he’s proud.” For a moment, Arslan lets a big smile dawn on his face as a few tears roll down from his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. Embarrassed he turned back to the TV. I’m sure that is probably the first good feeling he has had in a while. Let’s try to keep that feeling going; Edge thought to himself as he tried to figure out how to keep Arslan talking without turning this into an interrogation. “Hey, Arslan are you hungry? I’m starving, right now and could definitely use some lunch.” Arslan’s eyes went to the table with the lame sandwiches. Edge noticed it. “Oh, I’m not talking that excuse for food. I’m talking the good stuff. Burger Castle.” Arslan’s face perked up a bit more, but still uncertain if he should say yes. “Dana would you like something from there? I know I do, it’s good.”
“I won’t lie I’ve been watching the commercials on the TV while we’ve been talking, and I’m getting kinda hungry myself. I’d love some.” She replied enthusiastically.
Either she is hungry, or she is playing along really well. Love team players. “Well, what would you like Arslan?” The boy’s reaction immediately showed that he was on board.
“Ok, but I don’t know what to get.”
“Well, they have hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets. Any of that sound good?” Dana said.
Arslan thought to himself. “I’ll try the cheeseburger…Please.”
“Great minds think alike, I’m getting the same thing. Dana?” Edge asked.
“Chicken sandwich.”
Edge looked to Arslan and back to Dana. “Really? Chicken? We’re getting burgers, and you wanna get chicken?” He said in a playful voice, as he mocked her choice. She just furled her eyebrows to acknowledge the joke.
“Fine, I’ll have a double cheeseburger. But you’re paying this time.” She came back.
Edge once again turned to Arslan. “Should I pay?” Arslan just shrugged as he looked at Dana, who was exaggerating a nod up and down. “I’ve got a better idea. My buddy Tucker is in here; I’ll get him to pay for the lunches. Give me one second.” Edge got up and walked out of the room. Outside he saw Tucker coming out of the observation room.
“Hey, Reid went to evidence to find the camera. Good work there,” Tucker congratulated. “Oh and I’m getting what now?” Tucker asked.
“Lunch.” Edge replied matter-of-factly.
“Why can’t you get lunch?”
“Because Dana and I need to keep him talking, there may be more that he knows but isn’t telling us, yet. There's a Burger Castle five minutes down the road - we passed it on the way in; you can be there and back in twenty minutes.”
“So we have time to put things on hold while you indulge your cravings for unhealthy eating?” Tucker asked as he crossed his arms. His impatience was coming through again. I know what Edge is doing, but seriously, we need to get these guys. We can’t be wasting time eating, dammit.
“Trying to bond with our only resource. Mealtime has big symbolism for that,” Edge replied, getting a tired of Tucker's nudging.
“Why do you think he’ll eat that when he hasn’t eaten the other food, they got him?” “C'mon, Tucker, if you're really hungry, this institutional food is only slightly more appealing than a root canal. Two, their TV commercials create this association between their food, good times, and friends; at his age, he's going to respond to that. Three, it looks like a great reward, it builds trust…”
“Ok, point made. Write down what I need to get.”
“Not yet, I don’t want it to seem like you and I were out there waiting. He’s paranoid still and will think something’s up. So wait about five minutes and then come in, make it seemed like you had to walk to get here. Take the orders and then go. You will need to talk to him. Eventually, this is a good way to introduce you.”
“You said I was intimidating,” Tucker replied.
“You are.” Tucker glared as Edge went on breezily, “but in small doses, you might be easier to take. I know it works for me.” Tucker glared. “You know what, before you come in, be sure take off your tie and suit jacket and roll up your sleeves. Look more casual.”
Edge had broken Tucker's glare, so Tucker switched to a flat expression. “More casual. You want me to change into jeans too?”
“If you have some hidden in your shoe. Otherwise, we have no time, and we’ll work with what we have.”
“But there’s time for fast food,” Tucker said, grumpily.
“Remember, five minutes.”
Tucker didn't do well with situations that just had to simmer; he preferred action, forcing things to happen and Edge's seemingly unfocused approach was driving him up the wall. He stood there looking at the door, thinking it would be so much easier just to go in and ask the questions that needed to be asked. He began to pace back and forth, struggling with the balance between the well-being of a kid against finding a group killers.
His cell phone rang. It was Reid calling from the evidence locker. “Did you find it?” he asked, hoping.
“That’d be a negative. I didn't find one and I don't remember anyone else saying anything about one. There's no entry in the log, but I'll get someone to go through the cartons and double-check.”
“Aaah, hell,” Tucker said as he pulled off his tie and started to remove his sports coat.
“What now?” Reid asked.
“We’re getting lunch from Burger Castle,” Tucker responded rolling up his sleeves.
“Why? Are we going to threaten the kid with high cholesterol?” Reid asked puzzled.
“'Cause Edge said so. Meet me in the front lobby in five,” Tucker answered as he hung up the phone and jotted some information on a piece of paper from his mini notepad that he kept on him and knocked on the door. I hope this gets us somewhere.
Edge opened the door. “Tucker my good man. You made it. Join us.” Tucker rolled his eyes at the greeting as Edge gave a quick wink. As Tucker entered the room, he saw Arslan for the first time in person. In real life, the boy looked far more vulnerable than he did on camera. Tucker recognized the way the weight of loss hung on his shoulders. “Arslan, this is a buddy of mine from work. Dante Tucker.”
Arslan eye’s opened up wide at the initial sight of Tucker’s presence. He had seen men of his size before, but he was not expecting it now. The tall man stood by the door and waved. Arslan slowly waved hello back. “Hey, Arslan. Nice to meet you.”
“
Nice to meet you,” he responded hesitantly.
“So Edge, I got your page, it said you need me to get lunch?” Tucker asked, playing along.
“Yeah, man. We were craving some Burger Castle. Here’s the list.”
Tucker scanned the list. “Is there anything else you would like?” Tucker asked as he raised one eyebrow at Tucker.
“No man. I think we’re good. You don’t mind right?”
Tucker forced a smile. “No, not at all man. You’ll get me next time right?” Tucker extended his hand with the paper in it.
“Sure.” Edge answered as he shook his hand and took the note.
“Alright, be back in about a half hour,” Tucker said as he steps back out of the room.
Edge started to walk back to his chair when he got an idea. “You know what else we need?” Dana and Arslan both looked at him wondering. “Ice cream!” Edge then ran back to the door and yelled down the hallway. “Hey, Tucker! Could you pick us up some ice cream too? Yeah, you can get yourself some too. Thanks, man, you’re the best.” Edge smiled as he came back in the room. Tucker’s reaction had been priceless. It was the look of someone whose neat, ordered world had just been replaced by jabberwockian randomness. He’ll forgive me when we get some more information out of the kid. I think. If not, oh well... Plus Tucker was too far away to see Edge use the opportunity to read the note that read: “Camcorder not in evidence! Need to find it!”
Rise of the Phoenix Page 14
