The Encampment

by Edward Kendrick

  “Yep.” Vin moved close enough to put his arm around Davie, pulling him against his chest. “Are you okay with this? I want an honest answer. If you freak once you’re in the car…”

  Davie instantly flashed back to the day his mother’s boyfriend had attacked him and shivered before telling himself this was different. That he and Vin would be in control of the situation, not the SOB they were after. “I’m fine. I have you watching my back. But…” he looked at Vin. “We don’t do it until I know you can move without hurting.”

  “We can’t wait that long. The guy could already be closing in on his next victim.”

  “Vin…” Davie glared at him.

  “Davie…” Vin retorted. “I’ll be fine. Yeah, my ribs hurt but each day they get better. By the time we’re out there I’ll be, well, almost back to normal. I should know. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me.”

  Puffing out a breath, Davie nodded. “I guess I have to take your word for it.”

  Chuckling, Vin replied, “You don’t have much choice, do you?”

  * * * *

  Sunday morning Davie and Vin packed everything they owned into backpacks—one for Davie as he hadn’t amassed much since his arrival at the Encampment other than the few pieces of clothing from the room in the laundry cabin. Vin, having been there for a year, had almost twice as much. Ran had come by soon after they finished breakfast to give each of them a nice pair of jeans and a new T-shirts because, as he pointed out, “You’ll raise a lot of eyebrows getting on the plane looking as if you’ve spent a month living on the streets.”

  “We’re flying? Okay, yeah, dumb question.” Davie rolled his eyes.

  Ran also handed them zippered vinyl pouches holding basic toiletries. To Davie, they looked like something that came from a Dollar Store and he said as much.

  “Of course they do,” Ran replied. “Somehow I don’t see either of you owning one made by Coach or Louis Vuitton.”

  “Whoever he is,” Davie whispered to Vin.

  “He makes Chi-Chi luggage and purses. Way out of our league. My father had a whole damned set of them for when he had to go somewhere.”

  “Remind me never to buy any when I get rich and famous.”

  Ran laughed before taking two short-bladed folding knives from his pocket. “For emergencies only,” he told them. “You’ve both trained with one so you know how it works. Put it where you can get to it fast.”

  “Duh,” Vin said, clipping it to the inside of his waistband.

  “I’d suggest you put it, and Davie’s, in your bigger backpack for now and check it,” Ran said. “They’re not going to let you on the plane with them.”

  “Good point,” Vin agreed, doing as Ran had said.

  “You have to leave in an hour,” Ran told them. “So say your goodbyes then meet Maddox at his cabin.”

  They did, having paved the way the previous evening by telling everyone Vin was being moved to the long-term Encampment and that Davie was going with him. The last bit of information surprised no one, and led to a few ribald jokes to boot.

  Now, as they went from cabin to cabin, some of the guys wished them good luck with their new lives. Those who knew there was more to it than what they’d said, told them to be careful and stay safe.

  Grey was especially adamant about that, hugging them both. “I don’t think I’ll see you again,” he said. “But I’m going to make damned sure Slade or Maddox lets me know you’re both okay.”

  “You keep safe, too,” Davie told him. “I know you. You’ll be back down there as soon as possible, looking for more guys who need to be here.”

  “Eh, maybe,” Grey agreed, but he was smiling so Davie took that as a definite ‘yes’.

  Their flight took off soon after one that afternoon and two hours later they disembarked and went to baggage claim to get the backpack Vin had checked.

  “Now all we have to do is hope Mr. Tanner knows what we look like and is around here somewhere, like Maddox told us he’d be,” Davie said, scanning the area.

  “My bet is that’s him,” Vin replied, nodding toward a casually dressed man in his early forties who was coming their way.

  “I hope you’re Vin and Davie,” the man said, joining them. “I’m Carl Tanner.” He smiled, adding, “You look pretty much the way Slade described you, only better dressed than I expected.”

  “Yeah, well we figured the other passengers would turn their noses up at us if we wore what we usually do,” Vin replied.

  Tanner grinned. “I’m sure. All right, let’s get out of here. If no one told you, you’ll be staying at one of my shelters, at least for tonight. I’ll give you a tour of the area on our way there. I hope you’ve come up with a plan to catch the, excuse my language, the son of a bitch.”

  Davie chuckled. “Trust me, we’ve both heard, and said, much worse than that.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m sure you have,” Tanner replied, looking inquiringly at them.

  “We have a plan. We’ll tell you after we’re out of here,” Vin said pointedly, glancing at the people wandering by.

  Tanner obviously got the message. A few minutes later they were on the highway, headed into the city. When Vin explained what he and Davie had in mind, Tanner listened carefully, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning. After Vin finished talking, Tanner said, “Let me think about it. Basically it should work but…”

  “But?” Davie said.

  “I’ll tell you when we get to the shelter. For the moment—” he gestured, “—we’re going through the area where the majority of the kidnappings, for lack of a better word, happened.”

  They were in a rundown part of the city, from what Davie saw. Liquor stores, payday loan businesses, small groceries, bars, low-end apartment buildings, and cheap hotels predominated. The people matched the surroundings, some obviously homeless, others probably out of work as they were lounging in small groups on stoops or against the walls of the various establishments. There were also dealers and kids selling themselves, huddled in the alleys with their clientele.

  “Same old same old,” Davie muttered.

  “I’m afraid so,” Tanner agreed. “It gets worse after dark.” He slowed down, pointing to a street corner. “That’s were two of the victims met our man. It’s a known pick-up spot for johns.”

  “Might be a good place to start, then,” Vin commented. “Do you know what he drives?”

  “From what the two kids who were willing to talk to me in detail said, a dark blue four-door Honda. Maybe a Civic, probably ten years old give or take. Something no one would look twice at.”

  “Makes sense given what he’s doing,” Davie said.

  By then they were at the edge of the area. Tanner pulled into a lot next to a long, low brick building and parked, saying, “We’re here.”

  As with Slade’s shelters, this one didn’t look like much from the outside. Inside, however, it was well taken care of, with clean floors, pale white walls, and a large front counter for checking in kids who needed a bed for the night. Tanner led them through the recreation and dining rooms to a section that was broken up into sleeping rooms which held, he said, six to eight beds each. The one he took them to held two bunks, and two single beds which Vin and Davie chose.

  “I have to make a call,” Tanner said. “Why don’t you get settled in and change clothes. Right now you don’t look like you belong here. I’ll be back for you in ten or so.”

  They did as he’d asked and true to his word Tanner returned several minutes later to take them to his office.

  A man was there, standing by the window. Tanner introduced him as his brother, Warren, who was a police officer. Tanner took a seat behind his desk, Vin and Davie in the chairs in front of it, at which point Tanner said, “Your basic plan is good, but you need back-up and a witness.” When Vin started to protest, Tanner said, “I know you think you can handle it alone, but my guess is, once you catch him in the act, this guy’s going to claim the two of you set him up to rob him. He�
�d have a good case, too, in my estimation.”

  “That’s where I come in,” Warren said. “I can’t arrest him until he does something overt, but by the time I get to the car he’ll have taken off with Davie. What you plan on doing, Vin, will give me the diversion I need.”

  Davie looked at Vin. “What do you think?”

  “Tanner’s right. The guy could claim we were trying to rob him. Even if we say otherwise, who’s going to believe two street kids? So, yeah, I’m good with this if you are.”

  * * * *

  It took almost a week before they got lucky, as Davie put it after the fact. He and Vin spent their days at the shelter, leaving as soon as it got dark with Warren tailing them from a discrete distance. As soon as they settled on a spot—sometimes where other kids were also trolling for johns, sometimes alone—Davie would do his thing while Vin hung back, waiting. As far as they could tell, if Warren was around, and they knew he had to be, he was well hidden.

  “I could have made a fortune if I was into giving blowjobs to dirty old men,” Davie said after their second night on the streets.

  “Good thing you’re not,” Vin replied, pulling him into a tight embrace. “The only guy you do that with is me.”

  “I know. If we had a room to ourselves, like at Slade’s place…”

  “Tell me about it. But hey, by the time we do get some privacy I’ll be back in fighting shape and we can…” Vin waggled his eyebrows, getting a frustrated laugh from Davie.

  It was late Friday night. Davie and Vin had tried several of the spots they’d been at during the last few days. While Davie had plenty of offers, none of them were from the man they were after, so he’d priced his services so high he was quickly turned down by the men who propositioned him.

  Then, as Davie was about to suggest they move on to somewhere else, a car pulled up which matched the description of the one they were looking for. It wasn’t the first one that had, but this time it was the right one.

  The window rolled down and Davie went over, beating out another kid who had the same idea.

  “How much?” the driver asked when Davie knelt beside the open window, his arms on the sill.

  It’s him. It has to be. The man had a bushy mustache and hair down to his shoulders. Davie gave him a price and the man reached over, opening the door.

  After that, everything went as planned, although Davie missed most of the action. He remembered getting into the car and closing the door. The man’s pants were partially unzipped, so Davie leaned over to finish the job, as he knew he was expected to. Something hard hit his head and he blacked out. When he came to, he was in an ambulance, being examined by an EMT. Vin was at the door, watching with a very worried expression.

  “He should be fine,” the EMT said. “We are, however, going to take him to the hospital to make certain he doesn’t have a concussion.”

  “Did you get him?” Davie asked, trying to sit up. As he did, his head felt as if it would explode, so he collapsed back on the stretcher.

  “We did,” Warren said, coming up beside Vin. “He’s under arrest and being transported to the hospital. Vin, here, got him in a chokehold…”

  “I’d have done more than that if I’d had the chance,” Vin said angrily.

  “I’m sure you would have. Needless to say, the bastard passed out, and has bruises on his throat to show for it. When he came to, while the EMTs were checking him out, he tried to claim the two of you were going to rob him which is why he knocked you out, Davie. He shut up when I told him I’d witnessed the whole thing, and then he asked for a lawyer.”

  “What the hell did he hit me with?” Davie asked.

  “Brass knuckles, which are illegal to carry in this state,” Warren replied.

  “Like he cared,” Davie muttered.

  “True, but it adds one more charge to those he’s already facing.”

  “Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, we need to leave,” the EMT said before closing the ambulance door. The last thing Davie heard as he did was Vin asking Warren, “What about the other guys involved in this?”

  When he got to the hospital, one of the doctors determined he had a mild concussion. Much to Davie’s disgust, he wanted to keep him there to be monitored. Thankfully, Tanner arrived, moments after Warren dropped Vin off at the emergency room. He listened to what the doctor had to say, then told him that he was quite capable of keeping an eye on Davie at the shelter, “With his boyfriend’s help.”

  The doctor accepted that and minutes later the three of them were in Tanner’s car, heading to the shelter. As soon as they got there, Tanner ordered Davie to bed, which he was more than willing to do. Two of the bunk beds were occupied but the kids were asleep and so unaware when Vin helped Davie undress and get under the covers.

  “What did Warren say about the other men?” Davie whispered.

  “Not much, other than that he planned to get a warrant to search…his name is Eldon Howe. Anyway, he’s going to get the warrant to search his place and hope the names turn up somewhere, like on his computer. If not, he says maybe Howe’s lawyer will try for a plea bargain in exchange for him naming names.”

  “That…works,” Davie replied sleepily. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Vin replied.

  “Your…ribs?”

  Vin shrugged. “Stressed them a bit, but nothing horrible.” He ran his hand over Davie’s hair. “Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning. Okay, later this morning.”

  “What time is…?” Davie fell asleep before he could finish his question.

  * * * *

  Davie woke to the sound of voices. It took him a minute to figure out it was Vin and, he presumed, the two guys who had been sleeping when they arrived back at the shelter.

  “You want to know the good spots?” one of the guys said. “Try close to downtown. It’s a walk, but worth it.”

  “Or go east of here about ten blocks. There’s an artsy area where people don’t seem to mind us if we don’t get pushy,” the other kid said.

  “That sounds better to me,” Vin replied. “As soon as my friend wakes up and I’m sure he’s okay, we might try it.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “A punk decided he wanted to play tough guy. He didn’t know I was around. He took a swing at him with a baseball bat. My friend didn’t duck fast enough and got a blow to the head.” Vin chuckled low. “I got the bat away from the punk and after a couple of hits he saw the error of his ways, as they say, and beat it.”

  “High five,” the first guy said and Davie heard the slap of hands. Then the guy said, “We’d better get out of here. It’s almost lunch time which—well I guess you know it’s good pickings out there if you get lucky.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Vin replied.

  A moment later Davie heard the door close.

  “I know you’re awake,” Vin said. “I could tell by your breathing.” The edge of the bed sank down as he sat. “How are you feeling?”

  Opening his eyes, he saw Vin looking at him with a worried frown, so he said, “My head hurts, but I’m good.”

  “I’m not surprised. Here.” Vin took a couple of packets from his pocket. “Ibuprofen, thanks to Tanner.”

  “If I’m going to take them, I need water, which means I need my clothes. I’m not going to the bathroom in my briefs.”

  “You bet you aren’t.” Vin got Davie’s backpack from under the bed, handing it to him.

  Digging out jeans and a T-shirt, Davie got dressed. By the time he finished he was feeling better, but he still went to take the pills, using the john and washing up while he was there. “What time is it?” he asked when he got back.

  “Time to have a talk with Tanner.”

  “That answered my question…not.”

  Vin chortled. “A little before noon like the kid I was talking to said.”

  When they got to the office, they rapped on the door. Tanner called out for them to come in, which they did. To Davie’s surprise, and obviously Vin’s
as well, Slade was there.

  “You did a good job,” Slade said before suggesting they sit. Once they had, across the desk from Tanner, Slade continued. “I’ve already talked to the assistant district attorney who’ll be prosecuting Mr. Howe. According to him, Howe’s lawyered-up, which isn’t surprising. He’ll sit in jail until his arraignment on Monday. The prosecutor will ask that he be denied bail.”

  “Do we need to be there?” Davie asked.

  “No. As of now, both of you are out of the picture unless the prosecutor needs you to testify at Howe’s preliminary hearing. If he does, you’ll do it anonymously via video. However, he thinks they’ll have enough evidence, especially with the testimony of the two young men who told Tanner about Howe, so it probably won’t be necessary.”

  Davie frowned. “I thought they refused to talk to the cops.”

  Tanner nodded. “They did, but I’ve managed to convince them otherwise, now that Howe’s in jail.”

  “You work fast,” Vin said.

  “When it comes to protecting guys like you that need it, we do,” Slade replied.

  “So what happens now?” Davie asked.

  “You’re coming with me,” Slade told him. “Before you ask, I have permission from the prosecuting attorney to take you out of the city.”

  “Back to the Encampment?”

  “No. You’re going into something comparable to the government’s witness protection program, only one run by me and my people. You’ll be given new IDs, a place to live, jobs…”

  “Instead of to the long-term Encampment, like you told the guys was happening to me,” Vin said.

  “Yes. What makes it different from the government’s program is, you’ll be on tap when I need you.”

  Davie sighed, although he wasn’t all that unhappy with the idea. “We get to play undercover agents to catch more people like Howe and the slavers.”

  “Not play,” Slade replied sternly. “This isn’t a game.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. We will be going after other people like them, though.”

  “Yes. Not every week, or even every month. The two of you are good enough I won’t be sending you after the kind of scum that drags kids into the drug trade or prostitution. You’ll be looking for the ones whose names we don’t know. Who keep such a low profile we only know they exist from rumors or actions we can’t connect to them personally.”