by Jon Mills
A boy referred to as Gary went on to explain that at times they never left the room, they were required to perform acts on each other in the room. Billy backed up against the wall. He’d already suffered enough at the hands of the Mexican but this was choking the life out of him.
Gary approached him and led him over to a bed. “I’m sorry, but we have to do it.”
“What?”
All the boys began to form an arc around him. He could see the look of reluctance in their eyes and he knew what was coming next wasn’t going to be pleasant but they were following orders. Orders that if ignored would mean suffering painful consequences.
Billy stepped back and felt the edge of the bed against the back of his legs.
Gary and the others began to undo their belts.
Isabel couldn’t begin to fathom the conversation she’d just had with the chief of police, neither could she comprehend that he was more concerned with how the FBI came to know about the recent missing boy than he was about where the child was.
She had told him that she couldn’t name her source but that it was troubling to think that two months had passed and yet they still hadn’t reached out to the FBI for their assistance.
She made a few more calls after getting off the phone to see if the FBI had received any requests for assistance from the local Albany police or the parents. It seemed absurd to think that no one from the bureau had got involved.
Sure enough, there had been multiple phone calls made by the Carson family and while the FBI had spoken with the chief, nothing had come of it. She recalled his words.
“We don’t have any evidence to prove that the boy is in danger. He went missing. And there is a history of running away.”
Right now she was going on his words while reflecting upon what Jack had said. After all the shit she had been through as a cop in San Francisco and getting the runaround with the bureau, it wouldn’t have been a far stretch of the imagination to think that they were treating this as nothing more than two unrelated incidents.
Isabel printed out the details of the two missing boys and headed off to Thorpe’s office. When she showed up, he had his head down and was on a phone call. He raised a finger to let her know that he was going to be a minute or two. She took a seat across from him and while he was talking away she looked at the mess on his desk. Among it all was a photo of his children. He’d been married before but it had fallen apart. There weren’t many marriages that survived the long hours that agents had to put in. They practically lived and breathed cases and then of course there was the emotional impact of what they saw. It was hard to switch off at the end of the day when images of serial killer victims, and all manner of atrocities done by one human to another replayed in the mind. It was easier to remain single and hook up with someone once in a while. It was one of the reasons why agents got involved with each other. There was no doubt in their mind as to what they wanted. They understood the pressure and in many ways they saw each other more than their spouses.
Simon Thorpe laughed a little and then said he would be in touch before putting the phone down.
“What a guy.” He breathed in to reset his mind. “Okay, Baker, how can I help?”
She dropped the papers in front of him. “I want in on this case.”
He picked it up and frowned as he looked over the papers.
“Oregon? We’re in Florida. Let the branch on the West Coast handle this.”
“Well, that’s the thing, I would if they were actually handling it. They’re not.”
He shifted the paperwork aside and began scribbling away on a piece of paper in front of him. “I’m sure they have their reasons.”
“I’ve already looked into it. Two abductions in a span of two months. Both kids from the same paper and now it looks as though they have three adults dead in the town of Albany. If ever there was a time for the FBI to get involved, I think it’s now.”
He looked up at her and tapped his pen against the table.
“I’ll get in touch with the field office in Portland, okay.”
“Sure, but I want in on this one.”
He scribbled away. She glanced over trying to see what was so damn important that he couldn’t even look her in the eye. “I need you here, Baker.”
“Sir, I’ve been biting at the bit to get back out in the field. With the Winchester case behind us, I think this would be a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet again.”
“That’s not for me to decide. Portland handles this.”
“I’ve already been in contact. They say it’s up to you.”
He looked up and frowned then pointed the end of his pen at her.
“You’re overstepping your boundaries. You know that.”
“These are kids, sir.”
“And unfortunately we deal with these cases on a daily basis. If you are looking to get involved in working some abduction case, look around you, Baker. There’s plenty here to choose from. At least here you’ll get some sunshine.”
He went back to signing off on some paperwork and then filing it away in a cabinet behind him.
“You still here, Baker?” he said without looking behind him.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
She got up from her chair and went over to the door, then glanced back at the photo on his desk.
“How old are your kids?”
“What?” he said turning around.
She gestured with her head to the frame.
“Oh, sixteen and twelve.”
“Billy Carson is twelve. Can you imagine your daughter being taken?”
Thorpe sank down into his seat and leaned back, rocking ever so slightly. His eyes darted to the photo and then back to Isabel. A look of amusement spread across his face.
“What am I going to do with you, Baker? You know I’m already taking heat for that big fuckup with Winchester.”
“And you got what you needed.”
“Not exactly.”
She approached his desk again and placed her fingers down.
“What else did you want with Winchester? And don’t bullshit me.”
“Do I need to remind you of your position?”
He stared back at her.
“Sorry. Don’t bullshit me, sir!” she said placing emphasis on the word sir.
He chuckled. “Look, you want in. Sure. Go ahead. As long as the Portland branch will take you, I’ll handle the finer details on this end. But remember, Baker, shit like this can screw with your head. I know. In my first year as an agent I was assigned to a case of a pedophile ring. I don’t ever want to see that again. That shit still replays in my mind. And you know who was behind it? A child care center.” He tossed his pen down and reached for his photo of his kids. “When you have kids it changes you. You would do anything to protect them.”
His eyes met hers again.
“I understand,” she said.
“Do you, Baker? Because I can assure you, there were some hard-nose agents handling that case that thought they could. Even they broke down in tears.”
He placed the photo frame back down on his desk and motioned for her to leave. She didn’t say any more, she didn’t think there was anything left to say.
“Oh Baker,” he called out. “One last thing.”
“Yeah?”
“One condition.”
“What?”
“Cooper goes with you.”
“What? No, he’s not fit for the field.”
“That’s the only way you are going. Take it or leave it.”
“Sir. I…”
“This is not a debate, agent.”
“Why?”
“You’re dismissed.”
She scoffed. Dismissed? He’d never said that to her before and why Cooper? She didn’t need a babysitter. She stood there for a second and then he picked up the phone and made a call, making it quite clear that he wasn’t going to discuss it any further. As she left his office, the cogs in her mind w
ere turning over. As much as she wanted to work on the case, her reasons for going weren’t just professional. She had questions for Winchester and there was no chance that was going to happen if Cooper was lurking over her like a dark shadow.
She was meant to be meeting with him later that evening. Perhaps she could persuade him to give her some distance while they were working. The last few times they had traveled together it had been less than comfortable. They were practically living out of the same suitcase. But that wasn’t the worst of it. If Winchester was in the thick of this and Cooper caught even the faintest scent of him, he’d call it in and the case would change course and Winchester would once again become the hunted.
She wasn’t going to let that happen. She sighed as she went and collected her belongings from her desk and booked a late-night flight out to Oregon.
“You going out with us tonight, Isabel?” one of the other agents asked as she passed their desk.
“No, she’s having a beer with Cooper.”
How the hell had they heard about that? Cooper! She balled her fist.
As Isabel entered the elevator and the door hissed closed, she knew she would need some time to think about how to deal with him, in the meantime…
Her phone rang, she rifled around inside her purse and answered it.
It was Winchester.
Chapter Eleven
Four hours later Jack had pulled into an old truckers’ diner just off Highway 20 and dropped in to get a cup of coffee and make two phone calls. It was a little after eight at night. A sickly yellow neon sign with the words Jax Harlow’s Diner flickered outside. The glow of light inside was the only thing inviting about the place. It was run-down, and in serious need of a lick of paint.
After ordering a coffee, he was surprised to see an old phone on the wall.
“That thing still work?”
The gal behind the counter gave a nod as she filled a white cup with the dregs of what had probably been sitting on the counter for hours. He wasn’t picky, unlike some. He just needed some caffeine in his system to keep him awake. She slid the cup and saucer in front of him. He tossed a dollar down on the counter and went over to place a call.
Jack took a couple of napkins with him to wipe the receiver. He would have used his phone but he’d tossed it not long after leaving Albany. He followed a simple rule of buying disposable prepaid phones. After seeing the gunk on this receiver, he made a mental note to pick up another one.
“Mrs. Carson, you’ll be hearing some news either late tonight or first thing in the morning about Stephen Radcliff. I want you to know what happened in the event that someone spins the details in a different direction.”
“Is this about Billy? Was it him? He’s alive?”
Jack tried to calm her down and then began to fill her in on the details of what he discovered at Stephen’s place. By now the cops would have sealed off the property and retrieved any and all computers from the place. Hopefully they would be able to collect vital information about his connection. It was hard to know to what extent his involvement was in the abduction of Billy and Danny but he was pretty certain that he had played an important role.
“I need to speak to Zach if possible.”
“Why?”
“Mrs. Carson.”
“Okay. Okay.” She placed a hand over the receiver and called out to him. A minute or two passed before he got on the phone.
“Hello?”
“Zach, this is Logan. I need to ask you a personal question. Believe me, this is between you and me. I won’t tell your mother. I just need to be clear about something.”
“Sure.”
“Did Stephen Radcliff ever take photos of you or the other boys?”
Zach went quiet on the other end of the line.
“Yes.”
“How did he convince you to do that?”
There was hesitation in his voice, perhaps even embarrassment. “Hold, I will take this in my room.”
He heard him dash up the stairs and close the door behind him. He obviously didn’t want to upset his mother or let on that perhaps he had been privy to information that might have prevented what occurred the day Billy was taken.
“He said he would give me fifty dollars to take a couple of photos. I know it sounds odd but, fifty dollars is a lot and well, I figured, what’s the harm?”
“When did he do that?”
“A couple of months ago. He never touched us.”
“Us?”
“You know, me and some of the other boys. He only asked those whose parents didn’t come along with them.”
“How did he do it?”
He sighed. “Just in the back of the van. He had us take off our jackets.”
“Bottoms?”
“No. We just removed our jackets. I mean, he said it was going to be for a piece in the paper. Like, we never took off our clothes.”
He said the last part in a way as if he was trying to convince Jack.
“And you didn’t find it a little strange that he was doing this inside his van?”
“He said the lighting was better in there as he had these lamps and such. I mean it was real quick. It’s not like he made it seem freaky or such. It took less than a few minutes.”
“Then why the fifty dollars?”
“It was to keep quiet about it until it was published. He said it was going to be a surprise.”
“And you never asked him when it was going to be published?”
“I did. He said a few weeks later, but when it never showed up I asked and he said that they were going to go in a different direction with the piece. It never happened. I never gave it another thought. Like I said, he never touched us, and other than that one time he would just give us our papers in the morning. I didn’t tell my mother because she would have probably confiscated the money and handed it back. Then after Billy, well, like I said, we had our clothes on when he took the photos.”
Jack nodded, and glanced around the diner. There were only three other people in there besides him. An old trucker guy wearing a baseball cap who was gobbling down some greasy ass food, and a young woman with a teen. Jack figured he’d taken photos of the boys and provided them to the network. From there someone must have decided who they wanted. In light of what he knew about Stephen, he had to ask him.
“Why didn’t you go that morning?”
He went quiet again. “I was tired but things had been getting a little strange.”
“Stephen?”
“Yeah.”
“No need to explain.”
“What I mean is that he had got into a habit of hugging us. It was odd. To be honest I was thinking of quitting but I didn’t have the nerve to tell him. Our mother didn’t have a lot of money, so it was my only way of earning some money. I just thought he was being friendly.”
“Okay, Zach. Thanks for telling me.”
“You aren’t going to tell my mother, are you?”
“No.”
There was no need. She would learn very soon about what kind of man Stephen was. She would have her own questions. It was up to Zach whether to tell her the truth or not.
“Can you put your mother back on the line?”
A few minutes later she came back on the line. She was curious to know why he needed to talk to Zach. He just explained he wanted a few more details about the other boys.
“You don’t think they are in danger, do you?”
“Mrs. Carson. About Stephen Radcliff. I never saw any sign that your boy had been at his house but that’s not to say that whoever he was in touch with hasn’t got him.”
She began to cry and consider the worst. As much as he didn’t want to tell her about what he had seen, it was probably best coming from him. The way the police worked they would have been very selective about what they shared and it could have been a month before any details emerged about the photos and videos on his computer. Then again, they might have chosen not to share anything related to that in order to save face. The
police would already have to answer to the media about the recent string of suicides. What mattered most to Jack was making sure she knew that Stephen had killed himself.
After he got off the phone with her, he went back to the counter and sat on a stool. The diner was like something out of the 1950s with shiny décor. The seats in the booths were made from thick red leather that looked weathered by time.
He pulled up his small duffel bag and pulled out his laptop.
“You got Wi-Fi here?”
“Yeah but it will cost you five bucks for an hour.”
He stifled a laugh. “Are you kidding?”
“Hey, by all means get back on the road and find a Starbucks. Around here, we need to pay the bills.”
Jack tossed her a fiver and she gave him a password to access it. As soon as he was online he brought up the IP address he’d taken from the file server. The moment he tapped it in, it brought up a blank page. It was gone. No doubt it was a private server and they had taken it offline.
Jack poured some milk into his coffee and stirred. He took a sip and nearly tossed it back up. It was vile. How the hell they were managing to get away with serving shit like that was beyond him.
“How long have you been in business?” Jack asked, curiously.
“Two years. It’s slow.”
I would never guess why, he thought, looking down at the remainder of slop that passed for coffee. He wasn’t picky but this shit was unreal. His eye caught the young woman looking over. She couldn’t have been more than thirty-two. The young girl beside her was eating a piece of pie, while the older one was sipping coffee. She looked tired and worn down by life.
He was contemplating making a call to Isabel when the young woman came over. She sat down on the stool beside him.
“Need company tonight?”
He cast her a sideways glance. “No, I’m actually leaving soon.”
“I can make it quick.”
He sighed and looked at her. “Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m not interested.”
There was a pause and he figured she would take the hint and walk away.
“Maybe you like them younger.”
She motioned with her head behind her.
