After the tour was completed, Daniel and Jason found themselves back in the front courtyard. All of the cadets were still there. Apparently they were all required to stay, even if no one had come to visit them. Daniel and Jason walked over to where there were some red cadets. “Where is Arthur Vincenzo?” Jason asked.
One of the cadets responded, “He’s over there,” and pointed over to a boy who appeared to be about Daniel’s age. Arthur had stubble short black hair and eyes, and a muscular build. Jason and Daniel went over and introduced themselves to Arthur, who was very surprised that someone had actually come to visit him. Jason asked Arthur if they could talk to him in private, and when Arthur agreed, they walked casually away from where the other cadets were seated.
Jason explained why they had come to visit. “Some friends of ours are very concerned about Tim Wilkinson, who seems to have recently disappeared from the camp. Do you know anything about that?”
Arthur looked around to make sure that no one was listening in. “Tim Wilkinson. I am not surprised about anything that might have happened to him. From the first day he was here until the last, he did not fit into the system here, and was driving everyone crazy! The pressure on us to conform to their system is constant from the first day you arrive until you begin to follow orders without question. If you don’t, you have to do things over and over again until it is exactly the way they want it, and the punishment is severe if you screw up in any way!”
“Did the other red cadets resent Tim?” Daniel asked.
“Probably some did, but on a personal basis Tim could be very pleasant and interesting to talk to. I think a lot of the cadets respected him for fighting back against the guards all of the time, and actually doing what a lot of them wanted to do, but were afraid to. It was unbelievable to me the amount of punishment that Tim took, and yet he never backed down!”
“What kind of punishment did the guards give him?” Jason asked.
“Constant extra pushups or other physical exercises. They would make him do the simplest task over and over again. It would drive us nuts to watch it, but it never seemed to faze Tim at all. He just took it, and then would give back lip to the guards afterwards.”
“Was this punishment done in front of the entire group?” Daniel asked.
“Sometimes it was, and the group would be held responsible for Tim’s actions, as a way to make us put peer pressure on him to stop rebelling. Sometimes the counselors would make us tie our bandanas over our eyes so we couldn’t see what they were doing if they didn’t want to take him out somewhere to beat him. Other times they would take him out from the group and really work him over. We overheard the counselor yelling at Tim saying that he had Phase II permission. I’m not exactly sure what that meant, except that apparently that gave them permission to beat the crap out of Tim. He had to spend a day in the camp infirmary after that.”
“Was Tim the only one being treated like this, or were other cadets also receiving severe discipline?” Jason said, following up.
“About six weeks ago, this big broad-shouldered surfer guy named Cody was brought to the camp. He was a real rebel like Tim. The two of them working together could really cause havoc to the camp system of order. One day they mouthed off to the counselor giving us a class about citizenship and responsibility so much that the guard went ballistic! The entire cadet group had to wear our bandanas tied in our mouths like a gag for the rest of the day. Those two were taken away, beaten, and I guess tied up and really gagged for the rest of the day. When they came back they both were very subdued and had rope burns around their wrists and ankles, and lines on their faces like a cloth had been tied there for a long time.”
“It sounds like the counselors here had no way to deal with problem kids like Tim except by the use of force. The counselors sound like they are just prison guards. Aren’t there any real counselors with training here that he could work with?” Daniel asked.
“We really don’t have any medical staff here that I am aware of. Everything is done by the camp counselors. Mr. Thomason, the camp director, has training in that area I believe, and I think that after a while, Tim and Cody were referred to him. Shortly after that, we were told that they were being sent to anger management training. One day they and their things were just gone!”
“So just like that, problem solved,” Jason said shaking his head. “Did you ever hear from either of them again?”
“No, it is like they never were even here!” Arthur replied. “But we only get to write letters once a week, and I am sure that they are read over by the guards before they are mailed.”
“Tell us about yourself, Arthur.” Daniel said. “How did you end up here?”
“My real father is a wealthy businessman and contractor based in Mexico City. He and my mother had an affair while he was constructing a housing development in my town. At first he had promised my mother that he was going to leave his wife and get married, but that never happened although they continued seeing each other whenever he was in this country for years. He would send her support money to pay for her silence about the affair, but I never really knew my father. As a result, I grew up bitter about that, and soon was hanging around with a bad group of kids and rebelling against my mother. After some incidents where I was arrested for drug possession and shoplifting, my mother told my father something needed to be done about me, or my actions could bring shame on his name. His solution was to have me put into this boot camp.”
“I’m sorry that you had such a poor family life, Arthur,” Jason responded. “If you had a choice of what to do when you got out of here, what would you choose to do?”
“I haven’t thought much about it. I know that there is no future for me where I came from. I don’t really have much in the way of skills. Being here has reminded me of that. I would like to work with kids like myself someday, you know, help them out somehow.”
“That’s a great idea, Arthur,” Jason said. “It will require that you complete high school and get a college degree. I know a way that you can be helped with that goal if you are serious about it. I want you to contact me when you get out of here and I promise I will help you out.” Jason wrote down his cell phone number and email on a piece of paper for Arthur. “Keep this in a safe place. I really would like to help you if I can. One more question. Is there anyone else at the camp who knew Tim and maybe became friends with him?”
“Actually, yes. There are two girls in the Cardinal Cadets named Tracy and Veronica. I think they were friends. I remember Tim talking about them one day just before he left the camp.”
Jason and Daniel got up and shook hands with Arthur. “Thank you for talking with us,” Jason said. “It has been great to meet you.”
“I have enjoyed meeting you guys, also. You are the first people to ever visit me here! Thanks for picking out my name. Come back anytime!”
“Can you believe what we just heard?” Daniel asked Jason as they were walking away.
“Unfortunately, yes!” Jason replied. “Now I think it is important to get some confirmation from Tracy and Veronica if we can.”
The boys walked over to the area of chairs where many of the Cardinal Cadets were sitting. Jason walked up to one of the girls and asked, “Hi, we are looking for Tracy and Veronica. Do you know where they are?”
The girl acted disappointed. “Oh, them,” she said with sigh. “They are over there in the corner where they belong. Why would you want to talk to them?”
“Let’s just say we have mutual friends,” Jason answered.
As they walked away, Daniel rolled his eyes and said, “I guess there are petty jealousies in the halls of Camp Chinquapin!”
As with all of the girls at the camp, Veronica and Tracy had short hair. Veronica’s was red, while Tracy’s was a medium brunette. Veronica had a very thin body, light features, and blue eyes. Tracy had more of an hourglass figure, and had brown eyes, and very curly eyelashes.
Jason introduced himself and Daniel. “Hi, my name is Jason
Hunter and this is Daniel Holmes. We have a mutual friend but couldn’t find him here today. Do you know anything about Tim Wilkinson?”
“Tim Wilkinson. There’s a name that means trouble in this camp!” Veronica answered. “Yes, we knew him, and it caused us nothing but grief! He was a real troublemaker, that Tim. We have really paid the price for knowing him, with extra work duties, and detentions.”
“Could we talk about him? Maybe we could go somewhere more private to talk.” Jason replied.
“I don’t want to have anything more to do with Tim or his problems!” Veronica said in an irritated voice.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Jason said. “We heard that he suddenly left the camp.”
“Well that was no surprise,” Veronica continued. “He was always mouthing off to the camp counselors and causing trouble. He just couldn’t control his anger so the logical thing to do was send him to anger management training.”
“Can you tell us anything more about Tim?” Daniel asked. “Especially anything that may have happened in the last few days before he left the camp.”
“I’m sorry but I just don’t want to talk about him. He was sort of a loser!” Veronica then turned away from Daniel and sat back down in her chair.
“Well I am sorry to have bothered you, then,” Daniel replied. “We were told that the two of you were friends.”
Tracy, who had been bending over where she was seated while Jason and Daniel were talking with Veronica, got up and went over to Jason. She shook his hand and held her other hand over it as well. “It’s not a problem. You two seem like nice guys. If we weren’t in camp here we would like to visit with you, but not today!”
“All right,” Jason told her. “We will leave you alone. Maybe we will get together another day.” When Tracy released Jason’s hand, he could feel that she had slipped a note into his hand.
Jason and Daniel said their goodbyes and headed toward the exit. Jason looked around to see if he was being watched. There were a couple of restrooms near the exit. “Daniel, I need to go inside and use the facilities. How about you?”
When they went inside, Jason checked that no one else was inside there. “Daniel, Tracy left me a note!” Jason said in an urgent low voice. “Let’s see what it says.” Jason unfolded the note and read it aloud. “Please help Tim. They are torturing him and another kid to death. I even heard him scream once. There is a secret prison area somewhere in the camp!”
Chapter 16
Searching for Timothy
(Wednesday Afternoon)
After reading the note, Jason said, “Daniel, let’s get out of here as fast as we can! We have to figure out what to do. It’s clear that Timothy is in grave danger!” As nonchalantly as possible, the two boys checked out at the visitor’s center, turned in their passes, and walked to their car. They quickly got in and drove away.
“It’s sure a relief to be out of Camp Chinquapin!” Jason exclaimed. “I feel sorry for those kids forced to be there. It sounds like they are in some sort of prison.”
“Yeah, that place gives me the creeps!” Daniel added. “Those kids looked like zombies in there. I guess those so-called counselors spend a lot of time beating them down both physically and mentally.”
“We have to do something, Daniel! Can you sit around in good conscience after what you saw and heard and do nothing?”
“You are right, Jason, but what can we do? We still have no idea where Timothy actually is!”
“Tracy risked a lot to pass us that note. If you believe what it says, Tim is stashed away somewhere in those campgrounds. What we have to do now is figure out where he is and how to get him out of there!”
“We need to run this by Joe and see what he recommends. We are definitely going to need help getting him out of there!” Daniel exclaimed.
After the boys arrived back at Joe’s cabin, they told him everything that they had found out.
“You boys have done some good investigating!” Joe said after he heard their story. “The problem now is getting the authorities to actually believe you. All you have is hearsay, and it is hearsay testimony from kids. No law enforcement officials are going to take what they said seriously without some hard evidence to back it up.”
“I know, Joe, but I believe them!” Jason said with resolve in his voice. “We have to do something before Timothy is seriously injured or killed. I am willing to put the entire resources of the Whatever Foundation behind this! I feel that strongly about it! I know you can’t personally intervene, Joe, but don’t you have some friends and acquaintances from your secret service days who could help us?”
“You are determined to get involved, it seems,” Joe answered. “Are you sure that is a wise decision? Whatever happened to spending your vacation days in Yosemite hiking around and seeing the sights?”
“That’s what we came up here to do, Joe. Now circumstances dictate that we do something else. I couldn’t concentrate or enjoy myself in the park knowing that a kid is being tortured and I am doing nothing about it! Please help us figure out what to do!”
“All right, Jason. It’s okay. I believe in you.” Joe put his arm around Jason’s shoulder and squeezed it for a few seconds.
“Once Jason gets like this, Joe, you know that there is no stopping him!” Daniel added. “I’m willing to forego vacation time and help him out, also. Count me in, Jason. What you are asking is very dangerous, but the fact that you are willing to go out on a limb and help another kid in trouble is awesome! At times like this I am willing to drop everything and be with you!”
Jason turned to Daniel and put out his knuckles for a series of taps. “Hunter & Holmes rides again, bro! Thanks!”
“You guys certainly have the passion for this,” Joe told the boys, “but what you are going to have to do is like walking in a mine field. One costly misstep could ruin everything. We need to sit down now and carefully think it through!”
The three sat down and began looking at their options. “Here are some of your problems,” Joe continued. “You are pretty sure what general area that Tim is kept in, but have no specific location to start with. You need to have a much better idea of the potential places that he could be held in. Once you get to him, you will have to take out whatever guards they have there watching him. These people are bound to be nasty and more than a match for a couple of high school boys. If Tim has been tortured, then he will mostly likely be in a weakened condition. It’s quite possible that he won’t be able to get out on his own. From what you said earlier, it is also possible that there is more than one person in the prison. You will need to have a contingency plan to help that person as well. Most likely they will need immediate medical assistance.”
“Clearly we need some help,” Jason replied. “Whatever the cost, let’s get that help and pronto! Let’s start with the surveillance of the camp. What do you suggest we do?”
“What we need first is high quality aerial photographs of the entire Camp Chinquapin area,” Joe said. “To get that we need is access to the latest government surveillance satellite photos. I have a friend who now works for the National Weather Service. Since Camp Chinquapin isn’t any kind of restricted area, I think I could get him to provide us access to those photos.”
“That sounds good,” Jason said. “Now what about some people to help Daniel and me.”
“What you really need for this operation are a couple of specialists who can operate on land or water, are good at counter-terrorism, and can assist with emergency first aid in case Tim is injured. Again you boys are in luck. I have two ex-team members who were Navy SEALs who live in this area. You said that you were willing to open the coffers of the Whatever Foundation, right? These guys are very good, but are in retirement and I’m sure enjoying it. On the other hand, maybe the lure of big dollars will be enough to get them to help us, for old times sake, and also the good cause of rescuing a kid in trouble.”
“By all means, Joe. I am willing to pay whatever it takes if you say that these
guys are the best!”
“The next issue is medical, I would say,” Joe continued. “Once you get Tim out of the camp I am sure he will need medical attention, and most likely you will be in a very isolated place. Again it is very expensive, but I think your best bet is to arrange for a medical evacuation helicopter to be on call. As soon as you are in a safe, or at least neutral location, the helicopter can swoop in and carry Tim away to a hospital in the Bay Area.”
“That sounds good, Joe. How do we arrange for one?”
“They are affiliated with hospitals or government agencies that specialize in rescue missions. I think I will ask our SEAL friends if they have any contacts who are currently working in that field.”
“I will call my people at the foundation to make sure that we are able to cover any medical expenses. I really like the idea of getting Tim flown out of there immediately once we find him.”
“That brings up another important concern. Once you do find Tim there is only a matter of time before the camp authorities discover that you have taken him. I am sure that they will be very proactive in trying to catch you and recapture Tim. It is very important that the police be brought in at this time.”
“I think I can do better than that, Joe. I think that if it is true that Tim has been systematically tortured or beaten, this will become a big story in the media. The minute we have confirmation of that, I would like nothing better than to see a reporter with a live television camera knocking at the gate of Camp Chinquapin demanding to know why they have a policy of beating and torturing kids at their camp.”
“How are you going to do that, Jason? That kind of media coverage requires a personal in with a television news reporter.”
“I have exactly that now, Joe.” Jason went on to explain about how he was contacted by Jaime Orlando and they agreed to share information about their cases. “Jaime already knows a little about this story. If he smells a scoop for his television station, I’m sure he will be all over this story. I will also have him contact Captain Garcia about bringing in the proper police authorities.”
When The Chips Are Down Page 13