Double Fugue

by Aiden Vaughan

  Marilyn Ferreira was happy to hear from Jason but had nothing new to report. “I have tried repeatedly to call Anna, but still get no answer.”

  Jason then called Lieutenant Garcia. “We are just past the turn off to Red Valley Road and are waiting at a gas station rest stop area just south of there.”

  “The ranch is about ten miles down Red Valley Road,” Garcia told Jason. “Our ETA for getting to the turn off is about 15 minutes. We are just beyond Salinas. I have just received confirmation from the San Benito County deputy sheriff that the lookout point has been established. He has visual confirmation that a vehicle which appears to be Fernandes’ Cadillac has arrived on the ranch. Once our operation is in place, you will be able to move your vehicle up there so that you are close by. The deputy says that his lookout point is a wide turnout on the road, past the ranch entrance but with a good view of the property. I estimate that it will take about 45 minutes for us to arrive and to get our team in place. I will call you when it is okay for you to drive in. Just be patient until then, Jason!”

  After Lieutenant Garcia hung up, Jason updated Joe and Daniel with the potentially good news that they soon may have a chance to rescue Eric. “This waiting is absolutely driving me nuts,” Daniel said.

  “Let’s look around for something to do,” Jason suggested. Inside one of the convenience stores was a small arcade game area for kids. “Perfect!” exclaimed Jason. “Let’s pump up the local economy.” Soon the boys were busy playing games while they waited for Lieutenant Garcia’s call.

  * * * * *

  Relaxing at his Red Valley Ranch house, Rogelio Fernandes was feeling very pleased with himself. Grabbing Eric back from his aunt and uncle’s place had been like taking candy from a baby. Although Eric had acted a little more defiant than he expected, when threatened with violence against his aunt and uncle, the kid had immediately backed down. The only thing that bothered him was the 911 call that Eric had started to place. Luckily he had been able to grab Eric and end the call with no information being exchanged, but he still had a bad feeling about it. That’s why he had decided to take an alternate route back to the ranch, using the Hollister highway and backtracking a little bit rather than remaining on US 101 which was highly monitored by the police.

  The only thing Rogelio regretted was not doing all of this sooner. He knew from past experiences that the older a kid was, the harder it became to break him down. Like any normal kid at his age, Eric had displayed some insolence and resistance. Rogelio had many ways to deal with that. It added to the pleasure of his conquest. He was certain that after a week or two of softening up, Eric would gladly start submitting to his will. He smiled to himself thinking about his swimmer boy safely stashed away. He was looking forward to the process of slowly breaking him down and then having his way with him.

  Rogelio had just gotten himself a drink and snack from the refrigerator when he heard his alarm system go off. One of the costly renovations of this property had been to install a security system that alerted him whenever someone came onto the property. Rogelio quickly walked into the study where he had the camera monitors located. He could see that someone who appeared to be a deputy sheriff was walking on the property in a suspicious manner. The deputy was not coming on the property to knock on the door, but rather was sneaking down a side path, looking for a hiding place.

  Fernandes grabbed his AK-47 semi-automatic rifle from his gun rack, inserted a bullet cartridge and quickly went outside to confront the man. He took another well-hidden side path which he knew he could use to sneak up and surprise the intruder. Just as he was about to overtake the deputy, he stepped on a dead branch that made a loud cracking noise.

  Startled, and thinking that he was being fired upon, the deputy took his weapon and fired a round back at the sound of the noise. Hearing an actual gunshot, Fernandes figured he was being attacked. He had a good angle to shoot from, took aim at the deputy, and fired a quick barrage of bullets. Within seconds the deputy, Sergeant Thurgood Francis, was down, badly wounded in the neck and arm even with his flak jacket on.

  The wounded deputy struggled to get onto his walkie-talkie. “I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit in at least two places! Suspect on the loose armed with an automatic rifle!”

  Upon hearing this, Lieutenant Garcia, who almost had the entire team in place, issued a fire at will order. “Suspect is out of the house by himself. Get him now before he can get back inside the house! B team move in and cover all the entry areas. A team pursue him in the field. He is in front of the house somewhere! EMTs move in to help Sergeant Francis. He is badly wounded.”

  Suddenly the peaceful valley was filled with the sounds of gunshots. The three other remaining A team members quickly began the pursuit of Fernandes, firing at him every time he moved. The B team ran from the barn to the house and quickly took control of the house front and rear entrances. Then two of them took up strategic positions where they could fire on the doors in case Fernandes came back to the house for refuge. A third B team deputy broke down the back door, and began systematically searching the house for Eric, keeping low to avoid any fire from the raging battle outside.

  Although Fernandes was wily in battle, and kept moving around to try and escape the SWAT team pursuit, eventually they were able to triangulate on him, and had him cornered. “Come out with your hands up, Fernandes! We have you completely surrounded!” Lieutenant Garcia shouted through his bull horn. But Fernandes refused to surrender, and when he tried to escape the trap he was in, his movements were detected, and a withering round of fire brought him down. Garcia then ordered a cease fire, and the A team moved in to see if Fernandes was still alive.

  They found Fernandes lying mortally wounded in a pool of blood. “Where is the boy, Fernandes?” Garcia demanded. “Do one decent thing in your life and tell us where he is!”

  Fernandes’ last words, barely gurgled out, were, “Screw you, cop!”

  Lieutenant Garcia then issued an all clear order and called in the EMTs to look at Fernandes. They were busy getting Sergeant Francis stabilized ready to be rushed to the nearest hospital for surgery to treat his wounds. A few minutes later the head EMT came down, took a look at Fernandes, then checked his vital signs. “He is a goner, sir. I’ll notify the coroner to send in their team. Meanwhile, I need to get Sergeant Francis to the hospital ASAP!”

  Garcia called Sergeant Malone who was on the B team and asked if they had found Eric in the house yet. “There is no sign of the boy in any of the rooms on the main floor. We are looking to see if there is a basement or other hideaway.”

  Up at the lookout about a quarter mile away, Jason, Daniel and Joe watched the gun battle below with Deputy Constanza of the San Benito County sheriff’s office. They had just arrived there about five minutes before the first gunshots. After the gunfire ceased, about ten minutes later, they waited for word from Lieutenant Garcia on pins and needles, not knowing the outcome.

  Finally Jason’s cell phone rang. “Lieutenant Garcia, are you all right?” Jason asked. When the lieutenant replied that he was, Jason continued, “Thank God you are okay. That was quite a battle we heard going on!”

  Garcia told him that they had taken out Fernandes after he wounded one of their team members, but still had not located Eric. He told them that they could now come onto the property and help them search for Eric. He had Jason put Deputy Constanza on. He told Constanza to notify the San Benito County sheriff that their SWAT team operation was ended, Fernandes had been killed, and they were starting to search the property for Eric.

  Jason, Daniel and Joe quickly got into Joe’s car and made the short drive onto the ranch property. They saw Lieutenant Garcia and drove up to him and parked the car. “Any word on Eric, yet?” Jason asked.

  “Our team has completely searched the house and found nothing. We went through Fernandes’ Cadillac and while it was clear that Eric had been put in the trunk, he was not there now. The B division of our SWAT team had assembled at the barn. They didn’t find an
ything there either. Our police team is dividing up and doing a thorough search of the property. There are about ten acres to search. Maybe he has another hiding place somewhere on the property.”

  “Okay, Lieutenant. We will search independently, just in case you missed something,” Joe replied.

  First Joe and the two boys went through the house. It was a one story ranch house, and when they went through it, it was clear that there was no sign of Eric any where in the building. They even looked for hidden doors or a basement or even an attic crawl space, but could find nothing.

  “Let’s go over to the barn and search there,” Jason suggested. “Maybe the SWAT team missed something while they were preparing to take on Fernandes.” The barn was several hundred yards away from the house. Joe had the boys get back in the car and he drove them over there.

  ROGELIO’S CHAMBER OF HORRORS

  (Thursday Afternoon)

  When Jason, Joe, and Daniel arrived at the barn, they searched all through main floor area and the small loft, but found nothing. Yet they knew Eric had to have been stashed somewhere since he wasn’t with Fernandes in the house. Frustrated, Jason decided to open every door that he could see. When he opened the door for the circuit breakers, he noticed that there were a dozen different circuit breakers. “That’s strange,” he said. “There are all of these circuits but no sign of any power use here other than a couple of lights.”

  Joe came over and looked inside the box. “You are right, Jason. These circuits have to serve something around here. There must be a hidden installation somewhere.”

  “Guys, come out here!” Daniel shouted from outside the barn. When Joe and Jason were outside, Daniel continued, “Look at these tire tracks. They all seem to be going up to the side of the barn, yet there doesn’t seem to be anything there.”

  “I think we need to take a very close look over there,” Joe replied. “There has to be a switch or something that we have missed.”

  Jason went over to the wall, got down on his knees, and looked under where the wooden wallboards of the barn were connected to the cement foundation. He systematically examined the entire wall. Everything seemed normal at first. There was just one little hole in the cement.

  “I think I have found something!” Jason said excitedly. “There is a little hole in the wall here.” Jason put his finger in it and felt a button. When he pushed it, there was a whirring noise, and suddenly the entire panel opened out, revealing a door and passageway to a basement room under the barn. At the end of the passageway there was another door. When they opened it and turned on the light switch they discovered a room filled with restraints and torture devices.

  “What is this place?” Daniel asked.

  “It looks like a torture chamber!” Mr. Connor exclaimed.

  “Look, there’s Eric!” Jason shouted.

  They quickly hurried over to a corner of the room where they found Eric gagged and strung up to one of the devices. His eyes and face were wet with tears, and all he had on was a bathing suit. While Mr. Connor figured out how to release the tension off of Eric’s arms, Jason loosened the knotted blue bandana gag tied in Eric’s mouth. Finally Joe was able to release the chains stringing Eric up and Jason pulled his wrists from the loop restraints that they had been placed in. Meanwhile, Daniel cut the duct tape binding his feet with his pocket knife.

  Jason and Daniel guided Eric to a bench in another part of the room and helped him sit down. Eric had a very distraught look on his face and his upper body was shaking. Mr. Connor went back to the car, grabbed the tote bag with Eric’s belongings and a bottle of water from the cooler, and brought these things back into the underground room. He gave the water to Eric who took several long pulls off of the bottle. Daniel took out the towel that they brought along from the tote bag and after first giving it to Eric to wipe his face, wrapped it around his shoulders. Jason and Daniel put their arms around Eric to reassure him and slow down the shaking.

  “It’s all right, Eric. You are safe now,” Jason said. “Your stepfather can no longer hurt you!”

  “Yeah, you are back among friends, and we are here to take you home!” Daniel exclaimed.

  “Eric, are you hurt or injured in any way? We are so relieved to find you,” Mr. Connor said.

  Eric began to reply in a wavering voice. “My arms are sore from being strung up but I think I am okay physically. Luckily I wasn’t beaten up. Inside I am still shaking with fear. I was so afraid of what was my stepfather was going to do to me, especially when he brought me into this room! He was planning to make me into a slave and abuse me at will or slowly torture me to death! Look at the stuff in this place! I thought I was done for and would never see you guys again!”

  “You will never have to worry about being abused or assaulted again, Eric,” Joe continued. “Your stepfather was killed in a shootout with the SWAT team that our Silicon Valley police sent down here in pursuit of you. He got in the first shots and wounded an officer, and then all hell broke loose. I’m going to go outside now and call Lieutenant Garcia so that the police know you have been found and are safe. I will also call your Aunt Marilyn. I know she is worried sick about you.”

  “Eric, you were so brave and clever this morning!” Jason exclaimed. “It’s because of what you did that we were able to locate you so quickly. The clues you left were pure genius. Your notes and the videotape provided the police with conclusive evidence for an AMBER Alert, along with his car license number and address.”

  “The clincher was that last clue you gave us by singing the opening notes to Red River Valley, even with your mouth taped. That sure was a brilliant move! You really showed some fight and survival skills!” Daniel added.

  Jason then told Eric, “We have a lot more to talk about, Eric, but first let’s take care of your personal needs. We brought down your clothes, and we have some food for you. Why don’t you get dressed and have something to eat. You must be hungry.”

  They helped Eric get up, and Daniel handed Eric the tote bag with his clothing. “It looks like there is a bathroom behind that door where you can go change and clean up,” Daniel said. “I even remembered to bring the adhesive remover after seeing the video you left us!”

  “Yeah, that is a bathroom. I used it earlier when I was brought here. Jason and Daniel, thank you for saving my life again. You guys are true friends!”

  “No problem, Eric,” Jason responded. “It’s all part of our Hunter & Holmes rescue service!”

  While Eric was in the bathroom, Joe returned to see how they were doing, and Jason asked him, “What do you think this room was used for? Obviously Fernandes was a determined predator, but this equipment seems like there must have been a lot more to it.”

  Joe answered by saying, “This looks like he was somehow involved in the business of trafficking in human victims that were probably brought here to be broken down and made into compliant slaves. The way that he went after and abused Eric leads me to believe that there were probably a lot of other young victims. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them were illegal immigrants that he smuggled into the country on the pretense of giving them safe passage into America. Once they were here and alone, he probably would take them prisoner under the pretense of holding them for more money while he fulfilled his perversions on them in this torture chamber! He was truly a sick bastard! I told Lieutenant Garcia what we had found here, and now they are sweeping the property looking for evidence of other victims.”

  “I am really happy that we were able to get Eric away from Fernandes before he was permanently sucked into a life of torture and sexual abuse!” Jason exclaimed. “He sure has had a difficult time lately.”

  “Yes, but I’m really struck by how hard he tried to fight back in this instance,” Daniel said.

  “Eric and I had a talk about things like this a couple of days ago,” Jason added, “but the actions that he took today were positively inspired!”

  “I am really impressed by how you kids have looked after and helped eac
h other this summer,” Joe stated. “One of the greatest thing you can do in life is to rescue another human in trouble!”

  Just then Eric came out of the bathroom. Both Jason and Daniel cheered when they saw him dressed with his normal clothes on. “Welcome back to our world, Eric,” Jason said with a big smile on his face. “It’s great to have you with us again!”

  “I’m starving!” Eric responded in his normal voice. “Did you guys say that there was some food to eat?”

  “You bet, Eric,” Daniel said. “Let’s get out of this hell hole and eat it outside.”

  The boys and Mr. Connor went up into the barn and sat on bales of hay, They offered Eric a cold drink from the small cooler they brought and passed them around among themselves. They had purchased a turkey and cheese sandwich for Eric, and finished the halves of their sandwiches that they had saved along with some chips and cookies. While they were eating, Mr. Connor called Gary Holmes and Bill Hunter to tell them the good news that they had found Eric and that he was okay.

  After eating, Jason said, “If it’s not too upsetting to you, Eric, we are really curious as to what happened this morning, and how you were able to put out all of those clues and contact 911. When we saw the video, you were tied up and gagged with duct tape.”

  “It was a very scary experience,” Eric began, “but I tried to keep my cool and fight back against my stepfather like we had discussed the other day, Jason. I was in my room and had just gotten dressed for the day when Rogelio barged in with a gun and pointed it at me. He had been staking out the house, and made his move when my aunt and uncle left with both vehicles because Uncle Jorge had to leave his truck at the repair shop for servicing.

  “He had this foolish smile on his face and said to me, ‘Hey, swimmer boy. I’ve missed you! You are looking great!’

  “No help from you, Rogelio. I sure hated being your punching bag and object of abuse, neglect, and scorn over the past two years!