Prey - Debt Collector 6 (A Jack Winchester Thriller)

by Jon Mills

  Jack took a hold of the IV bag stand and wheeled it into the bathroom. He felt unsteady on his feet but he wasn’t sure if that was because he’d been laying down for too long or if it was the damage they had done.

  The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. Nurses came and went, he ate, drank and in a matter of six hours was beginning to feel a hell of a lot better than he did when he came in. They had done a real number on his body. The fact that they had drugged him and left him for dead instead of shooting him, spoke volumes.

  Someone else was in charge. Someone was covering their ass.

  Either way they had made a big mistake.

  You should have killed me.

  Now he was pissed.

  As he was making his third journey back to the bed from the bathroom there was a knock at the door. Jack glanced up and saw an older man and a young girl. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen, and he had to be in his late fifties.

  “Hi, how are you feeling?”

  “Do I know you?” Jack asked.

  The man stepped ahead of the girl and pushed her back behind him.

  “We were the ones that found you.”

  “Oh,” he said now remembering his voice. “Thank you.”

  “Are you from around here?” the young girl said as Jack climbed back into bed. He felt like he had aged five years with all the bruises, cuts and pain.

  “No.”

  “So how did you come to be down by the water?” She paused. “My grandfather and I were fishing. It was my birthday.”

  Jack managed to summon a weak smile. “Well, happy birthday. Sorry to have screwed it up.”

  “Oh you didn’t. We were just checking to make sure you’re okay. The nurses wouldn’t let us in until now.”

  The man with grey hair was wearing khakis, brown boots and a thin blue V-neck shirt with some Nevada Wolf Pack football team logo on the front. The girl had cropped blond hair and a beanie hat on. She was dressed in torn jeans, white t-shirt and a jean jacket.

  Jack eased the covers over himself and looked at them staring at him like he was some science project.

  “Is there anything we can do?”

  “I think you’ve done enough, but thank you.”

  “Do you have any family?” she asked.

  “Of course he does,” her grandfather said.

  “No, I’m new to Nevada.”

  The girl continued to bombard him with questions even though her grandfather looked a little embarrassed.

  “When are you getting out?”

  “They haven’t told me.”

  “Well, um, have you any clothes?” she asked.

  “Only what I came in with.”

  She tossed her grandfather a look, and he shook his head and motioned her over for a private talk. He must have thought they were out of earshot, they weren’t.

  “Jenna, we don’t know him.”

  “Even more reason to help.”

  “We’ll give him the name of one of the local shelters.”

  “Why? Why can’t you just put him up at your place?”

  “I don’t think grandma would be too keen on me bringing back a stranger.”

  Jack sat up. “Look, you’ve done enough. I appreciate it. I really do. If you want to help, would either of you have a phone?”

  The girl immediately pulled out her cell. “Yeah, here.”

  “Jenna, they won’t let him use that in here.”

  “Ah what? It’s going to break the machines?” She handed it to him and grinned. “Sorry, my grandfather tends to be a little uptight.”

  “I can hear you,” he said behind her, which invoked a small laugh out of her. Jack tapped in a number and the grandfather must have recognized that he wanted some privacy. The phone rang a few times and then she answered.

  “Isabel.”

  He heard her place a hand over the phone and then the clatter of her heels against the ground. “Go ahead.”

  “I’m in Humboldt General Hospital.”

  “What?”

  “Listen, the Nevada plate…” He then began to fill her in on what had occurred and how he had been caught off guard.

  “I’m coming down there. Just stay right where you are.”

  He felt another twinge of pain as the morphine was beginning to wear off. Up until that point he thought he was suffering from a mild amount of pain.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t think I’m going anywhere anytime soon.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Something big was about to happen and Joshua was nervous. After arriving and being abused by all three boys, Billy was beginning to understand how it worked. Joshua had pulled him aside hours later into a bathroom, and turned the fan on so the speakers couldn’t pick up what he was saying.

  He tapped his ears.

  “They are listening at all times.” He paused and dropped his chin. “I’m sorry about what we had to do, it has to be done to everyone when they arrive — no exceptions.”

  All three of them had raped him, and according to Joshua the entire thing was recorded and would be distributed. As much as he wanted to hate them, he couldn’t because they were in the same position as him. Joshua told him that if they hadn’t done that, they would have been forced to do it. The rules were strict and they were being watched twenty-four hours a day through closed-circuit cameras. Billy came to learn that Joshua had been there for three years. He was the oldest of the three boys and originally from Kansas. Keith was one year younger and Gary the same age as Billy. On the first night, all three of them recounted how they had wound up there. Keith had been out walking to his father’s home and was six houses away when a van pulled up and they yanked him inside. Joshua was a foster care runaway who had been living on the streets when he was tricked into going along with a man to get some food. Gary had been sold by his stepfather to the Mexican, his mother still didn’t know.

  “Were the others here when you arrived?” Billy asked.

  “No, there was a boy who was sixteen.”

  “Where’s he now?”

  He stared back at Billy and he didn’t need to reply. He had already heard from Neville what happened to them once they reached a certain age. They were either put to work luring others into the network or were never seen again.

  Joshua was fifteen, soon to turn sixteen and he was fully aware that any day now could be his last. They wanted them young. For the past three years Joshua had been flown all over the United States and involved in drunken orgies where he was forced to take cocaine and perform sexual acts, sometimes non-stop over a twenty-four-hour period. He would be passed around like an inanimate object. They didn’t see them as anything else than someone to fulfill their sick desires.

  “How have you managed to keep it together?”

  Billy was already cracking and coming apart at the seams. He had seen what had happened to Louis and the thought of his life ending that way had terrified him.

  Joshua took a hold of Billy by his shoulders and then placed a finger against the side of his head.

  “You need to go somewhere else in your mind. Okay? Block it out.”

  That was easier said than done. No matter how a person tried, the pain was too intense. It eventually wore a person down. The life was already gone in Joshua’s eyes. Nothing remained of him but an empty shell. He didn’t act like a normal kid but someone who had been broken and programmed to follow orders.

  “Have you ever had a moment when they’ve taken you out where you could have escaped?”

  “There have been a few times but…” he trailed off and Billy could see him recalling what might have been his way out of this hellish nightmare.

  “You don’t even want to go there.”

  Joshua was a prime example of how they controlled them. He explained that even when they had the opportunity to run, they didn’t. It was something that some people might never understand until they were placed in their position. They kept them in a constant state of fear. If they thought for a moment that on
e of them was conspiring to escape, the repercussions weren’t just painful — it could mean death.

  Billy followed Joshua out of the bathroom. The other two boys were reading.

  “Listen up. None of you have experienced the Bohemian Grove yet. Here’s what you need to know.”

  Ever since getting off the phone with Jack, Isabel had been trying to come up with a reason to board a plane for Nevada. Her idea to follow up on the Nevada plate was shot down by Special Agent Hartland.

  “No need, we have already been in touch with the Nevada field office and an agent should be stopping by there sometime today or tomorrow.”

  “Listen, it seems quite obvious that whoever has taken these boys has moved them out of state.”

  “We don’t know that. Right now all we have is a vehicle with Nevada plates. For all we know Radcliff could have purchased that truck.”

  “So where’s the insurance and registration?”

  “We are still working on that, perhaps you should look into that,” he said in a manner that made her feel as though she was less than him. She had run into her fair share of male chauvinists in the FBI. Much like the police department it had an old boys club mentality and any chance they had to lord themselves over her, they took it.

  Since they had arrived, little to no work was being done to investigate the actual crime scenes. The chief of Albany police had been sticking his nose into everything and by all accounts he looked as though he was running the show.

  “We have already been through the two houses with a fine-tooth comb.”

  Isabel was biting at the bit to ask about the suicide note but as she hadn’t been to the house, it would only raise more questions and right now she needed to fly under the radar.

  “Did you check the body?” Isabel asked.

  Chief Weldon turned and looked her up and down and then returned to talking to Hartland without even replying. Even Cooper picked up on it by raising an eyebrow. She motioned with her head for them to step outside.

  A warm breeze blew against her face and for a few seconds she thought she was going to have a moment to breathe but the media had a different idea. They had been stationed outside the police department ever since she had arrived. A cluster of them came scurrying up stabbing the air with their mics and elbowing each other to get some kind of update.

  “Agent, is there an update on what is being done in the Billy Carson and Danny Grant case?”

  “No comment.”

  Cooper stepped out into the glare of camera flashes. They had to step back inside and close the door behind them to even have a conversation because of all the noise. In the eyes of the media, the two cases were connected even though the department appeared to be avoiding making that statement. According to Agent Hartland, the police were reaching for straws when it came to leads even though it had been staring them right in the face. Chief Weldon believed that it was a confined incident, circumstantial at best, without the boys being found. Isabel had to make it clear that both boys’ photos were found on the computer, so whether they were being held locally or outside of the state there was more than enough evidence to prove the two disappearances were connected.

  Isabel entered a small conference room and closed the door behind her.

  “So what is it?”

  “I’m heading down to Nevada.”

  Cooper snorted. “Didn’t you hear him?”

  “Of course, that’s why you are going to stay here.”

  “What?”

  “Listen, you and I both know that for all of us to be stuck here right now is a waste of resources. They have the department and FBI looking into it.”

  “But he said Nevada—”

  She cut him off before he could continue.

  “They won’t get there for at least three or four days. You know what it’s like. The message will sit on someone’s desk until someone gets off their ass and travels the eight hours from Las Vegas to Winnemucca. I can fly directly into the municipal airport in less than an hour.”

  “Who says they are going to drive up?”

  “Please. When was the last time you traveled up to the north of Florida by plane?”

  “Point taken.” He sighed. “Why do I have to stay here?”

  “Because you’re my eyes and ears. I need to know these guys are not fucking things up and quite frankly based on what I’ve seen so far, this investigation has already suffered one hell of a setback.”

  The door to the conference room opened and an officer stuck his head inside. “Oh, I thought I heard voices. Sorry, carry on.”

  He closed the door and Cooper spun around in a chair like a little kid.

  “And if you need my help?”

  “Well, you are just an hour away, right?” She tried her best to convince him that she would be back within a day. He sucked air between his teeth. “And what am I going to say to Hartland or better still, Thorpe?”

  “Nothing. I’m occupied. Down at one of the houses. Delay. Talk shit. Do what you’re good at.”

  He groaned. “Baker, and there was me thinking that we were going to cozy up in some hotel room tonight.”

  “Right. Dream on,” she said shaking her head and walking towards the door.

  “Hold up.” Cooper got up from his seat. He had a serious expression. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your reaction when you saw his face.”

  “Whose?”

  “Winchester’s.” He paused. “You know, I’m going to have to put this in the report.”

  “And?”

  “And well? Have you forgotten this guy is a fugitive?”

  Isabel went over to him and tapped him on the chest. “The last I checked, he’s not listed in the database anymore. His file is closed.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s off the hook. Aren’t you at all curious to know why his mug shot has shown up here? I have to say, Baker, it seems a little odd that you wanted to come all this way to Oregon to help out on a case only to find out that Winchester has been here. If I’m not mistaken, I would think you are still going after him.”

  She gave a wry smile. “You’re smarter than you look, Cooper.”

  “I knew it. Man, you don’t let up.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  And neither does he, she thought. Only Winchester and her knew that she had given up chasing him a year ago. Though it did raise a question. If she was no longer hunting him, what was she doing helping him? The tables had turned and it was confusing but one thing for sure, she was playing a dangerous game and one that could cost her more than her career.

  After he got off the phone, the girl and old man wouldn’t seem to let go of the idea of helping him. As much as he tried to explain that they had done enough and reassure her that he would be okay, she wasn’t buying it.

  “He can stay the night, can’t he?”

  “Jenna, go get a drink or something. Grab me a coffee.”

  “But I’m—”

  The old man gave her a look and she must have clued in as she walked off. After she was gone he pulled up a chair beside the bed and took a seat. He glanced up at the television for a few seconds and muttered something about how the whole world was going crazy. Jack just snorted.

  “The name’s Henry Brown. You’ll have to excuse my granddaughter. Jenna tends to get excited about the idea of changing the world. She gets it from her mother.”

  “Where are her parents?”

  “Dead. Yeah, God rest their souls.”

  He glanced at Jack. “They died in a car wreck six years ago. Jenna was staying with us at the time. How she’s managed to bounce back is beyond me. I still miss them every day.”

  “So what do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a minister.”

  “Oh really, you would get along with a friend of mine back in Los Angeles.”

  He frowned.

  “He runs a mission down there. You know, helps the people living on Skid Row.”

  “He must have his hands full.”


  “Yeah. Yeah he does.”

  “Well, what I do isn’t as glamorous as that. I just run a local church in the area. Nothing big. Most of the folks who come in are collecting welfare. I run a soup kitchen once a week.”

  Jack nodded. He was waiting to be preached at but it didn’t happen.

  “So what happened?”

  “I’m not a drug addict. I just ran into a few rough fellas.”

  He stifled a laugh. “Well, I didn’t think they were your friends. So this person you phoned, are they family?”

  “No. I guess you could call them an old friend.”

  “Like the one in L.A.?”

  “A lot different.”

  Jenna returned holding two cups of coffee, she handed one to her grandfather. “Two sugars and cream, and I didn’t know how you took yours so, it’s black. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Actually, that’s perfect,” he said taking it from her. She pulled up a chair and he could tell that they weren’t going to be leaving anytime soon.

  “So, you remember how you ended up near the river?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  They stared back at him and he knew he was going to have to be rude as he didn’t want to get into it with them.

  “I’m all ears.”

  “If you don’t mind, I would rather not discuss it.”

  “Ah that’s fine.”

  “So did you invite him?”

  Henry put his arm around his granddaughter. “I swear you don’t let up, kid.”

  “I think your grandfather has enough on his plate, Jenna. Isn’t that right, Henry?” Henry looked back at him and looked as though he was peering into his very soul. There was something about the way ministers could do that. It made him feel the weight of all he’d done in his life. It wasn’t guilt, but a sense they knew what he was holding back. He shook the thought from his mind, reminding himself that they were just like him. Human, flawed and prone to make mistakes.

  “You are more than welcome to stay with us for a few days after you get out of here.”

  “I appreciate that, Henry, maybe I’ll take you up on that offer. We’ll see.”

  Henry took a moment to jot down his address and phone number. They stayed for another half an hour before they headed out. Jenna reminded him to get in touch. Jack was moved by their kindness. Being as he had spent so many years surrounded by those who were driven by hate, it restored his faith in humanity to know there were still good people out there.