Stealing Childhood

by Terry Persun

  Chuck said, “I’ll call Lana S to take care of his arm. In the meantime, get him back into his room until she gets here.”

  There was some shuffling and Dan heard Jason’s door open. “Just lie down,” the guard said. “She’ll be here in a little while. I think she was on call tonight.” A moment later, the door closed.

  “Bingo,” Cora Rafsky said.

  “What’s that mean?” Dan asked.

  She pointed to Agent Blake. “Call Mercer and have him get intel on anyone working at the local hospitals, anyone on call tonight, a female.” She smiled at Dan. We might have our first good lead.

  “On it,” Agent Blake said.

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Dan said. “That’s my son in there.”

  Cora walked to the far end of the room, and Dan got up and followed. She whispered to him while Agent Blake called Agent Mercer on the phone. “It was a warning,” she said. These guys mean business, but they also have the luxury of having doctors on staff, as it were. They can repair most situations, but they can’t repair a death. I don’t think they’ll do that.”

  “My journey…”

  “I know but—”

  “You still don’t get it, do you? This stuff isn’t a game; it’s real. And you haven’t seen anything yet.” He felt defiant. He reached out for her wrist and she snapped her arm away.

  “You don’t touch me when you’re angry.” She returned to Agent Blake’s side, leaving Dan standing alone.

  Dan knew right then that she had been the victim of abuse, whether a family member when she was young or her ex-husband. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty and it left its mark. “I’m sorry,” he said loudly enough for her to hear. “I wasn’t angry, I was worried.”

  Agent Blake looked at him quizzically.

  Agent Rafsky nodded. “I get it. He’s your son and you believe in what you do. It’s okay this time.” She reached for the transmitter button. “Jason, this is Agent Rafsky. I want you to whisper when you talk with me. I don’t suspect they’re listening outside your door, but they may be nearby.” She took a breath. “How are you feeling?”

  “It burns, but it’s only a scratch. Went through my shirt, made a nice sized gash, but nothing more than that. It just hurts like hell.”

  “I can imagine. Has the bleeding slowed at all? Have you compressed it?”

  “Yeah, I’m compressing it now with a clean T-shirt. It feels like it’s better, but I’m not going to look to make sure.”

  “We’re going to stop talking so the doctor doesn’t catch us having a conversation when she arrives. Don’t say anything unless things change.”

  “I got you,” Jason said. “I’m going to rest. But…”

  Rafsky was still standing. “Don’t worry about Koko. There’s nothing you can do right now.” She paced a few feet away and back. “None of the girls screamed or came to their doors when the gun went off,” she said. “I know it had a silencer, but I’m also sure they’ve heard that sound before, or I assume so. They know enough to stay away.”

  Dan wrote in his notebook that the gun had a silencer on it, that it was a scratch, that it was Jason’s arm. He put a question mark as to which arm. Left or right could make a difference in later interpretations.

  “You’re rather compulsive about that, aren’t you,” Cora said to Dan.

  “Helps me remember details,” Dan said. “Sometimes the pieces come together on the page unlike you’d remember them.”

  She gave a little laugh. The phone rang. Blake picked up and listened. He said, “Laura Schmidt. Works in the Mother and Child Care Center at Fife General.”

  Dan paged back in his notebook, jotted down the woman’s name, smiled, and wandered over to Cora. “Here we go…” He laid the notebook open on the table.

  Cora bent over his notebook and placed a finger near where he’d written Laura Schmidt beside Lana S. “Idiots,” she said.

  “Simple, but effective,” Dan said. Change the first name using the same first letter, then the letter of the last name. I should have noticed when they named Jason Jersey J.”

  “Bill, take down all those names, get Mercer back on the phone, and check everyone out. We’ll land them all.” She wore a broad smile and winked at Dan.

  “What’s with you two?” Bill asked.

  “We’re just getting somewhere, that’s all,” she said. “Now get with Mercer and get me those names.”

  “I’m calling Richard,” Dan said.

  “For what?”

  “Let him know what we found, tell him about my journey, and to get Sarah out of there before she gets into trouble. All they have to do is disbelieve Jason, and he’s already suspect. Next is Koko, if for no other reason than Jason recognized her.”

  “I can’t have more fingers in the pie,” she said. “He’ll try to one-up us. Someone could—probably would—get hurt.” She kept her attention on Dan.

  She was reading his reaction, so he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. “This time,” he said. “But Richard could help, as well. You can’t expect to do this alone the whole time. After all, you already have me and Jason, one more wouldn’t hurt.”

  She scowled. “I just needed a break. We have it now, so let us take care of things from here.”

  “Not while Jason’s still at risk.”

  A knock sounded from one of the speakers. Agent Blake reached to turn off the sound. “Sorry, I forgot that was live.”

  “Leave it,” Dan said.

  Blake glanced at Cora, and she nodded for him to listen to Dan.

  Jason didn’t have to say anything. Right after the knock, they heard a woman’s voice. “High. Remember me? Lana S. I’m here to take care of your arm.”

  “I’d forgotten how young you are,” Jason said.

  Cora snapped her fingers toward Blake. “I want pictures, information, now.”

  “I don’t get it,” Dan said. “Why do they need doctors to deal with the girls anyway? To check them out? Make sure they don’t have a disease?”

  Cora put a finger to her mouth and pressed the transmit button. “Jason, find out what you can about her job with the girls?”

  “Okay,” Jason said.

  “Okay, what?” Lana S said.

  Cora rolled her eyes. “See!” she said to Dan.

  “Okay, I’m glad you’re here. I was not feeling well at all,” Jason said.

  “This doesn’t look too bad. Probably burns quite a bit, but the Big Guy knows how to use his gun.”

  “You’ve had to deal with this before?”

  “Too many questions,” she said. “Let me numb this thing for you, so I can clean it up and stitch it up. This may pinch for a second.”

  “I don’t mind needles,” Jason said.

  “Maybe you can come with me? Somewhere more conducive to my work.”

  Jason groaned as he got up and then the door creaked a little and shut behind them.

  “So, what’d you do to piss Chuck off?”

  “I thought I knew one of the girls. Wanted to talk with her.”

  “Chuck spends a lot of time here. He doesn’t like people poking around. He’s much more paranoid than he needs to be. He can be a bit of a jerk, too.”

  “So, I found out.”

  She laughed.

  “Glad you find it funny.” There was a pause then another door opened and shut. “Nice lab. I don’t recognize much of this equipment.”

  “Why should you? You’re not a doctor. Besides, we’re doing some pretty advanced things here?”

  Cora transmitted, “People like it when you’re interested.” She winked again at Dan.

  Blake cocked his head toward her. “Really, what’s up with you two?”

  “Nothing. Just listen,” Cora ordered with a stern look.

  “What kind of advanced things?” Jason asked.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know? Sit down here and roll up your sleeve.” A sink turned on and water splashed. “I’m going to scrub this clean.”

 
; “Now that it’s not hurting, I can see that it’s fairly minor.” Another pause. “What hospital do you work at?”

  “You are too inquisitive.”

  “My nature.”

  “Well you’d better fight your nature, or you won’t be here long. And they don’t just fire you.”

  Dan began to stand, but Cora put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry until it’s necessary.”

  “He needs to get out of there.”

  “Not just yet,” Cora said.

  “Yes, now,” Dan said. “Or I’m going in after him my own way.”

  She smiled. “That you can do if you’d like.”

  Dan stood from the chair.

  Bill Blake said, “I’ll record everything they talk about.” He reached over and flipped a switch, and the sound went off.

  “You have no idea what I can and can’t do,” Dan said.

  “As long as you’re not rushing over there, you can sit in any chair you’d like.” Cora had a slight smirk on her face.

  It pissed Dan off that she still didn’t take him seriously. Winking or no winking, they weren’t that good of friends.

  Chapter 20

  Dan thought of journeying, but sat down without a drum or rattle. He needed to regroup, relax, and come up with a new plan. Cora still blocked him, but then, according to her, she can’t focus on the job anyway. Koko appeared to be blocking Jason and Chuck O and his crew kept their guard up. Blocking progress. Everything moved slowly, which wasn’t something Dan appreciated. But he knew if he went into a journey half-cocked that it wouldn’t work out well.

  Get closer.

  The thought came at him freely and openly and that’s how he knew it was right. If he spent too much time thinking about why he needed to get closer, it would wipe out any thread of forward motion he’d hope to gain from just listening to his inner self. Go, he thought, just go. He packed light. His backpack lay flattened in the bottom of his suitcase under the artifacts and tools he brought with him. A rattle would be easy to carry and a new voice to listen to after using his drum so often lately. Something had to change in order to break the barrier, the blockage. He knew that now. He randomly grabbed two other items, a small baggie filled with cedar needles that he put into his pocket, and a small wooden statue of a man praying—not something he would normally have, let alone bring with him. He stuffed that into his backpack with the rattle, then retrieved his notebook from the bed and stuffed that into his backpack. Although he probably didn’t have to worry about being quiet, he opened his door as quietly as possible and looked up and down the hallway. Nobody. He stepped outside and began to walk toward the stairwell when he heard another door latch click. Mindy poked her head out then stepped into the hallway holding a light jacket. She put her finger to her lips, closed her door, and put her arm through Dan’s as she had done before.

  “I’m going with you. I’ve been waiting.”

  “You knew?”

  “I could tell you weren’t the type to be held back.”

  At the stairwell, they walked quietly past the first floor exit. “There’s got to be a basement exit,” he said when she tried to hold him back.

  Once outside, Mindy let go of his arm and walked beside Dan. “What’s the plan?”

  “I’m not sure you should be with me. I don’t have a plan and have no idea what I’m going to do. I just knew I had to get closer to the situation. I know where they are, have a general idea how protected they are, and they have Jason.”

  “I thought he went in willingly.”

  “He did, but they’re suspicious and holding him.” Dan met her eyes. “They shot him.”

  “How’d that happen?” She shook her head. “I knew I should have stayed in that room.”

  “You may not even be needed tonight or ever. It could easily be a false alarm.”

  “But you journeyed, and there were other languages.”

  Dan laughed. “Not everything fits together perfectly. Like life. You may think you met the perfect person, taken the perfect job, made the right decision, but a few days later, or a few years later, you find that you were wrong or that things didn’t progress as you’d imagined or hoped, that some things just fall away and you…never see that person again in your life.”

  “Someone dies,” she said, “or moves away, another job opens up and that one looks even more important at the time. I know what you mean. You can follow that line of thinking forever.”

  “Whether we’re fully engaged and thinking or just taking what feels right at the time, life has its own plan and we’re never privy to what that is.”

  “So, you decided to…”

  “Get closer.”

  She nodded as they walked the distance to the Growers Imports building, a small sign over a glass door.

  Dan continued to walk past the building and around the corner.

  “You don’t seem too upset that Jason got shot,” she said, then smiled. “Well?”

  “What?”

  “Just remembered what you said on the plane during the panic. You said, ‘people choose whether to be scared or not.’ ”

  “Good memory.”

  “You walk your talk.”

  “I try.”

  “What are you going to do next?” she asked.

  “Find a place to work.” Dan had worked in many alleys in his lifetime, so he wasn’t afraid of what might or might not be down them. But Mindy didn’t appear to be so used to it. When she grabbed his arm again, Dan reached over and patted her hand. The alley was dark, but he didn’t sense that anyone or anything dangerous was there. What he was about to do might not be safe, though.

  “You don’t have a flashlight?”

  “Didn’t think to bring one,” Dan said.

  “How can you see?”

  “Don’t need to see much. I mostly sense whether it’s safe or not. Besides, I’m not afraid of the dark.”

  In a whisper, she said, “I am.”

  “Trust me. You wanted to come.” He pulled the statue from his pack and handed it to her. “Here.” He saw her bend down to look closely at the piece. “A man praying? I didn’t think you’d—”

  “Everything,” Dan said to answer her. “Just hold it and you’ll feel better.”

  “I will?”

  “Pray with the man if you have to, or trust in prayer, however you want to stay in touch with where you are and what’s going on. Whatever you do, though, don’t say anything or run off, it may disrupt my journey.”

  “Why couldn’t you do this in your room?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t always know what’s going on. We talked about that. Sometimes you just have to follow your instincts, that little voice inside.” He stopped for a moment, removed his rattle, and handed Mindy the backpack.

  “I just stand here?”

  “Oh,” Dan said while removing the cedar needle bag from his pocket. He opened the bag, looked around, and walked behind a few trash bins. “Over here. This will do.” She joined him. “Use the backpack to sit on. It’s not too dirty back here. My notebook’s in there, which should add a little more protection against moisture seeping through. Hold your praying man and just sit still unless I need you.”

  “How will I know if you need me?” she asked while situating herself with crossed legs.

  “You’ll know.” He opened the baggy and spread the needles around in a circle that encompassed her and where he planned to sit. He patted her shoulder. “Added protection.” Then he sat down with his rattle and began shaking it.

  “That should scare anyone away.”

  “Shush,” he said, “I’m working here.”

  When he arrived at the covered train station, there was only one train to take, but seven additional tracks, all empty. He got onto the train just before it pulled out of the station. Once the train broke into the open, Dan stared out the window and saw that other trains were heading toward the station, but that there didn’t appear to be any trains traveling away from the station as he was
.

  He got up and trudged from car to car. There were items left either on the seats or under the seats, but no people, so he stopped to inspect what was there and much of it looked as though it belonged to children: picture books, small purses, petite backpacks emblazoned with pink animals. He continued through the train bent on reaching the engine. No guide had appeared. Not that he hadn’t gone it alone many times, but he needed a guide this time.

  He asked. For a moment he saw Cockroach again, but knew he wasn’t being asked to shrink down. Cockroach was there as a sign of some sort. It ran across the floor and under the door between cars. Dan followed into the next car but Cockroach had disappeared. Near the next door, up ahead, stood a rat. Dan hesitated. He didn’t like what he’d seen the last time Rat appeared. He cocked his head, and Rat cocked his head as well. “What are you doing here?” Dan asked.

  He got no answer. As he rushed forward, Rat scurried away like Cockroach had. “My presence,” Dan said aloud. He opened the next door and looked around for Rat or Cockroach but saw neither. “Come on. Something. I need a guide. I just know it.” Walking forward, he scanned each set of seats on both sides. At one point he stopped, thinking he saw something, but it was the cover of a children’s book, some kind of monster, cute though, and friendly looking.

  In the following car, he slowed and stopped. He smelled honeysuckle, which meant legal matters. Was that what was next? He walked forward and when he tried to open the next door, he saw that the honeysuckle had wrapped around its hinges in a thick mass. “What have you come to tell me?” he asked the plant.

  Honeysuckle eased its grip on the door, leaves relaxed, the vine loosened.

  “Can you speak to me? Will you?”

  Something excited the plant. Was it that he was there? That he recognized it? What could he do with the plant? He was asking too many questions. Let it alone. Stop asking and start following. The train slipped around a curve and he stepped into a row of seats and bent down to look out. The train station sat in the distance. Trains left the station, but quickly faded and disappeared. He thought he saw faces looking out the windows before they faded. He plopped into the seat nearest him.

  It was time to return. The rattle stopped, then proceeded in a return sequence. He was shaking the rattle. He knew that fact on one level, but only because that’s what was next, the return. In his altered state, he jumped up and ran back the way he’d come. There was no way he’d get back to the station, but he could return to the car he’d started in. But when he got to the other door, Honeysuckle was there, too. He was trapped. Rather than try to tear at the vines, Dan sat down and waited for the return signal.