Chapter Seven
BAU Headquarters
FBI Building
Quantico, VA
T + 18
Spencer
"And welcome to Coast to Coast AM, I'm your host Art Bell and before we get to tonight show we're back with FBI agents author Dave Rossi and his college Dr. Spencer Reid, once again trying to get those missing kids home. Now, Dave, from what you were telling me before the show this young lady we're trying to reach has some health problems, is that right?'
"Yes, Art, we believe she has." Rossi replied. "Unfortunately the cult her parents belong to don't believe in getting healthcare for themselves or their children so she's never received any treatment of any kind."
"And this has made her a shut-in?"
"Yes, it has. According to her letters she's never left the family home."
"That's a shame, that's a shame. Well what questions do you have for her tonight?"
"We're kind of running out of questions." Spencer admitted. "We've reached a lot of dead ends, unfortunately but we want her to keep writing to us with any information she has. We're hoping the child with her can maybe tell her the license plates of the vehicles they're driving, that way we can have the Sheriff Department's in the area on the lookout for them."
"How old is this boy again?" Art asked.
"He's five, as of last November."
"Well he's been a great little agent so far, hasn't he?"
"Just like his favorite, right here." Dave said, milking it a little. "Dresses like him every Halloween,"
"Does he really?"
Spencer could feel his ears burning. "Yeah, he does."
"I have an idea, if you're all out of questions let's open up the phone lines and see if any of our listeners can come up with anything. The phone lines are open at the usual numbers and you can e-mail questions as well. Remember we're talking about a young woman who'd being kept almost a prisoner by her family because of her disability, she is legally blind, and so her eyes and legs are a five year old boy who was kidnapped as one of six…"
"Eight now," Dave said.
"…eight all of whom have parents who love them and want them home as quickly as possible. All right, let's start with Marge from Tulsa; go ahead, you're on the air with Coast to Coast AM."
"Hello Art." It was an older woman's voice. "I want to know why this young girl is helping you. Why is she defying her father like this, does she know the risk she's taking? What risk is she taking? What will happen to her and that boy if they're caught?"
"Good question, what do you think will happen if they're caught, Dave?" Art asked. "Before you answer that though, is this a young girl? Are we talking a minor here?"
"According to her letters she's twenty-seven, so we are talking about an adult, just not one able to leave the house on her own. I'm not certain what the risk is, she has talked about her family using corporal punishment, so there is a chance that one or both of them would be beaten for trying to escape, that's why we're moving very carefully."
"At one point in her letters she did say that she understood and accepted that there will be repercussions for her family." Spencer added. "But she also said she thought this would be a blessing for them. We don't know why."
"I hope she knows what she's doing. How are they doing, by the way? Has he been beaten, are they looking after him?"
"This sounds to us like what we call kidnapping for illegal adoption." Dave replied. "It sounds like they're treating him like one of their own sons, including giving him a family name. Of course we don't know how they treat their children so this may or may not be a good thing, and we don't know about the other boys, they're not at that location. I'm sure his parents would like to know how he's doing though."
"I'm sure they would. Mark from Kansas City you're on the air with Coast to Coast AM."
"Hey Dave Rossi, a pleasure to hear from you and the Doc there." This was a slightly younger man. "My question is, what's going to happen to this woman after all this is over? And what about the rest of her family?"
"Any ideas?" Art asked.
Spencer's stomach flipped. He had been focused on Henry, he hadn't even thought of what would happen to Susanna. He pictured her leaving the Sheriff's department after being interviewed, going out to sit on a park bench and then…then...
"That's a really good question." Dave was saying. "Unfortunately at this point all adults in the house hold are conspirators; they'll have to go a ways to prove that they didn't know that this little boy who suddenly showed up belonged there. The children in the home will come under the authority of the local child protection agency; they'll either go to extended family or in to foster care. Hopefully we can track down some extended family members to take her in, an aunt or uncle perhaps."
"Well that's not good enough." Mark from Kansas City said. "Not with her sticking her ass out to do the right thing. How do you know that her extended family isn't just as messed up? Hey Art, any chance of getting a fund going, I'll stick a couple hundred in to help this woman get on her feet."
"I think that's a wonderful idea Mark." Art said warmly. "I'll see what we can do in the morning and announce it on tomorrow's show. In fact I'll match up to the, what, first ten thousand."
"As will I; and if what she's giving us brings the rest of those boys home there's a fair bit of reward money in it for her as well." Dave said. He cut out the mikes and looked over at Spencer's shocked face. "What? It's Henry."
"There we go!" Art said. "Now hold on folks, don't light up my board just yet, let us get the paperwork going and we'll tell you where you can donate tomorrow night. Lisa from Denver, you're on the air."
"Hi Art." A younger woman this time. "I'd like to know from this woman what she wants to do once she's out of the house. What her hopes and dreams are, what she wants to explore, anything like that."
"She hasn't really said anything in her letters." Spencer told them. "We've been focused on finding the boys. I know I…I hope she'd be willing to consent to a medical exam, there are no guarantees but there may be treatments out there that would at least help restore part of her eyesight."
"Really!" Art was shocked. "And her parents won't help her seek those out?"
"No, they won't."
"Well I hope you find them both real soon and keep us posted. This is Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM, we've been talking to author Dave Rossi and Dr. Spencer Reid, both of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit that is trying to get eight little boys home and help one brave young woman to freedom. Coming up M.J. Mike will be discussing Bigfoot, the Chupcabra and other strange beings of legend. Stay tuned!"
Nine days. Nine horribly long days. At least the last letter had been some comfort to JJ and Will. "Snowball fights." JJ had said as she slumped on Rossi's sofa. "I'm worried sick and he's off having snowball fights."
"Thankfully this appears to be a case of kidnapping for illegal adoption after all." Spencer had said.
"Thankfully?" Will asked. "Nothing thankful about it."
"No, he's right." JJ replied. "Kidnapping for illegal adoption comes with the lowest risk of any kind of abuse and the highest probability of a child coming home. I just hope she tells us what to expect."
In the meantime there was some collusion going on between Rossi, Garcia and Art Bell. "Okay, so we've set up a fund for her at a local bank." Garcia told them. "Between what she has so far and the matching grants and the reward money, assuming no one else comes forward first, she'll have over a hundred thousand in there."
"Well that ought to get her a start." Blake said.
"In addition I talked to a social worker friend who said she can help her navigate getting her birth certificate and Social Security and then seeing what kind of programs she'll qualify for." Garcia continued. "She'll probably have to make that stretch for a while until the paperwork is caught up. She's also going to need residential care until she learns how to navigate in the world, but if she wants it there's a company here in DC that runs group homes for disabled people, some anonymous donor offered to cover the bill for up to six years if she decides to go to school."
Spencer was shocked. "Wow, that…I mean just based on Bennington that…"
"It won't be as much, they said they have a transition house they run for women with severe vision problems who are still learning to get around, it's only lightly staffed, but still. I mean none of this means she has to take it, we have to remember that she's an adult; she has the right to make her own decisions. But it's all there if she wants it."
"She has to contact us first." Hotch said.
A moment later, Anderson tapped on the conference room door. "Another letter," he said.
This one was postmarked to Huntsville, Al. It included something different, a bible tract. "Is she trying to convert us?" Rossi asked.
"No, look." Blake said, turning it over. "It's from the Bellview Christian Center in Omaha. It must be from the event they attended. Garcia?"
"Going to look," Garcia took over the keyboard.
The picture Henry sent was all in black this time an angry face and lots of scribbles. "That is not a good sign." Morgan pointed out. "Reid?"
By now Spencer didn't even have to wait for Garcia to scan the letter. He caught the light just right and started reading.
Dr. Reid
I'm afraid I owe Henry's parents an apology. My father caught him playing with my sister's toys, a crime in Pastor Goodwin's books, and punished him for it. If I'd had any notion of his interest I would have warned him off. I am so sorry. That said, other than a sore bottom the only damage is that he's quite embarrassed and ashamed about the entire thing. I tried to tell him that he's done nothing wrong, that my father is in the wrong here, but it's not helping much. I'm not exactly certain why, which is probably the result of growing up in an entirely different culture. In my world bare bottom spankings of children are the norm, in your world they appear to be cause for deep distress. I find this a good thing in the abstract, even as I'm having trouble understanding.
"Well that explains the picture." Blake said crisply.
"We may want to let Carol Wilson make the arrest here." Rossi said. "Personally I might have to accidentally hit him with the car door a few times."
Henry said this piece of paper has a symbol on it like the ones you were asking about from the grocery store. I only hope it's a help. He was quite tickled when I told him you said he was a great little agent. That brought him back to smiles again.
Please pass my unending gratitude off to Mr. Bell and his listeners. For politeness sake I feel I must protest, they are being far too generous, but in truth I was wondering what I was going to do after this. From the sound of things I might be able to find a place to stay and someone to help me learn how to get around in the world before I have to find work. I don't know what I can do but if there's anything for someone in my condition I'm more than willing to work and work hard to earn my way.
Now if I'm remembering the questions correctly a woman from Tulsa asked why I was doing this. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. I'm not certain why Henry was taken from his family but there are no good reasons for that sort of thing. Pastor Goodwin preaches that his followers are somehow unique, that being in this world but not of it somehow absolves us from the laws of the land and the concept of human decency. Well he is wrong in that, he can't just take other people's children. As for what will happen if we're caught, well, I'm sure Henry would get the strap again, as would I. Beyond that I'm not certain. I'd probably be sent away somewhere, to some facility run by Pastor Goodwin, there to live out whatever days I'd have remaining. Whatever would happen, it is worth the risk.
You then asked how we were doing. Well other than the incident I mentioned we're all right I guess. No injuries to report and no illness. He's been studying and playing with the other boys from what I can tell. I've been teaching him the 23rd psalm, it seems appropriate. He complains about being hungry and cold quite often but then we all are. I can still remember the times I went to bed on a full stomach. I'm not certain if that's because we're trying to live off the land or because Pastor Goodwin preaches that children ought to be hungry as satisfaction feeds the sinful nature. He's not sick from it but I'm certain he'll appreciate his mother's cooking when he gets home. I'm just glad my room is over the kitchen, it's toasty in here for us during the day. That is my other reason for doing this. I want my siblings to have full bellies and good educations and to grow up strong and healthy. I want them to be able to follow their dream, whatever they may be, and to have the opportunity to love freely and have families of their own someday. Pastor Goodwin would deny them off of these things with his arrogance and his lies. If the only way to give them the opportunity to have these things is to get the police involved then so be it.
As for what's going to happen, what I want to have happen for myself, well first off I would truly love a long, hot shower. We're not allowed to be alone behind a closed door for more than five minutes to prevent the temptation to sin and I'm always the last one in the bath in the morning so I've always had mine short and cold. I'd love to just sop up the water until the heat runs out. After that I'd like some kind of a hot meal, I don't care what, only to eat until I'm full as a tick again. After that I'd like to try this sunscreen I read about once, and see if it would help me spend more than fifteen minutes out of doors at a time. I don't think I'll be able to walk far but I'd love to walk as long as I can.
Past that there are many things I'd like to try. I'd like to ride on a train someday, and a boat, and maybe an airplane. I'd like to ride on a Ferris wheel and a carousel and a roller coaster. I could fill this letter with the foods I want to try, pineapple and mangos and tapas and curry and Turkish delight and whatever a café mocha is and I want to try Henry's father gumbo and the little lobsters his grandmother taught him to eat. I want to stand on a street in a big city and just hear and smell and feel all the people and ideas all around me. I want to go to the opera and the symphony and listen to jazz in some small club somewhere. I want to walk through the English countryside and through a medieval cloister. I want to sit in a cathedral. I want to touch and taste and smell the ocean. I want to breathe the air of Africa.
But most of all I think I'd like to go to school. I want to be able to dig into every and any book, and discuss them with people who are alive and aware and interested in the world. I want to stop hiding my curiosity and my ability to understand. I want to talk to people who know more than I do and learn from them. I don't know to what end but I don't see why learning needs an end, it has a value unto itself. I want to learn.
And maybe, if I am truly blessed, someday I'll find someone who considers me special. Someone who is happy to see me and who is curious about what I experienced that day and who encourages me to learn and do more; someone who doesn't call me a freak or their sorrow or their shame or their burden; someone who might even find someone like me acceptable to look at. And maybe someone who….well, that dream is not appropriate for this letter.
I'm not going to say I want to see. I've never known anything but what I have so I wouldn't know what I was asking for. Besides, that might be too much to hope for.
What I do hope is that this slip of paper helps you find us.
Fingers crossed.
SH
