WYWH, Chapter 11: Baby, It's Cold...Inside?

Oswald stayed as silent as he could inside the empty computer monitor box he had found. His heart beat so hard when he heard someone opening a box near him, he was sure they would find him. Finally, directly over his head, he heard Penfield's voice. "These boxes are full of old computer monitors -- did you check the back?"

Oswald heard a more distant voice. "Nothing, boss. Nobody in the refrigeration unit. Maybe he got out the back door." Penfield swore and kicked the box Oswald was in. Since the box contained something now, it did not give up a hollow sound which might have alerted Marshall. He heard steps going away from the box. "If he did, he's headed for the cops or the hotel. Drag those two into the freezer and secure them there, just in case the cops show up. Clean this place up, and make it fast. We'll split up and try to catch the kid before he alerts someone. If you all want paid, you'll meet me back here at...midnight.They should be awake by then, and I'll get what I need. Then we'll take care of them. Hurry up!"

Oswald breathed shallowly, quietly, and listened to the work, the bodies being dragged by his hiding place, the rapid footsteps that eventually faded away completely. When he was sure the other men were long gone, Oswald cautiously pushed up on the cardboard and peered out from the box. Thankfully, his hunch was correct; there was nobody there. As much as he was hoping Charlie or Don would be there, he was grateful the kidnappers were gone, at least for now.

But that brought on a whole new dilemma: where did they go? There wasn't exactly a lot of options. The cops, if they were anything like the FBI, they'd be canvassing the…. oh, who was Oswald kidding? The cops had probably forgotten about the case since Don wasn't there to hound them. Maybe even idiot cops could catch idiot crooks, though: Hadn't these geniuses considered breaking Charlie's legs before staging his supposed suicide?

He stepped out of the box and tumbled into the darkness. It must have been dusk outside, because there was poor visibility in the warehouse. Hardly any light at all. He stumbled over to another monitor box -- one that actually contained a monitor -- and sat down for a moment, tiredly.

Wait. A new thought had occurred to him – hadn't they said they'd be back, to take care of things once and for all? He flew from the box with newfound energy. He had to find Don and Charlie – they'd know what to do. He stumbled around the place, hoping for a light switch, wondering at the same time if that was too much for hope for.

It must not have been. He found one. He didn't waste time wondering why an abandoned warehouse had electricity, but blinked and scanned the area, looking for anything that resembled a large box or storage unit. Not seeing one, he made his way towards the only door he knew about, deciding to at least get out and call for help while he could. A few minutes later, surprised but heartened, he found himself next to something that definitely could be a cold storage unit of some kind. Excited by his discovery, he pounded on the door and yelled. "Anyone in there?"

His heart soared when he recognized Don's voice. The Agent must have regained consciousness. "Oswald?"

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Alan was growing more pissed by the minute. Don was not answering his cell phone. Colby actually had a smirk playing at his face, wondering what was going to happen when they arrived at their destination and Don had lost his cell phone, again, and compounded the offense by not being at the airport to pick them up. He loved seeing the team leader reduced to a little boy in trouble with his father.

"No answer yet?", Colby asked, trying to remember that the reason they were here in the first place was much more important than humiliating Don. They had arrived, via taxi, at the police station. Alan had originally said the hotel, but changed his mind when his son hadn't been answering his cell phone.

Alan shook his head. Damn it, Colby thought, starting to get worried now. Why wouldn't Don answer? If things had just gotten away from him somehow, Alan would give him a piece of his mind; Colby wasn't worried about that. But they were all here because Charlie was missing, and Colby was becoming increasingly concerned that now Don was missing, also. Don had only lost his cell phone once that Colby knew about, and that was when he'd been in a SWAT situation where the phone had been blown up because it had fallen from his belt.

Alan didn't bother to answer the question, but countered with one of his own. They had been standing unattended at a counter in the reception area for almost five minutes, and Alan had reached the end of his patience; yet, found himself at a loss. "Colby? Where to now?" Alan's voice sounded surprisingly unsure. Colby had never heard the man's voice waver since he had known him, and it threw him for a minute.

Finally a female officer moved down the counter to them, leaving another civilian looking as confused as they felt. She smacked her gum. "Yeah? Help you?"

Colby fixed her with an intimidating eye and flashed his badge. "FBI. We're here to speak with the officers assigned to the Eppes case."

Instead of becoming more businesslike, the woman leaned on the counter and turned into Chatty Cathy. "Dude! What a circus that was this morning! Rickett and Stanley brought in this kid, Oswald something. They were raking him over the coals pretty good, and then this other FBI agent shows up…" Her face took on the glow of discovery. "Hey! I think his names was Eppes, too – just like the vic! I guess that explains why he was so pissed. Man, I was just glad to see Rickett and Stanley taken down a notch! Not to mention Cap'n James. Shit, was he angry when that Eppes went off on them all! I heard from some guys watching through the two-way that Cap's face actually turned purple when the FBI guy blew his working theory right outta the water and made him look…" She glanced around nervously and lowered her voice. "Well, you know."

Alan had been trying to follow the explosion of information, but found himself lacking. "What was his theory?"

She leaned forward a little more, whispering conspiratorially. "Well, he said that this Oswald kid had killed the missing Eppes because the guy was making moves on him, if you get my drift. You know, because the one missing is older, and in a different class socially. They figured that he had to be interested in the kid, ya know?"

Alan lunged for her, wanting to wrap his hands around her neck, and only Colby's quick reflexes prevented that from happening. Alan fumed. "My son would NEVER take advantage of ANYONE in that way, and he's not…not that…." He was growing flustered. Alan took a breath and reminded himself that even if Charlie had been gay – which Alan was fairly certain he wasn't, having witnessed a number of his son's 'morning-after' breakfast dates – Chicago PD had no right to accuse him of something like that. He allowed Colby's restraining hand to stay on his arm, but scowled at the female officer. "I'll sue this entire department for slander and character assassination!"

She stepped back from the counter and crossed her arms. "Yeah, well, good luck with that," she noted nonchalantly. "That Eppes FBI guy is already threatening to sue for the unlawful detainment of the Oswald kid It's not like we have any money anyway." Her eyes flickered to a place behind Alan and her posture stiffened. "Here's Cap'n James now. Why don't you just take up your concerns with him?"

Alan whirled and confronted a man who resembled a weasel, but sported a gold badge. This had to be the guy. "My name is Alan Eppes, and I want to know what you're doing to find my son! This…this officer…explained your theory, and I assure you, Charlie is not gay; not that his sexual preference is any of your business. In addition, he would never act in such a manner – Oswald is simply a young man he is trying to influence in a positive way!" Alan was growing even more furious with himself for defending Charlie. His son did not need defending – he needed finding. He glared at the still-silent Captain James. "I want to see the Chief of Police. This morning I had one son missing. Not only have you not dealt successfully with that, now my other soon is missing as well!"

Colby cautiously entered the one-sided conversation, speaking to Alan. "Knowing Don and his lack of tolerance for incompetence – and his full-on obsession with taking care of Charlie – I'm willing to bet dollars to cheesecake he went off on his own investigation."

"That would have been very foolish." Captain James finally managed to get in a few words. "He's not familiar with our area."

Alan advanced a step, reducing the space between his face and the Captain's to more inches. "Chief of Police. Now."

The Captain narrowed his eyes and Colby saw him finger the gun on his hip. "Make an appointment," he sneered, before he turned and walked away.

After watching the retreat for a few seconds, Alan stormed wordlessly toward the building's exit. Colby followed, thinking as he did that he was beginning to understand where Don got his temper.

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Oswald was near a state of panic for the fourth or fifth time that day. The door to the freezer unit was on some kind of combination time-lock, and after a few minutes of frustrating, pointless effort, Don had instructed him to go back to the hotel and find his father and Colby, who should be waiting for him by now. It was clear that Don still did not trust the Chicago PD.

So Oswald had run from the warehouse, and eventually, got far enough into a more heavily populated area that he found a cab. He had dug around in his pockets and scraped together enough money to get within a few blocks of the hotel, but on the way he became more worried about showing his face there, again. The cab driver had called him a few names when Oswald discovered that he hadn't saved any money for a tip, and he scrambled out of the back seat quickly and automatically started for the hotel.

The closer he got, the more sure he was that he shouldn't go back there. He had heard the guys who had kidnapped them all say that was one of their destinations, after all. He supposed he could go to Chicago PD anyway, but he agreed with Don's assessment. They were morons. He continued walking while he thought. If the men were at the hotel and they saw him, he would surely be captured again. That couldn't be good.

Maybe he could just go away and forget the whole thing. He hated to abandon Charlie, but he didn't know what to do, anymore. Calling Don had been his best and only idea. If he could get to the airport, find the money for a flight to anywhere out of Chicago, he could just disappear. Never be seen again.

No. That would be bad. They already suspected him of Charlie's possible murder, and if he fled town, he'd be arrested. Plus, if Don and Charlie were killed – a possibility that turned his stomach – this Penfield would pin it on him. He couldn't let either one of those things happen. Oswald had to find a way out of this mess.

Any other day, his head would be up and he would be looking at his surroundings. He would be trying to decide which of the passing cars he would buy after he got rich. He would be figuring the statistical odds of becoming that rich before the age of 30. But today was not a normal day, and Oswald was staring at the sidewalk, glum, as he walked toward the hotel.

Nobody was more surprised than he was, when, not looking where he was going, he slammed head-on into Alan Eppes.