The Key part 2
"Okay, what did you find?" Chris collapsed into his chair ready to listen, his gaze fixed on JD to start.
"David Easter showed up here in town about two years ago, two months after Ezra disappeared in Denver," JD started reading from the notes he'd compiled. "He bought this place, restored it and opened it within another month, without needing any loans. Being the only hotel in town, closest chains are about a half hour from here, he's done good business and the locals seem to like him even though he tends to keep to himself, has no close friendships and no current girlfriends. Any past relationships seem to have ended quite badly as far as he does all the dumping." JD paused and looked apologetic.
"Anything on him before he moved here?" Chris asked.
Vin took over. "Supposedly he's from Virginia. Raised by his parents Ellen and John Easter. He went to college locally, earned a master's in business administration and worked for his father in a family owned restaurant until his parents were killed in a car accident two and a half years ago. Ended up here, to fulfill his dream of having a place on the beach. I haven't had time to check yet on any of the truth of this," Tanner finished.
Silence descended on the room, none of the information bringing any real answers to their questions. The only thing that worked was the time line.
"We need a DNA or fingerprint match," Nathan commented.
"It's him," Chris stated firmly. "But it won't hurt to have proof."
"We should be able to get a print easy enough from the piano." Buck nodded.
A sharp sudden knock on the door startled them all. Chris crossed the room and checked the peephole. "Get ready," he said quietly and slid the chain lock off. He opened the door to reveal David standing there.
"I need to talk to you," David declared.
"Come in." Chris held the door open further and stepped back.
David entered and seemed to freeze, seeing everyone else there. He'd needed to confront Larabee, but all of the men together stirred his fear again.
Chris watched carefully, seeing the fear and great effort to control it. "Have a seat and I'll introduce you." He motioned to the armchair.
David shook his head. "I'm fine," he said, unwilling to move away from the door and his only means of escape.
Chris nodded and crossed the room, sitting in the chair himself. "These are friends of mine from Denver. We run a private investigations company together."
"What do you want with me?" David interrupted. "I know you've been asking about me all over town. You want answers? Here I am." He wondered how much they could see through his false bravado. He couldn't seem to read any of their expressions.
"Have you ever heard the name Ezra Standish?" Chris asked point blank.
David shook his head. "No, why?"
"You're Ezra Standish," Nathan answered.
David barked out a choked laugh, fighting to ignore the fact that the walls seemed to be moving in on him. "You've got to be kidding."
No one smiled and his fear grew. "You're making a huge mistake. I'm David Easter."
"Prove it," Buck said softly.
"Prove I'm not!" David threw back harshly.
Vin handed David a file folder and Easter stared at it, watching it shake in his hands. Slowly he flipped it open. He skimmed the contents, seeing his picture, ATF credentials, a birth certificate and passport as well as information that made no sense to him. "Could just be a guy who looks a lot like me for all you know." He tossed the file back at Vin. "It's not me." His vision darkened a second and he swayed.
"You okay, Son?" The deep voice next to him startled him and he backed into the door before the older man could touch him.
"I'm not your son." He didn't understand why everyone was smiling suddenly. "You're wrong." He told them.
"Just hear us out, David," Buck requested.
David wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room and insist they all check out immediately, but something unyielding held him in place. "You have five minutes."
"You saw the ATF credentials?" Chris asked.
"Yes, I've never worked for the government."
"Well, we all used to," Chris told him. "We were a team and you…Ezra was our undercover agent. He disappeared without a trace while working a case just over two years ago."
"Right before you opened this place," JD added.
"We've been searching for him…you ever since," Buck commented.
"All you have is coincidence." David shook his head trying to clear it. "I moved here after my parents died."
"Do you remember Maude?" Nathan asked.
The room went black and the floor tilted.
"Shit." Buck jumped forward just catching David before he hit the floor. The man in his arms was shivering uncontrollably. "What the hell is going on?" Buck looked at Nathan for help.
"I have no idea." Nathan moved in to check David's vitals. "It could be shock from the stress of the situation?" Jackson sounded as confused as the rest of them.
"Back off," Josiah ordered suddenly.
"What?" Nathan looked at his friend like he'd gone crazy.
"I said, back off. Everybody, get out now."
"Do you know what's wrong with him? Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" JD asked.
"No. Now, get out." Recognizing their friend's tone, Nathan and Buck carefully lowered David to the floor and moved out of the room with the others.
Once alone with David, Josiah sat down on the floor beside the trembling man. "David, I want you to listen to me. I know you're scared and you feel out of control, but you're safe now. You are in control…you just have to listen to me. Can you hear me?"
There was a small decrease in the shaking. Josiah went on. "Do the walls feel like they're closing in on you? David, you're in control…you can push them back."
"No," the haggard voice rasped in denial.
"Yes, you can. You are in control…try it. Come on, David."
It took fifteen minutes of talking to bring David out of his attack. Finally, green eyes opened and focused, meeting Josiah's. "What happened?" Easter asked hoarsely.
"I believe you just had a rather severe panic attack," Sanchez answered honestly.
David looked confused. "You still think I'm this Ezra person?"
Josiah nodded.
"Why? Why do you even care so much?"
Josiah grinned and helped David sit up. "Something Ezra always struggled with…he was a part of our team, David. He was family and we've been searching for him for two years…searching for answers. We won't give up until we've found him…and brought him home."
"I'm not him," David mumbled almost enviously.
"Not right now you're not, but I promise we'll find the answers we're all looking for."
David looked at the large bearded man still confused by his comments. What did he mean? But Josiah merely smiled warmly and helped him to his feet.
When Sanchez called the others back in, he'd gotten David into the armchair with a stiff drink from the room's mini-bar. He sat still while he was formally introduced to everyone.
"You okay?" Chris asked once everyone was quiet.
David shrugged. "I guess…embarrassed as hell though."
Larabee grinned and sat on the edge of the bed looking at Josiah for more answers. "What's your theory?"
"I'm guessing hypnosis," Josiah told them.
"You mean like…you are getting sleepy--you are a chicken-- kind of hypnosis?" Buck asked incredulously.
Josiah shook his head. "No, I'm talking elaborate, drugs involved, full-out-, brainwashing- type hypnosis."
"Not amnesia?" Nathan questioned.
"No, he has too many memories of his childhood." Josiah motioned toward Chris, referencing what Larabee had told them earlier.
David snorted in spite of himself. "That sounds ridiculous."
"Sounds it, but given time, equipment and the right doctor…not impossible. Memories could have been erased and summarily replaced with new ones."
Easter shivered and paled as a scene from his nightmare flashed though his mind.
"David?" Josiah was calling him again. "Are you okay?"
Swallowing slowly, David nodded. "I have nightmares."
"How often?" Nathan asked.
"Every night. It's the same every night."
"Tell us," Chris prodded and David was surprised to find that for the first time ever he wanted to.
"It's just hands, wearing surgical gloves and coming at me with a hypodermic needle." David shook his head sheepishly. "Doesn't sound very frightening, but is scares the hell out of me," he admitted quietly.
"It fits," Nathan commented, agreeing with Josiah's theory.
"What about…what happened when he passed out?" JD asked.
"I'm thinking it's post-hypnotic suggestion," Josiah explained. "Safe guards implanted to keep David from seeking answers."
"Who would want to do something like that though?" Buck asked.
"That's what we're going to find out," Chris almost growled.
"I don't know what to believe," David said suddenly. He couldn't fathom what they were telling him and yet he found himself curious and anxious to prove them wrong.
"Can we take your fingerprints?" Chris questioned.
It sounded like the only sure way to prove to them who he really was. "Yes." David nodded. "Yes."
David sat on the cool tiled floor and leaned against his bathtub. The overhead light burned bright but comforted him as he shook from the remnants of his nightmare. He found himself staring at the stained tips of his fingers. He could still recall the solid grip Wilmington had held on his hand as he'd pressed each finger into the soft pad and then onto the page. Once Buck had finished, David had left, not able to stand around while total strangers tried to prove he didn't actually exist.
He figured he could wait until morning to find out the results, yet now, haunted by his dream and wide-awake—the only thing he could focus on was what Larabee and his team had proven…or not.
It took him another twenty minutes to push off the floor and get dressed. It was insanely early but since Larabee had shaken his life to the core, he felt no guilt about rousing the man out of bed. To his surprise, however, Larabee was up.
"I didn't expect you until later," Chris commented as he let David into the room.
"Yeah, well, seems I'm more curious about your claims then I thought." David bit his lower lip. "Did you run my prints?"
Chris simply handed him a print out. At first, none of the numbers or figures made any sense to Easter until he saw the large red text in the bottom corner. The words "confirmed match" set his heart rate racing. His hands trembled. "What does this mean?" he asked, knowing and yet not understanding the answer.
"You are Ezra Standish." Chris took the paper back, controlling his anger as he saw the fear and confusing in David's eyes, emotions the Ezra he knew would have worked so hard to hide…this Ezra, David, was an open book of conflicted feelings.
"I- I don't think I can be…" David didn't know how to explain. These men had so many expectations. How could they think he could just start-"being"- Ezra when all he knew how to be was David Easter?
"Relax, David," Chris assured, remembering Josiah's warnings not to push things too fast. "We'll get to the bottom of this and go from there."
"How?" David sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Chris pleadingly.
"One step at a time. Are you willing to let Josiah hypnotize you?"
David straightened and pulled back, unsure of what he thought of the idea. "Could he? I mean…can he?"
Chris smiled. "Josiah has a degree in psychology and in criminal profiling. He's qualified."
"Yeah, to find out if I'm a psychopath," David huffed with a grin.
"It might help with your nightmares," Chris suggested seriously.
"Now that is worth taking the risk over." Easter flashed a full smile so familiar that Chris was forced to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. The emotion washed over him again, relief despite the current situation-- Ezra was alive.
TBC...