Hope everyone has a safe 4th of July! Let me know what you think and thanks to all for reading!
Do not own, make no money.
Chapter 19: Run!
Harris heard William over the phone, telling him how they had left the kid in the hands of some doctor at St. Vincent's, locked up tight behind a metal door that would only open when a card was scanned from the outside. They had made certain to leave him on the floor where they locked up the kids considered dangerous, but something about it nagged at the back of the agent's brain and a low growl escaped him.
Harris quickly asked the name of the doctor they had dealt with, and once that information was shared his brain started processing it. Payne. He knew that name. He recognized it from somewhere. He thought for a long moment while William told him they were turning in for the night and would contact him first thing in the morning.
Harris still held his phone to his ear, his mind not hearing William's words. He was trying to remember the name. "Dr. Payne." He muttered as he walked over to the desk of his hotel room. He looked at the papers he had scattered about in his own organized disarray. He found the official court documents, lifted them from the desk to study them and let his eyes skim down the page. There it was. Dr. Joyce Payne sat in on the kid's statement against Jordan as a court assigned advocate. She had also been in charge of the boy's case at one point, when he'd been housed at St. Vincent's years before.
"See you in the morning boss." William spoke once more.
"You fucking moron, you handed the kid over to someone who knows him!" Harris yelled as he slammed the papers back down to the desk. "Both of you get your asses back over to that place. I'll meet you there." He hung up the phone before William had a chance to question him. He should have known better than to use new recruits for a job like this. Hell, his own boss had warned him.
Harris reached for the hotel phone and called down to the front desk. "I need my car brought around, now." He snapped the words at the unfortunate hotel employee who picked up. He slammed the phone down and grabbed his coat off of the back of the brown chair next to the door just as his cell phone rang again.
Harris expected it to be William again, or Jim, neither one seemed to be able to take orders without some kind of argument. He flipped the phone open without looking at the caller I.D. "What the hell do need now? Can't you understand basic orders?" His voice rose with each word.
"I need to know the status of our situation, Harris." The voice seemed calm enough, but Harris had come to know that calm sounding didn't mean the man speaking was calm.
"I'm sorry sir, I just found out I have a situation here." He cleared his throat nervously. "I'm taking care of it though."
"Enlighten me, Harris. I don't like waiting for a phone call that never comes." The man still seemed calm enough.
Harris understood the reference his employer was making. He was supposed to be checking in with him several times a day, and he had yet to call him that evening to update him because he'd been waiting to hear from his men, to know the kid was locked up tight for the night. "Well, sir, I was about to call you, but…"
He didn't have a chance to finish his statement.
"You fucked up, didn't you Harris. You let the kid get away somehow, without getting the answers I need." The voice on the other end of the phone grew a bit softer. "I suppose if you are working on fixing this situation I shouldn't hold you up. Call me in an hour Harris or I'll have to find someone who can get this job done."
Dead air hit Harris' ear before he could respond to the order. He shook his head slowly and closed up his phone before moving out the door.
Craig's mind swam between images of Evelyn Mercer smiling at him and his own mother, Lydia Macks holding her arms out towards him, calling him to her. He went to Evelyn's warmth and hid in her when Lydia called to him that she had present for him, a very special present. He turned to find Lydia holding the small blue bunny that he'd carried around as a youngster. The bunny that he was sure Evelyn had given to him not long after he'd come to live with her, or maybe just before when he was at St. Vincent's, because he was almost sure he'd clung to it there when he was locked away in his own silence. He turned and moved with caution back to Lydia, his mom. She had never really been mean; in fact, when she was straight she was almost able to be a real mother. He knew now that she did love him, she just couldn't crawl out of the drugs enough to show him the way normal mothers showed their love.
The wind seemed to blow around him, sending a chill down his back as he approached Lydia with his hands reaching out towards that little blue bunny. In his dream it looked new, like he remembered from when he was very small, and not worn and stained as it had become over the years.
Lydia reached out and grabbed his arm and he suddenly felt as small as he had when he was five. "You take good care of the bunny. You keep him with you all of the time, you promise me." Lydia leaned down to look him in the face. "Promise me you won't let anyone else see the bunny or touch it. He's yours and you have to keep him safe."
"I promise." Craig cried out and reached for his bunny again. "Please Mommy let me have him." He felt scared that the bunny would disappear from his sight if she didn't hand him over now.
Lydia looked up, her attention shifted to something behind him as she almost gently pushed the plush stuffed animal into his hands. "Here; now you promised. You keep him safe, no matter what happens. You don't let Daddy know you have him Craig. I mean it; it would be bad if Daddy knew."
Another form moved towards them, a dark and shadowy figure. Craig felt the fear building and was certain that his father was there and knew he had the stuffed toy. He didn't have toys, he wasn't allowed. Lydia smiled at the figure, but Craig couldn't see a face. He could see enough to know it was man, but as the man moved closer he could see it wasn't Adam Macks. Still the fear seemed to hang in the air around him.
"You see, I told you it would be that easy. It will be safe, I promise." The stranger spoke quietly. "Now relax." He turned towards Craig, and his face, though blurry, came into view.
Craig jerked awake, sitting up as he did. He felt around the bed for Bobby and his hands hit a wall. His mind was confused, and the first thought that hit him was if he wasn't in his mother's bed he must be in his own room. He turned to where the room should have been and found pitch black. The panic gripped at him and he moved out of the bed, his feet hitting cold tile.
He tried to remember where he was and why, but his mind was still a haze of sleep, blurred faces and blue bunnies. He grabbed the mattress and pulled it onto the floor, trying to locate his blue bunny. He'd kept it under the mattress for a long time and that was the first place he thought to look. When he found nothing but cold springs under his fingers he dropped to his knees and felt around for the floorboard that concealed the toy. Cold tile screamed back at him that he wasn't in his room. "Bobby!" He cried out and fell back onto his butt. He scooted backwards until his back hit solid wall. "Bobby!" His voice came with weakness that time as he squeezed his eyes closed and waited for his brother to come in and pull him out of his nightmare.
Silence was the only response from the dark. His still partially drugged mind went back in time to the darkness had held Sweet on the other side, and then Bradley Jordan, and ultimately his father. His arms hugged at his stomach and he drew his knees up towards his chest to rest his chin on them. "Mom," He barely gasped the word out. He needed someone to pull him from the dark. He was going stiff, unable to move or rip his mind away from the memories he held of the dark places he'd been trapped in so recently.
The sound of snapping metal seemed to fill the room and then hinges creaked loudly as light filtered in, first it was a thin line of yellow lighting up the floor and the edge of the bed, but it grew wide as a door on the opposite wall opened.
"Craig?" A woman's voice called out and a form appeared in the light. The shadowy outline of a woman moved towards him. It reminded him of the dream he'd just had. "Dear, you need to get off of the floor." Hands reached for him and though he pulled back from them, he really had no place to pull away to. His back was already against the wall.
As the woman entered the room the lights switched on as if by magic and Craig squeezed his eyes closed from the blinding brightness. "Where am I?" He asked, knowing that he sounded like a scared little kid, but not willing to take the time to care at that moment. "Where is Bobby?" He could hear movement, the sound of the mattress brushing against the floor and then hitting the springs of the bed.
Hands took hold of his arms, and pulled him gently away from the wall and upwards. "Come on dear, come back to the bed."
Craig chanced opening his eyes and looked up into Dr. Payne's gaze. He felt tears starting to flow. "I'm at St. Vincent's." He stated the obvious as he stood and allowed the doctor to step him back to the bed where he sat down.
"Yes, you are." Dr. Payne looked down at him with a small smile and reached up to smooth some hair away from his face. "Do you remember how you got here?" She asked carefully.
Craig shook his head and looked around the small room. Other than the bed it was empty.
"What do you remember?" Joyce Payne sat down next to the boy on the bed.
Craig's mind seemed to kick into action when he tried to remember. Jack had been arrested, and he'd been taken by Children's Services, but it wasn't anyone from his mother's office, they were from someplace else and they were taking him away and hiding him from Bobby. "They took me away." He quickly pulled his eyes away from Dr. Payne, diverting his gaze to the floor. "They took me and they aren't going to take me back." He felt tears clutching at his throat. "They took me away from home." He shook his head. His right arm started to itch as panic grew inside of him. He fought the urge to scratch at it though it seemed to grow with each passing thought that ran through his mind.
"Craig, it's all right. You are safe." Dr. Payne spoke calmly and carefully slid her arm across Craig's shoulders, obviously ready to pull back if she had the slightest clue from him that he didn't want the comfort.
Craig was surprised to find himself drawn to the feeling of a mother's touch, though it wasn't his mother. He buried his face into Dr. Payne's shoulder and sobbed, letting his mind imagine it was Evelyn Mercer holding him, though he knew better.
"Okay, it's going to be fine, I promise." Dr. Payne soothed him by rubbing circles in the middle of his back. She let him cry for quite some time before making him sit up on his own accord. "Now, enough of that, there is no reason to be so upset. You are going to be fine."
Craig suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Of course she would say that to him, she was helping Harris keep him away from his brothers. He had trusted Dr. Payne when he was small and it had felt natural to let down his guard with her, but he'd just cried on the shoulder of one of the people who were keeping him from his home and family. He pulled back from Dr. Payne. He had been able to trust her at one time, but not now. She was sitting there telling him it was going to be all right but she was keeping him there in a dark room behind a locked door. The intensity of the itching doubled. He started to scratch at it with his left hand, his nails flicking at the thin scabs that had formed from his earlier attempt to dig the itch out of his skin.
The doctor seemed to sense the change in him. "Craig, you can trust me." The older woman stood and stepped over to the door. She looked out into the hall, first to her left and then to her right as if she wanted to be certain they were alone, before stepping back into the room and pushing the door almost closed, but not quite, before turning back to Craig, and noticed the scratching. She reached out with one hand and took hold of his left hand, easing it back from his arm. "When those men brought you in, they tried to tell me some story. They said that you were a runaway from Southfield. I recognized you, obviously, it would be impossible for me not to recognize my favorite rising star; I felt it was best if they thought I believed them. They left you here for the night, after taking your shirt and shoes. I suppose they don't expect a children's home to have anything like clothes on hand, just in case children might need to dress." Her voice carried as thick sarcasm that held a note of Evelyn Mercer in it.
Maybe it was the graying hair that hung around her face, loose from the hairpins she'd used to clip it back, maybe it was the warmth that seemed to radiate from around her eyes, but Craig's fear started to melt as he looked at her. He could remember the first time he'd met Dr. Payne, she hadn't been crowned with gray hair at the time, but a brilliant auburn hue that reminded him of autumn somehow. She had been patient with him, and she had talked quietly and moved slowly around him. He had learned to trust her then, and it was Joyce Payne that had brought Evelyn Mercer to him.
"I'm confused." Craig muttered, not sure why he felt he could trust the doctor now. It wasn't as if he'd had much contact with her since Evelyn had taken him home as a foster son. Sitting across from her and Mr. Porter in the D.A.'s office was the last time he'd seen her and talked to her in any way.
"Well, that makes two of us sweetie." Joyce Payne moved back to sit next to him again, still keeping a loose hold on his hand. "Tell me what happened, as best as you can."
Craig felt it spill out of head with more speed than his voice could keep up with. He told her about how his father came back from the dead and came after his brothers, trying to kill them all. He told how Adam Macks hit on him right there in front of his mother's grave until Bobby dove into him to save him. The words ran over his tongue as he described how Jack had put aside his own fears and picked up a gun to save them all by putting a bullet into Adam Macks. That entire nightmare in the cemetery filled his head and emptied out in words. He squeezed his eyes closed as he shared what little he knew about Harris, and how the man was ripping apart his life and he didn't know why. He told her that he was sure Jack was in jail, but he didn't know about his other brothers. He was scared and alone, and he wanted to go home, and he told her that. As he spoke the itching that had dug into his arm seemed to vanish.
Once the words stopped the room fell into near silence. The only sound was his breathing, and a small sigh from Joyce Payne. They sat there for what seemed an eternity.
"Well, we need to find some clothes for you." Joyce finally stood slowly and gave his hand a slight tug, to urge him up after her. "If you are going home you are going to need some shoes on your feet, a shirt on your back and I'm sure a coat will be needed."
Craig looked at her for a long moment. "You're going to take me home?" He wasn't sure he believed it could be possible.
"I won't have to. I've spoken with Mr. Porter, you remember him, don't you? He was well aware that you were missing. He contacted Mr. Bradford and he gave me the contact information for Lieutenant Green." She smiled at him. "Someone should be here shortly to move you out of here. I don't know how long we will have to wait, but you should be ready to go when the time comes, don't you think?"
Craig's heart started racing and he stood, his hold her hand tightened slightly. He allowed her to pull him into the hall and past a lounge area. He recognized the door that led into the doctor's office from years before. Dr. Payne released his hand long enough to dig a key out of the pocket of her slacks and quickly unlock the door before grasping him again to pull him inside the reception area cluttered with files.
When he was six years old the whole place had felt massive and intimidating. Now it seemed rather cramped and stale. The reception area was surrounded in thick, clear plastic that sealed in the work space and a second door to the actual office.
The office door was not locked and the doctor turned on the light as soon as they walked through it. "I took the liberty of going through the clothes bins while you were sleeping." Dr. Payne let go of his hand and motioned to a stack of clothes folded neatly on her desk. "I wasn't sure about the sizes, so I grabbed a couple of everything. They may be too big, but you pick the best that will fit you and get dressed. I'll be right outside, okay?" She smiled, but didn't give him a chance to thank her before she left him on his own.
Craig looked at the shirts and shoes sitting on the metal desk. Dr. Payne had grabbed several long sleeved cotton shirts and thermal shirts and two pairs of gym shoes. The shoes looked practically brand new, and he almost felt guilty taking them when he knew someone else at St. Vincent's probably needed them more than he did. He didn't let his mind dwell on the thought long though, as he remembered his reason for needing the shoes.
He quickly pulled a dark blue thermal shirt over his head and stuffed his arms into it. It was too big, and his arms seemed lost until he managed to poke his fingers out the ends to bunch the sleeves up, forming bulging mountains of blue up his arm. He grabbed a green and blue checked shirt that buttoned up the front, again too big for him, but it fit over the first shirt just fine. He grabbed the shoes and sat down on the sofa lining the wall next to the door to try them on. He didn't care which pair he took, so long as his feet fit into them.
When Craig opened the door he found Dr. Payne holding her cell phone in her hand and mumbling curses that would endear her to Bobby's heart if he'd been around to hear them. That thought stabbed at the boy's chest. "Okay, I'm ready." He spoke quietly.
"This damn phone is driving me crazy." Joyce Payne looked at Craig and her expression softened as she smiled. "Well, that looks nice."
Craig didn't know what to say, so he just gave his shoulders a slight shrug.
"Evelyn did wonders with you Craig. I wanted nothing more than for you to grow up healthy and happy, in a stable home. I know she gave that to you, she gave that to all of her boys. I want to get you back there, okay?" She spoke carefully.
Craig couldn't find his voice, he merely nodded his head.
Dr. Payne sighed heavily. "I was trying to call Lieutenant Green to find out when he would be here, but I can't seem to get my phone to work. I know his number is on here, I called him earlier, but I can't find it. I'm not very good with this thing; I greatly prefer an old fashioned phone with a rotary dial and wires that feed into walls. I haven't taken well to technology I'm afraid. I can't even work the damn computer they insist we use. My assistant does all of that." The good doctor held her phone out towards Craig, "Help?"
Craig reached out with his right hand to take the phone and assist the Doctor in finding Green's number. The door at the end of the hall burst open, crashing into the wall with a loud bang before Craig had a chance to take the phone. Craig looked up, startled by the loud footsteps; more than one person, he could tell before he looked. Dr. Payne looked startled as well as the figures came into view at the end of the hall.
Craig recognized the first man immediately. "Harris." He muttered, knowing without looking that the other two figures with him would be William and Jim.
"Oh dear, come on, through here." Dr. Payne grabbed hold of Craig's hand and pulled him out the door into the hall. He wanted to run the opposite direction of the men coming towards them, but Dr. Payne pulled him towards the lounge. "Trust me Craig." She spoke quietly when Craig tried to pull away from her and move in the direction that felt safe.
"Hey, stop right there!" Harris called out as soon as he seen them moving towards the security gate that led into the lounge.
Craig heard the footsteps of the men increase as they started running. Dr. Payne scanned her badge at the gate of the fence like structure that separated the lounge from the rest of the area and pulled Craig through. She slammed the gate closed just Harris, William and Jim reached it.
"Doctor, you have no idea what you are messing with here!" Harris yelled through the chain link wires separating them.
Dr. Payne didn't stop to look back at the men, who were now shaking at the gate hard. She pulled Craig past the couches, game tables and chairs, and a dark and quiet television, to the far wall, where a gray metal door marked as an emergency exit met them. "Run!" She called to him as she pushed on the crash bar holding the door closed.
Craig wasn't surprised when an alarm rang out through the whole building within a second after the door was pushed open. About the time Dr. Payne pulled him into the stairwell that led downward, the sound of gunshots behind them joined the shrill sounding alarm. Craig found his feet moved much faster with knowledge of the actual danger they were running from. He passed Dr. Payne and was soon the one pulling her down the metal stairs.