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Legal stuff still counts.
Chapter 31: Clues
"Fuck." Bobby pushed his way past Jack and Jerry to the restroom door. His voice was louder than it should have been. "Craig?" But the restroom was empty. He turned back to his brothers.
"He's done gone on one of his walks." Jeremiah sighed. He and Jack were still standing just inside the door, their blank stares scanning the room.
Angel lingered at the doorway next to Sofi, holding the door open, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know man; I don't think he would take off, not when he knew where we were and what we were doing. I think someone showed up and took him out of this room. I would have expected him to fight them though."
"Who the hell could have been here?" Bobby cried out. "He wouldn't have just left, he knows what the hell is going on here, he knows better." He was trying to convince himself that his little brother wouldn't just wonder off, not now, not when it was so important that he stick tight to the room, like he'd been told.
Bobby had made sure Craig had swallowed each and every one of his pills. He should have been sleeping, not roaming around the halls somewhere. It didn't make sense that he'd leave the room. No, someone had to have been there, someone took him; that was the only answer. His mind was churning around who could have possibly busted into the room and snatched the kid. Harris was with the cops; Winston was at the other end of the hotel, holed up in a fancy assed suite. What about Harris' two goons, William and Jim? They had been taken to the hospital, but were they going to be held afterwards? If they had been held, had they been released already? No, if Harris' goons had been released Green would have given them a warning call.
There was a missing piece of the puzzle and Bobby couldn't figure it out. The only other answer was that Craig had walked out of the room on his own, with no one forcing him. Bobby studied the room, there was no sign of a fight, and nothing was out of place. The kid's shoes even rested on the floor next to the bed. If he had taken off, wouldn't he have put on his shoes as least? They had been through too much in the past weeks for the boy to give into old habits, right? He was trying to convince himself Craig had gotten past the need to run off when things got hard to deal with. But another part of his brain was remembering the emotional rollercoaster the kid had been on recently, that day in particular.
Harris had snatched him and taken him off, alone. Bobby still wasn't sure what the man had said to Craig. Craig hadn't told him much, he'd said Harris didn't really ask him about anything other than the day Macks had been killed, but Bobby wasn't sure if he believed that so much. It felt empty. What if Harris had done or said more than Craig had shared with them, something that had the kid reeling? It wouldn't be the first time the teen had gotten lost in his emotions and wondered off. It was what he did; it was what he was good at, just taking off on his own. He'd taken off from Johnny's the day Macks had caught him up to him in the cemetery. He'd nearly frozen to death the day he walked out of Jeremiah's house. He'd run the day they found out what had really happened the day their mother was murdered. Hell, he'd taken off the morning of Thanksgiving and roamed the streets without any kind of coat. The kid was a runner, and when shit got tough was when he ran. Well, shit was definitely tough for them all at the moment.
Jack looked at Bobby, "Maybe he decided he needed to take a walk?" He looked almost hopeful, contradicting the feeling that was washing over Bobby when he considered Craig taking off for one of his walks.
"You think that's a good thing Cracker Jack?" Angel spoke from the doorway, his words sounding hard.
"I think it would be better than the alternative, yeah." Jack turned and looked back at Angel. He was about to say more but his mouth hung open for a second too long. His eyes shifted slightly and it was obvious he was focused on something in the hallway. "What the hell is that?" His hand waved towards the hallway behind Angel.
Angel turned and sidestepped around Sofi. He leaned over and picked something off the floor, "A paper bag." He held it up and crumpled it up in his hand. "I think you're right, someone was here." He met Bobby's gaze.
Jeremiah shook his head. "Who the hell would have known where we were? No one knows except Green and Johnson." He stepped over to the bed and sat down. "No, no one was here; the kid took off, just like he's good at. I'm tellin' ya." He sounded exhausted.
Bobby wasn't sure what was going on. "Well, there there's one way to find out. I'm gonna go down to the lobby and ask a few questions. If someone got into this room they had a card, and that means someone had to check in at the desk. If no one got a key, then the kid took off." He was pissed. Really, he was scared shitless, but pissed off was how it was coming out, and he didn't mind that one bit. He did 'pissed' well; 'scared' was more difficult to deal with. He moved past Jeremiah and Jack and headed for the door. Angel stepped back to clear the way, pulling Sofi with him.
Bobby remembered the papers Sofi and Jack had managed to snag from Winston's room. He turned back to look at Angel while he stepped backwards down the hall. "Go through that shit and see what you can come up with. I'll be right back." He turned around and stepped quickly around the corner to where the elevator waited. He was reaching for the 'down' button when the door to his right slid open noisily. He looked at it, surprised by the sound and motion from the elevator. His surprised turned into a mixture of relief and anger when Craig stepped through the door.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Bobby managed to keep from yelling as he quickly moved to the boy. He wrapped his arms around him hard but only left them there long enough to be sure the kid was real. He remembered he was pissed and quickly stepped back. "You were told to stay in bed." He reminded.
"There was someone there." Craig had started to hug his brother back, and looked as if he still wanted to despite the fact that he was obviously in trouble. "He was outside the door." He muttered as he pulled back from Bobby.
"What?" Bobby cried out. "So you what, opened the door and let someone in? That's really using your head kid." He hoped the boy denied it.
Craig opened his mouth and shook his head. "I thought it was my imagination." He managed to speak quietly. He looked down at the floor under his feet. "But then he was right there and…"
Bobby felt the anger draining from his chest. The kid looked beat, and scared. He probably had a bad dream and had gotten what was real mixed up with his imagination, it happened more than Bobby liked and he knew Craig couldn't help it. "Just calm down, let's go back to the room. You can tell me all about it once we get you settled down."
Craig let Bobby put his arm around him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take off, but he chased me and…"
Bobby's throat tightened as he fought off anther twinge of worry and anger. He was struggling with whether he wanted to hug onto the boy or beat his ass at the moment and he tried not to let it show. The kid's imagination had either been very vivid, or it had been real. "Who chased you?" He walked the boy back towards the room at a slow pace, though he really wanted to rush and get him safely back into the bed he'd left him in earlier.
"I don't know who he was." Craig didn't struggle as Bobby moved him down the hall towards their room. "But he had this." The boy reached under the oversized shirt he was wearing and pulled out the blue and white rabbit that had been the center of so much worry all evening.
Bobby stopped in his tracks, pulling Craig to a stop next to him. His mind went blank on him as he tried to process the site of the stuffed animal in the boy's hands. He managed to shift his gaze to Craig, who was looking up at him. Tears were pooling in the kid's eyes and he looked scared. Well, one thing had been figured out at least, it wasn't Craig's imagination. There had been someone there, at the room, and Craig had encountered him and had managed to do something that Jeremiah hadn't. He'd gotten the rabbit.
"How did you get that away from him?" Bobby asked quietly.
"I just grabbed it and ran." Craig answered and held the rabbit out towards his brother. The tears started to fall down his cheeks as he made the offer for Bobby to take the toy.
Bobby shook his head. "You hold onto that for a little while longer. I get the feeling it's safer with you than anyone else right now." He gave the teenager a slight squeeze around the shoulders. "Come on, your brothers are worried like hell about you." He pulled Craig to the door, which was now closed. He banged on it and waited for someone to answer.
They didn't have to wait long. Angel opened the door almost instantly. Craig was pulled into a hug by each of his brothers as Bobby tried to get him back to the bed on the other side of the room. Bobby watched the teen stiffen with each hug, pulling back too soon for his comfort. He wondered what was going through the kid's head. Did he think he'd been abandoned to deal with the ass hole who had showed up at their door or was he just scared shitless by the fact that he'd been chased? He was starting to understand how the kid's brain worked. He wanted to talk to him and find out just what he was thinking, but there wasn't any time. He needed to know about the man who'd been there with the rabbit, but now wasn't the time or the place to try to deal with the effects of the whole day was having on the kid. He needed to deal with Winston's games before he could deal with anything else; one thing at a time, whether he liked it that way or not.
No one noticed the rabbit in Craig's hands until Bobby had him sitting on the bed and was standing in front of him. Jeremiah was the first to say something about the rabbit, and then everyone shot question wanting to know where the kid had got it.
"You want to tell me about the fucker in the hallway now?" Bobby asked.
Craig quietly relayed what had happened while his brothers were gone. He talked about how he'd heard noises. He admitted that he thought it was his imagination, but decided to check the hall just to be safe. Bobby was actually impressed that the kid had enough guts to open the door, but he wasn't about to let him know that. He didn't want Craig to start doing stupid shit just because he'd seen his brothers doing stupid shit. He wanted Craig to do the smart shit and not put himself in danger. "You never open the fucking door." He kept his voice calm, even though he wanted to yell. "You got that? If you are by yourself in a room that's secure, you stay right where you are."
"But I didn't think anyone was there." Craig looked up at Bobby. "I thought it was…"
"I know what you thought, but you didn't listen to me, did you? I told you not to get out that bed." Bobby's brain was starting to imagine what could have happened to the kid and he didn't like it. "You could have been hurt." His voice rose slightly. "We don't know who the hell this guy was, but he obviously broke into our home and took that fucking toy out from under Jeremiah's nose. He could be dangerous, there's no telling what the hell he would have done to you if he'd gotten his hands on you Craig. Do you understand that?"
"Bobby, man, calm down." Jack spoke from just behind Bobby. "You're gonna scare him more than he already is."
"Calm down?" Bobby turned and looked at Jack. "I ain't gonna calm down; the kid didn't listen to me. He could have been…" He didn't get a chance to finish his thought out-loud.
Craig spoke with some strength in his voice. "He knew me." His voice shook slightly, but he sounded almost determined. "He knew who I was, and he didn't know I was here until he seen me. He was looking for someone else."
Bobby turned back to the boy. "Why do you think he knew you?"
"He knew my name, and he asked why I was here." Craig muttered. "He had a paper bag, and I seen it in the bag…." Craig looked down at the rabbit and sat there with his mouth halfway forming a word. He closed his mouth and after a long moment he spoke again. "I grabbed it and I ran." He repeated what he'd said in the hall.
"He chased you?" Bobby asked, his mind still trying to grasp just what had happened while they had been invading Winston's room.
"Yeah, I ran into the stairwell and he didn't follow me that far." Craig muttered. "The doors didn't open from the inside, so I had to go down. I ended up in the lobby, and no one was there. I looked at the computer because I couldn't remember what room we were in." The kid was staring at the rabbit hard. "I'm sorry Bobby." He sucked in air and Bobby was sure his shoulders shook when he did.
Bobby's own instincts were to sit next to the kid and hug him. He wanted to make him feel better somehow, but there wasn't time. They needed to get their shit together and find the answers they needed to end their problems once and for all. "Good, you should be sorry. You never should have opened that fucking door." He spoke in response to Craig's apology. He knew it sounded harsh, but he wanted the kid to remember how he was feeling, at least for a little while. If he remembered that feeling, maybe he'd do what he was told and stay where he was supposed to so his brothers wouldn't have to worry about him on top of everything else.
"Bobby, man, give him a break." Jeremiah spoke up.
"Give me the rabbit now Craig." Bobby ignored Jeremiah. He held his hand out so Craig could give up the stuffed animal.
Craig looked up at Bobby. "You're gonna cut him open." The boy stated the obvious.
Bobby nodded his head. "He ain't gonna bleed kid. He's got stuffing inside, no guts, no blood and no bone."
"We promise we'll fix him back up, almost as good as new." Jack spoke quickly.
Doubt shadowed Craig's features, but he lifted the stuffed animal so that Bobby could take it. "I'll be careful, okay?" Bobby did feel bad for being hard on the kid, but hell, he could have been a lot harder. He couldn't risk losing him; that was not an option.
Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. He flicked the blade out and held the point up to what was supposed to be the rabbit's belly.
"I wasn't allowed to let Adam know about him." Craig muttered.
Bobby hesitated and looked at Craig again. "What?" He wasn't sure he heard the words right, they were unexpected.
"My first mom, she told me Dad couldn't know about him; that he would take him away if he knew. She said he'd take him away, and that he'd be mad at me. I was supposed to keep him safe." Craig's eyes were fixed on the toy. "And then I lost him when they took me to St. Vincent's and I thought for sure Adam had him. I was scared."
Jack pushed past Bobby and sat down next to teen. "But Mom found him for you. We already know that. We know he's important and we'll be careful with him, okay?"He put an arm around the boy.
Craig nodded his head.
Bobby turned away from the kid. How the hell was he supposed to cut into the fucking rabbit when the kid had such a pathetic look on his face? He sucked in a hard breath and started to stick the tip of his blade through the bunny's blue fur, but he hesitated. How the hell was he supposed to cut the little thing open? He didn't want to mutilate it, he'd told Craig he'd be careful, but how the hell did you cut something like that open without ruining it forever?
"Here, let me." Sofi walked over and snatched the toy from Bobby's hands. "You'd think it was going to scream in pain the way you're looking at it." She walked over to her bag and started digging around. She came up with a small plastic pouch, a sewing kit, and from that she pulled out a tiny pair of scissors. "You snip the stitches on the seam, and that way it can be sewn back together, just like nothing ever happened." She looked at Bobby and smiled.
Now Bobby was really worried. Sofi was being nice? Hell that couldn't be a good sign for what was coming next.
"Hey, I might have something here." Angel was busy going through the papers from the trash bags that had been deposited on the other bed. "Jerry, what do you make of this?" He thrust the paper in his hands towards Jeremiah.
Jerry took the paper. "Well, these look like they could be bank account numbers." He pointed to one column on the page. "And these are dollar figures." He pointed to another column. "But there is a second dollar amount, right next the first one, hand written." He was speaking quietly. "And each one has the name of a state next to it. Las Vegas, New York, Illinois, Michigan; it looks like about fifteen different accounts, all with different states. Maybe that's where these banks are."
"Yeah, now look at this one." Angel handed Jeremiah another sheet of paper.
Jerry nodded his head. "Same account numbers, same states listed, but the dollar amounts are different." He compared the two papers.
"Yeah, subtract the hand written figures from the original numbers there. What do you get?" Angel asked.
Jeremiah held the second sheet up, "The amount that is on this one."
Bobby's interest was piqued now. "Are there any names on the accounts?" He stepped closer to get a look at the papers.
Both of his brothers shook his head. "No, no names." Angel voiced the answer. "Just the name of states listed on the side." He pointed it out on the paper.
Jeremiah reached into the open trash bag and pulled out some more papers. "This one is similar, but it lists properties, businesses. The same thing with the dollar amounts, one printed and one written by hand." He shook his head. "This can't be money laundering, can it?"
"Actually it can." Angel snatched the paper from Jeremiah. "Let me see that." He reached to get the rest of the papers from Bobby. "The figures listed with the properties match the original figures on the first print." He nodded his head. "Winston buys legitimate business and properties with dirty money. He turns around and sells them at a loss, and since it's his corporation doing the business, he can file for government assistance, or tax breaks on the loss. Hell, he's probably coming out ahead by selling at a loss and when it's all done and over, the money is cleaned, right?" He didn't seem sure of what he was saying. He looked at Bobby with a questioning look.
Bobby shook his head, "I don't know; it's nothing like I've seen before. This money had to go through more banks before it ended up in these accounts, and he sold the shit at a loss? I mean money laundering using his legit business? Ain't that just opening the door for federal investigations? The feds would suspect something with this many bad investments by any business. Winston prides himself with having his legitimate dealings to fall back on, right?"
"But his father wouldn't have given a shit about his son's pride. He could have started this shit before he died, pushed Winston to do it for him just once, and then when that worked out, pushed it again. I mean there are dates here; some of them go back ten years. This shit was all from years ago, each account has a date. Look at this one, Sunshine Orchards, just outside of Detroit, in 95. That would have been before Winston took over the 'family business', wouldn't it?" Angel questioned while he pointed at the information on the paper.
"I don't know. I don't know when the old man died, do you?" Bobby felt frustrated. "You could be right, you probably are, but there has to be more to this shit than what we see here. There has to be more papers buried in this mess that tie into these." Bobby looked at the trash bags on the bed and laughed. "You get to work on these little brother." He turned back to Angel and grinned.
Angel's eyes narrowed. "I ain't doing this shit on my own."
"You're the expert in cons man, this is you're kind of shit." Bobby shook his head. "I wouldn't know what the fuck to look for." He cocked his thumb in Jeremiah's direction. "Jerr' will help."
"Bobby, we need more than two of us going through this shit or we'll be here all night." Jeremiah cried out.
"I think I have it." Sofi spoke up from the other side of the room.
All eyes turned to Sofi, who was poking two fingers into the front of the rabbit. "I feel something."
"Give me that." Bobby stepped to Sofi, holding his hand out.
Sofi didn't argue. She pulled her fingers free and handed the stuffed animal over to him, but she did mutter a few choice words under her breath in Spanish. Bobby heard her but was too worried about what was in the rabbit to pay much attention.
Jack stood and moved to Bobby's side and Craig straightened up on the bed, leaning forward to see what was going to come out of the rabbit.
Angel stepped closer. "What is it?'
Bobby's fingers clasped onto a piece of rolled up paper. He carefully slid it through the slit Sofi had opened up in the front of the rabbit. The paper was wrapped around a thin metal object. Bobby held the rabbit back towards Sofi, "You can sew that back up?" He didn't pull his gaze from the object in his hands.
Sofi took the rabbit and moved away.
"What is it?" Jack reached for the paper.
Bobby pulled his hands out of Jack's reach and let the odd looking key slip into the palm of his hands, "A key." He answered, not looking up from the brass object laying there in front of him. It was flat, and wasn't cut like a normal key, it resembled the type of key you'd expect for a safety deposit box, but felt too thin. How the hell could something so small be so important that Harris was willing to rip the Mercer family apart?
"What about the paper, is there anything written on it?" Angel stepped a little closer.
Bobby let his fist close around the key and turned his attention to the paper it had been wrapped in. "I can't make this out, it's all faded and shit." He muttered. He felt his eyes squint as he focused on the blurry blue ink on yellowed paper.
Jack leaned in closer to look at the paper. "It's not faded." He shook his head and looked directly at Bobby. "Hell, you can't read that?"
Angel started laughing. "You know, they say your vision is the first thing to go when you get old. The next thing to go will be…."
"I ain't old." Bobby spoke quickly before Angle could finish his insult. He didn't like it when his brothers pointed out he was getting older, and he felt his face turning hot. "I can see just fine, this ink is faded." He reached out with the fist that was holding the key and gave Jack a punch in the arm. "You think you can make this shit out, well then be my guest sweetheart."
Jack didn't react much to the punch; he just smirked at Bobby and took the paper from him. He fingered the yellowed edges and held it closer to his eyes than Bobby had. "It's a bunch of numbers." He gave his shoulder a shrug. "This looks like an address at the bottom."
"What does' it say 'dick breath'." Bobby was getting impatient.
"I just told you, it's a bunch of numbers." Jack snapped back the words, matching Bobby's tone. "
Bobby realized Craig was now standing next to Jack, staring at the paper. His eyes were wide, and he looked confused. He frowned at Jack and gave his head a nod in Craig's direction.
Jack looked at Craig, holding the paper up so that the boy could see it clearly. "You know what that is?"
"It's a secret." Craig muttered.
Bobby glanced over at Angel and Jeremiah before fully turning attention to Craig. "What kind of secret?" He tried to figure out how Craig could know what the paper was, but then he remembered the kid had been carrying the fucking rabbit around for years. He'd had it before he was a foster kid. He may have seen the paper before it was ever put into the rabbit. It would make sense that he would have seen in, maybe even knew what it was before it was ever hidden in his toy.
"He wrote it down so Mom would have it when she needed it." Craig looked at Bobby. "I remember he talked to her about it a lot when we were at his house."
Bobby held his breath. The kid was losing him with his words. "Who gave it to her?"
"I don't know; a guy." Craig's voice sounded small. "It's all mixed up. I dream about it sometimes. He gave me the rabbit after he buried something in the dirt. I helped him fill in the hole. I thought it was fun, playing with the dirt. I remember that. We were under one of the apple trees."
Bobby wondered for a moment if the medicine Craig had taken earlier was clouding his mind; or maybe the kid had gone for too long without having his medicine and now his brain was confused. What the hell was he talking about? "What did you bury in the dirt?" He kept his voice quiet and calm. He was trying to pick out what part of the kid's story could be real, if any of it, and what could be made up by his imagination.
Craig looked down at the floor, his forehead wrinkled slightly as he concentrated. He was trying to think, to come up with an answer to Bobby's question, so the man gave him some time to think. He didn't want to push too hard, but they were running out of time. They had wasted half of the night trying to get answers about a stupid stuffed animal, the secrets that were hidden inside of it, and why Winston was so fucking set on getting his hands on it.
Craig didn't look up from the floor, but he drew in a breath that seemed to shudder deep in his chest. "Mom said it was the only way we would ever be free of Adam Macks and the old man." That didn't answer the question, but Bobby could sense he wasn't going to get an answer.
"What old man?" Jeremiah leaned forward from his seat on the bed, looking as confused as Bobby felt.
"He don't remember anything Bobby." Angel spoke quietly. "He's trying to remember and his mind is making shit up on him."
Craig looked at Angel. "I'm not lying." He spoke quickly. His voice shook and Bobby thought his pride had been injured by Angel's words.
"No one said you was lying, but your mind is trying to find answers and it's making shit up on you Craig. It's normal. You're trying too hard." Angle spoke calmly. "Just relax. You had this rabbit with you for a long time, right?"
"All my life, it seems like." Craig muttered. "But I know what I remember. I dream about it sometimes, they're good dreams."
"Wait a minute." Jeremiah grabbed the papers back from Angel. "What was that place you said before? Something Orchards, right?"
"Sunshine Orchards, about an hour's drive from here I'd guess. Why?" Angel scowled at Jeremiah as he handed the paper over to him.
"Craig just said something about apple trees, didn't he? What kind of orchards do you think that place might have?" Jeremiah found the page and started reading it, jabbing his finger at it while he silently went over the print.
"Is there an address listed on that paper?" Jack asked while he looked down at the paper in his own hand.
Jeremiah quickly read off an address.
Jack looked at Bobby, "That's this." He held the paper out. "It's the same address." He pointed to the bottom portion of the paper, to what Bobby could swear was blurred and faded.
Bobby took the paper from Jack and looked at Jeremiah. "Okay, so let's find out exactly where this place is and go check it out."
"You gotta be shittin' me. You want to go find this place now?" Jeremiah cried out.
"We ain't got much time Jerr'. We gotta figure this shit out tonight, before Jack goes into that courtroom. We gotta walk into that courthouse with evidence that Harris is dirty, and that he is trying to set us up." Bobby rolled the key back up into the paper and carefully stuffed it into his pants pocket.
"And you think anything we get will count for shit?" Angel looked at Bobby. "Man, we broke into the man's room to get these papers; they ain't good for nothin' in court."
"But whatever they lead us to will be." Bobby narrowed his gaze on Jeremiah. "Why don't you go check on your wife and daughters Jerr'? We'll take care of this and meet up with you at the house in a few hours." He spoke calmly. "We don't need you to ride out there with us; we got Jack's hotrod so we got something close enough to a car." He managed one of his best smirks.
Jeremiah sighed and shook his head. "I done told you I'm with you on this. This is my business too Bobby…." He started to argue.
"You got other business to take care of. You make sure things are straight with your wife." Bobby cut in, interrupting Jeremiah's argument.
Jerry stared at him for a long moment. "If I do, will you let me take Craig with me? You have no idea what the hell you're walking into. You don't' need to be dragging him around in the middle of the night."
Bobby considered Jeremiah's words. He had a point. They didn't know if any of Winston's men were going to meet up with them once they arrived at this orchard. But part of him wanted to keep the kid close to him. What if Craig wasn't imagining anything, what if the dreams he spoke about were actually memories and not just his mind making shit up? Whether Bobby Mercer wanted to face the truth or not, it was staring him right in the face. Jessup Winston, Jesse Nicholas, whoever the hell he was, had a connection to Craig in more ways than just his business dealings with Adam Macks. No one had actually spoken it out loud or questioned Craig for further details because they weren't sure how he could possibly answer them. He didn't remember enough, that was obvious and what he did remember didn't make all that much sense. Bobby had to figure it out and Craig had to be there in order for him to do that. Maybe something would look familiar. Craig had mentioned apple trees, that meant he may have been at this orchard before, and if he had, maybe seeing it would bring some kind of clarity to his memories.
"No, Jerr', Craig comes with us. You can make sure Sofi get's home safe though, I'd appreciate that." Angel spoke up while Bobby was still thinking about the reasons Craig had to go with them.
"But he's already been through enough." Jeremiah stood slowly from his seat on the bed.
"He'll be fine, he'll be with us." Jack spoke that time. Bobby turned and looked at him. He met Bobby's gaze, there was an emotion there that Bobby wasn't sure of; hope, maybe? Jack was starting to think he might actually be able to clear himself and get out of the trouble he was in. Hell, he should know by now it all was a part of being a Mercer.
Bobby let his attention shift to Craig. The kid was looking up at him, apparently expecting Bobby to send him off with Jeremiah. His expression was the exact opposite of Jacks, the kid felt hopeless. "He's going with us." Bobby looked back at Jerry. "Don't worry I would never let him in the middle of too much trouble. You should trust me."
Jeremiah started gathering his things together, apparently too tired to argue any further. "I got Craig's other clothes in my bag. I'll take his pills with me too so they don't get lost." He picked up the bag that had once held his spare clothes. "I'll call Green and let him know what's going on. There's no telling how much longer he's gonna be able to hold Harris, you know that." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"But Harris ain't gonna have any idea where we are. They haven't caught onto anything yet, so we're safe as far as Harris goes." Angel commented. "He has no idea that we know what's going on."
"That isn't going to last long, as soon as they realize whoever they sent in to steal that rabbit has lost it." Sofi spoke, but her words sounded garbled.
Bobby had almost forgotten Sofi was in the room, it was unlike her to stay quiet for as long as she had. He took in the sight of her using her teeth to cut a length of thread close to the stuffed animal's belly. "You get your shit together too sweetheart, you're out of here."
Sofi held the rabbit up, "As good as new." She turned to Craig and stepped up to him. "You see; nothing at all to be worried about." She sounded gentle and that thought sent shivers down Bobby's back. He knew there had to be a softer side to the crazy bitch, but he hated seeing it, it made it a little harder to start shit with her when she showed that side.
Craig took the toy from Sofi. "Thanks." He looked up at her.
Bobby moved to sit next to Craig while Sofi pulled on her coat and moved around the room to collect her belongings. Everyone seemed too quiet while Jerry and Sofi prepared to leave. Jack moved to the window and pulled out his cigarettes while Angle helped Sofi and walked her to the door. The pack looked as if it had been run through a washing machine, flat and wrinkled. Bobby wondered if his brother would give in and buy another pack the first chance he got. He hoped not, but he knew that no matter what he said Jack would do what he wanted. He started to make a remark about Jack waiting until they were out of the hotel for him to have a smoke, but hell; he figured Jack earned one little self indulgence at the moment. He'd done damn good, going into Winston's room like he had. Bobby knew he had to be scared shitless, but he did it anyway.
Jeremiah and Sofi walked out and Angel closed the door after them. He turned and looked at Bobby. "So what the hell are we waiting for? Let's get of here."