Arlington, Texas, Granger Garage, 2019
They located the rented garage by pure slight of chance.
Chief Blithe found a letter in spindly scrawl and a shaky hand, addressed to Noah Sutherland and signed by 'Yours truly, Earl Granger' amongst an assortment of bills in the rusty tin letterbox situated outside the Sutherland's trailer.
In the letter, Mr. Granger was most apologetic and embarrassed to request an increase in the rental charge on his garage at 25 Timbercrest Drive, located just a couple of blocks from the hospital where Snyder was last seen.
"In the three years you have rented from me, I have not yet seen fit to increase the charge." Mr. Granger explained. "I trust you find my request reasonable."
The red Dodge pickup, registered to Noah Sutherland, was found abandoned a block down the road. This, along with the puddle of oil on the garage floor and a fresh set of tire tracks, all led them to the inevitable conclusion that their fugitives already had alternative transportation.
The garage was still fully stocked with supplies; goods scattered all over the floor evidence of the speed at which the two men made their escape.
Adrian dipped his hand into a smoldering metal bin, lifting out the remnants of a Texas driver's license. Examining it closely, he could just make out the '–and' of 'Sutherland' in one corner.
"Well," he said, peering down at the blackened pile of ash still smoking in the bin, "one thing's for sure… the Sutherlands are no more…"
"Certainly looks that way," Chief Blithe agreed while riffling through the drawers of an old wooden shelf unit set to one side of the garage. "Hey, take a look at this…"
Adrian peered over Blithe's shoulder into an old toolbox bursting to the brim with fake ID documents in various names.
Were are they getting them from?
As annoyed as he was with the events of that morning, Adrian saw fit to keep Blithe close by. He might be an old codger, but the man had a quick eye. And damn if those rookies didn't ask 'how high?' each time Blithe yelled 'jump'!
Fact was if the whole situation exploded in their faces, at least Adrian could pin the blame on small town inexperience.
"Chief Blithe? Agent Williams?" A young officer puffed as he sprinted up the drive, darting around the bustling investigation team and waving a report in his hands.
"You got something, Pearson?" Blithe asked.
"They reached the school minutes too late, Sir." Pearson responded, out of breath. "Mayer already collected the boy and took off. By all accounts they missed him by seconds!"
"God damn! Did the patrol actually see Mayer?" Adrian asked.
"One team went into the school and another noticed a white van, registration…" The man looked down at the paperwork in his hands. "Um… Texus HJ 2496. They pulled the guy over. But he seemed to be alone and everything checked out, Sir. And they didn't know the boy had already been taken… so's they let 'im go."
"And now?"
"They're positive it was Mayer."
"Fuck!" Adrian spat. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" He turned on Blithe, "Weren't your guys on the ground given a picture of Mayer?"
"I guess it hadn't come through to them yet." Blithe looked sheepish. "We don't have the manpower you guys have in the bureau, Agent Williams. Things take time out here."
"Well it's timewe just don't have Blithe! Jesus!" Adrian slumped down into a garden chair and stuck his fingers in this hair; as though ready to physically pull it out strand by strand.
"There's… um… there's something else…" Pearson cautiously mentioned.
They waited.
"Well? Adrian snapped. "Hurry up! What is it?"
The young officer slightly jumped. "Two officers say they saw a man fitting Mayer's description at Cadlin Storage this morning. They didn't make the connection until they heard the call about the red Dodge pick up."
"And…? Going in or coming out?" Adrian queried annoyed at the stalling.
"Coming out, Sir. They say he had a large brown paper bag with 'im. One of them said he seemed kinda jumpy. But they had no probable cause to question 'im at the time."
"Filled with cash?" Blithe asked Adrian directly.
"Could be… I mean if I was living on the run, I'd probably stash away some cash, too. Bank accounts can be frozen and traced."
Blithe nodded his agreement.
"Pearson is it?" Adrian asked. Pearson nodded. "See if you can get us access to the storage locker. I doubt there'll be any clues but we should check it out anyway."
"Yes Sir!" Pearson replied; taking off as fast as he arrived.
"So…" Adrian considered, mind turning. "We know for sure these are our guys. We know they were well prepared to run. They have cash and a van of supplies, even if they didn't have time to take everything. We know they've ditched their Sutherland aliases…"
"They'll be using other names now…"
Adrian nodded and tapped his foot. "What about this kid... Leo Sutherland? Where the hell did he come from? Unless I missed something and men can suddenly give birth!"
"Not clear on that yet," Blithe admitted, ignoring Adrian's sarcasm. "My men found a bunch of toddler photos in the trailer."
"So we know the kid's been with them for the duration..." Adrian frowned.
"Yip, but how they came by him is still a mystery."
Adrian stood back up and they left the garage to clear space for the investigation team to finish their job.
"I took a look through the case files this morning." Blithe was saying as they made their way down the long overgrown driveway. "Reading up on their backgrounds and such? Were you aware that Snyder is the son of Damian Grimaldi?"
Adrian nodded. "Yip, and I know what you're gonna say next."
"Well?" Blithe asked, "isn't it highly probable Grimaldi's the one who arranged their getaway and organized all these fake IDs? I mean, he's certainly got the connections."
Adrian stopped walking and turned to Blithe. "Grimaldi was the first person investigated back in 2008 when Snyder and Mayer escaped. But he came up completely clean. Wasn't even in the country at the time. Seems his ex, Lily, married this Holden Snyder shortly after Luke was born; and Grimaldi agreed to let Snyder adopt Luke. But apparently Bio-Dad kept showing up in Oakdale every now and then, causing all kinds of upset for the boy." Adrian started walking again as he spoke and Blithe kept pace with him. "According to reports, Damian didn't take too kindly to the news of his son's sexuality. He and Luke had a huge blow up over it when the kid was 15. Their relationship is more than a little rocky. Besides, they hardly even know each other…"
"But there's a chance isn't there?" Blithe insisted. "He's still the kid's father after all. That's a strong bond right there!"
"Maybe, when you're a regular kinda guy. But we're talking about Damian 'Freaking' Grimaldi here! Man's as cold as a dead fish. Plus he's way too smart to get involved when the Feds would look his way from the start."
But even as Adrian explained all this, he could tell Blithe had other ideas.
"Still," Blithe said thoughtfully as they reached Adrian's car. "I'm gonna put some men on it! I can't help feeling there's more here than what meets the eye. Somebody taught these boys how to disappear; and so far Damian Grimaldi's the only person who fits the bill!"
…
Memphis, Texas, En Route, 2019
Luke flung the final registration plate through the air; it spun a few times with a whipping sound before splashing into the water. They'd driven northwest for hours, trying to stay off the main roads as much as possible.
It was dark; and Leo was fast asleep in the back of the van by the time they decided to pull over for the night by the shores of a lake, just east of Memphis. A thick tree line obscured their truck from the road, and Luke felt confident they were safe for now.
As he scanned the shimmering water, he could hear the voices from his past. His sisters, Faith and Natalie, shrieking with glee, water splashing as they held tiny hands and dove from the small wooden pier into Snyder Pond. His mother playing with his baby brother, Ethan, on the grassy bank…
God! Ethan's about the same age as Leo now!
In his mind's eye, Luke saw Noah slick and wet in his board shorts, sunlight highlighting the droplets as they shimmered and fell from his slick black hair. The smile Noah had then. Luke hadn't seen Noah smile the same once, since their lives were taken from them.
He breathed deeply through his nose, shaking off the memories before making his way back to the van.
"Luke!" Noah screamed his name.
Luke ran, flinging open the passenger door and scrambling inside. "Noah?"
Noah was squirming in the seat, eyes open and wide but far from awake; arms outstretched and unconsciously grabbing at something.
"Noah!" Luke said again but with more force this time, pulling Noah into his arms as best he could in the cramped quarters of the van. "I'm right here. Wake up!"
He smoothed his free hand through Noah's dark hair and knew when Noah was back in the present by the way the brunette clung to him; breathing heavily.
Nothing was said for some time. They rocked back and forth, comforting each other as only they could. Eventually Noah pulled away, wiping his face on the bottom of his shirt.
Luke studied Noah with glassy eyes and shaky hands. "It's been a long time since you dreamed like that, Bubby."
"It's been a long time since you were in any danger…" Noah replied, resting his head against the seat and looking over at Luke with deep consideration. He lifted one of Luke's hands and pressed a few light kisses to the red marks encircling Luke's wrists, where the handcuffs had bitten into his skin.
Luke smiled reassuringly at him. "It's not as painful as it looks."
Noah nodded. "How's Leo?"
Luke peeked into the back of the van to confirm their son had slept through Noah's episode.
"Tuckered out…" Luke replied.
"And you?" Noah's fingers found the tips of Luke's curls and played with them softly for a while. "You don't look like you slept at all…"
Luke shook his head. "Too on edge… I changed the van's registration instead. We are now officially Keith and Alistair Richardson."
Noah snorted. "Which one am I?"
"Which one would you like to be?"
Noah sighed. "Keith, I guess. I don't really see myself as an Alistair."
"Done," Luke replied, softly leaning forward so their heads rested together. "Here we go again…"
Noah took hold of both Luke's hands in his, squeezing gently. "Yeah…"