Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Black River Memorial Hospital, 2019
"Faster Luke! You gotta drive faster!"
Luke didn't reply. They both knew he was driving as fast as he dared without crashing; and it was simply blind panic that made Noah demand more speed.
Each rattling breath from their son made Noah want to blow all caution to the wind! But he knew their only hope was to safely find a hospital.
The first turnoff they saw as they rejoined the main road was for Wisconsin Rapids. So that was where Luke headed. Somewhere in that town there had to be a hospital!
"How much further?" Noah asked.
"Um…" Luke wiped away the tears that blurred his vision as he drove. "Last sign said 5 miles."
Noah once again examined his child. Since Leo lost consciousness back on the dirt track, the boy remained still, eyes closed and breathing labored. Noah clambered behind Leo, so the boy lay sideways with his head on his father's chest. He continued to press the balled up T-shirt against the wound on Leo's side.
So much blood!
Every cell in Noah's body shook. Occasionally, he'd bend his neck to kiss the top of Leo's head.
"Hold on, Kid. Please hold on." He ran the back of one hand over Leo's paling cheek. "This is my fault!"
"No it's not!" Luke insisted.
"It is! They only shot at us because I shot first. I thought if I shot out their tires, they couldn't follow…" He thumped his head back into the window. "It was so stupid!"
"Please don't blame yourself," Luke sniffed. "He's gonna be okay! We'll find a hospital and he'll be okay. He has to be."
They drove well over 100 miles per hour and mercifully reached the outskirts of Wisconsin Rapids to find the universal sign for hospital almost immediately on an overhead road sign. Luke followed the directions, until screeching to a halt right outside the emergency entrance at Black River Memorial Hospital.
"It's our son!" Luke blurted to a small gathering of hospital personnel; standing outside enjoying a cigarette. He stumbled from the vehicle and blindly headed for them. "Please! He's only 12 and I think he's dying… He was shot…"
As soon as Luke mentioned Leo was shot, all five medical workers dropped their cigarettes; and jumped into action.
Noah pushed the nearest passenger door open to give them access. As he did Leo stirred and squinted up at him. "Dad?"
"I'm right here, Bud. You're gonna be just fine."
A brawny-looking young man in scrubs bent down to help Noah maneuvre Leo from the vehicle. In the meantime, two of the nurses ran off to find a gurney.
"My name is Jacob Bush." He smiled reassuringly at Noah. "I'm a doctor here. You say your son is 12?"
"That's right," Noah replied.
A strangled sound escaped Noah's throat, when the young doctor scopped the boy up and gently laid him on the gurney. He watched as another young doctor inserted a stethoscope in his ears and leaned over to listen to Leo's heart.
"It's okay," Dr. Bush told Noah softly, helping the tall man stand outside the car. "We're gonna take real good care of him. What is your son's name?"
"Leo." Luke told him, coming to stand next to Noah; seeking solace by taking hold of Noah's shaking hand.
They huddled together, staring at the unbelievable scene playing out before them.
"Please help him," Noah whispered, watching the medical staff at work.
"How long has he been bleeding like this?" Jacob asked, lifting both of their son's eyelids.
"A… um… 20 minutes maybe?" Noah shuddered in reply.
"Is he… will he be okay?" Luke asked, his beautiful brown eyes wide with shock.
Jacob smiled softly, "We're gonna do everything we can. We'll take him inside now to examine the damage. On first sight, it looks to me like a flesh wound. But we'll know for sure once we get started. My real concern is the amount of blood he might have lost."
Luke and Noah followed the moving gurney into the hospital, right up until the door leading to a bank of examination bays. They were told to wait.
Sitting heavily side by side on two of the plastic chairs lining the corridor, Noah looked down to find he was still clutching his blood-soaked T-shirt.
Leo's blood.
A few hours ago the most frightening thing they could think of was capture. But this; the chance their son might die; was a far deeper fear than anything else could ever be.
…
Marshfield, Wisconsin, Wood County Sheriff's Department, 2019
Two months, four days and three hours after Agent Adrian Williams took what he thought would be his last puff of cigarette smoke; he found himself leaning against the red brick of the 70s-style structure that made up the headquarters of the Wood County Sheriff's Department.
Adrian used the cheap plastic lighter he'd purchased along with the pack of cigarettes to ignite the end of the white stick he already held in his mouth. He waited for the tobacco to take in a flash of fiery red before drawing in long and deep; holding the smoke there; imagining it swirling around inside his lungs; and then exhaling with satisfaction.
He felt infinitely better.
"Got one for a friend?" Blithe leaned back against the wall beside Adrian, one knee bent up as his foot rested against the brick.
"Didn't know you smoked," Adrian observed, tapping a few cigarettes loose and tipping the box over at the older man.
"I quit," Blithe told him, leaning the cigarette into the flame as Adrian held the lighter for him.
"Me too," Adrian admitted.
They both chuckled.
"Guess we're as good at quitting smoking as we are at catching fugitives!" Blithe joked.
"Yeah," Adrian agreed, staring up at the clear blue sky where a couple of grasshopper sparrows spiraled and soared in search of food in the nearby long grasses.
"What are you thinking, Adrian?" Blithe asked.
Adrian sniffed and kicked himself off the wall, taking a few steps forward before turning back to the police chief. "I just spoke to Marsh, asking for permission to alert the press."
"And he shot you down again, I take it."
"Right."
They stood in thought for a moment.
"And..." Blithe asked, "what you thinking?"
Adrian vigorously ruffled his hair. "I don't know! I just… something feels…"
"Off?"
Adrian stared at Blithe for a moment. "Yeah."
"Yeah," Blithe agreed with a nod. "I've had that feeling since the moment I met Snyder. He just doesn't fit the profile of a cold-blooded killer."
"They never do!" Adrian explained. "In fact, some of the best mass murderers were known for their charm."
"Oh I get that!" The old man agreed. "I do. But I mean... Why?"
Adrian frowned. "Why are the best mass murderers charmers?"
"No, no… I mean, why'd they do it?"
"Snyder and Mayer?"
"Yeah? Here we got two young kids, by all accounts well liked, polite, good grades… Suddenly, they're gunning down a room full of strangers just because they're angry daddy doesn't like gays?"
"Well, we have reports to say Mayer made several forceful attempts to gain access to the base. That he seemed visibly upset at his father's rejection. I mean… people are known to flip their lids in these cases."
"But to such an extreme? Bomb their way in and gun people down? It's madness!"
"No crazier than Columbine or Virginia Tech or Red Lake or any other of those cases, where kids have run off the rails from too much pressure," Adrian argued.
"No true," Blithe agreed. "You're totally right. But here's the rub…"
"Okay…" Adrian leaned back against a parked police cruiser to hear Blithe out.
"Of all the days these boys could pick to storm into a busy research center and cause havoc, they choose the one day when the entire base has been given leave of absence. The entire base except…"
"…except Col. Winston Mayer's team…" Adrian nodded thoughtfully.
"And not only that…" Blithe continued. "But that very same team just happened to have a three-hour staff meeting that very morning. A meeting that would keep them nicely contained within their particular laboratory."
"All seems…"
"… really convenient," Blithe finished.
"Okay," Adrian said. "But… perhaps Noah Mayer knew of this somehow?"
Blithe puffed out a plume of smoke and replied, "The police interviews are unclear on why the boys were there at that specific time."
"Unclear?" Adrian frowned. "Seems like a pretty standard interview question to ask them."
"Evidently, they were not asked."
The two men spent a moment puffing on their individual cigarettes, trying to wrap their heads around a case they both initially considered cut and dry. At least until they started working it themselves.
"Even if we can stand here and pick out these anomalies within the original investigation," Adrian surmised, "it doesn't explain the gunpowder residue on their fingers, their prints all over the weapons. Nor does it explain their arrest within that very same lab. The reports say they were both covered in blood."
Adrian nodded, "Yeah, I know. That's the clincher."
"And anyway," Adrian added, "It's not our job to solve that case. These men have already been tried and convicted. It's our job to bring them in. Dead or alive."
"Agent Williams!" A young officer from the local police force stepped out into the sunshine to address him.
"Yes?" Adrian asked.
The kid looked rather excited and Adrian felt a rush of adrenaline; like he knew this was the next part of the chase.
"Sir. Just had a report from the sheriff down in Wisconsin Rapids. Says staff at the hospital have reported a gunshot admission… Twelve year old called Leo… brought in by two men driving a silver Ford."
Adrian and Blithe shared a glance of agreement.
"Are they still there?" Adrian quickly asked, already heading for his car.
Blithe immediately followed.
"Yes, I believe so, Sir." The young officer told them as he scuttled along behind them. "What should I tell the sheriff?"
Adrian stopped for a moment. "Tell him to keep all hospital exits under surveillance, but not to move in before we get there. This time I'm gonna handle this myself!"