"Yeah…no…did they say when?…"
Eric followed Peter with his eyes as the agent paced around the living room making one phone call after another…
"…yeah, I want to be kept in the loop on that particular lead. I think it might…"
…not that he was concerned he could miss something the agent might accidently divulge - since their hasty departure from the stadium, Peter hadn't allowed him to be any further away than arm's reach, like he somehow had an invisible leash tied round his waist. Eric checked the time on his watch. In a little over an hour he was supposed to be at the other end of the city. He was never going to make it!
"…okay, thanks Jones." Peter pocketed his phone and came to a standstill. He placed both hands on his hips and fixed the boy with his FBI issued interrogation glare. Eric glared back, his frustration and anxiety overriding any intimidation he may have otherwise felt by the seriousness of the agent.
"What did she say to you?"
Peter had already asked the same question many times over on the ride home in the squad car. Originally, they were meant to catch the subway home but Eric supposed factoring in an association with a wanted fugitive did have its perks. "What did who say to me?" And many times over, he'd given the same noncommittal response.
"Listen, Eric…" Peter came and sat on the coffee table and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, "…your mom is in a lot of trouble. We need to bring her in before she goes and digs herself in deeper."
"What, so you can throw her in prison too? Maybe her and Neal can share a cell? Of course you would have to put Doctor Patrick on retainer – having both parents in prison has got cause some seriously damaging physiological scaring for a kid!"
"Eric, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that your mom won't have to go to prison for what's she did, but the longer she evades authorities, the worse it's going to be for her…and that's the truth."
"Not if she evades authorities for the next seven years – the statue of limitations mean anything to you, Agent Burke?"
"That's statute, Eric but," Peter shook his head, "never mind…the bottom line is, do you want you mom to be on the run for the rest of her life? Have you considered how that affects her, how it affects you?"
"Better being on the run than stuck in some filthy hell-hole of a Croatian jail cell. I'd run forever rather than take my chances with their corrupt legal system."
"Eric…tell me what happened in Dubrovnik?"
Eric's thoughts momentarily drifted away from his current situation and began recollecting the events from a year ago.
"Eric…"
He snapped back and pierced the agent with confronting blue eyes. "How did you know what my mom called me? As soon as Scottie said the name, both you and Elizabeth knew who'd said it. I've never told you and I'm sure as hell Mom didn't."
Peter softened his voice, "In the hospital, while she was a bit out of it from the medication, that's what your mom called you."
"Oh." Eric hadn't recalled his mom using his special name but Peter would know. He'd only been allowed to see his mom a couple of times and on each occasion, he was accompanied into the room by either Peter or Elizabeth. "Can I go use the bathroom? Or am I going to have to sit here till I wet my pants?"
"You can go," Peter nodded towards the stairs.
The boy didn't waste time in clambering off the couch and making his way quickly across the room.
"Eric…"
He paused with one foot on the first step tread and tried not to check his watch, but he couldn't help himself – time was a wasting. "What now?"
"Earlier in the year, when your mom finally re-surfaced after all those years away from the city, why did she risk coming back here with you? Why take a chance when she knew this of all places was the most difficult place to remain incognito. Too many people knew her face…why risk it?"
Eric turned back, "I'll tell you if you tell me exactly what happened with Neal and my mom the night she went to hospital."
"I can't do that."
"Then I guess we both get to keep our little secrets don't we, Agent Burke."
# # #
Eric stared out the window and mentally checked off the station as the train departed Mount Eden Avenue. He was almost at the rendezvous and, he checked his watch, he was going to be on time – maybe even a couple of minutes early. In the end, getting away had been relatively simple. As soon as Peter had allowed him to go upstairs to use the bathroom, he'd easily climbed through the push-out bathroom window. The sliding windows in the upstairs bedrooms had security screens but the tiny window in the bathroom was obviously deemed too small to require such a measure. It was a tight fit and he had to go out head first, but he'd done it once before, soon after he'd come to live with the Burkes, so he knew it could be done. Once outside the window, he'd scaled down the large sewage drain pipe and soft landed on the grass. Then it was simply a matter of scampering over the back fence rather than taking a chance at being seen running from the front. Once out on the road that ran the block behind, he had bolted for the subway.
The waiting on the platform had been an excruciatingly scary two minutes but when the train finally pulled in, he had thanked his good fortune that it was the 4 and he would be able to stay on it all the way across town to Kingsbridge Road without switching lines.
He couldn't wait to be with his mom again – it had been so long…too long. Eric imagined his mom had a plan for getting them out of the city and he guessed, ultimately the country. It wouldn't be an easy accomplishment but his mom always had a master strategy of some kind – like the foresight she had to arrange to meet on Kingsbridge station in less than…Eric checked the time…less than seven minutes. Fortunately, there were only three more stops.
The train pulled into Burnside Avenue and Eric observed the passengers getting on with trepidation. He'd been careful when he'd left the house to be sure he wasn't being followed but it wasn't too easy to monitor once he'd reached the subway. For a Sunday afternoon, there seemed to be an inordinate number of commuters. The train doors shut and Eric scanned the crowd in his carriage, relieved not to see any familiar faces. He knew some of the agents Peter worked with and had kept an eye out for anyone looking suspicious but the one guy who seemed to appear acting out of place, had departed the train about five stops back.
Still, the closer he got to Kingsbridge Road, the more hypo the butterflies in his stomach became. It wasn't entirely beyond the realm of possibility that Peter had somehow managed to catch up and was going to jump out of the conductor's booth and throw a net over him…and his mom. Eric stood up and looked anxiously around the carriage. No one was giving him any undue attention but he figured it wouldn't hurt to go on a bit of a reconnaissance mission. His mom had taught him that the only people who would react to being scrutinized were those who had something to hide or were uncomfortable for a reason, so staring noticeably at people was a good way of flushing out suspected trouble - everyone else would be too caught up in themselves to really give a damn. Eric began making his way along the carriage, taking a moment to pause and inspect each passenger as he passed. Most did like his mom said, they'd glance up, see it was nothing more than some silly kid nosing around and go back to whatever it was they were doing. Some went so far as to glare back by way of saying, 'piss off, kid,' but no one appeared to act suspiciously. He got to the end of the carriage and waited till the train came to a standstill before pushing through the internal doors into the next one. There were less people in this carriage and he'd given everyone the once over and made it to the end long before the train pulled in to Fordham Road. He waited by the door for the train to come to a complete stop before going through but as the passengers moved to the outside doors, he caught a glimpse through the small glass window of a navy blue hat at the far end of the carriage, disappearing behind the far sliding connecting door. A navy blue cap wasn't exactly a smoking gun, particularly in light of the afternoon's baseball game but the suspicious guy who'd disappeared over half-a-dozen stops ago had been sporting a Yankees Cap. As soon as the doors opened, Eric shot out and darted between the disembarking passengers as he made his way along the platform, past the adjoining carriage and towards the next. Before he knew it, the alert came over the speakers that the doors were closing, forcing Eric into a sprint for the final ten feet. He sprang through the closing doors and inhaled deeply to slow his breathing as they closed behind him.
Taking another couple of settling breaths, he casually gazed around the carriage easily spotting halfway along, the guy in the Yankees cap, who just happened to be wearing the same faded green tee-shirt of the guy from earlier. Eric kept his eyes downcast as he moved closer. The guy didn't show any signs of acknowledgment as Eric nudged past the other passengers but he did twist his body ever so slightly while pretending to read the subway map on the wall as Eric passed. Eric moved along a few more steps then quickly turned back. The guy also made a move to look back in the opposite direction, but it was too late, Eric had already spotted the ear piece snaking down the back of his collar. Eric's stomach did a dive – it was all a trap. It had been easy absconding the Burke compound because Peter had wanted him to escape…so he could lead them all to his mom. It seemed his mom wasn't the only master schemer in town.
Eric considered his options. The Yankees guy was no doubt one of many - there'd be plenty more Feds shadowing the green line, waiting to pounce as soon as they had a location for the rendezvous point, which so happened to be coming up fast. The bright red electronic read out above the door read, next station, Kingsbridge Road. He swallowed down the fear that was pooling under his tongue and made his way along to the end of the carriage before sliding down onto one of the empty plastic seats. He pressed his forehead against the windowpane and watched agonizingly as the train slowed down in its approach to the station. The edge of the platform came into focus and Eric began scanning the people waiting as he shot past. There were several groups and quite a few singles but only one that made no attempt to step towards the train as it came to a complete halt. The form was about his mom's build but it was wearing a man's jacket and a longer style knit cap that covered all the way down the side of the head and neck. Earlier, his mom had been wearing a plain Yankee's tee-shirt, blue jeans and cap, but of course she would have made some type of effort to disguise herself. The train doors shut and apart from the knit cap person, everyone else on the platform had either boarded the train or were making towards the exit stairs at the end of the platform. He wished he could wave at the lone figure to gauge whether it was his mom or not but even the slightest signal could give her position away to the Feds who were no doubt monitoring closely his every move. The train began pulling out and in doing so, the figure loomed closer and as the carriage came up level, in that fleeting moment before he shot past, Eric could see well enough that it was in fact his mom. It took him all his effort, not to lift his hand to his mouth and blow her a kiss. He blinked away the water blurring his vision as he watch out the corner of eye, his mom getting further and further away before finally disappearing altogether.
Eric continued to press his forehead against the window, not caring in the slightest, who got on or off, until he disembarked with a handful of other passengers at Mosholu station. Without bothering to take a glance around to see if he was being followed, he marched purposefully along the platform and came up onto the street. It was unpleasantly cold and the chill bit straight though his light sweater, but he didn't give a damn. He looked in each direction and made a decision on which way he was going to head. It wasn't an area of the city he was familiar with but he could see the entrance to a park, diagonally across from where he was standing. As soon as there was a break in the traffic, he jogged across the road and entered the park without hesitation. Ordinarily, he wouldn't be stupid enough to go in alone but he figured that whomever was tailing him would come to his rescue if he was accosted by an undesirable. Fuelled by the anger he felt towards his shadow and everyone else involved by association, he ploughed ahead into the darkness.
As he marched along the path, he passed a couple of unfavourable characters slumped against trees or huddled together on the grass, but they barely displayed any reaction, at least until he was well past, most probably due to the fact that they weren't even sure that they'd seen correctly. Eric imagined not many kids were allowed to stroll through this park at night…by themselves. Keeping his head down, he continued on without issue, till eventually the path ended and he came out on the bordering street. It was probably enough of a red herring for the Feds but for good measure, he started off up the street, in the opposite direction from the station. He wondered how many blocks they'd let him carry on for until they decided enough was enough, but after traversing seven city blocks, Eric started to slow down and even began to question whether he had made an error in his assessment of the Yankees Cap guy. Maybe he hadn't seen a com wire at all. Maybe the guy had just been listening to music on his iPod. Maybe he wasn't being followed and he was simply a lone eleven year old boy who'd just walked though a dark NYC park frequented by crack heads and paedophiles! And maybe…maybe it hadn't been a trap at all and he could have gotten off at Kingsbridge Road, fallen into his mom's waiting arms and now, instead of them still not being together, they could have been well on their way to the Canadian border.
Eric bit his lip and came to a complete standstill. He checked his watch – it was only quarter after Maybe his mom hadn't left yet. He spun on his heels and began heading back towards the station. It was unlikely she would have stuck around for too long after the rendezvous time but if he hurried… His quick strides soon turned into a jog and by the time he hit the first curb, he was moving too quickly to stop himself and he ran straight into the side of a black SUV that had appeared from nowhere. It probably would have hurt if he allowed himself the luxury of feeling sorry for himself but he was in too much of a rush to care. So instead, he pushed off the side of the vehicle and came around the back but this time he ran into a wall…a moving, talking wall. Eric may have taken notice as to what was being said under different circumstances, but he was on a mission. He brushed off the man-wall but soon found he was prevented from going any further by the hold the man had his upper arm. With his free hand, he spun around and bashed against the man's chest. It was ineffectual and if he'd been thinking straight, he would have known well enough to strike an area with at least some sensitivity but he was too worked up to act rationally so he struck the same place again. "Let me go, you fucking asshole!"
"Eric, calm down."
"No! I won't! Just leave me the fuck alone!"
"That's not going to happen…" Peter held the boy still so he could look him in the eye, "Where are you wanting to go to, Eric?"
Eric opened his mouth and it was a small miracle that Kingsbridge Road didn't come out and instead he screamed, "You fucking ass! This is all your fault! You ruined everything. I hate you!" as he pounded the agent's chest more with his fists.
Peter grabbed the flailing limbs and bundled the boy under his arms while Eric continued to kick and scream for all it was worth. The agent who'd been driving, got out to assist and it took both of them a combined effort to manoeuvre the hysterical child into the back seat of the vehicle. Peter scrambled in the back also, receiving a couple of painful hits to his face courtesy of the boy's shoe but once the door was locked shut behind him, he could concentrate all his efforts on restraining the child.
"Eric, you need to calm down!"
"No!" Eric had another couple of failed attempts at taking a swing at the agent but in the end, gave in to his overwhelming emotional state and dropped his head down onto Peter's lap, where he finally surrendered and allowed a deluge of pitiful sobbing to engulf his body.
Peter ran his hands through the damp, wavy tufts of dark hair that reminded him so much of his fathers and rubbed soothing circles on the boy's back.
A short time later, the driver looked in the rear-view mirror and inquired, "Where are we headed, sir?"
Peter sighed, "Back to Brooklyn," and then he patted sympathetically, the top of the boy's head that had crashed out on his lap. "Back home."