The next morning we met Agent Manning at the FBI headquarters. I gave my statement, the full-length version. As I talked through it, I found myself getting angrier by the second. I really hated these guys for what they had done to me and Kelly and all the other boys who were caught up in their messed up scheme. I told the prosecutor that I would like to petition the judge for the right to kick each and every one of these scumbags right in the balls. Not just for me but also for Kelly and all the boys they rescued from the compound. He explained that the Constitution didn"t allow for that. I expressed my contempt for the short sighted nature of the framers and suggested an amendment be made.
No one disagreed.
Once I had completed my statement, Katie, the agent in charge, sat down and told me she had some news and she would rather I heard it from her than see it on T.V. She said that two bodies had been found buried at the compound in Ohio where these scumbags did their thing. More personnel were being sent in to help search for more bodies and that the bodies appeared to be very young boys. Plans are to excavate the entire site and scan with the latest technology available. It might be months before all the evidence is found. She assured me that those men would never walk free again.
"I"m glad you told me, thank you."
"Here"s the other part you need to know; the trials may go on for years. The Federal case involving you and the other boys and the ring that was trying to sell you will take place within the year. But the State trials will continue for years."
One final thing she told me, "Terry, the boy who was in the airplane with Kelly, attempted to hang himself. He wasn"t successful in killing himself but he is severely brain damaged from the lack of oxygen. It"s unlikely that he"ll ever recover," she finished.
I sat and thought about that. "I wonder if he was a regular kid when they got him and they broke his mind, or was he already twisted when they got him." I pondered.
It was quiet for a few minutes and then Katie said, "I like to believe that no child would be that evil without external pressure. I suspect Terry did what would please his masters and eventually lost sight of his own humanity. He was a broken soul Duncan and maybe worthy of our compassion."
She told me that Terry had been abducted when he was eight. His face had been on countless milk cartons and yet he was never identified. The people that had him had connections and the boys were taught by tutors and kept under false identities. They had doctors and lawyers and judges in their ring along with a few cops.
Fortunately for us, everyone who knew how to delete that information was on the airplane with Mr. Pomeroy who ran the operation. And since they couldn"t get a signal, they couldn"t alert their partners.
It turns out the pilots were not involved and they refused to move the aircraft. They also got on the radio and described how many people were on board.
I had to think about that for a while. Terry had been a willing participant according to Kelly but he was already a teenager when Kelly met him. If those men had him for five years, there"s no telling what they might have done to him to mess up his head.
"Could I tell Dr. Chandler about this so she can tell Kelly? Terry haunts his dreams and it might give him some comfort to know he can"t hurt anyone ever again," I asked. Katie.
She looked pensive for a moment and then, "We haven"t located Terry"s mother yet, his father passed away while they were searching for him. We haven"t released his condition to the press so I will give Dr. Chandler a call. Will that be okay?" she asked.
I agreed that it would be just fine as long as Kelly would be told. I worried about Kelly; he was the most damaging witness the Feds had against the men. As more and more powerful men were arrested I feared that one of them would have Kelly killed to shut him up.
The guy that sold Kelly to these men was arrested quite publicly in front of all his coworkers at the Children"s Services office where he continued to work after he sold Kelly and others into sexual slavery.
Like me, Kelly really hadn"t had a chance to mourn his father"s death or even the comfort of having his own possessions around him. My mind poked at my own loss but I deliberately redirected my thinking. I had given Kelly my Gmail address so that he could contact me and we could stay in touch. I also had Dr. Chandler as an avenue of contact. She could arrange for me to talk with Kelly on the phone.
Dan shook me from my private thoughts, "Did you hear that Duncan? Katie said you"re free to go."
I refocused on the here and now, "Really? Does that mean we can go see Aunt Cheryl and Trev?
"As far as the FBI is concerned, yes," Katie agreed. "We"ll come to you if there is anything more we need. If any defense counsel wish to depose you, we will bring you back here. That"s so they can"t learn where you"re living. Mr. Bayard has arranged for a very good attorney to attend to your rights during this procedure; specifically dealing with other council. We all believe it would be better if you didn"t discuss this with friends. You wouldn"t want to put them in danger because of something you told them," Katie cautioned.
"Yes I understand, if I need to talk about it I have Dan and Ken and Dr. Chandler. Has Gabe made arrangements for Kelly to be represented?" I probed.
"I"m afraid you"ll have to ask Gabe about that, even though I know and you are party to the situation Duncan, I can"t discuss what counsel and witnesses may have in the works. It"s part of protecting their rights," Katie informed.
"That seems reasonable I guess. I wouldn"t want people to be free with information about me, I understand," I told her. "And I want to thank you for all you"ve done. You have a tough job and it"s going to be hard to catch up with all those guys that were involved," I posited.
"I wish all our witnesses were as understanding as you, Duncan. Your behavior throughout this entire nasty business has been better than many adult witnesses I"ve dealt with. Thank you."
Katie stood and held out her hand; I stood, shook her hand and wished her luck with the case.
Dan and I turned in our visitor"s badges and walked out to the car. "When do we start for Nevada?" I asked.
"I thought we would get an early start tomorrow, if that"s okay. I still have to go over and file some paperwork at the Sheriff"s station. You can come along or I can take you back to the hotel and you can veg out for awhile. It"s probably been awhile since you had some time to yourself," Dan offered.
"Yeah, that sounds good. Can I order some fries and just hang out in the room?" I almost pleaded.
"That sounds like heaven to me, I"ll be very jealous but yeah, that would be fine," Dan joked.
I spent the afternoon watching or ignoring old movies and munching French fries and swilling Mountain Dew.
When Dan arrived, he asked if I was interested in dinner and I told him I wasn"t hungry but I"d keep him company if he wanted to go out. He opted to order something from room service and he joined me in a Futurama marathon. I conked out about nine-thirty. Dan joined me after he showered, I had already showered and I also laundered my brand new blue jeans. They fit great and were a lot softer. Other than a nightmare I couldn"t remember, I slept straight through and woke around five. Dan had calmed me; he patted my back and spoke soothingly until I went back to sleep.
The next morning we were both up early. I was awake before Dan so I showered and brushed my teeth and whatever. When I was done he was just rousing himself, eventually he groaned and headed to the bathroom to get ready. I put all my clothes away in my duffel and turned on the TV for the Weather Channel. It was going to be a smooth ride since we were in between storms. The Dodge Charger was a fast car but not great in the snow, at least as Dan had mentioned. It was smooth going until we hit a snag on I-80. Traffic had slowed and after a quarter mile, we saw the reason. A big RV had hit a large deer and was stopped in the far right lane. A Volvo wagon was stopped just ahead of it and a distraught woman was trying to get help for the injured deer. The Deer was badly off, his hind quarters were crushed and the animal wailed and flailed pitifully with its front legs. The way its head was whipping around no one wanted to get close to those antlers. Dan walked back to the trunk of the Charger and emerged with a Remington 870 twelve gauge shotgun. He plucked a slug round from one of the loops on the butt and chambered it.
I asked the woman if she had a blanket in her car and then walked with her to her Volvo which was adorned with both a UC Berkley decal in the rear window and a PETA sticker as well. When the shot came, she dropped everything and ran back to where the deer was laying in the road. About the time I reached him the woman was tearing into him verbally. I heard the whoop of a siren as a Nevada Highway Patrol unit approached. With Dan standing there holding a shotgun I decided to pull his panel down so the cops could see he was okay.
The patrolman walked up and Dan showed his creds; satisfied, the patrolman suggested that Dan stow the shotgun and come back.
The woman from Berkley started in on him and he cut her off. "Go wait in your car and pull to the side out of traffic lanes," he ordered.
The man that was driving the RV explained that the animal had just jumped out on the road. Aside from a little body work, the RV was unharmed.
When Dan returned, the patrolman asked him to confirm that he had dispatched the deer and Dan told him he had. "Well that"s all I need from you. I"ll get them to send a flatbed for the carcass and take it to the Orphanage on the Reservation. As long as I can say for sure that it"s fresh they can use it for food. You guys have a safe trip and a nice holiday, I just have to deal with the aging hippie now."
We wished him the same and as we walked back to the Charger, I noticed the blue and red take down lights were burning in the windshield which meant the blue and amber lights were flashing in the rear. No wonder the patrolman had been so unconcerned. The Hippie woman glared at our car as we drove past, I didn"t envy the patrolman having to deal with her. My mother had told me there is nothing worse than dealing with an ideolog.
The rest of the trip went smoothly; when we turned south at Reno I knew we had about fifty miles to go. Finally we pulled up into the drive of Dan and Cheryl"s which was a quarter mile long. The house was huge and looked like a hunting lodge. A veranda stretched around the front as far as I could see. The stonework on the bottom third of the ground floor completed the illusion of a mountain hideaway.
Dan and I stretched as we got out of the car, neither of us had been hungry enough to stop for lunch so we grabbed some snacks at the stop for gas. "We better go on in, Cheryl will have heard the driveway bell. I followed Dan up the stone slab steps to two very impressive doors, he held one open for me and I went in. Cheryl appeared through a wide doorway to the atrium and surrounded me with her arms. The hug was nearly suffocating but I endured it. She must have kissed me a dozen times and finally she turned me loose so she could step back and look at me. She had always had such a radiant smile, it warmed my soul just to see it again.
Before I knew what was happening I was in tears, I sobbed for ten minutes from relief and grief and released tension from the long drive. I felt Dan"s powerful hands on my shoulders and he asked me if I would like to take off my coat and stay awhile. I turned loose of Cheryl and he deftly slipped my coat off me.
"It"ll be on the tree by the front door Duncan," he said.
Cheryl held me a little looser now and I regained my composure.
"Is Trevor here?" I asked.
"He"s out in his room, I"ll message him that you"re here, there"s a bathroom down this hall on the right if you want to wash your face." She said.
I walked in the direction I was pointed while Dan gave his hellos to Cheryl. I took care of my poor screaming bladder and then washed my face and straightened my hair as much as I could. By the time I returned to the big room Trev was there and he tackled me, hugging me nearly as tight as Cheryl.
He was teary eyed, "I"m so glad you"re here but so sad about why, Duncan. I"ve really missed seeing you these last couple years." He wept. I hugged him back as hard as I could manage, "I missed you too, all of you."
We moved to a large couch in front of the fireplace and chatted and caught up, we avoided sensitive topics like my mom and the bad guys. Dan told them about Carlos and the diner, and then about the deer on the highway. That got them laughing and soon Cheryl suggested that she should start dinner and I should be shown to my new quarters.
"Where will I be sleeping," I asked.
Trev grinned wider than you would think his face would allow. "You"ll bunk with me in the Aerie!" he chirped excitedly.
"Aerie?" I repeated.
"Sure, let"s get your stuff," Trev suggested.
We put on our coats and then Trev drove the car around to the small garage and parked it inside next to Cheryl"s SUV. He was impressive the way he swung the beast around and backed in without hitting anything. We emptied out the car bringing in Dan"s bags as well. Then we entered by the kitchen.
Dan had put the guns and other stuff from the box in his study. He told me we could examine it all more closely later on.
He held out the shopping bag that Max had given me and the envelope from my Mom that was in the box. He figured I"d like to keep that stuff close.
Cheryl suggested we go out and see the Aerie and get cleaned up for dinner.
I followed as Trev led the way.
"I"ll be out later to talk guys." Dan advised.
Two huge labs met us at the back door. Porthos and Athos had been my friends for years, I asked about D"artagnon and Trev told me he had gotten sick and died. I told him I was sorry to hear that.