Stealing Childhood Read online

  “I had some crazy dreams.”

  “I’m not surprised. Maybe you should shower and get something to eat. These things always go slower than you think.” She stood. “It’s about 8:00. I’ll join you for breakfast in fifteen?”

  Still a bit dazed, Dan nodded and walked back to his room. He showered quickly, dressed, and collected his notebook and phone. The moment he stepped from his room, Cora stepped from the observation room. “You don’t have my room bugged, do you?” he asked with suspicion.

  She laughed. “Not this time. You’re on your own in there. But I was married once. Remember? I know how long it takes a man to shower and get dressed.”

  “So, we’re all the same?”

  “Sometimes,” she said. “Shall we?”

  They walked out of the hotel and down the street to a Denny’s. After being seated and ordering, Dan said, “I’m still going in, you know. One way or another.”

  “I know. And I still don’t approve. I don’t want this messed up.” She was serious, but less aggressive. Maybe she was trying new tactics to get him to listen.

  After coffee came and he took a first, hot sip, Dan pulled out his phone and opened his browser.

  “What are you doing? We’re talking here,” she said.

  “I have to know more about cockroaches than I do.”

  “Did you see one in your room?”

  “In my dream…and in my journey.”

  “Oh, that.” She sat back. “I still don’t like having you do that while we’re together. I don’t let my girls have their phones at the table. Ever. They have to leave them in the living room or on the counter. And off.”

  Dan looked up at her. He placed the phone beside him on the table. “Okay. What do we have to talk about?”

  “Your friend, Richard.”

  “I can’t imagine him being involved in all this, not in the way you’re thinking. And, if so, what about Sarah? Is she in on it too?”

  “That would be three out of four shamans he spoke about,” Cora said.

  “I’d be the forth,” Dan said.

  “How so? You’re not in it with them.”

  “There’s a saying I learned from a friend. Long time ago. He was a cop. We were talking about getting into a scuffle with a criminal, or anyone for that matter. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘You have to remember, there’s always a gun.’”

  “Because he’s carrying one,” she said.

  “Exactly.”

  “So, you consider yourself a loaded gun when you go into a situation like this.”

  “Especially when other shamans are involved.”

  “You’re saying that they can use your powers against you? Like you did with Mindy?”

  Dan nodded and shrugged.

  “Then Jason makes it five. Who do you think isn’t a shaman, that might be the question.”

  “I’m going to say Richard.” Dan pulled out his notebook, then glanced up at Cora, held up the notebook and said, “This okay?”

  “Your tool of choice. Go ahead. But just this once.”

  Dan wrote down their five names: me, Jason, Mindy, Richard, Sarah. “I hadn’t thought about Jason being there, too.”

  “You seldom do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You either don’t trust your own son or you’re over confident about your own capabilities. I wonder which it could be?”

  “You’re not funny.”

  “You didn’t even think of him as a shaman until I mentioned it.”

  Dan peered out the window onto the street. “He’s just always been my son. Maybe you’re right; I think he’s still a kid. It’s not that I don’t trust him. He’s done some pretty amazing things. I’ve watched him as he’s developed over this last year or so, but…”

  She reached out and put her hand over his. “You have to stop. Let him be what he’s becoming. You can’t hold him back and expect him to move forward at the same time. You make it too hard for him.”

  “But look where he is now. In trouble. I have to help him, don’t I?”

  “Absolutely, but while you’re doing that, let him go. Can you do both?” When Dan didn’t answer right away, Cora removed her hand. “Look at it this way, he’s going to have to be able to run forward as fast as possible to get away. He can’t do that with you holding onto him, dragging him down.”

  “I get what you’re saying.”

  “Then back to the problem at hand. Who among those five is not a shaman? You sticking with Richard?”

  “Sarah,” Dan said, surprising himself. He looked up at Cora. “Yeah, I remember Richard telling me once that he’d never let his kids get into shamanism, that he wanted them to have normal lives.” Dan shook his head. “But dealing with criminals like she’s doing isn’t normal.” He tapped the name in his notebook with his finger. “Something’s not coming together properly.”

  It was Cora’s turn to look confused. “So, the four shamans are you, your son, your friend, and Mindy?”

  Dan let the idea sink in.

  “Are you guys fighting among yourselves?”

  Their breakfasts came, which gave Dan a moment to think before talking. “I have to consider all the options then maybe journey on it,” Dan said. “I want to call Richard again. For everything that’s gone on, I haven’t noticed his signature.”

  “Signature?”

  “Every shaman has a signature, it’s how they feel, how they voice their work, so to speak.”

  “You think, after all these years, you’d still know his signature if you felt it?”

  “I do.”

  “What about Mindy?”

  “I think I’ll know hers from now on.” He gave a little laugh.

  “She can’t disguise herself?”

  “She could try, but I’m pretty good at this.”

  “So I’ve been told. And seen. I still don’t know how you did that thing in the hallway. By the way, Blake said he got a complaint from the front desk about the noise. Someone in a floor below or above, I suspect.”

  “It didn’t last long.”

  “And he talked his way out of it. I just thought you should know and maybe temper the noise factor. You were pretty loud.”

  “You trust your men,” Dan said.

  “Those two.”

  “How long have you been on this job, really?”

  She explained that it hadn’t been long, and that they weren’t even allowed in part of the time because her bosses didn’t want to allocate the people. Eventually though, a lot of kids ended up in there, and then disappeared. “The only person we saw going in and out regularly was Sarah, who we thought was Koko.”

  “You couldn’t see her clearly. But go on.”

  “Every time we nabbed a pimp or boyfriend or whatever, another one would come around, sometimes with the same girl. Some of the girls who went in never came out. There are either about twenty-some girls in there, or they’ve already been sold.”

  “And you know that how?”

  “We were able to intercept their computer link for a short while. We told you.”

  “They don’t have a computer guy on the team, then.” Dan said the obvious.

  “Maybe it’s a direct link somehow. Old time modem.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know much about computers. But I have to wonder if that can’t be hacked, too?”

  “We couldn’t,” she said.

  Cora’s phone rang, and Dan cocked his head toward her in question.

  “For me, it’s an emergency,” she said as she pulled the phone to her ear.

  Dan heard Blake’s voice but couldn’t understand the words.

  Cora pushed her plate back and lowered the phone. “They came for Jason and told him he was off the job for now. He’s been locked in his room. I suspect they’re trying to decide what to do with him.”

  “I don’t like it.” Dan threw his napkin into the middle of his half-eaten breakfast and slid from the seat.

  Cora stood with him.
“You’ll have to pay the check. I have to get back.”

  “He’s my son.”

  “It’s my job. Besides, so far they aren’t doing anything with him. I figure we have a day or two while they decide. If they know he’s with us, they’ll be more careful about what happens to him.” She reached out and touched his arm. “Trust me. I’ll call you the moment the slightest thing happens.”

  Dan felt a calm come over him and agreed. “I may be late getting back.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid without telling me.”

  “I promise I’ll keep you informed.” He said while removing his wallet. “I may need your help after all.”

  Cora shook her head in disbelief before turning and leaving. Maybe she was getting used to him.

  After Dan paid the bill, he walked outside, the phone to his ear, waiting for Richard to pick up. “We have to meet and talk. Something isn’t right in any of this.”

  “Is this Daniel?”

  “Sorry, yeah. Dan Johnston.”

  “Danny, it’s good to hear from you again and so soon. I thought they’d have you tied up for a while. I haven’t heard much. How’s it going?”

  “Where can we meet?”

  “Oh, so that’s how. I’ll pick you up,” Richard said.

  Dan told him where he was and agreed to walk to the nearest corner. It wasn’t more than ten minutes, and Richard showed up in his big SUV. Dan jumped into the cab while the light was turning yellow, and someone behind Richard blew his horn.

  Richard laughed. “Everyone is in a hurry.” He turned the corner and drove on. “I didn’t expect you’d have any problems. But it was on my agenda to check in with Agent Rafsky later today for an update.”

  “Are you involved in any of this?”

  “Yes. I told you. I’m supposed to be working with the FBI, to help out, but they only want me to stay put unless they have some legal issue arise. Besides, I’m not a shaman anymore, like you. I don’t do that.”

  “That answers my real question,” Dan said.

  Richard pulled off the road and stopped. “Were you asking if I was involved with the Herders?”

  “You know what they call them?”

  “Yes. I know a lot about what’s been going on. I know I don’t know everything, and I’m okay with that, but I am informed.”

  “You know that Sarah is in there with them, then. In that building?”

  “Sarah’s a school teacher. Someone’s fucking with you, my friend.” He jerked his chin up and said, “I know we don’t stay in touch, but how could you think I’m—”

  “I didn’t, but I had to ask. I had to be sure that…”

  “What’s going on?”

  “They have Jason.”

  “Your son? How the hell…”

  “And some girl who we thought was named Koko and then came to Jason and said that she was Sarah and told him to leave things alone.”

  Richard just stared. “What’s this girl look like?”

  Dan felt Richard doubting himself. He described Koko based on the first time he met her.

  “Not my Sarah.”

  Dan pulled out his notebook. “So maybe Koko is a shaman of some kind.”

  “At that age?”

  “Hey.”

  “You were different,” Richard said. “Grandfather said you had natural skills.”

  “So, did you.”

  Richard smiled broadly. “I did.”

  “You still do. So, listen. You said four shamans were involved. There’s this girl we met on the plane, Mindy, then me and Jason, and now Koko. Could that be the four?”

  “It could be.”

  “Two against two.”

  “Two men, two women. You mirror each other.”

  “Really? That’s how you see it?” Dan asked. “We’ve been struggling with this mirror thing from the beginning. But we’re not equal. Shouldn’t it be one male and one female pitched against the same pair?”

  “A mirror isn’t exactly the same. There are always flaws in the glass. Men and women, same thing.” He laughed. “I won’t say which one has flaws.”

  “How would you like to be the tie-breaker?”

  Chapter 24

  By the time Dan got back to the hotel and down the hall, he still hadn’t heard from Cora. He felt calmer after talking with Richard. The feeling was familiar, something his friend could always provide when needed. Like the time they got in trouble with Richard’s grandfather for trying to shape shift into deer. They were scolded pretty heavily about the dangers of turning into an animal without a way back. Dan was frantic because he thought that he’d lost his mentor. He had always been a rebel, but this was the one time, the one thing, that Dan loved most of all, and he didn’t want to lose it. Luckily for him, Richard calmed him down simply by talking sense into him, explaining that Grandfather didn’t want to lose a good student any more than Dan wanted to lose a teacher. Those were early years. Good years.

  He knocked when he reached the surveillance room, and the door opened almost immediately.

  Agent Mercer stood in front of him. “I was heading out for lunch, want anything?”

  “I didn’t realize I’d been gone so long. Everything still tight here? How’s Jason?”

  “So far, so good,” Cora said from behind Mercer. “Told you it would be slow.”

  Dan turned, “Maybe a coffee, Americano with a splash of half-and-half from Starbucks.”

  “You got it,” Mercer said, without turning around.

  Dan sat next to Cora. “Can I talk with him?”

  “Yeah. He’s been pretty bored. But better that than the alternative at this point.”

  Dan reached out and pressed the transmit button on the microphone. “How are you feeling, son?”

  “Dad, where have you been?” Jason whispered.

  “We have some work to do.”

  Cora shook her head and lipped, “What work?”

  “Anything’s better than sitting here waiting for the hammer to drop,” Jason said.

  “I have news, first. Sarah isn’t Sarah. She really is Koko. Maybe she was trying to be nice to you for some reason when she came by and asked you to quit. Maybe you remind her of her boyfriend, the person who got her into this mess. I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you know that she’s one of the other shaman.” Dan lifted his finger and thought for a moment. He waited for a response, but Jason didn’t say anything. Maybe he was thinking for a moment, too.

  Cora flipped a switch so she could listen in. “I’m more comfortable this way.”

  “Fine,” Dan said. “You can open it all the way if you like.”

  Cora nodded, and Agent Blake flipped another switch. “He can hear all of us and we can all hear him. Hey, Jason.”

  “That Bill Blake?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good to talk with you again. So, what’s going on with all this Sarah isn’t Sarah, she’s Koko stuff? I’m getting confused.”

  “Mindy was a shaman, too,” Dan said. “Planted, most likely.”

  “Bill told me. So, she almost took the plane down. Testing us?”

  “Most likely. Idiot, though. You can’t call on something like a gremlin and then expect to control it.”

  “And now?”

  “It’s been me and you against Mindy and Koko this whole time. We’re the four shamans.”

  “They don’t seem old enough or experienced enough, do they?”

  “They’re not,” Dan said.

  “They must know something,” Cora said. “They’ve blocked us and you two from the beginning. That sounds like enough experience to me?”

  “Mirror, mirror,” Jason explained.

  “Exactly. They’ve been using our own powers against us.” Dan gave Cora a nod, as if to say, that’s what I mean.

  “Always a gun,” she said.

  “What’s that about a gun?” Jason’s concerned voice came over the speakers.

  “Just a saying your father taught me,” Cora
said.

  “So he’s teaching you instead of me, now. I’m not surprised.”

  “Don’t go there, Jason,” Dan said.

  “Still, Dad, I haven’t heard this saying.”

  Dan shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It just came up in conversation. I’d forgotten about it. It’s an old story, and I’ll tell you once we’re done with this and you’re out of there.”

  “Can we make that soon?”

  “That’s my plan. I suspect Agent Blake told you that we know who all the players are and that they’re getting in and out of the building through some underground entrance.”

  “Or we just can’t see them,” Cora said.

  “Another possibility,” Dan said.

  “Maybe that’s where the nest is?” Jason asked. “ I don’t feel—and didn’t have a problem in the last journey—that there was anything inside this building blocking the girls. They’re just down the hall, for God’s sake. So, what could be blocking an entrance that’s nest-like?” Jason asked.

  “What would be nest-like through a mirror?” Dan asked. He heard Jason snap his fingers. “You have something?”

  “No, you do, or did. More mirrors,” Jason said. “Three mirrors aimed at each another would make it look like a nest of mirrors.”

  “The fun house journey. That’s brilliant. I never would have thought of that. Here we go with this mirror thing all over again. They are using our abilities to mirror everything back to us—multiple times.”

  “I’m rubber, and you’re glue,” Jason said.

  “And we’ve allowed it to stick,” Dan responded.

  “Glad you think I’m brilliant,” Jason said with a glib laugh.

  “Don’t get smart.” Dan looked over at Cora again but didn’t get her approval.

  “So, the plan?” Jason sounded impatient.

  “Turn the tails on them. We create a mirror zone to get them confused.”

  “How do we do that? Intention? Would that be enough? They’ve been pretty sneaky so far. Plus, something like that could cause confusion for all four of us if we get too mixed up in this whole thing,” Jason said.

  “You have a better idea?”

  “Create a distraction.”

  “How?”