Stealing Childhood Read online

  Dan turned back, and picked up his coffee cup and took a long swallow to hold back from laughing. “What took you? Were you waiting outside until I finished?”

  Agent Mercer swallowed. “Cora said you were putting on a show?”

  “Cora is not right. I never put on a show. I do, however, perform as I feel I must to do the job I’m here to do. If you’re going to listen in, you’re going to hear a lot of shit. Now, if we’re through here and you’re ready to go, you can take us to the hotel where we can collect our things, then to where you have your little surveillance team so you can continue to monitor everything we say and do. I think you’ll find much of it a bit boring, but then again, you might also get caught up in a fairly dangerous dream.” Dan paused for effect. “You know if you get caught in an altered state when you’re not used to it, a lot of weird, potentially dangerous, shit can happen.”

  Agent Rafsky walked in, scooting around Agent Mercer. “He’s trying to scare you.”

  “He means it,” Jason said. “I’d advise that you listen to him.”

  Agent Rafsky stared at Jason for a moment as though her confidant had abandoned her. They had created a sort of bond and she was definitely considering his statement. “Well, maybe.”

  “Maybe?” Agent Mercer said.

  “I doubt it,” Agent Rafsky said.

  Jason looked at Agent Mercer. “Don’t doubt it. I’m telling you.”

  “Enough of the scare tactics.” She turned around. “Get them to their hotel and then to the Fife location.” She huffed toward Dan and walked out.

  Dan drank more of his coffee, emptying the cup. He walked past Agent Mercer and handed the cup to him. “Tell Agent Blake thanks for the coffee.”

  In the hallway, Dan pushed the elevator button.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for them?” Jason asked.

  “We know where their van is. They probably have to regroup before coming down. Cora,” he said, “will need to reprimand them or feed them their lines first. In the meantime, we have to talk whenever they’re not around.”

  “So, was that a show?”

  “You bet your ass it was. I want them worried. I want them to start paying attention to our needs, have a little reverence for our work. Beside,” he shrugged, “I sometimes talk out loud when I feel like it.”

  “Not often.”

  “I don’t often feel like it.” He winked.

  “So, you think she’ll be a bit more wary around you?”

  “The others will and that’s a start. I think she’s still on the ledge. After you said what you did, you may not be on her warm side anymore.”

  “I’ll live with it.”

  “Glad to hear that.”

  The elevator door opened and Dan and Jason stepped inside, holding their backpacks in front of them.

  “You think the hallway or the elevator are bugged,” Jason asked.

  “Doubt it, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “Just thought I’d ask. So, what’s the plan?”

  Dan turned toward his son very seriously. “We’ve fucked around enough. It’s time we got to work. She can’t keep us at arm’s length forever. And the pace she has us on is too slow for me.”

  “But everything goes through her.”

  “She has to be working with someone. An Elder.”

  “She won’t tell you.”

  “I think she will.”

  “Dad, are you going to work on her? Is that ethical? She hasn’t consented. I’m not sure that’s right.”

  “That’s your mother coming through. She never approved of my methods.” He took a breath. “Sometimes you do what you have to do. Sometimes the only rules are the ones you make up as you go along.”

  Chapter 7

  After checking out of the downtown hotel and on their way to Fife, Dan called to check in on his cats. He didn’t like leaving them for long periods of time. A few days, with enough food and water, were fine, but he expected this trip to last longer, especially with Agent Rafsky keeping things at a snail’s pace.

  After Dan hung up and slipped his cell phone back into his pocket, Jason asked, “You’re not going to call Shari?”

  “I’ll text her later.”

  “Romantic.”

  Dan lowered his chin to look at Jason out the tops of his eyes. “We won’t talk about your love life.”

  Agent Rafsky sat in front of them as though paying no attention.

  Dan knew differently.

  Mercer and Blake bantered in the front seats, talking about their weekend and, presumably, their girlfriends or wives. Dan didn’t notice rings. He and Jason kept their conversation light. Much of the time they sat looking out opposite windows, each with a notebook in his lap, jotting down whatever they thought, saw, or heard.

  After the first ten or so minutes, Dan closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headrest. Agent Rafsky asked Jason what Dan was doing.

  “Probably napping.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Well, you can’t be completely sure with Dad.”

  Dan wanted to laugh at how Jason played her. He was glad to see that she wasn’t going to get the better of either of them. Jason was learning to handle himself nicely.

  As they got closer to the Fife turnoff, Dan sat up and cleared his throat. Agent Rafsky didn’t ask about his nap.

  “Everything okay, Dad?”

  “Better. Interesting dream. I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “The cats?”

  “That? Well, the babysitter said Flow was missing for a while,” Dan said.

  “You tell her to wait a half hour and she’d come out of hiding?”

  “You heard me,” Dan said.

  “You told her not to worry about it. Yeah, I heard while you were on the phone. You should be more open with her. You don’t want her to worry.”

  “I told her not to.”

  “Not good enough, Dad. You have to tell her why.”

  Agent Rafsky swung around in her seat. “I get it now.”

  “What?” Jason asked.

  “You’re using small talk to drive me nuts, so I let you alone.”

  “If only it were that easy,” Dan said. “We’re just discussing my cats. I have a very close relationship with them.”

  “Cat lover,” Jason said.

  She scoffed and turned back around.

  Dan laughed. “Told you it might get boring.” He glanced out the window. They drove through an industrial area, rough road, block buildings with gates and driveways but few windows. “Been in these places before.”

  “Then you should be used to it,” Agent Rafsky said.

  “I’m not,” Jason said.

  “You’re not staying here,” Agent Mercer said from the driver’s seat.

  “Part of your team is here, though?” Dan asked.

  “Yeah, but we’re not stopping.” He beeped the horn three times and then twice.

  “I hate it when you do that,” Rafsky said.

  “Just letting them know we’re in town if they need us.” Mercer gave Blake a knowing look.

  Dan knew they were warning their friends that Agent Rafsky was around. Pretty funny that she didn’t know that.

  The van pulled onto 20th Street and drove a few miles before stopping at a small hotel. “Rooms are already paid for,” Agent Blake said.

  “We knew that,” Dan said and no one countered.

  Agents Mercer and Blake grabbed Dan and Jason’s luggage and walked to the outside, ground-floor door. “You two will be in here. We’re next door on the right and Agent Rafsky is on the other side.”

  “Penned in,” Dan wrote that down, then wrote blocked.

  “We don’t look at it that way,” Agent Mercer said. “We’re here to protect you so you can do your job.”

  “I doubt that. Anyway, I warned you about listening,” Dan said. “It’s going to be hard not to when you’re next door.” He looked around. “I hope you reserved the rooms behind us, too. I’ll b
e drumming in there.”

  Mercer glanced over at Agent Rafsky. She shook her head and he went to book the other rooms.

  Blake was left to drag the luggage into the room. Jason helped.

  It was a small space, as expected, had two queen beds with about three feet between them, just enough for a bedside table for the phone and a lamp. A narrow desk shoved along the wall at the foot of the bed held a second lamp. It sat next to the dresser—a television anchored to its top. The bathroom opened against the back wall with a small, door-free closet next to it.

  “Cozy,” Dan said.

  Blake and Jason laid the luggage on the floor in front of the closet. “Not ideal, but it should work,” Blake said in a polite voice.

  “I’ll bet the girls have it nicer than we do,” Dan said.

  “You bet they do,” Blake said.

  “Close the door when you leave. It’s time I get down to business,” Dan told him.

  After Agent Blake left, Jason asked if they were going to start right away.

  “Might as well.” There was no comfortable chair to sit in, only an office chair slid under the desk. “Looks like we have to lie down or sit up in the bed. Lock the door, would you.” Dan unzipped the large suitcase and removed his buffalo drum.

  Jason closed the blinds and turned off the fan on the wall unit under the window. “You going to be okay here?”

  “I’ve worked in tunnels, alleys, and boxes. This will be fine.” Dan piled the pillows at the head of the bed and sat down. He handed the drum to Jason. “Would you mind? Give me fifteen minutes before the call-back.”

  “Are you going to want my help?”

  “Exploratory,” Dan said.

  Jason piled pillows on his bed, too, then sat down. “Here we go.” He began drumming.

  Dan entered an altered state quickly, leaving the physical world behind. He stood in a cedar grove not far from the sound of traffic. Strange. His first thought was concrete forest. Well, fine. He called for a guide. As he walked what he sensed was east, the traffic got lower in volume. The right way, quieter. He glanced around, expecting snake or bear since he’d called on them earlier, but saw and heard nothing. He continued to walk and slowly moved his gaze farther up the trees until he saw a black bear sitting in a branch. Dan stopped walking.

  “I need to be higher,” he said.

  The bear looked down on him. “If you wish to see someone’s soul,” Bear said, “look them in the eye.” Bear turned its head and when Dan swung around to where Bear was looking he saw several other bears sitting in trees at the same height.

  “Well that’s pretty straightforward.” Dan wasn’t used to that. He expected riddles and symbols.

  “Not straightforward,” Bear said. Then it yawned. “The season is changing.” Several other bears nodded at the truth of the statement.

  “Is that because of me?” Dan asked.

  “Of course,” Bear responded.

  Dan shuffled around the base of the tree for a few minutes, wondering what he came there for. He waited, gave Bear time to continue the conversation. It was taking too long. “There’s something else.”

  Black Bear climbed from the tree. As many black bears in the region, this one was small, maybe four feet tall if standing on hind legs. It sniffed at Dan’s pockets then reached up with a clawed paw.

  Dan took the hint and emptied his pockets. As he let everything fall, his driver’s license, credit card, bank information, the only thing left in his hand was a stone. He opened his palm. The stone was polished and smooth and pink. He put the stone back in his pants pocket.

  When Black Bear reached for his pocket again, Dan removed the stone and put it in his shirt pocket instead.

  Bear cocked its head, then reached up and touched Dan’s bare skin on his chest near his neck. Dan felt the claw poke him. He pulled out the stone and held it where it might lie if he were to wear it as a necklace. Black Bear got onto all fours and walked away. Dan didn’t know what the stone was for but had to find one like it. Up to this time, everything had gone smoothly, but he’d forgotten to ask about Koko. That was the thing he came for. He called out. “What about Koko?” The bear kept walking. When Dan looked into the trees for the other bears. They were gone.

  The drumming had stopped, and Dan waited for the return signal at which time he turned around and walked back to where he’d entered. He still had the stone in his hand and opened his fist to get a better look at it. He wanted to remember every detail.

  As the return signal began, he saw something move out the corner of his eye. He swung toward it. There wasn’t much time. He couldn’t address whatever it was but needed to know. Through the trees he saw the sky, a crack in the left-hand corner of where he peered. A crack?

  Jason was drumming fast.

  Dan purposefully blanked out the image in order to leave quickly. He took three deep breaths and opened his eyes wide.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know.” He got up quickly and rushed to the window, throwing the vertical blinds to the side. He pointed toward the top left corner. “The crack between worlds,” he said.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Leave this room. I can’t work here anymore.”

  Chapter 8

  “This is just another ploy,” Agent Rafsky said.

  Dan stood outside in the sun and pointed at the crack in the glass. “Cora, I don’t care what you think this is, but I can’t work where I’m not comfortable that I’m safe.”

  “It’s Agent Rafsky, to you,” she asserted sternly. “You don’t know me well enough…”

  Agent Mercer stood behind her shaking his head.

  “You don’t believe us either?” Dan asked him, surprised at Mercer.

  “The walls are thin. We heard everything. I have no idea how you knew the glass was—”

  “He saw it before going inside,” Agent Rafsky said. “Even if it didn’t register. All this hocus-pocus stuff is ridiculous.” She held up her hand before Dan could interrupt. “But we’ll play along. Now that we have the room behind you secured, you can move to that one. Or is that too close to the crack in the window?”

  “It’s close, but I think it’ll be okay,” Dan said.

  Agent Rafsky jerked her head for her men to move the luggage. Dan and Jason followed, got their new key from Agent Mercer, and went into the room that shared a wall, as well as plumbing from the bathroom, with their old room. It was laid out the same only a mirror image, which Dan didn’t overlook.

  He turned to Jason, but before he could say anything, Jason said, “Complete opposite.”

  Dan wrote that down. “We’re not facing traffic anymore either.”

  “I hope that’s a good thing,” Agent Mercer said under his breath before walking out.

  Jason rearranged the pillows on the bed and sat down. “What happened in your journey.”

  He told Jason about the bear and about looking people in the eye but left out a few of the details to get to the point. He also mentioned the cedar grove and traffic.

  “You know they’re going to think you heard traffic because of where we were located. I mean, you hear constant traffic from our old room.”

  “I don’t care what they think, and neither should you. That’ll get you into trouble every time. You know everything shuts down during a journey. All I heard was your drumming.”

  “I know. I know.” Jason slipped off his shoes and crossed his legs. Dan did the same. They faced each other across the three-foot span between beds.

  He told Jason about the pink stone and how he studied it, set it into memory. “I’d know it if I saw it. Not something I’ve used before, nothing from the natural world. It was polished.”

  “Koko?”

  “Nothing. It came to me late. When I asked about her, Bear kept walking away. I went back to where I started and that’s when I saw the crack. I have to say, it drove chills up my spine.”

  “Do it again,” Jason said. “Or let me go. It’s al
most as though Rafsky is still slowing things down. What can she do from next door?”

  “Nothing much. Not to me, anyway.”

  “We need to find Koko. If she knows what the FBI are up to, you have to wonder what she’ll do with that information. This could get dangerous quickly.”

  “I need to find that stone first,” Dan said. “There’s got to be a spiritual bookstore around here that will have polished stones.”

  “You’re not worried about Koko?”

  “That was the original plan, but Bear was not being straightforward. We’re in a mirror room, and Rafsky is still holding back information.” He looked into the corner of the ceiling. “Yeah, you heard me.” His attention went back to Jason. “Our plans need to change, shift, until we find a path. Like when you’re lost in the woods, you look for where the animals go. You may not find a way out, but you’ll find water, which will help you stay alive.”

  “A pink stone and dinner it is,” Jason said with a wide smile.

  “We eat too often,” Dan said.

  They were met outside their room by Agent Mercer. He shrugged. “I was told to go with you.”

  “Better company than what we could have had,” Dan said.

  “Come on, man, she’s my boss,” Mercer said.

  “For now,” Dan told him.

  They took the van. Dan sat next to Agent Mercer and Jason sat between the seats in the next row back. “I looked up a store for you,” Mercer said.

  “You guys ever get tired of listening in?” Dan asked.

  “Part of the job, as you well know.”

  Jason leaned in. “You know he’s worked for you guys before?”

  Agent Mercer turned his head to talk with Jason. “Your dad has worked for everyone before, at one time or another. That’s the problem. Why do you think Cora doesn’t trust him?”

  “Oh, the van’s not bugged,” Dan said.

  Agent Mercer shook his head. “Not a bit. That’s why I’m with you.”

  “Why’s she trying to keep us from working on the case?” Dan turned and laughed at Jason. “Might as well be direct and ask the question always on our minds.”