There was a sound behind him as he reached the sill. Before he could get out, a long hairy arm circled his neck. Justin saw and felt the rows of scratchy scabs on the inside of the man’s arm as it curled around his throat. He saw the hand at the end of the arm, too. It had a doctor’s glove on it, one of those yellowy plastic ones that you could see through. Justin could see the man’s thumb inside the glove. A big silver ring encircled the thumb.
Justin knew the van man had him. He opened his mouth, sucking in air to scream. The other hand clamped itself over his mouth. It was also wearing a doctor’s glove. Justin tasted the dry rubber.
“Can’t have you falling and hurting yourself again, klutz,” whispered the van man. “You really should’ve gone to your friend’s house like you were supposed to.”
Justin tried to bite, but the Van Man just chuckled and slipped his fingers away. He ruffled Justin’s hair momentarily. “Look at all that blond fluff!” he said, his breath stinking of stale cigarettes. “You’re sure a cute kid, you know that? A damn, fine, good-looking kid.”
… 77 Hours and Counting…
Ray had spent the longest hours of his life in a small conference room next door to his own office. He wondered why they hadn’t taken him into custody yet. Perhaps it was because they didn’t want to leave the university until their back-up team got there from L.A. Agent Vasquez, whom he now had decided was a thorough bitch at heart, was seated across from him. Johansen manned the closed door, his recorder running on the tabletop in front of Ray. He had changed the batteries once. Ray hoped he would run out of batteries or memory space soon, just so he could see an expression of frustration on the man’s face. That would be gratifying. Unfortunately, the man’s supply of both seemed to be inexhaustible.
“Let’s go over it again, Dr. Vance-” she began.
“Yes, let’s,” answered Ray immediately. He was so tired and angry now that he didn’t care what happened. He was in survival mode, just plodding ahead, wanting to beat them at their own game of wearing him down through sheer determination. He actually looked forward to repeating his statement the thousandth time. He thought they must be getting as sick of it as he was, and the idea that he was causing them discomfort, in any small measure, made him feel good.
Vasquez didn’t bat an eye at his enthusiasm, but he thought it was getting to her a bit anyway. But she was a cool one, and she didn’t let it show. “First let’s discuss last night. You worked late. There was a lot of activity on the net, so you couldn’t bring down the system for maintenance.”
“Right, right,” nodded Ray, doing his best to seem eager, alive and interested. Vasquez glanced up from her notes at him without moving her head. She flicked her eyes back down. She looked slightly annoyed. Ray felt a rush of victory.
“Next, you-” she broke off as there came a persistent knocking at the door. Johansen looked at her. She nodded.
He opened the door and there stood Brenda, looking worried and a bit pissed. Ray found it reassuring that she wasn’t afraid of these agents any longer. It never took her long to lose her fear and respect for anyone.
“I think you people have gotten your statement from Dr. Vance. His wife is on the phone and she is very upset-”
“I’m sorry,” interrupted Agent Vasquez. “But we are conducting a very serious criminal investigation and we — ”
“Look,” said Brenda, taking a half-step into the room. “I know what you’re doing is important, even though I think you’re barking up the wrong tree entirely. In fact, I think you’re in the wrong forest. But this is an emergency. Sarah says there was an emergency 9-1-1 call from their house about an hour ago, and that Justin is nowhere to be found.”
Ray stood up. “What?”
Brenda nodded to him. “She hasn’t found him yet.”
“Where’s your phone, Brenda? Mine’s locked in the car. Have you got your cell in the building?”
Brenda stepped forward, holding up the phone. “It’s right here, and Sarah’s on it.”
Johansen moved to block her, but Agent Vasquez spoke up. “It’s all right. The testimony hasn’t changed remotely in the last ten passes.”
Ray couldn’t help but feel a flash of pleasure at the tone in her voice, but it was immediately washed away again as he took up the phone. “Sarah?”
“Ray? Ray, do you know where Justin is?”
“No, Sarah I — ”
“Why didn’t you pick him up? Why didn’t you call if you couldn’t make it?” demanded Sarah, her voice cracking. It was the tone more than her words that scared Ray. Sarah was always level-headed, she almost never became unglued over anything. Anything except for Justin, that was.
“Sarah, I’m sorry, never mind about that now. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Justin is gone, Ray. I think he’s really gone,” she paused here to sob. Remotely, distantly, Ray felt a piece of his world crumble and fall away. He felt one step closer to the abyss.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice flat.
“He left school at two-thirty, no one was home so he should have gone to the Trumble’s house, but he didn’t.”
Ray felt a glimmer of relief. “Well, Babe, what if he just went off home with some other friend?”
“But that’s not all, Ray. There was an emergency call from our house. A 9-1-1 call, right about when he would have made it home. The police responded but found no one there, nothing wrong, except that a back window was open and the screen was off.”
“The one he likes to climb into?”
“Right.”
“Who made the call?”
“They don’t know, the caller said nothing. They got the address from the computer and checked it out and called me.”
Ray looked up from the phone to the others in the room, who were all watching him.
“I’ve got to go home,” he said.
… 76 Hours and Counting…
“What did she say, Ray?” asked Brenda. “Is there any word about Justin?”
Ray shook his head. He sank down into his chair. An overwhelming rush of emotions flooded over him. Moments ago, he had just been tired and beleaguered, faced with at worst a threat to his career. Now his son was gone. Perhaps forever. He thought of his boy’s mischievous smile. Was he dead right now? Was he somewhere screaming for his daddy?
“…Dr. Vance. Dr. Vance?” repeated Vasquez.
Ray looked up vaguely. He shook his head and blinked rapidly. He had to think, to act. If his son was in trouble, he had to move fast if he was to help. He had to search while the trail was hot. Somehow he never really tried to deny that his son was gone. He simply skipped over denial entirely and went right on into shock, fear and anger. Today had been so bad already that he was more than ready to believe anything.
“You must allow me to leave. Am I under arrest? Are you charging me with anything?”
“No,” said Vasquez. “Not yet. But we have the right to conduct an investigation-”
“Fuck your investigation,” said Ray calmly. “If you want me to confess right now to anything, I will, if you will let me go after my son.”
This was the first statement that seemed to surprise them. Vasquez’s eyebrows shot up, and even Johansen looked quizzical. She motioned Johansen into the hall. The door swung shut behind them. “Give us one minute, Dr. Vance.”
Ray stood up and paced. He could see them through the glass and the mini-blinds. The conversation seemed intense. They were arguing quietly.
“They have to let you go, don’t they?” asked Brenda. “The bastards.”
Ray shushed her with a gesture and moved to the door. It wasn’t quite latched. He strained to hear them.
He heard Johansen’s rumbling voice. “…bullshit. It’s all part of the scheme…”
