Seventeenth Dawn

13) Hero

I tie the cord around my arm as a tourniquet again.

Just my luck. The supposed FBI works with my kidnapper. The murderer.

"I don't understand. He's not just some insane guy kidnapping and murdering kids on his own?"

"There's always more to a story, Daniel," Jasper Baxter says.

"So you're in on it? Why?"

"Don't ask why, ask who."

"Who?"

"I can't say," he replies tauntingly.

He drives silently from then on. "But I will say, there are people above me."

I sit back and take it in. "You are an evil man. You will rot in hell."

"Save it, church-boy."

Something weird happens then. Another vehicle slams into the side of the car, running us off the road.

Through the thick dust and smoke, someone opens my door. "Daniel, I'm here to help."

I don't trust him right away. I stare into the bloodshot eyes for only a moment, then glance back at the alternative, whose head bears a nasty gash above his eye. The new man hands me a phone.

"Daniel?" It's Casey's voice. "Daniel, is that you?"

I look at the man with disbelief. "Come along, son. Let's get you home. I'm Detective Hussler, by the way."

I'm on edge through the drive, hand resting on the door handle the entire time. I only relax when I recognize the town again. I'm home.

He takes me to the hospital first and foremost where I'm bandaged up and given a blood transfusion. They hook me up to several IVs and evaluate my physical stance. My mom arrives shortly after with little Maya in tow.

"Hey Mom," I say, voice cracking.

"My baby," she whispers, dropping her purse and running to my side. She grabs my hands between her own, head bowed over them, praying with me. "Thank the Lord. Oh, Daniel--" she begins sobbing.

She has to leave to take Maya home after a couple hours, and Detective Hussler returns to my side.

"You should sleep, kid. You're finally safe."

"I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to."

He sits down in the chair by my bed. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

I shake my head. Then nod. "But not everything. Not yet. I'm just a bit fuzzy on the last bit. Who was Agent Jasper Baxter? And how did you find us? Where was he taking me?"

"That's a good question. I've been sorting through cases like this for a while now. Over a dozen missing boys--only a couple of their bodies resurfacing--all across the country in the past year. I think they're all connected. There's a similar pattern to how they're killed, as if by the same person. But they weren't. You can tell by the time and distance. And if not killed by the same person, then killed by people who were trained by the same person. I've been looking for evidence to support my theory, and I think I finally have it. I didn't know Agent Baxter was one of them. I got to the house just after him. I knew something was off when he tried to hide Casey's call from me. Followed the tire marks--the ground was still wet enough to leave them. And when I saw whose car it was, I knew my fears were correct. And part of me was hoping Baxter would die." He leans back with a sigh. "I probably shouldn't tell you that. It's not good for law enforcement to admit to wanting a person dead. But I did. I had been wondering why he's been encouraging Casey to join us on the dangerous parts of the mission. He wanted to extinguish the threat. Get her alone in the woods and make up some accident. Would it be that hard to believe a girl with a broken leg had tripped and hit her head on a rock?" He shakes his head bitterly. "Praying on the young and innocent. Those are the people that deserve to die, in my book."

I nod slowly, chewing through all of this, and trying to ignore his rant about wanting death for Baxter. "He was targeting Casey?"

"That's what I'm thinking. He tried to involve her too much. I brought her onto the case when she demanded to help. I thought, 'Why not? The kid's got determination and motivation, and she knows the town.' Well, Baxter was a bit over-zealous with some parts, and I wondered if he was just stupid or had some other motive in mind. I guess he really is part of that group."

"So you really think there's an organization of murderers?"

"Yes. But I think it's a second generation. The first took your friend Casey's parents."

"I thought they died in a boating accident..."

"I'm sure that's the story you were told. You would have been too little to know any better. I was just starting my job when their case came to me. It was one of the hopeless cases dropped on newbies. Well, I think I'm going to find an answer soon."

"Did Agent Baxter die?"

"No. But he was gone by the time the local police arrived."

I choke, thinking of one local officer who wouldn't have been on the scene. "Officer Benson..."

"Was found at Jacob Schneider's home. Shot dead."

I blink solemnly.

"So you only have my testimony to corroborate your story?"

"Yes."

I shake my head. "I don't know if I can... I don't want to stir up any more trouble. If what you say is true, and there is some group of murderers out there, I can't risk my family's safety. You can't catch them all before they find out which kid got away."

"I would protect you and your family."

"The answer is no. I'm sorry."

"Daniel," his tone is stern, bordering on desperation. It's the voice that I felt, locked up in a dark cellar. "You realize what this means? There will never be justice for Rick Mayern or Benjamin Duran or Casey's parents. You'll just sit back and let their deaths go without justice for their murderers? You'll let other teenage boys like yourself die before they turn seventeen?"

"You can't ask me to jeopardize my family's safety. That's not fair."

He stands and pats my leg on his way out. "Just think about it. Please. The court date is Friday."

I sink back into my pillow, trying to fall asleep, but finding yet another reason not to.

They let me go the next morning, and I found myself visiting Casey rather than the other way around. She's a pitiful sight, sunken in bed with her leg covered in a chunky cast and her wrist in a brace.

She blinks and grins a dopey grin at me. "Am I hallucinating? This medicine is really strong. I must be going insane."

I reach for her good hand and place it against my chest. She presses into the solid beat.

"Mm. That feels real." She closes her eyes and slips back to sleep before either of us can fully bask in our reunion.