His Watchful Eye

Chapter 33- Charlie

Heavy breathing above him and a tightening around his chest revived him from the deep slumber to which he had fallen victim. Opening his eyes, he saw Traeger squatting next to him on the cool, concrete floor of the storage space. Oddly, the look in Traeger's steel grey eyes was completely unfamiliar. It was as if he was beholding a person he never met before. "Traeger?" His voice was weak, and he knew the life was slowly draining out of him with each trickle of blood slipping from his gaping wound.

"He'll be back later." Colin was confused by Traeger's words, and unable to understand how he could say such a nonsensical thing when he sat there before him.

"What?"

"I know he doesn't want me in here. He thinks I'm weak...he probably thinks I'll let you go or something. Please don't tell him I came here!" Even the voice coming from his boss' lips was unfamiliar; it held an almost childlike quality.

"He told me you wanted to talk about Conner...I knew him. He was my friend." Tears sprang to David's eyes as he was overcome with emotion.

At this point, the pieces began falling together. Was it possible Traeger was actually Georgia's brother, Charlie? In college, he had studied rare cases of children who suffered extreme abuse and their personalities fractured into two or more separate identities with distinct feelings, memories, and characteristics. Traeger told him Charlie had been seriously abused...maybe Traeger was an alter ego Charlie's mind created to keep him safe and help him compartmentalize the horrors he experienced. Though it was not common, it made more sense than anything else his addled mind could conjure.

"Can you tell me what you remember about Conner?"

Traeger, or in this case, Charlie nodded his head. "Conner was at the house before I got there...I don't know how long. There were a couple of men there; they would take him into a room and whenever he came out, he looked really sad. Once when I was really hungry, he gave me his peanut butter sandwich, and he went without supper."

Colin sniffed as a tear escaped the corner of his eye. It hurt him to know to what extent his brother suffered before his short life came to an end.

"He talked about you all the time; said you were the best brother in the world. Once he told me that if we ever escaped I could come spend the night at your house, and you could be my brother too since I only had a sister."

"Georgia." Colin breathed her name.

"Yes. Do you know her?"

He nodded his head.

"David told me my mom and dad and Georgia stopped looking for me after I was taken. He said they were happier without me, and they never cared about me." Charlie choked back tears and looked as if his heart was breaking.

"That's not true, Charlie. Georgia still talks about you...she misses you very much. After you were kidnapped, your family fell apart; nothing could ever be the same without you."

Charlie shook his head emphatically. "That's not what David says! He told me they were much happier without me, and they didn't even try to look for me. He said he already made mommy and daddy pay, and now it's Georgia's turn."

"Charlie, the police told your family you were dead. They would have looked for you, but they didn't think you were alive."

"You're lying!"

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, he looked down at the wound on his chest. To his surprise, a bandage was wrapped around the area. "Did you help bandage me up, Charlie?"

"Yes...David didn't want me to, but I couldn't just leave you bleeding like that."

"Thank you. Could you tell me about how my brother died?"

Checking his watch, Charlie quickly stood to his feet. "There's no more time. David will be back soon, and he can't find me here."

"Please Charlie, I need to know what happened. David said you were the one who buried him."

"Yes, but there is no time to talk now. I have to go before David catches me in here."

Without another word, Charlie ran out of the room and Colin was left alone in the darkness.

***

As Georgia neared the Little Red Storage Company, her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was T.J., and she quickly answered.

"Hi, T.J."

"Hey, Georgia. I don't know why, but I decided to put your brother, Charlie's, picture through some age progression software. I'm just sending the image to your phone. I don't think you're going to believe this."

Pulling to a stop on the side of the road, she found the file he sent to her device. When she opened the image her mouth stood agape and her heart stopped beating for a moment. "T.J., it's Traeger."

"Sure is. Of course, this picture doesn't show the scars on his face, but there is no doubt in my mind...somehow Traeger is Charlie."

"How is it even possible?" She felt a torrent of mingled emotions sweep through her mind and heart. One part of her felt indignation. How could her own brother cause her such pain? Another part felt extreme confusion. A very small part of her was filled with a warmer, more positive emotion. She didn't quite understand why, but the tiniest part of her was happy her brother was still alive. No matter what he did, he would always be her family. There had to be a reasonable explanation for what he had done. Maybe someone was forcing him to take part in these illegal activities.

"None of this makes a lick of sense to me, Georgia, but I felt you needed to know this before arriving at the storage complex."

"Thank you. I'm almost there now."

"Be safe. Still no word from Macklin or Laribee, but I haven't given up yet."

"I'll call you as soon as I can."

Hanging up the phone, she took a moment to pray. "Lord, I truly do not understand what is happening here. How can David Traeger actually be Charlie? My mind has no way to wrap around any of this. Please give me wisdom as I enter into a situation I am unprepared for. Keep me safe, and help me get to Henry and Colin in time. I can't do any of this on my own...please help me."

As she continued driving down the street, she soon approached the storage company and pulled to a stop at the front of the long stretch of buildings. From the looks of things, there were at least a hundred storage units; she counted ten long buildings with ten spaces per building. Swallowing hard, she opened her car door and stepped out; the loose gravel on the ground crunched beneath her feet.

"God, please help me."