Damon (23 page)

“You’ll make not a single sound or I’ll kill everyone at this station. And if that happens, brat, I’ll make sure the police know that you were the one responsible for all their deaths. If they find out you did it, you get a life sentence for each person
. L
et’s see, there is a woman putting gas in her van and I can see a little baby there. Oh, too bad about that
. T
he courts hate when someone kills off a baby, especially when they’re not even walking yet. There are two clerks in the store and then there’s you
. I
’m going to enjoy killing you, brat
. I
’m going to take you back to your mother and then I’m going to blow your fucking head off while she watches.”

Connor didn’t say anything out loud, but inside he was screaming at Mr. O
. C
onnor hadn’t done anything other than go to the bathroom. Mr. O had come up behind Connor and banged his head against the urinal then slapped him hard across the mouth when he started to cry
. Y
anking his hair so hard that Connor saw stars, Mr. O had dragged him out of the bathroom and pointed at gun at his mother when he came out.

After Mr. O had shot the policeman, he’d walked over and started kicking Connor’s momma
. H
e’d kicked at her until Connor saw her leg break
. W
hen he’d seen the bone come through her skin, Connor threw up
. H
e hadn’t much on his stomach, but it was enough to make Mr. O stop hurting his mother and kick him
. C
onnor didn’t remember anything after that. He hoped that Mr. O would leave his momma there, but he was sure he didn’t
. N
ot after telling Connor that he planned to kill him in front of her. 

When the car started up again and started to move, Connor pulled the gun closer to him and began to study it with his fingers and hands
. H
e made sure he kept the barrel pointed away from himself at all times, but when the lid opened, he was going to be ready
. H
e wasn’t sure what he was going to be ready for, but he was going to be. 

Connor had just put the gun on his chest when he felt the car start to slow again
. T
hen it stopped altogether
. H
e was sure that it couldn’t be out of gas yet so he listened as hard as he could
. N
othing
. T
here were no sounds of other cars, no horns, and no more voices
. W
hen the door to the car squeaked open, Connor listened for Mr. O to come back to him
. T
he sudden slamming of the car door had Connor jump
. H
is heart started pounding hard in his little chest and a roaring started in his ears
. H
e was sure that Mr. O had parked the car on a railroad track and was going to leave the car there for Connor to be killed
. F
rom not so far away, Connor heard a door shut, not like the car but like a house door. He didn’t move
. C
onnor lay there as tense as he’d ever been, waiting, just waiting for whatever Mr. O had planned
. W
hen the noise happened again, he jumped again.

The keys moving gave Connor a clue how close the man was
. T
hen when Mr. O laughed, a giggle really, Connor picked up the gun
. T
he scrape of the key in the lock had Connor pointing the gun up to where he thought someone would be standing
. W
hen the click opened the lock, Connor took a deep breath and held it
. H
e was as ready as he’d ever be.

~~~

Damon paced the squad room
. C
harlie and Connor had been missing for over fifteen hours now and there had been nothing reported
. S
anders was sitting in front of one of the many computers they had open, drinking coffee
. T
here were several agents there now
. B
y the time Sanders had left Nevada and landed in Ohio, the dogs had uncovered three bodies buried in the back yard of Ormond’s house
. T
hey were still looking and before it got too dark
to dig, they’d found two more.

Cait had gone home about an hour ago
. S
pencer had told her if she didn’t come home then he was coming there to get her
. H
e’d tried the same threat on him, but Damon had just hung up on him
. W
hen his mother called ten minutes later, they’d gotten into a shouting match over the phone and then she’d hung up in tears
. D
amon looked up when there was a noise at the door
. B
yron and Devin were standing there looking as if they might want to go a couple of rounds with him
. D
amon thought that he could probably take them both on and win. He was so stressed out.

“Damon
, can we have a word with you?
Mom sent us to bring you home
. S
he said you need to get some rest,” Devin said when Damon walked over to see what the hell they wanted.

“No
. I
’m staying here
. I
f someone calls in or they find them, I’m going to be here too
. Y
ou can try to make me go, but I’m not going anywhere.”

“We thought you’d say that
. W
e’d do the same thing and we want you to know that
. J
amie is picking up some food for everyone
. W
e’re going to stay here with you
. M
om can just get over it
. I
’m going to deny that if you tell her
I said it, but there you go.”
Devin pulled Damo
n into an embrace as he spoke.

Damon didn’t know that he needed them until they got there
. A
nd the hugs were more than he expected
. H
is family was everything to him, everything and more
. W
hen Cait came over and hugged him too, Damon felt tears fill his eyes
. F
or the first time in hours, Damon felt himself relax
. S
itting down in one of the plastic chairs, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Ten minutes later, Jamie came in with pizza and another hug
. A
fter eating several slices of the gooey hot pizza, he leaned back and was asleep in seconds
. H
is cell phone ringing woke him.

“Damon?
It’s Connor J. Kirkpatrick
. I
…I think I killed Mr. O
. H
e shot me too and I think…I can’t find my momma.”

Damon was suddenly wide awake
. H
is heart started pounding and it was all he could do to keep calm
. H
e reached over to one of the desks near him and grabbed a pen
. S
cribbling out what was happening, he handed it to Jamie.

Connor shot
. S
ays he shot Ormond
. C
harlie not w/him
. T
ell Cait.

To Connor, he started trying to get information
. O
ut of the corner of his eye, he saw everyone stand to come to him
. A
s they started giving him things to ask Connor, Damon turned to Devin, who immediately pushed everyone back.

“Connor, s
on, do you know where you are?
Can you tell me anything that you can see so
that we can come and get you?
Anything, son, anything you can see, tell me.”

He was quiet for a long time and Damon was terrified that something else had happened to him
. J
ust when he was going to shout at him, Connor spoke up again
. H
is voice was weak and he sounded like he was scared
. D
amon wanted to find the boy and hold him, pull him into his arms, and hold him for the next twenty years.

“We drove for a long time
. H
e had to get gas
. T
here’s a house, but there ain’t no phone in it
. M
y momma’s not in it either
. I
can’t find her, Damon.”
Cait walked around her the men and handed Damon a list of questions she’d wrote down.

“You have to tell me where you are, Connor
. I
have to come and get you
. F
ocus, son, tell me what you see
. Y
ou said there was a house
. A
re there any numbers on it?
Do you see a mail
box?
I want you to go and find a bedroom, see if there is a phone in there for me.”

“I can’t…he shot me and I can’t…I’m in the living room, but I don’t think I can go back outside again
. I
hurt too much
. I
’m sorry, Damon.”

“Where are you shot, Connor? Tell me please
. A
nd where is Ormond?
Is he in the house with you?”

“In my arm, in my left shoulder
. T
here’s a lot of blood and I’m dizzy
. M
r. O is outside where I shot him
. I
was in the trunk and when he opened the thing up, I pulled the trigger
. I
know I hit him in the chest and I think in the neck, but I can’t be sure
. T
here was so much blood and I hurt so bad
. D
amon, I don’t want to die.”

“I don’t want you to die either, Connor
. D
o
you still have the gun on you?
If you do, do you remember how many times you pulled the trigger?”

“No, I dropped it
. I
think…it might be in the trunk or on the ground
. O
kay, I’m in the bedroom
. I
can’t…I’m so dizzy, Damon
. D
o you know where my momma is?
I wanted a puppy, but Mr. O wouldn’t let me have one
. I
’m so tired.”

“Connor! You can’t go to sleep
. I
need for you to stay with me
. I
s there a phone there? Can you see one? Connor?”

It was a long time this time
. F
ive minutes passed before Connor spoke again and Damon was frantic with worry
. H
e couldn’t get to him and he didn’t know where he was
. W
hen Connor came back on the line, he sounded much weaker and Damon was extremely worried.

“I have the phone
. I
t’s…blue
. I
never saw a blue phone before
. I
know I have to do something for you, but I can’t remember what it was
. I
’m so tired
. L
et me take…I want to take a little nap
. O
kay?”

“Connor, please stay with me
. Y
our momma needs you to stay awake
. I
want you to dial zero for me
. C
an you do that?
Dial zero and talk to the operator
. C
onnor?
Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.
Zero
. I
can do that
. B
ut I can’t talk to her
. I
can’t stay awake anymore
. Y
ou find my momma and you tell her that I killed the bastard…tell her I love her.”

Damon couldn’t get Connor to answer him anymore no matter how many times he shouted at him
. C
ait came over and told him that they had a nine-one-one call in from a town just outside of London, Ohio and that squads were on the way to the address
. T
heir ETA was three minutes
. D
amon never stopped talking to Connor, begging him to please come to the phone and speak to him
. F
ive minutes after he spoke to Cait, the EMTs came on the line
. T
heir news wasn’t encouraging.

~~~

Charlie couldn’t stand, not even on her good leg, and her arms were numb
. T
he light that had been coming through the walls was dimmer now and she couldn’t see as well
. I
t didn’t matter, nothing had changed anyway
. N
o Connor, no Damon
. S
he was alone.

There were sounds around her, just outside the container where she was
. T
he sound of trucks, some heavy, others not so large, rambled by her
. O
nce she thought she heard a helicopter, but couldn’t be sure
. T
hings were beginning to not make a lot of sense to her.