Ryan strode back into the room and stood next to Duane. The ex-con was pale and sweaty, clearly nervous.
“Well, I guess we’re done here Duane,” Ryan said nonchalantly.
“You mean I can go?”
“No, not so much. I mean we have all the information necessary. We don’t need you to confess, so I’m not going to waste my time here any longer. We’re just going to head down and book you for kidnapping.”
“What?!” the panic in his voice was plain.
“Look, Duane, this is already an airtight case. We have your DNA, the tire tracks from your van, the kid’s bite on your arm. As if that weren’t enough, I just found out that we now have a full confession from your cousin. We know everything. If you don’t have anything to offer me, then there is no reason for me to waste my breath. So, we might as well call it a night.”
“My cousin wouldn’t tell you anything,” Duane’s voice wavered, he didn’t sound convinced.
“Right, like he didn’t tell the cops anything about that burglary you two pulled awhile back? You got two years in prison; he got 6 months’ probation. That’s hardly fair, is it?”
“Andre made a mistake, he wouldn’t do that to me again,” Duane’s voice was laced with desperation now. “He promised me.”
“Oh, he promised, did he?” Ryan looked over to the window and beckoned to the 2-way glass.
An instant later, Hawkins slipped through the door.
“You want to fill in our friend here on what Andre’s been telling you?” he asked.
“What did he say?” Duane was almost whimpering now.
“Oh, I know it all, Mr. Tompkins,” Hawkins’s cold smile sent chills down even Ryan’s spine.
Hawkins pulled out a notebook, as if she were consulting interview notes,
“Let me see. Andre said that you and he went to case the Pauling house just over a week ago. He distracted the guard at the gate, while you walked around the perimeter of the house. You went back again last night to do the job. He stayed near the guard shack, and you walked over to the fence behind the garden shed. You both waited until Pauling came back home and put his son to bed. When you signalled to him that the kid’s light was out, he disabled the security system. You vaulted the fence and unlocked the storage shed in the yard. You took the ladder and went to the flowerbed behind the house. Andre said you didn’t worry about the footprints in the soil because you wore shoes that were 2 sizes too big, to avoid anyone matching them to you. You climbed up to the kid’s window, grabbed him from his bed, left the ransom note, forced him down the ladder and carried him across the lawn. When you returned to the shed, the kid struggled and tried to get away, he even managed to bite you, but you overpowered him and took him out through the side gate to the street, where Andre was waiting. Then he stayed with the kid, while you went to work this morning, to avoid making people suspicious. But after you left, he discovered that he needed to run an errand, so he left the kid and went to the store, which is where we picked him up.” Hawkins flipped the book closed. “Is there anything else you need to know, Mr. Tompkins?”
Duane looked utterly broken. To him, it was apparent that his cousin had turned on him and told them everything. Hawkins’s cool, deadpan delivery was perfect; Ryan made a mental note to never invite her over for poker night, though he doubted she would accept, even if he did.
“Sounds like your cousin made you take all the risks, Duane,” Ryan pushed him. “I bet that this was his way out from the beginning.”
Duane slumped on the table with his head in his hands.
“What am I going to do?” he mumbled, despondently.
“I’m going to level with you Duane,” Ryan spread his hands magnanimously. “Martin told us that this whole thing was your idea. We know that you were the one who actually grabbed the kid. We have concrete DNA evidence against you. You also assaulted an officer, which never looks good to a jury. And Andre talked first. Your cousin’s already got a deal; it’ll be official as soon as the crown attorney gets here. That’s game over, Duane. Once you are convicted of murder…”
“Murder!” Duane would have jumped across the room, had he not been cuffed to the table. His chair clattered as it toppled over backwards, and the heavy table screeched across the floor as he dragged it back several feet.
“I didn’t murder anyone!” he was frantic now.
“Sit down,” Hawkins calmly flipped the chair back upright.
“Please, you’ve gotta believe me, I didn’t hurt that kid!” he pleaded. “I wouldn’t do something like that!”
All his bluster was gone now.
“It doesn’t matter, Duane,” Hawkins purred, pushing him back into his seat and adjusting the table. “If he dies during the commission of a crime, which you perpetrated, you are responsible for his death.”
“But he isn’t dead, he can’t be dead,” Duane moaned.
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“Well, he might not be right now, but he certainly will be soon.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we picked up your cousin, Alex Pauling wasn’t with him. We don’t know where he is being kept and Andre won’t tell us his location.”
“Why wouldn’t he, if he confessed to everything else?” Duane asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Think, Duane,” Hawkins tapped her temple. “I know you don’t get much practice, but this is an easy one. He’s trying to use the kid as a bargaining chip. Martin is holding out for a probationary sentence, no jail time, and he thinks if he refuses to tell us where to find the kid, we’ll give in to his demands. But here’s the thing, my boss isn’t going to let him walk, not on a crime this serious. He thinks that the kid is already dead, and Martin is trying to play us all for suckers. I, for one, don’t want to believe that, but even if Alex Pauling isn’t dead now, I suspect that by the time we manage to find him, he will be.”
“But that isn’t my fault!” Duane insisted.
Ryan interjected,
“It doesn’t make a difference, Duane. You’re responsible for all of this. Andre is getting a deal for 5 years on the kidnapping charge. He’ll be out in 2. You’ll probably get life. Of course, I doubt you will last that long. Do you know what they do to child killers in prison?”
Hawkins exhaled impatiently,
“I’ve had enough of this, Stone. I’m taking him down to booking, our job’s done here,” she reached for Tompkins’ shackles.
“Wait!” Duane shouted. “I can’t go down for murder! What if I could tell you where the kid is? Can I get a deal?”
Hawkins paused, as if she were thinking it over.
“What do you think, Stone?” she asked.
“Well..." he hesitated for effect. "I suppose, if there is even a chance that we can bring Alex home alive, we should take it.”
“Ok,” Hawkins said warily. “If you actually know where the kid is, let’s hear it.”
“I want a deal first.”
“Hell no,” Hawkins laughed. “I have no way to determine if you are telling me the truth or not. You tell me now, and if we find the kid where you say we will, then you get your deal.”
“Alright,” Duane yielded, shoulders slumping. He knew when he was beat. “I dropped Andre and the kid off at an abandoned house just outside of the city. I can draw you a map.”
“Now you’re being smart, Duane,” Hawkins grinned. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Hawkins waited for Duane to finish the map, she studied it a moment, and then passed it over to Stone,
“If you’re going to run off and tell all of this to Collins, now would be the time,” she sighed. “I am not going to wait for you to do it later.”
He hesitated for a moment, but decided to take the opportunity when it presented itself. Hawkins shook her head as he left. As soon as he closed the door behind him, she sat down next to Duane at the table. He looked like he was in shock, all the color had drained from his face, and he was just sitting there, staring into space.
“It’s only been 40 hours,” he murmured to himself. “How could it have all gone so wrong so fast?”
Hawkins leaned in and said softly,
“Maybe it wasn’t meant to go right.”
He looked over at her sharply, as if just realizing that she was still there,
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, is there something else you want to tell me?”
Duane said nothing.
“Why did you take the boy, Duane?”
“To stop those bastards from destroying our country with their crass commercialism. I fought for this country in the army; I’m still fighting for it now.”
“Oh, that’s crap, and you know it,” Hawkins cut him off.
She tossed down a large bundle of papers,
“Recognize these? They are your credit card records, Duane. This year alone you’ve spent practically half of your income at Wal-Mart, but this particular store pushes you over the edge?” her voiced dripped sarcasm. “Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot.”
“I don’t have anything else to say,” he said sullenly.
“Don’t be stubborn, Duane. Someone put you up to this, didn’t they? Someone who knew Pauling’s security code, someone with a plan. Someone willing to pay. Give me a name.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. It was our plan, just me and Andre. I was just trying to help my cousin, that’s all. If you want a reason, ask him.”
Duane’s tone had turned belligerent again, but she could see the fear in his eyes. He was hiding something. She wished that she had the time to get it out of him, but right now, getting Alex Pauling back safely to his father took priority. Still, she hated moving forward on a case without fully investigating all of the inconsistencies. They were often the most important part, and all of her instincts were warning her to slow down and figure it out before she proceeded, but with less than 8 hours before the kidnappers’ deadline, she needed to move on this information, fast. Duane was safely in custody after all, he would be here when she got back. She would unravel this mystery, she promised herself, it just might not be in the order she would prefer. Sighing, Hawkins got to her feet,
“Alright Duane, suit yourself. But we will continue this conversation later, you can count on it,” she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.
Stone was already waiting outside for her; he passed the map back somewhat sheepishly.
“That was a good job. You played him just right,” she was honestly impressed, it was the fastest she had ever seen someone break a suspect like Tompkins.
“Couldn’t have done it without your help,” Ryan grinned. “You know, you’re a pretty good actor.”
“Well, I’d have been a pretty pathetic undercover agent if I wasn’t,” she chuckled. “Well, pathetic, or dead.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“So, did you catch Collins up?”
“Yeah. He said he’d make arrangements with security for our friend Duane to be moved to the holding cells and then he wants to talk to you.”
“That’s never a good sign,” she groaned.
He looked away evasively and changed the subject,
“What did you talk with Duane about after I left?”
“Nothing,” she shrugged. “I asked if he had anything else to tell me, he didn’t.”
“Hmm. That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
Ryan eyed her suspiciously, but didn’t press the matter. A long moment passed in tense silence,
“Agent Hawkins!” Collins strode into the room, breaking the stand-off.
“Yes, sir?” her words were proper, but the tone was flippant.
“I came to make sure that you are leaving immediately.”
“All due respect, but we need more background on this guy before we go storming in there. We have 8 hours before the deadline, I say we investigate Martin further before we leave.”
“All due respect to you, Agent, but we can’t risk waiting. The longer we delay the more likely he is to notice that his cousin is missing and move the boy, or worse.”
“Duane was scheduled to pull a double shift today; Martin won’t expect him back until sometime after 10. He won’t move, he’ll wait for his partner. If we rush in, we are putting that boy in danger.”
“I won’t chance it,” Collins was clearly not listening to her at all. “You go, or I send someone else. Either way, this happens now.”
“Fine, but I want to go on the record as saying that this is a mistake. We need to be more cautious.”
“Then be cautious, but go and get Alex Pauling safely back to his father. And if there is any doubt as to your ability to do so, I can arrange for someone else to take over. Understood?”
“Understood,” Hawkins muttered. She motioned for Ryan to follow her, “Stone, let’s go. And bring that file.”