Caretakers (Tyler Cunningham) (30 page)

I paused to breathe and think a bit before I answered the last part of Morris’s question. “I think that I will certainly be arrested either tonight or tomorrow, and possibly go to jail for bits and pieces of what happened at Juniper Bay tonight … I would do it again in a second, certain that I was/am/will be doing the right thing for the right reasons.”

“How can that be, Tyler? You saved two lives tonight, and prevented who knows how many more crimes in the years to come.” Kitty seemed indignant, wronged, and affronted by the idea.

“I certainly violated broad swathes of Article 135 of New York’s Penal Code, Kidnapping, Coercion, and Related Offenses, the very same laws that will be applied to the Edelmans and the Reinegers … I broke them … badly … this evening (
I could feel/hear Barry start to say something over by the ginormous walk-in fireplace, and made what I hoped was a discreet hand-motion in his direction to stop him derailing me
). The Reinegers knew that I had figured out what was going on, and my belief is that they were going to kill the current prisoners in their oubliette (
I nodded towards Morris and Samantha),
and literally bury the whole thing, under dirt or concrete perhaps ...sorry, again, for my lack of tact, you two,” I added, as they both looked a bit startled by my guess at what might have happened tonight if I had been driving my Element or gotten a flat tire in Mike’s Porsche or ended up behind a logging truck at some point in my drive.

“I was co
ncerned that there wouldn’t be enough evidence for the police to do anything quick enough to prevent that from happening, so I believe that I acted in the only way possible … but there is no doubt that I broke the law, and no question that someone is going to notice that fact (
I smiled slightly at this point, thinking about Robert kneeling, glued to the fridge like a little teapot, which drew some slightly concerned/worried/nervous stares from the crowd
).”

“Tyler, I’m going to interrupt you for a few minutes. Anthony, go to my desk and find my address book; look for Bruce Webster in the Ws (
seemingly obvious, but some people have odd organizational schemas, and who am I to judge
). Call the circled number at the bottom, and when he answers bring the phone to me, here,” Kitty said, and Anthony left.

“Bruce was a beau of mine before I met Freddie, and although he’s long retired, his name is still first on the masthead of one of the most successful law firms in New York City,” she said by way of explanation to everyone else in the room (
except Mike, who had begun nodding as soon as she had spoken
). Anthony returned to the room a few seconds more than a minute later, and handed his cell-phone to Kitty, who looked at the thing with a combination of loathing and a grudging acceptance of its convenience.

“Bruce? I’m sorry to bother you when I’m certain you’re out on the island with your family, but I have a bit of a crisis, and you’ll have to flex some founding-partner’s muscle to help me with it.” She finished and listened for seven seconds before continuing.

“Yes, dear, it’s about Dee. A darling young man has found out what happened, and in the process gotten in something of a jam. I need you to get your best people for criminal defense on my plane first thing in the morning—Anthony will set it up with your people—and we’ll fly them into that cute airport in Saranac Lake (
it’s actually in Lake Clear, but it seemed ungrateful/imprudent/unwise to correct her at this time
).” Another listening gap, this time longer, about 23 seconds.

“I understand that it’s a Friday in mid-July, but I need your best people, Bruce, the second team will simply not do. Anthony can get the pilot to pick your people up overnight, wherever they are … (
slight interruption
) … Bar Harbor, yes, Iceland, no. I want them all here for eight o’clock tomorrow morning, and expense is literally of no importance to me, to the Crocker Family, Bruce. This young man found my Dee (
not exactly true, but …),
this was my dying wish, and he will not go to jail for his actions on my behalf while I, or you, for that matter, can do anything about it, is that understood?” This time the pause was nineteen seconds … I tried to parse out what he might be saying to Kitty.

“I know that I am asking you to move heaven and earth, Bruce dear, and on short notice, but it simply must be done, you see. This boy, Tyler,” she said, waving a hand in my direction, as though her (
I hoped very good
) friend could see me through the phone, “has done the impossible for me, for us, for Dee, and we simply cannot do less than the same for him.” She listened again for a moment, seeming to grow impatient with the man at the other end of the line, wanting to get back to the scene in her great room.

“I will give you back to my Anthony now, and he’ll work out the details with your … Susan, that’s right isn’t it? I’ll call you tomorrow with my thanks, and more of an explanation, but f
or now you need to get moving, Dear, to make all of this happen before morning.” She handed the phone back to Anthony, and turned towards me, forgetting already about the phone and Bruce and expensive lawyers hustling through the night in her service … focused on me, and Dee.

“As I said, my dear boy, you’ve done the impossible. I truthfully just wanted to make one more attempt to find out what had happened to Deirdre before going gentle into that good night, but you’ve done so much more. You couldn’t bring my baby back to me, but these two have been loved and missed and mourned by their people for years, and you’ve brought them back to the world, almost from the dead.” She slowed down at the end of this sentence, and then rocketed into the next.

“Oh sweet Christ! Excuse me. How could I have been so cold and selfish? You’ll need to call your people, your families.” Kitty seemed mortified, it hadn’t occurred to me either, but they would need/want/have to get in touch with the people they had been cut off from when they had been taken.

Morris waved the thought away, “I had nobody before I … went away. Neighbors, and casual acquaintances. My son died a long time ago, and my wife, ex-wife, hasn’t taken my calls in more than a decade.”

“I have calls that I need to make, but it can wait a bit longer.” Samantha turned to me, “You brought us here for a reason, right? You want us to talk with her (
gesturing at Kitty
) about that place? Because her daughter was there before us.” I nodded, unsure of how to say anything that wouldn’t offend/upset everyone in the room.

Samantha started talking. She spoke about her life in the days/weeks leading up to being taken, her bewilderment at the judgment and punishment meted out to her for no offense that she could recall. She spoke about the rules and something called ‘dark-punishment’ and the months and years of quiet. Morris joined in a few minutes later, sharing his guess that a lawsuit he had initiated and won, eventually resulting in the other party’s suicide, must have been the ‘crime’ that earned him his oubliette. Neither recalled ever seeing their captors, or any direct physical abuse … they were simply left alone. Their ‘caretakers’ fed and provided for their needs within some framework that the Edelmans/Reinegers had worked out d
ecades before either Samantha or Morris was taken. Kitty and Mike hung on every word that came from their lips, likely painting a picture of their daughter/sister living this diminished life until she died in her cell, alone.

I saw flashing lights reflected on the far wall, and assumed that Frank had arrived. I had no wish to let him interrupt what was happening here in the
great room, so I stood quietly, and gestured for them to continue. I walked outside, into the cold and dark and quiet, feeling the warmth and light and earnest chatter of the great room going on, and receding, behind/without me. Frank was there, stepping out of a state trooper’s cruiser (
since the happenings of last year, he liaises with the staties for the SLPD, a dubious honor/distinction that also comes with lots of meetings and paperwork
). Along with the trooper, there was a pair of EMTs who must have followed them here in an ambulance which I noticed only when the cruiser’s flashers found the vehicle parked on the other side of Mike’s Porsche (
I had the feeling that it was no longer my ride, and that I would likely be leaving in the back of the cruiser instead of driving anyway
).

“Tyler.” Frank waved/spoke/identified me for the trooper and walked over to shake my hand (
although he knows that in the regular course of events, I don’t touch people by choice, I surmised that this was to show the trooper that, while I might be leaving in cuffs, he considered me one of the good guys … I appreciated the gesture, and tried not to ‘cold-fish shake’ him
). “What do we have inside?”

“Two people, Samantha Gotham and Morris Browning, who were kidnapped and kept in cells beneath the garage over at Juniper Bay (
I looked at his eyes, and he nodded to let me know they’d found the oubliettes
) for an as yet undetermined time. They’re talking with Kitty and Mike Crocker, the mother and brother of Deirdre Crocker, who was also taken and kept, but died in captivity … likely back in the early sixties. Samantha and Morris seem physically stable, but are likely malnourished, and I would think will fall apart sooner or later from the shock of tonight. I wanted the Crockers to hear about the kidnapping and imprisonment from Samantha and Morris, and also figured that it might be good for them to talk about it a bit with people who have been through it from the other side, if you take my meaning.”

“What the hell is going on here, Frank? This guy crazy-glued the Reinegers, told them there was a bomb under Sophie, who he tied to a chair. They’re friends of mine; why isn’t this freak in chains?” asked Mark.

“Mark, how about you shut the fuck up, at least until you understand things a bit better. I’ve been under the garage at Juniper Bay, seen the … oubliette, talked with Little Bobby, who’s my wife’s nephew … sorta. This is messed up, but it’s real. The Edelmans and the Reinegers have been taking people for generations, and this ‘freak’ (
at least he smiled a bit when he said it
) put it together when nobody since before your daddy was born could. So you might wanna shut your pie-hole until after you get the lay of the land a bit, okay?” Frank said.

“So they don’t require immediate medical attention, you don’t think?” Frank said, turning to address me.

“No, they seem to be functional at the moment. If you can, I’d just as soon give them a few more minutes to talk with the Crockers, and then maybe these guys (
I waved in the direction of the EMTs
) could give them a ride to AMC to get checked out.”

The trooper seemed to be having some difficulty biting his tongue, but maintained his silence while we waited in the dark. Frank asked me some predictable questions about how I’d figured out the whole thing. I gave him answers as boring as I could possibly make them. Nobody mentioned the coincidental fire that had eaten the Edelman’s boathouse, a fact for which I was very grateful. Frank was starting to wind down a bit, and began looking over at the house more frequently, when Samantha and Morris came out, led by Kitty and Mike and Anthony and the nurse.

I intercepted them, to smooth their transition to the authorities, hopefully without any feelings of coercion or imprisonment to them. “Samantha and Morris, these two EMTs are going to take you over to the hospital in Saranac Lake to get checked out … they’ll probably want you to stay overnight, which is a good idea in my opinion. Sound okay?” I asked. They nodded.

“I’ll stop by in the morning if you’d like (
more nods, they seemed run down and perhaps intimidated by the uniforms, and were avoiding eye-contact as if they were young children who had done something wrong
). This man is Frank Gibson, a police officer in Saranac Lake, and a friend (
I could hear his mouth pop open at this, and feel it when he looked at me when I said it, but it was true enough for my purposes
) … he’ll make sure you’re taken good care of, and safe,” I said, looking at Frank; he nodded solemnly at Samantha and Morris.

“Samantha, did you get a chance to call anyone?” I asked.

“Yes, and Anthony assumed that I would be going to the hospital, so they’ll probably beat us there,” she said, looking happy and eager and nervous and terrified all at once … seeing family and friends after returning from the dead would seem to be a complex emotional experience.

I watched the two climb into the back of the ambulance, and felt some measure of relief as the door closed with a solid thunk. Kitty and Mike had been watching and walking in small circles since coming out, and had ended up physically standing between me and the two police officers they imagined to be arrayed against me (
a subtle, and perhaps unintended, gesture that I nevertheless found sweet
). Mike spoke up for the first time in a while.

“What happens from here? Did you arrest all of the Reinegers, the Edlemans? From what Tyler said, it sounds as though just the men actually knew, but surely some of the others must have known, or figured it out, over the years.”

Frank answered, “We’ve taken the Reinegers into custody, including the old man in Tupper. None of the Edelmans are at the camp this week. We’ve asked our law enforcement counterparts in Delaware to bring the father and son in for questioning as people of interest in multiple kidnappings. We’ve got 72 hours to figure things out before we have to arrest or release anyone, and we’re hoping that we can work it out before then.”