VII

November 8, 2016

1234 Hours

Dan looked over at his brother sleeping in the passenger seat of the car, then returned his restless eyes back to the endless road. He wondered if he could ever get around in life without his brother. It seemed like James was Dan’s anchor into reality, and Dan would be devastated if James left him for whatever reason. Naturally, James doesn’t know any of this, nor will he ever know as long as Dan was alive.

It’s the reason why Dan always say he’s sorry for everything that could potentially hurt James; including the stuff he’s not really sorry for. He’s also never blunt towards his brother… at least he doesn’t try to be. It slips here and there, but only because Dan cares about James, and wants him to know how he truly feels. The bluntness, most of the time, hurts James’ feeling; causing Dan to instantly feel bad. It’s a catch-22, but Dan would rather tell the truth than lie to James to his face. Either way, he’s hurt, so why not tell the truth.

Dan looked over at James again and noted that he looked peaceful sleeping. He loved his brother no matter what; he couldn’t pull off half of the cases in the past few years without his help. He loved his brother so much, he’s willing to go visit his child’s murderer to help James with a case he didn’t believe in himself. A person who he would start throwing punches at the mere mention of his name. Even now, thinking about it, Dan was gripping the wheel harder than usual.

James groaned as he woke up, and Dan returned his attention back to the road.

“Morning,” Dan said with a jokingly smile. James grunted and sat up straight in his seat. “Good dreams?”

“They were dreams, that’s for sure,” James said, his voice deep from just waking up. He looked around to see where they were. Cacti and dry shrubs flew past their windows as they were cruising seventy miles per hour down the road. “We are going to the prison, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. It’s just, this is the back road into town. It’s also the closest road leading to the prison,” Dan explained. James nodded his head, and looked out the window at the open landscape.

Where Hemingway was located, it was essentially a desert. Seventy-five percent desert, and twenty-five percent green plains. Random patches of green grass popped up from the harsh, yellow sand, giving it a lively touch in a dead, desolate place. Mountains could be seen faintly in the background, and if one person could look hard enough: they would see the mountains were capped with snow on their tips.

James looked over at Dan, wondering if he was okay. The dream he had was pretty vivid.

They were in the middle of talking to Rogers when Dan flipped, and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket to show to Rogers. Rogers looked at the paper nonchalantly, but then his face turned white. His expression turned from snide, to anger in a flash. He banged the window separating the brothers from the inmate, and cursed out Dan’s name. Dan took a gun out of his jacket, and held it to Rogers’ head, a look in his eyes that said “I want to kill.”

James looked around to find everyone in the hall on the ground, bleeding out. It was horrifying, and he wondered how this happened so quickly. Dan hit the window with the gun, causing James to return his attention to him. James caught something on Dan’s hand, and saw fresh blood. He looked at Dan’s other hand, and saw more blood by the knuckles. James looked around some more and came to a conclusion.

He did this.

Rogers was yelling at Dan, but James couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t hear Dan either; all he could see was Dan’s lips moving, yet no audio. The yelling got more intense, indicated by the shade of redness on Dan, and a flash rang out in the hall.

This same flash that woke James up from his sleep just minutes ago.

“Are you okay?” James asked. Dan puckered his lips like he was thinking.

No. Dan thought.

“Yeah, I feel better than my initial reaction,” Dan lied. James laid back in his seat feeling content, and Dan tensed up as the prison came into view.

The prison itself was impressive, and even granted a whistle from Dan. Three gray cement walls with two layers of barbed wire made the perimeter of the building. Guard towers, which had barbed wire entwined around them like vines, were placed on each corner of the prison, and there was a tower in between those tower as well. In the middle, a single building rose to the skies. The actual height of the building was near twenty stories high. The windows were barred, and then barred again with solid steel.

“This is a small town. Why in the world is this prison so extensive?” Dan asked incredulously. James couldn’t answer, so he got out the bag with the bug in it. He tinkered with the putty in his hand, pondering how they’re going to do this.

The bug was a small piece of sticky putty with hi-tech sound technology stuffed into it. The plan was to put this piece of putty somewhere out in the open when talking to Rogers. That way, they can hear the small details in Rogers’ voice when he spoke to them. James was in charge of placing the putty somewhere discreetly, so Rogers, or anyone else, doesn’t notice anything off.

“You got the bug?” Dan asked James. James grunted a low yes, and Dan smiled outside. Inside, he was anxious. The anxiety was leaning towards more fear of what was going to happen than excitement. He didn’t know if he was going to beat everyone up in the prison, and pull the trigger on Rogers.

That won’t happen. Dan thought to himself, trying to control his anger as they pulled up to the prison entrance.

Rogers was in his cell throwing a rubber ball from the wall to his hand, and back again. This was his favorite hobby in prison, as it’s the only thing he can do. That, and think. Rogers hated thinking though, so this came first.

“Rogers! You’ve got visitors!” A voice yelled from the hallway. Rogers looked up from catching the ball, and saw Hank at the door. Hank was a guard that worked at the maximum security prison, and he took a liking to Rogers. Of course, it was to be expected as they were friends back in the days of petty thievery. Rogers split up with Hank after he got married to his wife Ellen, and pursued other law-breaking jobs that were deemed more serious. Hank, on the other hand, kept stealing until he was caught. A woman by the name of Sanine came and bailed him out. He then started working for her ever since.

Hank pressed a few buttons on his keypad, and Rogers’ door opened.

“Visitors?” Rogers rumbled, emphasizing the s at the end. If anything, Rogers expected Sanine to visit him.

Maybe it is her, and she has someone with her. Dan thought, excited to actually meet the mysterious woman. He did a job for her, through Hank, a while back that cost him a loss of respect, but it also included a lot of money.

“Yeah, two gentlemen,” Hank explained. Rogers was disappointed, but then Hank leaned in and Rogers turned curious. “They look like the fuzz. Be careful what you say.” Rogers looked Hank in the eye with an understanding, and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll be careful,” Rogers said as he bumped past Hank, and made his way to the visitor’s area.

The inmates to the right of him kept screaming his name as he walked past the cells.

“You low life scumbag.”

“Come over here, and I’ll show you what a real beatin’ looks like.”

“Leaving princess?”

“That wife of yours is mighty fine.” Rogers stopped in his tracks, and he turned around to face the man who said that.

“What did you say about my wife?” Rogers asked with a hostile tone. The man in the cell was on the double-decker bed with his feet up on the sink opposite of him. He turned his head slowly towards Rogers and stared him in the eyes.

“I said, that wife of yours is just mighty fine. I wish she could come in here an-” Rogers banged the cell suddenly, and the man inside jumped. Rogers briskly walked away, not wanting to hear another word of it. He came to the doorway before Hank stopped him.

“Like I said, be careful.” He reassured Rogers.

“I will be Hank, just watch your back.” Rogers said, and he went through the door.

Rogers stopped in the doorway, paralyzed with shock. He almost couldn’t believe who his visitors were.

“There’s a piece of glass in between us,” Rogers said to himself as he looked at the two detectives sitting on the other side of the glass. Rogers saw Dan tighten his grip, and then let go. Rogers grinned, realizing there’s a piece of glass in between them, and guards everywhere. Rogers looked back as he sat down, and saw Hank enter the room.

Rogers picked up the phone at the same time James did, and the game began.

“Hey,” Rogers grumbled. James looked at him with a look that showed no respect, but Rogers didn’t care.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” James said, wanting to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible. Rogers noticed James’ hand going up the phone from the talking end, to the receiving end nonchalantly. Only reason why Rogers noticed was because it seemed out of place.

“What, and defeat the Huns?” Rogers joked. James was taken by surprise, and snorted through the phone. He quickly got back to a serious tone after a few seconds.

“Okay, I want to know one question,” James declared. Rogers situated in his seat, making it obvious he was “ready” for the question.

“Bring it.” James looked over at Dan, and then James turned to Rogers.

“Why steal the PS3?” James asked. Rogers was taken aback by this question. He assumed they were going to ask why he killed the child, or why he made a ruckus in front of the police station. Not a question about taking a gaming console.

Did I even take a game console? Rogers thought to himself. He doesn’t remember taking it.

“What PS3?” Rogers asked, confused as ever.

“The PS3 you took after you murdered that child.” James stated, wondering if Rogers has a good memory or not.

Dan took the phone away from James in a heartbeat and yelled into it, “Because you’re good at that you son of a bi-” James took the phone away, and covered Dan’s mouth before he finished the sentence.

“I’m sorry, Dan is quite emotional considering you killed his child years ago,” James explained. If it was 2013 again, Rogers would’ve apologized and tried to convince them that it was an accident. But now, times were different. He was going to have fun.

“I don’t blame him,” Rogers said, “I would be mad at myself too if I left my daughter unintended. She was practically begging to be kidnapped, and…” Rogers licked his lips maliciously. “The rest will remain,” Rogers tapped his head, “locked up in here.” James held back everything he was feeling, and gulped it all down.

“Okay then.” James said, trying to control himself. “Back… back to the console, why did you take it, then hide it?”

“What console are you even talking about?” Rogers asked, genuinely confused. Hank, in the back, turned towards Rogers. Rogers said something wrong, and Hank needed to notify him now.

Hank coughed, and Rogers turned around. With a wave of his hand, Hank signaled Rogers to come over.

“Excuse me, my officer needs to talk to me real quick,” Rogers said. James leaned back in his seat, and started talking to Dan.

“What, Hank?” Rogers whispered as he got close to him.

Hank leaned in, and whispered back, “Sanine said you took a PS3 and hid it. Do you not remember?”

“Uh, no.” Rogers stated. Hank rolled his eyes in frustration.

“Of course you don’t. Okay look, you took it, and hid it somewhere because it’s your… um…” Hank was trying to think of an excuse, “a… a signature! Yeah, your signature. Got it?” Hank said. Rogers nodded his head, and returned back to the table.

Dan and James got done talking, and James returned to the phone as Rogers sat down.

“So, why doesn’t pretty boy,” Rogers looked at Dan and smiled, “talk to me like a real man.” James was going to answer before Rogers cut him off, “Oh, I know why. It’s because his dead little baby girl would be in his wittle head while he was looking at me.” Dan looked over at James and spoke a few words that were barely audible to Rogers. He knew what he was asking James.

“No, it’s nothing Dan. It’s okay, I swear,” James consoled Dan. Dan turned back into his chair and gave Rogers a cold stare.

“Okay Rogers, please work with me. Why the PS3? Do you remember?”

“Yes, I remember now. The stupid little game console. Yeah, I stole it, then hid it.” Rogers shrugged. “What can I say, it’s my signature.” This didn’t please James, but it had to do for some kind of explanation.

“Alright then. Why did you get caught on purpose?” James asked. Rogers looked towards Dan, and winked. Dan turned his head away from Rogers, and Rogers smiled. “Hey, come on. We haven’t got all day. Spill it.”

“Alright, alright. Okay! I’ll ‘spill it’.” Rogers said.

I did it because of the reward and that promise, Rogers thought, but he sure wasn’t going to say that out loud.

“I just… I didn’t have enough attention when I was little,” Rogers lied with a smile. James didn’t need to listen to the voice carefully to know that Rogers was lying.

This is pointless. James thought, ready to go.

“I think we’re done here,” James said with a finalizing voice, and stood up. He was going to signal for Dan to stand up when Dan pushed James out the way. James fell back, and hit his head hard on the ground.

Dan picked up the phone, and looked Rogers right in the eyes and said, “Look here you little s**t. I don’t like you. In fact, no one likes you… but I know of someone who does like you.” Dan said. Rogers chuckled to himself.

“Do you now?” He said, ending his laughter. He looked at Dan, and his smile dropped slightly. Dan’s expression was full of hate, yet victory.

This guy is crazy. He thought.

“Give me a reason right now,” Dan warned. Rogers didn’t know what the “reason” was, but he felt like playing with Dan. Crazy or not, it’s always fun to have fun.

“You want a reason you lonely a*s father?” Rogers grumbled, and Dan curtly nodded his head. “It is your own damn fault that your precious little girl got kidnapped and killed.” Dan gripped the phone so hard, it creaked from the pressure. “And it’s funny, because I don’t feel guilty for taking her life. Do you know why?”

“Why.” Dan stated, not even asking a question. It took everything inside of him not to burst right there.

“Because you caused it. If you hadn’t scared me, well… I wouldn’t have dropped your precious baby.” Rogers stated. He smiled wide, and then laughed. Dan stood up, and ripped the phone from the wall. Everyone in the room looked towards Dan as James was finally getting around. Rogers, with one hand, held his stomach as the other hand was pointing at Dan. Dan took out a picture from his pocket, and slammed it down on the table.

“Sir, you need to leave now,” a guard said to Dan. The guard was going to take Dan out forcefully, but decided a verbal warning was best for this situation. Dan stormed out, and James followed pursuit quickly. Rogers was wiping tears of joy from his face when he looked down at the picture in front of him. His whole demeanor changed as he stared at a picture of his wife, Ellen Harv. She was checking the mail in front of their apartment, and it looked like the shot was taken from a distance.

“NO!” Rogers yelled, causing everyone to now look in his direction. Rogers started to pound the table with his hands, and yelled into the air. Guards went to go get him, but Rogers punched and kicked all of them away. Hank went up and grabbed Rogers around the arms to stop him from throwing punches left and right. Rogers struggled, but Hank wouldn’t let him go.

“Rogers, you need to stop!” Hank yelled, but Rogers wasn’t giving up. He squirmed under Hank’s arms, and started kicking Hank’s legs with his.

“ELLEN!” Rogers yelled, his voice booming at the top of his lungs. Something stung him in his arm, and everything in his eyesight became weary. Objects that were far away seemed closer than they appeared.

“Rogers, I’m going to protect her, okay?” Hank whispered to Rogers as he slowly lost his grip on reality.

“Ellen…” Rogers trailed off as he lost unconsciousness.

“Dan! What the hell was that?” James yelled at him. Dan was a good fifty feet in front of him, and he was making his way to their car fast. James had no doubt that Dan wouldn’t leave him. He would never.

“Dan! Listen to me dang it!” James yelled, hoping to get Dan’s attention. “DAN!” Dan got into the car, and immediately started it. James picked up the pace, and half-crashed into the driver’s window.

“Roll the window down Dan. Roll it down now.” James commanded. Dan had a set face as he stared out in front of him. After a few moments, he turned his head towards James, and rolled down the window.

“What is it, and make it quick.” Dan stated.

“Okay look. You going after Ellen isn’t going to help anything! Okay? Look, Chelsea doesn’t want this. Look deep in your heart, and just think! What would Chelsea say? What would she say if she was still here?” James asked. Dan looked at James with hollow, emotionless eyes.

“I wouldn’t know. She’s dead.” Dan said, and gunned the car. James jumped backwards to avoid the tires potentially cushing his feet, and followed Dan with his eyes as he drove away. James went near the prison wall, leaned against it, and put his head in his hands.

“Come on.” He muttered. He didn’t even know what to think. There was the fact that this case is just going nowhere, and now Dan is losing control of himself. Dan was so angry with himself, that he would gladly put the blame on anyone else if he can. Yet, every time he does, he feels guilty and blames himself more than ever. “It’s destroying him.” James said to himself, wondering when this will finally end.

“Oh it is sonny. Oh it is,” a feeble voice said. James looked up to find an old lady standing right in front of him. James looked around, and didn’t notice a car in sight.

“I-I’m sorry, who are you?” James asked. The old lady chuckled, and went next to James on the wall.

“You know me, you just don’t know,” she said. James adopted a confused look as the old lady kept talking, “You’re right when you said that he’s destroying himself. The only way he feels like he can liberate himself is revenge.” The old lady turned towards the general direction of James, and he stared at the old lady in her dark sunglasses.

“Your brother is destroying himself because he feels like everything's his fault. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he would gladly say no for someone to take that pressure off. He wants to be responsible for everything, because he’s also afraid of losing control. But, as many great people before him, your brother is snapping and breaking. He blames more people than he takes responsibility, and he’s losing control of himself more every day. Yet, he chooses to ignore these characteristics because he doesn’t want to believe them. What he needs sonny, is just a shoulder to cry on.” The old lady lightly punched James’ shoulders, and James didn’t flinch.

“What he needs the most, is your shoulder to cry on. He wants to tell you everything that’s wrong, but he won’t admit it. He won’t approach you because he’s stubborn and humble. You have to approach him, and talk to him. Let him cry, let him weep, let him curl into a ball and shiver with tears. Because in the end, if you’re right there next to him. Then oh boy, is he going to be alright.” James stared at the old lady in disbelief.

Who is this lady? James thought.

“I’m here whenever you need it sonny boy.” The old lady said, and then she wobbled off. “Oh, and two more things.” The old lady turned, facing the wall next to James. “One, don’t be mad at him when you return to your hotel. Because we both know he would never hurt Ellen. And two, go get the bug, and say you ‘couldn’t find it’ to your brother. You’ll see why.” James looked at the old lady, then back at the prison.

I forgot about the bug. James thought. He looked back to ask the old lady what she was talking about, but she was gone.

“I’m going crazy.” James said to himself. He looked at the prison once more, and sighed. “I must be if I’m willing to do what she said.”