Caleb 92 - Rosie

"And if they deny she's there?" asked Roder.

"I could 'gently' prompt them to tell me the truth," I said.

"You mean Compel them," said Roder.

"Not into any action," I said. "Only to answer a direct question truthfully and fully. And the question would be, is Rosie James here?"

"And what if they say she's there, but doesn't want to speak to you?" she asked.

"The likelihood is that they'll want her to speak to him," said Martha. "They know if he leaves without talking to her, he'll take further action. How much easier is it if he's sent away by the person he's come to see?"

"It makes sense," said Roder. "Okay, I'll sign off on a single question and truthful answer. I will give you the option to ask multiple people the same question, given that you might encounter someone who does not know the answer.

"Once you've ascertained that she's there, I'll allow you to read her only to establish method of control. Any other information obtained from this reading will be excluded from any legal proceedings. When you've talked to her, and found out what's going on, report back and we can decide what we're going to do from there on."

"Yes ma'am," said Maggie, who reached for the computer to end the Teleconference call.

"And Mr. Stott," said Roder, causing Maggie to pause, "I heard about what happened with Mr. Bleasedale. I think you and I need to have a chat. When this is over, I want you to come to my chambers."

"Yes Ma'am," I said, wondering about that.

Maggie cut the connection. I looked at her.

"She heard about you going to see Bleasedale, and wanted to know why. I told her, but she sent Melissa to go and find out more. When she came back saying that she'd been unable to connect to Bleasedale in any way. Roder wanted to know what you'd done and how. I had to tell her, I didn't know, because, guess what, I DIDN'T KNOW!!!"

"You should have given me a heads up about that Caleb," She said. "Now Roder is going to want you to explain just exactly how you did it."

"Nope," I said. "Not going to happen."

Maggie sighed. "That's a worry for later. Let's talk about Rosie and how we're going to rescue her."

"It won't be hard," I said. "I go in there, tell them I'm a friend of Rosie James, and am worried that I've not seen her for a while, and was told that she was living here now. I'm going to ask to see her, to make sure she's alright.

"If Rosie is trotted out as Martha seems to think she will be, then I'll scan her and find out what the deal is. If not, I'll make some noise until something happens. Worst case, they'll physically eject me. I'm not going to resist or do anything other than shout and stomp my feet so unless they threaten physical violence I'll leave, but I'll see what I can overhear all the time I'm in there.

"Good enough," said Maggie. "Do not take your weapon in with you. You can take your FBI ID, since they know where she works and thus any colleagues will, by definition, also have to work here. The fact that you're a consultant rather than an agent plays better for us too. Also, you're young and good looking. They may even try to take you. Be cautious about eating or drinking anything in there. If they are using drugs, they may offer you something with a little extra in it."

I nodded.

"Martha," said Maggie. "I want you to give Caleb everything you have on this 'enclave'."

"I pretty much already have," she said. "Other than looking up property records, and knowing how long they've been there, and that the site is owned by a shell corporation, there's nothing more to tell.

"You don't even know who's in charge?" asked Maggie.

"We presume the guy in the monk's robes," said Martha. "We know who their legal representation is, we've had plenty of contact with them, but other than that, we don't even have a name."

"Not helpful," said Maggie. "I'm starting to agree with Caleb's comments about you needing to do more groundwork before you act. I understand your need for haste, but this is two operations where you've gone in woefully unprepared.

"When it comes, Mr. Stott's justice will be well deserved I think."

Martha glanced at me, a look of worry in her eyes. "Justice?" she asked.

"Later," I said. "Right now, we have more important things to think about."

"We've already frozen Rosie's bank account," said Dianna, "so it will take a court order to get those funds released. Until that happens, she can't give them any, or all, of her money. Her apartment is a rental and she doesn't own a car. At least if she is being controlled in some way, they can't take all her wealth, at least not before we can make sure she's there willingly. She's not made any purchases over the weekend, nor contacted anyone we're aware of. Her phone is switched off, but its last location was in a nightclub. I presume that's one of their hunting grounds."

"Is it worth going there to take a look around?" I asked. "Maybe someone there knows something?"

"If we were investigating a disappearance we would," said Maggie. "But we know where she is, or at least where she was on Friday. I do wonder what was going on Thursday though. If we assume she was taken on Wednesday night, which was why she didn't turn up for work Thursday, and didn't go to the compound until Friday, where was she between times?

"Perhaps they have somewhere that they pre-condition them," I said, "so that when they arrive, they appear to be willing."

"Makes sense," said Maggie. "We need to roll this backwards, but we'll start at the compound and work outwards. There's not much more to prepare, get going. It will take you about an hour and a half to get there. Go see what you can find out."

I nodded and stood.

"Be careful," Maggie said.

"I will," I said.

I left Maggie's office and was soon on the road, heading towards the compound where Rosie and others were being held. Or were they? Had they truly found somewhere that made them happy, and just wanted to live their lives and be left alone?

I contemplated that thought as I drove. What if that were the case? I'd been accused of being the head of such a cult only recently, so was I falling into the same trap of cynically assuming the worst? Well, I would make no assumptions. I'd do what Martha failed to do. I'd investigate, and then I'd take action based on what I found, not on what others told me.

Just under two hours later, I pulled onto the road leading up to the compound. It was surrounded by a high wall, with a gate, which was open. There was no barrier, but I could see holes in the road which might signify an anti-vehicle device which could be raised if required.

I pulled towards the gateway and a man came out of a booth, and walked toward me, waving me down. He wore a sidearm but wasn't carrying anything else.

"This is private property Sir," he said. "There's nothing here you need."

"I disagree," I said. "I know my friend Rosie is in here. She disappeared from work last week, and nobody has spoken to her since. A friend saw her entering your compound on Friday. I want to speak to her."

"Rosie?" he asked. "I don't..."

"Look," I said, opening my ID. "I'm a consultant with the FBI. Either you let me speak to Rosie or I'm going to make a call and get every agent in the state down here, and we'll come in to talk to her."

"If she's here," he said, "then I assure you it's because she wants to be."

"And as soon as she tells me that herself," I said, "I'll go away, and not bother you again. But until then I'm going to assume that you've got her here under some kind of duress, and will take all legal measures to find out."

"Would you wait here please?" he asked. I nodded, shutting my truck off. I didn't want him thinking I might try and drive through the gate without permission.

While I waited, I remembered to remove my CQB and put it in the gun safe. I could see a camera looking down on me through my windshield. I was certain that they'd seen me remove my weapon. I was hoping that it would provide some reassurance that I wasn't here to cause trouble.

The guard was back.

"Do you have any weapons on you Sir?" he asked.

"No," I said. "I do not. Look, I'm not here to make a fuss, I'm just concerned about my friend. I just want to see she's okay."

"If you carry on up the drive, and park to the left, you'll be met there Sir. Please stick to the road. You'll be shown where to park."

"Perfect," I said smiling. "Thanks."

I'd not heard a great deal from him, other than he had to turn people away, but if people insisted he was to send them on to his boss. He was only to activate the anti-vehicle defences if either the alert sounded, he was directed to do so, or a vehicle approached at speed and didn't seem to be stopping.

I drove through the gate and followed the road. After about five hundred yards I saw a man similarly attired with a sidearm. He indicated a parking space, and I pulled in. He waited until I got out of my truck and walked over to him.

"We do not allow weapons onto the site," he said. "Are you carrying any?"

"I have a pocket knife," I said, showing him the knife that Dana had bought me for my 21^st birthday.

"No firearms?" he asked.

"No," I said shaking my head. I opened my jacket to show I had nothing in my waistband, and even turned, flipping up the back to display nothing there either.

"Follow me please," he said.

Once more I listened in to his surface thoughts. He too was a rent-a-cop. He'd been watching from his control room as I'd approached, and seen me remove my gun and put it in the gun safe. Since I'd not once looked directly at the camera, he wasn't certain if I'd seen it. If so I'd removed my gun for theatre and I might have a back up, possibly in an ankle holster. If not, I might be genuine in not wanting trouble. He hoped for the second but planned for the first. The metal detector on the main door would tell him which.

"Please put all your metal items in the tray," he said, "and then walk through the detector."

I did as bidden and predictably no alarms went off.

"Genuine then," he thought. "He'll be out of here in an hour."

He'd apparently been working here for some time. Having never gone further than the second door, he didn't know what was inside. He had had to remove several people from the lobby who'd tried to force entry, supposedly looking for people that had gone missing, even when they'd already spoken to them and been told to leave by the person they were looking for.

Me, he decided, I'd be one of the easy ones. I was probably a boyfriend feeling jilted. I looked like a good kid who'd probably be upset at being dumped, but would 'respect her wishes.' He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Part of him though I should fight for the woman I wanted, if I really did, and part of him just wanted a quiet life.

The inner door opened and the woman I'd seen leading Rosie onto the compound came out. She was wearing a bright smile.

"Mr. Stott," she said.

"Caleb, please," I answered with an equal smile.

"Rosie has told me all about you," she said. "She said you and she were colleagues and that she was at a party at your house only recently. She's sorry to have not told you of her plans, but she felt that a clean break would be kindest."

I continued to smile.

"And as soon as she tells me that," I told the woman, "Miss?"

"Veronica," she said. "Veronica Wood."

"Miss Wood." I continued. "If Rosie really wants to be here, and doing whatever it is you are doing here, then I'll be on my way and never bother her or you again. But as you can appreciate, working with the FBI, we do come across situations where people are taken into situations that they do not want to be in, and are held against their will. Now I'm not saying that is what's happening here, and if Rosie tells me she's all good, then like I say, I'm gone." I sighed. "Although I have to admit if she has found somewhere away from the rat race, I'm kind of jealous"

"Oh," Veronica said. "Are you feeling the pressure too?"

I laughed. "You could say that, but I'm not here for me just now. Maybe after I see Rosie's all good I'll talk to you about my life, if you think I might be a good fit, but until then Rosie is my focus."

All the time we were talking, I was listening to her surface thoughts.

"He's cute. There's no doubt we'd find a buyer. We can't take him now, I'm sure he's told someone he's come to see if Rosie's okay. Maybe once she's reassured him, we can entice him back. Maybe even use Rosie to do so. She's not quite ready yet, but another few weeks or so and she'll be fully trained."

"Rosie is out in the gardens just now," she said. "It will be a few moments, if you care to follow me, I'll take you somewhere you can wait."

"Thank you," I said. making it obvious that I was watching her ass, which was actually worth watching.

"Like a lamb to the slaughter," she thought.

She took me into a library, the walls filled floor to the overheight ceiling with books. Glancing around they looked false, like the ones that would be out of reach from the ground were actually not real, but were cardboard facades, painted to look like books. I spotted a couple of places that I thought might conceal cameras.

"Please," she said indicating a chair. I sat.

She sat opposite, and across, a small knee-high table from me. On the table was a jug containing some kind of cold beverage.

"Might I offer you some refreshments?" she asked.

"I'm good thanks," I said. "I have the bladder of a gnat. I don't want to have to keep stopping on the way home."

"Of course," she said.

"So not quite as innocent as he looks," She thought. "But there's nothing in the tea today." She took a glass for herself and took a sip, grimacing slightly, "Not even tea apparently."

I had to suppress a chuckle at that.

Roughly ten minutes later the door opened and Rosie came in, accompanied by the guy that I'd seen on one of the pictures. They were holding hands.

"Caleb," she said. "What are you doing here?"

I stood and went to her. She didn't let go of his hand, and so I stopped short of the hug that I'd planned.

Rather than try and read her, I simply took a dump of her memory, just as I had with Harold. I had a complete copy of her mind in my storage, for me to look at, at my leisure.

"I was worried about you," I said. "You didn't come to work, and then someone told me that they'd seen you here. You didn't say anything to me, not even a note."

I expected her to ask why the hell she'd leave me a note, since we weren't together. Instead, she said something else.

"I'm really sorry," she said. "I just found somewhere I really wanted to be. It's amazing here, it really is."

I found her speech ever so slightly out of whack, but I couldn't figure out why.

"What shall I tell Maggie,"

This time I noticed the guy apply a slight pressure to her thumb.

"Tell them I'm sorry," she said, apparently full of remorse. "I just needed this, for me."

"Is it really good here?" I asked. "You think I'd like it?"

Another subtle press, I heard him think. "Response three"

"I can't really talk about it," she said. "But I'm sure one of the elders would be happy to talk to you."

I nodded.

"Well," I said, "if you're sure you're happy, then I'm happy for you. I'm just sorry things didn't work out for us."

"I'm really sorry," she said.

I nodded, projecting a little sorrow.

"I guess I'd better be going. I'll leave you to it. Be well Rosie, I'll miss you." I even allowed a tear to roll down my cheek, pushing sadness onto myself to provide it.

The man turned and led her toward the door. I heard him thinking, "response five, that'll finish him."

"Caleb," Rosie said just before she left. I looked at her.

"Yes," I responded.

"Be happy okay?" she said. I nodded mutely, forcing out another couple of tears, and then she was gone.

I slumped down in my chair, sighing. When I looked up Veronica offered me a tissue.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't tell you how often I've had to witness this kind of event. When people find their happiness, it can sometimes be distressing for those they leave behind. Don't blame her, you couldn't possibly understand unless you'd found it for yourself."

"If only," I lamented, then sighed again, wiping away the tears.

"Thank you," I said. "At least I got the chance to say goodbye. I'll get out of your way and let you get back to your day. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

I kept my voice low, and dejected sounding.

We stood, and she led me back to the foyer, where the guard was waiting.

"As expected," he thought, "although I didn't expect him to be a crybaby."

"Thank you" I said to her.

"Tell you what," she said. "Why don't you and I have a drink, later on in the week. Maybe we can talk about the pressures you mentioned, and we can see if you might be a good fit with us. I'm sure Rosie would be delighted if you were to join us here?"

"Really?" I asked, hope in my voice.

"Why not," she said, taking out a card. "How does Thursday night sound?"

I looked at the card. It had the name of a nightclub I'd never heard of on it, although that didn't mean much since I wasn't a great one for nightclubs.

"Sure," I said. "What time?"

"Just go and have some fun in there," she said. "I'll find you. Take the card, it'll get you in." Then she grinned. "Give it to the barman and your first drink is free."

"Okay," I said cheering up slightly. "I'll look forward to it."

"It was nice meeting you," she said holding out her hand. I shook it.

"Definitely," she said, "an easy mark. If his got as good a body as it looks from here, then I'm sure he'll get snapped up."

I allowed the rent-a-cop to walk me back to my truck.

"Looks like we might be seeing you again," he said, smiling. "You poor stupid fool," he added in his head.

He'd seen lots of young people brought into the property, but none ever left. At least none that he saw. The property had a boat dock onto the Columbia river, and occasionally helicopters would land on the pad around the back. He assumed that they left either of those two ways.

He didn't ask questions, he just did what he was told and picked up his sizeable paycheck.

"Perhaps," I said half smiling at him.

I got in my truck, turned around, and headed back to the gate. The guard there just waved me through.

As soon as I was on the road, I called Maggie to report.

"Caleb," she said. "Give me the cliffnotes,"

"Something screwy is going on," I said. "There are definitely drugs involved, but I don't think power. I'm guessing some kind of drug induced mental manipulation. What's more disturbing is I think they're selling them on. Possibly into some kind of submissive or slave role."

"What?" she asked. "Get back to my office. I need to debrief you properly. I've no doubt that Judge Roder will want to hear all about it. Is Rosie in immediate danger?"

"I don't believe so," I said. "I think they still have some training to do with her before she gets moved on. I got the feeling that this place is a training facility to prepare the people for what comes next. What that is, is anyone's guess."

"Get back here as soon as you can," she said. "Drive safely though and stick to the limits. Let me know when you're ten minutes out, I'll make sure that everyone that needs to be is in my office. Come straight up."

"Yes Ma'am" I said with a grin.

When I was near, I gave her the ten minute warning, and arrived on her floor almost exactly ten minutes later. Cuthbert nodded to me. "Go straight in," he said. "They're waiting for you."

I knocked on the door, and entered when bade to do so.

The next forty minutes was spent reporting everything I'd seen and done. I'd given my memories to all those in the room, which comprised of Maggie and Dianna. Strangely, Martha hadn't been invited. I then told the Judge over video link exactly what I'd heard and seen. I had to be explicit about how I'd gotten certain information, telling her that it had been overheard thoughts and not an active reading that had brought me information about training and selling. I had to recount conversations and overheard thoughts over and over again, as well as explaining what Rosie remembered.