Chapter 4

Dr. Widener ended the call with Ken at the same time Rhonda was looking out her third floor window at John Doe sitting in the dim twilight on a bench by the back fence, apparently lost in thought as usual. His iPod wasn’t plugged into his ears and his nose wasn’t buried in a book, so she thought this might be a rare opportunity to edge a little closer to him.

A few minutes later she strolled casually across the courtyard in his direction. This wasn’t the dining room, so she didn’t know how he’d react when she sat on the other end of the bench no more than three feet away. When he didn’t get up and walk away, she took that to be a good sign, some level of acceptance of her as a person.

It was a cool evening for early September, and John Doe seemed to be doing nothing more than taking in the early Autumn air. She knew nothing of his clash with the reporter.

Glancing at him in profile, she noticed even in the dim light that he was starting to fill out some from the regular meals. His face seemed a little fuller, and that did something for his looks in her opinion. When he felt her gaze, he opened his eyes, looked into hers for a few seconds like he was searching for something, then he looked away, closed his eyes and went back to whatever he was contemplating.

Rhonda gave it a couple of minutes before interrupting his thoughts. “I, um, just thought you might like to know my name. It’s Rhonda.”

Silence for several seconds, then, “Anton.”

The sound of his voice startled her and she jerked her head around, gaping at him. He was looking right at her.

“Damn!” she thought, “There’s actually somebody at home!”

But she kept her cool, trying to act like nothing was different. This was no time to get all chatty on him. “Thank you for sharin’ that with me, Anton. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“Thank you for being nice to me.”

An entire sentence! He spoke with a decided accent, but she couldn’t place it - maybe Russian or Polish or something. She was searching her mind for anything to keep it going when he stood and walked toward the building. The conversation was over.

While she was feeling very special that he had trusted her, she knew this was an important breakthrough, one that Dr. Widener had to be told about.

Rhonda rushed into the office hoping the doctor hadn’t left for the day and found her sitting at her desk speaking to a vaguely familiar looking man seated on the couch across the room. She knew it was rude to interrupt, but this was too important to wait. She tapped excitedly on the door and gushed, “Dr. Widener, he spoke to me!”

The doctor looked mildly annoyed at the breach of manners and asked, “Who spoke to you, dear?”

“The kid! John Doe! He told me his name! It’s Anton!”

Widener looked at Ken, then she beckoned the girl in and asked her to close the door. “Rhonda, this is Ken Early. He was recording you all at the camp, remember? Ken, this is Rhonda, one of our family.”

“Hi.”

“Hi. Yeah, I remember you now.”

Dr. Widener leaned back in her chair and said, “Rhonda, Ken was just telling me he has also learned Anton’s name. I’m afraid I can’t tell you how he learned it just yet, but it’s probably best if you don’t say anything to anyone about this. Will you promise me that?”

Rhonda shrugged a shoulder and said, “Um, sure, if that’s what you want. I just thought it might be important.”

“Oh my dear girl, it is important! It’s especially important because it was Anton who told you his name. The fact that he spoke to you is a very significant breakthrough, but Anton’s story is very complicated and his, uh, status is delicate. Since you’re obviously the person he most trusts now, I’d like for you to look for ways to build on that trust to grow even closer to him. That makes you a part of our team and that means you must swear not to violate any confidentiality by speaking to anyone about him.”

Ken asked, “Rhonda, did he say anything else?”

“He did! When I thanked him for trustin’ me with his name, he thanked me for bein’ nice to him. That was all. After that, he got up and came back inside.”

Dr. Widener sat forward in her squeaky chair and said, “My dear, you’ve brightened my day. Now I must speak to Mr. Early in private, but I’d like for us to get together later to discuss how best to utilize the trust Anton has shown you. Will you do that?”

The girl was very pleased with herself. “Of course. Do you think he’s gonna be okay now?”

Widener was cautious. “As I said, this is an important milestone, but Anton’s recovery is likely to be slow and difficult. You’ve given us some hope, but don’t expect too much too soon. Come back in half an hour and we’ll talk more.”

“Okay. Nice to see you again, Mr. Early.”

“Me too, Rhonda.”

Widener closed the door and heaved a sigh. “So you’re certain Anton is the boy the police are looking for?”

Ken nodded his head. “You’ve seen the passport photo, so there can’t be much doubt, can there? The rest of the story just falls into place.”

“You’re right, of course. Mr. Early, I’m sure you can appreciate...”

He interrupted her, “Please call me Ken.”

“Ken. Look, if Anton and his sister were starved and sexually abused, and if he did in fact kill their captors, the trauma to his mind had to be absolutely overwhelming, and the horror of such a scenario could certainly account for his self-imposed isolation. Drawing him out from behind his protecting veil of silence is likely to be a very long and a very arduous process. I can’t imagine that dragging that poor child through the legal system will be anything but devastating to his chances for recovery. He MUST be protected and I don’t feel at all confident our legal system will be willing or able to guarantee that. And now that Rhonda has gained his trust to the point that he’s willing to speak to her, we can’t allow that progress to be jeopardized. So you tell me, Ken, how do we keep Anton out of harm’s way?”

He gave it some thought. “Well, one thing I know for sure is this: If Sarah gets ahold of this story, and she very well may because it was hers originally and she’ll be checking in with Sergeant Haldeman sooner rather than later, it’ll be all over the TV screens within hours. I can only think of one way to keep Anton out of her clutches, Dr. Widener.”

She leaned forward expectantly. “And that is?”

“We need to get him out of here. Now. We have to get him to a safe place and make up some kind of story about him running away. And that means lying to the cops, a pretty risky business even with the best of intentions. You know of any place where we can hide him?”

She nodded. “I do, actually, but I suppose you understand that my getting involved in such a conspiracy could play hell with my reputation. Then of course, there’s the issue of harboring a fugitive.”

“Sure I understand that, but we don’t have a lot of choices and we don’t have a lot of time to decide on one. Sooner or later, Sarah is going to call Sergeant Haldeman herself and get the story. The first thing he’s gonna ask is if I hadn’t already given it to her, and you can guess how that’s gonna go.”

Dr. Widener got up from her desk and began pacing around her office, thinking. “Okay, Ken, let’s start with a temporary fix and see how far we can carry it. I own a cabin in the mountains large enough to sleep four people comfortably. I’m thinking we can send Anton and one of our counselors up there for a while. And since Rhonda has already managed to get closer to him than anyone else, perhaps she should go as well. It’s only about forty miles away, so I can get up there every two or three days to work with him.”

Ken agreed, “Sounds like it might work for a while at least. I can sit on the story until Sarah gets wind of it. One thing for sure, I’m not on her top ten list of favorite people right now, so it may well cost me my job when she finds out I withheld it.”

Widener said, “Oh dear no, Ken! I can’t ask you to risk that.”

He stood beside her looking out the window. “Don’t worry about it. I was already thinking about quitting to spend more time on my freelance stuff. Well this feels like a good time to make my move, and it’s about as freelance as it gets.”

Knowing it was risky, he turned to face her and said, “Look, how about this as a proposal: I quit my job at the station and go with Anton, Rhonda and your counselor to the cabin to serve as a general gofer; you know, making grocery runs and whatever else they need. That might keep the story off the air for another day or two. In return, once you get Anton stabilized and on the road to recovery, you give me exclusive rights to his story. Of course since he’s your ward, any text and any photos would be subject to your approval.”

Widener didn’t look the least bit excited about his idea. “That’s asking a lot, Ken. I appreciate what you’ve shared so far, but I wonder if I can trust you to have Anton’s best interests at heart. You are a journalist, after all, and a journalist’s first concerns are the story and the deadline, if history and reputation are to be believed. You can understand my reticence.”

“I do. All I can promise is that I’ll do everything I can to protect Anton. I can’t even imagine the torment that poor kid is wading through in his mind. But I’m in no great rush, Doctor. I can hold on to this story for a week, a month, even a year if that’s what it takes, but at the moment we’re short on options. If we’re going to do something, we need to do it now.”

She paced some more as she worked out a plan. Once her mind was made up, she said, “You’re right. Will you wait here for a few minutes while I make some arrangements?”

“Sure. But Dr. Widener?”

“Yes?”

“At some point the kid’s gonna need a good lawyer. And there’s at least a possibility that he and his sister were kidnapped and sold, so he may have parents somewhere in Romania.”

“I know that and I already have a lawyer in mind to advocate for Anton and begin inquiries into that possibility independent of the police. And by the way, perhaps you would pass on to Ms. Bernstein or her direct supervisor that her little ruse to sneak in here uninvited is going to cost Raul his job - not that she would have any concerns about that. I’m sure she regards him as a mere tool.”

Now feeling even guiltier, Ken asked, “But why should he be punished for getting himself seduced by a pro?”

“Why? Because we’re very concerned with the safety and security of our young people. Perhaps it isn’t fair, but Raul is a grown man. He knew it was wrong to buy in to Ms. Bernstein’s ploy, but he chose to do it anyway for his own reasons. Unacceptable.

A few minutes, later five people were gathered in Dr. Widener’s office: Widener, Ken, Eric Stanton who was one of the live-in counselors, Rhonda and Anton. Anton stood in a far corner with his hands stuffed into his pockets while Rhonda, Eric and Ken shared the couch.

Dr. Widener spoke directly to the boy. “Anton, I know you understand what I’m saying. I won’t ask you to answer any questions, but you must listen carefully. For reasons that will become clearer to you in time, you, Eric and your friend Rhonda are going to be living at a house up in the mountains. I think you’ll find it more comfortable than this environment, and I’ll come as often as I can to talk with you and to see to your needs.”