Hostage Zero

A long silence followed as they continued their search. As the sun rose higher, the details of these men’s appearance grew clearer, and Harvey had the terrifying thought that they were cops. They looked like cops. It was the military bearing, the focus on the task at hand. His already-pounding heart picked up more speed. Cops trying to kill a kid, with him stuck in the middle. He was so screwed.

“Hey, Billy,” Long Hair said. “Look at this over here.” By Harvey’s calculation, he was standing at the exact spot where he’d found Jeremy. “Look at this grass. It’s all matted.”

Harvey tried to recall what he’d left behind, but he pulled up a blank. He’d been concentrating too hard on the kid.

Billy joined his partner. “And what fine matted grass it is. Where’s the body?”

“Christ, I don’t know. Maybe animals dragged it off.”

“And where’s the blood?”

For the first time, Harvey considered bolting off into the woods and taking his chances. The kid was the one they wanted. If he ran…

…they’d still hunt him down and kill him. Who was he kidding?

“I’m beginning to think maybe he was never killed,” Long Hair said.

A long pause. “You can’t just stop there.”

“Think about it. Explains a lot.”

Billy was genuinely lost. “You’re saying he was wounded and wandered off.”

“Maybe. Or maybe…” He shifted his gaze directly toward Harvey’s campsite. “What the fuck is that?”

In unison, they drew firearms from underneath their T-shirts and pointed them at Harvey.

“You there!” Long Hair shouted. “Don’t you fucking move.”

“Ah, shit,” Billy whined. “Who the hell is he?”

Singular, Harvey thought. I’m the only one they see.

“Stand up!” Long Hair said. “And be really fucking careful if you don’t want to die.”

Harvey’s head raced faster than his heart. Dying was nowhere on his list of things to do today.

“Harvey…” Jeremy whined.

He ignored the boy. As he stood, he pressed down on Jeremy’s head for leverage, as if it were a rock. It was important that the kid stay out of sight. If they saw him, they’d shoot him. And if they shot the kid, what incentive did they have to let Harvey go on breathing? Jeremy needed to disappear, and since that wasn’t possible, he needed to keep out of sight.

“Hello,” Harvey said, as brightly as he could. He recognized the pistols in the man’s hands as 9-millimeter Berettas, standard military issue. Police departments hadn’t gone to that particular weapon in most cases, certainly not here in Westmoreland County.

“What are you doing there listening to us?” Billy asked.

Harvey pegged him as the hothead of the two, the one to be talked down first. “It’s hard not to listen to a conversation in an open place,” he said. “It’s quiet out here.” As he spoke he took a couple of steps forward, hoping that if they couldn’t see the boy, they wouldn’t make the connection. He also moved to his left to break their sight line away from the kid in case he moved in the background.

“Why are you hiding there?” Billy asked.

Harvey forced a chuckle that he hoped sounded more genuine that it felt. “Y’all heard what you were sayin’, right?” he quipped. “Wouldn’t you think about stayin’ outta sight if that’s what you heard?”

Billy raised his arm perpendicular to his body and drew a bead on Harvey’s chest. Harvey recognized the look. It was over for him.

But the other man grabbed Billy’s wrist and spoiled his aim. “No,” he said. “Not yet.”

“We’ve got to.”

“Not yet,” his partner repeated.

“Sean-”

“I said no.”

So the other guy’s name was Sean. It was always nice to know the names of the people who were going to kill you. Harvey’s heart continued to pound, but he was surprised how clear his head felt. “Yeah, Billy, he said no,” Harvey said.

“Christ, now he knows our names,” Billy spat.

Harvey had thought that a little levity might defuse things. He’d been wrong.

Sean let go of his partner’s wrist and allowed him to reacquire his target. “This would be a good time for you to do some explaining,” he said.

Harvey had been moving left the entire time, never closing an inch, but continuing to draw their aim away from the campsite. He stopped now. “I’m not a threat to you,” he said. “It’s like you said earlier. If I’d wanted to bring the police into my life, this place would be alive with them. Do you see any cops?”

Billy and Sean exchanged confused glances.

Harvey used the brief silence to design a lie that would buy him some time. “I was here night before last,” he said. “I saw them drag that boy out here and shoot him. Then I heard the chopper. Scared me to death.” He let the news settle on them. “If I was going to call somebody, that would have been the time, don’t you think?”

He could almost hear Sean’s brain trying to process it. He knew what the inevitable question would be, so he moved ahead with the scary-big lie. “Fact is, you’re about three hours too late.”