Hey Punk, Keep This a Secret

Chapter Four: Taylor Cartor

 I had only been driving for a few minutes when I realized that the silence was burdening me. I simply had to say something to the poor kid, even if he didn't ever respond to me.

"It's gonna be pretty hard for me to explain to my coworkers that I had to take you in but don't know why," I said. Then I realized how rude that sounded, and I took it back quickly. "No, I'm sorry, I understand that whatever this is is really difficult for you. I'm just saying- your parents can put me in a lawsuit for kidnapping if they find out that I'm hiding you from them, and it would be a whole heck of a lot easier to win said lawsuit if I knew what was going on at home."

I could feel the part about kidnapping sink into his skin, similarly to how men can feel when another man gets kicked in the balls. I suppose that comes with being a traumatized agent, akin to how the latter comes with... having balls. The thought of being in Devin's place made me shudder.

"It's going to be okay," I tried to ease his nerves. "I'll make sure that you're safe, whatever is going on. That is my job, after all."

When I stopped the car at the office, I didn't get out right away. I was nervous that what I said before still had him rubbed the wrong way.

"Devin, look at me," I said. When he turned, I noticed that he looked a little scared of me. It wasn't the usual scared look that he had tucked away deep in his chestnut brown eyes.

"Don't be afraid," I said. "If you need a little more time, that's okay."

He stared at me as he played with his hands nervously. I could tell he had acknowledged what I said, but the silence still kind of offended me.

"Let's go inside, Devin," I finally said, and got out of the car with him.

The meeting went pretty much just as I expected. They asked me about Devin's case, I told him he wouldn't talk. I had to bargain with them to keep his location confidential. Halfway through, Devin started crying because he thought we were going to take him home.

"If you make me take him back to his parents before anyone gets a chance to investigate, I think you're asking to put him in danger. Maybe he can't tell us what's happening yet, but if he's this upset about you wanting to send him back then it's certainly got to be something," I pleaded to my coworkers, hoping their unnaturally dull emotions would get the better of them and they'd take my advice.

"Listen to Mrs. Cartor," Mr. Ivanov told everybody as he came into the room. "Yes, this would generally be considered kidnapping under law. However, folks, you must remember that we are the law. Well, a part of it. And we can bend the rules a little if it means our job is done right." He hadn't even looked up from his files.

"Thank you, Mr. Ivanov," I said humbly.

"Don't thank me," he said, approaching me. He set the files in front of me. "Actually, I only came to give you the files on Miss Danielle's case. I meant to do that earlier, but the printer had a little bit of an error. My apologies," he explained.

"Don't worry about it, sir. I'll look this over right away and conduct the investigation as soon as I am done," I told him.

"You truly are wonderful, Mrs. Cartor," he said.

Some hours later, I went to the home of the Stewarts. I hadn't bothered to take Devin back to my house, but by the time I thought of it I was already in their driveway. I had to internally facepalm before telling him, "Stay in the car. I don't want you getting hurt."

No answer, of course, so I left the car without another word.

I knocked on their door to receive an immediate answer. "Who the hell are you?" Mr. Stewart answered.