Flight of Fancy
Chapter 24

Ana continued to fume that day, but she didn’t remain inactive. She had called many legal firms on Slovenia, mostly ones dealing with international law. Pretty much every response was that nothing illegal happened, the arrest appeared to be in order, especially if the agents had the right papers, and there was nothing else to be done. One lawyer was a bit more honest, saying that since the CIA was involved no law firm would touch the case because they would get unofficial sanctions. Supposedly, they had seen it happen to many lawyers and nobody dared chance it any longer.

So, here we are.

She was sitting in the living room at David’s parents’ place. There was some comfort to be taken in the fact that she wasn’t alone in all of this. David was everything to her, but for parents it was probably even worse.

“Is there nothing else we can do?” asked David’s mother.

Ana thought about it and besides going on a rampant killing spree, getting rid of every useless policeman, politician, lawyer and agent, nothing came to mind.

“I can’t think of anything right now,” she said dejectedly and took a sip of the lukewarm chamomile tea in her mug. She was trying everything to calm down, so she would be able to sleep at night, but it would take a hypnotist to give her some rest.

Life seemed to be at its lowest point right now. They’d thought it couldn’t get much worse than moving to his parents, but here it was. David was gone, chances were he would get killed and she was all alone with his parents. It wasn’t the worst situation in the world. David’s parents were nice, but people over thirty don’t really have the ambition to move back with their parents.

If David really was found dead or sent to prison for the rest of his life, she really could see herself doing something drastic, like attacking one of those agents or maybe taking it out on an innocent person who would happen to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

And more innocent people will be hurt.

Wasn’t that always the way? The rich criminals always got away and the poor always got fucked.

The world’s not fair!

Hardly anything seemed fair. The funny thing was that most people realised this and they were either to lethargic to do anything about it or were afraid of the repercussions. David and she were always posting subversive things on social media and eventually it was bound to catch up with them.

So much for freedom of speech! Soon they’ll start using machines that can read minds and if you have the wrong thoughts, they’ll just send you to jail.

Ana could hear noises outside, but didn’t think much of it. There were always people walking past their house. It was often used as a shortcut to the playgrounds. All of a sudden, a rock came through the window and landed on the floor. They could feel sounds from outside and a familiar voice shouted: “Fucking terrorists!”

Ana could hear quick retreating footsteps, which meant the person or people were running away.

That’s all we need!

She was fuming again and knew that she wouldn’t mind taking her anger out on the people from the village.

“Fucking assholes!” she shouted. “I’ll kill you!”

“What the hell is going on?” was David’s father’s rhetorical question. “As if we don’t have enough to worry about.”

“People will believe everything they hear on the news,” said David’s mother with disgust, not realising how hypocritical that sounded, coming from a person who’d believed everything she’d heard on the news until a few days ago.

Then, their doorbell rang.

“What now?” said David’s mother and went to answer the door.

Ana could hear everything being said at the door.

“Hello,” came the voice at the front door. It was the neighbour lady and a good friend of David’s mother.

“Hello,” said David’s mother. “Look, I’m sorry, we’re not really in the mood for visitors, with all that’s been happening and now a person threw a rock through our window…”

“What? Really?” interrupted the neighbour.

“Yes,” was the reply.

“I did see some people running past your barn, but I couldn’t recognise them. They were wearing hoodies on their heads.”

“Yes,” said David’s mother.

“Anyway,” continued the neighbour. “I won’t keep you long. I just stopped by to give you this apple pie. I know these are hard times for you and I just wanted you to know that most people from the village are here for you and we don’t believe any of the bullshit on the TV.”

The two neighbours exchanged a brief hug, said their goodbyes and then David’s mother shut and locked the door. When she came back to the living room, there were tears in her eyes. Ana had never seen David’s mother display a lot of emotion before, let alone cry, so she couldn’t control her feelings any longer either. Both women cried their hearts out and embraced.

There were still good people left in the world.

************************************

Dawson was getting very nervous. The military and the local police were getting nowhere with their searches. He realised they wouldn’t replace David straight away, but with modern and classical techniques at their disposal, he believed they would have him in a few hours.

They had trained dogs who couldn’t pick up any scent at all. The only scent they recognised was the one in the jail cell. After that, they just became confused and couldn’t follow any trail. It was as if David had vanished into thin air.

They must have used bleach or some chemicals.

If the dogs couldn’t replace any scent, it only made sense that whoever helped David brought some chemicals to cover up their tracks. But that would mean they had to use bleach even when they got him free, otherwise the dogs would have picked up something at another spot of the military base. They’d taken them all over and the dogs merely looked at the military as if to say: “Are you playing a prank on me?” It was all very confusing.

The military had no luck either. There were no trails to pick up from the base, no vehicle tracks or footprints to follow. It was a proper mystery. Dawson didn’t like mysteries. He needed something that he could explain to his superiors. “He vanished into thin air” just wouldn’t cut it.

He had high hopes for the media coverage because they posted David’s picture and ran the story continuously. But there were no calls about David or his imaginary accomplices. The people were either not cooperating or really didn’t see anything.

He was sitting in the briefing room with his staff, however he was at a loss for words. There was nothing else to be done, at least not that he could think of.

“Anyone have any ideas?” he asked and looked at his agents. They were highly efficient drones, but didn’t really care too much about thinking. It was like dealing with robots made of flesh.

Jane did speak up, however: “What if we went to search David’s house and the surrounding area?” She looked at Dawson, who looked at her with a mix of envy and contempt.

Why didn’t I think of that?

“It’s probably a long shot,” Jane continued, “but it’s better than staying here and doing nothing. I’m sure we’ll get a court order before we even make it back there.”

Although Dawson hated that Jane came up with the idea, this was the only logical course of action and he would have to take her advice.

“Right, team,” he said. “Get your stuff ready and we’ll be off. Glenn, you arrange for the court order to be ready and we’ll meet in front of the car in approximately fifteen minutes.”

His team dashed off without another thought and left Dawson there all alone in the realisation that Jane was a danger to his leadership.

I’ll have to keep my eyes on you, my pretty.

**********************************************

Just as expected, there was still no news of David.

It’s been too long.

Dawson wasn’t expecting the military to replace him any longer. If he did somehow manage to escape without leaving any trails, traces or clues behind him, it would be nearly impossible to replace him in the vast forest of Slovenia.

Fucking wild!

Why did these people have so many forests left? Dawson thought about it and assumed that they were primitive, a very backward nation, with no notion of markets and capitalism. They were still living in the dark ages.

Savages!

Still, credit where credit was due. The local police were very cooperative, probably more than the American local police would be. From the stories of his staff, it seemed local American law enforcement loved making problems for federal agents and didn’t like giving up cases.

Not like the yokels here!

These yokels were clever enough to know not to mess with American special agents and they did whatever you told them. They were very obedient simpletons. However, it didn’t change the fact that David was still missing and no amount of help from local police would remedy that. At least it seemed so. He was hoping for a miracle.

The best thing would be to replace him at his home.

That would indeed be ideal for Dawson’s career progression. He would be hailed as the hero and the one who captured a dangerous fugitive. What happened to David didn’t really mattered. For all he cared he could rot in jail for the rest of his life. He was merely a pawn in this whole game – unimportant, expendable.

Glenn had made the necessary telephone call to the right people and they were now nearing the local police station near David’s home, where they would hand them the papers. Nobody told them how long they would have to wait, but Dawson hope the Slovenians would continue with the bootlicking and have the papers nice and ready for them, all signed and stamped.

Laura pulled into the police station parking lot and parked the car. They got out of the car and entered the police station. It was a very quiet building and Dawson had to admit that it was probably more tidy and neat than most American police stations.

A man at the front desk told them something in their local language.

“We’ve come to pick up some papers,” said Dawson. “It’s a court order.”

The man merely looked at Dawson as if he was an alien.

For fuck’s sake! These people don’t even know how to speak English.

“Papers,” shouted Dawson and gestured a sign for writing.

The local officer seemed to have a moment of clarity, held up his index finger as if to say “eureka” and went through a door.

“Jesus Christ,” said Dawson. “It’s like kindergarten in here.”

They waited a few minutes, Dawson tapping his feet impatiently.

Come on already!

After a few more minutes, a new police officer came out. It appeared to be someone more important.

“American?” he spoke to them.

“Yes,” responded Dawson. “We’ve come for some papers.”

“Yes,” was the reply. “I have papers. Do you have badge, identification?”

They all produced their agents’ badges and the officer looked at them and studied them carefully. He appeared satisfied and handed the badges back.

“Okay, here papers,” he said in his broken English and handed them a pile of papers. Dawson took a look and found what they were looking for. It was a search warrant to search the house and premises of David’s family.

The agents went back through the front door without saying another word. They got back into the car and Laura dashed them from the police station.

When they were back on the main road, Dawson said: “Take us to the forest first. If he’s hiding anywhere, it would be there. They wouldn’t have the guts to hide him in the house.”

“Right,” said Laura and sped towards the forest.

They reached the family forest in a few minutes and Laura parked the car in a slightly more hidden location to hide their arrival. They got out of the car and Dawson issued a command in almost a whisper: “Spread out and be quiet. Let’s try to catch him”

Show time!

***********************************

After the incident with the rock through the window, Ana though the whole world had turned against them. But only a short time after, their neighbour had restored Ana’s faith in humanity – to a certain degree. Most people in charge, bankers and bureaucrats and similar positions were still pieces of shit, holding back humanity from achieving its fullest potential. Still, there was kindness in the world, as exemplified by their neighbour. It was funny. Ana had never thought much of that neighbour. She’d seemed like a busybody, always poking her nose into other people’s business and always the smartest about everything, even though she actually didn’t have a clue. However, this situation changed Ana’s mind completely. People had the ability to surprise you.

She was all alone in her apartment. It felt so lonely without David. There was nothing to distract her from all the thoughts about negative outcomes. There were so many of them, much more than positive ones. Whatever prompted David’s escape, nothing good would come of it.

David will never be a free man.

He would either be hunted by authorities or spend most of his life in prison. Those monsters had the means to put anyone behind bars by fabricating evidence and making up ridiculous stories.

Who knows how many lives they’ve destroyed throughout the world? Too many, probably.

It was hard to think about such things. She knew them to be true, but she was only coming to terms with how dire the situation was. It had to happen to them for her to realise that she wasn’t crazy, but that the reality was actually much worse than her imagination.

Videos could be altered, evidence planted, scientific evidence extorted – anything. There was no telling what was true in the world and what was a lie. The Internet was full of counter stories to mainstream news, but were they any more real?

I don’t know.

Ana could only follow her heart, which told her that governments, elites and media were all corrupt, not trying to help humanity live better, but instead enslaving the entire human race, apart from a few chosen ones.

She couldn’t stand to be alone in her apartment, so she put her slippers on and went downstairs to David’s parents. They were in the living room, watching some BBC show about gardening. It was distracting enough to take her mind off David for a little bit – not completely but just enough to keep her from hurting too much.

They didn’t exchange any words. They didn’t need to. Just a look here and a glance there was enough to tell what everyone was feeling.

After a few minutes, David’s mother asked Ana: “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please,” replied Ana. “I’ll have some Earl Grey.”

David’s mother got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. She was a very kind lady, who always did whatever she could for Ana and David. Ana felt a warmth in her heart and thought that perhaps she shouldn’t have been so reluctant about living with them.

They’re nice people.

She realised that living with them had their benefits as well. They could have had a baby, even without money. They could live of the land – almost. It actually wasn’t such a bad deal. Many others were far worse off.

It’s too late now anyway.

David was God knows where and a child was the last thing on her mind.

“Here you go,” said David’s mother and handed her a mug of steaming Earl Grey, the scent of bergamot filling her lungs and almost her brains it seemed.

“Thank you,” Ana replied and gave David’s mother a warm smile. His mother then sat back down on the couch and all was quiet again.

After a few minutes, they could hear a car approaching and parking just outside the barn.

“Who could it be now?” asked David’s mother and went to check at the curtains.

Ana had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen next, and her feelings about such matters were usually right.

****************************************

Even though Dawson expected not to replace David in the forest, it was still a disappointment that they didn’t come up with anything. Jane had been checking the cameras that were still planted throughout the forest the whole drive down and couldn’t see anything of importance, however he still had some hope that once they got there physically, something would magically happen. He didn’t believe in miracles, but he needed a victory at this point, otherwise it wouldn’t be good for his career. It had seemed like an easy enough task, yet all they had come up with was failures, despite doing everything they could.

Dawson looked around the forest and realised how much he hated this place and this country.

I fucking loathe it!

It had brought him nothing but misery. This was supposed to be the break in his career that he had been waiting for, and now it was all going badly wrong.

There was nothing else for them in the forest, so he told the group: “Come on, let’s go. Let’s see what we can replace at the house.”

They sat in their car and drove through the grass and towards the main road, then circled back towards the house. The approach to the forest was a fucking nuisance, but it did hide the arrival of any vehicle to the people living on the farm up the hill.

They’d made it back to the main road and were just coming round the other side to the entrance of the farm. Laura parked the car by the barn because the passageway towards the house was blocked by farm tools and equipment.

They got out of the car and walked towards the car. Dawson was looking around, not minding where he stepped. A few yards from the car he walked straight onto a lump of manure, which must have fallen from a wheelbarrow.

“Shit,” he complained. “This fucking country.

They carried on towards the house, this time with Dawson minding his step. As they were making their final approach, they were met by David’s family, which was just coming down the front steps.

“What’s going on?” asked the youngest, presumably David’s wife.

“As you probably already know,” replied Dawson smugly, “David has escaped and we’re trying to replace him. So we thought we’d come check this place out.”

“Well, he’s not here,” said David’s wife. “Why would he come here anyway. This would be the first place you’d look.”

“Never you mind, young lady,” continued Dawson. “We have a search warrant and we intend to use it.

Dawson produced a piece of paper and proceeded to show it to the family and they appeared to believe its authenticity.

“Guys,” said Dawson, “check around the house, the barn and all the buildings. I’ll stay here, in case he makes a run for it out of the house or anywhere else.”

His team spread out and started their search. Dawson could see how methodical they were in their search, knowing exactly what to do and how to cover their backs while they were doing that. They carried on for several minutes, then returned, all coming up with nothing.

“Well, there’s nothing else to do,” said Dawson, shrugging his shoulders. “I suppose you better search the house.”

“You better be careful,” said David’s wife. “If anything gets broken or damaged, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” interrupted Dawson. “You don’t have a leg to stand on, so you better move aside. You don’t want to get hurt.”

“Are you threatening?” she persisted.

“Just stating the facts,” replied Dawson. “Interfering with a search is an offence and we are entitled to do anything to complete the search. Anything!”

Ana didn’t say anything else. The agents went into the house, followed by the whole family, who obviously wanted to see what the agents were doing.

After a few minutes, the agents returned and Jane said to Dawson: “We didn’t replace anything. The kid’s not here.”

Dawson nodded, but he wasn’t satisfied. “I think you can do a better job. Ransack the place. We need to be thorough”

“I don’t think there’s any need for that, sir,” replied Jane. “We searched everywhere and there was no sign…”

“Just follow my orders,” came the brusque interruption.

The agents stormed back into the house, knocking over furniture. Dawson could also hear some glass breaking. In another few minutes, the agents were back, with the same result – nothing.

“Right, team,” he said. “Let’s go.”

They sat back in the car drove off to the military base.

“Perhaps we should ask the local police to check David’s other relatives,” suggested Jane. “You never know if they could be hiding him.”

Here she was again with her good ideas. Dawson was getting slightly sick of Jane and her butting in to his leadership.

“Fine,” replied Dawson arrogantly. “Glenn, you arrange it.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Glenn.

At least somebody knows his place!

Dawson would remember Jane’s impertinence when she suggested not to ransack David’s family’s house. He would remember it well.

**********************************

Ana couldn’t believe what the American agents had done. There was no need for it. They had pulled down all the shelves and wardrobes, smashing anything glassy or breakable on its way down. She was looking at a pile of David’s CDs on the floor, many of the cases broken now. He had a collection of over a thousand CDs and now that it was on the floor it reminded her of him once again and the pain returned. She remembered David’s anal cataloguing of his music, his arrogance about the superiority of certain music. She had to admit he was a bit of an asshole at times, but she missed even that part of him. To be fair, lately he wasn’t quite as bad and had stopped buying CDs altogether as material possessions seemed to be becoming less and less important.

Yes, and we had no money.

There were also some glass jars, drinking glasses, china and all sorts of things on the floor that she would have to clear up. Downstairs, her mother-in-law was dealing with a similar mess. Luckily, the very bottom floor was unoccupied, with David’s uncle using it to store wine and some other items. There was also the furnace, which her father-in-law was checking. Hopefully, they’d left it in working order, especially with the approaching winter.

I won’t get my hopes up.

They’d done everything they could to destroy as much of their property as possible. She knew it was all the main agent’s idea. The first search was fairly civilised, but then the leading man spoke to the group and they’d returned to make this horrific mess.

I can’t take it anymore.

Ana felt that her anger was turning into dejection. The fight had gone out of her because there was nowhere to take out her energy and violence. She couldn’t hurt the police or the agents because she would go to jail and she couldn’t hurt anyone else because it wasn’t their fault. If she was in Medieval times she could go out and fight those sons of bitches with a sword or something. They had done something wrong, so it was only fair that they paid.

That’s not how the world works.

The world was not a fair place, not in the least. She had learned that a long time ago. It was becoming more and more difficult to live in the modern world. If you managed to get a job, you got paid a bare minimum, so you can barely scrape by.

What kind of life is that?

People worked themselves to the bone, so they could buy only the bare essentials. Then somebody says that people who don’t earn enough money, don’t work hard enough.

Bullshit.

It was a system of modern slavery, which the governments endorsed and supported, taking taxes as the cream off the top. Some people were filthy rich, while some were just hanging on by a thread, pretty much on the verge of poverty, only one major sickness away from becoming homeless.

It took Ana several hours to clean the mess up. She swept up as much as she could, then vacuumed the rest. She didn’t want any nasty shards left on the floor if she happened to be walking barefoot in her apartment. When she finished, she went downstairs to see how David’s mother was faring.

“Hey, how can I help?” she asked.

“Oh, hello dear,” replied David’s mother. “I’ve done the living room and I’m doing the bedroom next. You can help out in the kitchen if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” said Ana and went to work. At least the work would keep her mind busy from thinking about David too much. It wouldn’t completely stop it, but she appreciated any moment of even the slightest peace of mind.

************************************

Dawson and his team had done all they could. They had searched David’s farm and had told (not asked) the local police to search David’s other family members’ houses as well. It was a long shot, but he would take any lead.

Where are you?

It didn’t make any sense to him. A person didn’t just vanish into thin air without a trace. He had to be somewhere and Dawson wouldn’t stop until he found him.

They had gone back to their hotel near David’s home. Their rooms were still available. There was no point going back to the military base. The military personnel were doing all they could and would inform them of any changes. Dawson had called headquarters back home and they advised him to stay put and await further orders. So that’s what they were doing – playing the waiting game again in a shitty town in a shitty country, with nothing to do.

Dawson did feel a bit tired, so he decided to take a little nap. It might be the only chance he would get. He had a feeling that this wasn’t the end of it and that the shit would really hit the fan soon.