Without a trace part 6
Baiting the trap

JR after his mom hugged him smiled as his stomach again made its presence known and sheepishly grinned. His sister and her partner grinned and even his mom laughed, as a group they decided to head down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. They walked through the hospital corridors in an uneasy silence JR’s mother holding tight to his hand. He felt a bit uncomfortable but his Kylie side was comforted at the close contact. He had to be honest he was scared at what his sister wanted him to do but also proud.

As they walked JR stopped and gasped and looked at a picture and he made his mother and Joanie stop too. On the wall was the picture of an old fashioned plantation manor house and it was captioned. He looked closely at the picture but two words stuck in his mind “Rogers Hall”. He thought could this be the hall that cropped up in the files and with his short talk with Bill that was mentioned. He did not give anything away at first but continued his way with his family to the cafeteria and after collecting his food sat down.

“Mom, Joanie I need to ask some questions if I am going to do this and I want the truth.” He looked closely at them.

“Jonathon I will always tell you the truth but won’t tell you things you don’t need to know” Joanie replied her face as hard as his. Jan nudged Joanie and shook her head and tried to ease the situation slightly. Joanie ignored the hint and tried to stare her brother down and found she was close to losing the battle. She fidgeted under the scrutiny of her little brother his gaze seemed so intense and controlled his hazel eyes’ blurring into a light blue that she knew was the start of him doing some serious calculations.

“Sis, Mom and Jan it’s time for the truth from me,” He cleared his throat, “I have seen the files and memorised them. Even without being asked to get involved I have decided that I needed to be involved.”

The three women looked at the young androgynous man who sat with them slowly working his way through a burger and the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched them. He could see the thoughts that were working through their head almost as if they were writing them down and he continued to smile as he ate. His mother was primarily worried that he would be harmed or was vulnerable because of the way he felt, Jan was desperate to find the people behind the kidnappings and further her career but cared for him and his sister was just generally a bit shocked that her brother could be so forceful. All in all he was pleased at the way he stood his ground he was eighteen years old not a child any more.

The table fell silent for a short while as they all digested their thoughts and JR’s mother was the first to speak and her voice was a little faltering.

“JR hun I know that you want to help others and will support you in that but you must also understand our fears.”

“Yes Mom I know and I do take that into consideration but from what I have seen this has been going on in this town for years, something needs to be done and really I am the only one really who can do it.” After that comment he could see that they were agreeing with him and they also realised he was the only one who could help. If during this he became female then it would not affect his psyche too much, if he even became younger then it would not traumatise him too much. These two facts made him the perfect bait for the trap but they needed to know how to make it so he was a target for the kidnappers.

As they sat trying to work over these facts the cafeteria seemed to get busier as the lunch staff shift came in for their break and JR saw a young nurse looking over at them. As her looked closer at her he frowned as the face seemed familiar and using his memory he went over the files in his head. That was it the missing link the young nurse looking at him was one of the victims of the kidnappers. Her previous name was James Terrace now she was Jamie Terrance. Without a word he stood up and made his way over to the nurse and she seemed to back away. The wall stopped her from backing away any further from him and JR stopped from getting to close and he whispered softly to her.

“James don’t worry I know the truth”

The young nurse looked at him and suddenly broke down in tears, without a word JR draped his arm over her shoulders and brought her back to the table. The other three looked and his mother nodded and pulled over another chair as Jamie calmed down they started to question her gently to get the information they needed.

Continued in part 7 the truth of the hall