"Look....I'm here to throw myself on your mercy."

Jon watched the detective closely.

"I know you said you'd drop my case if I went after Crey, and I've been doing just that. Lou Pasterelli has been sending me out to arrest Crey employees in Brickstown and Crey's Folly, and I've been doing what he asked. I've been asking questions, too....I haven't found out anything useful, but I know you have every right not to speak to me. You warned me in advance."

Rachel Torres frowned. "All right, Jon, what is it you want from me?"

"A boy was killed last night, killed by Vazhilok. We called the police out, they took blood samples, all that was left."

"Yes? Unfortunately, that happens all the time. The chances of ever finding out who the boy was are quite slim."

"Maybe not." Jon took a deep breath. "I was in the area, I found the body before they made off with it. It was a boy, and I happened to have been in the neighborhood fighting with a boy named Quake." He looked into her eyes, pleading. "Quake is a registered hero, his DNA would be on file. Would you have the tests run? It's important to me to know if he was the boy who was killed."

Torres sighed. "All right, Jon, if we can get a match, at least we can give his parents some closure. Who are his parents?"

"I don't know," Jon shook his head. "I think he may be a war orphan. I know he's a registered hero, and that's about all I know about him. He won't answer questions, and his contacts haven't been willing to answer any questions I asked them, either."

"All right, I'll see what I can do."

"There's one other thing...."

She paused, frowned at him. "What is it, Jon?"

"This one is personal."

"I'm listening," she responded, a stern note coloring her voice.

He took a deep breath, plunged forward. "I think I may have remembered something. I think there may have been a boy in my life, named Sam. I can't remember anything else. But if he was a boy during my lifetime, in the past 30 years, I don't think I can get any records on him, birth certificate, anything like that, the records office won't let me since I can't prove relationship."

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Jon. Just a first name isn't enough to go on."

"I know that." He swallowed. "I just want to ask you if you will do one thing. You can get the records opened, even if it takes a subpoena. I just need to know if there is any record of a boy named Sam Norman who was born in this area, sometime between 1970 and 1985. That's all. Just a birth certificate, if such a boy ever existed."

She stared at him for along moment, then sighed. "All right, Jon, I'll see what I can do. I'm not making any promises."

He nodded. "I understand."

Copyright terraforming.com, November 26, 2012