lined up directly against the far wall. There were two sets of double doors on the cabinet, one on top and one below.
"I heard music coming from this apartment one time," T.S. told Little Pete.
"Sure. Stereo's in the bottom of the cabinet there. We're always supposed to turn on the music and say it's because of the neighbors. We turn on the music and the lights."
"The lights?" T.S. stared up at a large fixture hanging from the center of the room.
"Yeah. They get off on it," Little Pete answered dully. "Like to see what's going on, the man explained. The lights come on with the music."
What? T.S. winced at Little Pete's matter-of-fact explanation of what went on in the room, but at the moment he was more interested in why the lights went on with the music. There had to be more to it than giving perverts an eyeful of their perversion. Why always music? And why was the stereo in the bottom of the cabinet, instead of the top?
Maybe the men who hurried up to this room for their fun were too blinded by lust to consider the odd setup, but T.S. was clearly not sidetracked and knew that something odd was taking place.
"Turn on the music," he told Little Pete.
The boy stood suddenly and stared at him. "Hey, man, you said that..."
T.S. was appalled. "I don't care about anything but the music," T.S. quickly assured him. "I would never lay a hand on you, son." He felt a little sick to his stomach. What kind of world did he live in, where trust was so hard to maintain?
Little Pete clicked open the bottom doors of the cabinet and pressed a button. Loud music filled the room and the light above came on, illuminating the room with an even glow that was somewhat discreet, but nonetheless very thorough.
"Can you turn that music down?" T.S. asked, wincing at the pounding beat. "And what's in the upper cabinet?"
Little Pete shrugged, twisting the volume dial. "Don't know. It's locked."
T.S. examined the wooden front. Though the bottom doors were secured with magnetic latches, the upper ones had not one, but two large traditional keyholes. And the upper keyhole had lost its center bolt. He looked at it closely. Of course. It concealed a camera lens. "Let me have your knife," he told Little Pete. Dumbfounded, the boy handed it over.
It took several minutes and, by the time he had finished, the front of the cabinet was splintered and ruined. Little Pete was moaning about what the man who called the shots would do to him as T.S. finally pried the upper doors open.
The device was surprisingly simple. Anyone with the money for a smaller lens could have set it up. The cabinet housed a video camera and the red light showed that the unit was busy recording. T.S. was sure it had been turned on as soon as Little Pete had flipped the music switch. Other equipment was stored in the locked cabinet— including an enlarger, chemicals and darkroom supplies—indicating that other photographic activity went on in the apartment. And there had been those strips of Polaroid paper on the fire escape shared with Emily's apartment, T.S. remembered.
Little Pete was staring at the camera. "It's on," he said, genuinely enraged. "The man's going to see you talking to me." He reached for the tape.
T.S. stopped him. "It's all right, son. He'll never know. We'll make it look like someone broke in and stole the tapes. He'll never even find out." T.S. was desperate, lying, promising anything he could. Because he knew that he needed that camera on. It had occurred to him that it was a very good time to have Little Pete go over what he could reveal about The Eagle. On tape. In case the kid decided to pull another disappearing act.
Besides, it was also a good way to preserve his own integrity.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
There was nothing to do but to wait, surrounded by the misery of the overcrowded emergency waiting room. It was nearly ten o'clock and they had been at the hospital for over five hours. Stubbornly, they still sat there, thinking of the young boy upstairs, old far beyond his years, without friends or family.
It was an assorted group that kept vigil. Each of them was determined not to budge for his or her own reasons. Auntie Lil wanted to keep an eye on Father Stebbins and, yes, she admitted it, Annie O'Day. Herbert stayed put in case Auntie