Staring At The Ocean Ch. 04

Well, here is chapter 4. Thanks for the feedback and remember keep it coming.

The following is a complete work of fiction. The following story contains erotic situations between consenting adults. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now. Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.

Big ups to my editor Angel. Thanks for all the help (((hugs))). I must admit I added a sentence or two after I received the edited copy back.

*

Jordan

I stretched as I woke and thought how great it was to wake up in the middle of the day. I knew Cheyenne wasn't in bed by pure instinct. I started to feel a little funny. "God, if I told anybody about this feeling I'd be committed on the spot."

I got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. I knocked on the closed door and called Cheyenne's name. When I got no answer I pushed open the door and stuck my head inside. What I saw made no sense to me.

"When Cheyenne got up she would've cleaned the bathroom." She has been driving me crazy about leaving the bathroom in a mess.

I walked to the huge walk-in closet and pulled on a pair of faded denim jeans and went to look for her.

The more I searched the more confused and scared I became. When I reached the lounge, I saw Cheyenne's bag on the front door table where she left it when we got home from work the previous day.

"That's weird," I mused under my breath as I took up Cheyenne's bag and looked inside. Her file-o-fax, her personal diary and her cell phone were still there. Even the private mobile phone that I got her before the wedding was there.

When I looked up, I saw an envelope with my name on the front on one of the tables that flanked the large sofa Cheyenne loved so much. I took up the envelope and slipped out a single piece white paper. I recognized Cheyenne's handwriting and thought out loud.

"Finally," I thought to myself. "Now I'll finally know where Cheyenne is." I felt the blood drain from my face when I read the note. I clutched the note in my fist.

"Fuck me." I raced up into the bedroom and into the closet and grabbed a sweater and jerked it on. I raced to the front door and grabbed my car keys and ran all the way down the stairs into the underground parking garage.

I cursed myself for living in New York and wanting to drive anywhere on a Saturday afternoon. While I was driving, I called my best friend and swore while I waited for Brent to answer the phone.

"Brent Hawke," he finally answered the phone.

"Hawke, its Colt. I need your help pronto. Are you at the office or at home?"

"I'm at the office. Colt what's going on?"

"Look I need you to phone Ryan Gallagher and get him to come to the office. I'll be there within the next fifteen minutes. Don't waste anytime on this. Get our best people out there too. It's top priority." I ended the call before Hawke could ask any more questions.

When I stepped out of the elevator, Hawke was waiting for me.

"What's going on, Colt? Talk to me man. You look like you're about to kill someone." Hawke grabbed my arm and pulled me into the conference room.

The room was filled with CH Logistics' best people. I walked to the computer and switched it on. I scanned the note from Cheyenne into the computer and went to work. When I finished, I turned to the room and said, "Guys, thanks for coming in on a Saturday. I got a note from Cheyenne I'd like all of you to take a look at. Sami, I want you to dust for fingerprints. Just be careful. Both Cheyenne and I have touched it."

"Colt, I know this is your wife but why is a note from her so important?"

"You'll see." I turned and used the remote to switch on the wall mounted TV.

"This is the original note." Hawke quickly skimmed the note and let out a sigh of anxiety.

"Colt. Don't do this man."

"No, Hawke. Look closer." jordan,

you have been so Kind to me and for that I'll always be grateful. Don't try to fiNd me. All the Pain i'll cause you will make you see. Please just do as I say. I want a divorcE. I neeD for you to get a divorce. as soon as possiBle. mY lawyer is chloe. she will give you all the details. My whole life I wANted some one to love and I don't think that can happen Between you and me. pLease fOrgive me. I kNow it's harD for you to undErstand but it's what I want. I know it's hard for you to read this but I know now that you and me wilL never work. I will send someone to GatHer all my sTuff from the apartment. I alSo Know that you wIll fiNd someone thAt will caRe for you and MakE you happy. Don't worry about me, please.

cheyenne

"If you look closely, you'll see she uses capitalization, but not in the right places. If you take the capitals out, you can see that they spell words."

I turned to the computer and selected the capitals out of the note. One by one the letters formed words.

KIDNAPPED. BY MAN. BLONDE. LIGHT SKIN. ARMED.

Hawke was the one to go into action.

"Sami, get that note down to the lab, now. Colt, is there surveillance in your building?" Hawke asked.

"God, yes." I exclaimed. "Why the hell didn't I think about it?"

"Good," Hawke replied. "Ryan, I want your best people on this. No expense. You got me? Go." Hawke turned back to me.

"Police?"

"No, I don't want the police involved but I need to make some phone calls. Can you handle the rest?"

"Sure, buddy. It's why I'm here." I turned to leave because I knew what came next and I didn't want to hear it. Unfortunately I didn't leave quickly enough.

"Craig," I heard Hawke's voice. "Get forensics on the apartment. Sweep it from top to bottom."

"What are we looking for?"

"Blood."

I had just reached the outside office door when I heard the word and broke down. I had to get away. I went to my office and locked the door behind me and sat down at the desk. I calmed myself down by counting backward form a hundred. When I reached zero I picked up the phone and made the most difficult three phone calls of my life.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Adrian was shouting.

"We need to phone the police," Chloe said flatly.

"Gone?" Was all Holly could get out.

I knew they would all be at the office within the next ten minutes and made the call to security to let them up when they got there. I also found out why Cheyenne felt such a kinship with Holly. He knew the second she said 'gone' that Cheyenne's response would've been the same.

"God, Cheyenne, why? Where the hell are you?" I dropped my head into my hands and felt the emotion well up on me again. The office phone rang and I picked it up before the first ring could end.

"Colt, we got something. Recon one." I heard Hawke's voice, threw down the phone and ran from the room. When I got there the door to my office was open and Cheyenne's friends were standing there.

I walked past them at a brisk pace and said over my shoulder, "Follow me, Hawke says he's got something."

The girls followed me without a word and stared in amazement at the room they entered. The room was filled with about fifty computers and two dozen people. All kinds of equipment were about.

I pointed to some open seats and said quietly, "Take a seat, we'll find out what's going on."

I turned away from them and went to sit at a computer terminal. The screen came alive under my flying fingers. Suddenly a six by four-foot wall-mounted screen came to life.

"Ok, guys, talk to me," I said as I got up from the chair.

"Right. I got the surveillance tapes from security at your building and had a look." Ryan pressed a button and suddenly the big screen came alive.

"Ryan, what am I looking at?" I asked as I stared at the screen.

"Hang on, mate. Just watch." Everyone watched the screen intensely for a few minutes and then Ryan said, "There. I believe that's your wife being carried out of the building into that car."

"Is that it?" I asked.

"No, I also got some tapes from inside the building and spliced it together to tell us how and what happened. The first few seconds is of them leaving the apartment. It looks like Cheyenne is going with them willingly but then at the elevator it all goes south."

"Watch as Cheyenne tried to plead for them to let her go," Ryan pointed toward the screen.

"There's no sound so I can't tell what she's saying. Before you ask, we've got Courtney working on it. She's the only person on the payroll that lip-reads and she happens to be the best." Ryan pointed at the screen to focus Jordan's attention back to it.

"I think they saw the camera's in the hallway. That's why they waited until they got into the lift to knock her out, but they didn't know there's a hidden camera in the lift too." Ryan fell silent, letting us see what he'd uncovered.

The image on the screen shifted and I could see the inside of the lift of the building. I saw four people in total, two big men, one smaller male and Cheyenne. I saw the smaller man pull a syringe from his inside coat pocket and jab it into the back on Cheyenne's neck.

"They knocked her out with a drug so they wouldn't have to explain anything to the doorman. But it's as if luck was on their side and the doorman wasn't on his post, but in the crapper. The security guard we spoke to who was supposed to be watching the monitors was keeping the doorman company. They exited the building and sped off."

The big screen went blank. Ryan turned to me for the onslaught of questions he knew was coming. He was ready with an answer before Jordan could ask anything.

"That's what we've got, mate. Nothing else. I'm working on this and won't stop until I have an answer. Janie is doing enemy lists, Craig is still doing analyses at the apartment and Sami is locked in her lab. We're all over this."

Ryan turned back to the computer he was working on and didn't realize that the big screen was still on and played a piece on footage he was hoping Jordan and Cheyenne's friend wouldn't have to see.

Cheyenne was standing just outside the front door of their apartment and the smaller male who had injected Cheyenne in the earlier footage backhanded Cheyenne so hard she fell to her knees.

I heard the gasp behind me and when I turned I saw Hawke scoop Holly off the floor where she had fainted when she saw the guy hit her best friend. I wished I could go to her, comfort her but I was under attack with my own pain and realizations I didn't want to make. I knew I wouldn't be much help to her.

"I'll take care of her," I heard Hawke say as he walked from the room. Chloe and Adrian sat immobile.

"You guys can either stay here or go to the conference room. Whichever you prefer. It doesn't make a difference. I know you won't leave so it's pointless for me even to try and persuade you."

I turned back to the computer but before I sat down I looked over and said, "Ryan . . ."

"Yeah mate?"

"If you ever keep anything from me again, you're fired. Got it?"

"I got it Colt," Ryan said and went back to work along side the people he and I had trained.

***

Brent

When Holly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was me. I knew she didn't know where she was because she refused to come here.

"We're in my office." I simply stated.

"It really happened, didn't it?" Tears ran from her eyes.

"Ah, Holly, honey, don't cry please. It does things to my insides when you do that." I gathered her up in my arms and held her close to my chest.

"I can't help it. She's the closest thing I have to family and now I might never see her again," Holly cried even harder.

"They'll find out about us now," I smiled at her.

"I suppose they will. Oh, God, Hawke. Promise me you'll find her, please. I'll never ask you anything again. Just please find her." Holly clutched me closer to her. "Honey, you know I'll do anything to find her."

I crushed Holly to my chest and wondered, 'Exactly when, between Jordan and Cheyenne's wedding did I become so attached to this woman.' I gently pulled her away from me and looked into her tear stained eyes.

"Holly, I have to get back to the Recon room to help. Do you want to hang out here and come by later?" I asked her.

"No, I'll come now. I want to be there. But, Hawke . . ."

"Yes, babe?"

"Kiss me, please," Holly begged me. I couldn't say no and kissed her gently.

"No," she whispered and kissed me with force, she usually limited such passion to the bedroom. I wasn't surprised at her action, knowing she needed something to distract her.

But I pulled away and said, "Enough, let's go. We'll continue this when Cheyenne is found."

I took Holly by the hand, walked her back to the Recon room leaving her with her friends and then sat in the chair beside Jordan and went to work.

***

Jordan

"Colt look at this," Ryan said. "I'll be dammed."

"Put it on Big Bertha." I referred to the big screen.

"It's not a guy. It's a woman." Ryan pointed to the screen. "The smaller male is a woman. She almost had us all fooled. But it's right there." I could see the outline of the woman's breasts in the enhanced picture. A wisp of blonde hair had escaped from the hat that she wore.

"Bitch," I muttered under my breath. "Ryan, have we got anything from the car to trace?" I asked Ryan, simultaneously going back to work.

"I have a partial on the number-plate. We're running it through the data base now, but its taking too long," Ryan answered back.

"Uhm, Jordan, maybe I can be of help here," Chloe said.

"What do you mean?" I turned to look at her.

"Well, technically, I'm on the payroll so I get to throw my weight around just a little bit, and I can help you get the plates." She looked at me anxiously.

"How?" I asked, beckoning her over.

"I have a photographic memory. I see something once, even for a second and I'm able to recall every detail. Some days it's a curse. Today it can save Cheyenne's life. Let me help, please." Chloe practically begged.

"What do you need?" I asked, my fingers poised over the keyboard.

"Show me the tape again, but at normal speed and only the part where you can see the plates. I need to see it as if it's happing right now." Chloe said.

"Watch the screen." I said and pointed once again to the big screen.

"Ryan, hook us up, let's try this."

I looked at the screen the moment it started playing. The footage only lasted a few seconds but before Chloe could make any comments the door flew open and two people rushed in. Holly looked at Chloe and knew something was up. Holly took Adrian's hand and motioned for Chloe to follow her.

The commotion in the Recon room continued as Sami reported that there were no fingerprints on the note beside my own and Cheyenne's. Craig reported that the apartment was clear and the only blood that was found was a tiny speck on the front door, but by then everybody knew what had happened. Everybody went back to work.

Hawke

Ten minutes later I looked up to look at Holly, needing to see her. Before my eyes could tell me that she wasn't in the room my brain already knew and my body was already up from the chair I was sitting in.

"Where are the girls?" I asked to nobody in particular. Jordan also looked up from the terminal he was sitting at. Before he could fathom an answer the door burst open again and the girls hurried into the room.

"We found her!" Holly exclaimed and through herself in my arms. The others stared openly as Holly kissed me on the lips and I kissed her back. Holly pulled away and looked at Chloe.

"Show them." Holly saw the look on her friends' faces and blushed when she realized what just happened.

"Yes, it's true. Don't bug me now. We've got to find Cheyenne. Tell them Chloe," Holly urged her friend.

"We found her," Chloe said simply.

Jordan

"Found who?" I asked carefully.

"Natalie McGuire," Chloe said.

"Natalie? What about Natalie? What does Natalie have to do with this?" I asked, confused as to why Chloe would bring up an ex-girlfriend now. Especially the one who tried to trap me into marriage?

"The woman on the video, the one that slapped your wife, the one that injected her with, who knows what, is Natalie McGuire," Chloe said.

"How do you know?" I asked still not knowing what to believe.

"Adrian has good contacts. Sometimes it pays to have an ex who works for the DMV. She's still on the phone." Chloe handed me a piece of paper from a fax machine.

"I take it you know where she lives. I'll give you fifteen minutes to get to her then I'm sending in the police." She looked at Hawke and me. I walked to the door to get going. When I reached Chloe, I stopped and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Thank you." I looked at her with tears in my eyes. I saw understanding dawn on her face as she realized I was head over heels in love with Cheyenne.

***

I walked from room to room in Natalie's house and realized that neither Cheyenne nor Natalie was in the house.

"Come on, buddy. Let's get back to the office and let the police handle this." Hawke tried to get me to leave with him.

"No, who's the detective in charge?" I asked.

"It's Heath Hunt," Hawke replied.

"Good, tell him we're not letting the case go and we'll do all the testing so the department won't have to pay for it and we'll actually get somewhere." I turned to leave when something caught my eye.

"Is Craig still here?" I asked Hawke.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Get him in here. This is Cheyenne's," I said pointing to the sweater lying on the sofa. I turned and walked away, wishing I could get my hands around that bitch's throat . . .

To be continued . . .