The Case Ch. 01

Tree branches were hanging over the road and the last vestiges of snow was piled up on the side of the road. Jake cranked the heater up a notch. They followed a maze of roads along the shoreline eventually turning onto South Shore Drive which ended in a dead end. It was remote and surrounded by forest with most of the houses set back from the lakeshore on large blocks. The houses all seemed empty; boarded up with no smoke coming from the chimneys.

"Perfect," Jake turned down a gravel driveway and parked his car behind a low-set shed.

"Are you going to give me grief?" Jake turned to Sharon.

He left the pistol in his lap as there was no need to threaten her. Sharon just held up the wrist handcuffed to the handle of the pelican case, shrugged her shoulders and gave Jake a satirical look.

"How far am I going to get with this strapped to me?" she relented when Jake continued to stare at her.

"Well whose fault is that?" Jake returned her sardonic smile.

"Stay here while I check this place out," he took the keys out of the ignition.

He put the pistol in his pocket and got out of the car. The house looked deserted and winterised. The deck had been cleared of outdoor furniture, all the windows were shuttered and the doors were locked. He hammered on the door just in case there was an occupant inside but the house remained silent. He put his ear to the door and could hear the soft hum of ducted air keeping the place warm enough to prevent the pipes from freezing.

Jake walked over to the steel and aluminium shed. He kicked over a succession of rocks alongside the path near the door to the shed and found the house keys hidden inside the 'hide-a-key' rock. He opened the shed and found a twenty-foot Bertram centre console sportsman. The walls were hung with fishing gear, water-skiing equipment and other aquatic related gewgaws. There was a long workbench along one wall with a myriad of tools on shadow boards above it and power tools in boxes below it. A large chest freezer sat in one corner with an upright freezer beside it. On investigation the upright freezer was found to be full of a variety of frozen food.

He walked back to the car and climbed into it. The temperature had dropped during his short absence and Sharon was shivering. He fired up the engine and drove the car into the space beside the Bertram.

"Let's get you inside where it's warm," Jake said.

Sharon struggled to get out of the car with the case handcuffed to her wrist and Jake held the door and put his hand on the handle of the case to take the weight. Their fingers touched slightly and Sharon was aware of the warmth of his skin. It was difficult for her to be ladylike in her short skirt and she finally gave up and just climbed out regardless of the panty-flash, which was not lost of Jake.

He turned away blushing when she drilled him with her eyes.

Jake locked up the shed and they walked briskly over to the house. Jake found the house key on the ring and opened the door and let Sharon step inside ahead of him, pocketing his pistol in his trousers.

"You're adding breaking and entering to abduction," Sharon chided him.

"At least two men have died already trying to deliver that case to those who want it. A little break and enter is hardly worth worrying about and you wouldn't have been abducted if you hadn't handcuffed yourself to the fucking case," Jake's ire was up.

He found the breaker box inside the hallway. Only the central heating was switched on and Jake made the other breakers. Some of the inside lighting came on and the refrigerator began to hum. He found the thermostat and cranked it up to seventy five from 55.

The place was open plan with a combined kitchen, dining and family room; more holiday home than permanent residence. It had a huge stone fireplace with wrought iron fittings. Sharon stood next to the breakfast bar shivering. Jake took off his heavy overcoat and went to drape it around her shoulders but she shrugged him off.

"Don't be a martyr," he gripped her shoulders.

Sharon capitulated and let Jake put the coat on her.

"Now you're going to get cold," she retorted.

"I've got plenty to do to keep me warm," Jake replied.

There was a single wall-mounted telephone handset attached to the wall near the breakfast bar. Jake picked up the receiver and checked for a dial tone then he hung up and lifted the whole phone out of its mounting bracket and disconnected the jack.

"Not that I don't trust you," he waved the phone at Sharon who made a face at him.

"Can you make some coffee?" Jake asked her in a conciliatory tone.

"Sure. You want it black or black?" Sharon said sarcastically.

"I'm sure they have non-dairy creamer but anyway I saw some frozen milk in the freezer in the shed," Jake replied and began to shiver.

The heating was working hard but the house remained cool.

"Take the coat if you're going outside," Sharon pleaded with him but Jake tucked the phone under his arm and went out the front door.

Sharon could see him trudging to the shed out of the window. She briefly considered making a run for it but where would she go? All of the nearby properties looked to be unoccupied and she wouldn't last long in the woods. There was still snow under the forest canopy. She opened the cupboards and searched for the coffee.

Sharon was acutely aware of Jake's warmth when he'd put the coat on her and she could smell the musk of his aftershave and the scent of his body. It was not at all unpleasant and it reminded her of the heat and redolence of Beau Benstead's hard body when they lay together after making love. She hadn't thought about having sex with a man for a long time and now was definitely not the time for those wonton desires to reoccur.

She found the coffee, filled the tank, loaded the filter and switched on the Bunn and then she looked for cups.

Out in the shed Jake put down the phone and went over to the workbench and found what he was looking for. He went to the upright freezer and pulled out a gallon of full-cream milk, a loaf of bread and some packaged small goods. He found two carry bags and dropped everything into them and locked the shed. He half ran back to the house, shivering in the cold air.

He realised his stupidity when he went to open the door and found it was locked.

"Come on Sharon, don't be an ass," he hammered on the door.

Sharon unlocked and opened the door and let him in.

"You are a comedienne," Jake jibed as he brushed past her and went to the kitchen.

"Just letting you know that you didn't think of everything," Sharon sniped.

Jake put down the bags and pulled Sharon close to him. He could feel the warmth radiating from her body and smell of her perfume. He looked into her eyes and noticed that she had heterochromia: she had a circle of sapphire blue on the outer ring of her brown irises. She had high cheekbones, her bright-red lipstick was fading on her full lips, and she had fine wrinkles on her forehead and the outer corners of her eyes. She was not a classic beauty per se but she was attractive and her maturity gave her dignity and elegance rather than aged her.

"Are you going to behave yourself if I cut you free of the case?" he searched her eyes.

Sharon searched his face. His blue eyes exuded intensity and honesty but they also radiated gentleness. His nose was long and straight, his lips full and sensuous, the deep lines on his face gave him character. His face manifested handsomeness and confidence whilst his personality leaned towards modesty and kindness. He was an enigma of a man who was both dangerous and considerate. If Sharon was ever going to experiment with a man again it would be with someone like Jake.

"What's in the case?" she gave him a wry smile.

Jake frowned. Then he smiled and his face lit up.

"Come here. Put the case on the counter," the moment between them was broken and Sharon took a step back and did as he asked.

Jake took a pair of heavy duty metal shears and began to work on the handcuff chain. He struggled with the hardened steel and he took off his suit jacket halfway through the procedure and Sharon couldn't help but admire his muscled body as he strained to cut the chain. The link eventually gave way and Jake exhaled heavily and wiped his brow.

He took the case and put it on the floor close to the door.

"I won't be able to take the cuff off your wrist just yet," Jake explained.

"I needed a new bracelet anyway," she smiled cheekily at him.

"That coffee smells good; can you pour me a cup?" Jake asked, taking the other items from the bags and putting them on the counter.

He had left the heavy metal shears on the counter and Sharon picked them up. They were a formidable weapon and if she struck Jake with them there was a good possibility that she could incapacitate him before he could draw the pistol from his pants.

Jake stared at her, saying nothing.

Sharon spun the shears in her hand and handed them to him handles first.

*****

Elliot pulled up at the station to find it surrounded by police cruisers with their light bars flashing. Inside he saw that Beau Benstead was taking charge. He looked around for his sister and panic began to build when he couldn't find her but he kept it suppressed inside him. He needed to remain calm if he was going to take charge.

"Chief, come with me to your office so we can talk in private," Elliot allowed Beau to lead him to his office.

Inside the office Elliot took off his winter coat and hung it on the wooden rack expecting the worse.

"We have Millie Renfrew in the interview room. She's an old coot but she's got good eyesight. Millie saw Sharon climbing into a car and a man she didn't recognise climb in after her," Beau explained.

Elliot made to leave, obviously wanting to sit in on the interview with Millie Renfrew but Beau grabbed him and stopped him.

"She's your sister Elliot. You can't get directly involved in this, you know that," Beau said.

"Fuck that!" Elliot tried to get around Beau but Beau prevented him.

"Ok, ok," Elliot sighed.

Elliot was shaking with rage thinking about what might be happening to his sister. Then he abruptly turned to Beau.

"What about the pelican case?" he asked.

"The man must have taken the pelican case with them, it's missing from the evidence room but the carry bag from the MVA is still there. The evidence room is a crime scene Chief," Beau explained.

"The whole station is a crime scene Beau," Elliot countered.

"We've called on Scranton PD to provide support. We've given them a description of the vehicle and they're putting up road blocks. They're sending a team here to head up the abduction investigation. We still have carriage of the homicide out on Route 590 but there is no doubt now that the cases are linked, as is the vehicular fatality," Beau managed to get Elliot to sit down behind his desk.

"Steve get in here and brief the Commander," Beau called out the door.

Steve Monahan came into the Commander's office opening his note book.

"We figure the guy who hit the tree killed the guy we found shot in the head. The handcuff on the homicide victim's wrist is likely a match for the one on the pelican case. It all comes down to that pelican case Chief," Steve kept reading his notes.

"We suspect the man who abducted Sharon came here to get the case. As you know there were no police officers here at the station because we all out attending the two incidents on the 590. Officer Peter Coombs handed the case over to Sharon who checked it into evidence. According to Millie Renfrew it wasn't long after Pete drove away that the man abducted Sharon," Steve Monahan looked up from his notes.

"But why take Sharon if all he wanted was the case?" Elliot asked.

"The man fired a shot into the wall. We suspect it was a warning shot, if he wanted to kill Sharon he could have just shot her and taken the case. Maybe the guy wanted a hostage?" Steve posed.

"Jesus!" Elliot began to shake again.

"I'm having the two vehicles taken to the impound lot and the bodies taken to the morgue for autopsy and hopefully identification. Neither of them was carrying any ID," Beau said, his voice had a commanding tone.

"You have?" Elliot looked up at Beau looking puzzled.

"Chief, I'm assuming temporary command and appointing myself Deputy Commander until we find and rescue Sharon. You can't be involved in this investigation and you're going to be under too much stress to do your job without bias. You know that," Beau patted Elliot on the shoulder.

Elliot knew that Beau was right but it didn't make it any easier. He remembered when Sharon had been abducted and raped all those years ago before he went off to become a detective in New York City. At the time he was the Deputy Commander and Beau had to lock him in a cell to prevent him from beating the two perpetrators to death.

Beau suddenly stood up.

"I need to tell Bethany," he sighed and sat down again.

Bethany Williams and Sharon Granger never stated openly that they were in a lesbian relationship but everyone knew it.

"I'm going to get all available officers to search the whole of Braidwood County Chief. You go and see Bethany Williams and do what needs to be done," Beau said patting Elliot on the shoulder.

Beau and Steve left the Commander's office and started to issue orders to the assembled police officers. Elliot pushed himself out of his chair feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

To be continued