The FO Officer Ch. 02

A week later a file was placed on JoJo's desk. True to her word, Doctor Hastings copied her own file along with a personal letter to JoJo. In it she agreed that Ashley's attitude was one of acceptance and strongly believed that her two female relatives had a strong influence in how she has accepted what had happened that day. The act of rape wasn't denied; it wasn't fudged to lighten the meaning or the act.

Ashley knew that it was a possibility, as does every serving member of the armed forces. She dealt with her rape in the way any serving member of the Unit would have done, be it male or female.

It was on the recommendation of Doctor Hastings that Ashley be returned to active service.

JoJo initialed the letter alongside the doctor's signature, Freddy did the same and as the personnel file was placed back into the cabinet, both had a smile on their faces.

*******

The Pond Incident...

On our return from Texas, I was reminded of my need for a new residence. With the words from JoJo and Freddy. "Brendan, you need to find somewhere, more permanent." This goal became our next topic of conversation/gossip. I did a quick poll, the guys' families lived between five and eight miles from Kenton Barracks. I nixed the idea of a canal boat, it didn't appeal to me.

So I drew a circle around Kenton Barracks of ten miles on a map and handed it to one of the nice people at the estate agents. Within a month I was looking at either two houses or apartments a day. Then 'Normandy Cottage' caught my eye and when I went to look at it, I was toast.

She knew she had the sale, I was only in the cottage for all of ten minutes and she knew. I inspected every inch of the place and nothing screamed it was going to fall down around my ears. The place just ticked every single box I had in my head about the perfect place to live. So I nodded to my lovely estate agent Karen and within the week money changed hands and so did the keys a little while later.

*******

Although we kept our fitness up within Kenton Barracks, using their assault course and running areas on our days off and leave times, I jogged the area around the cottage and came across the pond on one of my runs. This place was about two miles from my new home. I hadn't noticed it when I first came here to check out the property and surrounding area. It was one heck of a bonus on my part.

I then used my car to journey to the pond and ran the jogging track around the place, it was nice, peaceful and relatively flat. The woods almost surrounded the kidney shaped pond, the woods also varied in depth from eighty or so feet from the edge of the water to a couple of hundred yards and out into the fields beyond.

One part of the pond area was set aside for anglers and another for families wanting to

picnic and relax. The pond had postings for a strict no swimming policy for all the folks that took the time to read them. After one of my runs I sat on a bench next to one of the anglers, he watched me for a moment, decided I was harmless and went back to his fishing.

It took almost half an hour but we got to talking, all was good around here now, but for a while there had been disputes with those people who wanted to walk their dogs around the pond.

It finally got out of hand because many of them let their pets loose. Most of the dogs stayed close to family, but a few ran off and weren't seen for hours, with their owners shouting out names of dogs and getting increasingly pissed about wandering the path around the pond, looking for the little darlings.

A few of the dogs went looking for trouble and full-on fights with other dogs kept the anglers amused, but it sure unsettled the fish and nothing was caught for a while after the owners managed to part the dogs. The park wasn't policed by the parks authority, so, many of the stand-up citizens of the area thought they could do as they liked.

One of the anglers decided enough was enough and grabbed hold of the dog who went looking for trouble and was in the process of taking it out on some poor old and tired family pet. The angler grabbed it by the neck via its leather collar and its balls and threw it into the pond. If the biker patch on the jacket of the angler hadn't stopped dead any retaliation from the owner of the floating dog, it would have been his upper arm muscles and his heavy leanings towards a beard and all-over tattoos.

The angler told the owner to leave and don't come back, if he wanted to watch his dog fight he would talk to some friends of his and see to it that his dog would get an even fight rather than bully some family pet. Jordan told me that it was difficult to see which bitch left with its tail deeper between its legs after that conversation.

Jordan then took a real long look at me. "You fish mister?"

I knew what he meant.

Before I answered I leaned over and shook his hand. "Names Brendan, been called other things in my life but that name sort of stuck. I fished with my dad when I was younger, but after he died, mom up and sold everything he owned. Changed her last name back and left to return to her folks, two towns over."

Jordan thought on my answer, then said. "Running away?"

I smiled. "It sure felt like it. Once mom settled down again she just said that she had her husband in her heart, she didn't see the point of having anything around that will break her heart all over again."

Mom never remarried after dad. I guess what she did was her way of dealing with grief. I thought once again about her answer and how it made such an impact on me when I had a few more years of life under my belt. When I joined the army I got free bed and food, it's only now I'm with the Unit that I'm having to put down roots of my own. I understand mom's reasons a lot more over these last few weeks and months.

My new friend Jordan thought for a moment, kind of nodded to himself, then went back to fishing. I went back to doing another slow jog around the pond as a cool down and then headed for home.

A week later I was passing a garage sale, thought I would stick my nose in and haggled over a couple of nice framed prints and already knowing which wall to hang them on. Then the fishing rods and small basket of reels, floats and line caught my attention. We haggled some more but he had the upper hand on this one, so I folded quickly and left him a little richer and smiling his ass off.

I checked with Jordan if I needed a fishing permit to make me legal. The guy had a smile on his face for the rest of the time I was with him that afternoon. He was clearly one of those folks that spent a lifetime figuring people out, he was sure going to be disappointed when he figured me out. A day later I was down a few bucks, but that bit of paper sat snug in my pocket when fishing.

Out of habit I still kept an eye on my surroundings. Jordan noticed and looked really hard at me for a few days, eventually he found his interest piqued. "You never mentioned what you do for a living Brendan?"

I suppose I was half expecting this, so I answered with. "Retired."

Jordan snapped his head up to look at me so quick I thought I heard his neck click.

"Kinda young to retire, you're what, twenty-five?"

This time I smiled while trying to keep my face as innocent as I could. "Must be the soap I'm using, makes me look that young. I'm twenty-eight."

Jordan's eyes went to slits as he looked at me really close. "You're not one of those internet rich kids are you? You know the ones, sold something to the big boys and got millions for it?"

I laughed and just shook my head. We both went back to fishing after that. Oh he hung around for an answer, then got bored when he realized one wasn't forthcoming.

I still kept up the jogging around the park. When I did that I would stop for a lazy hour with Jordan since he always seemed to be there, he even told me once that he had to do something in his retirement and running around a big old pond sweating like a stuffed pig, didn't look all that much fun. I was still laughing my ass off on my return journey home.

From our fishing position I could see a few sections of the jogging course, most times I'd catch a glimpse of those jogging. It was all the distraction my mind required while I kept an eye on my fishing float.

Jordan coughed and took a moment. "Don't know why you even stare at that float. I watched you, their ain't no bait on your hook."

I had fun teasing Jordan, we had been doing this for three months now, he had never seen me bring bait for fishing in all that time. He even offered to share, I was polite and he continued to grumble about me wasting my time. I did counter his argument when I asked him what he does with the fish he catches from the pond at the end of the day.

He stopped short of answering that he releases them back into the water. Just like every other angler that fishes around this 'big old pond' does.

I liked Jordan, I'm not sure what he thought of me of course, apart from the obvious weirdo remark for throwing a hook into the pond without any bait on it. But he gave me something I needed at this moment in my life, a friendship away from the Unit, and peace. Many times we wouldn't say anything to each other for hours on end, just fish, all be it with my handicap of a bait-less hook of course.

*******

Jordan and I were having one of those peaceful, late sunny afternoons when I picked up on an engine noise. From my fishing spot, I stood and looked back at the parking lot. No car had entered or was even in the process of leaving. The steady breeze afforded me the sound of a vehicle slowly being driven, then silence. Jordan watched me, more so when I took a couple of paces towards the pond. It was a perfect sound conductor, two car doors closed. I even glanced once again at the parking lot, but the same amount of cars were all accounted for and the parking lot was still devoid of any human traffic.

"Something up, Brendan?"

I gave it a moment, my mind still playing out what I had heard, yet I still couldn't come to any firm conclusions, so I then shrugged and returned to my seat. I patted Jordan's shoulder and shook my head on my way past him. We both went back to the task in hand, even though my inner radar was quietly buzzing a caution to my thoughts. For a moment I felt that if this was a combat zone, I would be safety off by now, and yet other than instinct, I had no proof that anything was amiss.

Five minutes later, a car did pull into the parking lot. I watched as a woman got out, her cell to her head, clearly having a drama-filled conversation on the phone, if her waving arm was anything to go by.

We both heard her almost scream. "Fine, bye."

Then tossed the cell phone back into her car and slammed the door. The flash of lights and ping told us the car was now locked.

I took a closer look at her, mid to late-twenties, a redhead, natural if the eyebrows held some truth. Her skin tone did back up that assessment. Nice figure going by the tight jogging kit she had on, I felt sure she wasn't a regular around here, it didn't mean she wasn't. But my own participation with the Unit meant I was away from home for upwards of ten days at a time making that judgement suspect.

I left her to her warm up and my gaze went back to watching my fishing line.

After doing some stretching of legs, body and arms by her car, the woman jogged passed our spot some minutes later as she headed towards the circuit that went around the whole of the pond.

As a sideline and to keep my mind active, I had noted three points on the kidney shaped jogging path where I could watch any of the runners pass those points and the time it took them to reach each point; a gap of about three feet between a set of trees, a break in the path to allow an angler to step down onto one of the fishing platforms tight against the bank, the third was the result of the forestry people cutting down a rotted tree before it fell down.

Over time, I could calculate the time it took a jogger to move between each of these markers and my mind would then work out their course time based on my own mental stop watch and repeated use of the same circuit.

I had a good average on the times, although I had to make sure I left the fun runners and beginners alone. There isn't a calculation known to man that would ever get those folks right, I suppose that's why their called fun runners.

The redhead was doing a good time at marker number one. She had evened out her speed at marker number two and I had already calculated her end time. I would need her time at marker number three to enhance the accuracy of my estimate. It would put her speed close to mine, all I needed now was confirmation and I would get that when she passed marker number three.

But red didn't pass number three, even when I allowed her an extra ten seconds.

My brow creased and I watched just a little harder, I even stood and took a step towards the pond's bank. My mind continued to do the math's, just then my mind added something else into the mix and that worried me greatly. The sound of that invisible car and car doors closing was really close to the location of marker three.

I gave it a few more seconds and as each second ticked away, my anxiety level increased. I was having a really bad feeling right about now.

"You okay Brendan?" The sound of Jordan's concern felt genuine.

Taking a step back and turning to look towards my friend must have telegraphed something to this man.

This time Jordan stood, his face told me enough. He looked worried, it was then that he raised his hand and held the top of my arm, then said something to me that brought us both closer in our friendship. "I had you pegged for military since the day you came here Brendan, you have your reasons for lying to me about it, so I kept my opinion to myself. But I've met people like you when I did National Service Brendan. You hide it well but I can see through you, something is bugging you, what do you want me to do?"

Leaning down to my fishing basket and pulling it open, I said. "I think the jogger is in trouble. There are people out there that don't want to be seen and came to the other side of the pond via that dirt road from the old Henderson farm."

"I'm leaning on our friendship a great deal here my friend." That's when I handed him a cell phone. He looked at it and then back to me. "Give me six minutes, if you don't see me wave at you from that clear piece of path were the forestry people cut that dead tree down a while back, open that cell and call 999. Simply tell them that a woman is being kidnapped, give them the location of this place."

I turned to see how much of the car she came in was visible from our fishing position, and then pointed to it. Jordan looked where I was pointing, seemingly memorizing the whole car.

"Also give them that car's registration plate number, they can hopefully identify her via the plate."

I placed my hand on his shoulder, I was asking so much from this man. We live in an 'I don't want to get involved' culture now. Fortunately, he nodded his head before I thought to back away and tried to come up with plan B.

"It's a special cell Jordan, the number won't come up at the call center, they will ask you for your number again since no number appears on their system. They will attempt a back trace from then on."

I needed to relate as much information as I could and not scare him at the same time. "Once you have told them what I told you, do not repeat it more than twice, the whole conversation is being recorded my friend so what they are doing is stalling you in the hope of locating you electronically. Close the cell down and use your bait feeder catapult to launch the cell as far into the pond as you can get it. With the cell still switched on it will fry the circuitry when it hits the water. After that my friend, you know nothing until the cops turn up."

I placed the cell into his hands and ran, damn fast around the pond.

*******

The distraction of the woman caused them to be careless. It also meant I didn't have to be as quiet as I might have been. She was already unconscious, the one with the beard had just put his boot into her ribs. The younger one with the glasses was concentrating on getting ready to take a swing at her head with the spade he had in his hands.

The bearded guy with a knife went down first. The younger one was too busy staring at the place his accomplice should have been to notice he was all on his own now.

The urge to kill them both was only held in check because this woman needed justice. I left them out for the count while I checked her vitals, she was in a bad way, but thankfully I had seen worse. I heard the sirens, and looking through the foliage, I could see some of the parking lot. Two patrol cars had entered the parking lot by now, the blue lights bouncing off the windows of the parked cars. A moment later the ambulance turned up behind them.

I could only just see Jordan's fishing position through the bushes, they fortunately, couldn't see me. Jordan pointed them toward my general location and the police and the medics set off at a run, both officers in the lead, so I had to be really careful from now on. Basic medical training took over, she was still breathing, I wasn't going to move any part of her clothing, so my hands toured her outer body checking for breaks in her skin. These two guys clearly were in the process of killing her and given another few seconds, would have succeeded.

Knowing I wouldn't be doing any more damage to her than these two had, I placed her into the recovery position and as soon as I figured the cavalry was close enough, I disappeared. Turning up next to Jordan some time later while another officer was taking his statement. When the officer spotted me he asked where I had been, I was still pulling up my zip as I told him that I was taking a leak and did I miss something, I ignored the look Jordan gave me, as well as the smirk.

When they came to take my statement, it was a waste of time; I guess I went into too much detail of taking a leak for him to be comfortable with me being a stable witness. Jordan and I never got to talk to each other again that day. We watched as they wheeled the woman out and dragged the two guys away in handcuffs, although I was too busy down on one knee tying the lace to my sneakers to notice them to be honest.

The Fenham Parks and Pond Incident made the news, the woman was Detective Sergeant Elizabeth Haskins CID.

I held my head in my hands over that. I phoned JoJo and asked for an interview as soon as I came in. She promised to have Freddy on standby because I've never asked for something like that before. Since the Unit was on leave, she did ask if I wanted to do this now, today was Thursday and I was due back on Monday, I thought I would hang on and see if the newspapers came up with anything else.

If the newspapers ever did find something else, they kept it to themselves. I sat with JoJo and Freddy as I recounted everything I did that afternoon. The only question JoJo asked was how long was the woman left unattended? When I said fifteen seconds maximum, it seemed to satisfy JoJo and she told me she would write it up, but couldn't see any further action required.

As for Jordan and me, we went back to fishing.

*******

And then one bright sunny day some weeks, a familiar car turned up at the parking lot. I was still soaking in my running clothes after my run around the circuit when she got out of her car and looked over at both Jordan and me.

She had taken the sunglasses off. She sure looked allot better than the last time I saw her. In the time it took the detective to walk over to where we sat, she had her phone to her ear, spoke maybe six words into it and closed her cell down, she stopped in front of us both. It was also then that a patrol car parked next to her car and left the blue lights on as they got out and walked to join her.