oOo

The men Conner’s captain had sent were all clearly experienced when it came to searches like this. Splitting up into groups of three, each assigned to a sector, they were systematically combing the area. The terrain wasn’t the most easy to search and they would be lucky if they’d cover half the area by nightfall.

David was reminded of their search in Acton Park a few days earlier, along with its grizzly result. He just hoped that this time they wouldn’t find a body. But given the weather conditions this far north, Anna and Charlie wouldn’t have stood a chance out here.

The bad news came when the sky just started to darken. David was with two other men, walking their allotted square in a spiral pattern when the news came over the radio – another search team had located an underground bunker. They had gone in – contrary to instructions – in the hopes of finding the hostages. But all they had found was a dead body. It was the body of an adult male, but beyond that they didn’t know anything yet and wanted to wait for the crime scene unit and the coroner to arrive before disturbing anything. That they had only found one body gave David some hope, but even he had to admit that it would be a very big coincidence if the body were completely unrelated to their search and none of the other possibilities seemed very appealing.

David’s mind was reeling, thoughts racing as they hiked towards the coordinates where the body had been discovered. If it was Charlie, then where was Anna? Had Don found Kessler and they had fought? Had Don killed Kessler, in self-defence or maybe even intentionally? Two days ago, David wouldn’t have thought he’d even entertain the possibility, but after the incident at the hospital and the hit and run, everything seemed possible.

oOo

It seemed to take forever to reach the crime scene. At least that was what it felt like to David, but when he checked his watch, less than an hour had passed since they had received the radio call.

The crime scene laid about half a kilometre behind the end of yet another dirt track, this one looking fairly well travelled, showing multiple tire-tread patterns in the moist soil. The crime scene unit might be able to pull something meaningful from them, but in that moment the thought of calling in CSU was at the back of David’s mind. He had to see the body. He had to be sure.

The three men who had found the body were gathered some distance away from the crime scene to avoid disturbing any evidence.

His heart was pounding hard as he walked up to where the body had been laid out after it had been pulled out of the water.

It took a few moments until he could speak again. “Any idea about the cause of death yet?”

“Impossible to say at this point.” The woman shook her head, turning back to the body.

“Come on, Janine! Don’t tell me this one has you beaten! You always have a guess or two for us.”

David turned around and saw Conner standing behind him, obviously addressing the coroner.

Janine looked up, a pinched smile on her face. “All right. This is just a preliminary guess. This injury to his chest looks like a gunshot wound. From the position of the wound, I would say that it was most likely fatal, but I can’t confirm until I’ve done the post-mortem.”

“Fair enough,” David replied. “He’ll need to be formally identified as well. His prints are in the system and our field office has DNA and dental records on file for him as well.” David pulled out his cell phone, once again trying to reach Agent Smythe, who, instead of joining the search, had returned to Lostine to try and track down more witnesses and find out more about Thomas Lawrence. Just like when he had tried earlier, there was still no reception.

“We’re too far from the nearest cell tower.” David had forgotten all about the detective, but he was still standing nearby. “It’s your man, right?” Conner asked.

“Yes, it’s the man we were looking for. One of them anyways,” David forced himself to answer. Kessler was dead. He didn’t deserve anything less, but David didn’t feel any satisfaction. All he felt was fatigue and resignation. Regarding the vast, untouched expanse of land, illuminated by a magnificent sunset only made him realize that they would never find Anna and Charlie, in or out of time. He turned back to Conner. “Was anything else found down in the bunker?”

“Nothing so far, but from what I’ve heard, it’s very difficult to search down there as it’s all been flooded. There has been quite a lot of rain lately.” Conner paused. “There is something else you should see. I just heard from one of the other teams; they found an abandoned car, not far from here. The plate and description match that of your missing agent’s car. They say it looks like it’s been there all night.”

David nodded. He’d been afraid of that. He’d been afraid that Don had found Kessler and made him pay for what he’d done.

“We’ll have to call off the search soon. It’s getting too dark. They’ll tow the car first thing tomorrow. Apparently CSU managed to make impressions of some of the tire tracks along the access roads. If we are lucky, some of them belong to the pick-up truck.”

“That’s good. Do you mind if we head to Greening before returning to the station? There is an address that I want to check out.”

“Yes, you mentioned something earlier. It’s no problem. Greening is practically on our way.”

oOo

Lombard Street wasn’t listed in the SatNav’s software, so they had to rely on Conner’s map to guide them. A call to Agent Smythe hadn’t brought much news. They had found a few more witnesses who had more or less confirmed what Mr. Jackson had told them. As for the lilac pick-up, there was more than one registered in the greater Lostine area. Smythe had run background checks on all the owners and it had turned out that one was registered to a woman called Abby Lawrence, who incidentally was married to a Thomas Lawrence. By the time David had called, Smythe and another police officer had been on their way to pay Mrs. Lawrence a visit.

Greening seemed to be a settlement on the decline. The outskirts of the small town were littered with abandoned houses and vacant lots. Lombard Street was one of those streets. The buildings hardly dated back fifty years from the looks of them, but most of the houses were cast in darkness. Only a few windows were illuminated as they drove down the street past neglected gardens and overgrown vacant lots. Number 76 was located at the very end of the street.

Conner pulled up to the curb in front of the darkened building. Conner and David got out. Conner got a pair of flashlights from the trunk of the car, took one himself and handed the other to David. A fair distance away from any street lights, it was deep night. The air was cool and smelled of rain. The faint scent of smoke hung over the area.

“So, what’s the plan, Agent Sinclair?” Conner asked, sounding actually excited.

“We take a look and if there is anything of interest, we call it in," David explained. He had his doubts that they were going to find anything. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but from what he could see of the blind windows and overgrown fence surrounding the property, it had been abandoned for a long time.

Still, when he tried the gate, it opened smoothly. They crossed the short distance over to the steps leading to the front door. David bent down to study the faded address level on the letterbox. It was hard to read, but he thought he could make out the name ‘Lawrence’ written in an almost childish scrawl. They had come to the right place.

“Looks like the door isn’t even locked,” Conner suddenly said. David looked up. The detective was righ; the battered front door was merely ajar. Pushing against it, it yielded, hinges screeching jarringly in the nightly silence. For a moment, David thought he’d heard something else – a wailing, keening sound. But when he paused to listen, everything was silent once again.

“Everything all right?” Conner asked when David didn’t follow him inside the house.

“No, not really,” David couldn’t muster the energy to lie anymore. “I just thought I heard something. I think it came from inside.”

Conner shrugged. “I didn’t hear anything. Are you having second thoughts? Us going in here could get the case thrown out of court one day.”

“Trust me, that is the last thing I’m worried about right now.” David followed Conner into the house.

He had walked only two steps past the door when he saw it. “Stop right there,” he ordered. Conner twitched, but didn’t move. “You stepped in it. There is blood on the floor. It hasn’t fully dried yet. Someone’s been here.”

There was a fair amount of blood, not just on the floor. Strewn on a nearby wooden table, the only piece of furniture in the room, were the contents of a first-aid kit, including several bandages stained with what looked like dried blood.

“I think we need to call this in,” Conner finally said and, without waiting for a response, pulled out his mobile phone.

Leaving Conner to make the call, David quickly explored the remainder of the room, taking care not to disturb the scene any more than necessary. The room was empty, even the carpet had been torn out. There was a corridor leading further into the house and a flight of stairs leading to the top floor.

“I’ll have a look around back. I think I smelled something bur-“ David was cut off by a sudden noise—a high-pitched wail, coming from further inside the house. This time, David was sure of what he’d heard.

“Hear that?” David whispered to Conner.

Conner nodded. “I’ll take the top floor.” He pulled out his gun and headed over to the stairs.

David also pulled out his gun. Quickly but quietly, he made his way down the hallway, checking the rooms branching off to the sides. They were all empty and the thick layer of dust covering the floor suggested that no one had been in there in months.

David was returning to the living room when he spotted the closed door. Gun ready, he tried the handle. The door was locked.

“Nothing upstairs.” Conner was coming back down the stairs.

David pounded against the door. “Anna! Charlie! Anyone in there?”

The response was faint, but it sounded like someone was crying.

David didn’t hesitate and with one forceful kick, broke down the thin wooden door. It gave easily. Behind the door was a steep flight of stairs leading into a basement. Gun in one hand, flashlight in the other, David hurried down the stairs.

The air in the basement was musty and damp. He could definitely hear someone crying now. The basement was divided into several rooms. David followed the sounds to a room at the far end.

At first, he didn’t see her. The figure was huddled in the far corner of the small, windowless room. The small body was shaking with sobs, face hidden behind the hands. David holstered his gun and put the flashlight on the ground. He kneeled down to be at eye level with the girl.

“Anna,” he said softly. “It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a police officer. Do you understand?”

“Conner! We need an ambulance ASAP!” David called out, before turning back to the frightened girl.

“Anna, listen to me. Everything is going to be all right. I’m going to take you home.” David took in the scene with a schooled glance. Anna was very pale. She was shivering slightly, but David wasn’t sure whether it was from the cold or from fear. She was fully dressed, although her clothes looked much too large for a child. Aside from bruises around her wrists, David couldn’t see any outward signs of injury. There were food wrappers and several empty soda bottles on the floor, confirming that she had been at least given food and drink. Someone had wanted to keep her alive. But if she was here, where was Charlie?

Anna slowly lowered her hands, just for a moment. David tried to smile encouragingly, while a million questions were racing through his mind. He forced himself to stay focussed on calming the terrified girl in front of him.

“You must be cold,” David said softly, shrugging off his jacket and putting it down in front of Anna. He didn’t dare touch her, not knowing what exactly she had been through. Anna gingerly reached out, then pulled the jacket close, hugging it tightly.

“Are you really a policeman?” sheasked, her voice so soft that David hardly understood her.

“Yes, I’m really a policeman. It’s going to be all right,” David repeated.

“I don’t want to be in here anymore.” Anna shook her head, tears running down her face again.

“We can leave anytime you want.” David reached out a hand to Anna. She hesitantly took it. It visibly took effort, but she managed to get up. David knew she wouldn’t be able to make her way up the stairs and he wouldn’t have let her.

“It’s all right, Anna,” he said gently and scooped her up in his arms and started carrying her towards the stairs. He knew he was contaminating potential forensic evidence on her clothes, but he wasn’t about to leave a frightened child in this hole. Anna’s body was stiff in his arms, as she was clearly very scared and the darkness wasn’t helping either, but David didn’t have a free hand to carry the flashlight and Anna at the same time.

oOo

David returned to the living room as fast as he could. Anna seemed to have quieted down for the moment. The fact that Conner was nowhere to be seen worried David, but Anna had to be his priority until the paramedics arrived. He carefully settled on the floor with Anna still in his arms. When her head suddenly lolled back against his shoulder, he was already fearing the worst, but her pulse was steady and she seemed to be breathing all right.

A sudden, loud noise from outside moments later startled both of them. Not letting go of Anna for a moment, David got up to look out of the window just in time to see a car make a u-turn before speeding away into the night. It was the lilac pick-up truck.

Damn it, where was Conner? David was torn between staying inside and keeping Anna safe and looking for Conner, who might also be injured, or worse, lying somewhere outside. The pick-up hadn’t been there when they’d arrived, so it must have happened when he was in the basement. He pulled out his cell phone with one hand and awkwardly started dialling. The premises would have to be searched thoroughly and then CSU needed to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb. If Anna had been held here, then so might Charlie. Maybe whoever had been driving the pick-up had planned to come for Anna and had been interrupted by Conner. David could only hope that the detective was all right.

It seemed forever until David finally heard sirens in the distance.

oOo

David met Agent Smythe at the local hospital. He’d accompanied Anna to hospital. Despite her obviously traumatized condition, she seemed to have accepted that David was one of the ‘good guys’. The paramedics had agreed that it was best to expose Anna to as little additional stress as possible for the moment and she’d seemed fairly calm as long as David was present.

“Coffee?” Agent Smythe asked David as she stood in front of a vending machine in the hospital hallway.

“Sure. It doesn’t look like any of us will get some sleep any time soon.” David stifled a yawn. “How is Detective Conner?”

“He’s got a mild concussion and they’ll be keeping him overnight, but they said we can talk to him now.” Smythe handed David the Styrofoam mug. David took a sip. It wasn’t exactly piping-hot, but still better than lukewarm. He followed the other agent down the corridor.

oOo

Conner had a fair deal of blood on his shirt and looked slightly battered around the edges, but he didn’t seem in too bad shape. Mainly, he was angry at himself.

“How’s the girl?” Conner asked the moment he saw the two FBI agents.

“Paramedics didn’t find any serious injuries on the way, but they’re only examining her now. Who knows what she’s been through.”

“I take it her family is on its way?”

“We haven’t been able to reach them yet. They’re here illegally and don’t have a phone. But a family liaison officer from LA PD has been keeping in contact with them, so they should get the good news soon.”

Conner sighed. “And I’m the one who let their daughter’s kidnapper get away. Don’t exactly fancy telling them that.”

“Let’s hope we catch them before that.” David paused. “You up for telling us what happened?”

“Sure. I’ve got one hell of a headache, but I’ve had worse. There were two of them. Must have. I only saw the woman, but there must have been someone else. Because one minute I’m looking at a map, the next thing I know, I’m lying face down in the dirt.” Conner winced. “Rookie mistake. I let my guard down around a beautiful woman.”

“Can you start at the beginning, please?” Agent Smythe interrupted.

“I was outside, keeping an eye out for the ambulance when I smelled something burning. I went around back to check it out, but before I had a chance to find anything, I heard a car pulling up. Things are getting a little bit fuzzy there, but I do recall giving a woman directions. I think she might have been lost, or at least that’s what she probably told me while her buddy knocked me over the head.”

“Can you describe either of them?”

“Him I never saw. I don’t even know for sure that it was a man. She was white, maybe forty, forty-five, with shoulder-length brown hair. That’s about all I remember, sorry.”

“So you don’t think you would recognize her if you saw her again?”

“I might, but I probably wouldn’t swear to it in court. Any lead at all on her?”

“Maybe. I got a partial plate number and it matches that of a lilac pick-up registered to Abby Lawrence. I went by her house earlier, but no one was home and she isn’t answering the mobile registered in her name.”

“Have you tried finding her husband?”

“No joy. He’s nowhere to be found either.”

“We should search their house,” David suggested.

“I’m not sure that we have enough to get a warrant. Maybe if CSU turns up anything at the house in Greening that gives us a solid link to Abby and her husband, we can go to a judge tomorrow.”

“Make that today,” Conner remarked. “It’s past two in the morning already.”

David ignored him. “I don’t think we can wait that long. We need to get over there now!”

“I’m with you,” Conner said and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

TBC