Chapter One - Shock!
The morning dawned bright and clear in Washington D.C; Sue Thomas looked out the window at the snow falling onto the city. For the millionth time in her life she thanked God that she had the use of her eyes. Eyes that saw the beauty of nature, eyes that helped her every day of her life, eyes that saw her friends, eyes that she used to hear with, and eyes to see Jack.
Levi patted her on the leg and alerted her to the fact that Lucy was standing at the door.
"Day dreaming again?" she asked with a side grin
Sue faked innocence
"What would I have to day dream about?"
Lucy didn't embellish, she just sighed
"You are impossible"
"I know" grinned Sue
"Well, hurry up, it's already eight thirty"
"Really?" a quick look at her beside clock confirmed what Lucy had said.
"Lucy? Would you do me a favor and get out so I can get ready for work" Sue told her friend and proceeded to fly round her bedroom getting dressed for work.
"I see you've left your hair down" Lucy smirked when they finally slammed the front door behind them, and began to make their way to work.
"Are you implying something?" Sue asked innocently "What about you and B--"
"Let's just get to work" Lucy cut in before Sue could continue.
"If you say so" Sue winked
"Morning guys" Lucy said, surprised to see for once that Jack, Bobby, Myles and D were all at the office before them
"Did I miss something?" she asked "Is it someone's birthday? Why are you all so early and on time?"
D looked solemn "It's a particularly horrible case"
"What?" Sue wanted to know
"Since Saturday night, three women have been kidnapped and found dead hours later. The clues that the kidnappings are related are they are all very famous women, and a Black Jack card was found by the victim."
"Who were the women?"
"Ellen DeGeneres, Jessica Andrews and Rachel Smith"
"I know Ellen, but didn't you say the others were famous?" Sue asked
"Yes, Jessica Andrews was a young country singer and Rachel Smith was Miss USA in 2007"
"Oh!"
"How did they get kidnapped?"
"Why don't we just go ahead and do a proper briefing, instead of you asking all sorts of questions?"
"Good idea, Jack" D said "It's all yours"
Jack went over the whiteboard and started drawing up a diagram, while Sue and Lucy went over to their desks, and got out their notebooks.
"Right. Early yesterday morning, Ellen, Jessica and Rachel left Kelly Brooks' party and made their way back to the hotel where they were all staying.
The limo never arrived. The driver seemed to be fine when we checked him out, until he was found unconscious, trussed up behind a tree in a public park, fifty miles away.
Ellen, Jessica and Rachel don't live in Washington, so for a while we thought that they'd just gone home early and forgotten to tell someone. Then Ellen was found in a lake. Rachel was found a mile away from the driver, but dead, and Jessica hasn't been found yet.
Jessica's safety if she isn't dead is the most important thing in the case at the moment; we have put out a number and are awaiting contact from the killer. Serial killers usually like to make contact, because they don't see the point in not being able to boast about their ingenuity."
"When the women were found... they weren't--?"
"They were all fine except for a small mark on their arm where they had been injected with morphine. The only strange thing was they'd been decked out in all sorts of beads and jewelry, and a Hindu mark was on their forehead"
"Intriguing!"
"I know, let's get to work and start going through the letters that have come in since the press announced the murders"
Three hours later, they were still working on the letters, while Jack was putting the word out to everyone he knew on the street.
All the women in the office were strangely silent. Something about the case hit a nerve, it could just have easily have been one of them, they were pretty well known. The TV series about them and their famous cases meant that the killer could have picked on them.
"Coffee, Sue?" Jack asked kindly
Suddenly, something inside Sue snapped; all the years of waiting for Jack to say something and suddenly the new case with its horrible crimes took its toll.
"I'm perfectly able to get my own coffee, Jack Hudson" she said frostily, trying to hold back the tears
"Whoa, what did I say?"
Sue saw the hurt in his eyes and didn't want to elaborate, but Bobby asked
"Yes Sheila, what did you mean? You've never snapped at Jack before"
"I suppose I just meant because women are being killed that we're not all in need of a protector to keep an eye on us."
"Go Sue!" Bobby smiled "Who would have thought she could be such a spitfire"
"Leave it Bobby" Jack warned "I'd appreciate a bit less joking around, why don't you get back to work"
"On one condition Sparky"
"What?"
"I want to take you to lunch so we can have a talk"
"We'll probably be eating lunch here"
"Okay, I'll come home with you; you're not getting off that easily"
"If you must" Jack gave an exaggerated sigh
Lucy whispered something to Bobby
"I read that!" Jack and Sue both said at the same time - "You did?"
Bobby and Lucy laughed out loud, earning a few dirty looks from Jack and Sue.
"Let's just get back to work" pleaded Jack
"I'm going for a walk" Sue announced "I'm tired of this; maybe I'll see something in the clues if I clear my head and come back later"
"What do you mean, see something in the clues?" Bobby asked "What clues?"
"These letters, the ones that I mentioned to you about Jack, but you just said keep reading them. The ones that are signed BlackJack. You know, the one with the riddles telling us who he's going to strike next"
Jack groaned, he'd been aware of Sue when she was talking to him, but wasn't really listening. His mind was on other things. He remembered his answer. How could he have thought she'd bother him with something unimportant?
"Tell you what, Thomas, if you give me the clues, I'll see if I can see anything in them" Myles suggested
"Me too" Tara said
Jack didn't want to say anything incase he offended Sue, but Sue thought that Jack was unhappy because she'd found the clues first.
"Do what you want with them" Sue smiled, although inside she felt like she was being torn apart "I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air"
She left, leaving them all staring after her.
"I told you Jack, you act or you lose. It looks like you're gonna lose her"
"Bobby, please. You know you can't lose what you don't have!"
Bobby didn't answer, just got to work with the Riddle.
It's almost like Shoe. It drops what a lot of lower class people drop.
When you get there, you can always fiddle around a bit, or maybe even change something. I won't go after you for damages.
Like an engine, a famous engine, but one you'd be ashamed to know. Like a Parish it is built and cherished by a Minister.
The person I've described is the person I'm going for next.
BlackJack
"Jack, this isn't good!" Myles said when he'd read the riddle over twice. They had all had a copy on their desks and were all struggling to see its meaning.
"No it's not good at all!" Tara said "I'm going after Sue" She grabbed Levi's collar and pulled him up telling him "We're going after Sue"
Jack stood up, knocking his chair over
"What's going on?"
Lucy and Bobby also had similar reactions.
"It's almost like a shoe" Myles started "It drops what a lot of lower class people drop. The H.
When you get there you can always fiddle around a bit or change something. Soe, Sie, Sue.
I won't go after you for damages. You sue someone and go after them for damages.
Sue is the first word.
Like an engine, a famous engine, but one you'd be ashamed to know. Obviously it is a famous childlike engine. It is built and cherished by a minister. Or a Reverend. Thomas the Tank Engine is written by Rev. J. Awdry. The two words together are: Sue Thomas."
The whole team shot into action. Bobby told Lucy later on that he'd heard Jack say "If he touches one hair on her head, I will hurt him in every way I can possibly think of!"
Just then, Myles looked up from Tara's computer. A message was in. It said
"I'VE GOT SUE - AND LEVI"
Jack smashed his fist on the table knocking his coffee and a lot of papers to the floor. Bobby stopped what he was doing and as pale as a sheet.
Lucy began to feel tears well up in her eyes.
At that moment, the subject of their horror came into the room.
"My Gosh! What's happened??"
She looked at where Myles had put the email message on the big screen. Sue paled, before realizing she was in safe hands.
"But I'm here!" she said
Lucy and Jack almost fell over each other in their haste to get to Sue and make sure she was alright. Then she said something that made them all look up.
"Where are Tara and Levi?"
Myles flashed another email onto the screen. It was a picture of Tara and Levi. The woman was holding tightly to the dog, sobbing into his hair.
Then, sarcastic but rather level-headed Myles did something that surprised them all. He did exactly what Jack had done a few minutes ago, except he let out an ear splitting roar.
"We are going to find her, and if she's dead, I'm going to personally tear that 'BlackJack' to pieces!"
The telephone rang. Jack picked it up.
"They've found another body"
TBC
Okay lads and ladies – could you pleeeeease preview and let me know what you think. I'll give you a reward… every review you put in, I'll treat myself to another square of chocolate :D Does that sound fair to you?
I hope you're enjoying the story so far, I'm working on Chapter Two
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