Under Suspicion
Chapter One:Did he kill someone?
DaKine Bail Bonds.
Dog, Tim, Beth and Duane Lee were sitting in the office discussing the proceedings of the next fugitive. Dog stood in front of the board and wrote down the notes they had on the fugitive.
"So, we're looking for Stephen Baker. What are his charges, Beth?", he asked.
"Robbery second degree and family assault." she said.
"He is 6'7, 250 lbs and has a tattoo of a lion on his right shoulder!", Tim added.
Dog wrote the notes down and turned around.
"Who is the co-signer?" Dog asked Duane Lee who had the file on his lap.
"Bianca Baker, his aunt!", Duane Lee answered.
"I'll call her, maybe she'll help us find this guy!", he said grabbing the phone and dialing the number.
"Baker?", answered a female voice on the other end.
"Hi there! Is it Bianca Baker?"
"No, I'm Meredith Baker her daughter. Who is there?"
"I'm Geoffrey and I was wondering if you knew where to find Stephen?", Dog lied to her.
There was a pause on the other end and he feared that she had ended the call, but then after a minute he could hear her voice again.
"You are Dog Chapman, aren't you?", she said.
Dog looked dumbfounded but smiled.
"Yes, you're right, I am Dog Chapman. How did you recognize me?", he asked grinning. Beth shook her head, rolling her eyes.
"I saw your show on TV. Your voice is unmistakable." she said laughing. "But don't worry, I'll help you to find my cousin. He played with us for so long, it has to stop someday.", she told him with an angry voice.
"What do you mean?" Dog asked her.
"A year ago, he was drunk when he came home. He had beaten me, till I lost my baby!", she said and her voice broke.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry!"
"Don't be! I'm over it!", she tried to convince him, but Dog could tell, that she wasn't over it.
Beth was very upset about the fact, that a guy had beaten a young pregnant woman and that he was the reason, she lost her child. Tim and Duane Lee were also very upset and were happy to beat the sh*t out of him.
"Okay, shall I come to your office?", she asked breaking the silence.
"Yeah, that's fine with me!"
"Good, I'll see you in 45 minutes."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye!"
Dog hung up the phone and turned to Duane Lee.
"Call Leland and tell him, that if he don't show
himself in the next 30 minutes, I'm going to kick his butt!", Dog
said, angry that his third son hadn't come yet.
Duane Lee stood
up, nodded his head yes and went out to the parking lot to call his
brother.
"What now?", Beth asked.
"We'll wait and see!", Dog said to his wife.
Outside
Duane
Lee dialed Leland's number and waited, but no one picked up the call.
After the fifth try to reach his brother he gave up and walked back
inside the office.
Dog looked at his son expectantly.
"Did you reach him, son?" he asked.
"No, I didn't. He didn't pick up his phone." he told his father.
"d**n boy, where are you?", Dog asked more to himself than to the others. His voice was full of worry for his son.
Beth and Tim were also worried about Leland, but they didn't show it, they had other things to worry about at the moment. Leland was old enough to look out for himself and could take the consequences of his behaviour .
"I'll try it again later. Don't worry Dad, he is a big boy." Duane Lee said reassuringly and slapped his Dad's shoulder in a friendly way.
Dog nodded with concern shining in his eyes, stroking his hand through his hair.
30 minutes later
A young female walked in the office. She had long, black hair and amazing green eyes. She was 6'4 and 165 lbs. She wore a white tank top with a black dragon in the front and black khaki pants and green sneakers.
Smiling she walked in front of Dog's desk.
"Hi, I'm Meredith Baker! Nice to finally meet you!", she said and held out her hand.
"hi Meredith! It's nice to meet you too. Howz it?", he said, standing up and took her hand to shake it.
"Fine, just fine!", she answered, before she came right to business. "Before I came here, I called Stephen and asked him, if we could meet to talk about the past. He agreed. We'll meet in half an hour on the beach. I'll go to him and then you can catch him!", she said.
Dog nodded his head yes.
"Guys you heard her. Go suit up!" he said.
Beth, Duane Lee, Tim and Dog suited up and then went outside to the parking lot behind the office.
"Want a ride with us?", Beth offered her.
"Sure!" she said, smiling thankfully at her. Beth smiled back and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Meredith, we'll get him. He won't get a chance to hurt you again." Beth tried to comfort her.
"I know!" she said.
Duane Lee came up to her and opened the
back door for her. She smiled her thanks and got in the car. Duane
Lee nodded and closed the door.
She drove with Beth and Duane
Lee. Tim and Dog got in the other SUV and drove behind them.
Fifteen minutes later
They arrived at the parking lot near the meeting point. They stopped and got out of their cars.
"Okay, here we go! Meredith you'll go forward to the beach. And don't worry we're not far behind you, nothing will happen to you, I promise. When you'll see him, touch your shoulder. That'll be our sign to interfere." Dog told her. Meredith nodded and took a deep breath to calm herself. She prepared herself and went to the beach.
Slowly she walked through the
sand. The gentle sound of the waves were soothing for her enraged
nerves. Her hands were sweaty and her eyes watched the people who
were on the beach carefully. A half mile later, she saw him. He stood
in front of a rock, leaning against it. He looked to the horizon and
so he couldn't see her coming. She advanced her pace till she ran up
to her destination in hope that Dog and his posse were not far behind
her. Like he had promised. Finally she came to a halt.
He looked
terrible, like the walking dead. He had black rings under his eyes,
his cheeks were sunken and he was very underweight. His clothes were
torn and baggy. Also he looked very tired, he looked dangerous.
"Oh my god, Stephen! What have you done to yourself?", she whispered shocked, unconsciously touching her shoulder.
Slowly he turned to her and looked in her eyes. She was frightened. His eyes were blank, but cold. A shudder run down her spine.
"Hello Meredith! It's been a long time!", he said in a husky voice. In that moment he looked behind her. She turned around and saw, that Dog and his posse were coming straight to their direction, mace cans out and pointing to Stephen. She sighed relieved. Beth moved aside from them and looked at her.
"Oh I see you've got new friends!", he sneered and laughed madly.
She took a step back away from him and his madness.
"It's only for your own good!" she said quietly, fear clearly in her voice.
"Right, for my own
good!" he said sarcastically and laughed only louder. "My own
good? What is for my own good?" he yelled at her and shocked her
even more.
She was frightened because of his sight and his funny
behaviour. this wasn't her cousin she was used to know, this was a
whole new person, not a good person.
Again she turned around and
walked away from him and out of his life.
Before Stephen could
run, he was cuffed Dog by and his posse.
Then they brought him to
the parking lot. He was put in the backseat. Dog and Tim got in the
car too and Duane Lee drove off to the prison office.
Beth took care of Meredith who stood there confused and unbelieving at the parking lot. She couldn't understand what had happened to her cousin. She had known, that he could be very aggressive when he was drunk. At these times, he would beat anybody who stood in his way but he had never looked so bad like today. It was horrible and it had frightened her to death.
Beth came up to her and rubbed her back in a soothing way. She smiled her thanks to Beth.
"He looked so bad!", she said sad after a while.
"That's are the results of taking ICE and the whole other sh*t. It's hopeless until he decides to change his life. We offer him our help and it is up to him to take it or not." Beth said and Meredith nodded in agreement.
"I know, but it's hard to believe that he has changed so much. I'll hope he chooses the right thing to do!", she said.
"We all do! We all do!"
After a while of comforting silence they decided to head back to the office.
One hour later at the office
After Stephen Baker's capture, Meredith stayed with Beth at the office, waiting together for the others to come back. They talked about this and that, getting to know each other. Although Meredith was 20 years younger than Beth, they had much in common and it was clearly visible that they were becoming good friends.
When Dog and his team
arrived at the office, Meredith and Beth sat together and drank tea.
Dog smiled at the sight before him. He was happy to see, that they
got along so well. He greeted his wife with a tender kiss and she
smiled happily back at him.
"Okay, today we're finished.
Anybody hungry?", Dog asked and looked around.
"I'm starving!" Beth and Meredith said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.
"So it's settled then!" Dog said
smiling and together they went to a Chinese restaurant near the
office.
On the way to the restaurant Duane Lee tried again to
reach his brother, but with no luck so far. Worried he put his phone
back in his pocket and followed his family and new found friend to
the restaurant, deep in his own thoughts.
He couldn't understand why he couldn't reach his younger brother. That doesn't fit Leland. He never ever would vanish without telling them where he was or what he's doing. And normally he was always reachable. Something bad must have happened to his little brother, but what was it??
At the restaurant
Silently
he sat at the table and picked weary at his meal.
Dog and Beth
talked with Meredith eagerly to know more about her but Duane Lee
didn't listen to the conversation, he was lost in his own world.
Where was Leland and what had happened? He asked himself over and over again.
Dog interrupted his thoughts when he stood up and left with the others.
Ten minutes later
They arrived at the office. There were half a dozen police force in front of the building. Confused and concerned they parked the SUV's in the parking lot and were greeted by a police officer who stood there and waited for them.
"Dog Chapman?", he asked as he came to them.
"Yes that would be me!", Dog said.
"I am Officer Michaels and I am looking for your son Leland Chapman!", the officer told him.
"What? Why?" Dog asked confused.
Beth grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Dog smiled thankfully at her.
Officer Michaels sighed and wiped his sweaty
forehead.
"For murder!" he said finally.
"What?", Dog cried out, his mouth dropped open.
My son a bloody murderer? Never ever! He thought
"That must be a misunderstanding, officer Michaels, my son isn't a bloody murderer!", dog said, defending his son.
"Sorry sir, but we can prove it!", the officer said.
Still not assured, that his son could be a murderer, Dog asked the officer into the office. Officer Michaels nodded and followed the Chapman family inside of the building.
"Please have a seat, Officer Michaels!", he offered.
"Thank you!", Michaels said and sat down on a nearby chair.
"Now, please tell me what had happened, that you think my son had murdered someone!" he said and sat down on his own chair.
"Mr Chapman there is evidence against your son. " the officer said convinced.
Beth and Tim stood next to Dog and looked
unbelievingly at the officer. They couldn't believe, what they had
heard.
Duane Lee took a seat next to Officer Michaels, head down.
Meredith stayed in the background.
"Well this morning, we got a call from the jewellery store. When we arrived the scene, the owner lay dead in his own shop. He was shot twice in his chest. Also we found out, that the observation camera filmed this scene. Your son Leland could be seen clearly and he was identified. I'm sorry Mr Chapman." he told the shocked family.
Dog shook his head.
"No, I can't believe it. I have to see it with my own eyes until then It can't be!", he said worried.
Officer Michaels thought about it for a moment than finally he nodded and stood up.
"Okay, I'll show you the tape. Please follow me to the police department." he said.
Dog nodded and stood up too.
"I'll stay here. Maybe Leland will show up!", Duane
Lee offered.
"Okay but be careful. if it is true what Michaels
said, Leland is out of control!", he said grumbling. "And CALL me
when he shows up!" he insistent.
"I will Dad! Don't worry, it'll work out fine!" Duane Lee said assured.
"I hope so!" Dog said very upset and followed Officer Michaels out in the parking lot, Beth and Tim were behind him.
Now Duane Lee and Meredith were alone in the office.
"Can I stay with you?", she
asked him. She didn't want to leave him alone. He looked up sad and
nodded his head yes. He didn't want to be alone and was happy that
she was still with him.
He laid his head back in his hands and
shook it unbelieving.
"I can't believe it!" he murmured over
and over again.
Meredith laid a comforting hand on his upper arm and rubbed it.
"Don't worry, it's definitely a misunderstanding!", she said to comfort him.
"I hope so, I really do!"
At the police department
Dog, Beth and Tim sat in the office from Officer Michaels. The officer took the tape and put it in the recorder. What they saw, shocked them to no end.
A young man with long hair, tied in a ponytail and the sides were shaved in military style. He walked to the jewellery store owner, raising his right hand with the gun and pulled the trigger twice. He turned around and was grinning madly in the camera. It was Leland Chapman.
Dog Chapman couldn't believe his own eyes at what he had just witnessed. His son, his own flesh and blood had shot an innocent man without any warning. He was shocked, angry, sad and many more emotions ran through his veins. Next to him sat Beth. She felt the same emotions like her husband, but she couldn't held back her tears. Freely they ran over her face and dropped on the carpet in Officer Michaels office.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Chapman!", officer Michaels said with a comforting voice.
Dog stood up, nodded his head and walked out without any other word out of the office.
"Thank you Officer Michaels. When we see him, we catch him and bring him here, immediately. That I promise by the name Chapman.", Tim said determinedly.
Officer Michaels nodded and shook Tim's hand.
Beth and Tim left the office and went outside of the police department. On the parking lot stood Dog, leaning against his SUV. Tears run down his face. In a second Beth stood in front of him and hugged him. They clung at each other to keep them grounded.
Determinedly Tim got in the SUV. He was ready for a good hunt and so were Beth and Dog. After a while they got in too and together they drove off and back to the office.
