CHAPTER 3
The next morning, Fraser awoke to find Serendipity cooking breakfast. "Good morning," he greeted her as he admired the feast she was assembling on the small table in the kitchen. "My word, it smells delicious, but you didn't have to do all of this."
Dippy shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she said, by way of explanation, "so I figured I'd, like, cook instead. I cook all the time at home, although there's usually just me and the animals which totally sucks. My parents never seem to be around for mealtimes lately and if they are then my mum, like, just forgets to cook. Or she cooks and then forgets to eat. Usually there's some dumb research project taking all her attention, but that's kinda how it's always been in our house. Ren and me had to learn to cook for ourselves when we were kids or we'd have probably starved to death."
"Well, thank you kindly," smiled Fraser. That explained why Constable Turnbull was so competent in the kitchen. Mr and Mrs Turnbull didn't sound like they had been the greatest parents in the world, although Fraser immediately reprimanded himself for making judgements on people he really knew nothing about.
It's no wonder Constable Turnbull has never spoken about his family before…
Fraser had also had difficulty sleeping, but, realising that today was likely to be another difficult day, he'd managed to put himself under for a couple of hours. A good breakfast was just what he needed.
Diefenbaker jumped up onto a chair to get a better view of the spread. He didn't know where to start, there was so much delicious food. His tongue hung out of the side of his mouth and he drooled with anticipation.
"Down!" commanded Fraser.
Dief didn't move.
"If you think you're actually going to eat any of this, then I suggest you do as I ask," continued Fraser, sternly.
Reluctantly the wolf got down from the chair and walked over to Dippy. He sat at her feet and looked up at her with his best sad eyes.
"You poor thing, you look hungry," said Dippy, bending to pat him on the head.
Fraser rolled his eyes secretly admiring the animal's ability to manipulate people. He took a seat at the table and poured himself a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Dippy loaded a bowl with sausages, bacon, onions and pancakes and placed it on the floor. Dief could hardly believe his luck and proceeded to enjoy the feast. Dippy piled up another plate with food and put it on the table in front of Fraser, then she turned and started to fill the sink with hot water.
"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Fraser with concern.
Dippy shook her head. "Can't," she replied. "I feel kinda, y'know, like, bleurgh. I keep freaking out about last night. I'm so dumb sometimes." She sighed and turned off the tap, spinning round to face Fraser. "My brother's in the hospital and I just…I just wanted to do something fun and then I almost wound up getting…well, y'know. I mean, I've had guys trying it on with me before, but the guys back home would never dream of, like, forcing themselves onto me. Well…well, maybe they would, I don't know? Maybe I've just been lucky up to now? Maybe that guy was right last night? Y'know, about me, like, giving off signals. If a guy thinks I want it he's gonna, like, try, isn't he?"
Fraser picked up his knife and fork. "Unfortunately, some men…" he began, but Dippy hadn't finished talking.
"And the weed thing. What was I thinking?" she continued. "I wasn't thinking straight that's for sure. I don't really want to, like, do drugs or anything. You won't tell anyone, will you? Ren, or my parents, I mean. Not that it's anyone else's business what I do, coz I'm, like, an adult so I can basically do what I like, right? Apart from illegal stuff, I guess, so I get why you and Ray were, like, mad at me about the weed. I'm sorry, OK. I really am. I just feel so out of my depth right now. I came all this way on my own and I thought it would be, like, exciting, y'know? Like, a big adventure, but I didn't know how sick my brother was and, like, that he was in the ICU and I guess it all messed with my head and, like…" She finally paused for another breath.
"Why don't you sit down and try to eat something?" suggested Fraser, seizing the opportunity to speak. "You've gone to all this trouble and there's too much for just Diefenbaker and myself to eat. You need to keep your strength up. Then it'll be time to go to the hospital." Fraser was concerned at how Dippy was going to react when she saw her brother in the ICU. People often found the amount of medical equipment keeping their loved ones alive in these circumstances quite overwhelming and he guessed that Dippy had never experienced anything like it before.
Dippy let out a long slow sigh. "OK," she said. She suddenly realised just how tired she felt. She sat down opposite Fraser and put a single sausage on her plate, making a half-hearted attempt to cut off a bite-sized piece.
Fraser narrowed his eyes with concern. She looked completely different to the bubbly, young woman who'd arrived on the doorstep yesterday evening. He glanced at his watch; it was still almost two hours before they'd be allowed in to see Constable Turnbull, but he had an idea. "Perhaps I could telephone the hospital for an update on your brother's condition?" he suggested.
Dippy's face broke into a huge smile and she nodded enthusiastically. "I just want to know that he's OK," she said. "As OK as he can be, I mean. I know that he's, like, in a coma, but…"
"I'll make the call," Fraser interrupted her and he walked out into the hall, with Dippy following behind. Diefenbaker stayed put to finish his breakfast.
The nurse at the hospital was happy to speak to Dippy for a few minutes, reassuring her that they were doing everything they could for her brother and that he'd had had a good night, all things considered. She told Dippy that she was welcome to visit at any time. Fraser took the phone from Dippy, thanked the nurse kindly, and replaced the receiver. Then he realised that Dippy was crying.
"We'll go immediately, if you'd like?" he offered. He realised that she really needed to see her brother, no matter what condition he was in.
"Thank you," whispered Dippy and she grabbed Fraser and pulled him into a huge hug, taking the Mountie by surprise.
It took him a second to relax enough to be able to put his arms around her. "It's alright," he said.
Just then the front door opened and Inspector Thatcher walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Fraser locked in an embrace with the young woman. "Constable Fraser!" she exclaimed.
Fraser and Dippy immediately pulled apart.
"Ah, good morning, Inspector," said Fraser, tugging at the collar of his red tunic with his forefinger. "Er, um, this is Serendipity Turnbull, Constable Turnbull's sister. She arrived here last night. We were just about to leave for the hospital."
"Oh," replied Meg, trying to hide her relief.
"Serendipity, this is Inspector Margaret Thatcher," Fraser introduced his superior officer.
Meg began to lift her hand for a handshake, but before she had chance, Dippy bowed her head, crossed one foot behind the other and dropped into a deep curtsey in front of her. Meg looked at Fraser in surprise.
"Inspector Thatcher," began Dippy, without lifting her head. "It is an honour to meet you."
"Please, Miss Turnbull, you can stand," said Meg in embarrassment.
Gingerly, Dippy stood up. "I've heard so much about you from Renfield," smiled Dippy.
"All good, I hope?" replied Meg, awkwardly.
"Oh, yes, of course," smiled Dippy. "My brother looks up to you so much, you are, like, a true inspiration to him," she gushed.
Meg felt her cheeks flush red. "I…I…I don't know that I deserve…" she began, but she hadn't realised quite how much Dippy liked to talk.
"My brother writes to me every week," continued Dippy. "Well, not every week, but most weeks. At least once a month, although it takes forever for the mail to get to me. He knows I like to hear all about the exciting life he leads here in Chicago. I wish I could be just like you. Well, not a Mountie, but I mean I want to be a woman like you, a leader of, well, a leader of men, I guess. And women. A leader of something, you know what I mean, right?"
Meg opened her mouth to speak, but she had no chance of getting a word in. She felt so uncomfortable being showered with praise like this, especially after what had happened to Turnbull. She had been up all night trying to convince herself that it wasn't entirely her fault that her junior officer was lying in hospital.
"I'm stuck up in the Territories for now," continued Dippy, who had barely paused for breath, "but one day I want to move to California because, like, that's my favourite place in the whole world, although I've never actually been there, but it looks so cool and when I do go there I just hope my boss is as amazing as you, Inspector, because…"
"We should probably get ready to leave," Fraser said suddenly, sensing how uncomfortable Meg was with the situation.
"Oh, right, sure," agreed Dippy. "Give me five minutes," she added and ran up the stairs.
There was a moment's awkward silence between Fraser and Thatcher. Finally Meg spoke.
"Fraser," she began, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and…and if, I mean, when Constable Turnbull returns to active duty, I shall no longer be placing him on sentry duty for any reason. Nor you, for that matter. It's unnecessary at these premises; we're set back from the road and…" she trailed off.
"Sir, it wasn't your fault," said Fraser, earnestly. He felt that she'd suffered enough guilt already and it wasn't worth dwelling on it now.
"I sent him out there like a naughty boy!" exclaimed Meg. "And look what happened. Of course it's my fault."
Fraser didn't quite know what to say.
"I treat you both badly sometimes, I realise that," she continued, bowing her head slightly. "And I spent hours last night trying to work out why, but I can't. I don't know what's wrong with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with you from where I'm standing," replied Fraser. He wanted to hold her in his arms now, but this was different to the comfort he'd provided Dippy just a few minutes ago. His lips parted, he wanted to say something else, but he couldn't form a sentence.
The corners of Meg's mouth twitched into a smile. "Thank you, Fraser," she said quietly. It felt good to know she had his support. On the day of the shooting she'd seen the anger in his eyes and it had scared her. She understood why, though, and now that anger seemed to have disappeared and been replaced by a look she'd seen so many times before, but which she could never quite explain.
The moment was shattered by the shrill ringing of the phone on the desk in the hall. Thatcher grabbed the receiver. "Canadian Consulate," she announced. "Yes, speaking."
Fraser was about to leave, but he noticed the worried look that crossed her face and decided to stay. Meg spoke for a few minutes before ending the call and taking a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts.
"What is it?" asked Fraser with concern.
"That was Ottowa, there's been another shooting," Meg began. "Another Mountie, at some kind of carnival parade in Cincinnati yesterday. A Constable Malcolm Conti was shot in the leg. He's OK, but it's too much of a coincidence, don't you think? Hundreds of people there and the only person to be shot was the Mountie. Ottowa have issued an alert to all the Consulates in the States."
Fraser drew a deep breath as he took in the significance of the information. "It does appear that we are being targeted," he said, slowly.
"I'm going to call my contact in Intelligence," said Meg, turning to head towards her office. "If there's someone with a vendetta against the RCMP, they'll know about it."
"And I will call Detective Vecchio," said Fraser, picking up the phone. "It seems unlikely that the shooter will return here, not if he's already moved on to Ohio, but we should be vigilant nonetheless."
xXxXx
"Ice Queen said I'd find you here." Ray glanced over towards Turnbull's hospital room before sitting himself down next to Fraser on the hard, plastic chair in the corridor. "How's Dippy this morning?"
"She's doing as well as can be expected," replied Fraser. "I think she had some difficulty sleeping."
Ray nodded. He had difficulty sleeping every night so he knew exactly how Turnbull's sister felt. "So, er, Welsh has offered you guys a safe house."
"No," replied Fraser, quickly. "We're police officers and we have our wits about us. Constable Turnbull was taken by surprise, it won't happen again. Besides, it appears that a pattern is forming. There's no reason to suspect the perpetrator will return to Chicago for a second bite of the tree."
"Bite of the apple, Fraser," Ray pointed out.
"Yes, yes, bite of the apple…bite of the apple…" repeated Fraser.
"It's OK," continued Ray. "I already figured you'd say that. Er, I got the ballistics report from Cincinatti. Same gun, same bullets, no doubt about it."
Fraser nodded slowly. Part of him had hoped the two incidents were not linked, but deep down he knew that wouldn't be the case at all.
"How long's she been in there?" asked Ray, nodding to the door of Turnbull's room.
"Almost an hour," replied Fraser. "I thought it best to give her some privacy. She was quite upset when she first saw him."
"It's hard," nodded Ray in agreement. "No trace of her folks yet?"
Fraser shook his head slowly. "Serendipity did suggest the name of a tribal elder who lives in the vicinity of their last known location," he explained. "Apparently this particular tribe possess something known as a ham radio."
Ray grinned. "So even the Inuit are using illegal channels these days," he replied.
"Oh dear," mumbled Fraser.
xXxXx
"I just kept telling him I loved him." Dippy sat on the sofa with Diefenbaker and talked about her visit to the hospital. Dief lay with his head resting his head in her lap and Dippy gently stroked his ears. "I told him we were all proud of him and that he was brave and that we loved him and I told him that Mum and Dad would be here soon once we, like, find some way of contacting them and I told him I'd made breakfast and…"
"As the nurses said, the sound of your voice may be getting through to him," Fraser said quickly before she had a chance to recount the entire one sided conversation she'd had with her unconscious brother.
"I know, how weird is that?" replied Dippy with half a smile. "I mean, he's, like, asleep, but he might actually be able to hear me! That's so cool. I mean it's not cool that he's asleep, but if he can really hear me and just talking to him is gonna help him to, like, wake up then I can totally do that if I need to."
"I imagine you could," agreed Fraser.
"Oh my god, what time is it?" asked Dippy suddenly. "Ray's picking me up at four. We're going to an early showing and then I think we're gonna come back here and, like, order pizza. Are you sure you don't want to come see the movie with us?"
"No, thank you kindly," replied Fraser. He wanted to stay at the Consulate and look at the RCMP files just in case he could find anyone with a particular grudge against Mounties who had any connection to the cities of Chicago and Cincinnati. It was a long shot – the locations for the shootings could simply be random – but it was worth looking into. Besides the movie they were going to see did not interest Fraser at all.
Dippy leapt up and grabbed his wrist, twisting it awkwardly so she could read the time. "Sorry," she said, noticing him wince as the bones in his wrist were pulled in directions they were not meant to. "I can't read the time unless I'm looking at it properly," she tried to explain. "I mean, like, if I look at a clock upside down it could be ten past nine, but to me it looks like a quarter past eight."
"Indeed," nodded Fraser, visualising her example on a clock face in his mind. "Usually I find the numbers on the dial are a useful visual aid," he said.
"I know," agreed Dippy, "but then the six could be a nine, right? See how easy it is to get it all wrong. I do it all the time, that's why I bought this digital watch." She pulled up her sleeve to show him the pink, plastic watch strapped to her wrist.
"If you have a watch of your own, why did you need to consult mine?" asked Fraser.
"Oh, mine keeps telling me it's, like, totally the wrong time," she explained.
Fraser frowned and looked closely at Dippy's watch. "It appears to be set to a different time zone," he said. "I'll adjust it for you."
"You will?" she replied, excitedly, unstrapping it from her wrist and handing it to the Mountie. "Oh thank you, it's been driving me crazy. I pressed all the buttons, like, a hundred times, but it just kept flashing the numbers at me and then I must have set the alarm because it kept beeping, so I pressed all the buttons again and, like, it stopped beeping, but it still showed the wrong time. You're the best Mountie I ever met. Well, apart from Ren, of course and Inspector Thatcher is pretty amazing too and I once met this Mountie when I was out with my parents tracking cougars and he could do this amazing thing with two sticks and some pemmican…"
"Dippy, you were going to get ready to go out," prompted Fraser. He gave her watch back to her, the display now properly adjusted.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Dippy. She ran out of the room, almost bumping straight into Inspector Thatcher who was coming out of her office. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, curtseying to the Inspector before running up the stairs.
"I wish she would stop doing that," said Meg as she walked into the room, frowning uncomfortably.
"She looks up to you," replied Fraser. "You are somewhat of a role model to her."
Meg shook her head. "Well I shouldn't be," she said. "I wouldn't be if…if she knew some of the things I…" she trailed off and let out a slow sigh. She was fighting hard not to allow the guilt to consume her. "How is Constable Turnbull today? I wanted to visit the hospital myself, but I've been on the telephone most of the day."
"Constable Turnbull's condition remains unchanged," replied Fraser. "Serendipity spent some time with him today."
"I see," replied Meg. She turned to go, but then realised she had a fax in her hand. "Oh, this is what I wanted to tell you," she said, thrusting the piece of paper towards Fraser. "Ottawa have given me three names, three possible suspects."
Fraser scanned down the fax and nodded slowly. "Jonathan Bell," he read aloud. "His son was killed in a high speed chase with police in Halifax and Mr Bell blames the RCMP. Andrew McGarratt. Brother committed suicide in police custody in Saskatchewan having been arrested on a murder charge he was subsequently cleared of posthumously and… Bernard Wilson. Wife left him to marry an RCMP officer who investigated a burglary at their house in Montreal."
"All three have a history of causing trouble for the RCMP," explained Meg. "Sending hate mail, writing letters to local newspapers, that sort of thing. Wilson has even organised protests outside police stations at various locations."
"Hmm," pondered Fraser. "It's quite a leap from writing an angry letter to attempted homicide."
"I agree," noted Meg. "However, all three have dropped off the radar. We have people checking up on potential trouble makers regularly, you know the procedure, but these three men have been noticeably absent in the last couple of weeks."
"I see," replied Fraser. His tongue darted out and slowly moistened his lower lip as he thought about the implications of the information.
Meg was mesmerised. She'd seen him do it many times before – it was one of his regular little habits – but it never failed to stir feelings inside of her that she knew she could not afford to give in to. Her mind wandered like it did so many times. What if…
A knock at the door broke into her thoughts and brought her back to reality with a thud.
"Ah, Ray," said Fraser as he opened the door to find his partner standing there. "You should see this." He handed Ray the fax and closed the door.
Ray whistled as he read the details. "So you figure one of these guys is the shooter?" he asked.
"We have no concrete evidence at this juncture," replied Fraser.
"However, we would like to speak to each of them as soon as possible," added Meg. "We've got people on it. As soon as I have any more information I'll let you know."
"I thought I heard the door!" Dippy ran down the stairs with a huge smile on her face.
Meg quickly went back to her office before she had to talk to Turnbull's sister again.
"Ready?" asked Ray.
Dippy nodded. "I can't wait to see this movie," she grinned. "It's got that cute guy in it, you know, the one from that show. Not the one with, like, the three guys with the stupid hair, the other one, right? And it's got that other girl in it who used to play the little sister in that show with the cars. I totally loved that show when I was a kid."
Fraser stared open mouthed and looked desperately at Ray for an explanation, but Ray was none the wiser and just shrugged.
"Come on," said Ray, wondering if they'd ever get out of the door. "And I'm not letting you out of my sight this time."
xXxXxXx
"I can't believe you, like, didn't cry at the end, it was so sad!" Dippy was still wiping tears from her eyes as Ray parked the GTO outside the Consulate.
"Er, to be honest I thought the alien deserved to die," replied Ray. "He did kill that couple in the barn."
"Oh, I know, but they, like, totally got in his way," replied Dippy. "He was just trying to contact his friends and he was lonely. If those horrid scientists hadn't stolen his magic stone…"
"I think that was a bomb," said Ray.
"Was it?" Dippy frowned. "Oh, I didn't get that part anyway."
Ray shook his head and laughed to himself. Dippy had talked through most of the film and he was surprised she had come out with any clue about the plot at all. He opened the car door for her and they walked up the path to the Consulate together. Ray noticed that there were no lights on and wondered where his buddy could be. "Ya did tell Fraser we were gonna come back here to eat, didn't ya?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Dippy. "At least I think I did. Maybe I didn't? Sometimes I, like, do that thing where you imagine you've said something to someone, but you totally think you really said it to them and then when you ask them and they, like, don't know what you're talking about you think they've, like, gone crazy."
"Sshhh," said Ray, suddenly and drew his gun from his holster. "Stay back."
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Dippy, suddenly scared. "Do you think something's happened?"
"Dunno yet," hissed Ray. He approached the door slowly and listened, but he couldn't hear any noises coming from inside. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was no reply. Ray re-holstered his gun and took out his wallet.
Dippy was puzzled as to why he'd need money right now. She watched in silent amazement as Ray slid the card down between the door and the door frame and with a quick flick of the door handle, the door opened.
Ray slowly stepped inside, gun in hand again now. He held his breath, hoping that nothing bad had happened. His instincts were sending him mixed signals and he didn't like it. Suddenly, the light in the hallway came on and Ray's head snapped round to see Dippy had flicked the switch.
"What the hell are you doin?" he yelled at her.
"Well it was, like, dark," replied Dippy.
Ray was about to yell some more, when Dippy walked over to the front desk and smiled. "Oh look, Fraser left a note," she said, tearing open the envelope with Ray's name on it.
"Give that here," snapped Ray and snatched it out of her hand. He quickly read the handwritten message. "Oh," he said quietly, putting his gun away again. "Fraser, er, took the Ice Queen home. He says to order the pizzas, he won't be long."
Dippy frowned. "You don't think much of the Inspector, do you," she noted.
Ray shook his head. It was the truth, he didn't. He'd seen that she could be a good cop when she wanted to be, but it seemed that most of the time she just wanted to be some kind of tyrannical boss. He knew that Dippy admired her, though, and he didn't want to get into an argument with her so he changed the subject.
"Any word from your folks, yet?" he asked.
Dippy's mood changed dramatically and Ray wished he hadn't mentioned it.
"No," she said. "I really wish they wouldn't go on these stupid expeditions. I said to my Dad once before, what if something happens and we need to, like, contact you. He just, like, laughed it off. He never listens. All they think about is whatever dumb research project thingy they're working on. They never think about me and Ren. It's like they don't, like, understand me at all. I can't talk to my Mum every day like other girls can. I just miss her all the time."
"Jeez, er, I'm sorry," said Ray. He was stunned by how sad Dippy looked as she spoke about her parents. "Y'know, me and my folks have had, er, some problems over the years. It's my dad, mostly. They moved away and, um, well they're back in town now, but it's hard to talk to him sometimes."
Dippy nodded slowly and tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"Hey," said Ray, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Let's, er, let's talk about somethin' else."
Dippy nodded and leaned into his shoulder. "You're so nice," she said. "Why haven't you been, like, snapped up already?"
"Er, well actually I'm divorced," replied Ray.
"What?" exclaimed Dippy, breaking away from his hold to look at him in surprise. "No…really? You're divorced? Oh my god. If I was your wife I would never, like, get divorced. Unless you cheated on her, or something, or, like, you were beating on her. You didn't, did you? I mean, I can't imagine for a minute that you would do either of those things, but some guys can seem real nice on the outside, but underneath it all they're real bastards."
"No, it was nothing like that," replied Ray. "We, er, we just grew apart I guess."
"That sucks," noted Dippy.
Ray smiled ruefully. That was possibly the most succinct and yet the most accurate thing he'd heard her say since he'd met her. "Sure does," he agreed.
Then before Ray had time to react, Dippy had her arms around his neck and her lips pressed to his.
"What…what…" Ray squirmed and tried to pull away, but she had him pinned against the wall. He quickly grabbed her arms and managed to duck and sidestep until he was free. "What the hell?" He exclaimed and he waved his hands in the air in disbelief.
Dippy looked horrified. She clasped both her hands to her mouth. "Oh…" she whimpered. "I'm…I'm sorry…" she broke down into floods of tears and spun round as fast as she could, heading for the stairs.
"Wait," Ray called after her. "Let's talk about this." He already regretted yelling at her. Dippy was young, naïve and vulnerable and she'd realised straight away that she'd made a mistake. Getting angry wasn't going to help, Ray knew that, but it had been his gut reaction.
He reached out to pull her back, but she was moving too fast and she already had once foot on the first step. "God, I'm so…so…" she sobbed and tried to run up the stairs, but somehow she lost her footing and slipped, banging her head on the wall as she fell.
"Dippy!" exclaimed Ray with concern and he tried to help her to her feet.
At that moment, the front door opened and Fraser and Diefenbaker appeared.
"Leave me alone!" yelled Dippy and ran up the stairs.
A stunned Fraser watched her go and then looked to Ray for an explanation.
Ray hung his head and stood with one hand on his hip. "She…" he hesitated, wondering if he should keep what had happened private, but then he realised he was out of his depth with this one. He needed Fraser's help, or, more accurately, Dippy needed it. "She kissed me," he said with a sigh.
"Oh dear."