Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I fell behind in some of my responses, but I read every review and appreciate corrections and suggestions. I take it all to heart. Ok, here is another chapter. Enjoy!
The Messenger
Chapter 7
Treasures in the Sand
Lisbon sat silently in the passenger seat of the FBI SUV, letting Cho do the driving while she ran various scenarios concerning Jane's disappearance over and over in her mind. Cho glanced at her from time to time, knowing she would speak when she was ready. Just when he had decided she needed to be distracted from worry, Lisbon turned to Cho and began to talk.
"He's going to be OK. I know it. He's always OK, right Cho?" Lisbon stated more than asked.
She sounded emotional, vulnerable. So different from the Boss Cho had worked for at the CBI. She was finally allowing herself to feel. Cho had to admit he liked seeing this transition in her, and it was all because she and Jane had finally become the couple they should have been years before. Cho had stupidly not seen it as soon as Abbott and some of the others back in the CBI days, but now, in hindsight, all the signs had been there, if only Cho had looked.
"He's always Ok until he isn't, that's when you save his ass" Cho smirked. Lisbon smiled back, not seeing the road ahead but instead seeing Jane in her mind with his smug expression whenever she had indeed, "saved his ass".
Cho looked over at her. Time to get back on track.
"How did it go when you and Jane went to the Tax office yesterday? Any insights into our victim Carruthers?"
Lisbon sighed and shook her head.
"Ex-marine, did two tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Graduate of Texas A & M, math major. Studied accounting when he got out of the service and landed this job with the Taxation office. His co-workers said he loved the quiet and predictability of the job. No one shooting at him, all the answers right there in front of him in those rows of numbers. He like the security of the job and his peaceful life. Secretly gay, but everyone at work knew and didn't care."
"Married? Significant other?" prompted Cho.
"Not married. Very involved in his church. Volunteered in his community whenever he had the time. Loved kids, and regretted never having any of his own." Lisbon turned to look at Cho.
"Walter Carruthers seems like a very decent man, who bothered no one and lived a quiet life once out of the Service. So who would want to kill him?"
Cho shook his head in agreement. This murder didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it.
"Could he have been involved in something criminal and covered it up by being Mr. Nice Guy? Accountant to the Mob? In debt to someone and unable to pay?" Cho wondered out loud, grasping at straws.
"Could someone from his days in the military have found him, maybe had a score to settle with him and it got out of control?" Lisbon guessed. "Or was it something as simple as homophobia? Did someone decide Carruthers needed to be 'straightened out' and it went too far? I don't know...Abbott will be compiling all of our reports today, so maybe something will shake out that we don't know about. Wylie was doing a background check on Carruthers' financials yesterday afternoon. He might find something."
The two agents tossed ideas around concerning Walter Carruthers and his seemingly spotless life, and had reached no new conclusions about his death by the time they reached the place where the unfortunate man's body had been dumped. Several agents were arriving at the same time and everyone walked over to the crime scene, hoping to find something, anything that forensics had missed. A quick examination turned up nothing. There was nothing new to be learned from this location, so Cho told his agents to fan out to search their assigned routes.
"Where will we go? The road back to Austin is pretty straightforward" stated Lisbon, gazing out into the harsh landscape.
Cho pulled out a paper map and marked out the various highways his teams were going to follow. Tracing a smaller line on the map, Cho pointed to it and circled it for emphasis.
"Here. This road is an offshoot of the main road. There would be no reason for Jane to take it in good weather but there was a storm last night. What if the main highway had been shut down? We need to check and see if there were any flash floods on the main road into Austin. Any flash floods anywhere for that matter" he added for good measure.
"I'll get Wylie on it" said Lisbon, glad to finally have something concrete to do to help find Jane. Pulling out her phone, she noticed there were only 2 bars showing on her screen. Reception this far out was lousy. Hopefully more bars would show up and reception would improve as they drove higher into Hill Country. They were the last to leave the crime scene and followed the other agents back onto the main road. When everyone else turned left, Cho turned right. Perhaps there was a restaurant or rest stop ahead where someone had seen Jane last night. Their first stop at a gas station proved fruitless. The female clerk was the sister of the owner and had worked the previous night during the worst of the storm. Cho flashed a photo of Jane and asked if she had seen him recently. The woman took the photo and walked over to the front window of the small store and studied the smiling face of the blonde man in question. Turning back to Cho and Lisbon, she handed back the photo with a sigh.
"Honey, if that man hadda come here last night, I'd a never forgot! He is some yummy looking specimen! I might'a taken him out back and made him a member of the family, if you know what I mean!" she said enthusiastically. "Sorry, never made his acquaintance, unfortunately. But send him my way when you do find him OK Sugar?" she said with gusto. Cho just said 'Uh huh' and pocketed the photo while Lisbon rolled her eyes and headed for the door.
"Remind me to never let Jane near that woman! Talk about a cougar…" Lisbon groused.
Cho snorted in agreement and they once again took to the dusty road and searched for another place where Jane may have pulled over. Lisbon got through to Wylie on her cell and asked for flash flood information. That done, they drove on. Several miles later they saw a dingy diner up ahead, with just one car parked out front.
"This looks nice" said Lisbon sarcastically, as she and Cho slammed the car doors and walked towards the building. The old aluminium door slammed hard behind them when they entered, and they glanced around at the tired, dusty place with disdain. Although Jane had no problem eating at greasy spoon diners that Lisbon often had little faith in, he was always right about the great food to be found in some of the sketchier looking places. This, however, was even below his very generous standards. The black haired woman standing behind the counter looked up at them and cast a quick glance back through the kitchen window opening to get the attention of the cook. Cho looked around the diner and resolved not to touch anything if he could possibly avoid it. Lisbon was already on her way over to the counter to speak with the pale woman.
Taking the photo of Jane out of her pocket, she held it out under the woman's nose and asked the key question.
"Excuse me, have you seen this man? We think he may have come this way some time yesterday, perhaps late in the afternoon."
The woman glanced very briefly at the photo and shook her head, no, wordlessly. Cho stepped up to the counter and held his photo out.
"Take another look. This man is missing. He was driving a black SUV and may have stopped in here during the storm."
The woman made a show of looking harder at the photo, then shook her head again. Cho turned and looked at the man in the kitchen feigning disinterest. Walking into the dirty kitchen, Cho held out the photo and asked the same question. The man was at least somewhat talkative.
"Nope, sorry. Can't say I ever saw him. Nice looking guy like that I'm sure we both would have remembered him, right Mom?" he said to the dour woman behind the counter.
"Right" she muttered.
Cho thanked the man then stepped out of the kitchen and re-joined Lisbon at the counter, staring at the old diner with critical eyes. Jane would have been fascinated by this place, even if he wouldn't actually eat here until it was cleaner. Lisbon wandered over to the cooler chest and saw a variety of bottled drinks inside. Reaching inside, she took a bottle of sweet tea out for herself and turned to Cho.
"Cho! Water, cold tea, lemonade, cola?" she asked, calling out the types of available drinks. There were not that many places that sold old-style glass bottled soda and juice anymore, plastic now being much more popular, but here time had stood still and the retro-styled bottles appealed to her.
'Just water, thanks" Cho answered, handing a five dollar bill over to the woman. Once he had pocketed his change, they left and climbed back into their SUV.
"Well wasn't she just a beam of sunshine!" scoffed Lisbon. "No wonder it looks like no one ever goes there. She would depress anyone out of eating, even if the place didn't look like it was condemned by the Health Department."
"Maybe she should get out of the service industry" smiled Cho, glad to see Lisbon's mood lift since this morning.
"What service?" came her caustic reply.
They continued down the highway, stopping at another gas station with the same negative results. No one along here had seen Jane or his car. This was turning out to be a wild goose chase. Up ahead Cho saw his side road coming up and left the main road to explore this route. Not too far along the narrow highway took a sharp bend and Cho slammed on his brakes. The road was completely closed off due to a mini-landslide. Dried mud, broken trees and shrubs littered the asphalt and large rocks lay scattered like marbles all along the side of the road and out onto the pavement as well. There was a wire running along the side of the road but it was bent and twisted, as if an elephant had squashed it flat with a large foot. Cho and Lisbon both stepped out of the SUV wordlessly, both thinking the same bad thoughts. Stepping through the crusting mud, they walked over to the side of the road and looked up, then down. A clear pathway had been carved into the hillside above them where a river of mud and water had cascaded down and crashed into the roadway. At the edge of the roadway a large crest of torn up trees and plants lay enmeshed in the wire, glued into place with mud. Cho stepped forward and looked over the edge as far as possible, with Lisbon right behind him. Holding onto Cho for support, she looked everywhere for signs of a black SUV below. There was nothing. No vehicle or anything else for that matter. Just a mass of vegetation displaced by the flash flood above. Both Cho and Lisbon were relieved and disappointed in equal measure in not finding a trace of Jane's vehicle. So he had not gone over the edge... that was a blessing. Cho sighed audibly and turned to go back to his SUV when a small glint of something bright caught his eye. He stopped and turned around, leaning over the edge again.
'What is it Cho?" asked Lisbon, concerned once again.
"I just thought I saw something shiny down there" he said, uncertain if he had really seen anything in the blinding sun.
"Where? Where did you see it?" Lisbon pressed him.
Pointing a little to the right of the mass of torn up trees and shrubs, Cho indicated a spot just beyond the spot where the flood had landed. Lisbon grabbed Cho's hand and leaned out as far as she safely could. Putting her other hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, she looked again, hoping to see...what? Garbage shining in the Texas sun? Foil from a discarded potato chip bag? What?
"I see it! I see it now, something definitely shining!" she said with excitement. Turning to Cho, she pulled herself back from the edge and said the only thing that made any sense to her right now.
"I'm going down there for a look!"
Before Cho could argue, she was already walking back to the SUV, looking for a safe way down the hill. Cho quickly followed, as he would not be able to rest until they had investigated every possible clue.
Slipping and sliding their way down the hill in their office shoes, Cho and Lisbon were a little worse for wear when they finally got to the bottom of the small hill. There below was the pile of mud and debris deposited by the flood the previous night. There was no sign of a car. Lisbon walked in the direction of the shiny object, kicking at the low growing shrubbery with her foot, careful to avoid cacti along the way. It was hot work and Cho was right beside her, checking every plant and small tree for something, anything. Lisbon stepped forward, pulling a small shrub apart with her hand to get to the middle of it when she stopped suddenly and called Cho over. Bending down, she grabbed what she had been looking for. With a final grunt, she lifted a long muddy lemonade bottle out of the shrub. The same type of bottle they had just seen at the grungy diner a few miles away on the main road.
"Look, Cho, it could only have come from that diner. What if Jane bought it and somehow it got down here?" she asked with enthusiasm. Cho was less impressed with her find.
"Anyone could have tossed it out of a car window at any time. Anyone" he said, sorry to deflate her hopes at a finding a clue. Lisbon knew he was right, but she couldn't just give up, not yet. She walked around in a circle, frustrated and desperate to find another hint that could help them. Kicking at a small patch of weeds, her foot caught on something, tripping her up. Lisbon bent down and felt around to see what her foot had snagged. Cho was just about to call her to go back to their car when she straightened up, her treasure in her hand.
"Maybe we need to go back and speak with those people again!" she said triumphantly, waving a bent license plate in her hand. A plate from a Federal vehicle. Cho rushed over and grabbed his phone, snapping a photo of the plate and forwarded it to Wylie. Texting him to stop whatever he was doing and run the plate, they would soon know just what vehicle this had once belonged to.
Lisbon was already on her way back up the hill, grasping the bottle and the license plate in her hands like rare jewels. Once they were both back up to the main road Cho's phone was ringing with a call from Wylie. Putting it on speaker, Cho answered.
"Talk to me." Cho barked.
"It's one of ours Cho. That plate belongs to the SUV Jane took out yesterday. No question." said Wylie with certainty.
Cho ended the call and followed Lisbon back out to the edge of the road overlooking the valley below.
"He's out there somewhere Cho. Since last night, in that storm. We're looking at a crime scene" she said with finality, turning to her friend with sadness etched into her face. Cho couldn't argue with her and reached for his phone again. Service was good here on the hill and he took advantage of it to call in a request for a forensics team to come out and scour the valley directly below for anything that would cast light on Jane's disappearance. Lisbon listened to his call as a professional, trying to keep her emotions in check. She walked back to the SUV, still clutching the license plate and bottle to her chest. She needed answers and she wouldn't stop until she got them.
"Forensics is on the way. We'll need to give them the bottle and the license plate to check for any fingerprints or paint chips, anything that will help in the investigation" Cho said, all business now. Lisbon looked down at both items, contaminated with her fingerprints and DNA. She should have known better. First year, rookie mistake! Don't touch the evidence! Blushing in embarrassment, she put the items down on the backseat and silently thanked Cho for not pointing out her faux pas.
Both she and Cho sat in the SUV, looking out at the vista beyond the roadway, each contemplating what could have happened. A thought occurred to Lisbon and she turned to Cho to bounce it off him.
"Where's Jane's SUV? Shouldn't it be down there if it went over the edge?"
Cho nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "IF it went over the edge in the flash flood, yes, it should be. But what if Jane was sideswiped, or rear ended and the plate popped off and fell down the hill in the storm? We wouldn't find the SUV then" he surmised.
"But if he was in a crash, someone would have seen something somewhere. We had officers out last night searching for him and the car. Did Wylie call it in to the local hospitals and clinics? Do they have a John Doe admitted after an accident?" Lisbon asked all in a rush.
Cho turned and looked at his best friend, torn between being her boss when Abbott left and being her friend in a time of need. She was grasping at straws, and voiced her concerns in an unguarded way that surprised him. She had never been this emotional in the past.
"Wylie called all the hospitals and private clinics and sent Jane's photo to them. No one has seen him" Cho answered her. "How about we go back to the diner and speak to our friendly hostess over there, see if she is a bit more cooperative now. We can give the bottle and SUV plate to Forensics when we get back."
Lisbon nodded and buckled up for the ride back to the dismal diner a few miles down the road. She hoped their visit this time would prove to be more fruitful.