Gold eyes glared heavily at the retreating human. Snarling, he tugged at the tightened collar around his neck and took a couple of steps forward. "If I could get my claws on-"
"So it was you."
The sound of a female voice cut through his snarls and he turned his glare at the appearing dark-haired female standing a few feet behind him.
"I was wondering how he had unlocked the door and what he meant when he said that Victoria had given him the key." She stated before concluding blankly. "There wasn't a Victoria. You gave him the key."
Growling, he bared his teeth at her and expressed his thoughts for her to hear. "He wanted it."
"No. You wanted it. He didn't know that it was for the Door." She narrowed her eyes. "Did he?"
Ignoring the teenager talking to him, he kept growling and pulling at the offending, black item around his neck.
"Answer me!" She yelled out.
Silence fell for a few minutes.
He stopped pulling at the collar. "It doesn't matter who wanted it. Secrets always find a way of coming out." He glanced at her. "I told you that you couldn't keep him away from me forever. Once I get this collar completely off…" A toothy grin slowly stretched across his face and he appeared by her. "You'll be back in the ground and everything will go back to how it was." He turned his gaze to the stairs that led to the beach. "It's so close that I can taste it …blood so sweet staining the ground like rivers between blades of grass... My prey…" Laughing, he disappeared into dark mist. Red and orange leaves fluttered from where he had stood.
She stared at the place where the man had been, shaking her head slowly. She didn't like this. Things were quickly slipping completely out of her control and moving too fast.
She sighed, looking at the cabin.
She had figured waking up to a beautiful view of the secluded beach would relax him and seeing the cabin would slowly spur enough memories for him to understand.
She glared at the spot where the man disappeared.
She hadn't expected for that to show its face and manipulate the memories in its favor.
"It has gained more strength than I thought it could have had at this point." She thought to herself.
If this kept going in the direction it was heading, more people were going to die and Grandfather's efforts would be for nothing. But what could she do now… Dreams can only do so much when nightmares start to take over.
Chapter 44 – What is Taken is Usually Recovered...
A few hours earlier…
"Okay I have it." Gus said getting back into the taxi.
He eyed the GPS device in his best friend's hand while holding an icepack to his head.
"Please drive us to this location." Gus said showing the driver the red, blinking marker indicating the address on the device.
"Okay." The driver answered and pulled out of the parking lot of Gus' apartment building.
"I called Juliet while I was in there finding the GPS." Gus said, looking at him.
"What!?" He exclaimed pulling off the icepack from his head. "Why did you call Jules!?"
"Shawn, you know and I know what kind of delicate situation this is."
"It's not that delicate. I can handle it."
Gus gave him a look, but didn't say anything.
"Come on, Gus. How was I supposed to know that he would–?"
"Shawn, we can talk later."
"But-"
"Shawn." Gus said motioning to the taxi driver.
Sighing, he closed his mouth and they rode the rest of the journey in silence.
About thirty minutes later, outside the city, and up in the mountains, the taxi driver pulled into a dirt road off a two-way highway in the middle of nowhere. As they journeyed further into the thicket, the trees suddenly disappeared revealing a small hidden, sandy cove and the Blueberry sitting a few feet away on the sandy ground.
"My car!" Gus yelled, sitting up as the driver stopped at the edge of the sand. "Thank you for driving us." His friend then quickly paid the fare and left the car.
The driver nodded and accepted the money. "Be safe guys."
"We will." He said, giving the driver a brief smile and following Gus out of the car. He then waved for the taxi to leave and after a few second it drove away, following the path back to the highway.
"I can't believe he took my car." Gus huffed walking up to the Blueberry, which looked abandoned.
"Unless… Horror Tip: #254. Lassie is lying in the backseat." He thought before saying, "I can't believe he got the jumped on me." He retorted dryly holding the icepack to his head.
"You deserved that for loosening his restraints." Gus peeked into the windows and then opened the driver's door. "Lassiter isn't here and he left my keys in the ignition. Someone could've stolen my car."
"No one would think to steal your car way out here." He opened the back door and took a quick peek at the empty backseat before looking at his friend.
Gus was frowning at him.
"And back to loosening his restraints," He closed the back door, "I had a perfectly logical explanation for that."
"Oh. Please tell me." Gus mocked. "Why did the Mighty Shawn think that it was a good idea to release an obviously drugged detective who can snap and kill anyone in a second?"
He gave his best friend a slightly surprised look. He knew Gus was upset, but not this upset. "I wanted to reason with him. You know make him more comfortable, talk mano a mano with him, and get some answers."
Gus scoffed and folded his arms.
"Lassie seemed like he was in a talking mood. Or as much of a talking mood as a person just waking up was." His thoughts added at the end. "You had seen how he was when Jules talked to him before the drugs kicked in. He was opening up like a flowering fountain of information. We just needed to coax him a little more and I needed you there to help me, but you left with Jules right after I told you not to leave." He pouted.
"I have-," Gus glanced at his watch, "I had work today, since I took off Friday. I told you that I couldn't stay up all night with you."
"Well too late for that." He mumbled.
"I heard that, Shawn." Gus visibly tightened his hold on the GPS device in hand. "I can't believe you would do that and take my keys. Did you forget the last time you tried to get answers by yourself? Or was it fun getting chased by a crazed Lassiter out for your blood and then being kidnapped?"
He looked at Gus and smiled. "It was rather fun getting chased. We can strap a big juicy steak to your back, so you can experience the fun too."
Gus pushed him. "Shawn, I'm not laughing and you need to take this serious. Lassiter is out there, a slave to whatever Leo gave him."
He frowned, taking the icepack off his head. "I am taking this serious, Gus. Lassie knows what's going on or at least he knows a part of the conflict between his grandfather and Leo. Keeping him strapped down to a hospital bed won't help us find Leo or solve this case. What will help us is helping Lassie follow the trail that his buried memories are giving him."
Gus was about to respond back, but a beige Crown Vic appeared from the foliage, driving on the dirt road. It rolled to a stop next to them and Jules stepped out. He put on the biggest smile he could muster.
She looked a lot better than when she had left the hospital, but the frown on her face made the tiredness creep back into her features.
"Shawn, Gus. What happened? I knew I should've stayed." Jules said walking toward them.
"There was a mishap...," he said, "and me and the other officers were knocked out and Lassie escaped."
He didn't want to say what really happened. That he had released only one strap and somehow Lassie was able to break the others, strangle him into unconsciousness, and knock out the officers before leaving with Gus' keys that he had stolen to keep Gus at the hospital. The bump on the head had come from hitting the floor after Lassie had released him.
Jules gave a disbelieving look and he quickly stated, "What has happened is in the past. We should focus on the present and find Lassie." He put a couple of fingers to his temple, being careful not to touch the sore spot where his head had connected with the floor. "The spirits' radar is beeping in that general vicinity." He pointed in the direction of an old set of stairs leading up. "They are telling me that Lassie is up there and we will find a major piece of the puzzle up there also."
"Okay, Shawn. We will check it out, but I want you to stay behind me at all times." Jules said pulling out her sidearm. "We will not have a repeat of what happened before and no one needs to be kidnapped again." Jules started walking away, following the clear foot tracks in the sand.
While they followed her closely behind, he put the icepack back on his aching head to hide more than the red knot on his head.
"Man. She is so sexy." He thought admiring her posture with the handgun aimed low and her eyes searching the area.
They climbed the wooden stairs, careful not to make too much noise. It was a difficult task with the piles of dried leaves collected on the steps and the creaking of the old wood. As they slowly ascended, he couldn't keep his gaze from losing itself in the beauty of the trees and the sunlight streaming down in bright rays around them. He was so caught up in the sights that he nearly walked into Jules, who had stopped on the stairs in mid-step.
"Jules?" He asked, looking at her and then at Gus. Both of which had their eyes trained up and he followed their gaze to see the head detective staring back.
"Carlton?" He heard Jules whisper and he saw her tight resolve waver ever slightly in her hold of the gun.
The head detective continued staring blankly ahead for a few seconds before blinking slowly, looking around, and then back behind him.
It didn't seem like the detective knew they were there and it seemed like Jules realized that too.
"Carlton!" She called out, aiming her gun up at him.
"Jules, what are you doing!?" He asked reflexively, pulling the icepack off his head.
"I'm not taking any chances." She said over her shoulder while maintaining her aim.
On the way over to meet Gus and Shawn, she had been telling herself over and over again that she would not let her guard down this time. People's lives depended on her not being easy on her partner anymore. If she had been more watchful and less trusting of Carlton, Dawson wouldn't have died and Goober would still be in fit shape to walk. He also wouldn't have unaccounted hours, if she had stayed at the hospital instead of listening to Shawn and her tired mind.
"Carlton, we're taking you into police custody. Comply by putting your hands on your head."
He looked surprised. "O'Hara…?" The quiet question floated out from him, almost like an imaginary whisper in the wind. He took a step down toward them.
She tightened her grip. "Do not take another step! Put your hands on your head or I will use force!"
Carlton's shock deepened and she heard him stutter a few syllables before quietly taking the submissive position.
She cautioned up to him with gun still trained. Once she realized he wasn't going to do anything, she holstered her gun, quickly handcuffed his hands behind his back, checked him for any weapons, and then started guiding him down the stairs past Shawn and Gus.
Carlton glanced at her. "I don't understand, O'Hara. What's going on?"
She didn't answer him until they were back on the sand and in the uncovered sunlight. Here she met his gaze and was surprised to see clear blue staring back at her.
"O'Hara?" He asked again.
"I would like to know what's going on myself." She answered. "But first I'm taking you back to the hospital. You're sick and injured, Carlton."
She felt Carlton stop. "Sick?" He asked.
She was about to answer, but Shawn interrupted from a few paces behind them.
"Lassifrass, your memory issues are getting a little complicated." Shawn said pointing to his temple while holding the icepack to his head.
"What happened to you, Spencer?" Her partner asked.
"You got a little excited and knocked me out. It's nothing."
A covered look flew by Carlton's face. "Don't tell me I was after you again."
"No. You weren't, Lassiter." Gus spoke up from beside his friend. "Shawn was doing something dumb. As always."
Carlton frowned.
She stared at him while holding tightly to his handcuffs.
It was strange that her partner was acting so normal when in the past few days; he had been irrational and so unlike himself. She would have to wait until he was back in the hospital before asking any questions because the current situation seemed very fishy. She had a feeling that Leo was lying in wait around them somewhere.
But it looked like Shawn wasn't getting the same feeling that she was.
"So why did you come here?" Shawn asked.
"Shawn," She said preventing Carlton from answering, "we should hold the questions until we're back in a secure room." She started pulling on the handcuffs and she quickly noted Carlton's gaze back toward the stairway before he allowed her to guide him to the beige Crown Vic without resistance.
Shawn and Gus' mumbled to each other behind her as they made it back to the cars parked on the sand.
While Shawn and Gus headed to their car, she led Carlton to her car, opened the back door, and then motioned for Carlton to get in.
He looked at her and said. "O'Hara. I can't go back to the hospital. Can you take me to my house? Just for a minute."
"Carlton, I can't take you to your house. It's still a crime scene."
"A crime scene? Don't tell me they found something else to connect me to those murders."
"No. You killed Dawson and critically injured Goober when we tried to put you in police custody the first time."
Carlton stared at her in disbelief. "I did what!?"
She looked at him, not really wanting to repeat. "…You killed Dawson and injured Goober. I was there, so was the Chief–"
She could see the color draining from his face before he yelled out. "I didn't kill anyone!" His voice quieted. "I couldn't have." His uncertain blue eyes looked away from her and then journeyed back up to look at the stairway.
She wondered why he kept looking back there. She quickly made a mental note to come back and check the area out.
"Carlton, I'm-"
"No, O'Hara." He looked at her with such intensity. "There is no way I would kill someone, let alone a fellow officer."
"What's wrong?" Shawn asked as him and Gus quickly jogged over. She noted quickly how Shawn kept some distance between himself and Carlton.
Looking fully back at her partner and taking in his confusion, she chose to disregard Shawn and Gus for the moment to focus on him. "Carlton, what was the last thing you remember?"
He took a minute for him to answer. "I was trying to get you and Spencer away from Leo. I remember being stabbed, shot, and then nothing… Until I woke up in Guster's car."
She nodded her head and then asked. "What day is it?"
"Sunday." He stared at the three people around him. They stared back like he had grown a second head.
"No it's Monday." O'Hara said.
"Monday!? What happened to Sunday!?" He looked at Spencer. "Spencer, you said that I was having memory issues. What does that mean?"
"Carlton." O'Hara said.
He looked at her. "O'Hara, was Leo captured? Please tell me he was."
O'Hara looked at him. "Carlton, please get in the car. We can discuss things later in a secured area."
He looked at her, understanding what she meant. He sat in the backseat and watched as she closed the door and jumped into the driver's seat. He saw her glance at him through the rearview mirror before briefly talking to HQ on the radio.
"10-15 en route to hospital." She then turned the car on, pulled off the sand, out of the trees, and onto the two-way highway. The Blueberry followed close behind.
He quickly noticed how O'Hara's eyes constantly moved, scoping out the area and making the silence in the car grow thick with tension. He really wanted to tell her that Leo wasn't around and that she could relax, but he deeply felt that saying anything would only worsen the situation and cause more confusion. "Because maybe Leo is around and I just don't know it." He thought.
They finally exited out of the wilderness and back into civilization. The Blueberry continued to follow close behind.
"He was captured," She suddenly spoke out, "but he escaped and now we need to find him. We were hoping that you could help us locate him because of your programming."
"My programming?"
"The Chief is thinking that Leo gave you a drug to make you do things that he wants, things out of the normal."
"Out of the normal?" He whispered more to himself. "How out of the normal?"
O'Hara gave him a quick glance through the rearview mirror again. "Like rising from the dead, not acting like yourself, killing, threatening me, fighting Buzz and Shawn. I could go on. There was a day worth of you not exactly being yourself."
He stayed silent, thinking. "Not acting like myself… Wait. Rising from the dead? I died?"
O'Hara was quiet for a lot longer than he could say was comfortable and there were so many emotions flying through her head that he could clearly see.
"You were pronounced dead twice by medical personnel on two different occasions." He heard her say in a professional tone. "We don't exactly know how, but you kept getting up even when you had no heartbeat ...and Dawson and Goober weren't the only ones you brutally attacked. You attacked Bear while he was jailed. He later died at the hospital."
He again stayed silent.
"We don't know why, but we think that whatever Leo gave you is controlling you because you distracted us while Leo made his escape from his cell. It makes us think that Bear was temporary and you are meant to replace him. We believe that the drug will eventually bring you back to him, so that he can use you again." She paused in her talking to make a left turn.
He didn't like any of what was said. He remembered the killer talking about the influence and how it ate away at you. Was attacking and killing people a way for the drug to eat away at him? He didn't know. All he knew now was that when he blacked out people ended up hurt or killed. He had to make sure to stay away from anything that would trigger those black outs.
"What were you doing when we found you?" O'Hara suddenly asked.
He took him a moment to answer. "I was searching the area for clues as to why I was there in Guster's car. I found my grandfather's cabin at the top of the stairs." He paused at thinking about the delusions he saw and decided not to talk about them. "She would really think I was crazy." He thought before telling her, "No one was there and the cabin was abandoned."
"Why did you end up by your grandfather's cabin?" She asked.
"I don't know." He responded and after a long pause, he added. "I feel like something left me there."
O'Hara stayed quiet. He could see the wheels turning in her head.
"And I don't think it was Leo." He quickly added, knowing exactly what she was thinking, and he continued talking, feeling that if he stopped he wouldn't be able to get the rest of what he was thinking out. "The key to the cabin is in a lockbox at my house. If I can get in that cabin, I think I should be able to figure out what's been going on with me and why Leo was interested in me in the first place."
She took a moment to process this before saying, "Carlton, I'll get that lockbox for you after I take you back to the hospital and make sure you're secure. There's no telling where Leo is and I don't want him getting to you."
He nodded his head, understanding what she meant.
Silence again fell between them and the minutes ticked on. His gaze slowly turned to staring out the window. A black Ford truck with heavily tinted windows and a big front guard was riding alongside them. For a second, he had to wonder why he had never bothered to get himself a truck again. His personal car was fine, but a manly life is nothing without a truck of his own.
The truck slowed down and drifted out of his sight. He leaned against the window watching other cars on the highway, almost memorized by the movement, and slowly he found himself drifting away just like the cars around them.
%%%
The ride was rough. Being handcuffed and in the back of a police car was not the most comfortable for him. He glared at the back of the two officers who dared to drag him out of the hospital. Things were confusing enough already without being arrested and charged with the death of a friend. He didn't do it…
"I didn't do it!" He thought because his mouth refused to yell it.
He didn't do it.
…not on purpose. The bully on the other hand…
His glaring eyes started to burn and tingle at the thought.
That bully deserved it.
His jaw tightened and he pulled at the handcuffs.
He deserved everything!
His eyes briefly caught sight of himself in the rearview mirror. Angry glowing amber stared back.
%%%
Giving a small gasp, he quickly raised his head from off the window as he was suddenly thrown back into the present. He looked around frantically. O'Hara eyed him through her rearview mirror.
"Carlton, are you alright?" She asked.
He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself before answering. "I'm fine."
She frowned. He could tell she didn't believe him, but he couldn't explain what he had just remembered.
"Carlton, I know-"
Then the world exploded around them as their car was abruptly sent spinning out of control and into something solid.
Groaning, he blinked away his blurry sights. "What happened?" He could feel the stings of scratches on his forehead and a bruise beginning to form on his shoulder where he had hit the door. Looking around, he spotted O'Hara slumped against the steering wheel.
"O'Hara?" He croaked.
He could hear her give a small moan and he nearly sighed in relief, but the back door being snatched open and the person waiting outside made the sigh immediately catch in his throat.
He turned his head away from the open door. "O'Hara!" He yelled out before feeling something sting his shoulder. He looked at the red dart sticking out of his shoulder, then up at the person standing outside. Everything started to feel woozy. So very tiring. "O'Hara!" He tried to yell. "get out, o'har..."
Vaguely, he felt hands grab and drag him out of the car. He struggled putting up a weak fight as the feeling of sleep wrapped its arms him and when he finally closed his heavy eyes, the last image he saw was a still unconscious Juliet sitting in the wrecked car.
Unfocused blue eyes opened to white smoke and the bright shine of the sunlight streaming through the broken windshield. Squealing tires sounded from outside the window and her head jerked up off the steering wheel just in time to catch the tail end of a black truck speeding off down the street away from them.
"Carlton?" She asked.
Creaking metal and smoke met her call.
"Carlton?" She turned looking behind her only to find her partner gone and a deep seed of panic and worry settle into the pit of her stomach. "Carlton!?"
He jumped out of the Blueberry before Gus could stop properly and ran to the crashed beige Crown Vic. He didn't care for the speeding Ford traveling away from the scene. His concern was fully on Jules.
"Please be alright. Please be alright." He repeated over and over and over in his head. He made it to the driver door and pulled. After some difficulty, it opened and he immediately went to work, checking on her and making sure she was okay.
"Shawn, I'm okay. I'm okay." She answered trying to push away his worried hands.
"You're not okay, Jules. That truck pushed you into a tree."
"I said I'm fine." Jules said forcefully and grabbed her radio. "HQ. 207 and a 480. In need of assistance at my location." She threw the radio back in the car and stood up.
Seeing how unstable on her feet she was, he quickly grabbed a hold of her.
Jules pushed him away from him. "Shawn. No." She stumbled away, heading toward the Blueberry. "We have to get Carlton back."
"Jules," He caught up to her easily and held her steady. "We'll get him back, but you need to get your head checked first."
"I don't need my head checked. I need to get my partner back." He could see how heartbroken she was. "He was there, Shawn. He was there and we need to go get him bac..." She collapsed in his arms.
"Jules?" He shook her a little and wiped the hair from her face before cradling her head. ...where he immediately felt wetness and saw the red on his fingers. "Jules!" He panicked, feeling helpless. "Gus, come here! We need to take Jules to the hospital right now!"
