Title: Angels Return(part2)
Author: Rena (renay@uslink.net)
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters that are Copyright@Spelling-Goldberg Productions. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes, and I retain only the rights to the plot, not the characters.
Jill sighed as she sat down in the booth beside her sister. They'd gotten an early start that morning and had just stopped at a small cafe for coffee. "I don't get it. How could someone just disappear like that?"
"You know, I've been thinking about what Sabrina told us last night." Kris began thoughtfully. "Maybe she's right."
"About what?" Her sister asked.
"Maybe Jesse did leave her. I mean, it is possible."
"I was thinking the same thing," Bosley said. "I guess I didn't want to believe that it myself."
"I don't think he would do that," Jill disagreed. "What about his jeep left open at the ranch? If he had left on his own, wouldn't he have driven it?"
"Not necessarily, Jill." Kris pointed out. "Not if he wanted her to believe that he'd been kidnapped or something. He probably figured that she'd eventually give up looking for him."
"He doesn't know her very well, then. She isn't one to give up easily."
"Where do we go from here? We still don't have anything to go on.?" Bosley stated.
"Maybe we should go back to the ranch. We might be able to find something that we haven't noticed before. We've talked to everyone on the list that Sabrina gave us. No one seemed to know anything. Or if they did, they sure weren't talking." Jill replied.
"Well, I guess going back to the ranch is about all we can do at this point." Bosley offered resignedly. " Charlie hasn't been able to turn up anything so far. He said..."
"Excuse me, folks," a gruff male voice interrupted.
Bosley paused, looking up to see who had spoken to them. "May we help you, Sheriff?"
"Are you the folks here from California?" The sheriff spoke with a southern accent. "Word around town is that you've been nosing around…asking questions about Jesse Walbrydge. Now I suggest you hop on the first plane out of here and go back to the big city."
"I'm sorry, Sheriff, but we can't do that." Bosley declined. "We were hired by his wife...and we won't leave until we find him."
"I don't think you understand," the sheriff continued, folding his hands across his chest. "This is my territory, and I don't like strangers nosing around."
"No, I don't think YOU understand." Jill stated sharply. "Maybe if you had done your job in the first place, Sabrina wouldn't have had to hire us."
The sheriff glared at Jill. "Well, now, we have a pretty blonde woman with a big mouth."
"You can't kick us out of town because we haven't done anything wrong or illegal," Kris jumped in, coming to her sister's defense.
"Sabrina said you've been here about a year." Bosley added. "Where are you from?"
"Louisiana. And in Pine Parish the sheriff could pretty much do whatever he wanted. Now, I'm going to say this again. Quit nosing around and mind your own business."
"Look here, Sheriff." Bosley stood up and spoke firmly. "We're not leaving. Come on, girls. We've got work to do."
Jill and Kris got up and started to follow Bosley.
Kris stopped and turned to face the sheriff. "Like I said, you obviously weren't doing your job. You wouldn't help Sabrina when she called to report her husband missing. So we'll just continue doing our job." Bosley, Kris and Jill left the cafe.
*********
Bosley drove into the long driveway that led to George Lazen's ranch. "I don't know what we hope to find here, but maybe we'll notice something that we've overlooked before."
As they were walking towards Jesse's jeep, Kris once again noticed the open gate. "Hey, what do you suppose is out there?"
Bosley and Jill looked to where she was pointing. "Probably nothing," her sister said. "Just an open gate."
"Yeah, probably." Kris replied. But still, she couldn't help but wonder what was beyond the open gate.
"Maybe we should split up," Jill suggested, "and each of search a different part of the ranch."
"Good idea. We can cover more territory that way." Bosley agreed.
For over an hour they walked around the ranch, looking for anything that might be a clue as to where Jesse was. Kris was the first to arrive back at Jesse's jeep. She sat down on the ground and looked around her.
"You didn't find anything either?" Jill asked dispiritedly as she sat down beside her.
Kris shook her head. "No. Jill, I'm scared. What if we don't find him?"
Jill put her arm around her younger sister.
Kris's blue eyes filled with tears. "It hurts to see Sabrina hurting like this. And I feel so...so helpless."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jill agreed quietly. "I know we're doing everything we can, but it still feels kind of like we're not doing anything."
"You shouldn't feel that way, girls." Bosley said as he came up behind them. "We're doing everything we can possibly think of. "
"Bos, what happens if we don't find him?" Jill's voice was barely above a whisper.
"I don't know, Jill. I honestly don't know."
"And what about when he does comes home?" Kris added. "Will things ever be like they used to be, before Jonathan died? Or will they just keep drifting further and further apart?"
"I would sure hate to see them break up," Jill said. "They're so wonderful together. And she loves him so much."
"I know," Bosley sighed, agreeing with them 100%. "We'd better get back to the house. I'm sure Kelly will have lunch ready soon."
"Yeah, I guess we'd better." Jill and Kris followed Bosley back to the carin silence.
********
By the time they arrived back at the Walbrydge farm a short time later Kelly had lunch on the table.
"Hi Kel. How's it going?" Jill asked as she entered the kitchen.
"Not bad. Lunch is ready if you're hungry."
"We sure are." Kris said. "How's Bri?"
"She's been asleep most of the morning. She said she'll be down for lunch. Did you find out anything new?"
"No, " Jill answered dispiritedly. "But we still don't know anything more than we did this morning. It's frustrating."
"Hi, guys," Sabrina greeted, making her way slowly to the kitchen.
"Morning, Bri." Bosley hurried to help her over to the table. "How do you feel?"
"Like a beached whale," Sabrina answered with a slight smile.
"Only you would make a joke at a time like this," Jill chuckled.
"Lunch is served." Kelly announced as she took her place at the table. "So tell us what you guys did this morning."
"We went back and talked to Brock Logan again." Bosley explained. "He pretty much stuck to his story, so I don't think he knows anything about Jesse's whereabouts."
"And we met your sheriff." Kris continued, rolling her eyes. "He sure is a charmer."
"You met the sheriff?" Sabrina asked blankly. "But I didn't want to..."
Bosley interrupted, sensing what she was going to say. "We stopped at a cafe for coffee. He came over and suggested we hop on the first plane back to the big city. It appears he doesn't like strangers nosing around his territory."
"He called Jill a 'pretty blonde with a big mouth'," Kris concluded in her best imitation of a southern accent.
"I don't know why," Jill added innocently. "All I said was that if he'd done his job in the first place you wouldn't have had to hire us."
"If you ask me," Bosley observed. "That man has a serious attitude problem."
Sabrina nodded. "I've only talked to him a few times, but there's something about him that just rubs me the wrong way. He's only been here for about a year and he already thinks he owns the town."
" He said he was from Louisiana." Bosley said.
Kris suddenly burst out laughing.
Kelly looked at Bosley and then Jill. "What's wrong with her?"
"Kris, what are you laughing about?" Jill asked her sister. "I didn't think anything funny happened today."
"I was just thinking." Kris answered. "He came from a place called Pine Parish. Now that sounds like a no count town if I ever heard one. [What's a no count town?]I wonder how he came up with a name like that." Kelly, Jill and Bosley joined in the laughter, but Sabrina only watched them with a thoughtful look on her face.
Kris was the first to notice the perplexed expression on her face. "What's wrong, Bri? You look kinda puzzled."
"Uh...I...I'm not sure." Sabrina said slowly. "Pine Parish...that name sounds very familiar."
"You mean you've heard of it?" Kris asked in disbelief. "I thought for sure he made it up."
"I'm...I'm not really sure." Sabrina said. "But I know I've heard that name before."
"So what else did you do this morning?" Kelly asked, changing the subject.
"Went back to the ranch." Jill answered with a sigh.
"Find anything new?" Kelly asked.
Kris shook her head. "No, just a bunch of animals and Jesse's jeep by that open gate. We..."
"Wait a minute," Sabrina interrupted. "An open gate?"
"Yeah, at the north end of the pasture," Kris answered.
"That's not right," Sabrina stated. "An open gate usually means trouble."
"Do you know what might be back there?" Bosley asked eagerly.
Sabrina shook her head. "No. I just know that there shouldn't be an open gate there."
"Maybe we should talk to Mr. Lazen. He might be able to help us out." Bosley suggested.
"I don't want him to know about Jesse. He'll just worry." Sabrina said. She pushed back her plate which she'd hardly touched. "I...I guess I'm not very hungry," she said softly. Sadness shadowed her dark brown eyes as she stood and excused herself from the table. "Call me if you need anything," Sabrina said. "I'm not feeling well. I think I'll go and lie down for a while."
"Need any help?" Jill offered.
"No, thanks," Sabrina declined. "I'll be fine."
"Okay, Bri," Jill agreed reluctantly. "And you call us if you need anything."
"I will." Sabrina turned and left the room.
"Well, there might be something to that open gate at the ranch. But what?" Bosley pondered.
"And is there any connection to the open gate and Jesse's disappearance?" Kelly continued.
"And why does the sheriff want us out of town?" Kris concluded.
***********
Sabrina glanced at her watch as she stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor of the hospital. 4:10pm. She'd hated lying to her friends but she knew that they wouldn't want her to go off on her own.
For the past couple of hours she had just driven around, till she finally ended up at the cemetery. There she had spent some quiet time with her son.
Sabrina paused outside room 415 and took a deep breath, then she slowly opened the door. "George?" She called, entering the room.
George Lazen put aside his magazine he was reading and smiled when he saw who it was. "Hi, Sabrina. Come on in. What brings you here?"
"I had some errands to do so I thought I would stop in and see how you're doing."
George pointed to the chair beside the bed. "Have a seat. You look like you need to take a load off your feet."
Sabrina eased herself into the chair. "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, pretty good." George answered, folding his hands behind his head and making himself comfortable. "I should be able to get out of here in a few days. How are things at the ranch?"
"Oh, fine," she lied, unable to look him in the eye. "I was just wondering about something."
"What's that?"
"At the north end of the pasture there's a gate closing off a dirt road. I was just wondering where it leads to."
"Why would you want to know about that?" George asked curiously
Sabrina shrugged, not wanting to give too much away. "I don't know, just the detective in me, I guess."
"There's nothing back there except an old cabin. I haven't used it in years." George eyed her suspiciously. "Why? Is something wrong?"
Sabrina quickly shook her head. "Uh...no...I was just curious, that's all."
"I guess I'll eventually tear it down but just haven't gotten around to doing it yet."
"An old cabin, huh?" She said reflectively, cupping her chin in her hand.
"Tell that husband of yours to stop in and see me one of these days."
"I will," Sabrina vowed, hoping she could keep her promise. She dragged herself to her feet. "I'd better get going, George. I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Thanks for stopping by, Sabrina." George watched as she left the room. There was something different about her, he told himself.. He could tell that something was bothering her deeply. He picked up his magazine and tried to read, but her visit puzzled him. Something was wrong.
*************
Sabrina was deep in thought as she drove home from the hospital. It was almost 7:00pm, and she knew her friends would be worried if she didn't get home soon. But still, she knew there was one thing she needed to do before going home.
She turned onto the driveway of the Lazen ranch. Getting out of the car, she glanced around cautiously. A lump formed in her throat when she saw Jesse's jeep parked in the distance. She scanned the area further and noticed a an open gate leading to the dirt road a short distance away.
**********
Kelly looked at her watch, then continued to peer out the window.
"Where could she be? She's been gone for hours."
"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Bosley answered, trying to sound positive. "Maybe she had some errands to do and didn't want us tagging along."
"But why wouldn't she at least tell us where she was going?" Kelly demanded, pacing back and forth. "She shouldn't be running around town. What if she goes into premature labor or something?"
"I know you're worried, Kel. We all are." Jill said. "But worrying isn't going to do us much good. I'm sure she'll be home soon."
"I hope you're right." Kelly answered dubiously.
"I wish there was something else we could do besides sit here," Kris stated.
"Well, I need to run to the store," Bosley announced. "Anyone want to go?"
"I will," Jill said. "I need to do something besides sit here and wait."
"We won't be gone long," Bosley told the others as he and Jill made their exit.
"I just hope she gets home soon, or we'll end up searching for her too." Kelly sighed.
*********
Sabrina slowly opened the door of the old cabin and cautiously stepped inside. She glanced around, looking for any indication that her husband may have been there. Dirty dishes in the sink told her that someone had been there recently. She walked into the bedroom and observed that the bed was unmade and a chair had been tipped over.
A small object on the floor caught her eye. She bent down as far as she could to examine it more closely and recognized it immediately...it was a piece of leather and buckle from a pair of chaps Jesse had been wearing the day he'd disappeared..
After a thorough search through the cabin she'd come to the conclusion that it was very possible her husband had been there. Sabrina slowly walked back to Jesse's jeep as she looked around one more time.
"This place gives me the creeps," she muttered. A shot suddenly rang out. Sabrina immediately dropped to the ground, wincing as she felt something tear through her shirt and scrape her arm.
She lay quietly on the ground, hoping that whoever had fired the gun wouldn't come to see whether or not she was dead. A few minutes later she heard footsteps bustling through the bushes and leaves. She gave a sigh of relief when she realized that they were headed in the opposite direction.
As she struggled to stand, a shiny object caught her attention and she reached down to pick it up. She gasped. "Jesse's watch." She pressed the gold pocket watch against her heart as tears streamed down her dirt streaked cheeks. Sabrina climbed into the jeep and began the drive down the long, winding road that led back to George Lazen's ranch.
*************
Kris absently paged through the magazine she was reading. "Kel, you don't suppose that whoever has Jesse could've taken Bri, do you?"
Kelly turned away from the window. "I sure hope not....but the thought has crossed my mind. This is just so unlike her...to just leave without a word."
"Maybe she just needed to have some time to herself. I mean, we've been sticking pretty close to her ever since we got here. Maybe she just needed some space."
"I can understand that," Kelly agreed. "But what I can't understand is her just leaving without saying where she was going. All she said in her note was that she would be back later. It's almost 8:00.The doctor said she's supposed to take it easy and get plenty of rest."
"I'm sure she has a reason for leaving so early," Kris rationalized.
"Well, I just hope that..." Kelly paused when she saw Sabrina's car pull into the driveway. "She's here."
" Guess we were worried for nothing." Kris put down her magazine and joined Kelly at the window.
***********
Sabrina rested her head on the steering wheel in exhaustion. The edges of her vision started to get dark and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart. In the distance she could hear the car door opening.
"Bri, are you okay?" Kelly asked anxiously, reaching out and gently shaking her shoulder. "Sabrina?" She asked in a sharper voice when she'd gotten no response.
Sabrina's vision started to clear and she slowly raised her head.
Kelly gasped when she saw the dirt smudges on her face. " What happened? Let's get you into the house." Kelly helped her step out of the car, immediately noticing that she was shaking badly.
"What happened?" Kris asked apprehensively, noticing Sabrina's torn sleeve and large scrape on her arm..
Sabrina's knees buckled and everything started spinning.
Kris and Kelly each grabbed her before Sabrina fell to the ground.
"There was a...cabin," Sabrina answered weakly. The past few events were starting to catch up to her and shock was starting to set in. " ...I went to see...he's been...he's been there...someone...someone shot at me...oh, thank God..."
Kelly and Kris glanced at each other nervously, thinking she was having a nervous breakdown
"Come on, Bri," Kris said soothingly.
Once inside the house, Kelly helped Sabrina to the couch while Kris got her a glass of water. "Okay, Sabrina. Tell us what happened." Kelly demanded. "Where did you go? "
Sabrina took a deep breath and began. "I went to the hospital to visit George Lazen."
"Are you telling us that you've been there all this time?!" Kelly exclaimed sharply.
Kris handed Sabrina the glass of water and sat down beside her. "Kel, calm down. Give her a minute."
"I'm sorry, Sabrina.". Kelly said, her voice softening. "It's just that we've been worried sick about you. Why didn't you tell us where you were going? Why didn't you call? Why were you gone so long? And what's this business about a cabin and someone shooting at you?"
"I went to see George because I wanted to ask him what was beyond that gate at the north end of the pasture," Sabrina explained quietly, taking a sip of water.
"So what did he say?" Kris asked.
"He told me that he had an old cabin back there that he hadn't used in years," Sabrina explained shakily, adrenaline wearing off. "He said that eventually he'd have it torn down, but..."
"You went to that cabin, didn't you?" Kelly interrupted in disbelief.
Sabrina nodded. "I was on my way home, but I knew I had to go check it out."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kelly demanded. "You're not a detective any more." Kelly answered.
"Not to mention the fact that you're seven months pregnant." Kris added.
"And you most certainly should not have gone up there by yourself," Kelly concluded angrily.
"I know, but I had to." Sabrina defended herself. "My husband is missing. I had to check it out."
"So did you find anything?" Kelly asked resignedly. After all, what was done was done.
Sabrina nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of leather and buckle, handing it to Kelly.
Kelly looked at it dubiously and then handed it to Kris. "I don't understand. What is it?"
"It's a piece of leather and a buckle from a pair of chaps. Jesse was wearing his chaps the day he disappeared."
" Bri, this is a farming community. I'm sure every guy in the area wears chaps. What makes you so sure this could belong to Jesse?"
" When I was on the ground, I found this." She reached into her pocket again and pulled out the pocket watch, handing it to Kelly.
"I don't think I understand," Kelly said after a few seconds of observation.
"That is Jesse's watch. It belonged to his grandfather. He's been there, Kelly. I know he has. And someone shot at me...you know what that means?"
"Yes, I know exactly what that means." Kelly agreed in a loud voice. "It means that you could have gotten yourself killed."
"Don't you get it? It means that Jesse didn't just leave me. It means that someone took him."
"Sabrina..." Kelly began cautiously. It was one thing to be optimistic but she didn't want her friend to build her hopes too high on such flimsy evidence.
"Kelly, I got tired of just sitting here doing nothing while my husband is God knows where," Sabrina interrupted, grabbing Kelly's hand and hoping she'd understand. "I had to go."
Kelly put her arm around her friend and spoke gently. "I do understand, Bri. Let's go take care of that scrape on your arm and get you cleaned up, then we'll fix you something to eat."
**************
Bosley and Jill returned home a short time later. [You didn't mention them leaving earlier.] They found Kelly and Kris in the kitchen playing cards. "I see Sabrina's home." Bosley observed wryly. "Where is she?"
"She's upstairs resting." Kris answered.
"So where was she all afternoon?" Jill asked.
"Someone shot at her?" Jill asked once Kelly had concluded Sabrina's story.
"Yeah, but I think she's got a point," Kris pointed out. "Why would someone shoot at her unless they were trying to stop her from getting too close."
"Kris - " Bosley began dubiously.
"I know, I know," Kris said rapidly. "It's not very much, but what else do we have?"
**********
Sabrina winced as she sat down at the table the next morning. "Morning."
"Are you okay, Bri?" Kelly asked archly.
"Uh...yeah," Sabrina answered hesitantly. "Just a little sore. I'll be fine."
"I was thinking that we should check out that cabin ourselves," Bosley said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Maybe the shooter left some sort of clue while he was there."
"Makes sense," Kris agreed, nodding. "So Bos, Jill and I will take Jesse's jeep up to the cabin." Kris said.
"And I'm going to take you to the hospital," Kelly announced firmly, looking at Sabrina decisively. She knew how well that was going to go over.
"What for?" Sabrina demanded angrily.
"I called Dr. Winston and told him what happened," Kelly explained. "It's just to be on the safe side. He wants to check you over and hook you up to a fetal monitor for a couple of hours."
" I told you yesterday that I wasn't going to the doctor." Sabrina snapped furiously.
"I know what you told me," Kelly agreed readily. "But you're going whether you like it or not."
**********
Jill walked around the outside of the cabin while the others searched its interior. She'd reached the back of the cabin and was looking off into the distance. Before turning to go back inside she glanced at the ground. She immediately noticed tracks heading away from the cabin. "Hey, you guys! Come here a minute."
Bosley and Kris hurried over to where Jill was standing.
"What's up?" Kris asked.
Jill pointed at the tracks. "What do you make of that?"
"I wonder where they lead to," Bosley mused.
"I don't know," Jill answered. "But I think we should check it out."
"I don't think the jeep will make it, so we'll have to walk." Kris answered.
Jill looked at Bosley dubiously. "You up to it, Bos?"
"Of course I am," Bosley said in an affronted voice. "Let's go." Bosley started up the trail with Jill and Kris following close behind. They were silent, each lost in his or her own thoughts.
*********
Kelly glanced over at Sabrina. She was staring out the window and had barely said two words since they'd left the house. Kelly reached over and placed her hand on Sabrina's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked gently.
"I'm fine." Sabrina answered quickly, pulling away.
"Bri, I know you said..." Kelly started to explain.
"Kelly, I know you mean well," Sabrina interrupted tightly, "but I really don't feel like talking right now. Okay?"
"Uh...yeah...sure...okay." Kelly tried to keep the hurt out of her voice.
Sabrina continued to stare out the window, refusing to look at her friend. She wasn't thrilled with the thought of spending the next couple of hours at the hospital.