Details and disclaimer given in part 1.
~~~
It's a Beautiful Life, Rachel Goldstein
by Hilde
~~~
Part 3
~~~
The first thing Rachel really remembered doing the next morning, was literally
running into Frank at the station. She hadn't fallen asleep until four thirty
last night, and she was tired. Dead tired. But somehow she had managed to get to
work on time, and she was actually surprised that she hadn't driven off the road.
"Hey, you still asleep?" Frank asked softly as he grabbed her before
she fell in the collision.
"What? No, no, I'm not," Rachel replied lightly, and took a deep
breath. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"Elizabeth's Bay."
"Oh, no. Don't tell me. Another body?"
"Yup," Frank nodded.
Rachel sighed loudly. What a way to start a Thursday morning. "Righto.
Let's get moving."
Frank glanced sideways at her on their way out to the car park. "You know,
you really look a mess."
"Oh, thanks a lot!"
"Why don't you let me drive, just to be sure?" he continued. It was
worth a shot.
Rachel just sent him one of those Looks. Right. Maybe next time.
~~~
"Hey, here's a match!" Frank exclaimed relieved, glad to finally have
found what he was looking for.
"Yeah? Who is she?" Rachel asked, just as relieved.
They had been going through the missing persons files *again*, since the newly
found body was just like the others; no ID, no papers, no nothing. Up until now
they had been searching in darkness, and they didn't really believe they would
find a match to the young woman who had drowned during that night.
Rachel closed the file she was reading, and leaned back in her chair.
"Amanda Barker, 26 years old, went missing from her home last Tuesday,"
Frank quoted.
"Hmm. Nice girl," he muttered, closely studying her picture.
"You sure it's her?" Rachel couldn't quite believe they had identified
her that soon.
"Absolutely," Frank replied determined.
"Alright. Now we need to find the connection between her and Claire Rowan.
If there is any," she added with a sigh.
"Couldn't we get anyone else to do that for us?" Frank suggested
smugly. "Helen or someone?"
Rachel grinned. "Oh, yeah. Helen's gonna love that one, Frank," she
said wryly.
"Well, suit yourself," Frank replied lightly. "If you wanna spend
the rest of the day with your nose in a file, that's just fine."
"No, no, you're right. You go and convince her."
"And what'll you do?" Frank asked suspiciously.
"I'll wait," Rachel replied with a teasing smile.
~~~
Half an hour later Helen Blakemore barged into the Detectives' office without
knocking. "Hey guys, I found it," she announced, closing the door
behind her.
"Really?" Rachel asked curiously. "What've you got?" She was
a bit surprised that Frank managed to talk Helen into checking the files for
them, but she had half expected it. Frank always got what he wanted with women.
And he and Helen had known each other for a long time, and had always been on 'sweet
pumpkin' terms.
"Amanda Barker and Claire Rowan both have children," Helen told them
as she tossed a few files onto Frank's desk.
"A lot of people have children, Helen," Rachel reminded her dryly,
thinking of her own for a moment. He was probably waiting for her to come home
soon.
"Yes, but not everyone has lost custody of their child to the father in a
court room."
Rachel frowned at Helen's words. Were they meant for her? "What're you
talking about?" she asked defensively.
Helen looked at her, as if reading her thoughts. "I'm talking about the
fact that both Amanda and Claire had lost the battle of custody of their
children. Claire had a son, but the father won custody because he didn't have
300 travelling days a year. Claire Rowan was a foreign correspondent for the SMH,"
she explained, and continued: "Amanda Barker had a daughter with an
administrator of one of Australia's largest computer firms, and naturally he got
custody when they split up."
"And that's the only connection between them?" Rachel asked slowly,
feeling that this case was getting too personal. She had experienced the exact
same thing herself, and it was not what she needed at the moment.
"The only one I can find," Helen replied, trying to sound casual. She
knew what was going on inside Rachel's mind, what she was thinking of, and
didn't want to make it too heavy.
"So you think he's going after young women who's lost custody of their
kids?" Frank asked a bit doubtingly. "Why the hell would he do that?"
Helen looked at him. "There are a lot of sickos out there, Frank."
Frank nodded. That was true. The fact that someone actually killed people proved
that. But why divorced women whose kids lived with their father? It didn't make
sense. Suddenly a thought hit him, and he gasped in surprise. Rachel and Helen
glanced puzzled at him.
"What?" Rachel asked curiously.
"Ah, nothin'," Frank said, a little too quickly. "I just
remembered I have a dentist appointment in ten minutes. Sorry ladies, gotta go."
He grabbed his jacket and before Helen or Rachel could say anything, he was out
of the room.
Rachel stared unbelievingly at Helen. "He just ran away. Can you believe
that?" she asked in exasperation.
"Actually, no," Helen replied calmly. But then again, you never can
tell with Frank, she thought to herself. Aloud she said: "Well, I've got
work to do, and I believe you have too?"
"Yeah, but." Rachel started, but Helen interrupted her.
"Don't worry. Frank'll be back soon," Helen assured her, and leaving a
blank Rachel behind, she hurried out the door. She suddenly knew why Frank had
left so abruptly, and she fully understood him. Now she just needed to find him.
~~~
"Rachel will never agree to this, you know that?" Jeff Hawker glanced
at Helen and Frank, who was standing in front of his desk.
"Probably not, but." Helen started, and was interrupted by Frank.
"She'll just have to accept it," he said firmly. "Being a
divorced mum with her kid in custody with the father, Rachel may be in danger
too!"
"Fine," Jeff shrugged. "If you think you can convince her, be my
guest. I don't want her hurt either. But I think you have one hell of a job
ahead of you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Frank said, waving his hand. He knew Jeff was
right. Rachel most likely would never approve of their plan. But he had to talk
her into it. "I'll go talk to her," he said, leaving the Chief
Inspector's office.
~~~
Frank hated it when Rachel stared at him like that. That Look meant there was
absolutely no hope of getting her to go along with it.
"What?!" she finally exclaimed in disbelief. "No way, Frank! I
don't need that. I definitely don't need that!"
"Yes, you do!" Frank objected, almost regretting proposing the idea to
her. "It's for your own good!"
Rachel let out a little laugh. "Frank, I'm perfectly capable of taking care
of myself. I don't need a babysitter!" She glanced at him with a meaningful
look. "Besides," she added. "Who would be stupid enough to mess
with me? I'm a cop, for crying out loud!"
"Still, I think you should let me stay with you," Frank said in an
entreating voice. "Just to be on the safe side."
"No!" Rachel let no room for discussion. "Imagine David if I came
home with you and told him you were going to stay with us because you were
afraid that I'd get killed! Forget it, Frank. It won't happen." And with
those words she got up from her chair, marched passed him and disappeared into
the hall.
Frank shrugged, and cried after her: "Well, don't say I didn't warn you!"
Out in the hall, Rachel litterally ran into Helen, who just happened to stand
outside the office door at the very minute Rachel barged out. It didn't take
Rachel too much effort to figure out why. "I didn't think you were the
eavesdropping type, Helen," she remarked wryly, before continuing down the
hall.
Helen followed her, not bothering to make excuses. "Well, I think Frank's
right. You shouldn't be left alone now, you never know what might happen."
"Oh, not you too!" Rachel sighed. "I don't need a baby-sitter!"
Helen grabbed Rachel by the arm and dragged her into the meal room. "Look
Rachel," she said intently, "We're worried about you, that's all. We
just don't want anything to happen to you!"
"Neither do I!" Rachel replied. "But you know Frank and I can't
live together. We'd end up killing each other!"
"No, you won't," Helen assured her. "You're too fond of each
other to do that," she smiled.
"Helen- " Rachel started, but got interrupted.
"Look. The way I see it, you've got two options. Either Frank moves in with
you." Helen hesitated for a second. "Or you move in with Frank!"
"What?" Rachel stared at her in disbelief. "No no no no, that's
totally out of the question," she said firmly. The thought of living in
Frank's house for more than a couple of hours was horrifying. She'd probably
drown in all his mess!
"Well, then," Helen smiled. "I'm glad we agree!" She waltzed
out of the meal room, leaving a stunned Rachel behind.
"No, Helen, I'm *not* letting Frank stay with me!" she called after
her, but Helen only waved at her. "Helen, I'm not! Helen!"
~~~
Rachel sat in front of the TV, staring blankly into it without really noticing
what she was watching. That day had been just as bad as the two before, and she
was starting to get sick of the whole thing; the case, Jonathon's death and a
son who refused to talk to her. When she had picked him up at her father's house
after work, he hadn't even wanted to go with her. He was angry, and most of all
disappointed in her, and she knew that. But she just wasn't the emotional type,
and it wasn't easy for her to talk about what had happened. She remembered the
look Felix sent her when she left with David, a look saying 'watch it, or you'll
lose him again.' She knew he was right. But the job was such a good excuse not
to confront the whole thing. David had eaten and then gone to bed, and Rachel
was left in the lounge, knowing far too well that she should have gone after him.
But she didn't.
And then there was this case. Even though she would rather deal with dead bodies
and serial killers than her own feelings, it could get a bit frustrating at
times. Like now. They hardly had anything to work with, and in addition Frank
and Helen were convinced that she was in danger too. Luckily she had managed to
sneak out of the station without either of them noticing, if not, they had
probably convinced her she needed Frank to look after her. Bullshit, she thought,
but something deep inside her wasn't that sure. They had managed to put a fright
in her, and it couldn't be ignored. Great. 'Thanks a lot, guys,' she thought
annoyed. 'Just the thing I needed. A maniac out to kill me.'
And as if that wasn't enough, she had received a letter from the Child Welfare
that afternoon, saying that they had to look into her case, and that she wasn't
sure to get full custody. It was all just too much to swallow at once.
~~~
End Part 3
~~~
[ Part 4 ]
