Chapter 30
Joe Dawson couldn't get the idea out of his head that there was much more to this than any of them could see. He'd spent a lot of time studying people and watching how they acted and reacted, and there is no way Beth would choose Garrett over Adam, and no way she would have left the way she did if it was her choice. But he had no proof. All he could do was pour over the bits and pieces Methos had let him see of his life to try and figure out where his old friend had gone.
"Find anything Joe?" Duncan asked as he came to pick up the man's bags. They were all flying back to Seacouver in a few hours.
"Not a thing." Joe replied. "Not even the bank accounts he didn't know I'd traced to him show any activity. But I'm sure he had money on him when he left and aliases I never knew, so either he's living on the cheap or changed identities . or both. At any rate, he doesn't want to be found."
"Rick knows Garrett chartered a plan to Toronto, but after that the trail is cold. He's going to call us as soon as there is more to know, and I think instead of flying back with the rest of you I may take off for Canada and see if I get lucky."
Joe didn't reply. He didn't trust this Rick Shafer. He'd looked the man up in the Watcher Database and found a long if not impressive collection of heads in his wake. And then there was the odd way he'd caught the man staring at MacLeod when he was delivering his toast. For an old friend, his eyes were sure cold. But MacLeod didn't see anything off, so all Joe could do was let Amanda in on his suspicion and keep checking.
The ride to the airport was quiet. Claudia's belief in true love had been shaken to it's roots, and although she held tightly to Richie's arm, she seemed to be distant. Richie was sick with worry over Beth. In his gut he knew she was in trouble, and he was livid with Methos for simply taking the circumstances at face value and not sticking around long enough to check them out. How could he give up so easily?
Amanda worried about Methos and what this would do to him. He'd teetered on the brink of darkness after Kronos showed up less than a year after Alexa's death. It had only been his strong friendship with MacLeod that had saved him, and that had been more than complicated. She knew they needed to find him, but even if they did, what would they find?
Duncan echoed her worries. No one knew how deep Methos could regress into himself. When left to his own devices the old man could create his own hell on earth, and God help anyone who got in the way of his self- destruction if that was truly his goal.
They were almost to the airport when Mac's cell phone rang.
"MacLeod, you need to get back here." Peter Harris' disturbed voice was on the other end.
"Peter? Why? What's going on?" Duncan asked, capturing the attention of everyone in the vehicle.
"I'll tell you when you get to the Inn." The man replied. "Please hurry."
Duncan didn't wait for an exit. He checked for traffic and turned the SUV through the median and back toward Ridgetop.
"MacLeod, what's going on?" Joe yelled as he held onto the overhead handle.
"Harris found something at the Inn. It sounds bad." MacLeod explained.
Fifteen minutes later the four immortals and Joe arrived at the Inn to see what had the chief of police and every member of the Harris family milling around the yard and house.
Beth's brothers met them on the porch. "Have you been able to reach Adam?" Kyle asked impatiently as Duncan followed them up the stairs.
He shook his head. "What is this about?"
"She was kidnapped. We didn't know until the folks at the Inn started to clean up the room and they found another note.
"Another note? But we covered every inch of the room." MacLeod wondered how they could have missed it.
Amanda was right behind him when Kyle pointed toward the bathroom. The officer dusting the room for prints looked up, but must have been expecting the Harris' friends.
Kyle told Duncan and Amanda to come into the bathroom, and after they were inside he removed Beth's red dress from the back of the door and turned it so they could see. There written on the fabric of the skirt in what must have been a light eye pencil was the quick scrawl of a second, choppy message.
"Adam HELP!!! He took Cassie . must go to her . over Atlantic. Europe? . please find us . I lov "
And then it ended abruptly, obviously in the middle of her writing a message of love for Adam.
"She didn't waste any time on details." Amanda commented as she read the message again.
"But I bet she told us everything she knew. She was ending the message when Garrett must have interrupted her." Duncan replied, already trying to figure out where in Europe Garrett could have taken her and wondering if Joe and his computer could trace the flight. Damn Methos for running out. Besides his obvious interest in finding Beth, they could use his hacking abilities now.
They heard Joe, Richie and Claudia in the bedroom and Duncan asked Kyle if they could show the message to their friends.
"Dear God that kid is sick. That's pretty low taking a baby as leverage against her mother." Joe replied as he leaned heavily on his canes.
"We've lost three days." Richie complained. "For three days she needed help and we did nothing."
"Well we aren't going to do nothing now." Duncan replied. "Kyle, can you take Richie, Joe and Claudia to the airport? They may not make this flight, but there's another for Seacouver this afternoon."
"No way Mac. I'm staying here to help you find her." Richie protested.
"Richie I need you to go to Seacouver to help Joe and maybe see if Methos happened to go back there. He had a lot of stuff at the house, stuff he might try to pick up." Duncan replied. "And if he's come and gone I'll be counting on you to pick up any clues that would help us know where he's gone."
Richie nodded, seeing the sense in it.
"But don't you want Joe to search for flights?" Amanda asked.
"He's got a laptop. Here's my phone card. See what you can find Joe. Call if you find anything."
"You too." Joe replied as he started down the stairs. Richie ran ahead to take Amanda and Duncan's luggage out of the car.
When the three were about to leave with Kyle, Duncan pulled them to the side. "Methos is going to be very angry if you find him. He won't want to listen to you and may not give you the chance to explain . protect yourselves and make him listen."
Amanda rushed over with a polaroid one of the policemen had taken of the dress. "Show him this." She said, handing the photo to Richie.
"You think he would attack one of us?" Claudia was shocked. She knew Adam had a temper, but didn't expect that.
"Claudia I honestly don't know, but Adam's in a bad place right now and since he doesn't know the truth and thinks Beth walked out of his life with his whole world, you have to be prepared. He won't be thinking clearly if he is too angry. And he won't want anyone reminding him of her."
"Uhm Duncan, that message said Atlantic, as in Atlantic ocean. Last time I checked, there weren't any flights to Toronto that went that way."
"I know. I'll check out why Rick thought they went there." Duncan assured him, knowing the man didn't trust his old friend.
"Watch his back." Joe ordered Amanda, who assured him she would. "And remember, you hear ANYTHING, you let us know."
Duncan hugged Claudia goodbye and closed the door of the car behind her.
"Is Rick still in town?" Amanda asked.
"Yes, and he's about to have some company." Duncan replied.
Joe Dawson couldn't get the idea out of his head that there was much more to this than any of them could see. He'd spent a lot of time studying people and watching how they acted and reacted, and there is no way Beth would choose Garrett over Adam, and no way she would have left the way she did if it was her choice. But he had no proof. All he could do was pour over the bits and pieces Methos had let him see of his life to try and figure out where his old friend had gone.
"Find anything Joe?" Duncan asked as he came to pick up the man's bags. They were all flying back to Seacouver in a few hours.
"Not a thing." Joe replied. "Not even the bank accounts he didn't know I'd traced to him show any activity. But I'm sure he had money on him when he left and aliases I never knew, so either he's living on the cheap or changed identities . or both. At any rate, he doesn't want to be found."
"Rick knows Garrett chartered a plan to Toronto, but after that the trail is cold. He's going to call us as soon as there is more to know, and I think instead of flying back with the rest of you I may take off for Canada and see if I get lucky."
Joe didn't reply. He didn't trust this Rick Shafer. He'd looked the man up in the Watcher Database and found a long if not impressive collection of heads in his wake. And then there was the odd way he'd caught the man staring at MacLeod when he was delivering his toast. For an old friend, his eyes were sure cold. But MacLeod didn't see anything off, so all Joe could do was let Amanda in on his suspicion and keep checking.
The ride to the airport was quiet. Claudia's belief in true love had been shaken to it's roots, and although she held tightly to Richie's arm, she seemed to be distant. Richie was sick with worry over Beth. In his gut he knew she was in trouble, and he was livid with Methos for simply taking the circumstances at face value and not sticking around long enough to check them out. How could he give up so easily?
Amanda worried about Methos and what this would do to him. He'd teetered on the brink of darkness after Kronos showed up less than a year after Alexa's death. It had only been his strong friendship with MacLeod that had saved him, and that had been more than complicated. She knew they needed to find him, but even if they did, what would they find?
Duncan echoed her worries. No one knew how deep Methos could regress into himself. When left to his own devices the old man could create his own hell on earth, and God help anyone who got in the way of his self- destruction if that was truly his goal.
They were almost to the airport when Mac's cell phone rang.
"MacLeod, you need to get back here." Peter Harris' disturbed voice was on the other end.
"Peter? Why? What's going on?" Duncan asked, capturing the attention of everyone in the vehicle.
"I'll tell you when you get to the Inn." The man replied. "Please hurry."
Duncan didn't wait for an exit. He checked for traffic and turned the SUV through the median and back toward Ridgetop.
"MacLeod, what's going on?" Joe yelled as he held onto the overhead handle.
"Harris found something at the Inn. It sounds bad." MacLeod explained.
Fifteen minutes later the four immortals and Joe arrived at the Inn to see what had the chief of police and every member of the Harris family milling around the yard and house.
Beth's brothers met them on the porch. "Have you been able to reach Adam?" Kyle asked impatiently as Duncan followed them up the stairs.
He shook his head. "What is this about?"
"She was kidnapped. We didn't know until the folks at the Inn started to clean up the room and they found another note.
"Another note? But we covered every inch of the room." MacLeod wondered how they could have missed it.
Amanda was right behind him when Kyle pointed toward the bathroom. The officer dusting the room for prints looked up, but must have been expecting the Harris' friends.
Kyle told Duncan and Amanda to come into the bathroom, and after they were inside he removed Beth's red dress from the back of the door and turned it so they could see. There written on the fabric of the skirt in what must have been a light eye pencil was the quick scrawl of a second, choppy message.
"Adam HELP!!! He took Cassie . must go to her . over Atlantic. Europe? . please find us . I lov "
And then it ended abruptly, obviously in the middle of her writing a message of love for Adam.
"She didn't waste any time on details." Amanda commented as she read the message again.
"But I bet she told us everything she knew. She was ending the message when Garrett must have interrupted her." Duncan replied, already trying to figure out where in Europe Garrett could have taken her and wondering if Joe and his computer could trace the flight. Damn Methos for running out. Besides his obvious interest in finding Beth, they could use his hacking abilities now.
They heard Joe, Richie and Claudia in the bedroom and Duncan asked Kyle if they could show the message to their friends.
"Dear God that kid is sick. That's pretty low taking a baby as leverage against her mother." Joe replied as he leaned heavily on his canes.
"We've lost three days." Richie complained. "For three days she needed help and we did nothing."
"Well we aren't going to do nothing now." Duncan replied. "Kyle, can you take Richie, Joe and Claudia to the airport? They may not make this flight, but there's another for Seacouver this afternoon."
"No way Mac. I'm staying here to help you find her." Richie protested.
"Richie I need you to go to Seacouver to help Joe and maybe see if Methos happened to go back there. He had a lot of stuff at the house, stuff he might try to pick up." Duncan replied. "And if he's come and gone I'll be counting on you to pick up any clues that would help us know where he's gone."
Richie nodded, seeing the sense in it.
"But don't you want Joe to search for flights?" Amanda asked.
"He's got a laptop. Here's my phone card. See what you can find Joe. Call if you find anything."
"You too." Joe replied as he started down the stairs. Richie ran ahead to take Amanda and Duncan's luggage out of the car.
When the three were about to leave with Kyle, Duncan pulled them to the side. "Methos is going to be very angry if you find him. He won't want to listen to you and may not give you the chance to explain . protect yourselves and make him listen."
Amanda rushed over with a polaroid one of the policemen had taken of the dress. "Show him this." She said, handing the photo to Richie.
"You think he would attack one of us?" Claudia was shocked. She knew Adam had a temper, but didn't expect that.
"Claudia I honestly don't know, but Adam's in a bad place right now and since he doesn't know the truth and thinks Beth walked out of his life with his whole world, you have to be prepared. He won't be thinking clearly if he is too angry. And he won't want anyone reminding him of her."
"Uhm Duncan, that message said Atlantic, as in Atlantic ocean. Last time I checked, there weren't any flights to Toronto that went that way."
"I know. I'll check out why Rick thought they went there." Duncan assured him, knowing the man didn't trust his old friend.
"Watch his back." Joe ordered Amanda, who assured him she would. "And remember, you hear ANYTHING, you let us know."
Duncan hugged Claudia goodbye and closed the door of the car behind her.
"Is Rick still in town?" Amanda asked.
"Yes, and he's about to have some company." Duncan replied.