The next day Sharona and Monk headed up to the cabin, followed by Stottlemeyer, Disher and four squad cars. Ellerbeck hadn't really specified that they come alone. They weren't going to let him get away. They had to get Ben back soon. The longer Ellerbeck had him, the more danger he was in.
The two of them got out of Sharona's car and walked up the porch steps. Stottlemeyer, Disher and the eight police officers got out of their cars and stood in wait, most of them with their hands resting on their guns. Sharona and Monk hesitated and then Sharona knocked on the door.
"Come in," Ellerbeck called. Sharona slowly pushed the door open and the two of them walked in. The room was dim, but not too dark to see in. Ellerbeck was standing near the fireplace. Sharona closed the door and she and Monk approached him. That's when he raised his arm and pointed his gun at them. They stopped walking. "That's close enough, thank you."
"Where's my son?" Sharona asked, looking around the room.
"You still don't get it, do you?" Ellerbeck asked. "I thought you were smarter than that. I guess being a parent kind of puts blinders on your brain sometimes."
"Why did you want to meet with us if you're not going to let Benjy go?" Monk asked.
"You're a smart man, Monk. Figure it out," he said.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your daughter," Monk said, not really wanting to apologize to the man who murdered his wife. "I wish I could have found her."
"You killed Sharp before anybody had a chance to ask him one simple question," Ellerbeck said angrily. His voice was getting louder and filled with rage. "You don't fire until fired upon!"
"He was charging at me with a shotgun," Monk said. "I had no choice. I'm sorry."
"Too late for sorry, Monk," he said. "It's the not knowing that kills you. Because of you nobody will ever know what happened to my daughter." He paused and glanced at the gun. "And because of you nobody will ever know what happened to Sharona's son."
"No!" Monk and Sharona both shouted as he brought the gun up to his right temple and pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out before either of them could even take one step. Sharona turned away as the bullet literally exploded out the left side of Ellerbeck's head. He fell to the floor with a hollow thud. Moments later, Stottlemeyer, Disher and the eight police officers came rushing into the cabin with their guns drawn. They all stopped when they saw Ellerbeck lying on the cabin floor.
"What happened?" Stottlemeyer asked.
Monk was staring at the floor, not able to bring himself to look at Ellerbeck or anything else. "He killed himself."
"What?" Stottlemeyer asked, more confused than ever. "What the hell did he do that for?"
"To make us feel what he felt," Monk said. He finally turned and looked to Sharona, who was standing completely still with her eyes closed. "Sharona, I'm sorry."
She shook her head and wiped at her eyes. "Don't be sorry, Adrian," she said, her voice wavering as she tried to push her emotions back. She made eye contact with him and gave him a determined stare. "Sorry doesn't help me find my son."
There was silence for a moment and then Stottlemeyer jumped in. "Okay, everybody fan out. We've got a boy to find. Search everywhere. Closets, cupboards. Inside, outside. Gopher holes, rabbit holes, snake holes. If you think you've looked somewhere already, look again. Nobody leaves here until we find him." The police officers spread out and Stottlemeyer turned to Lt. Disher. "Randy, call in the coroner. We need to get Ellerbeck out of here."
Once everybody had their orders, Sharona and Monk headed outside the cabin and toward the side. The police officers were calling Ben's name, hoping he would hear them and call back. Sharona knew that would be the best-case scenario. She didn't want to think about the worst-case scenario.
"Benjy!" she called. Monk walked along silently a few feet away from her. "Benjy, it's mom! Can you hear me?"
Sharona stopped walking when she noticed Monk had started moving in a different direction. She turned and saw him staring at the ground several feet away. "Adrian, what are you doing?"
"This area of dirt has been disturbed," he said, pointing to an area of bare soil.
"So?" she asked.
"Look all around," Monk said. "There's weeds and plants everywhere except this spot. Here the ground has been disturbed, as if it was recently placed here. Like filling in a hole."
Lt. Disher had finished calling for the coroner and noticed Monk and Sharona looking down at the ground. "Did you find something?" he asked once he had jogged over to them.
Monk's face paled and he didn't want to say what he had to say. "I think I found Benjy."
Sharona and Disher looked at him for a moment before they both realized what Monk was talking about.
"Oh God, no!" Sharona exclaimed.
Disher quickly took off his suit jacket and tie as he moved toward the cabin. "Officer Lopez," he called to a nearby police officer. Disher grabbed some shovels that were leaning on the side of the cabin. He handed one to Officer Lopez and the two of them went back to the spot Monk had found. They both began digging quickly. Stottlemeyer saw them digging from inside the cabin and his heart sank. He watched Sharona pace nervously behind Monk, who was just watching as the two men dug into the ground.
It seemed like forever. Disher wished they had a backhoe. His shoulders were aching, but he knew they couldn't stop digging. Sharona was still pacing behind Monk.
"Oh God. Oh God," she kept muttering under her breath. Ellerbeck was right, not knowing was torture. But this was even worse. She knew, but she didn't know. Finally she stopped pacing and looked over when she heard a thud. Disher's shovel hit something.
"Stand back, Lopez," Disher said. He wedged his shovel under a piece of wood that was holding several other planks of wood down. Then he turned and pried a piece up at the other end of the wooden box they were standing on. Officer Lopez climbed out and took pieces of wood as Disher handed them to him. Sharona knelt by the edge of the deep hole and looked down. She tried not to scream when she saw her son lying there in the ground. His face was pale and his lips were blue. Disher quickly grabbed him and pulled him up. Lopez grabbed Ben's arms and dragged him up. That's when Sharona went into nurse mode.
His whole life, the worst thing that had ever happened to Ben was when he broke his arm falling off his bike. Even in her worst nightmares, Sharona had never thought she would have to use her nursing expertise for this. She knelt next to Ben and checked for a pulse. She couldn't stop a few tears of relief that slipped by when she found one. She just had to get him to breathe. She cleared the dirt off his face and made sure his airway was unobstructed before she began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
The other officers and Stottlemeyer had joined them and were all watching as Sharona tried to save her son's life. Ben had his own little cheering squad, with all of them muttering "Come on, Ben" or "Breathe, kid." The most audible was Monk, who kept saying "You can do it, Benjy."
Please, God, Sharona thought to herself as she continued. Please don't take him away from me.
As if God had answered her silent prayer, Ben suddenly took a breath. He coughed and gasped, trying to get air. Sharona couldn't keep herself from bursting into tears as she turned Ben onto his side to help him breathe. All the officers cheered and applauded.
"That's it, baby," Sharona said through her tears of relief. She stroked Ben's hair and then rested her hands on his shoulder. "You're okay."
Monk smiled and crouched down next to Sharona and Ben. He placed a hand on Sharona's shoulder. She looked up and smiled, wiping at the tears flooding down her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said to him gratefully. He looked confused. "Nobody else would have noticed that dirt. We never would have found him without you."
Monk just smiled and watched as Ben began to breathe easier. He was just thankful he hadn't lost anyone else he cared about.
* * *
The breeze blew through the cemetery and rustled the leaves, creating dancing shadows on the tombstones in mid-afternoon. Monk stopped and stood in front of one tombstone while Sharona and Ben stood back to give him some privacy. He reached forward with a wipe and tried to wipe some dirt out of the cracks of Trudy's name, which was engraved in bronze. After he felt it was sufficiently clean he stood upright again and cleared his throat.
"I never thought it would happen," he said, talking to Trudy as if she were really there. "Your killer came to me. I guess I can understand going crazy over losing someone you love." He smiled. "Sharona would say that's an understatement. I just wish there was some way I could go back and change things. If I hadn't shot Sharp, maybe you'd still be alive. Benjy wouldn't have been hurt." He glanced over his shoulder at Sharona and Ben. "But it's a Catch 22 really. I wouldn't know them if you were alive because I wouldn't have needed a nurse. I guess I shouldn't think about it, right?" He paused to lean over and brush a leaf away from the tombstone. "At least I won't feel guilty when I see you again. Your case is solved." He stepped back a little, preparing to leave. "I love you."
He turned and walked over to Sharona, who was standing with her arm around Ben's shoulders. She smiled sympathetically and asked, "You ready to go?"
He nodded his head and then jumped back almost an entire foot when Ben sneezed. Sharona reached into her purse and pulled out a tissue for her son.
"Geez, I gave you my flu, didn't I?" she asked him. Ben blew his nose loudly and Monk felt like crawling out of his own skin.
"It's okay," Ben replied with a smile. "You were saving my life when you did it."
Sharona smiled back at him and gave his shoulders a squeeze. But then she noticed Monk was clearing his throat repeatedly. He looked extremely uncomfortable. He started tugging at the collar of his shirt.
"Adrian, are you okay?" she asked with genuine concern.
He shook his head. "It's just . . . my throat, it's scratchy. And I feel a little congested."
Sharona shook her head, thinking she should've seen this coming. "Come on," she said as she tugged on Monk's arm and led the way back to the car. "We'll go home, and I'll make you both some chicken noodle soup."
"With real chicken and real noodles?" Monk asked. Sharona shot him a confused look.
"What? As opposed to fake chicken and fake noodles?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well, you're going to make it from scratch right?" Monk asked. "Not canned."
"Would you like me to grow the vegetables and raise the chicken, too?"
"I would," Ben chimed in with a smirk.
"Don't encourage him," Sharona scolded. Ben just smiled and the three of them headed off to have their homemade chicken noodle soup while Monk continued to complain about his flu symptoms.
THE END
A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've already got another fic idea in mind, with a special "guest star." ;o)
