Danger by Association
Rae waited for Steve to unlock the car and then she opened the passenger door, sat down and waited. Steve did the same, put his seatbelt on and, making all the subconscious checks that he always made, put the key in the ignition and then he looked at Rae.
"Put your belt on Rae, we need to get back to the station."
"Nope." Rae sat and continued to wait.
"I beg your pardon?" Steve's voice took on a tone of amazement. "What did you say?"
"I said … Nope."
"Rae, this isn't funny, and even if it were, I am not in the mood to laugh." Steve could feel the anger he had been bottling up all morning coming to the surface.
"I have no intention of going back to the station with you, or anyone else, until we have had a talk." Rae placed her hand on Steve's arm but it was shrugged off.
"Rae, I told you to leave it, now I am warning you … don't go there." Steve started the engine and looked at her, and for a moment Rae's resolve wavered. The pure fury in her partner's eyes would have floored most people, but she wasn't most people, and she knew that they had to deal with whatever was eating at Steve right now.
"If you move away from the kerb I'll cite you myself. It's a violation of the Private Passenger Motor Vehicle Safety Act to carry a passenger who is not wearing a seatbelt, and I have no intention of putting my belt on until you agree to me driving, and us going somewhere private where we can talk. Steve…" Rae's voice took on a softer tone. "You have always been around when I needed you, let me be the same, let me help you."
For a second Steve's eyes held hers and she thought he was going to agree, but then the fury returned and he undid his own seatbelt, opened the door, got out, and stalked off. Rae moved over into the driver's seat, closed the door, put the belt round her and waited.
Once Steve got out of the car he realised that he didn't really have any place to go. They were about five miles from the station, and he didn't fancy the walk. He also knew that what Rae had said was true; she could help him … if only he could let her. Finally, after a couple of minutes, with a big sigh he turned back to his car, saw Rae in the driver's seat, and, with a tight smile, moved round and climbed in where she had recently been.
Rae waited for him to make himself comfortable without saying anything, but when he was ready to go she smiled at him, before drawing out into the traffic. Rae came out of Vesper Avenue onto Burbank Boulevard, but instead of heading back to the station she turned in the opposite direction, and after ten minutes, she pulled up into a quiet, but not deserted, parking lot on the edge of Encino and Bilboa Golf Course. She turned the engine off, slid the keys into her pocket and undid her seatbelt. "Ok, you can take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere." With that Rae leant back in the seat and closed her eyes.
Steve wasn't sure what he had expected, but Rae just sitting there, eyes shut, obviously relaxed, hadn't been near the top of his list. He realised however, that some time to gather this thoughts was exactly what he did need, and so he too leant back and, with his own eyes closed, began to formulate what he was going to say.
It was almost twenty minutes before Steve began to speak, and when he did his voice was so thick with emotion; it almost caused him to retreat back into silence.
"I guess I can't get my head around the fact that this is a cop." Steve stopped. It had taken him twenty minutes and he didn't know what else to say.
"We're no different to other people, Steve; it's just that when we fall, we fall further and we fall harder and everyone is way more shocked." Rae didn't really want to speak. She wanted Steve to do the talking; it was the only way he would be able to deal with whatever was troubling him, but she had the feeling that he needed a gentle push to get him started. "Steve, forgive me, but why is this getting to you so much? I know it is, quite probably, the most disgusting case we have ever had to deal with, but you've been threatened before, so have I. Why has it got you so scared this time?"
Steve looked at her and wondered whether she did know him better than a lot of people in his life, perhaps not, he knew he didn't look scared and he hadn't said that he was. Steve shook his head, and as he did so he felt a hand cover his.
"There is no disgrace in admitting that you're scared, Steve. I don't know what I can say or do to help you until you open up to me, but I will be here for you, every step of the way, I promise you that." Rae squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
He didn't know what it was that did it, maybe the feel of her hand on his, or the smile that showed just how much she cared, but suddenly he knew that he could talk.
"How do I protect my family from the enemy … when I work with them? And not only my family, my friends too. Jesse, you, Alex, or Eliana and Anneya. Daniel, he just wanted a family, not to have to watch his back the whole time …" For a moment Steve closed his eyes. There were too many people involved in his life for him to take anything lightly or for granted any more. "Rae, when you arrived here, I could count my friends on the fingers of one hand, and my only family was my dad. I'd been threatened before, and it always worried me, but now … now, I guess I have more to lose. How do you think he would treat one of my friends? You, or Jesse, he cut Crosier's … arm off when he was still alive, if he got to Dad, or Amanda, or … or Jo, what would he do?" Steve's heart was beating so loudly he was sure that Rae could hear it. "I'm not scared, I'm angry, if I had him in my sights right now … I'd kill him." Steve stopped. He was shouting, and that wasn't fair on Rae, as he tried to calm down he began to evaluate his feelings and realised with surprise that she was correct after all. "Rae, I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you … and you're right; I am scared, I'm so damn scared I can't think straight." Steve stopped talking again. He felt as if he was slowly coming apart.
Rae smiled at him before she spoke. "Hey, partner, if it helps yell and scream at me all you want, but I may be forced to return the favour."
Steve wanted to smile back, but he couldn't. Now that he had started to talk he had to keep going, there was more he had to say. "You know, he doesn't have to come near any of you, this is working just fine. I can't think about anything else, I can't sleep, because this … this guy is after me and mine, and … and he already started!"
"He already started? How do you mean?" Rae looked confused, and she could tell by the look on Steve's face that the realisation had only just struck him.
"Your car. He put the foot in your car."
"My God." Rae's voice came out as a whisper. She hadn't thought of the connection until he spoke, but slowly she began to realise that it may be a good thing.
"Maybe, Steve, he doesn't mean that he is going to take Mark, or Jesse, but that he is going to draw your friends into your case, whether you want them there or not. Ok, I was already involved, but not to the extent you were, now … well, now I may have to go buy a new car, and I am personally involved. I don't think that everybody needs to watch their backs so much as the trunk of their car, or their shopping cart."
The relief that went through Steve was enormous and for a moment he laid his head back on the car seat unable to do anything else. He had a feeling that Rae was right; finding a severed hand or arm was bad enough when you were paid to do it. But when you had your parents or wife or friends in the same position it was ten times worse but if it was a choice between that or one of them getting hurt he would take that, every time.
"I guess we're gonna have to sort out a way for everybody to keep a close eye on what's going on in their lives, huh?" Steve's voice was almost back to normal, and the anger had left his eyes. "But, you wouldn't seriously get rid of Tom would you? I thought you loved that car."
"Yeah, I do, but it had a foot under the driver's seat, Steve, ugh." Rae shuddered for a moment and considered. She hadn't gotten rid of Tom when Levington had vandalised it, and Steve still had his truck and he had found … well, he had found bits in that too. With a shake of her head Rae bought herself back to the matter at hand. "You know, they need to still watch their backs a little, but no more than they normally do." Rae was relieved to hear the change in her partner, and to see the way he had relaxed. "Steve, don't shut me out, I can help you, sometimes, but you have to let me in, ok?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's not in my nature to share, well not this sort of thing, but I do know that you will help, and I really do appreciate it. Thank you, Rae." He leant across and kissed her gently on the top of the head. "I guess we had better get back to work, huh? I want to get home at a reasonable time tonight; David and Debbie are arriving today."
"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten that, and I need to go shopping, I'm getting fed up with jeans that are about four inches too long for me, and shirts that look like I'm wearing someone else's clothes. I know I am but I'd rather no one else knew."
"I'll let you drive." Steve knew that he hadn't said much, but he still felt drained.
"Oh, I already knew that, Lieutenant, I already knew that." With a smile that showed that they were ok again, Rae switched on the ignition, put the car into drive and headed back the way they had come.
They had been driving along Burbank Boulevard for about ten minutes when Steve turned to her. Rae had set his mind at rest a little, and she was right, they all watched their backs the whole time anyway, they would be fine. "Would you really have ticketed me?"
"Oh yeah, I hate to see anyone driving along with passengers unbelted."
"But … but it was you who refused!" Steve knew that he sounded astonished, but that was because he was. They had been together over three years and she still had the ability to amaze him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of their day had gone well. Steve had arranged for the ID pictures of all the cops in vice to be made available to Mrs Milton when she arrived at the station to get the sketch made up, but to no avail.
They had tossed for who was going to see the Chief and Rae had lost, and so once everything was typed up and she could take a copy of their case file with her, Rae headed for the office that used to be hers.
"Good afternoon, Margaret, is the Chief in?" Rae knew that he was, she had made an appointment to see him so that they wouldn't be disturbed.
"Of course, Rae, he's waiting for you, you can go right in." The secretary smiled at her. Rae had spent a week showing her the ropes that she had only just learnt herself, and they had got on well.
"Thank you." Rae knocked and, hearing the distinctive voice of her boss, pushed open the door and entered.
"Ah, Rae, come in, come in. How are you today?"
"I'm fine, Sir, thank you, and yourself?"
"Yes, fine. Now, I have spoken to Captain Newman, at length I might add, he is very concerned about your thoughts on this case, as am I."
"I know Sir, Lieutenant Sloan and I are also very concerned, and we are treading very carefully. Nobody, apart from Crosier that is, has left Vice in the past year or so, we have nothing to go on except conjecture, and the fact that Steve told Martin Robertson and Don Werner that he was going to call on Crosier. We could be wrong."
"I see that you have your case file there, sit down, Rae, and let's go through this."
Rae spread out all the paperwork so that it was the right way up for the Chief to read and then waited while he cast his eyes over it all.
"Detective, I have to say that some of this 'evidence' is thin in the extreme, you will have to provide me with more than this if I am to authorise any investigation into the Vice Department." The Chief's voice was curt and Rae knew that she was about to step on the very fine line between respect and impertinence.
"Sir, I didn't say that we had evidence, I said that it was conjecture, we are sure of what we have, but we know that it isn't enough, not yet. All we can say for certain is that it could be any of the detectives in Vice.
"Because of the head?"
"Because of the head…" Rae stopped talking for a minute. "We haven't had a letter about the head, why haven't we had a letter?" Rae began to think, and the more she thought the more she felt uneasy. "The letter about the foot hasn't arrived yet either, although that's not surprising, but we should have had the letter about the head." Rae was thinking out loud and the fact that she was standing in the Chief's office seemed to have slipped her mind. She looked at her boss as she leant over and touched a pencil and receiving a small nod picked it up and began to suck the end, then she made a couple of notes, itemising how the previous letters had been received, and as she began to chew on it she obviously thought of something else and began to write again.
The Chief sat and watched as Rae began to work. He had seen her in the squad room totally oblivious to the rest of the world, as she thought through her ideas and put them on paper, but he hadn't realised how powerful her concentration was, or how total. The piece of paper in front of his officer began to fill up and he could see that it was a list of names. After about five minutes Rae looked up and smiled.
"Sorry, Sir, but I think that maybe one of the people on this list will have gotten the letter about the head." Rae turned the paper round and watched as her boss read the list. She had put both Christian and surnames but the Chief knew every person, by name if not personally, that she had written.
The list was, as far as Rae could think, everyone who would come under the heading of family and friends. She had started off with Jo, and Mark, after that the names had just flowed. Daniel, Michael, David, Jesse, herself, Eliana and Anneya, Alex and Shannon, Amanda, Ron, Dion and CJ, Cheryl and Martin. That was seventeen names, and she knew that if you went on to casual acquaintances it could get even longer.
Rae looked up and saw the clock. They had been at the crime scene in Van Nuys all morning, the detour to the golf course had taken up another hour and now it was just coming up to three o'clock. "Sir, I am really sorry, but I have to leave early today, I, um, I have no clothes to speak of, and I need to go and buy some." Rae felt embarrassed, she had a feeling that was more information that the Chief needed, but to her surprise he smiled.
"Rae, of course, I was so sorry to hear about your house, I trust that you and your family have found somewhere else to live." The Chief's voice was sympathetic, and Rae returned his smile with ease.
"Yes, thank you, Sir. Texas … Sorry, Jo Sloan had a house that she lets out and we are living there, we have signed a six month lease, but I think we will be staying there for a lot longer than that." Rae was amazed that she was having this conversation with Chief Masters, but he didn't seem in the least bored or uncomfortable with what she was saying. The time that she had spent working closely with him had been very enjoyable for her, and she guessed that, much to her surprise, he had felt that way too.
"So you are living where now?"
"Um, Beverley Hills. It's not somewhere I ever thought I would live, but well, I guess I'll cope!"
The Chief smiled once more, nodding as he did so. "I'm sure you will. You have proved yourself very adaptable so far."
"Ah, yes, thank you, Sir." Rae was finding the conversation more and more amazing, and she wasn't really sure how to respond.
"Rae, go and do your shopping, and if I don't see you before, I am sure that we will meet at Mrs Sloan's Charity Ball on Saturday evening."
Rae nodded her head as she began to gather all the paperwork together. "I hope you enjoy it, Sir, she has put a lot of work into it."
"Detective?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Are you going to take my pencil with you?"
Rae felt a blush as it flooded her face, and she looked at the now bitten and chewed pencil in her hand. With an embarrassed smile she offered it to her boss.
"Mmm, on second thoughts, you may have it."
Rae nodded her gratitude then she turned and, with as much dignity as she could muster, fled his office.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steve had arrived home a little after five. He had spoken briefly with Rae when she had returned from the Chief's office, and agreed with her about the letter regarding the head. Rae had also shown him the list of people she felt would be likely to receive either letters or actual bits and pieces. After a moment's thought Rae had crossed off her daughters and CJ and Dion. She knew that their parents would intercept anything sent to the children. Steve had then watched Rae head off on her enforced shopping spree and with a sigh he had begun to call all his friends and family, whom he knew he wouldn't get to see personally, to warn them of what might happen.
Steve parked his truck in the garage, made sure it was locked and secure and then entered the house in his usual way through the laundry room. There was nothing laid out for him to eat in the kitchen and he could tell that Michael wasn't in the frame of mind for small talk so he had headed into the hallway to find Daniel who told him in an extremely sullen voice that 'David and Debbie would be there in an hour, and both Michael and Jo were in crappy moods.' Steve had reprimanded him on his language, but on reflection, Steve didn't think he had ever seen the English man in such a state. As Daniel talked Steve heard something break in the kitchen, and a, mild by his own standards, curse being uttered.
Jo was stalking around like a lioness in a cage, and nothing he could say or do seemed to help, so in the end he had retired to the morning room to read the daily paper. He turned straight to the sports pages and for the next fifty minutes or so became absorbed in the results and reviews of all the midweek action. He could hear the sounds of his family around him, and gradually some of the feelings of the day receded into the background. Daniel had gone upstairs and the vibration of his music was making it feel as if the light fittings were moving, Michael seemed a little calmer in his kitchen, and Jo had disappeared outside to prune some of her shrubs, and once again the Sloan household seemed a friendlier place, but then the door bell rang.
Michael had just gone into the morning room to talk with Steve when they heard the chimes, and, knowing that their conversation would have to wait, he opened the patio doors so that Steve could put his head out.
"Jo, Honey, I think they're here."
Jo wiped her hands on her jeans and came in. "Oh great, Michael, did you count the silver?"
"Jo! Now stop it, she's a nice lady, David loves her, so she must be ok, and he was nothing but gracious to me, even when he didn't know me, just give her a chance."
Jo had nodded, and moved a little closer to Michael and with a sigh Steve had gone and opened the door himself. "Debbie, David, did you have a good trip?"
"Now, Steve, you know I told y'all to call me Debs." She playfully swatted at Steve's arm and then watched as Steve listened to David's reply.
"Yeah, not too bad, a little turbulence, but nothin' that the pilot couldn't handle. Jo, Honey, how are you?" David moved over towards his sister and swept her up in his arms. "Married life must be agreein' with you, you are lookin' wonderful."
"Thank you, an' yes it is, I just love it."
Debbie had given Steve a kiss on each cheek and had then sat carefully on the sofa that was positioned at the side of the staircase.
Michael moved across towards David and waited politely for him to acknowledge his presence.
"Michael, it's good to see you." David turned with a smile on his face.
"Sir, the taxi driver has your bags shall I tip him for you?"
"Yeah, yeah, here you go now." David handed over a twenty dollar bill and Michael began to move towards the door, as he passed Debbie she reached out her hand.
"Now, I could do with some change, let me have that twenty, an' you can just give this to the driver." She handed over a ten-dollar bill, and put the larger one into her purse. Jo rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
Michael began to bring the bags into the hallway, and Debbie rose to her feet. "Jo, I think that I would like to go an' freshen up a little, if you could just show me the way?"
"Of course, Michael, could you bring the bags up to the Rose Room?"
"Certainly Madam, I will follow you up." Jo didn't normally use the formal names for the bedrooms but she always tried to remember to do so when David was around. For some reason he liked it. The Rose Room had been her and Steve's room, but she had successfully moved everything into the East Wing that afternoon.
Jo headed up the stairs, mentally counting to ten as she did so. Debbie had said or done nothing to annoy her yet, but she was annoyed, she couldn't help herself, and Jo knew that if she didn't pull herself together then she and Steve would have a fight, and she didn't want that to happen.
"Jo, what is that appallin' noise? Surely you don't like that music? It is a little young for you isn't it?" Debbie managed to wrinkle her nose, as if the music was accompanied by a putrid smell, and Jo was sure she visibly paled too.
"No, I don't like it, but Daniel does, an' he is doin' his homework right now, so he is allowed to have it on." Jo didn't explain, she knew that Debbie would leap right in, and she was right.
"Daniel? You have somebody else livin' here, an' you only just married? Why, who is he?"
"Daniel is a young boy that we are fosterin'. At the moment it seems to be goin' pretty well, an' I enjoy havin' him around the place." Jo smiled; she had no intention of going into any more details and so she moved into the Rose Room without another word.
"Well, now that's mighty community spirited of you. An' I guess it is lovely for the poor chil' to have such a wonderful home to live in, with everythin' he could ever want right at his fingertips."
"Debbie, he isn't here to live the high life, we want to give him some love an' stability. He had a rough start in life, an' we are helpin' him to have a future before it is too late, but that doesn't mean that we give him everythin' he wants. We get a set amount each week for havin' him, an' he gets an allowance out of that. Anythin' more has to be earnt."
"Well, pardon me!" Debbie looked down her nose at her hostess and was about to continue when there was a knock at the door.
"Michael, if that is you then come in." Jo called out to the figure behind the door, and then turned to her guest.
"I will leave you to get freshened up an' sorted out. We will be in the mornin' room when you are ready to rejoin us."
Jo left the room, managing to keep the heavy sigh in until she knew she was out of earshot, and then she headed for the stairs.
Michael placed the first of two suitcases on the special stand and left the other one standing upright next to it. "If that is all, Madam, dinner will be served in half an hour."
"No, Michael, that is not all. Surely you don't expect me to unpack my own suitcases? Good grief man, you wouldn't last a day in my house, let alone the amount of time you have been slackin' around here. I want my dresses hung in …" Debbie began opening closet doors, until she found one with a mirror on the back of it. "This one, pants an' shirts can go in the one next to it. The smaller suitcase has all my delicates in it. I would like them as I put them on, top drawer, middle an' bottom, in this chest." Debbie pointed to a set of three drawers next to the dressing table. "An' I will expect everythin' to be done by the time I have had my bath." With that she picked up a small vanity case and disappeared into the en-suite bathroom, leaving Michael standing almost open mouthed at her cheek.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dinner had been over for just about a half hour when the phone rang out in the hallway. Jo listened as Michael went to answer it, hoping against hope that it would be for her and not Steve. She didn't think she could face the rest of the evening without the presence of her husband.
"Good evening, Sloan residence… Yes, Madam … no, I am sure that will be fine… thank you, Madam … if you will just hold the line." Michael put the receiver down on the telephone table and walked quietly up to his employer. "Madam, Mrs Travis is on the phone for you. Do you wish to take it in the hallway?"
Jo smiled. If Rae called for Steve then Detective Yeager would be on the phone, but if she phoned for her then Mrs Travis was the name Michael always used. "Michael, thank you, an' yes I'll take it in the hallway." Jo got to her feet and went straight to the phone.
"Rae, Honey, how are you…? Oh, I'll just bet you had a wonderful time; I would have loved to have been with you… No, I can't tonight, but tomorrow, I'll come an' have a look tomorrow…Oh my … no, he didn't, we didn't get a change to talk before David an' Debs arrived… No, Honey, no, trust me it's fine … I will talk with him tonight, no, I won't take any chances, you know I am always careful… You too, I'll see you soon." Jo put the phone down and with a concerned look in her eyes moved back into the morning room and straight over to her husband's chair. "Steve, Sweetheart, could I have a quick word?"
"Yeah sure, here is fine isn't it?" Steve looked at her, she didn't seem deeply upset, and he was comfortable where he was.
Wishing that he would leave the room, but knowing he didn't want to, Jo began to talk. "Honey, Rae just called, an' she told me about your day, I am so sorry, I didn't even ask when you arrived." Jo had tried to keep her voice down but both David and Debbie heard her.
With a sigh Steve looked at the other people around the table. He could see that David looked concerned, but Deb's was curious. He recognised the reactions; they were ones he faced every day. With a mental shrug he prepared himself to involve all these people in his case, he hadn't wanted to go into details now, tonight, but he guessed he had no choice.
"Jo, sit down, I need to talk to all of you… No, Michael, please stay. This will concern you as well." Steve had seen the butler take a couple of discreet steps towards the door.
"Very good, Sir. If that is what you wish."
"This concerns my friends and family, Michael, you are in the unique position of being both, as far as I am concerned." Steve had smiled at the Englishman and had been amused to see that he had actually confused him.
"Thank you, Sir." Michael regained his composure almost immediately, but he knew that the Lieutenant had seen that his words unsettled him.
"Rae and I are working on a very disturbing case at the moment, I won't go into details, but we both feel that there is a possibility that my friends and family could be … on the receiving end of some very distasteful items, or letters." Steve paused. He knew that he would have to tell them what sort of items, he just wasn't sure quite how to word it.
"Honey, Rae told me a little about what you decided today, but I think you are gonna have to tell David an' Debbie what sort of things you are talkin' about." Jo had moved around, so that she could place her hand over that of her husband, to encourage him to continue and, with a smile of gratitude in her direction, he did just that.
"I call it the Todd Case; I have been receiving letters from a person signing himself S. Todd. Rae, on the other hand…" Steve stopped talking and shuddered as he realised what he had said … "Rae, calls it the bits and pieces case."
"Why would she do that? I guess it must have somethin' to do with her British sense of humour." Debbie looked over at Steve, interest shining in her eyes, and a laugh in her voice.
"I think so. It helps her to cope, and believe me she needs it right now… The Todd Case is a double homicide investigation. We know the identity of one of the victims now, although we didn't a couple of days ago. We are getting the victims bit by bit." Steve stopped. There didn't seem to be any more to say.
"Bits? You are gettin' bits of the victims, you mean, like a hand, or a foot?" David's tone was one of absolute amazement, and Steve could see that Debbie had gone a delicate shade of green.
"Yes, that is exactly what I mean." Steve's tone was grim, and he knew that it was going to get even grimmer.
"But, Steve, Honey, how are we involved in that? We are just visitin' after all. David, I know you want to stay, but if there is danger, you are a very powerful man an' all."
Jo felt her heart leap in her chest, and felt instantly guilty, but maybe, just maybe she could get rid of this woman after only one night.
"No, if Jo is in danger, an' I am guessin' here, but she would be the one in most danger, yes?" David looked across at Steve.
"I don't know. Ron Wagner, Rae and I are working on a profile of the guy, but we need the head letter…" Steve trailed off, knowing he had probably said too much.
"Head? One of the bits was a head, oh, how can you do such a disgustin' job?" Debbie's voice had risen in anguish.
"It's a good thing that there are people like him an' Rae around or there would be anarchy. He is just tryin' to protect you; not start a discussion on his choice of career." Jo stood up and moved over to the French doors that led from the dining room out onto the patio. She knew that if what Steve said about friends and family were true she was in danger from this lunatic but she didn't need anybody else to mention it.
"Look, just listen to me and then we can change the subject. Yes, we have a head, which is how we know who the man is. Every time we get a body part we get a letter. Now, that is something that hasn't been released to the press, so it stays in this room. Daniel?" Steve looked across as his foster son.
"Well, gee, 'Dad' I don't know, think you can trust me?"
"Yes, Son, I do. If I didn't I would have asked you to leave before I started talking." Steve held the young man's defiant gaze until Daniel looked away.
"Oh. Yeah, Steve, I won't say anything, I promise."
Michael walked over to where Steve was sitting and spoke for a moment quietly to him.
"Ok, I'll come and see it, Jo; could you get Rae on the phone and ask her to come over? Right now if she could." Steve's voice was grave once more, and his demeanour had changed totally. David and Debbie could now see how Lieutenant Sloan differed from Steve Sloan.
"Sure, right away, somethin' has happened, here, today, hasn't it?"
Michael looked at Steve and seeing him nod slightly began to speak. "I received some mail this morning, Madam; I believe it to be pertinent to the case we have been discussing."
Jo glared at Debbie as she heard her snigger into her hand. "I'll get on it right away."
Steve followed Michael through into the kitchen, and saw, in a plastic food bag an open envelope, with a letter next to it. As he moved closer to it he heard Jo on the phone in the hallway.
"Jesse, hi, Honey, I'm real sorry to break into your evenin' an' all, but we need Rae over here right now… No, nothin' to do with Saturday, but she needs to be Detective Yeager… Sure, you can bring 'em if you would like… bye." Jo put the phone down and made her own way to the kitchen. "She is comin' right over, Jesse an' the girls are comin' too, I hope that's all right."
"Yeah, this won't take long."
One of the advantages of Rae and Jesse living two doors down the road became apparent as the doorbell rang almost immediately. Michael left his kitchen and moved over to answer it. "Detective Yeager, Doctor Travis, please come in. Madam, the Lieutenant is in the kitchen, Sir, the family are in the dining room."
"Thank you, Michael. Rae, if you need me just call, ok?" Jesse had Anneya in his arms and Eliana was now toddling off to find her Aunty Jo. With a smile Rae heard voices from the dining room as she turned towards the kitchen.
"Well, now aren't you the sweetest thing, you have just grown so much since I last saw you…"
Rae frowned as Eliana started to wail, shrieking unhappily at the top of her lungs, but she knew from the voices she heard that Jo, David, and Debbie were with her, and Jesse would be there soon. If the four of them couldn't amuse one unhappy little girl for the few minutes it took her to look at Michael's letter, then Eliana was crying just because she wanted her mother, and the tears would miraculously disappear as soon as she could join them and her daughter in the morning room.
Rae pushed open the door to the kitchen, and was in full police mode by the time it swung shut behind her. "Steve, Michael, what have you got?"
"We have the head letter." Steve knew he didn't need to say very much else.
"Sent here, to your house?" Rae knew that it had to be a cop, or someone who worked for the city. Like all cops Steve kept his address a carefully guarded secret.
"Yep, to Michael, well, to 'The Butler' I guess people know I have one, they just don't know who he is."
"That could let Martin off the hook couldn't it? He knows Michael."
"Or it could mean that he is just being very clever, and hoping we will think that." Steve stopped talking and Rae could tell that he was processing what had just happened. With a feeling of dejection beginning to overwhelm him he began to speak again. "No, I think that we still don't have one vice cop we can trust." Steve's voice came out so despondently that, even though Michael was in the room, Rae moved over and took his hand.
"No, I don't either." Rae thought for a moment about the men she knew worked in vice, most of them were just ordinary looking guys. "There is one who stands out, Don Werner, but Mrs Milton didn't say that the driver was black did she?" Steve shook his head and with a sigh Rae continued. "I have to say that even if Don wasn't black he would still stand out, he is a man mountain but she said he was crouched down ... I don't think we can rule anybody out, sorry, Steve…" Rae felt her partner grip her hand just for a second and she hurriedly continued speaking. "What did the letter say?"
Steve let go of her hand then and picked up the bag by its corner and began to read.
Stevie,
I know that this will reach you. A butler. Imagine! Did you get this given to you on a silver platter? Maybe I should serve the next pieces that way.
I have something to confess – no, not that, would you like me to? Ok, Officer, arrest me, I am cutting people up and leaving them everywhere. Will that do?
I was going to send you an ear. You will hear from me, remember? But when I knew you were going to our beloved vice detective's house, well, I just couldn't help it; I guess I got a bit a head of myself.
But I have decided to up the stakes, to make it more fun. Who will I target next? Who knows? Is there a pattern to what I plan to do? Who knows that either? I guess you will just have to keep watching and waiting.
You are a popular guy; I think I have plenty of potential victims.
The game is afoot.
S. Todd.
Rae and Steve looked at each other and then over at Michael. "I'm guessing that you touched this before you realised what it was, so we'll need your fingerprints to eliminate you from our suspect list." Steve felt embarrassed to even suggest such a thing to his butler, a man he respected deeply.
"Unless …" Rae's voice was thoughtful, but the look on her face told both men that she didn't like what she was thinking, she didn't like it at all.
"Unless what?" Steve had a feeling he wasn't going to like it either.
Rae turned away for a moment, and they could tell that she was having trouble coming to terms with what she had just realised.
"Rae?" Steve moved over and put a hand on each shoulder and then he gently turned her round.
"Leave me a minute, Steve." Rae sat at the kitchen table and took out her pad and a pencil, slowly she began to write, and Steve and Michael could see that she was writing a list. Finally after about five minutes she handed her page to Steve and watched as he read it. After he had done so once he began again, but this time out loud.
"Ok, I'll read this again, and then you can tell me what it is. "'Daniel, Michael, David, Jesse, you, Alex and Shannon, Amanda, and Ron, Cheryl and Martin.' Those I saw before, and now you added 'Chief Masters, Captain Newman, Don Werner, Martin Robinson, Gary Harnell, Carlos Montoya, Leroy Raab, Leighton Vale, Alison Royle, Cheryl Banks', Rae what is this? And why have you got Martin and Cheryl on here twice?"
For a moment Rae said nothing, and when she did speak it came out as a whisper. "A list of possible suspects."