Chapter 10
In the ten feet between the two interview rooms Ray was stopped by Elaine. She could see that he was mad, almost furious, but it didn't scare her one bit. "Where's Fraser?"
"In there, but he's with a suspect so--"
"Could you just give him these." Elaine said, handing Ray a little vile of pills. "There the med's he asked for."
Ray took the bottle and read the label. The long word on it reveled nothing to him. "What are they for?"
"Psychotics. I guess they suppress aggressive behaviors or something. Just make sure Fraser doesn't take them. They can lead to sever depression for a normal person."
"Yha, well I think you give him too much credit calling him normal, but don't worry there not for him." Ray said as he pushed past Elaine and walked into interview one. "Hay Frasers, think fast." Ray said, once inside as he tossed the meds to the Mountie.
Benny caught them, read the label and then placed them squarely on the table.
"What's those?" Bear asked nervously.
"They're for you." Fraser said. He had somehow re-acquired his unearthly calm.
Bear reached forward and picked up the bottle. He read the label and suddenly became very, very angry. He threw the meds at Fraser violently. "You saying I'm crazy?"
"I didn't think it needed to be said." Ray commented dryly from the corner where he could keep an eye on both Bear and Benny.
"I don't need these, They don't make a difference."
"But they used to, didn't they?" Fraser asked, leaning forward. "When you were in prison you started to take them, didn't you? They kept you out of trouble."
"Yha, when I was twenty and didn't know a damned thing. But I'm far beyond that."
"Are you? Look at you're position. You are presently in a police station, being held for the very serious crime of kidnapping and unless you help us, murder. I would say you are presently in quite a bit of trouble."
"You're police officers. You wouldn't hinder justice would you? You wouldn't stop the mighty force of fairness. God, it even sounds poetic."
"Justice?" Fraser asked, he was lost.
"Justice. You fried Lisa, the one woman I loved . . ."
"Woman you loved!" Ray interjected. "You were thirteen! You hadn't even gone threw puberty yet!"
Right as he yelled that the door to the Interrogation room swung open and Louis St. Laurent stormed in. "Vecchio, Get out here!" She said, making it clear that no was not an option.
"Don't mess with this Louis," Ray warned.
"Mess with this? The fact that you have a Canadian citizen held on questionable charges and no solid evidence with no one to represent him? This is a nightmare Vecchio, even you know that!"
Fraser took a deep breath and stood up, which surprised Ray and Louis. They both knew that the Mountie was terrified of her. "Mrs. St. Laurent, you have to trust that Detective Vecchio and myself are treating this case with the utmost care and we are following the letter of the law rigidly."
"I don't trust Detective Vecchio, or you, Constable. I want . . ."
"You know what, Louis, no one cares what you want." Ray said bluntly.
Louis was taken aback. Ray was always crude and raw, but that was just professional crudeness. She even respected it. But, she could tell by the intensity on Ray's face and the firmness in Fraser's voice that this wasn't professional, this was personal. And Louis was smart enough to stay out of their way, but she still had a job to do. "I'm going to talk to Welsh."
"You do that." Ray said as Louis stormed out of the room.
"I like her," Bear said absent-mindedly.
"Where is inspector Thatcher?"
"Would you stop asking me that question!"
"Only if you answer it." Ray said. Benny's technique had seemed useless up to now, but it appeared to be working.
"She's north, ok? Due north. Up and up. Closer to heaven."
"Got a street address?" Ray demanded.
"That wouldn't help." Fraser said as he walked to the door and exited the interrogation room.
Ray looked at Fraser, then at Bear. "Stay here." Ray said threateningly. "And if you get hungry feel free to pop a few pills."
***
_ "Ok," Ray said once they were in the Riv, on the interstate, and heading north. "Where we going?"
"Illinois Beach State Park." Fraser turned to his friend. "You do know where that is, don't you."
"Sure, I've been there. Picnics on Fourth of July and all. But its north west, not due north."
"Well naturally, Ray. Due north is the middle of lake Michigan."
"Not if you go up into Wisconsin, or the U.P. of Michigan."
"Yes, but that would be a journey of several hours, he didn't have time for that." Fraser explained. "He's hidden her in a wilderness, but he managed to do it in just over twelve hours. That means the wilderness had to be close."
"Could be six hours away," Ray pointed out. "He could have sped up to some place in Wisconsin, dropped her off, then sped back down."
"No, he was waiting for us at the car, he had been waiting for some time, probably sense dawn."
"How can you know that?"
"The alley he steeped out of had fast food wrappers in it. He ate lunch there."
"How can you know that? I mean really Fraser, those wrappers could have been from anything at all."
"It was windy,"
"It's Chicago,"
"But they hadn't blown away. Whoever discarded them had done so recently, before the wind could get them."
"But what if they had blown there?" Ray asked.
"The cup, french-fry pack, and the sandwich wrapper, all blown to the exact same place?"
"It's possible."
"Highly unlikely, besides, I smelled hamburger on his breath."
"And you couldn't have said this straight out."
"I don't see how the order in witch I presented the facts makes a difference."
"Never mind," Ray sighted.
***
It was well after dark by the time they got to the park. The Ranger's gave them a hard time, claiming that they hadn't been given official notice, and that if there was any searching to be done in the relatively small State Park the Ranger service would have to lead the search, knowing so much more about tracking techniques and wilderness survival than a couple of city slickers from Chicago. Ray showed his badge and then his gun and told them that if they were in the mood to start thrashing through the woods looking for a Dragon Lady they would be perfectly welcome too.
In the end the Superintendent of the Forrest services were called and Ray and Benny were allowed to plow through the park alone, without assistance until word came from higher up that they were to be assisted.
"So how do we find her?" Ray asked as they crawled down the park's poorly paved roads at ten miles per hour.
"He wants me to find her, The trail will be obvious."
"Maybe he wanted to lead you too her, see you're reaction."
"Still, he would have to mark a trail. All we have to do is find the trailhead and then we'll find the Inspector. Besides we have Diefenbaker, he's wonderful at tracking when he wants to be."
Ray nodded and the drove the next few miles in silence, so when Fraser almost yelled "Stop!" Ray slammed on the brakes.
"What, what? Is there a dear, a rabbit, a possum?"
"A trail head." Fraser said, opening the Riv's door and getting out of the car.
Ray put the car in park, let Dief out, and then followed the Mountie to the edge of the wood, which to him looked exactly the same as the edge of the wood for the past ten miles. "I don't see a thing."
"Look," Fraser said, pointing at the forest floor. "A cedar branch."
"In a forest, Fraser, what a surprise."
"Look around you, Ray. Do you see a cedar tree anywhere near here."
Ray looked around. He didn't know dog from cottonwood, but he could clearly see that the branch Fraser had pointed to was from a red fur tree, while they seemed to be in a grove of birch. Even Ray could see the difference.
Dief whimpered and pawed at the branch. Fraser looked down, concerned, kneeled and then pulled a out a single brown hair that had been woven in the pine bristles. He looked at Dief and simply said, "Find her." The wolf barked and bounded into the forest. Benny was after him in a second.
He was almost lost in the darkness and thickness of the forest when Ray yelled, "I'll call for Backup!"
He thought that he heard Fraser yell some acknowledgment, but he wasn't sure. In any event he called the ranger station which had yet to get approval to start searching through the woods, and then he called Welsh.
***
Meg's thoughts drifted in and out. She thought about death, but never for very long, and never very seriously. She just couldn't concentrate long enough to form any concise thought. She thought about her family, and about her work, and about Fraser. She would stumble upon some great truth, about herself, or her relationships, and then the next second it would slip from her mind and she wouldn't be able to recall it if she remembered she had had it in the first place.
Her mind wandered in and out of her past, too. She would close her eyes and find herself in her parent's bedroom, and her mother would be getting dressed for some party. She could hear the radio playing in the background and smell the potpourri. She would think that her mother was so pretty in her party dress and make up. She wanted to go to the party too, to put on her best dress, and have her hair done, and look like a princess. Meg wanted that very badly, but then reality would grab her and she would realize she couldn't be a six year old girl, because she was a Mountie.
Then she would close her eyes and she'd be in her desk at legal affairs in Ottawa, and she thought about all the work she had to do, and suddenly she found herself dreading going into the office. Dreading facing Hennrie because then she would have to gently refuse him without offending him, and she dreaded not facing him, because she could feel his eyes on her, even when he wasn't in the room. But then she remembered that she wasn't in Ottawa, because she had told Hennrie no, once and for all, clearly and simply.
Then she closed her eyes and dreamed she was in a bed that was two small for one person, never the less two. But it didn't matter, because she didn't mind being close. But then she opened her eyes, and was hit by reality. She was cold, and alone, tied under a tree. And the fact of the matter was there was no reason to believe that would change in her lifetime.
Regardless, Meg didn't give up, she wasn't even close to giving up. It wasn't in her nature.
Needless to say, when she heard her name, well actually her rank and last name, being shouted through the woods she thought that it was just another trick of her mind. And when she actually saw the white wolf and Fraser coming closer to her in the darkness, she was sure her eyes were really closed.
It wasn't until she felt him brush the hair out of her eyes that she realized that her eyes were open, and this was real. She tried to say something, say his name, say anything, but her gag prevented her.
"Are you all right sir?" He asked like an idiot, as he took out a hunting knife of his own, much smaller than the one her kidnapper had used and cut her gag off.
It felt wonderful to close her mouth, absolutely wonderful. Still her mouth and throat were dry, she tried to salivate, to moisten them, but she couldn't.
Fraser had cut the rope that had bound her hands, and was gently messaging them in his own, trying to get the circulation going again. He looked up, catching her eyes in his, and asked, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Again, Meg was struck by the totally lunacy of the question. Yes he'd hurt her, he'd hurt her and he'd scared her, and she was most definitely not all right. And she tried to tell him. She opened her mouth, expecting well formed words to come out, like they had ever sense she could remember, but instead all that came out was a half stuttered mess, totally indecipherable. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth and, although she didn't notice it, her entire body was trembling.
Fraser looked at her with his clear blue eyes, and she could see the concern. She didn't want his concern. She tried to tell him that, but again she merely stuttered, totally indecipherable.
The frustration seemed to magnify her trembling. Instead of the slight quake to keep away the cold, her shaking became almost violent.
Meg glanced in his eyes, then quickly glanced away again. She was horribly ashamed, even thought she couldn't think of the word for what she was feeling. She just knew that she was not in control of herself, or of the situation. She didn't want him to see her like this, this week and fragile. She would have cried, but she didn't have any tears. Forcing a deep breath she decided to try talking again. She looked up, and her hair was in her eyes. She didn't even notice it, but Fraser did.
Ever sense his interview with Gerrat, which seemed much more than three days ago, he had a vivid mental image of her with hair in her eyes. It frightened him, it was almost a symbol of this whole ordeal, everything boiled down to her having hair in her eyes. It seemed imperative to him, symbolically, to make sure her hair stayed back. He pushed it away, which allowed him to see her eyes.
Suddenly, facts he already knew took form. She had been frightened; she needed to be comforted. She had been hurt; she needed to be cared for. She had been abused; she needed to be safe. She had been treated harshly; she needed to be treated tenderly. She had been hated; she needed to be loved.
With his hand still on her temple he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. A second, a breath, and it was over. Meg didn't even get a chance to move.
It was a kiss that was composed more of compassion than of passion. Never the less it left her breathless. It was a kiss that gave, with no demand for return, a kiss of unconditional love. She may not have been able to form a sentence, she may have been a mess with her hair in her eyes, she may have failed to fight of her attacker and protect herself or latter escape. She may have failed at all these things she fully expected herself able to do. But to him, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that now she was safe.
"Fffine," she managed to say, she was still trembling, but she had found her voice. "Iiiii'm Fffine."
He offered her a smile that told her he knew she wasn't. For some reason she didn't mind. "You're cold." Fraser said as he slipped his leather jacket off and threw it over her shoulders. It was remarkably warm and soft and it smelled like him. She stopped trembling.
"We have to get you to a hospital." He said as he rose to his feet. Very gently, much more than was necessary, he pulled her up to her feet. "Can you walk?" He asked softly. She was far too proud to say no. But once they were trudging through the forest, with roots and branches and rocks sticking up just waiting to trip her, she found him having to almost catch her a hundred times. Add to this the fact that she hadn't had a thing to eat or drink for nearly twenty-four hours and hadn't used her legs in nearly the same amount of time. In the end Fraser ended up supporting most of her weight, she just struggled to move forward.
When they reached the ten-meter radius Meg stopped dead in her tracks.
"What is it?" Fraser asked.
"Traps," she said, hardly above a whisper. "He was setting traps."
"He wasn't very good at it." Fraser said, smiling ever so slightly. "Do you see those Rocks?" He nodded towards a net that contained a pile of Rocks not even partially hidden in the foliage.
"Yes."
"And, Do you see that rope?"
Meg followed his gaze to a rope that could only be the trigger. "Yes."
"Can you step over it?"
"Yes."
They were careful to avoid the obvious rope as they walked forward, and Dief jumped over it with ease.
***
Ray sat in the Riv for nearly Forty-five minutes before anything happened. It was cold out and he had the heater and the Radio on. At Eight he called his Ma to tell her that he wasn't dead and that he was going to come home eventually. She sounded relived. Other than that, the biggest highlight of his wait was finding five Beatles songs in a row while flipping channels. It was one of those cosmic interplays that God throws in there every now and then to tell people that everything is going to be ok. Even the songs themselves seemed to scream that he didn't need to worry. It started with "Lady Madonna" and next came, "You've got to Hide You're Love Away" which was followed by "Help!" and accordingly "I get By with a little Help from my friends" followed that. The end course of "Hard Day's Night" was still playing and Ray was about to change the channel and see if the Almighty was sending him any other messages when he was showered by the lights of three choppers. "What the . . ." He muttered as he looked up to the sky and watched the choppers land on the narrow rode cut out of the forest. Before the blades stopped spinning agent Ford jumped out, yelling something at the top of his lungs. He was closely followed by agent Deeder who yelled something into a walkie-talkie.
Ray decided that he should actually be a participant in this odd little scene and so got out of the Riv and angrily walked towards the two blundering agents. "What the Hell is this?!" he demanded.
"This is a rescue and retrieval unit." Ford said, annoyance filling his voice.
"A little bit of an over reaction, don't you think?"
Ford took a deep breath, as if he were talking to a child. "As I understand it, Detective. You knew about this kidnapping a full six hours before you reported it to you're superior officer."
"Do you ever find anything on your own, or do you always follow those with actual brains."
"You know," Ford said, an obvious strain in his voice. "If anything at all happens to the woman . . ."
"She's an Inspector." Ray corrected.
"The responsibility will fall squarely on you're head. Do you know who she is? Who her father is?"
"I know she's a person in trouble, and this may surprise you, but in my book, that's all that matters."
Ford looked like he was about to really dig it into Ray, and there was no Welsh and no Fraser to hold either of them back, but Agent Deeder yelled. "Movement at three o'clock!" Everyone's attention was turned to the edge of the woods, where through the trees you could barely see the outlines of a bounding white wolf and two stumbling Mounties.
"Get the Medics out there!" Ford yelled, several decibels louder than was actually necessary.
For Meg and Benny things suddenly became very confusing. They were walking in the dark woods, Dief leading them presumably to safety. Fraser was talking quietly to her, to keep her mind focused, keep her from thinking about how hungry and thirsty she was. Suddenly, they were inundated with bright lights and loud noises. They were pulled apart from each other by what seemed like lots of hands, and although the voices were saying things like; "Just relax you're safe," and, "great job, finding her like that," both of them had to fight of shear panic. It wasn't until Meg was actually hooked up to an I.V. and wrapped in a soft blanket that her brain was able to process everything that had happened. She tried to find Fraser in the crowd of people she searched the faces and found nothing. Finally, the drugs that the Medics had given her and the shear exhaustion of the whole situation overwhelmed her and she drifted off to sleep.
The End
(epilog pending)