Chapter 4
After a sleepless night tossing and turning, Shawn was up and ready to meet the rescue team at 5am. "Ok, we need to get out there and find Belle, where do we start?" The captain of the rescue team took a deep breath, "Detective Brady, we had rescue teams out searching for your wife all night and they came up with nothing. I have to be honest with you, the chances that we'll find her alive are slim at this point." Shawn felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. "Are you telling me that you're quitting? That there's no hope? That my wife is gone forever?" he screamed. The captain put a hand on Shawn's shoulder, "We're not giving up yet. I just want to prepare you for what may be to come. We have a helicopter crew flying over the area where you last saw your wife and we've called in a team with rescue dogs to see if they can get your wife's scent and find her that way. If you can get something of hers that we can let the dogs smell to get her scent that will really help us out." Shawn nodded and left to get one of Belle's shirts.
At 8pm, Shawn was still searching the hillside for his beloved wife. The rescue teams had given up about an hour before, but Shawn refused to go in. Bo came up to him. "Sailor Man, we have to talk." Shawn turned to his father, "You don't have to say it. Please don't say it. Dad, she can't be gone. There are too many things in life we still have to do together. We were going to go to Europe this summer for a couple of weeks. We talked about adding a couple of bedrooms onto the house for the kids we were going to have. We were going to grow old together and sit in matching rocking chairs on the porch of our retirement home . . . Oh God, my Perfect Girl is gone. How can I live without her?" Shawn broke down into body shaking sobs. Bo helped his son to his feet and walked with him back to the lodge to head home to Salem.
"Shawn, why don't you stay at our house in your old bedroom tonight? I'll go with you to your house tomorrow so you don't have to be alone there." Offered Hope when they arrived in front of Shawn's house. Shawn continued to stare out the window as he had the whole ride home. "No thanks Mom, I have to face the empty house some time, it might as well be tonight." Well, we'll be here in a heartbeat if you need us, OK?" Hope said as she hugged her son. She wished she could take his pain away, but she knew that she couldn't. He grabbed his and Belle's suitcases out of the trunk of the car and went into the house. Felix sauntered into the living room and rubbed against Shawn's leg. Shawn bent down and picked the kitty up. He sat on the couch and listened to the silence in the house as he petted Felix. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of Belle. There was the artwork they picked out together at a gallery on their honeymoon, there was the tiny stain on the carpet from their New Year's Eve party where Rex had spilled red wine, and even the cream colored walls that they had painted together. Everything he looked at made his heart ache. Tears started rolling down his cheeks and onto Felix's black fur. The cat sat up and licked the tears from Shawn's face. "What are we going to do without her, boy?" Shawn questioned.
After a sleepless night tossing and turning, Shawn was up and ready to meet the rescue team at 5am. "Ok, we need to get out there and find Belle, where do we start?" The captain of the rescue team took a deep breath, "Detective Brady, we had rescue teams out searching for your wife all night and they came up with nothing. I have to be honest with you, the chances that we'll find her alive are slim at this point." Shawn felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. "Are you telling me that you're quitting? That there's no hope? That my wife is gone forever?" he screamed. The captain put a hand on Shawn's shoulder, "We're not giving up yet. I just want to prepare you for what may be to come. We have a helicopter crew flying over the area where you last saw your wife and we've called in a team with rescue dogs to see if they can get your wife's scent and find her that way. If you can get something of hers that we can let the dogs smell to get her scent that will really help us out." Shawn nodded and left to get one of Belle's shirts.
At 8pm, Shawn was still searching the hillside for his beloved wife. The rescue teams had given up about an hour before, but Shawn refused to go in. Bo came up to him. "Sailor Man, we have to talk." Shawn turned to his father, "You don't have to say it. Please don't say it. Dad, she can't be gone. There are too many things in life we still have to do together. We were going to go to Europe this summer for a couple of weeks. We talked about adding a couple of bedrooms onto the house for the kids we were going to have. We were going to grow old together and sit in matching rocking chairs on the porch of our retirement home . . . Oh God, my Perfect Girl is gone. How can I live without her?" Shawn broke down into body shaking sobs. Bo helped his son to his feet and walked with him back to the lodge to head home to Salem.
"Shawn, why don't you stay at our house in your old bedroom tonight? I'll go with you to your house tomorrow so you don't have to be alone there." Offered Hope when they arrived in front of Shawn's house. Shawn continued to stare out the window as he had the whole ride home. "No thanks Mom, I have to face the empty house some time, it might as well be tonight." Well, we'll be here in a heartbeat if you need us, OK?" Hope said as she hugged her son. She wished she could take his pain away, but she knew that she couldn't. He grabbed his and Belle's suitcases out of the trunk of the car and went into the house. Felix sauntered into the living room and rubbed against Shawn's leg. Shawn bent down and picked the kitty up. He sat on the couch and listened to the silence in the house as he petted Felix. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of Belle. There was the artwork they picked out together at a gallery on their honeymoon, there was the tiny stain on the carpet from their New Year's Eve party where Rex had spilled red wine, and even the cream colored walls that they had painted together. Everything he looked at made his heart ache. Tears started rolling down his cheeks and onto Felix's black fur. The cat sat up and licked the tears from Shawn's face. "What are we going to do without her, boy?" Shawn questioned.