Disclaimer on chapter one.
AN: SO SORRY! about the long wait. This story took a back burner to my other NCIS story. It sort of got stuck but here you go to the faithful. Hope its up to par for you! Let me know. dark rolling sea.
Chapter Three:
Mac arrived back at the crime scene to find everyone almost finished. He found Aiden first and talked to her about what she found. She was still struggling to find signs of where the boy was. Even after Mac explained what the boy had told him she still couldn't find any evidence to support the account.
Mac moved on and found Stella talking with a neighbor two houses down. He walked up behind her and listened while she finished the interview.
"Do you remember what time you heard the car door?" Stella asked.
"Oh, dear, it was about eleven thirty or so. I remember because the mail came through not too much after," the lady said.
"The mail came right after you heard the door slam?"
"Oh yes. It was maybe ten minutes. I don't really remember, just that Patrick came to the door with my package."
"And you're sure about the time?"
"Not really, but the mail came right after I heard the loud door slam."
"Thank you, Ms. Henderson. Here is my card if you remember anything."
"Oh thank you, dear. I'll try to remember any thing more."
Stella smiled and turned away. She motioned for Mac to follow and he did. They were a good distance from the Henderson house before Stella spoke up.
"I got four people saying they heard the car door slam. It's anywhere from ten fifteen to twelve thirty. Three of the people remember the mail coming right around the same time. I'll try to find the mail man, Patrick, and see if he heard or saw anything over at the Campbell house. No one looked out to see why the car door slammed. What did you get from the mother?"
"The mother was distraught. She thinks it's her ex husband. She believes he took the younger three children and left the oldest one for dead."
"Doesn't make sense, why wouldn't he take them all?"
"The oldest one isn't his. Also it seems from what she said that he doesn't get along with the ex husband. She was extremely worried that the ex husband might hurt the children. From the damage he did to the boy I'd say it's a good possibility."
"You get to speak with the boy?"
"Yeah. He was banged up pretty good though. Doctor said he suffered a serious head injury, although from what I saw of him he wasn't showing the symptoms. He said that the ex husband showed up unannounced and so the boy hid his younger siblings and then watched the man searching. He came out of hiding at some point, but the man was waiting and got him there. Got the drop on the kid and started beating on him. Then one of the other kids came out of hiding to try and help the boy. From what I can see it saved his life. But then the father knew where the others were."
"What do you think, Mac?"
"I think we need to move fast and find those kids. We need a vehicle model, license plate, something to go on. Aiden already has evidence that if we can match to him it's a lock, but he need to find him. The mother gave the name Robbie Beale. I'll run it and see if we can't find something on him that way."
"You alright, Mac?" Stella asked. Mac was taken back by the question. He didn't expect that.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just asking," Stella said and then turned away from him. "I'm going to get looking for the mail man. I'll see you back at the lab later."
Stella walked away and Mac was left wondering why she had asked if he was ok. He shook it off and walked back towards the crime scene. He found Aiden staring at the area in front of her puzzled. Mac smiled slightly and came up behind her.
"If you haven't found it yet it's probably not here, Aiden," Mac said lightly. She frowned.
"I really just don't get it, Mac; I mean there should be evidence to support…"
"What?"
"Look, look at that," Aiden said as she pointed to a spot on the ground. Mac stared for a moment trying to figure out what she was looking at.
"What is it?"
"The indentation. Its barely there. But it's a foot print. Looks like about the size of a young male."
"I'll let you get back to work then," Mac said with a smile. He could see that Aiden was consumed with what she had just found as she went to work documenting it.
Mac went back to where they had found the boy. He stood and stared at the blood in the grass and the tracks leading away. The little girl had stepped in her brother's blood. The pipe had already been picked up and bagged. Mac studied the area and tried to imagine what the boy had seen. He envisioned the man standing around the corner and the boy coming up, slowly, cautiously. He saw the pipe come around. From the broken left arm and stitches on the left side Mac figured the pipe came at the boy's head from that side and he managed to get his arm up to protect his skull. Mac thought about it and was certain the boy saved his life by doing that. Mac wandered what tipped the boy off.
Everything was taken care of at the scene and they all headed back to the lab. Mac tracked Stella down and found out she had found the mail carrier for that route and he was coming in when his route was done. Aiden had started to sort and process what she had collected from the scene. All was set with her so Mac joined Stella when the mail carrier showed up.
"Take a seat," Stella said as Mac slipped into the room with her and the other man. He slid into a seat and looked around. "No need to worry. I'm Detective Stella Bonasera and that is Detective Mac Taylor. We need to ask you a few questions about the Campbell house."
"Oh yeah, Madison Campbell. I hit her house between eleven thirty and noon everyday. Sweet kids."
"When you went by today did you notice anything out of the ordinary."
"No, not that…well wait. There was a truck in the drive way."
"There usually isn't?"
"Oh no, Ms. Campbell is never home when I deliver mail. She works. But today there was a truck in the driveway."
"Do you remember what kind of truck, what color it was, anything?"
"It was red. An older truck, you know more boxy than they are now. Before they went aerodynamic and all that. Anyway it was defiantly red and older. I'd say maybe early nineties to late eighties but I'm not an expert. I drive an SUV, a Durango. Sorry I'm off topic. Anyway, I think it was a Ford truck but again I don't really know trucks. But it was defiantly red."
"Did you happen to see the license plate?"
"Oh, I don't remember the number if that's what you mean. Gosh I'm horrible at remembering numbers. But I do remember thinking it was different. I don't remember how now but it was different looking."
"From another state? Or a personalize plate?"
"I think it was from another state and yeah maybe personalized. It wasn't just numbers, but letters mixed it but maybe it said something. I can't remember I'm sorry."
"It's ok. You weren't thinking about memorizing it at the time. Did you see anyone around the area?"
"Did something bad happen?"
"The children are missing, and the older boy is in the hospital," Stella said gently. The man thought harder then. Mac could tell he was trying hard to remember what he saw.
"I didn't know I should be looking. Everything seemed so quiet. I don't remember seeing anyone out in the yard, which isn't unusual. The children tend to stay in doors. But that truck was there. Oh my."
"If you remember anything more you can call us," Stella said handing him a card. He nodded and accepted it then got up and left. Mac walked out and headed towards his office. He sat down at the desk.
He ran the name Robbie Beale through the databases and waited. It didn't take long for it to come back to him and he studied the screen. Beale was bad news. He had a record going back to when he was eighteen and Mac figured it went back ever further. He had spent time in prison for armed robbery and battery. He also had two charges of assault. A restraining order came up for Madison Beale against Robbie as well. So much for the law protecting her. He sighed. This family needed protection from this man. Mac knew he wouldn't get much sleep until he found those children and saw this man behind bars.
TBC…