Deaq's Hotel Room…
Deaq hadn't even settled into the Presidential Suite at the St. Regis, and already the place had been turned into a command post for his operation. Laptop monitors, recording equipment, surveillance cameras, speakers, microphones, and God knew what else had been set up on every available hard surface, all generously provided by the Aspen PD. Several of their officers were standing there with him, helping set everything up, all the while he stared at the little dot on the screen which indicated where the shipment of weapons had gone. Deaq still lacked the address, which was why all the computers and equipment were being set up. It was the only clue he had to Van and Billie's whereabouts. He refused to believe Drayden and his men had caught and killed them.
Just saying the words "Officers in danger," over the phone to the chief of police in Aspen had gotten him access to everything he could ever ask for. Deaq was glad to see that they were just as concerned about this bust as he and his partners had been. But now that they were missing, everything had just seemed to become more important.
Earlier, Deaq had gotten access to Van and Billie's hotel room a few floors down. He'd searched through everything in the place, including the laptop he'd found on the bed. In the Internet History folder, he'd found the directions to the warehouse, which was the first place he'd sent several officers.
Three uniformed men entered the room, their solemn faces telling all he needed to know. "Detective Hayes," one of the older officers approached him where he sat at his command post, the converted desk at the east side of the room beside the large picturesque window which showed the sun's rays appearing through thick dark clouds over the horizon. "We're sorry to report your partners aren't at the warehouse. We found several dozen shell casing, which CSI is processing right now to see if they can find out anything more about what happened. We also discovered the body of a male, shot in the chest, that didn't match the description of Officer Ray. Outside the warehouse we discovered a pool of blood beside what appears to be the imprint of a body in the snow."
"That's where Van fell on top of Billie," Deaq interrupted, not wanting to relive what he saw from that small camera before it went out.
"Beside the imprint we found two sets of footprints and more blood drops leading into the forest. We've sent search dogs in to see if they could pick up the scent, but as of right now, they haven't found anything yet," the officer continued.
"Alright, well, just come back when you have something," Deaq dismissed him and the other two without much thought. He absent mindedly stared at the computer screens thinking about what Van and Billie were doing right now, and hoping that they'd found a place to sleep. It didn't take a genius to figure out a storm was coming. That was another problem he'd have to think about. How was he going to get a search party out there if the Weather Channel was predicting a foot of snow in the next few hours?
"Detective Hayes," one of the plain clothes officers, a man by the name of Doug Johnson, helping set up the equipment in his room knocked him out of his train of thought. Deaq looked up at him. "It's ready." The man pointed to the computer screens showing all sorts of data: weather maps, the city grid, maps for the ski trails, an outline of the entire countryside, and a map with the coordinates Deaq had found on the laptop computer in his partners' room.
"Great, thanks," he replied, rolling his chair up to the desk and beginning his search for the location of where the gun shipment had finally ended up. He knew it was still in Aspen. The map coordinates the locator spit out were local. All he needed was an address. It was as simple as plugging in the numbers into the map search program and allowing it to pinpoint where they were.
"Bingo!" Deaq shouted as he pointed to the location, a heavily wooded area just on the outskirts of town. He couldn't have been happier; he was a step closer to finding Van and Billie. Turning to the officer that was standing beside him, he asked, "Where is this place?"
"That would be Château De La Mon," Johnson answered knowingly.
"Where the hell is it?" Deaq was already out of his seat by now, grabbing his crutches and making his way to the door.
"Detective Hayes!" Johnson tried to call out to his temporary recruit. He ran after him, and since he had two good legs, managed to get in between him and the door. Deaq gave him a murderous look, his eyes narrowing at the white boy standing in front of him. Johnson knew what he was thinking, and quickly added, "I know you want to swoop in and raid this place, but we have to tread softly. You said this Abney guy was armed and dangerous. Why don't we call in SWAT and have them take it down?"
The look on Deaq's face didn't go away completely, but it did manage to soften. The man had a point. He was in no shape to run in there and take down Abney himself. It was better if he just got a crack at him once he was in custody. Just thinking about what he'd do to the man in the interrogation room put a smile on Deaq's face. He hobbled back to his command post and sat down in the comfortable chair, staring at the many screens once more.
"Can I at least watch it?" Deaq asked, glancing over at Johnson from the corner of his eye.
"Of course," the officer obliged. "We'll install a helmet cam on one of the team members."
"Cool," Deaq replied, finally able to loosen up just a bit even though his mind was racing a mile a minute. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on with his partner and his boss. They were alive, he had no doubts about that, but with Van shot and bleeding, he didn't know just how alive, and that's what scared him.
Oh, wow... I wasn't expecting to be able to update this early... Yeah, I consider this to be an early update. I usually never have time for these on a Monday, but here I am! Anyway, I'm so glad you all like that last chapter. :) I'm very relieved. Next chapter... It's gonna be a doozie!
prplerayne: You and shirtless Van... I don't know what else to say because you know what I'm thinking and I know what you're thinking. We're on the same wavelength, remember? Hehehehe... Glad to see I wasn't the only one to get wasted over the holiday. Remind me to tell you all about that later, because there was plenty of booze at the party I went to on Friday/Saturday... I still can't believe I'm coherent right now.
Francesca: Dammit! I don't wanna give away that's gonna happen in the next chapter! I soooo badly wanna tell you what's planned, but that wouldn't be nice! Hmm... How can I say this without giving it away. Ummmm... Well, shit's gonna hit the fan. Okay, I think that's crypitc enough. Glad you enjoyed that last chapter. Hope this one was just as good.
Shalimar1: The answers are coming. Next update, you'll see what I'm talking about, I wish I could tell you more, but like I said, I don't wanna give it away because it's just that big. Hehe, and here's the answer to what Deaq's doing at the moment. So glad you liked that last update. And thanks again for the help.
basketgirl: Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this update as well.
fan4fastln: Ah, my favorite critic. I'm glad you're beginning to enjoy the Van/Billie thing I got going on in this story. It's always been a fascinating thing to watch those two in the show. I always felt there was some tension between them, just how much I could never really figure out, especially since they cut it after one season. But I'm not gonna talk about that... Anyway, I hope you liked this last update. I'm just a little worried about next update where many things are revealed... Just a warning... Brace yourself. And please stick with me to the end of this. It's so very close to done. I predict another few chapters and it should be over. But thank you for being the one who challenges me in my writing. I wanna make this story believiable, especially for those that never really thought Van and Billie would get togehter.
Avillie: Sorry if I was being a pest earlier. I was just really wondering what you thought about the last chapter because you've been really bugging me about what was going to happen between Van and Billie. Well, there's a whole lot more planned for those two in the next update. I'm hoping to get it finished soon because I really want to post it! Hope you like this update, though. I can't wait for your next update. That should be very interesting. You really had me at the edge of my seat!
agenttanya: LoL! I was hoping somoene would say that! Especially after the first half of the chapter where things really got heated. But I'm not done with those two yet. They still got plenty more to deal with, especially Billie. More shocking secrets will be revealed in the next update.
The Unsigned: YOU ARE AWESOME! Please keep reading!
Sorry for torturing you all with vague comments about the next update. I know you're dying to find out what happens next. Get ready to be shocked... That's about all I can say. Please review! Your comments REALLY get me inspired! Luv y'all!
Stay tuned! More story coming soon!