Author's Note: I know it's been far too long between posts and I hope you'll forgive me! No real excuses, just a combination of a hectic time at work plus the temptations of the recent sunshine and the BBC coverage of Wimbledon
'We slept together'.
Why the hell had she blurted it out? Such simple words, but they changed everything. Tanis glanced across at the man sitting beside her. Staring grimly out of the car window, Steve's eyes were firmly fixed on the road ahead. His jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle was beginning to twitch in his left cheek. If his shoulder hadn't been injured, she knew he'd have his arms folded across his chest – another barrier to keep her out.
The silence was deafening. She wanted to speak, but what was there to say? She licked lips that were suddenly dry, wondered if words would get past the lump in her throat. Her heart thundering, she gripped the steering wheel for support.
'Steve, I ..' she began
'Take the next left' he said, brusquely cutting across her 'you can drop me in the hospital parking lot'.
His voice was tight, his eyes stayed fixed on the road.
'I can take you right in' she said 'With the blood you've lost I don't think you should be ….'.
'I'm fine' he said stiffly, interrupting her again.
She nodded, subsiding into silence. He obviously didn't want to talk and she didn't blame him.
As she reached to flick on the indicator to take the turn into the parking lot, her arm brushed against his. He flinched away as if burned. Tanis swallowed hard, irrationally feeling tears pricking at her eyes. She had no right to cry and she knew it.
She eased the car into a parking space, wondering how they were going to leave things, hoping he'd at least look at her. But he was out of the car before she'd even turned off the ignition. She was left with the sound of the slamming of the door.
Mark got up from his chair and yawned widely, stretching his arms languorously above his head. He gave a few gentle twists feeling the vertebrae click.
'I should have carried on with my Tai Chi' he groaned 'it's supposed to do wonders for your flexibility'.
'I wonder if Norman's still practising' Amanda said, a slight smile twisting at her lips. Reaching across she touched Mark's arm 'Do you remember what happened the last time Norman did tai chi?'
'Oh boy, do I ever!' Mark said flopping back into his chair 'That poor woman was never the same again'. He smiled 'you know I'm not sure that she didn't give up doing private lessons altogether'.
'Poor Norman' Amanda said 'You know I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss him'
'You know what' Mark laughed 'Me too'.
'May be we should give him a call' Amanda suggested, suddenly enthusiastic.
Mark sat up straighter 'You know that's a wonderful idea!' he said. Standing up he rubbed his moustache thoughtfully and looked around the room 'Now where did I put his number?' he said thoughtfully 'I know I put it somewhere …'
His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the front door.
'Steve is that you?' Mark called out.
'Yeah it's me' Steve's voice floated back from the kitchen.
He sounded tired Mark thought, but then it'd been a long day for all of them. Some hot food and a good night's rest was exactly what the doctor ordered. He smiled to himself, knowing that his son would protest that he was fussing too much. When Steve entered the room Mark's smile vanished.
'What happened to you?' Mark asked rushing to his son. Alarmed Amanda got up and followed him. Seeing Steve's pale face, his arm in a sling and the blood on his shirt sleeve she gasped.
'Has there been another murder?'
'No and it's nothing, just a flesh wound' Steve mumbled, embarrassed, waving his father off as if he were an irritating fly.
'Steve, you're bleeding' Mark said 'here, let me take a look at that for you'
'Really Dad, I'm fine' Steve said grouchily, dropping heavily into the seat his father had just vacated 'I've just been to Community General and I only need three stitches' he gave his father a tired but appeasing smile 'so there's nothing to worry about'.
'Do you wanna tell me what happened?' Mark asked, taking a seat beside his son, not appeased in the least.
Amanda had been out to the kitchen and now she returned with a glass of water that she handed to Steve.
He smiled gratefully at her 'Thanks Amanda you read my mind'
'Steve?' Mark prompted, not willing to be put off.
Steve groaned 'Ross Cainen shot me, okay'
Mark's eyes were wide 'What? He shot you?' He leant in towards his son, eyes narrowing 'Are you sure you're okay, let me take a proper look'
Steve sighed, leaning wearily back against the couch 'Honestly Dad I'm fine. Bullet just scrapped my arm, didn't even go in'.
'So you were right' Amanda said 'Ross Cainen is our bad guy'
Steve frowned 'The jury's still out on that one. Ron is down at the station right now trying to figure it out'. Tanis was probably at the station by now too, but he couldn't bring himself to mention her name.
'But Steve' Mark said in surprise 'I thought you said Cainen shot you. What is there to figure out?'
Steve nodded 'Yeah he shot me, but he claims he was doing it to save my life. He says Julio Elzenis was behind me holding a gun to my head. According to him, he shot me before Elzeni could.'
Mark frowned 'Do you believe him?
Steve let out a breath 'Right now I'm not sure what I believe, but I need to get back to the station, find out what's going on'. He drained his water and started to get painfully to his feet 'I only came back to get a change of clothes, blood doesn't look good on me'.
Mark shook his head 'Oh no, no way. You're done for tonight son'.
'But Dad c'mon' Steve complained, 'Ron could be about to break the case'.
Mark nodded 'and if he does then you'll have played your part in it. But if you really think anything of me, as a father or a doctor, then you'll stay here tonight and get some rest'.
Steve groaned, emotional blackmail, his father was a past master. He looked to Amanda for support, but she shook her head
'I agree with Mark' she said 'Your skin is pale, you're sweating, your hands were shaking when you held that glass. You're obviously still in shock Steve. We let you go back to the station now and you're more likely to collapse than crack the case.' She smiled at him 'Beside your father has been waiting to hear what you got on Sol Elzeni'.
Steve groaned again 'Nothing, that's what we got, Cainen wouldn't let us anywhere near him'.
Mark sighed 'Oh', he said sadly. He looked up at Steve and Amanda and picked up his piece of paper with the scribbled names 'Looks like we're back to square one'.
Amanda shrugged, picking up one of Mark's puzzle books that was waiting to be taken in to Jesse 'Word search anyone?'
In the hospital Jesse Travis couldn't sleep. He was propped up against his pillow doing another interminable word search. On his bedside table sat the piece of paper with Mark's hastily scribbled list of victims. He glanced at it from time to time, but it was no good, he couldn't see a connection. Word searches on the other hand he was getting good at. Once you'd realised that the words could go left to right, right to left, diagonally, as well as top to bottom and bottom to top, the words just seemed to jump out at you as plain as day. He'd done so many now that his eyes were becoming accustomed. He no longer saw a jumble of letters and he could polish off even the most complex searches in about ten minutes.
Jesse smiled wryly, even Mark had been impressed and that was saying something. With his extraordinary mind, Mark was a whiz at crosswords, anagrams, word searches and any game that required you to think outside the box. But just maybe he, Jesse, could finally give Mark a run for his money!
Finishing the puzzle, Jesse tossed it aside, yawning widely. Maybe he'd be able to get some sleep now. He took one last look at the list of names Mark had left him, but shook his head. He still had no idea of the connection. Putting the paper back on his bedside cabinet he switched off the light.
'Word search that's it!' Mark shouted 'Amanda you're a genius!'
Steve and Amanda exchanged glances 'I need some paper, quickly' Mark instructed excitedly, 'a big sheet, I think there's some in my study'.
Steve started to get up, but Amanda stopped him 'I'll go'
'Dad what's going on?' Steve asked.
'Word searches' Mark said beaming triumphantly, as if that explained everything.
'Word searches' Steve repeated, still non-plussed.
Amanda returned with the paper and Mark eagerly spread it out on the coffee table. Dropping to his knees he began to scribble. 'In a word search you have to link together seemingly isolated letters'. He shook his head, a bemused smile on his face. 'I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I was so focused on the actual names, I didn't think about the letters that made up those names'.
Steve shook his head too 'But there could be a million different combinations' he said.
Mark nodded 'Yes but the killer wants us to solve it. He's trying to send a message to me. Just like the chess pieces were meant to tell me that it was personal, that it was about me. I'll bet it's a simple pattern'.
Steve and Amanda watched him silently as he continued to jot down various combinations. Suddenly he stopped, his face had gone pale.
'Mark are you okay?' Amanda asked worriedly.
'What have you found Dad?' Steve asked, struggling to get down on his own knees at his father's side.
Mark swallowed hard, his face grave 'I think I just found our killer'.
He held up the piece of paper and Steve squinted at it. 'Oh my god' he said.
On the piece of paper Mark had written the following:
Sam
Wallis
Ernie
Ellis
Nikki
Elzeni
Amanda was confused 'I don't get it, what's wrong?'
Steve and Mark exchanged glances.
'The letters are in this sequence' Mark said writing them out for her from left to right – 'SWEENE'
'SWEENE, what is that?' she asked with a frown.
'There's a letter missing', Mark said softly.
Taking his pen he added it 'SWEENEY'
Amanda gasped 'Oh my God' she said
'The next victim begins with a Y' Mark said softly, tapping the pencil against his teeth.
'Dad' Steve said, his face pale, his voice urgent. 'I've got a really bad feeling that the next victim is You'
TO BE CONTINUED …….