Sheep in wolf skin Chapter 2
Hey guys, thanks you for the support. As promised, a chapter a day, here's another one. I hope you like.
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You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it- French Proverb.
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Steve and Danny now stood at Honolulu Airport, waiting and watching as the flight descended for landing. HPD escort was there waiting, and an ambulance for the Marshall who had suddenly taken ill. He was the reason why the Governor's task force was at the airport at all, ready to take over escorting a prisoner to New Jersey. They didn't have much information on the case or the prisoner. All they had was 'mass murderer', to be escorted to New Jersey to await a retrial which was supposed to take place the next day. The plane was coming from Alaska, just 5 hrs flight North-East of Hawaii and about 7 hrs flight directly opposite New jersey. A real cross country. It was curious how the plane didn't just fly over the countless States in-between but decided to fly over the Pacific Ocean instead. It was a reasonable enough route; the pilots would know. Or, more likely, the people in charge of this operation. High profile prisoner, a mass murderer, with a trial due the next day on the other side of the country. Hawaii had been the nearest to divert to for a quick landing because one of the said Marshall's sudden illness and could not continue. If one were paranoid, that would seem suspicious too. Coupled with the mystery surrounding the whole thing, one could at least wonder. Steve could see that Danny didn't want to even want to entertain these suspicious thoughts, although he would be the one running his mouth about it had it not involved dragging Steve all the way to New jersey. He was the Detective. But no, this time he was just too happy to take on the case as long as it landed him and Steve in snowy Jersey!
Steve and Danny were supposed to take over the escort while the two Marshalls remained in Hawaii for medical attention.
So, that's all they knew, and Steve wasn't too happy about a case he didn't have full details on. The Governor couldn't help as she too just got the call from the Tower reporting the sudden change of events, not much information was divulged. Only the stressed need for a fresh, highly qualified crew to escort the prisoner and the Governor had no choice but to volunteer her Elite Task Force, pretty sure they could handle anything.
Well, they could, but Steve would still feel better if he knew a little bit more than this. Right now, he was going with a serial killer, mass murderer type, for a description. The guy had reportedly been in maximum prison for the last ten years. Why he was going to New Jersey for another trial was beyond him. Why not just let the murderer spend his life sentence where he was being held? He had done ten of those years already, so far, so good. This was likely to cause problems, moving prisoners for no reason, especially these dangerous types. They couldn't try to guess anything with the little information they had, they'd just have to wait to be briefed fully by the escorting Marshalls as soon as they landed.
Ten minutes later the wheels of the plane touched down the runway, a private Jet.
As soon as the doors opened, Steve and Danny walked to stand in position so they could quickly takeover the situation. The sick Marshall was brought out on a stretcher, writhing in pain, sweating profusely, Steve felt pity for the guy. Suspected appendicitis...or poison. There was no way to know just yet. They rushed him out quickly to the waiting ambulance and Steve took his focus from him to their waiting 'job.' The other Marshal came out holding a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. Steve and Danny took a moment to adjust their assessment as they took in the prisoner. For, one they had both assumed it would be a male. Come-on, mass murderer?! But they were wrong, the Marshal was escorting a woman, clearly. Her stature, her frame clearly showed that it was a woman although her hair, deep brown shoulder length hair shielded her face from view.
Well, ok, that was a surprise, but it wasn't too bad. It only meant they didn't have much to handle. Mass murderer criminal she was, but between him and Danny, he was sure they would be able to handle a woman. So, there, less drama, he could work with that.
Steve walked over to shake hands with the Marshall as he descended the last of the stairs with his 'cargo'. The Marshall shook hands with Steve and then Danny, not releasing his other hold on his prisoner, who was shackled, Steve thought, quite securely both hands and feet.
"Alright gentlemen, I'll give you a handover in a secure location, if that's alright with you." US Marshal Johnson said.
"Yeah, sure. We may go back to our Headquarters, it's not too far, plus the plane is not taking off in another hour or two anyway. That should be plenty of time." Steve said escorting the pair to an HPD vehicle waiting for them to take them to HQ while Steve and Danny followed in Danny's Camaro.
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As soon as they reached HQ, Steve led the team inside, all the while studying the prisoner. She walked with her head bowed all the time, managing a somewhat steady and dignified slow step in deference to her shackled feet and somehow succeeded, shoulders slightly hunched. She managed to still veil her face with her hair, Steve had yet to see her face.
As soon as they entered Five-0, Junior and Tani came forward to offer help if needed.
"Take her to holding." Steve said as the prisoner was reluctantly handed over to them by the Marshall. Junior and Tani knew not to leave her side even as she would be secured by more restrains in the holding room, she was a serious flight risk, according to the little information they had managed to get so far. Well, she would be. Any prisoner would be.
Steve made his way to his office, taking a seat behind his desk while the Marshall took the visitor's seat. Danny sat in the opposite chair, as they both waited to get briefed on this prisoner transfer.
"Alright gentlemen, here's what you need to know." Marshall Johnson said, producing a file and handing it over to Steve. Steve didn't bother opening it, preferring to hear from the horse's mouth first.
"You better start from the beginning Marshall because at the moment, we have absolutely no information whatsoever regarding this prisoner. As of thirty minutes ago when you landed, we assumed the prisoner was a male. From that alone, you can appreciate just how much in the dark we are about this case." Steve said.
"Yeah, well, it had to stay a secret. Sorry about that. It is sort of a high-profile case. There's a reason why we had to fly over the Pacific Ocean." The Marshal said. "Your prisoner killed 15 people in total, she was tried and convicted, sentenced to life and has been in Spring Creek Maximum Correctional Center for ten years now."
"Spring Creek? That's like one of the most secure and most secluded prisons in the world." Steve said.
"In Alaska, yes. For the worst of the worst. Located approximately 125 miles south of Anchorage. The prison is located on about 328 acres of land surrounded by national parks, at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. One might say, the very out skates of the country, very far from humanity." The Marshall provided in a bored tone.
"Well, correct me if i'm wrong but, isn't that prison supposed to be for men only?" Danny asked
"Then where would be put the worst female offenders like this one? A female section had to be added years ago to accommodate our beloved 'other half'." Johnson said in a rush. Steve didn't much care for the Marshall's off-hand tone, it was ticking him off.
"Ok then, if we're done with the prison's history lesson…" The Marshal continued, impatiently.
Steve gave a node for him to go ahead.
"Right, so, this is the first time she's out for air and it is only because some Judge in New Jersey claims to have received some new evidence and wants to reopen and retry the case. I don't know if they discovered that there are more people she killed, and they want to escalate the charge to a death penalty. But as far as the evidence goes, that's all we know. Nobody really knows what it is. What you just have to do is to deliver the prisoner in one piece so she can wait for her trail in tomorrow. The rest of what you need to know is in that file. Believe me, that's all we know too." And with that the Marshall had fished with his briefing.
Steve didn't feel like that was enough, he had too many questions. The victim seemed young, ten years in prison already? When and how did the crime occur, what happened?
"Sorry Marshall, but the details are a little sketchy. When did this crime happen? Where was she tried at fist and why fly her all the way to New Jersey? Why not just hold the trial in Alaska?"
"I've no idea Commander. You know what we know now. Like I say, the rest is in that file." With that the Marshall stood up to take his leave, shaking Steve's hand then Danny's. "Oh, and one of the victims, the last victim that is, was a prison mate she managed to shank in prison the first few months in. She's spent the rest of her time in solitary after that. Just a heads up. I better go check on my partner at the hospital now, thanks for taking over this case." He said.
"Sure thing. HPD will escort you to Queens Hospital. We've got this now." Steve said in assurance.
"Yeah. No problem at all." Danny half mumbled in sarcasm.
As soon as the Marshall walked out, Steve opened the file, Danny came around to look at the contents too. First on the front page was the prisoner's prison photo, in an orange jump suit, her face showing how she must have looked ten years ago. The first time Steve was seeing her face at all, not knowing how she looked now in comparison after ten years in prison.
Steve had no sympathy for hardened criminals, but the girl in the photo looked more scared rather than hard core mass murderer. Of course, that was ten years ago, not knowing how hardened she was now. And what sort of psychotic break could have possess such a young girl to commit such drastic actions.
"Oh, Dr Laura Mallory." Danny said in recognition.
"You know her?" Steve asked.
"It was all over the news ten years ago. You were still in the Navy, I think. Probably somewhere deep in the desert of Afghanistan." Danny said.
"Doctor? She looks too young to be a Doctor already. How old was she then?" Steve asked curiously, searching for the information in the file.
"Twenty-one. Child genius. Not a medical doctor, by the way. Chemical engineer, if I remember correctly." Danny said. "She should be thirty-one now. And she's still got, what… like… the rest of her lifetime in prison? That is if this so-called trial doesn't decide to put her on death row and end her misery."
Steve stopped to look up at Danny who was still standing behind him, leaning over his chair reading the file.
"Do i detect some sort of sympathy for the devil there, Detective?" Steve asked mockingly.
"Mercy Steven, she was only a child. Look at her, she couldn't have been that much older than Grace. Whatever happened for her to end up like that, i have no idea. As a parent, it gives me stomach ulcers to picture my own little girl in such a position. But what can I say, she did the crime, she's doing the time." Danny said resignedly.
"Yeah well, let's go see what Jerry can come up with on this case, anything that can shed some more light." Steve said, getting up from his desk with the file.
Danny followed. "Just so we're clear, this is a criminal Steve, convicted. It's not our deal to try and poke into already tried cases. Our job is to transport the prisoner, that's it."
"What are you yelling at me for? I'm not the one with the 'I'm a parent', sympathies for the devil here. She was a psycho ten years ago, imagine her now, after ten years of prison time. I'm not the one conflicted here." Steve said. "I don't know about you buddy, but I'm good." He said with a smirk.
By then they had reached the table, ready to give the others the update on the new information on their prisoner.
The photos that Jerry swiped onto the big screen showed her in her previous normal life, before the massacre. She had a happy, go lucky smile, an innocent 'hello world' kind of smile. She had been young and very pretty. Those photos were dated a few weeks before hell broke loose and she found herself taking a prisoner snap shot.
"Oh, Dr Laura, Mallory." Lou said and Jerry nodded. "She made endless headlines back in the day. That's her in there?" Lou said in new wonder.
"Yeah, and Jerry, what more can you tell us about her?" Steve asked.
"Just… that was pretty much it. The case was open and shut, didn't take much to convict her. She pled guilty on top of that. Word is, she just came to work one day, opened fire on her colleagues, about twelve then ran away. Nobody really knows the reason why, just that she had a psychotic beak or something, because before that she was a pretty upstanding citizen. Not so much as a parking ticket. Although, it was later discovered that there was some sort of drug abuse going on secretly there, one or two witnesses came up with such testimonies in court."
"Wait, you said twelve victims. The Marshal just said fifteen including the prisoner she shanked in prison. Math is not adding up. What about the other two?" Steve asked.
"Oh those, that's when she was finally apprehended. She had been on the run for about three days, found two towns over at a gas station, two guys already shot dead. They might have thought her a damsel in distress and tried to help her. Who knows?" Jerry said.
"Ok, alright, I seem to be the only one not familiar with the case. Anyways, we need to make sure that security is tightened during her short stay here until we take her out of here in a few hours." Steve said, then looked at Danny, "How about we go get acquainted with our new charge?" He said, then made their way to the interrogation room.
"No sympathies, remember, she's not Grace." Steve teased as he walked with Danny down the hall to the interrogation room. Danny just made a face.
They found Tani and Junior on guard outside.
"How is she?" Steve asked.
"Quiet. She hasn't said a word" Tani said.
"Or looked up." Junior added.
Steve and Danny opened the door and walked in, she didn't even stir to their presence, head remained bowed, hands and feet chained to the chair.
Steve studied her posture for a minute. Well, if she wanted to remain anonymous by covering her face with her hair, that was fine with him. As long as she didn't make any trouble, he was ok with it. It's not as if she was under interrogation or anything. She had been tried and convicted already; all they were was transport.
"Uh…ma'am?" Steve inquired politely as he approached, she didn't answer, she didn't stir. Maybe the posture was supposed to be intimidating, give an aura of mystery and danger, maybe. Like she could suddenly magically get out of those chains and pounce. Go for the jugular maybe, like some of those zombies in zombie movies. Steve didn't think so though, maybe it was just pure stubbornness, rebellion. But her hunched shoulders, the way she had walked from the airport bespoke of something other than rebellion. Dejection, weariness, maybe. Or maybe Danny's sentiment had rubbed off on him, although after reading her rap sheet, Steve would wonder at even the smallest sympathy for her. Those were other people's children she had just killed at random.
"Listen we uh…we are going to be heading back to the airport in about an hour." Steve said, getting closer to try and get a response from her. He squatted down to look up at her, she refused to look up. Nothing. "So, I'm saying I can take these off you for a few minutes," Steve said, touched the chains, "give you enough time to maybe freshen up before we leave, if you promise to not give us any trouble. Maybe eat something, it's been a long flight from Alaska."
At that she looked up, slowly with a little bit of drama, calculated or not, straight into his eyes and Steve held his breath for a moment, finding himself looking into huge fathomless brown eyes. The look in them arresting his heart for a second. He couldn't look away. Her gaze was void, lifeless with no sign of hope. The flicker he thought he had detected in there may have been puzzlement. Maybe it was the first time anyone had ever shown her any kindness, however small. He thought he saw shock and gratitude at the same time, other than that; nothingness. He had never seen resignation so reflected in a living person's eyes so effectively. It was expressionless. Alive but actually dead inside. Then she quickly looked back down.
"Yes Sir. Thank you." She said, her voice low but clear, with enough subservient obedience as if she feared any detection of defiance will take away the new privileges before they were even handed over. If she still had any fear in her at all.
Steve proceeded to take off the chains then helped her off the metal chair.
….
In a bit