A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Forty Eight
After hanging up with Noah, Frank calls the detective handling the break in at Sam's apartment. He faxes Ralph's mug shot over to him with the request that he show the mug shot to the other witness. When Frank returns to the station after lunch, the desk sergeant stops him. "Sir, a fax from DC came for you." He says, handing him the fax."
"Thank you." Frank says taking the paper he goes to his office. Sitting down at his desk he opens the file and reads the fax. Reaching for the phone, he pushes a button and dials an extension. "Yes, this is Frank Cooper. Is Ralph Schultz still in custody?"
"I'll check, sir." The jailer replies, putting Frank on hold. Five minutes later, the jailer comes back. "He's at the courthouse right now for arraignment."
"Thank you." Frank says hanging up the phone as he stands up, he leaves.
Ralph is standing in line, waiting for his arraignment. He kept looking around the courtroom, trying to see if Simmons had received his message. Finally after about an hour he spots him as the guard calls. "Case# 29383, the State of Illinois vs. Ralph Schultz." The clerk hands the case to the judge as Ralph and his attorney steps forward.
The judge looks the case over and then asks. "Mr. Schultz, how do you plea?"
"Not guilty, your honor." Ralph replies."
"Bail." The judges asks, looking at the prosecutor.
"We request $5000, your honor." The prosecutor replies.
"Bail is set at $3000." The judge says. "The court date will be November 1st." She says, banging the gavel. "Next case."
Once the bail was announced, Simmons is there to pay the bail and before Ralph was taken back to lockup he is released. Ten minutes later, they leave the courthouse as Frank walk in.
He looks over the courtroom, looking for Ralph, when he doesn't see him. He sits down to wait. When the last defendant is called and court is adjourned, he walks up to the prosecutor. "Where's Mr. Schultz?"
""Schultz?" The prosecutor asks.
"Mr. Ralph Schultz, he was arraigned on solicitation charges."
"He was arraigned and bail as set at $3000. He's probably at the jail right now."
Frank turns to leave, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "Have the prisoners arrested in last nights sting returned to the jail?"
"Yes sir." The jailer replies.
"Was Ralph Schultz with them?"
The jailer picks up a clipboard. Frank can hear him thumbing through the pages before he says. "Sorry, no Schultz was returned." He says to Frank.
"Thank you." Frank hangs up and calls the desk sergeant. When he picks up, Frank says, "I want a APB put out for a Mr. Ralph Schultz and issue it statewide."
"Yes sir."
"Advised that he's wanted for questioning in a break in that occurred in DC and parole violations." Frank says, getting into his car.
Simmons and Ralph drive out to the inn without talking. When they pull up, Simmons gets out. Ralph follows him and when they walk in Simmons goes to the refrigerator. Pulling out a beer, he pops the top and then turns to Ralph. "What the hell were you doing on the south side of town?"
"I had to work off some steam after I went to talk to Jeffrey…."
"What the hell were you doing talking to Jeffrey?"
"We had the perfect opportunity after his bitch left to get him. I had to try."
"You've fucked this whole thing up."
"I'm not going to wait for some pansy bitch to decide what to do when the best chance we…."
"She's the boss. She pays us to do as she wants us to do. The whole thing was planned out for a reason. Tell me exactly what happened?"
Ralph tells him about going up to the loft to try and lure Jeffrey out and then leaving as Sam was coming up the stairs. He finishes with "I had to do something, she's a fucking chicken."
"You stay here. I'll be back."
"Where are you going?"
"To get you some wheels so that you can get out of town. The police impounded your car." Simmons says, walking to the door.
Ralph watches him go and then falls back into the couch, mumbling to himself.
Two hours later, Simmons returns. Walking into the inn, he says. "Take these keys they're to the truck outside. Head for the border and do not draw attention to yourself by doing anything stupid." Ralph takes the keys. "And stay off the main highways."
"I know how to get to the border and keep away from the cops."
"Obviously not." Simmons says. "Now go."
Ralph leaves. Simmons pulls out his cell phone and dials Olivia's number. She's coming in from picking up Emma. "Yes." She says, answering her phone as they walk into their suite.
"We need to meet." Simmons says, without preamble.
"Give me an hour. We'll meet at the docks."
"Okay."
An hour later, Olivia pulls up to the 5th street docks. Getting out, she looks around before she walks down to the docks. Simmons is waiting. "What's going on?" She asks, walking up to him.
"Our associate was arrested?" Simmons says, as Olivia's head snaps up.
"For what?"
"Solicitation and disturbing the peace."
"Is he still in custody?"
"No, he was bailed out this afternoon and is on his way to Canada."
"Canada, why?"
"Because while he was in custody, the chief of police pulled him in for questioning about the break in, in DC."
"Why?"
"Apparently this morning after he spoke with me he decided to persuade Jeffery to leave with him. He wasn't successful, but Jeffrey went to Frank and asked him to speak to him. On the way out, Sam saw him. After he left the loft, he went to the south side of town."
"Damn it, that's how he was arrested."
"Yes. When Frank got back he was surprised to find him in custody. He brought him in for questioning about the robbery and then had Sam come down to the station for a line up. After that he called me. I went to the courthouse for his arraignment and then bailed him out. And I arranged for his to get a truck and gave him orders to go to Canada."
Olivia takes a deep breath and then looks at Simmons. "Okay, go to the inn, destroy everything. I want you to leave town. I'll make sure the rest of the money is wired to a Swiss account."
"Alright, but are you sure about this?"
"Yes, if we finish this we'll both be caught."
"I'll take care of everything and then I'll leave the country. I'll ditch this phone and get another one so that you can contact me about the money. And when you want to continue, I'll keep the phone so that you can reach me." Simmons says, as she nods. He gets up to leave, followed by Olivia."
Reva went home after talking to Cassie. Rusty and Hawk were out. She starts to straighten up before she picks up the phone and calls Cedars. Rick's nurse picks up. "Dr. Bauer's office."
"Yes, this is Reva Lewis. I need to speak with Rick."
"He's with…." The nurse looks up. "Hold on." She says, putting Reva on hold. "Dr. Bauer, there's a Reva Lewis on line one for you."
"Okay." Rick says, taking the phone. Pushing the button for line one, he says. "Reva."
"Hi, Rick."
"Is something wrong?"
"I need you to run a DNA test for me."
"Okay, who are the subjects?"
"I can't tell you that. I want the test run anonymously."
"We can do that. When will the subjects be able to supply samples?"
"I've already handled that. I'll bring them by Cedars but I don't want the DNA test run till after Richard and Cassie's wedding."
"That's fine."
"Thank you Rick."
"You're welcome." Reva hangs up, leaning against the counter for a moment. Picking up the phone again she calls Jeffrey's loft."
After a few rings, Sam picks up. "Hello."
"Sam, its Reva."
"Hi."
"How is he doing?"
"He's sleeping."
"I spoke to Rick. I've arranged to have the test ran after the wedding."
"Okay."
"I wanted to tell you that and to see if you felt up to helping me throw Cassie a bachelorette/wedding shower."
"I don't know. It depends on Jeffrey. When were you going to do this?"
"I was thinking Friday morning before the rehearsal dinner, speaking of that, Is Jeffrey going to be able to be there?"
"We haven't talked about it."
"I'm sure Richard will understand if he can't be. You are going to be there."
"Yes."
"Alright and if you're able to come to the party, please do."
"I will."
"Alright, I've got to get the details worked out."
"When are we meeting for the rehearsal dinner?"
"I think we're meeting at the farm at six."
"I'll let you know about that and the party."
"Thank you." They hang up as Sam walks back into the living room.
"Who was on the phone?" Jeffrey asks, as she walks into the room.
"Reva." Sam says walking over to him. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm a little hungry and sore."
"I'll go fix you something to eat. Do you want some of the pain medication?"
"Yes."
"Let me go get you something to eat and then you can take the medication."
"Okay." Jeffrey says laying back.
Sam goes into the kitchen, returning about ten minutes later with a tray. "Can you sit up?"
He moves to sit up and she puts the tray across his lap and then she sits down beside him, lifting his legs. He starts to eat and when he's finished, she gets up and takes the tray back to the kitchen. She returns to the living room with his medication. "Here." She says, handing him the pills.
He takes them, reaching for his drink, swallowing the pills before he asks. "What did Reva want?"
"To let me know that she's setup the DNA test but she's going to wait till after Richard and Cassie's wedding to run the test. She also wanted to know if you're going to be able to be a part of the wedding."
"I don't know."
"The rehearsal dinner is Friday night."
"I should know by then. What else did she want?'
She looks at him and then smiles. "She's planning a bachelorette/wedding shower for Cassie Friday morning and she wanted to know if I would be able to go."
"What did you tell?"
"That it depended on you."
"No, you're going to go. Call her back and tell her that you will be there."
"J, you'll..."
"I'll be here on this couch. I won't get up to answer the door so you don't have to babysit me."
"I left you yesterday and you were up."
"I just said I won't answer the door. I'll only get up to get something to eat, drink or go to the bathroom. I want you to go, please."
"Alright, I'll call her and tell her that I'll be there."
"When do you have to meet Ava?"
"In about an hour, I need to go get a shower."
"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere."
"I'll be out in a few minutes."
"Take your time, but you know it's going to take you more than a few minutes to take a shower, even if I'm not in there with you." He says, as she gets up.
"Ha ha, very funny." She says, going towards the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later she comes back to the living room to check on him before she goes upstairs to get dresses. "Do you need anything?" She asks, as Jeffrey stares at her. "J." She says after a few seconds and he doesn't answer her.
"I'm sorry." He says, shaking his head.
"She smiles at him and then asks. "Did you need anything before I go upstairs?"
"Umm, yes." He says, looking up at her.
"Besides that."
"If I can't have that, then I'm fine."
"I'll be right back." She says, turning away.
"That's cruel, but I'll call you if I need you." He says, as she walks over to the stairs as he sighs softly, closing his eyes.
She's upstairs about fifteen minutes before she comes back downstairs in jeans, t-shirt and sandals. She has her hair in a ponytail with a little makeup on. "Are you going to need anything before I go?"
"No, I'm okay."
"You've got the remote?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"I'll be back within a couple hours."
"Okay." He says, as she turns to leave. He reaches for her hand.
She looks down, seeing the desire in his eyes. "J."
"Just a kiss, that's all I want." He says, as he moves to sit up and she sits down beside him. "You refuse to lie still." She says, as he smiles.
"Give me a kiss and I'll lie here all afternoon and I won't move a muscle."
She leans in, kissing him softly. He reaches up, holding the back of her head and deepening her kiss. She leans against him, sighing softly. "Beca." He mumbles, sucking in a deep breath and wincing slightly.
She pulls back. "We should be…."
He reaches up and lays a finger across her mouth. "I'm fine."
"You're in pain."
"I took too deep of a breath." He says, leaning up to kiss her, bringing his arm up and pulling her to him.
"After a few minutes, she pulls back again and looks into his eyes. Reading the desire in them, she reaches up. "We can't." She says, as he sighs softly. "I need to go."
"Okay." He replies, releasing her.
"Is there anything you need before I go?" She asks, as he looks at her. "Besides that." She says, smiling.
"No, I'm fine."
"Then I'll be back later."
"I'll be laying right here."
"You better be." She says, leaning over to kiss him quickly. She sits up and he smiles at her, reaching for the remote as she stands up. She looks at him and then leans down and whispers something in his ear.
When she stands up, he looks at her. "You're going to be late." He says, as she laughs.
"I'll see you when I get back." She says, turning around and bending over, grabbing her purse.
"I'm going to make you pay for that." He says, staring at her as she stands up.
"Promises." She says, walking over to the door."
"Yes, it was." He calls, as she opens the door with a smile on her face.
"I love you." She calls.
"I love you too." He says, smiling as she closes the door and he settles back to watch TV, trying to take his mind off her.
Ava is upstairs when Sam arrives at the house. She sees her walking towards the house and she leans out the window. "Sam." She calls.
"I'll be up in a minutes." Sam calls back, walking onto the porch.
Nodding, Ava turns for the kitchen. A few minutes later, Sam walks upstairs. "I'm sorry I'm late." Sam says, walking into the kitchen.
"It's okay. I was looking over the rooms. How's Dad?"
"He's okay, refusing to be still. I told him I would be back in a couple hours."
"So where do you want to start?"
"Let's start here and work our way through?"
"Okay."
"I want the room to feel open and airy."
"So do you have and idea how you want to do that?"
"We can paint it in a creamy white or soft yellow."
"Yes, we can also lighten the room by using white cabinets."
"That would be good and we can open them up with glass fronts. Sort of like this." Sam says, pulling out the folder and showing her a picture. "We can use these cabinets but I don't want the clear glass."
"We can see about getting frosted glass and if we can't then we can frost the glass ourselves. What about counter tops?"
"Umm, I want granite, but if we can't afford the granite then we could settle for something that looks like granite but doesn't cost as much."
"I'll have to do some research. So how much do you want to spend on decorating this?"
"Let's see, we won't need to buy furniture for the dining room, living room or our bedroom. The study we can work on, Jeffrey will have to decide how he wants it to be furnished. He might use it as a practice room instead of a study. So that leaves paint for these two floors, except for the nursery, we'll do that later, just me and him. We'll need curtains through out these two floors."
"What about flooring?"
"I want either hardwood or laminate through out."
"Okay, laminate is going to be cheaper than the hardwood."
"That's fine with me. I want stainless steel appliances in here. Once he's better, I'll take him and we'll go look for furniture for the other bedrooms and the loft.
"So, if we're going to paint this room a soft ivory or yellow, personally I think the soft ivory would be the best for this room. We could use it as an accent color in the living room and dining room to tie all the rooms together and we can paint the dining room and living room either a soft gray blue or sage green."
"Since we're going to use the furniture we have, painting the living room and dining room one of those colors would work with the furniture."
"I think you need to paint one room one color and the other room the other color. It would give them individuality but with the soft ivory as the accent color it would tie them together."
"I can see that. I think the soft blue gray would be good for the living room and the sage green for the dining room. We can pull those color into the kitchen to make everything one cohesive design."
"And we can do the same for the powder room, since it's such a small room, we can't go too bold with the color in there, but we do have the window to let in some light."
"Yes, and if we had two lace shears and lined them with a lining of the same color, it would still let in light but would also provide privacy." Sam says, looking at her watch."
"I'll get to work on this. And we can get together later about the upstairs." Ava says, noticing Sam looking at her watch.
"That would be good."
"Go make sure he's not climbing the walls or something." Ava says, smiling.
"I will. Here take the folder and you can look through it, if you want."
"Sure." Ava says, as Sam picks up her purse. They leave, Sam going towards the loft and Ava going back to Lewis to talk to Billy.
Frank is about to leave the station when one of the officers knocks on his office door. "Yes." Frank calls.
The officer opens the door. "Sir, you have a call from the Sheriff in Laurel Falls."
"Okay." Frank says, picking up the phone. "Frank Cooper." He says, after pushing the button to connect the call.
"Chief Cooper, Sheriff Mobley."
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"You put out an APB for a Ralph Schultz."
"Yes, have you got him custody?"
"Yes, he was arresting by one of my deputies on Highway 9 about an hour ago."
"Okay, I'm on my way." Franks says, reaching for his keys.
"Yes Sir." Sheriff Mobley replies. Frank hangs up.
Mallet is at his desk when Frank leaves his office. "Mallet, I need you to come with me to pick up a prisoner in Laurel Falls."
"They arrested Mr. Schultz."
"Yes." Frank says, as Mallet gets up.
"So he was headed for the border."
"It looks that way." Frank says, walking through the station with Mallet following him.
An hour later, they pull up to the sheriff's office in Laurel Falls. Mallet follows Frank into the office. "Can I help you?" One of the deputies asks.
"Yes, I'm Chief Cooper, is Sheriff Mobley in?"
"She's downstairs handling a prisoner."
"Could you let her know that we are here?" Frank asks, as the deputy nods.
He leaves as Frank turns to Mallet. "I would be willing to bet the prisoner she's handling is Mr. Schultz."
"You would be right." Sheriff Mobley says, walking up to him.
"What happened?"
"We were bringing him up to the holding room and he tired to overpower the deputy moving him. We had to taser him a few times before he would stop fighting us." Sheriff Mobley says, as the deputy brings Mr. Schultz to them.
Ralph starts to say something and Frank says. "I suggest you remain quiet, Mr. Schultz."
"You need to sign these papers and then you can take him." Sheriff Mobley says, handing Frank some papers.
As he's signing them he asks. "How did you catch him?"
"He was speeding on Highway 9. My deputy chased him for about five miles before he pulled over after we blocked the road ahead. What was he arrested for?" She asks, as Frank hands him the papers.
"He was arraigned this afternoon for solicitation and disturbing the peace, but he's wanted for questioning for a break in, in DC."
"I had nothing to do with that. I wasn't even there." Ralph says.
"We've got witnesses and possible evidence that says otherwise, Mr. Schultz but I suggest that you don't say another word until your attorney is present. Thanks for contacting us."
"Will the two of you be able to get him back without any trouble?"
"We shouldn't have any trouble because Mr. Schultz is going to behave himself and come quietly, aren't you Mr. Shultz. I don't think you want to be tased again." Frank says, as Mallet takes Ralph by the arm.
"Good luck." Sheriff Mobley says.
"Thank you." Frank says, holding the door open for him and Mallet."
"You're welcome." Sheriff Mobley replies, watching them walk out.
Frank pulls up to the station in Springfield. Getting out, he walks around the car as Mallet gets out. Opening the back door, he helps Ralph from the car. Ralph pulls his arm free. Mallet takes his arm and when he tries to pull it free again, Mallet tightens his grip. They walk towards the station, walking in. Frank walks up to the desk sergeant. "Book him for jumping bail, suspicion breaking and entering and parole violations."
"Yes Sir."
"Can you stay here until he's processed?" Frank asks, turning to Mallet.
"Sure. And I'll make sure he cooperates fully with everyone." Mallet says, looking at Ralph.
"Don't do anything that will get him off on a technicality later."
"Oh, I won't but he'll cooperate won't you, Mr. Schultz." Mallet says, as Frank walks away.
"Where are you going?"
"To tell Jeffrey and Sam that we've arrested him and to see a judge about a warranty for a DNA sample from Mr. Schultz."
"Okay."
"I'll be back later."
"Okay."
Frank leaves the station as Mallet leads Ralph into booking. Five minutes later, Frank pulls up to the loft as Sam is getting out of her car. "Sam." He says, walking up her.
"Hi, Frank." She says, closing her car door.
"You know that is a beautiful car."
"Thank you. My grandfather gave it to me, but somehow I don't think you came over here to tell me I have a beautiful car."
"No, I didn't. I needed to update you and Jeffrey on Mr. Schultz."
"Okay, come on up." She says, walking towards the loft.
"How is Jeffrey today?"
"He's sore. I was at the house meeting with Ava about the top floors, starting the process for the decorating."
"They've finished it already?"
"Yes, that's what Jeffrey was showing me the night of the accident." Sam says, opening the door and walking inside the building. "The first floor will be for my practice but the top floors will be for me, Jeffrey and the baby."
"How are you doing?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good. How's Jeffrey doing?"
"Oh, he's excited, we both are."
"That's good. I remember when Elani was pregnant with Marina. I was sort of in a fog, but when she arrived and I held her. I was gone. She had me wrapped around her little finger." Frank says, as they climb the stairs to the loft.
"I would love to see Jeffrey with a little girl." Sam says, walking up to the door.
"But he wants a boy?"
"He says he doesn't care, but I think he does." Sam says, unlocking the door and walking in as Jeffrey walks out of the kitchen. "What are you doing up?"
"I needed something to drink." He says, holding up the glass. "I promise I haven't been up moving around." He says, walking back to the living room slowly.
Sam takes the glass as Jeffrey sits down slowly on the couch. That's when he notices Frank is with her. "Frank." He says.
"Hello Jeffrey, how are you feeling?"
"Sore."
"Did you take anymore medication?"
"No, it's not that bad right now. If I need to I'll take it." He says, seeing Sam open her mouth.
"Alright." She says, as he turns his attention to Frank.
"Did you need something?"
"I wanted to tell you that we've made an arrest in the break in at Sam's apartment." Frank says, sitting down in the chair across from the couch.
"You did, did they find him in DC?" Sam asks.
"No, he's here in Springfield. After you left I contacted Noah and he gave me the name of the Detective handling the investigation into your break in. I called him this morning and faxed him Schultz mug shot. He took to the maintenance man and he id'd him as being the man that bribed him to let Schultz into the apartment. I haven't questioned him yet, but he's being booked…."
"Booked, you had him in custody." Jeffrey says.
"He was arraigned this afternoon and released on bail before I got the fax from the Detective in DC. He was arrested again north of Laurel Falls. He was headed for the border."
"So, he was going to skip town?" Sam asks.
"It looks that way?"
"Do you know who posted his bail?"
"No, I haven't looked into that yet. I'm going to speak to Judge Woods about a warranty for a DNA sample from Schultz."
"Because of the blood samples." Jeffrey asks,
"Yes."
"His last name ends in S, I wonder if this is want Reva meant when she said that the man involved had an S associated with his name." Sam says.
"I could be, I had forgotten about that."
"Well, I need to get to the courthouse before Judge Woods goes home." Frank says, getting up.
"Thank you, Frank." Sam says.
"You're welcome."
"You'll keep us informed?" Jeffrey asks.
"Of course." Frank says.
"I'll walk you out." Sam says, turning to Jeffrey. "You need to lie down." She says, standing up as he smiles at her.
"Yes, doctor." He replies, as Frank leaves with Sam following him.
Opening the door for him, she says. "Thank you, Frank."
"You're welcome." He says, holding out his hand.
She takes it and they shake hands before he walks out and she closes the door, returning to the living room and Jeffrey.