Chapter 40
Donovan Chase grimaced as he checked the caller ID on his phone. "Good morning, Mr. Whitaker. What can I do for you?"
"Have you gotten an update on the girl?"
Chase cleared his throat. "Um…no, sir. I can call and get one, if you'd like."
"I'd like you to go in to see her. After all, they can lie over the phone. That girl either needs to be reclaimed or silenced. I prefer the former."
"Yes, sir. I understand. I will see to it immediately."
The line went dead and Chase hung up. He knew that the Preventers wouldn't appreciate him dropping in but he didn't care. Those stupid agents didn't scare him.
Quatre rubbed at the crick in his neck. He'd been bent over his laptop for far too long and could really use a massage. He glanced at his watch. His shift was almost over. In 45 minutes he could get some takeout and relax in his bathtub with a book. He knew his friends had rolled their eyes when he'd insisted on remodeling the apartment bathroom with a jetted tub but days like this made it all worth it. Plus the remodel was much cheaper than hiring a personal masseuse, which was his other option.
Since moving the girl out of the hospital room the pilots had basically started using the bed instead of the chair for sitting on. Neither was overly comfortable but Quatre appreciated being able to lay flat and stretch his back. He stared at the ceiling as he wondered how the girl was doing. Trowa hadn't heard anything from Catherine, which probably meant that everything was fine. They should probably contact Agent Johnson for an update just to make sure.
Quatre jumped to his feet as the door opened. He mentally swore as he recognized Donovan Chase. He also berated himself for getting lax and not locking the door when he came back from speaking to the nurse on duty the last time. As agreed upon, the agents occasionally spoke to the nurses and made simple requests, such as a cup of ice, to keep up the appearance that the girl was still there. Sally dropped in regularly to "check" the girl as well.
"Where's the girl?" Chase demanded.
"Having some tests done," Quatre answered, wondering how long he could keep the lawyer at bay.
"Why? What's wrong with her now?"
Quatre kept his expression neutral. "I'm sorry but I'm not authorized to give out that information."
"I see that Colonel Une has yet to contact you. I already got clearance to speak to the girl today."
Quatre fought to keep his cool. He wanted nothing more than to slap cuffs on the guy and haul his butt to jail. Heero had said they didn't have enough evidence just yet, but Quatre disagreed. He felt that the girl's terror should have been reason enough. He also felt that if they just told Colonel Une what was going on, she would agree with him. "Really? Are you sure you have the right day? Dr. Po didn't mention it when she came to collect the girl."
Chase shrugged. "Perhaps I got the date mixed up, but since I'm here, I might as well see her."
Quatre frowned. "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask you to leave while I get clearance from the Colonel."
Chase gave Quatre a cold look. "I already got clearance. It isn't my fault the brat got sick and I'm not leaving until I see her."
Quatre set his jaw. He could feel what the man wanted the girl for and Quatre would rot in hell before letting the slimy lawyer have her. "Well I do apologize but as you can see she isn't here. You'll have to come back later. I don't know how long the tests are supposed to take but I can call you as soon as Dr. Po brings her back."
Chase caught the cold look in the blonde's eyes and decided not to push his luck. Something didn't seem right about this situation but he didn't know what it was. "Of course," he conceded. "I will speak to Colonel Une again and set up yet another time to see the girl. Excuse me Agent," he sneered.
Quatre forced his fists to stay at his sides to avoid punching the asshole. Chase opened the door and sauntered out. Before the door had a chance to close, Wufei and Trowa walked in.
"What was he doing here?" Wufei demanded.
"Trying my patience," Quatre spat through gritted teeth. The blonde punched the pillow on the bed with a primal growl. "I don't know why Heero won't arrest that bastard. I seriously considered killing him and having Rashid dump his body in space. That man is the most repulsive despicable objectionable obnoxious intolerable atrocious unpleasant contemptible odious detestable insufferable creature I've ever met in my life!"
Wufei and Trowa watched the blonde punch the pillow with each word.
"Don't hold back, Quatre. Tell us how you really feel," Trowa quipped as he leaned against the wall.
Quatre glared at the Heavyarms pilot. "If that…thing isn't behind bars in the next two weeks I will personally put out a hit on him! He's so foul that rats would be insulted to be compared to him."
"Calm down, Quatre," Wufei interrupted. "Tell us what happened."
Quatre took a deep breath and blew it out before telling the other two what happened with Chase, including what his empathy revealed about the man. "Can we tell Colonel Une about Chase now? We really need to get him behind bars."
"I agree with you, Quatre," Wufei said. "Especially with this new development."
"What new development?"
"You know that suicide I agreed to investigate for Colonel Une?"
"Yes."
"We think Chase and Whitaker are involved."
"Oh no," Quatre groaned.
"Yes. In fact, I just came from speaking with Colonel Une. She called the local police precinct and got us a list of recent suicides. There have been a rather high number in the area over the course of the last two years. We're going to investigate them as much as possible and see if there are any other potential victims. I also have the autopsy report from the girl I was investigating. The injuries she had didn't match up with someone who died by hanging. It would appear she died before hanging herself."
"Then how did she die?"
"According to the autopsy, she had an inflamed stomach. Unusual for a teenager, don't you think? I suspect arsenic poisoning. If given in a large enough dose, it would have killed her quickly and the autopsy would reveal an inflamed stomach but no obvious arsenic use. Had they known what to look for, there is a chance traces of arsenic would be found in her digestive tract, but there's no point in exhuming the body just to look for it. There's no guarantee we'd find it."
"So you think they gave her arsenic, waited for her to die and then strung her up where her parents would find her?" Quatre asked. "It seems an awful lot of work just to make it appear to be a suicide."
"We aren't exactly dealing with your run-of-the-mill murderers," Trowa said. "Most murderers don't take the time to decapitate the bodies and then sort the pieces."
Quatre shuddered. "Right. So what else did Une say?"
"She is going to get us a warrant to seize the properties. That might help flush something out."
"Good. Have there been any updates from Heero and Duo yet?"
Trowa shook his head. "Not really. Heero said they were going to start going through the feed from the bugs Duo left at Whitaker's. I thought I'd call later if they don't contact us first."
Quatre nodded. "Sounds good. Anything else?"
"Not at the moment," Wufei said. "Why don't you go home and get some rest?" He didn't add that Quatre looked like he really needed it. He knew it would annoy the blonde in his current state of mind and Wufei didn't want to set him off again. "We'll call you if anything comes up."
Quatre gathered his laptop and his paperwork. "Thanks, Wufei. As soon as I'm done looking over these contracts I'm going to tell my sisters that I need to be exclusive with Preventer until we finish this case. I think trying to do both will be too much with all these new developments."
"All right, Goliath, let's see if we can figure out what your issue is," Paul muttered as he looked the horse over. He gently patted the horse down, watching to see if he flinched. "Well, it doesn't look like your back is bruised. Let's get this saddle on you and see if that changes anything."
Paul fitted the horse's performance saddle on and again pressed along Goliath's back. Again, the horse seemed just fine. "Okay then, let's walk you around a little."
Goliath walked placidly in a circle while Paul held the lead rope and carefully watched the animal's movements. He frowned. There was nothing wrong with the horse that he could see. Since the horse refused to move when someone was riding him, Paul set a small teddy bear on the saddle. The horse didn't pay it any mind and walked around when Paul encouraged him to.
"Well, it isn't about someone or something being on your back." Paul patted the horse's neck and tied him to a post. "I'm going to get someone to sit on you and we'll see if we can figure you out from there."
Paul set off in search of someone who had a few minutes to assist him. "Of course no one's around when I need them," Paul muttered.
A high pitched whinny from the animal tent caught his ear. Maybe he could get the girl to sit on Goliath for a minute. He headed for the tent.
"Kirimek?" Paul frowned. Where had she gone? "Kiri—" He stopped as the girl came out of Buttercup's stall and looked expectantly at him. "There you are. I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
Kirimek nodded.
Paul smiled. "Great. Leave Buttercup here, she'll be fine and this will only take a minute."
Paul led the way over to Goliath. Kirimek stopped a few feet away.
"I'm going to set you on Goliath and have him take a few steps. I need to watch the way he walks to make sure there's nothing wrong with his legs and hooves. Come over here and I'll lift you up."
The girl balked for a moment before slowly walking over to him.
"It'll be okay," Paul assured her. "I've got Goliath on a lead so he won't run off with you and I'll be right here the whole time. I promise."
Kirimek nodded slowly.
"Up you go." Paul lifted the girl easily onto the black horse's back.
The girl immediately flattened against the horse and held on for dear life. She wrapped her arm around Goliath's neck as far as she could and clenched her eyes shut.
"Relax, you're safe up there," Paul told her. He began to wonder if he should find another helper. But since the girl was already on the horse, he decided it wouldn't hurt to try and get Goliath to take a few steps. "Come on, boy, let's go for a walk."
Goliath took a step and then refused to budge.
"Come on," Paul urged.
The horse shook his head, making the girl clinging to his back gasp and cling tighter.
"Come on!" Paul gave the lead a pull, instantly regretting it as Goliath pulled back and reared up.
Kirimek screamed as she slipped off the back of the horse. Paul dropped the lead rope and ran to the girl.
"Kirimek! I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
The girl had been fortunate enough to land in a small pile of hay that had been left out for the horses to munch on as they pleased. Still, Paul couldn't stop the panic that rose in him when she didn't respond right away. She had curled in on herself, lying on her left side.
"Are you hurt?" he pressed.
The girl slowly sat up, her left hand was in a fist held tightly against her chest.
"Let me see," Paul said as he reached for the girl's injured hand.
Kirimek pulled away from him, her eyes filled with terror as she huddled in the hay. Paul froze, unsure of how to fix this. He didn't want to scare her any more than she already was.
"Johnson! I heard a scream. Is everything okay?"
Paul looked up to see Torvald loping across the grounds towards them.
"Go to the main tent and get Cathy!" Paul ordered.
Torvald skidded to a stop and changed direction, charging for the main tent at full speed.
Paul turned his attention back to Kirimek. "It's okay…can I see where you're hurt?" he asked softly.
Kirimek shook her head. Her eyes were wide and she was biting her lip.
"You're not in trouble. I just want to make sure you're okay."
The girl whimpered and tried to scoot away from him.
Paul felt anger welling up inside of him. He wasn't angry with her, he was angry at himself for letting her get hurt and disappointed that she didn't want him to help her. She was hurt and needed help, but it was as if she thought she was going to get a beating because she was hurt. Paul's anger reached a new peak as he thought about how she must have been treated before the Preventers found her. He was certain she wouldn't act this way if she hadn't been conditioned to.
"Paul?"
Cathy's call pulled Paul's attention away from the girl. She was running towards the corral with Torvald.
"What happened?" Cathy asked as she climbed over the fence.
"She fell and I'm pretty sure she got hurt but she won't let me look," Paul explained.
Cathy knelt next to the girl. "Hey, hon…can I see?"
Kirimek gave Cathy a distrustful look before reluctantly holding out her hand. She had a decent sized gash across her palm and it was bleeding.
"Oh, sweetie…let's get that cleaned up, okay?" Cathy said gently. Cathy carefully pulled the girl to her feet. "Let's go back to the trailer."
Torvald opened the gate for them and Cathy led Kirimek away. Torvald entered the horse enclosure and closed the gate.
"How did she fall?" he asked.
"You know how I've been having some trouble with getting Goliath to walk when someone is on his back?"
Torvald nodded.
"Well, I asked Kirimek to sit on him so I could watch and see if he was favoring a leg or something. I thought since she didn't weigh very much that he would be okay with it but he freaked out and reared back. She fell off of him." Paul ran a hand through his hair. "I probably shouldn't have asked her to do that but I really didn't think it would be a problem. He hasn't done that before."
"How did she cut her hand?"
Paul frowned. "There must be a rock under the hay somewhere." He started digging around in the hay. "Here it is." He pulled out a large, wedge shaped rock with a sharp edge on it. "What's this doing in the corral anyway?"
"Perhaps we should be more thorough in checking the enclosures," Torvald suggested as he took the rock from Paul in order to examine it. "You are lucky the horses did not hurt themselves on it as well."
Paul nodded and Torvald left, taking the rock with him in order to find a safer place for it. Paul walked over to Goliath.
"You meathead. Get over here." Paul jerked the lead rope a little rougher than necessary and tied Goliath to the fence. "Why'd you have to do that?"
Goliath shook his head and bent down to graze. Paul frowned as he considered the horse. There had to be an explanation for his behavior.