Attn: Don't own them. I would love to own them but alas I can't afford them.
Chapter 8
John informed Bo of his lead and headed out to take a look at the body. He had started running the victim's face and prints thru the FBI databases hoping he could come up with a match. His gut told him that this was his man.
The ride to the Carbondale morgue was uneventful and he made it there in good time. Once he was looking at the body he took a moment to study it for himself. Dirty was his first thought. The ME had washed the body but there were signs that told him John Doe didn't bathe often. His hair was long and messy, face too thin, body gaunt but had some muscle.
As the ME finished his report John's cell phone rang. Picking it up he listened as Bo told him that there had been a match on the prints from CODIS (A data base the FBI used to identify repeat offenders.) He now had a name and address on this former John Doe.
"All right Kevin Johnson lets go see what you got killed over." John muttered to himself after he hung up the phone. He gave the ME Kevin's name and age so it would be correct on the death certificate then headed out to Kevin's home address.
When he got there he was unsurprised to find it was in a slum area and that was putting it nicely. The houses on the street, if you could call them that, they were really more like shacks, old, dilapidated and falling down. Graffiti was sprayed everywhere and a group of teenagers loitered nearby blaring what some called music but John found nothing musical in the screaming vocals and hammering drums.
He walked up to the front door, knocked, and called out FBI. Getting no answer, as he expected, he proceeded to enter the building. The stench hit him first making his eyes water. Piles of garbage lay everywhere making walking thru very difficult. To say it was in need of a good cleaning was a serious understatement. Then, with a small smile, he thought, 'a better idea would be to burn the entire place down.'
Finding no one there John gave the place a once over and hit pay dirt. Sitting on the shelf inside the bedroom closet was assortment of women's shoes! Putting on gloves he took down one shoe and examined it. It was the same size and color as the first victim had been wearing the last time she was seen alive. Calling it in he ordered CSI to go over the place with a fine-tooth comb.
He stayed until the CSI unit got there then called his boss. After talking with his boss, now former boss actually, John decided to head back to Llanview. He still had work to do. No matter what the FBI thought John knew that there was more to this case. His superiors wouldn't hear of the idea that there were too men and not one so he decided if the FBI wouldn't work that angle then he would work it on his own, unless he could convince Bo of his theory.
Bo was his boss now because as far as the FBI was concerned the case was closed. He had found the killer end of story. Finding out who had killed the killer wasn't his job. At least that's what they said, he felt differently.
Suddenly someone stumbled out into the road and John slammed on the breaks. Screeching to a shuddering halt he jumped out and ran to the figure. The person was staggering and stumbling and either they were very drunk or in needed help. As he got closer he saw that it was a woman, filthy and ragged but definitely a woman. He rushed to her side to offer assistance then not so surprisingly she slid into a dead faint just in time for him to catch her.
He immediately checked her pulse and breathing to make sure she was alive. When he felt the steady beat of her heart he was relieved. Satisfied that she was indeed alive he took a moment to check for any other obvious injuries. Again relieved, he found that she had no broken bones. He was about to call for an ambulance then decided that it would be quicker to take her himself. He looked down and saw her bare feet were raw and bleeding. She must have walked a long ways for that to happen. He finally looked up at her face. Brushing away the dirty hair John got a good look at his damsel in distress, and gasped in disbelief. He knew that face, had stared at it on his murder board for hours on end.
"Natalie Buchanan?!"
"What the fuck is going on here!" he thought to himself as lifted her unconscious body and put her in his car and headed for the hospital.
Natalie woke up in the dark and immediately was frightened. She started to sit up then noticed that it wasn't completely dark in the room. There was a soft light coming into the open door from the hallway. She looked around and realized that she was in a hospital. She sighed in relief, someone must have found her and brought her here.
Feeling safe for the moment she looked around more closely and realized that she recognized the hospital she was in, she was at the Llanview hospital. Not sure whether to be relieved or frightened by the fact she looked out the window and was startled to see a strange man sleeping in the chair next to her bed. She tensed and was about to start screaming when he woke suddenly and looked directly into her eyes.
For no reason that she could fathom the scream that had been building died in the back of her throat. Instead she simply stared into his eyes. The man was simply gorgeous, what she could see in the dim light. His hair was dark and shaggy yet not unkempt. His face was ruggedly handsome but shadowed with one or two days stubble. But it was those eyes that held her motionless. They were beautiful, blue, she could tell because they were such an intense blue not even the relative darkness could hide them.
"So you're Natalie?" Though it was a question it was clear he knew who she was, yet she didn't feel threatened by that fact. In fact it was almost as if he was happy to see her.
"You were looking for me?" Her tone was flirtatious and Natalie was shocked with herself. 'Jesus!' she thought to herself, 'I just wake up in the hospital after being held hostage by TWO madmen, and I am flirting with the first good looking man I see!!'
John blinked in surprise then grinned, she was a gem! He liked her already. But he couldn't lie to her, frowning, "Actually everyone thought you were dead. I only found you when you passed out in front of my car." He fell silent trying to decide is now was the time to ask where she had been or if he should wait till later.
Natalie immediately frowned as well, reminded of what had happened to her. "My family?"
John knew what she was asking and said, "They've been here for days, I finally convinced them to go home and get some sleep then come back in the morning."
"Days? How long was I out?" She was shocked and slightly panicked. Carlo would have found her by now! He would come back and get her.
"You've been here of almost a week Natalie." John saw her panic and asked, "Who did this to you? What happened?"
Natalie broke down then and tears started to roll down her face. "Carlo Hesser, my husband," she choked out and sobbed into her hands.
John couldn't stand to see her crying and sat next to her on the bed. He hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder and she turned into him and sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly until the sobs subsided then pushed her back slightly. Looking into her face he caught his breath. She was beautiful! Her nose was running and her eyes red but that only added to her beauty. He gently pushed her hair away from her face and softly said, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Natalie nodded and began at the beginning from the first kidnapping to breaking down the door and running away.
"I was walking. It seemed like I walked forever. The road just kept going on and on until I thought I would die before anyone found me." It was said in a sad, tired voice. "I don't remember stepping into the road. I was trying to stay out of sight in case he came down the road looking for me."
John held her tightly as he said, "If you hadn't you might never have been found. That area has hardly any traffic at all. The only reason I was on it is because I was taking the long way back. It's mostly state forest there."
"Thanks for finding me." Natalie said it softly but she meant every word. He had literally saved her life and she would be forever in his debt. "You saved my life."
Seeing she was calmed down John moved away from her and back to the chair, "You're welcome."
"What does Carlo have against your family?" No one had really explained that to him.To be continued...