Brothers in Arms

Chapter 05

Paul Drake looked across the table at Della Street. He had never seen her so edgy and pre-occupied. Paul envied Perry. He only wished he had had this effect on Della before Perry had his hooks into her. He took a sip of his wine. "Come on Della, I feel like I am having dinner alone."

Startled by Paul's voice, Della looked up into his concerned face. "I'm sorry Paul. I don't mean to be such poor company."

He reached for her hand. "You could never be poor company. I think I already told you that. Della, what is it? Is there something wrong or are you missing Perry that much?"

Della smiled. "I always miss Perry when he is away but it has never stopped me from enjoying my friends' company. It is just that Perry always calls me when he arrives at his destination. In fact, normally he would have called me at least twice by now."

"It is the first time he and Bob Ironside have taken a vacation together. They probably discussed every legal case on record, then started drinking and playing poker. With the way Ironside can swill down that bourbon, they both may have passed out by now."

Della laughed. "Perry will not be able to keep up with Robert." She looked down at her nearly full plate of food. She was hungry when she and Paul left the office after she closed up but her appetite seemed to have disappeared.

Paul cut into his steak. He glanced over at Della who had drifted off again. He dropped his fork on his plate and waved his hand in front of Della. "Hello, is anyone in there?"

Della jerked and looked up again. "Paul, Perry always calls me. I have called him four times on his cell phone. It is not working….."

"They are up in the mountains," Paul interrupted. "No cell phone is going to work up there.

"I also called the cabin. It was busy every time I called. Now why would either of them spend that much time on the telephone when they are vacationing?"

Paul shrugged. "Maybe something came up at Ironside's office. He could be handling a problem with Ed or Eve."

"Robert's staff is highly capable. They would not disturb Robert when they know how much he needed this vacation. No Paul, I cannot believe that. Perry would call me unless there is a reason he cannot."

"Della, they might just be enjoying each other's company so much that checking in has slipped their minds. My guess is you will hear from Perry in the morning."

Della was not convinced. "That doesn't explain why the phone has been busy all evening."

"Maybe they took it off the hook or maybe it is out of order. Or maybe Commissioner Randall didn't pay the bill. I don't know Della, but you are worrying over nothing. Let them enjoy themselves. You need to relax and eat your dinner." Paul took another drink of wine.

"I guess you are right. I am probably worrying about nothing." She picked up her fork and began eating her dinner.

"Now that is more like it. Would you like to go dancing after dinner?" Paul asked.

Della tilted her head and half smiled. "Maybe another night, Paul. I think I will just go home…"

"And wait by the phone." Paul laughed. "Alright beautiful, have it your way. At least give me your attention through dinner."

"I'd like another glass of wine," she said with a smile.

"Now you're talking," Paul said and poured Della a glass of wine.

xxxxxx

Lt. Tragg was sipping his coffee when there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Hamilton Burger opened the door and walked in. "Hello, Arthur. I just thought I would drop by and see if you had made any progress finding Tony Castle.

Tragg frowned. "Not one bit. He seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. We know he was in New York. He left there but we don't know exactly when and we don't know where he went. I called Drake but he will not give me any information without Perry's ok. He called Perry a couple times but he said the phone up at Commissioner Randall's cabin has been busy."

"Busy? They are up there to enjoy themselves. Unless Bob's office needed him for some case I can't believe either one of them would spend that much time on the phone."

"That bothers me as well. Could be nothing but the phone might be out of order and we need to talk to Perry," Tragg said.

"Do we have a phone number for Randall's cabin?"

"Yes, Drake did give me that." Tragg reached for the paper he had written the number and handed it to Burger.

Burger turned Tragg's phone around and dialed the number. He shook his head. "Busy."

"It has been busy the whole evening. They must have taken it off the hook."

"What for?" Burger asked. "It's not like they would be receiving a ton of phone calls up there. Everyone that is close to them knows they are on vacation. Arthur, I think we should call and have the number checked for trouble.

Tragg turned the phone back around and dialed the operator. After asking the operator to check the number, he hung up the phone. "Well, there is nothing else we can do tonight. Hopefully, we will reach Perry tomorrow. Would you like to go out for a beer?"

"Thanks Arthur, but I am beat. I think I will just head for home. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

xxxxx

Perry came into the living room carrying blankets. He walked over to Robert Ironside. He spread out the blanket over his brother. "It's going to get rather cold in here. Wrap this around yourself. I am going to go up on the roof and remove whatever is blocking the chimney."

"You are going to do no such thing," Ironside said loudly. "You step outside and the guns surrounding this place could cut you down before you stepped away from the door."

"Bob, we just can't sit here and do nothing. It is only a matter of time before that maniac out there is going to come in here," Perry argued.

"That is exactly what I want," Ironside said.

Perry starred at him. "What exactly do you have in mind, Bob?"

"I would rather meet whoever is doing this on our terms, not his. Look Perry, out there we know there are explosives and guns that are being remotely controlled. Without knowing where they are, chances of us getting out of her alive are about nil. We have to force this man to come in here after we get ready."

"Are you suggesting we set up some type of trap in here?" Mason asked.

"Have you got a better idea? Is so, now would be a good time to share it with me."

"No, I don't have a better idea," Mason conceded. "Have you considered he may just wait us out? We have little to no food. The water is turned off in here. We have no heat, no electricity. He can afford to just sit and do nothing….or can he? Bob, whoever is doing this is after one of the other of us. He knew enough about us to know we were coming up here for vacation. If he knew that then he knows his time is limited."

"Exactly! He will know that I keep in touch with my staff even when on vacation."

"And he will know that I keep in contact with my office," Perry added.

"Which means our friend knows he has a day or two at the most before my staff and yours come looking for us," Ironside said. As Mason turned around to pace Ironside noticed he had a red spot on his shoulder. "Perry, come here. I think you may have been wounded when we came in."

Mason walked over to his brother. Ironside told him to turn around and kneel down. Mason did as he was instructed to do. Ironside inspected his shoulder. "It seems a bullet has grazed your shoulder. It is not serious by any mean but you better see what Dennis has in the medicine cabinet that we can put on this."

Perry stood up. "Where's the bathroom?" Perry followed the direction in which Ironside pointed. "Well, at least everything is staying with tradition when I am with you. I have now been shot every time we have been together," he said over his shoulder as he walked away from Ironside.

"You weren't shot when I visited you in L.A." Ironside corrected.

When he reached the bathroom, he shined his flashlight into the room. He immediately noticed the sizzling bathtub full of water. "Bob," he shouted, "I think you better see this."

Ironside immediately wheeled down the hall to the bathroom. His chair caught on the rug below taking it with him. Ironside freed the chair from the rug and wheeled in to the bathroom. Perry continued shinning the light on the bathtub. Ironside starred at the sizzling water. "If I did not know better I would think that Jimmy Chard was trying to send me a message," he said.

"Chard, wasn't that the name of the Moonlight Killer?"

"Yes," he answered Mason. "Only, I know he is in an institution for the criminally insane. I went to see him earlier in the week to see how he was doing. They are pleased with his progress. Jimmy was actually happy to see me. He spent an hour telling me all about his treatment and apologizing again for killing those people. He thanked me for coming. Even his parents have abandoned him so I have been his only visitor."

"Are you sure there isn't a chance Chard hasn't escaped? He did it once, he could probably do it again," Perry suggested.

"Not a chance. They know about his escape from prison. Extra precautions

have been taken to be sure that does not happen. No, Perry. They would have

contacted me immediately. He is still there but it doesn't mean this is not connected to him in some way."

"What did he do in the service?" Perry asked.

"Spent almost all of it in an institution. I do know he had started to work with explosives and that had something to do with the start of his problems. I was never able to find out what that was."

"Perry, the breaker to the bathroom is in the utility room. Go shut it off will you?" Ironside instructed his brother. Mason immediately did as he was asked. When the water stopped sizzling, Ironside dismantled what their tormentor had set up. Mason rejoined him momentarily.

"Did Chard have a brother or a relative that might be trying to get back at you?"

Ironside frowned. "His only brother is dead as you probably know. That is why Chard came after me in the first place. He held me responsible for his death. I think we can safely rule out Bobby Chard. However, he could have a cousin or maybe a friend in the military that is trying to extract revenge against me. I would bet on a friend in the military from his set up here. He would have to be an explosive expert to set those explosions up remotely.

"But why now? Why involve you? He should not have anything against you. He could have made an attempt on me in San Francisco." Ironside wondered.

"He would have found it difficult to set anything like this up in San Francisco," Perry said. "And this cabin is out in the middle of nowhere. He would be able to set this up without having to worry about being discovered."

"I don't think we can rule out that it might be you he is after." Ironside motioned for Perry to check the medicine cabinet. He opened it and pulled out the only thing in it he thought would be of use… alcohol. "That is going to feel really good being poured over an open wound," Ironside grinned.

"And I bet you are just going to enjoy pouring it on that open wound," Perry surmised. "It is much more likely that it is you they are after."

"Grab some of those bandages. That wound need protecting," Ironside instructed.

Both men went back into the living room. Perry pointed the flashlight at the floor in front of Ironside to be sure he could see any obstacles in his way. Suddenly Ironside stopped. Perry saw it at the same time. He walked ahead of Ironside and shinned the flashlight on the spot on the floor that had been previously covered by as rug that Ironside's wheel chair had disturbed. "That is a hose of some kind," Perry observed.

"It is coming out of the crawl space below the cabin. Looks like he has rigged up something to pump some kind of substance into this cabin," Ironside said. "Follow me."

Perry again followed his brother who wheeled just about five feet further and began pushing a table out of the way. Perry immediately helped Ironside remove the table. Underneath was a door. "I take it that goes into the crawl space?"

Ironside nodded. "Take the flash light and get down there. Find out what our friend has in store for us."

Perry opened the door and shinned the flashlight into the crawl space. He lowered his body down into the darkness. Perry shinned the light around the crawl space. He immediately spotted the tank. Moving carefully toward the tank, he shinned the flashlight on it. He ripped the tag from the tank and put it into his pocket. He followed the hose from the tank until it ventured upward into the living room floor above his head. Perry pulled the hose out of the floor above. He went back to the tank and notice what he first had missed….the remote control. He disconnected it from the tank.

Ironside waited, not so patiently for his brother to reappear. When he could not wait any longer, he shouted down the opening, "Well, what did you find?"

Perry poked his head through the door and pulled his large frame through. He sat down with is legs dangling into the crawl space. He reached in his pocket, pulled out the tag and handed it to Ironside. "That's some kind of a knock out gas if my memory serves me correctly, is it not?"

Ironside shinned his flashlight on the tag. "You have a very good memory, counselor. It certainly is."

Perry stood up and closed the door to the crawl space. He moved the table back over the opening. Perry followed Ironside who wheeled back toward the couch. "The hose was hooked to the tank….and Bob, there was a…."

"A remote control hooked to the tank," Ironside interrupted him.

"That's right. I disconnected it and pulled the hose out of the floor. "Now we know how he intended to overtake us," Perry said.

"Anything we would have set up in here would never have come into play. He would have activated that tank and entered after we became unconscious," Ironside surmised.

"I think maybe we should have not taken for granted that we would be safe inside this cabin. Maybe we had better take a closer look around. It would be to our advantage to find and dismantle everything he may have done in here," Perry suggested.

"He hasn't done anything else," Ironside said. "This man is confident that we are helpless. We cannot leave without the fear of either being shot to death or blown up not to mention our pace would be slowed because of me. Ironside slammed his fist on the arm of his wheelchair. "He cut off food, heat and water and removed everything he thought was a weapon. He set up that scene in the bathroom to give us a clue as to who he is but in doing so, he gave us back the water. I cannot believe this man would not realize we could just shut off the breaker to have access to it. He purposely figured out a way to allow electricity to flow to just that one area. It did not matter to him that we would be able to dismantle his work. The knock out gas was his insurance he could enter at any time. His mistake is not taking into consideration that I have been at this cabin many times with Dennis. I know this cabin. Perry, we have the advantage. We simply force him to come in after us. When he does, we will be ready for him."

xxxxx

Otto paced back and forth in the vehicle. He had to get out of here. He had to get to his friend in the chair on wheels. He whined as he paced. His hot breath had steamed the window. It was difficult for him to see outside. He would have to rely on his senses to tell him when the man was returning. Every instinct within the dog told him he had to get to his friend.

Otto continued pacing in the truck. He jumped back and forth between the seats checking out the windows as he did. His acute hearing registered a 'click'. Otto stopped. He listened but heard nothing further. He began pacing back and forth between the seats again, occasionally pawing the sides of the doors as he went. 'Click'. Otto stopped again. Still no other sound followed. He pawed at the door. 'Click' He stopped once again, then pawed the door. 'Click'. Otto continue to paw the door. Each time he heard a click. A little knob moved either up or down with each click. Otto stopped and looked at the door. He whined, and then barked. His training told him this was the key to being released from this kennel.

Several more times he pawed the door, listened to the click and watched the knob move up and down. Otto reached back into his memory. He remembered riding with his friend on wheels in a great big kennel. He watched him push something on the side of the kennel and a big tray came down. He and his friend rode that tray to the ground. But Otto remembered the two people in the front of the kennel did not ride the tray out. They went out the doors of the kennel. Otto looked at the door of his present kennel. He tried to remember what they did to open the doors. He remembered the tall slender man reached for something on the door.

Otto starred at the door. He noticed the shiny lever. He grabbed it in his teeth and pulled. Nothing happened. He chewed and growled. Nothing happened. Otto sat back. He looked at the door. The little knob was down. He pawed the door. 'Click'. The knob went up. Confused, Otto whined again. He grabbed the shiny lever and pulled. The door to his kennel released. Otto pushed his shoulder and head against the door and opened the kennel door. He jump down out of the truck and headed into the night to find his friend on wheels.

xxxxx

Mark put another cup of coffee in front of Eve and set one down for himself. He sat heavily into his chair. Watching Eve, he could see the worried look on her face. "He's alright, Eve," Mark said trying to ease her concerns.

"Mark, you know fully well the chief always makes at least one phone call a day into the office no matter where he is and what he is doing. He has not called."

"We have called the cabin…."

"And it was busy," she interrupted. "And now a recording comes on and says the line is being checked for trouble," Eve pointed out.

"So….the line is being checked for trouble. That would explain why the chief has not called in."

"He would have gone into the nearest town and called us. He knows how we worry when he is away without us," Eve insisted.

"Eve, it is not like the chief is alone. He is with Perry Mason. We both know the chief is capable of taking care of himself. Besides, Perry will look after him."

"He would have found a way to call, Mark," Eve said with determination. She reached for the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Mark asked.

"Della Street. I want to find out if Perry has checked in with her," Eve said.

Mark took the phone receiver from Eve and placed it back on the base. "Perry would have no more access to call her than the chief does us. There is no reason to get her upset as well."

"I only want to know if Perry called her at some time during the day. If he has then I will know they are both alright." She picked the phone up again and began dialing. Mark sighed.

xxxxx

Della re-read the chapter in her novel for the third time. She was unable to concentrate on the words. No matter how many times Paul reassured her that Perry was fine, she could not shake the feeling he was in danger. Her cell phone on her nightstand began ringing. Della was relieved. She intended to scold Perry for not calling her sooner. She grabbed the phone and said excitedly, "Perry, why have you not called me before now?"

"Della, this is Eve," she said, already worried with Della's response.

Della voice showed clear disappointment when she responded. "Oh, Eve I am sorry I thought for sure it would be Perry calling."

"Then you have not heard from Perry?"

"No, have you heard from Robert?" Della inquired.

"No. We have not. He always calls at least once a day when he is away. I have to admit I am a bit worried about both of them."

"Me too, Eve. We have called several times and we have gotten a busy signal or a computer voice says the line is out of order. Perry knows I would worry unless I heard from him. I cannot believe he would not go to the nearest town and call."

Della was clearly upset which only served to upset Eve even more. "The chief always checks in and he knows how we worry about him too. If you hear from Perry, will you call me immediately?"

"Of course and I trust you will do the same if you hear from Robert?"

"You can count on it, Della. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Eve." Della hung up the phone. Now she was really worried.

xxxxx

Otto bounded through the forest. All of his canine instincts told the German Shepherd to reach his friend on wheels. He put his nose in the air as his friend's scent guided him through the woods. Otto was so desperate to reach Ironside he let his guard down. He had keyed in on Ironside's scent so intently he did not concentrate on the ground in front of him.

A few feet in front of him under the cover of brush laid a trap ready to dig its teeth into its prey. Otto nose and instincts would have told him there was a problem up ahead but all the canine could think about was getting to Ironside. He bounded toward the trap and stepped into it with his left front paw. The trap snapped and the teeth bit into Otto's leg. The Shepherd yelped and bit at the trap trying to free himself. After a couple of minutes he stopped and laid down, his front leg throbbing.

He could not allow this to stop him. He had to get to his friend. Otto stood up and dragged the trap. He moved slowing at first, whining at the pain in his leg but he kept moving, motivated by the danger his sensed his friend was in. This time he divided his time sniffing for Ironside's scent and sniffing his surroundings. He carefully avoided another trap and something else he knew from his training he must avoid. He remembered all too clearly those things turned into a great big bang and then fire. Moving along steadily but slowly Otto stopped to sniff the air. He was almost there. He could smell his friend's scent nearby. Otto spotted a large structure ahead. He knew his friend was in there. Otto also knew he needed his friend's help as well.

He reached the house and looked around. Otto spotted the surveillance cameras. He had been taught to avoid them. He looked for another way into the house. After circling almost completely around the cabin, Otto found a door. He checked the surveillance cameras and used his nose to push the door open. He leg throbbed in pain. Otto went inside. He friend's scent was extremely strong now, but Otto detected another scent and cringed. He was unsure of what to do. When he did not detect danger from the stranger, Otto began barking.

Xxxxx

Ironside and Mason heard the barking immediately. Robert Ironside headed for the door to the crawl space. Perry stepped in front of him. "Bob, that could be a trap and we are not ready yet."

"That's no trap. I know that bark. That's my dog." Ironside called out. He pushed Perry out of the way and grabbed the table covering the door. "Give me a hand, Perry."

Confused, Perry moved in to help his brother with the table. "I did not know you had a dog."

"I'll tell you about it later." Once the table was removed, Ironside reached down and pulled the door up to open it.

Perry shined his flashlight into the crawl space. He spotted a dog with a trap connected to his leg. The dog began growling and baring his teeth. Perry stepped back.

Ironside wheeled to the edge of the opening. "Otto!" The dog began wagging his tail wildly and barking at Ironside. "He's stepped into a trap. We need to get him out of there. Perry, get down there."

Perry's eyes widen. "He will attack me."

"No he won't. Lower the pitch of your voice to match mine, like you did in court that day. I will talk to him from up here," Ironside tried to assure Perry.

Perry put his legs in the opening. Otto growled and bared his teeth.

"Otto," Ironside spoke softly. "It is ok, boy. He's a friend. Easy boy."

Perry slowly lowered himself into the crawl space. Otto was no longer baring his teeth but his growl could be heard coming from his throat. Perry did as Ironside instructed and lowered the pitch of his voice. "It's alright Otto," Perry said. "Easy, boy." Otto growled again.

"Otto, cease!" Ironside said. Otto quit growling immediately.

Perry moved slowly toward the dog speaking to him in his brother's lower pitched voice as Ironside encouraged the dog from above. As he reached Otto, he hesitated but looked the dog in the eye. "It's alright, Otto. We're going to help you." He reached up slowly toward Otto head. He put his hand in front of the German Shepherd and allowed him to sniff it. Slowly he reached up and touched the top of Otto's head. "That's it, boy. I am going to help you. He scratched Otto behind the ears.

All the time Perry was approaching the dog Ironside spoke softly to him from above. Perry turned his head just slightly without taking his eyes off the dog. "I am going to remove this trap," he told Ironside.

"Perry, take it slowly," Ironside called out.

Perry moved slowly but with determination. He reached and touched the trap. Otto whined. "Easy, boy. Let's get this thing off you. Placing a hand on both sides of the trap, Perry used his strength to separate the jaws of the trap. When it opened far enough Otto removed his leg from the trap. Perry threw the trap aside. He reached for Otto's paw. The dog allowed him to take it. Perry shined his flashlight at the paw. "It could be worse. I don't think it is broken. It is torn up a bit," Perry called out to Ironside.

"Get him out of there," Ironside called back.

Perry slowly reached for the dog. "Easy….I'm going to pick you up, buddy." He reached around the back of the dog and put his right arm under the dog's rear, behind his back legs. He moved his left around his chest in the front and picked Otto up. Otto whined. Perry looked up. This was not going to be easy. He found a wood box and pushed it under the opening with his foot. Stepping on the box, he used all his strength to lift the injured dog over his head. Perry glanced up. Ironside had gotten out of his wheel chair and was lying on the floor above.

As Perry lifted the dog closer Ironside grabbed the dog by the shoulders, careful to avoid the injured leg, and pulled him up gently into the cabin. He then rolled away from the crawl space door.

When Perry appeared through the opened door, Otto was wagging his tail wildly, barking and licking Ironside in the face.

xxxxx