Chapter 4
Lisbon and Cho met Steven Gale at the property gate at three in the afternoon.
It only took a flash of badges for the security guard to demand a warrant which Lisbon was all to happy to hand over.
Not seeming overly pleased, Steven nodded and opened the gate, going through first as the agents and the search party followed close behind.
"Which way are the cliffs?" Lisbon looked around at the forest on either side of the narrow one lane dirt road.
"Depends on which one you mean," Steven stated, running a hair through neatly trimmed brown hair, "we got two, Angel's Face and Devil's Face."
"Which ones bigger?" questioned Cho, fixing the baseball cap on his head, having chosen to wear normal clothes instead of a suite, due to having to spend an unknown amount of time combing through the woods.
"That'd be Devil's Face, also known to the hikers as la Puerta Del Infierno,the door of hell if you roughly translate it," Steven jammed his hands in his pockets, "you think your boy fell from Devil's Face? I only know one guy who fell from that cliff and lived to tell the tale."
"Yeah, we'll split up into two groups, half of us will go to Devil's Face, the other half to the other one."
Lisbon quickly split the group up and got a map from Steven for the other group, before motioning for the guard to show them the way.
Looking none to thrilled, Steven led the way, over numerous brooks and small cracks and caverns in the earth, only pausing to make sure no one was lagging behind and everyone was accounted for.
Finally, after almost an hour they arrived at a large cliff, and it only took one look up at broken branches to tell Lisbon they were definitely at the right one.
"Alright everyone, break up, look for anything that might belong to Jane or another person for that matter... I wanna know which way whoever took Jane went." Lisbon barked out the order, turning to Cho who was already crouched the in the ten feet away.
"Hey boss, come and look at this."
Lisbon and Steven walked over to the agent, staring at the tire tracks dug into the dirt.
"ATV tracks... and over there, there's blood on the leaves. These tracks are only a few days old. Looks like someone showed up and got Jane out of here." Cho stood, wiping the dirt from his hands.
"Mr. Gale, we need to talk to the man who owns the property," Lisbon turned to the security guard who was staring up at the broken branches.
"Yeah, I can take you over to the house," Steve nodded, "I can't say Mr. Tyler'll talk to you, as he ain't a people person, but you can try."
"We'll try then, lead the way."
The guard sighed before he turned with a mutter and started walking, Lisbon and Cho at his heels, the other members of their group fanning out to make sure nothing was missed.
It took ten minutes to reach the small cabin, an even small shed tucked behind it, nestled among the trees.
"Here we are."
Lisbon and Cho exchanged glances before looking at the guard with skeptical expressions.
"What? Were you expecting something impressive?" Steve made his way up onto the small porch, raising a hand to knock on the door, " Mr. Tyler? You in?"
There was a moment of silence before they heard the door unlock and Steve stepped back off the porch as the door opened and an unimpressed looking man stepped out.
The man was dressed in torn jeans and an army green sweater with a vest over it, a tattered baseball cap jammed on his head over graying hair, matching gray stubble coating his chin and jaw.
"Whaddya want, Steve?"
"Sorry to bother you sir, but we have a warrant here to search your property," Lisbon interjected, stepping forward and showing her badge, which the man reached out to take, studying it with suspicious stormy eyes.
"Why? I ain't done nothin'," The man growled, handing the badge back and watching as Cho made his way towards the small shed.
"One of our guys fell from a cliff onto your property, now he's missing," Lisbon replied, sucking in a breath as she fished the picture of Jane from her jacket pocket and held it out for Mr. Tyler to look at, "have you seen him?"
The photo was lightly yanked from her hand and studied, only to be handed back five seconds later, "I ain't seen him. Which cliff?"
Steve shifted from one foot to the other, "Devil's Face sir."
The hermit snorted, "And you think he's still breathin'?"
"Mr. Tyler, do you own an ATV?"
All turned their heads to look at Cho who stood by the shed, staring at the man on the porch.
"I do, what's it to yah?"
"We found ATV tracks in the same location where Mr. Jane fell." the agent turned his attention back to the shed, reaching out to unlatch the shed door.
"We'll then Steve here ain't doin' his job...I ran the damn thing into a tree last week." The man reached up to pull his hat down more securely on his head before his hands came to rest irritatedly on his hips.
Cho only glanced back once before pulled the doors open, sighing at the state of the ATV inside, "he's telling the truth... I doubt this thing can even start."
"'Course I'm tellin' the truth, why would I lie to cops?" Mr. Tyler glared at the agents before turning to the guard, "Mr. Gale, can I speak to you for a minute... alone."
"yes sir," Steve nodded, glancing at the agents as he went back onto the porch and inside, "I'll just be a moment."
Lisbon watched as Cho made his way back to her side, and the two CBI agents stood in silence, unable to hear what was being inside the small cabin.
Both looked up when the door reopened and Steve stepped out, nodding to the hermit who shut the door behind the guard who didn't glance back as the door shut.
"Is everything alright?" asked Lisbon, tucking the consultants photo back into her jacket.
"He didn't fire you, did he?" Cho raised an eyebrow as the young man started to lead the way back into the woods the exact way they'd came.
"Hm? Oh... No, I didn't get fired, he just doesn't like it when people just show up unannounced... as he doesn't like people," Steven explained, stepping over a fallen birch tree, "hence why he's a, yah know... hermit."
Lisbon nodded but said nothing, choosing to stay silent and listen to the birds as they made their way back to the main gate.
"Mr. Gale, can I speak to you for a minute... alone."
"yes sir,"
He watched as Steve nodded and glanced back at the agents as he went back onto the porch with a polite 'I'll just be a moment,' thrown over his shoulder
He closed the door securely before turning on the younger man.
"What the hell are they doing here Steven? You're supposed to keep people off my land, what if they find out this isn't even my damn house?"
"What was I supposed to do Noah? They're cops and they have a freakin warrant! I can't tell them no!"
Noah sighed, taking off his hat to comb fingers through his hair before jamming the grungy thing back on, raising a hand in a sign of submission, "alright, alright, calm down Steven, I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress, I only got three hours of sleep last night. "
The guard nodded, letting out a long exhale, sitting at the small dusty dining table before speaking again, fixing the older man with a sympathetic look, "how's he doin'?"
"I'll know more when he wakes up... Which is another reason why I should be up at the house and not down here," Noah sighed, wanting nothing more then to be able to shed the grungy outfit for one much more clean, pulling at the worn vest absently, "and on top of all that Kitty had a bad dream which lead to a panic attack. So I was up most of the night with her trying to make sure she kept breathing."
"She okay?"
"Yeah, I uh, I gave her a shot to relax the muscles in her throat, and she was fine after about a half hour..." Noah folded his arms.
"Glad to hear it, she worries me sometimes... All the shit she's been through. It's just a good thing she's got you for a dad. I don't know no better doctor then you Mr. Draven."
Noah smiled slightly with a chuckle, "get them out of here please, Steven."
"Alright, I'll take them back up to the gate," Steve stood with a nod.
Noah closed the door behind the young man, watching from the window as they vanished into the woods before heading to the back door, right next to where his working ATV sat waiting for him.
He'd check on Kitty and Patrick first, then he was making himself a sandwich and relaxing on the couch with his favorite book and a cup of hot tea.
~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~
YAY! I finally felt like writing tonight (: while watching a dinosaur show on the television! :D
Hope you like it (: please REVIEW, you'll get a "free tea with Jane" coupon if you do!
I'm everything you've wanted,
I am the one who's haunting you,
I am the eyes inside of you,
Stare back at you...
Skillet (Savior)