Within the Dark Forest Chapter 2
The room was quiet except for Sharon's breathing.
At first Sharon couldn't understand what had happened but after a moment she processed what she was seeing.
An empty bed, still made from the day before.
Broken shards of glass on the floor.
A piece of cloth thrown down, more than likely the source of the sweet smell.
Blood.
There wasn't much blood on the floor or on any of the clothes strewn across the floor but it was enough to scare her.
It was a struggle for Sharon to not go into the room but she knew that going in could make it more difficult to find out what had happened.
Sharon knew that she should call someone so she headed to purse to get her cellphone.
It was a sign of how shaken that she was that it took Sharon almost two minutes before she remembered that her purse was on the table next to the door like always.
"Provenza? I need you to gather the team and come over to my apartment as quickly as possible."
Sharon's voice shook.
"Something's happened to Rusty."
An hour later the squad met up in the murder room to discuss what they had found.
Everyone tried to ignore the fact that Raydor's eyes were red from crying.
"The piece of cloth on the floor was the source of the smell, Captain. I sent it to be analyzed but it will take some time." Tao looked down, wishing that he had something more to say.
"Ok. What about the glass? Nothing seemed to be broken so where did it come from?" Flynn asked.
"We don't know yet. The kidnapper must have had something with him that broke when they were taking Rusty." Sykes chimed in from next to the white board.
Sanchez looked up from the report he was reading.
"Are we sure that he was kidnapped?"
When everyone looked at him in shock, he shook his head.
"When we came back to the office I searched around his study area to see to if anything was useful."
Sanchez stood up to hand something to Raydor but the brief look the team had was enough to tell what they were.
"Letters? There has to be a least twelve of the things." Flynn said.
"Rusty's been getting letters from same person as before and hiding it from us."
Raydor stated softly, flipping through the papers.
"But wouldn't these letters support the theory of Rusty getting kidnapped?" Buzz asked.
The team looked to Sharon but she seemed oblivious to everything but the papers in her hands.
Provenza finally answered Buzz.
"It could mean that. Or it could mean that he ran away to protect…"
The slamming of the door diverted everyone's attention before Provenza finished.
DDA Rios came storming into the room with Taylor following closely behind.
"What do we know about Rusty's disappearance? Is there anything we can use yet?"
But before anyone could answer Rios rounded on Raydor.
"I knew that it was a mistake to let him stay at your home. The witness should have been put into witness protection as soon as the first letter came! This could destroy my case!"
The pain in Raydor's eyes was obvious but Rios had turned away and went storming out the door.
Taylor shook his head as he looked at Sharon.
"Maybe she's right."
"But what if Rusty ran away? I know we don't want to think about it but it could still have happened."
Flynn stated as everyone glared at him.
Provenza stood up as he shook his head.
"With blood at the scene, a cloth that might have a knockout drug in it, and broken glass? No.
Rusty must have been taken by somebody and we need to find out who."
Sanchez grabbed his coat.
"I'll check with all my contacts to see if there's any word of him on the street."
"I could contact some friends of mine that work in other departments too." Sykes said.
"We'll check online to see if we can find anything."
Provenza waved them on as Tao and Buzz headed to their computers.
"Flynn, call any contact you have while I see if I can't get ahold of the FBI."
"But what if they don't cooperate?" Raydor asked as Provenza walks past her.
"Then I'll see if I can't get ahold of Fritz so he can push them to help. Captain, you should wait here in case anyone calls or in care Rusty gets away."
Sharon opens her mouth to protest but then she realizes that she wouldn't be of much help anyway.
She didn't know what thought bothered her more:
The idea that Rusty might have run away or that he could be hurt somewhere in the city and she couldn't seem to do a thing to help.