Daylight hours slipped by as if in endless darkness for Ben. He tried to keep quiet, hoping that the guard at the door would get bored; maybe sleep or get distracted enough for him to seize whatever opportunity presented itself to him. His grandfather didn't show up with anymore vague advice. At least that would have helped pass the time. When he quit hearing anything or anyone rustling around in the dark, Ben moved into the front passenger seat. He opened the glove box and found an Illinois state road map, vehicle registration and proof of insurance along with the vehicle's owner's manual. The latter he laid aside for later, it might give him an idea. In the console Ben found a tire gauge, a few Illinois State bank ink pens, as well as a few bits of things that didn't inspire the boy at all. He sat for a long time surveying the tools at hand; a pocket knife, ink pens, and a Ford Explorer owner's manual. The answer was there, Ben just didn't see it yet.
"What would Fraser or Maggie do?" The boy asked himself over and over. After a while he laid the front seat back and went to sleep.
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"Hello, Turnbull, is Constable Fraser busy right now?" Maggie asked, a hopeful sparkle in her pale eyes. As usual, the mountie carefree mountie began to list a dozen things that Fraser could be doing. He meant well, but he was annoying even to Maggie, who had the patience of Job with him.
"Thank you kindly, Turnbull, I'll check myself." The determined lady marched up to the CLO's office door and knocked. Fraser beckoned her inside. From the way he worked his jaw and the firm set to his mouth, she could tell he was frustrated and not just by the computer application he was working on as well as talking on the phone. Politely but quickly, he hung up the phone and saved his work on the confounded computer.
"Maggie, Ray, hello," He stood up and adjusted his red serge as he looked from one familiar face to the other. Ray looked confused and discomfited while Maggie looked as though she were brimming with ideas.
"The search warrant I told you about turned up nada, Devane has rental property, but since it wasn't listed in the original warrant, we can't do anything about it." Ray was the first to speak, his hands on his hips as he began to pace the office.
"I've had an idea about finding Ben," The lady mountie bit her lip as she tried to organize the thoughts she'd been having, the plan her mind had been formulating. "The Explorer has a GPS unit and a very sophisticated alarm system, we could have it hacked into, that would lead us to Jason Devane." She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before.
"How'd you know all that, Maggie?" Ray looked at her puzzled.
"I saw the alarm system he had in the sedan he drove, it stands to reason he would have one in the SUV as well, he's a very tidy, possessive man from the records you have for him." She thought back to the file she'd skimmed briefly some hours before. Wm. Robert Devane was unmarried, had no children and owned an immaculate, million dollar, brick home. Confirmed bachelors of his age and occupation were often very particular about their belongings.
"Do we have enough circumstantial evidence to ask for an amended search warrant, Ray?" Fraser walked around the desk to join his best friend and his sister.
"Oh yeah, Jason Devane has an arrest record that stretches back into juvie, his brother's been bailing him out his whole life, I know a judge or two who won't mind." A devious tone in the lieutenant's voice was only the tip of the iceberg. Ray knew a judge or two who wouldn't want certain private matters brought to the public, or their wives', attention. They'd roll over easily.
"Let me collect my hat and we can be on our way." Fraser strode purposely to the coat stand for his Stetson.
"Guess you finally came into the twenty-first century there, Mag." Ray grinned like a goofy teenager as he and Maggie laced fingers, Fraser following them out the door.
"One must never lose the ability to adapt." She cocked an eyebrow at him coquettishly and smiled.
"I'd just as soon continued on with the twentieth century myself." Fraser lamented under his breath. Turnbull watched them leave in complete oblivion as to what was going on.
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Victoria lay awake in her cell thinking about Ben, wondering how he was getting along. She hadn't seen him in far too long. In her mind's eye she saw him as the little boy who had run and played, pretending he was a cowboy or a space alien in the yard. It all slipped by so quickly, the time she'd had with Ben. What time she'd had with his father had slipped by even quicker. The convicted felon remembered well the time she'd first spent in Benton Fraser's arms during the storm in Fortitude Pass. He'd risked his own life against all odds to track her down and then to save her life. She'd ran from him, at first, but then, cold and delirious, she'd sat down in the snow and waited for him to catch up. Instead of lecturing her or asking a thousand questions, Benton had shucked out of his arctic coat and used it to shield them both from the below freezing temperatures and ripping wind gusts. Had the shoe been on the other foot, Victoria knew she'd have left him to die in the blizzard. The warmth Benton shared with her was more than physical. His simple act of kindness, of selfless duty, had touched her somewhere she'd forgotten she had. Until the moment that mountie wrapped his arms around her and forced her to speak to him, she'd been absolutely numb inside. She'd been in the arms of other men, but none of them had sought to give her comfort. Benton expected nothing for saving her life, giving of himself to the point of causing self-destruction. For the first time in her life, Victoria knew what real love felt like. She'd once heard a visiting preacher at the prison say, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."* That one statement summed up Benton Fraser to her. She ached inside to feel his arms around her and hear his voice again just the way she had years before. In her way, Victoria had loved him the only way she knew how-physically. He'd accepted it, giving her much more than she could ever give him in return. Afterward they'd sat together on a rise just beyond the outpost, looking up at the Northern Lights silently. He was a man of few words at times. With her head on Benton's shoulder she'd asked him to let her go, to release her from his custody. She wanted to love him, but wanted her freedom more.
"I can't do that, Victoria, I'm honor bound to take you to the outpost." The sadness in his voice lingered with her every time Victoria thought about that night, their first night. Benton had been a perfect gentleman, attentive in every way. She'd been scared and selfish. His feelings hadn't entered her mind in the least.
Their second time together, in Chicago, she'd unleashed her anger out him. Fraser took her fists pounding against his chest and pressed her tighter against him until her fury blew itself out; until she wilted in his arms. He simply accepted it, and her, without question or suspicion. In return she left him laying on the train platform with a bullet wound to the back. She'd left him for dead as he should have left her in Fortitude Pass. Tears came flooding from Victoria's eyes as the memories overwhelmed her senses. Quietly, she cried herself to sleep, wishing she could undo the damage she'd done to someone who only wanted to do what was right, who only wanted to love her. Time couldn't erase the pain she'd caused him.
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Author's Note: I would have had Ben hot wire the vehicle, but I don't know how to do it myself. I suppose I could have had him fool with the garage door, but I don't know anything about them either.
*The Bible John 15:13