About ten o'clock Maggie finally put her smaller foot down and made Ray and Fraser leave the precinct for the night. She'd been cooped up too long and knew that Aurora and Dief felt the same way.
"It won't do Ben any good it we're all too tired to think clearly." The lady mountie may have been a third smaller than either her brother or her boyfriend, but they both had a habit of asking how high when she said jump, even if they didn't realize they were doing it. The dogs stood up, instinctively understanding the humans were getting ready to go somewhere. Aurora wasn't used to sitting still for so long, being in doors all day, smelling unpleasant chemicals, and being ignored by her human. She gathered that the alpha male's offspring had gone missing, but the young she-wolf still wanted to go for a walk and sniff a few trees.
"I guess the forensics lab has my number." Ray stood up and grabbed his jacket, ready to go. His hip joint cracked like a .22 rifle as he straightened up.
"Are you a little stiff there, Ray?" Maggie teased. The lieutenant gave her a withering stare then stretched the rest of his joints, sounding like a bowl of Rice Crispies.
"A little, yeah." He shrugged.
"You don't get enough exercise, Ray." Maggie began her lecture on the benefits of physical exertion on a regular basis. Ray on the other hand could think of a dozen other things he'd rather do than spend time in the gym. Most of them involved Maggie and are better left unpublished here.
"Hey, Fraser, does she tie in on you like this?" The Chicago police lieutenant asked quietly as he walked with his Canadian partner out the door.
"Yes, Ray, she does." Fraser toyed with his hat, brushing off the stiff brim.
Scene Break
Fraser sat down on the love seat, his elbows resting on his knees, his face resting on the heels of his hands. He felt like he'd spent all day trying to pull the Titanic from the Atlantic by himself. Diefenbaker laid down beside him, his head leaning against Fraser's knee. A rough, but gentle hand stroked the old wolf's soft fur, scratching his favorite places along his back.
"What am I going to do, Dief?" Benton whispered. The white wolf looked up at his human, his amber shot eyes hopeful. "I know we will." With a rough hand, Fraser began scratching between his ears. Fraser didn't hear the buzzing coming from his pocket at first. His cell had to begin playing 'Thirty-two Down on the Robert McKenzie' before it registered.
"Hello." Fraser spoke, fumbling with the confounded device.
"Hey, Fraser, the tech lab guy, Drew, called me, he's got the address." The Canadian scribbled the address on the palm of his hand as Ray told him. "I've got a patrol car sitting on Wm. Robert Devane's house and I'll pick you up in five minutes." With that the lieutenant hung up.
"They've found the Explorer, Maggie." Fraser grabbed his jacket and Stetson before heading for the door. By the time the two mounties hit the sidewalk outside the apartment building Ray pulled up in the Crown Vic. A stiff breeze off the lake drifted across Fraser's face as he held the door for Maggie. A storm was brewing somewhere to the north. Thunder was barely audible but the experienced mountie knew it would be a ferocious thunder storm when it arrived. That was fine with him, the weather suited his mood just fine.
801 Alderson St.
All along the neglected neighborhood street only a few streetlights worked. Cars with missing fenders, flat tires and multicolored paint jobs lined the pot-holed pavement. The nearly new, silver, Chevy Aveo stood out like a sore thumb sitting parked neatly a hundred yards from the location Drew had sussed out of the alarm company's system. Detective Midkiff sat in the small car, sipping coffee and watching the house. He saw the headlights of the former cop car cruising slowly toward him, the lights dimmed. The detective's phone buzzed in his pocket.
"Hello" Midkiff answered, his voice low. Stifling a yawn, the detective listened to his boss on the other end. "Alright, I'll alert the squad cars." From all over the neighborhood blue and white units began showing up, creating a perimeter around the rundown rental house belonging to Wm. Robert Devane. A single light burned in the kitchen. Ray parked the re-purposed squad car and stepped out. He'd grabbed his Kevlar vest, as well as two spares from the trunk. He knew his friends were capable of taking care of themselves, but he didn't want to take any chances, especially not with Maggie's life.
"Ray, this is silly, I don't need this." Maggie protested when he handed her the black, bulky vest. The lieutenant turned to look at her then at Fraser, who had already strapped his to his torso.
"Please, Maggie, this might become very dangerous." She looked from her brother to her boyfriend and felt rather slighted and offended.
"Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't handle myself just as well as the two of you." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at each of them.
"It's not that at all, Mags, we care about you." Ray pressed a kiss against her forehead and shoved the vest into her hands. She could see the concern in his blue eyes, which melted her heart, much to her annoyance. Once she'd put the vest on Ray took the lead on serving the warrant. A dozen officers sat parked around him, half of the paired units stood outside their cars, waiting on the lieutenants' orders. Ray knocked loudly, beating his fist against the faded door.
"Police, open up." Kowalski's voice ran out all across the neighborhood. Eyes peeked out from windows all around, blinds opened slightly and curtains pulled back a little as the neighbors settled in to see what was happening. The evening's entertainment was on next door.
When the door didn't open, the officers were ordered to batter it down. Two, burly officer in black uniforms very similar to the Army's stepped up carrying a metal battering ram. It wasn't pretty but it was effective.
Inside...
Lunkhead saw the cop cars gathering as he looked out the back window. His heart began beating like a rock drum. When it came to fight or flight responses, Lunkhead chose flight every time. He grabbed the hand gun from the kitchen table and ran toward the garage.
"Hey, what's going on, who's there?" Ben's voice sounded tired and very young as he sat in the back of the Explorer in complete darkness. Hearing the boy, Lunkhead seized that opportunity to buy himself some safety.
"Hey there, kid, you're gonna be my ticket to freedom." The kidnapper slid behind the wheel of the large SUV and fired up the engine.
"What's going on, what are you doing?" Quickly, Ben reached into his pocket and retrieved the pocketknife he always kept handy. The rotting clothesline cut easily as he sawed through the faded cotton.
"Better hold on, kid, we're goin for a ride." Lunkhead backed the Explorer up quickly then he shoved it into drive and hit the gas. The metal garage door dented with a loud thunk. It took Ben a second to realize what the guy had in mind, it seemed so ludicrous. A second ram at the garage door proved more successful; the metal enclosure blew out of the way like a wadded up tissue. Lunkhead drove over the metal and hit the surface street going entirely too fast. He didn't stop for the cops positioned outside the garage, he just gave the vehicle more gasoline and swerved to avoid them. Ben freed himself of the rope and hung onto the passenger seat from behind. Squirming into the seat from the back, he plopped his behind down in the seat and snapped the seat belt firmly closed.
"Havin fun yet, kid, I bet this is your first chase ain't it." Lunkhead gripped the wheel like a maniac, ready for whatever the Chicago cops aimed to give him. Officers held their revolvers on the hoods of their cars, aiming at the fleeing vehicle.
"No, but this is the fastest one yet." Ben answered, his fingers digging into the door handle as the vehicle sped down the street. When the boy saw his dad standing like a statue in the middle of the intersection he nearly choked. His white face and red, plaid shirt reflected in the vehicle's lights. "Dad!" Ben screamed. Lunkhead didn't slow down a bit, he seemed to aim the vehicle toward Fraser. Ben grabbed the wheel and jerked it with all his might to the right, away from his dad. The SUV hit a few parked cars but continued down the side street Ben had pulled them into. Lunkhead backhanded the boy with the pistol in his hand.
"Sit down, kid, or I'll drop your body off on the side of the road." The intellectually challenged kidnapper's tone had taken a nasty turn. He snarled like a mean dog at Ben. The boy had never been so scared in his life. He'd ducked a few swats from his mother's associates, but Lunkhead meant to kill him and he knew it.
"How'd you get loose anyway, thought I tied you up good." The kidnapper turned a hateful glare at him. Ben cowered in the seat as they sped through a busy traffic light, cop cars joining the pursuit from all sides.
"They'll use spike strips pretty soon, you'd better stop." Ben remembered the high speed pursuit that his mother had been caught in as clearly as if it were yesterday.
"Ah, what would you know, you been watching too many cop shows." The SUV sped up as more squad cars joined the chase. Lightning struck something in the distance, shaking the ground beneath them.
Scene Break
Benton heard the first impact and knew the kidnapper intended to bust out of the garage using the Ford Explorer. He heard one of the uniformed officers call out 'All clear' and took off down the street at a dead run toward the intersection. The mountie doubted the driver would run him over. It was a gamble, but he had to do something soon. A high speed pursuit that lasts too long is more likely to end up in either dangerous accidents involving the public or a stand-off with police. He knew that if the kidnapper felt he had nothing left to lose he'd kill Ben and commit suicide-by-cop. Benton didn't let his mind dwell on worst case scenarios, he charged ahead as he always did. He'd just found Ben, he couldn't lose him so soon.
"Benton, what are you doing?" Maggie called out, her heart in her throat as she watched her brother take his position in the center of the street. When the Explorer swerved just in time she thought she was going to be sick. Ray took off on foot, but by the time he saw the SUV it was out of range of his handgun. The lieutenant swore and ran back to his Crown Vic.
"All available units, we have a kidnapping suspect fleeing west down Dickenson street in a black, late model SUV. Suspect is armed and considered dangerous, a white, male, juvenile is being held in the vehicle, approach with caution." Fraser made it into the passenger seat as Ray rolled up to the intersection, Maggie in the backseat with the dogs.
"That was a real dumb move, there Fraser, that took some serious nerve." Ray commented, both hands on the wheel as he led the chase.
"He's my son, Ray." That statement of fact settled the matter.
Scene Break
Ben racked his brain thinking of what to do. He was wholly unprepared for anything like this and dearly wanted to go back to his dad's apartment. Even the children's home looked inviting as he saw car lights whizzing by at a high rate of speed. Eventually the SUV barreled onto the interstate. Rain poured as if out of a bucket. Squad cars followed, at a distance. They'd been on the run for ten minutes and Ben knew that Lunkhead didn't have a plan. He knew he had to outsmart the kidnapper, after all, his mother was a convicted felon who'd evaded police for almost fifteen years and his dad was a commendation clad, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, as was his grandfather and aunt. He was genetically predisposed to be either extremely sneaky or incredibly smart-or both.
"Where are we going, they'll have state police waiting for us up ahead." Ben reasoned, his voice shaking as he looked around for an off-ramp. The rain blurred the headlights of oncoming traffic. Ben could hear the boom of thunder as they traveled amongst traffic.
"I told you to shut up, kid, I'm havin enough trouble with this thing, I think one of the tires is goin flat." In all the confusion, Ben hadn't heard the slapping rubber of the front tired deflating. Illinois state troopers cruised easily up beside the slowing vehicle. Ben knew he didn't have much time.
"If you let me go they won't go so hard on you, my dad will help you." The boy began talking, hoping the mean streak he'd seen in Lunkhead wasn't as nasty as all that.
"I helped snatch a mountie's kid, there ain't no help for me, kid." Fear crept into the man's voice as he began looking around. A semi ahead blocked the way and a cop car on each side hindered any sort of escape. Mud and muck made the whole windshield gritty. Lunkhead hit the brakes and then pulled the vehicle into the grassy median. Having higher ground clearance helped the Ford cross the deep rut. He's pulled the U-turn before the troopers could react. Their Crown Vic cruisers dragged the bottom out trying to follow, but follow they did. Other troopers waited on the opposite side as the struggling SUV headed back toward the city.
"You can tell them you were afraid of what your brother would do, you said you always took his orders, I'm sure the cops would work with you." Ben tried again to reason with his captor. He felt sorry for the dumb cluck, still, he'd committed a crime, there was no getting around that.
"No matter what I do, Willie's gonna give me hell for it." Lunkhead's weakening voice took on a whine as the vehicle's tire shredded. The rim began sparking a few rounds later.
"He'll only bully you as long as you let him." Ben slipped his finger under the lock and unlatched it. If the vehicle slowed down enough he knew he could roll out. He hoped he wouldn't have to. A streak of lightning illuminated the night sky ahead of them, it's finger pointing like an accusation toward the kidnapper. Lunkhead dodged the loud boom and crackle.
"You don't know Willie, he locked me in that garage where you were for a week once cause I wrecked his bike." Lunkhead let the vehicle come to a complete stop on the shoulder of the road. State troopers and Chicago PD surrounded the car. Cop cars shut down each end of the interstate on both sides, holding up traffic.
"Stand up to him, I've had to stand up to bullies my whole life, and believe me, Alaskan bullies have a lot more time to think up things to do to the new kid in school. They backed off when I fought back, you can too." Ben unlatched the seat belt and tried to ease the car door open. Officers had their weapons drawn, ready to take a shot at the kidnapper. Ray too pulled his revolver. Fraser grabbed the radio and switched it to the public address system.
"Sir, this is Constable Benton Fraser of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," He heard a collective sigh as every officer on the force he'd ever encountered braced for the story of why he'd come to Chicago. "The boy you have is my son, Ben Metcalf, if you release him unharmed these officers will do you no harm, let the boy go, Mr. Devane." Fraser's commanding, calm voice had the opposite effect on Lunkhead. The kidnapper gripped the gun and took hold of Ben by the front of his shirt.
"I don't believe you, Mountie!" Lunkhead shouted out of the car window.
"He's telling the truth, he doesn't bluff." Ben tried to pull away but Lunkhead's grip only tightened and he pressed the gun to his head. An ear splitting crash of thunder made the whole police force duck as the stood watching the scene.
"We have two of the other kidnapper's already in custody, Mr. Devane, let the boy go, no one wants to harm you," Fraser walked out from behind the Crown Vic's door, exposing himself. Dief snuck around the back of the cruiser and edged toward the SUV, his ears pinned to his head, white fur bristled on his neck and his fangs were bared. Ben saw Dief's white fur out of the corner of his eye and waved at the wolf to stand down. If surprised, he knew Lunkhead would pull the trigger.
"I'm the boy's father and I don't want to harm you, no one wants to harm you, Mr. Devane." Fraser looked down at the worn boots he wore when not on duty and tried to think of something that would compel the kidnapper to turn Ben over safely. The rain had soaked his flannel shirt and plastered his short, dark hair to his head. Rivulets raced down his high cheeks and dropped off his chin. It was early summer but the water was cold as it ran down his shirt, soaking him to the bone. It wasn't as cold as the draft he felt every time he thought about how things had ended with Victoria. "I met Ben's mother for the first time many years ago, she was the wheel man for a gang of bank robbers who had stolen half a million dollars." Ben heard his father tell the same tale, word for word, that he'd told at the consulate. He heard the same sadness in his voice as he sat leaned over the console of the Ford. Slowly, Lunkhead's grip on his shirt loosened as he listened to the mountie.
"I've never had the opportunity to tell Victoria how I feel for her, to get to know her really. If you take my son away from me I won't have that chance with him either." Benton laid the radio on top of the car and walked toward the SUV. No one could see the tears welling up in his green eyes or the way his hands shook as he walked through the cluster of squad cars.
"That's a nice story, Mountie, but this kid is all I have between me and going to prison for a very long time." Lunkhead pulled Ben closer, the gun's safety switched off. A boom of thunder silenced the kidnapper.
"If you kill him I will kill you, with my bare hands, Mr. Devane." Fraser gritted his teeth as a streak of lightning lit up his face. He'd rarely felt the kind of raw aggression for another living soul before. The mountie could see the kidnapper's eyes searching for a way out, searching the hard eyes of the man standing just five feet away. The urge to reach out and drag the man from the vehicle was strong. Fraser's fists balled up at his sides as he planned his move. He couldn't let anyting happen to Ben, he'd promised Victoria and he couldn't break another promise to her. It was a worse case scenario he hadn't wanted to think about. Ben saw the anger and desperation in his dad's eyes.
"Dad." He mouthed before jerking the seat handle that let the back down. When Ben pulled backward Diefenbaker pounced on the kidnapper, his fangs sinking in to his arm up to the the gums, a menacing growl coming from deep within the terrifying animal. An officer grabbed Ben, dragging him out the back door to safety. The wolf clamped down until Lunkhead dropped the gun to the seat and began screaming in pain. Fraser grasped the other hand as the kidnapper begged to be turned loose.
"Fraser, tell Diefenbaker to let him go." Maggie walked up to her brother as he held the man's arm captive. Dief stood in the seat waiting on his human to give him the OK to either eat the guy or release him. Fraser simply stared at the squirming kidnapper, tears still in his eyes.
"Ben is safe, Benton, you need to tell Diefenbaker to let go." The lady mountie laid a soft hand on her bother's arm. "Ben is safe." Turning, he saw the petite, blonde standing beside him and heard her soothing voice. Rain had pulled loose a few strands of her thick, soft hair, curling it as it clung to her cheek.
"Ben is safe?" Fraser released the kidnapper's arm and began searching the crowd for his son.
"Fraser, call the wolf off, OK, he's going to bleed to death before we can book him." Ray spoke from the other side of his friend.
"Dad, I'm right here." Ben called out as he walked back from a waiting ambulance, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Weak kneed, Benton rushed to close the gap between them. "I'm alright, Dad, I'm alright." The boy reassured him as Fraser wrapped him in a tight embrace, his arms feeling like steel cables around his chest. Ben felt his dad's cheek rest against the top of his head as he let loose a little.
"You're safe." Fraser took a deep breath and looked out into the crowd of first responders. Standing a few feet away he saw Robert Fraser watching the scene, tears threatening to mist in his old eyes as he watched his son and grandson.
"He's a good boy, Benton, he'll be just fine." The old mounties' voice was strong, like the thunder vibrating all around them. It lingered in the air around him as he faded into the red and blue lights glowing everywhere within sight.
"Did you mean what you said, Dad?" Ben asked as Fraser finally pulled away.
"About what?" The mountie pulled his Stetson on slowly, looking off toward the ditch to let his tears fall.
"About getting to know me and Mom." Ben let his dad put an arm around his shoulders as they walked back to the ambulance.
"Yes, Ben, I would like to have you stay with me so we can get acquainted." The mountie smiled, glad the ordeal was over.
"Me too." The boy grinned.
Scene Break