Chapter Two: "She is Mine, Not Yours!"

Friday, December 13, 2013, 6:03 pm

7 hours earlier…

"Call for backup if you need us," Abbie yelled toward her former lover as he and his partner headed toward the door on a domestic violence call.

Still angry and hurt over their breakup, Morales turned around and looked at Abbie and Crane sitting closely together with stacks of old books all around them.

"Us? Yeah right," Morales answered as he looked from Abbie to Crane. He kept his eyes glaring at Crane for much longer than he had looked at Abbie.

Both Abbie and Crane could feel the contempt in his voice, but Crane was unfazed by him. Morales had not made it a secret that he had no use for the Oxford history professor who was apparently on loan to them. Something wasn't right, though, so he swore that he was going to get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing that he did.

"Just call," Captain Irving shouted.

"Yes sir," Detective Jones answered as he slapped his partner on his back and motioned toward the door.

Crane resumed reading while Abbie took a sip of her coffee and fidgeted with her nameplate on her desk. "Is something weighing heavy on your mind?" Crane asked.

"No…nothing," Abbie nonchalantly answered.

Crane smiled at her then looked back down at his book. "Perhaps you and your betrothed should make amends?"

"We were not betrothed," Abbie responded with agitation in her voice, mocking his heavy English accent.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Crane shot back, also in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"Shut up, Shakespeare! What do you know, anyway?" Abbie asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant," Crane answered smugly, dropping his eyes back down to the book in his hands.

A little later the captain came rushing toward them. "Get to the scene. Morales and Jones need back up. The man has apparently already murdered his ex's new boyfriend in some fit of rage!"

"On it, Captain," Abbie answered as she grabbed her jacket on the back of her chair.

Crane was already on his feet.

They arrived at the scene in a few minutes. Jones was lying unconscious beside the squad car with a head wound while Morales was lying close to where the man was continuing to beat the other man, presumably his ex-wife's new boyfriend. Crane went to Jones to feel for a pulse while Abbie went around the back of the house to sneak up behind the man. Crane then loaded Jones into the back of their car and raced toward Morales to check for a pulse.

"She is mine, not yours!" the demented man shouted as he continued to slam the boyfriend's head into the pavement. Blood was splattered all about.

"Detective Morales, are you well?" Crane said as he patted Morales on the side of his face to try and awaken him.

Morales began to rouse awake. "What the hell are you doing here?" he spat at Crane as he got up on his feet, intentionally bumping into Crane.

"Pardon me, Detective Morales," Crane said.

"Get the hell out of my way and let me do my job," Morales barked, stressing the word my.

Crane turned toward the man who continued to repeat "She is mine, not yours!" and slam the boyfriend's head into the road. His lifeless body was way past resistance.

Crane could see Abbie coming up from behind the man as Morales ran toward the man, drew his gun and shouted, "Stop what you're doing and get on your feet!"

The man continued shouting at the dead boyfriend while lifting and slamming his mutilated head into the road. He was barely recognizable as a human being any longer.

Morales motioned to Abbie to stay at a distance. This was his case, and he didn't need her to come in and save the day at the last minute. He especially resented that professor. Moving forward to physically remove the man from the dead form beneath his grasp, Morales tackled the man.

As if a wild animal, the man charged back at Morales, lifting him and slamming him into the road. "She is mine," the man shouted.

Crane and Abbie, from opposite directions, moved forward to help Morales. The man turned and stared at Crane. His expression was dead and conversely wild at the same time. Abbie held her gun steady.

"She is mine!" the man shouted.

"Yes, she is," Crane answered. "Let us talk to determine how we might assist you."

The man shouted again, "She is mine!"

Crane could tell in his eyes that the man was not able to comprehend anything.

"Back away Crane," Abbie shouted. "This isn't going to end well."

"Listen to her. You have no business here," Morales yelled, struggling to get up off the road.

Crane took a step back. The man then began charging at him and threw himself on top of Crane like a wild animal taking down his prey. As Crane hit the road, the impact caused him to lose his breath. The man drew back and punched Crane in the nose. Taking Crane's head into his hands, Abbie feared that the man would inflict the same treatment on Crane as he had done his ex-wife's boyfriend. Her stomach gripped as she instinctively drew in her breath and leveled her gun.

Morales then went rushing forward, knocking the man off Crane. Abbie prepared herself for the killshot.

Crane continued lying on the ground winded from the tackle, blood running down his cheek from his nose.

Beginning to lift Morales for another body slam, the man stood directly in front of Abbie. "I've got no other choice," she shouted toward Morales as she fired the shot, which hit the man squarely between his eyes.

The bullet flew upwards through the man's brain and out the back of his head, causing blood and pieces of skull to fly onto Morales.

Crane, still lying on the ground, looked up in horror at the scene he had just witnessed as Abbie came running forward.

Running past Morales, Abbie rushed over to Crane to help him get up off the pavement. "You okay?" she asked as she pulled a napkin from her coat pocket to give him for his nose. She then slid her hand behind his back and helped him sit up.

"I am in one piece," Crane answered then added, "Which is more than those two men can say."

Morales continued to wipe the man's blood and skull pieces off his face.

"You okay, Luke?" Abbie asked.

Morales didn't acknowledge her question as he headed to his patrol car to check on his partner and call the coroner.

Crane and Abbie walked in silence to her car.

"Thanks, Abbie," Morales shouted at her back.

Abbie turned around to acknowledge him.

Before she could say anything, though, Morales added, "But I had it under control. Take your new boyfriend and go back to your damn books!"

Crane was sitting in the car, not able to hear the exchange between his partner and her ex-boyfriend. However, he could tell from Abbie's facial expression that whatever Morales had said wasn't sitting well with her.

"Is everything alright, Miss Mills?" Crane asked after Abbie got into the vehicle and shut the door.

She turned to say something to Crane but wasn't sure what to even say.

"Did he say something inappropriate to you?"

After a few moments, Abbie answered, "Let's just leave it alone for now."

"As you wish, Lieutenant."

"I'm tired and want to call it a day."

Crane, not sure what that expression meant, turned to look at Abbie as he continued to hold the napkin up to his nose.

"That just means I want to go home." After a few minutes, she added, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Miss Mills, I believe I'll live," Crane answered.

"I'll take you to the cabin. We have a crazy day tomorrow, so try to rest up."

"But first might I impose on you to take me by the station before the cabin?" Before Abbie could ask why, Crane added, "Corbin had some books that I might find invaluable in my research."

"Research?"

"Yes, something isn't right. No man in his right mind mutilates another man so severely—even for coveting one's own wife. Something was not right with his eyes."

"Looks like a plain ole case of domestic violence to me," Abbie responded. "But help yourself to the books. If you find something interesting, let me know in the morning. I'm tired and want to get a good night's sleep tonight."

Crane could tell that something was bothering Abbie, and he assumed it had something to do with what Morales had said to her as they were leaving the crime scene. However, he decided not to push her on it. She would tell him if and when she thought he needed to know.

As she let him off at the cabin, Crane watched as she sped down the semi-paved road. Corbin's books were antiquated but held information not readily available on what Abbie called the Internet.

Even though it was late, he wasn't tired. So he settled down in the wooden rocker beside the blazing fireplace, stacking Corbin's books by the side. He wanted a cup of tea, but modern American tea was very different than the English tea he grew up with. He read for a while until his eyes got tired. He usually resisted sleep because his dreams were often plagued with the horsemen. He was always running…and in the mornings when he awoke, he was always exhausted.

So, regardless of whether or not he got a decent amount of sleep, he was always tired. Knowing that this journey he and Abbie were on was going to last a good amount of years, he hoped that the two of them were up to it.

As he continued to sit by the warm fire, his eyes became heavy and he nodded off to sleep. The last cognizant thought he had was of Abbie. He hoped that she wasn't too upset about whatever Morales had said to her.

TBC