Chapter Five

Harry rubbed his hand across the back of his neck waiting for Jamie and Dr. Erickson, the toxicologist sent by ONI, to complete their analysis. He stopped to check his watch, noting that Chip should have just touched down at the regional airport. The local sheriff's department had been alerted to meet him, and they should be well on their way down to Sander's Corner. He sighed heavily; allowing his best friend to be endangered in order to plug a possible national security leak almost too heavy a burden to bear. He was therefore relieved when the helicopter ONI had deployed arrived, and was currently waiting on the helipad. Now all they needed was for Jamie and Erickson to identify the drug and determine the correct treatment.

He sunk into a chair in the sudden need to change positions, leaning over the table with his chin resting on his folded hands in thought. Patterson and Kowalski hadn't checked in for over an hour, it wasn't good news as he considered the multiple reasons for their delay in reporting their status. They could be driving aimlessly along in the dark looking for clues to their captain's whereabouts; or possibly, their location preventing them from reporting due to poor radio communications so deep in the forest. Either way, it was important for Chip to get to that right fork soon, before Lee's time ran out.

The last thought caused him to purse his bottom lip as his eyes narrowed in determination. He pushed away from the table and headed to the lab. Blast it all to hell! He intended on being in the middle of the lab work to find out just what Lauren Crane was poisoning his best friend with. He took two steps toward the door and stopped in his tracks, looking back at the radio and heaved a heavy breath in resignation. He could assign a rating to monitor the radio, but he realized that he might need to make a fast command decision. He returned to the table, knowing full well that this is what admirals do; make the hard decisions to reach the mission objective. He couldn't think as a father and best friend right now; right now, he needed to be an admiral.

VTTBOTS

"Man, it's pitch black," Ski grumbled as he drove slowly through the winding dirt road that seemed to lead to nowhere.

"There's another fork in the road," Pat pointed out, just as the headlights caught up with the two roads.

Ski stopped and blew out a breath of frustration. "See anything?"

"No, there's no way to tell how old these tire tracks are," Pat replied, his eyes narrowing with concern.

"Yeah," Ski said with a sigh. "Okay, let's take the left fork first," he decided, trying to come at the problem systematically.

He turned left, following the rocky, jutted road for a long half mile before finding their way blocked by a downed tree.

"Let's check it out," Ski suggested, reaching for the flashlight beside him as Pat did the same. They exited the car and examined the downed tree.

"It's a sure bet she didn't bring the Skipper this way," Pat deduced.

"Yeah, this has been here a while," Ski agreed, the two making sure the tree hadn't been felled recently. "Glad we found out before we wasted any more time on this fork," he continued as the two headed back for the car.

"I'll say. Let's hurry and get back to the other fork. I've got a really bad feeling about this whole thing, Ski."

"Yeah, I'm with you," Kowalski agreed, executing a six-point turn, before they were finally able to turn around on the small single lane road. They backtracked to the fork continuing on to the right while desperately looking for any clue that Lauren Crane had driven the road earlier.

VTTBOTS

"Commander Morton?" the deputy sheriff greeted as Chip made his way to the sheriff's car after securing FS-1 in the t-hangar; a three-walled aircraft shelter with tie downs, but no door.

"Yes," he replied with a nod, verifying his identity since he wasn't in uniform.

"I'm Sheriff Perkins."

"Nice to meet you, Sheriff," he responded as the two shook hands. "Have you heard anything new?"

"Nothing new I'm afraid," the medium build, brown-haired officer replied. "But we've got two units and a couple of deputies coming along for the ride."

"Sounds good," Chip answered as the two headed for the waiting vehicles.

Perkins shook his head in wonder as he walked. "I've never seen anything like it before," he remarked, with a tilt of his head at the open hangar behind him.

Chip turned and offered a small smile despite his current concern for Lee, knowing the effect FS-1 had on first-time viewers.

"She's a beauty all right," the blond naval officer answered politely while Perkins got back to the business at hand as they neared the sheriff units, both SUVs, well-suited for travel on the dirt work.

"Commander Morton, these are Deputies Ramirez and Hawkins, they'll be following in the car behind us," he clarified.

Chip shook both of their hands and noted the coolness of the air as night fell in earnest. He was grateful that he'd been wearing civvies when Lee was called over to his house for the impromptu meeting. He barely avoided shaking his head at the thought, was it only a few hours ago that Lee was sitting on his sofa getting yet another vial of blood drawn? It seemed like days ago that Lauren had incapacitated his best friend and managed to drive him to this remote part of the Northern California coast. If it wasn't for Ski and Pat's surveillance on the Crane house, she might have disappeared without a trace.

"Okay gentlemen, the last known surveillance of the person-of-interest takes us to Sander's Corner. Commander Morton's men followed the car, but lost it before the fork. They're taking the north fork," he said with a clarifying nod to Chip who confirmed with his own nod. "We'll head out and take the south fork. ETA is about an hour," Perkins added for Chip's sake. "Any questions? Okay, let's get to it."

Chip rounded the front of the sheriff's car and slid into the front passenger's seat. He was wearing blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt and had managed to snag a jacket from the trunk of his car before heading to the sub pen. His athletic shoes were comfortable, but he wished he had his ankle high hiking boots instead; still, it was better than tracing through the woods in his officer oxfords.

Perkins settled in beside him and raised the mic to his mouth, informing dispatch that they were on their way as they left the small air strip. It was quiet for a few moments until Chip broke the silence.

"Are there many side roads, or cabins up that way?"

"Before you get to the fork, yes; but less as you travel further into the forest."

Chip nodded and heaved a heavier breath of air than he intended as his concern for Lee escaped.

"If you don't mind me asking, Commander, how does a Navy officer get kidnapped by his wife?"

Chip smiled, the thought really did sound a bit far-fetched when stated in that light. "First of all, my name is Chip," he answered with a small smile that said he truly appreciated the local sheriff department's participation in the search.

"Nice to meet you, Chip, I'm Tom," the Sheriff replied with his own half-smile and a nod, but careful to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him.

"It does sound pretty strange, doesn't it?" he admitted before explaining. "Commander Crane is involved in an undercover operation involving his wife." Chip caught the raise of eyebrow from Perkins, but continued anyway. "His marriage was part of the deal; Lauren Crane has left a trail of three dead husbands… all military officers. When she expressed an interest in him, he agreed to this plan to find out what her game was."

"Huh," Perkins said non-committedly. "Here's our turn," he interjected as they made a right-hand turn onto a black top road that quickly turned into a dirt road. "So, I'm guessing I'm missing something here in the translation?" he probed. "I mean, he must have had some concrete reason to marry a woman just to find out if she was a black widow?" he asked point blank, sizing up the situation handily.

Chip nodded as Perkins stole a quick glance his direction.

"Some of it's classified, but yeah, he had damn good reason to enter into a sham marriage, and today we finally got our proof. She's been playing mind games with him for a while, but today we discovered that she had drugged him. He's been giving us blood samples since this whole thing started three months ago," he clarified to Perkins' whistle between his teeth.

"Sounds like a pretty well-thought out operation."

"Yeah, that's what they tell me," Chip replied, his irritation apparent. They passed by a side road, but continued on as Ski and Pat had been able to follow her to the fork, so they weren't bothering with any of the cabins prior to that point. "Anyway," he continued, "Lee leaped right back into the frying pan and went home after he found out, hoping she was ready to show her hand."

"I take it the big brass believes she's after more than insurance money?"

Chip nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"Classified?"

"Sort of, no one knows for sure."

"So, Commander Crane played the bait?"

"Yeah, we all thought we had time; the unidentified drug was only a trace amount, but she moved quicker than any of us thought she would. She apparently incapacitated him; our crewmen reported he looked pretty ill when she stopped at the gas station down the road. She ah… she slammed the door on his leg, so we think he has a bum leg now on top of whatever she drugged him with."

"This sounds like some pretty serious stuff."

"It is, and unfortunately, we're still playing the game. Once we find out where she took him we'll need to move in quietly, in case he's still gathering evidence."

Now it was Sheriff Perkins turn to blow a breath out. "Commander Crane sounds like he has quite a hero complex," he said in what Chip realized was actually a compliment.

"He does at that," Chip agreed. "One of his good friends was husband number three, and Lee's trying to clear his name."

"Ah, the classified stuff again," Perkins commented with a raised brow, figuring there was more to the story than he was currently privy for a victim to have to be cleared of wrong doing.

"Yeah," Chip agreed before leaning forward. "Is that the fork we're looking for?" pointing to the road just now being illuminated by the high beams.

"Yeah, this is it. You say your men took the left fork?"

"Yes."

Perkins picked up the mic. "Okay Rick, keep a sharp eye out," he advised the car behind.

"Ten-four," Deputy Ramirez replied as they took the south fork of the small dirt road, heading deeper into a dark forest.

VTTBOTS

Lee groaned and then coughed into his pillow as he lay on his side fully engulfed in the aftereffects of Lauren's drug. He wasn't sure which hurt more, the terrible stomach cramps or the near blinding headache that joined the mix. Even more troublesome was the fact that it was becoming harder to swallow. To make matters worse, his muscles were weak and he was finding it hard to even turn over in bed. He barely registered the sound of the door unlocking and looked wearily over, wondering if it was Lauren or Lisa coming to pay him a visit.

"Hello Lee," Lauren said softly and with a smile usually reserved for a loving wife nursing her sick husband back to health. "How are you feeling, Darling?"

Lee swallowed, a strange tightening in his throat making it difficult to speak. "You know damn well how I feel," he replied hoarsely.

Lauren sat her tray down on the table beside the bed and moved him onto his back with a gentle nudge to his shoulder. He didn't resist and allowed her to move him, cooperating and hoping to determine once and for all if there was a national security issue here at all. As he turned, he realized that his strength was draining faster than he had realized, expelling an unexpected breathy groan at the movement. She sat down next to him and reached for the basin, wringing out a rag and then dabbing it lightly on his forehead.

"It wasn't me, Lee. You've got to believe me," she said, tenderly tending to him as he worked hard to keep his eyes in focus.

"Lauren, what does Lisa want?" he asked, still needing to know if her other personality was gaining intelligence before killing her husbands.

Lauren dipped the rag into the basin, wringing more cool water out and dabbed at his neck, shrugging a shoulder as she spoke softly. "I… I can't tell you. Believe me when I say that I love you, Lee," she pleaded, changing the subject.

"If you love me, Lauren, tell me what this is all about," he said, attempting to reach her gentle personality and get to the truth once and for all.

Lauren stopped her ministrations and dropped the rag into the basin, then folded her hands into her lap, dipping her head in what appeared to be shame.

"She…" Lauren swallowed hard, as if the truth were far too painful. Lee reached out and found her hand, squeezing it for support and urging her to continue. "She likes to… hurt people," she stammered out. "I don't know why, really," she added, looking into Lee's eyes as her own glistened in tears that pooled then fells down her cheeks.

Lee's eyes narrowed, needing clarification. "Lauren," he said, trying to focus her attention on him, all the while feeling pity for the guilt this side of her personality endured. Her eyes rose to meet his as he continued. "Did Lisa get anything from the other men; perhaps information that she might have sold?"

Lauren shook her head. "No, she doesn't care anything about that. She likes the uniforms, and once she chooses a man, she always gets him. I don't understand it really," she said standing and taking a step back. "But once she has them interested, she lets me love them, and I really did love them," she added quickly. "I try to make up for what Lisa has in mind for them. I try to talk her out of it, but she won't listen. She's stronger than me! Don't you understand? I can't stop her!"

Lee's energy levels waned, so he resigned himself to the reclining position until he regained some lost strength.

"Lauren, Lisa doesn't just 'hurt' people… she kills them," he stated point blank. "You can't continue to be part of that. I don't know Lisa, but I know you. You don't want this. You don't want her to kill me too," he reasoned.

She stood appearing to be at odds with herself and turned away from him.

"Lauren?" he called weakly, his weariness from the drug induced pain draining away his strength with each passing moment. Her head dipped, and she started to turn back toward him. Lee thought that perhaps he had gotten through to her, but when she turned it was apparent that Lisa had returned. The harsh lines on her face, coupled with a cold, callous countenance signaled that the dangerous side of this complex woman had returned.

"Lauren can't help you, Lee. Like she said… I'm stronger than she is," she said, reaching into her jacket and pulling a hunting knife out from a scabbard. She held it up and turned it, inspecting the sharp edges that glinted in the light with every move of her hand.

Lee tried to rise on his elbow again as she took a menacing step toward him, but his strength failed and he couldn't manage it; falling back again helplessly, as Lisa approached sporting a disturbing, maniacal smile that assured him she was fully capable of cutting him into pieces without batting an eye.

VTTBOTS

"Watch it!" Pat yelled just as Ski hit the brakes. The car slid to a rapid stop precariously close to a large boulder in the middle of the dirt road, an obvious result of a rock slide.

"That was close," Ski admitted with a blow of air.

"Yeah," Pat agreed, just as shaken. The night time driving on an unfamiliar road had been bad enough, but when they came around the corner they were unprepared for the sudden obstacle. "Let's take a look," he suggested, reaching for his flashlight.

Ski followed suit as they investigated the large granite boulder, shining the light up the side of the hill and following the path of the avalanche down with plenty of smaller rocks littering the road as well. Then they turned their attention to the dirt road, looking for tread marks, or any sign that another vehicle had recently passed.

Ski sighed, his beam of light flashing back and forth across the road as he checked one last time. He rounded the boulder to return to the car.

"It looks like we picked the wrong fork, Pat."

"I was thinking the same thing. This has probably been here for a while, look at how the vegetation is growing around this rock," he noted, pointing to a smaller, but good size rock that had rolled and settled off the road.

"The road ahead looks like it hasn't had traffic for some time. She didn't come this way," Ski concluded dejectedly.

"It's a good thing Mr. Morton is taking the other fork. We've been driving over an hour this way."

"Yeah, let's get back to the car and head for the fork. I've got a feeling that the Skipper is in deep trouble," Kowalski muttered, with the sight of an ill Captain Crane being ushered back to his car still as fresh in their minds as the devastating slam of the car door on his leg.

"Me too, Ski. Me too," Pat agreed, closing the car door as he reached for the radio to report to the Admiral. "Captain's Watch calling Base," Pat called.

"Go ahead Patterson, this is Nelson."

Pat exchanged a quick glance at Ski, who was maneuvering the car into another tight U-Turn.

"The left fork is a No-Go, Sir," Pat reported. "We followed it as far as is traversable." He heard a heaved breath on the other end, the one they heard Admiral Nelson make many times before when he was deep in thought.

"And you're sure that they couldn't have turned off before the fork?"

"As sure as we can be, Sir," Pat replied, his confidence wavering; they had lost Lauren Crane because they had to fall back in order not to be detected. They had done their best to peruse their surroundings, but it had been dark at the time.

"We've already got…"

Admiral Nelson's transmission was interrupted as the two Ratings exchanged raised eyebrows. They waited patiently since the line was still open; a moment later the Admiral returned.

"Doc thinks he has something here, and if he's right, Captain Crane is going to need medical attention right away. We've got Morton on the right fork; you two head back to the fork and retrace the road back to the main road. Investigate all possible side roads with any evidence of recent traffic. Report immediately your findings, we've got a helicopter ready to leave as soon Doc gets his emergency supplies together."

"Aye Sir," Pat replied. "We're on our way, Captain's Watch out." Pat turned off the portable radio and looked toward the car's driver with worried eyes. "You heard him, Ski; let's make sure the Skipper's back is covered."