Chapter 4

"Sorry I trespassed, Madam. Don't be afraid, this isn't the way it looks. I'm a policeman: Edward Brown, Denver Police Chief. May I trouble you for a phone call to the police department to verify what I'm saying? I need help."
He had a pleasant baritone voice, although it sounded exhausted.

Liz had read about the new Chief and she had seen his picture in the newspaper. She tried to imagine this man shaven, in a suit and after a decent meal and nodded. She believed him.

"Come in, Sir. Can we get rid of these handcuffs?"

It was obvious that his shoulder muscles were cramped and his hands swollen.

Ed took a deep breath. "Thank you, Ma'am." He told her what she had to do with the handcuffs.

"I'll take you home," she said. "But first sit down and have some breakfast. You look half starved."

Ed shook his head. "Thank you very much, but I can't... May I use your phone? I need to inform my family and the police."

"Ed! Where the hell have you been?"

"Suzanne..."

"We were worried to death! At least you could have called! Danny gave me the creeps with his stupid..."

"Suzanne, please..."

"...behavior and Chief Ironside flew down all the way..."

"Suzanne, listen! Has Eve called in?"

"...from Sonoma... What?! Oh my God, isn't Mom with you?"

Ironside took the receiver out of her hand.

"Ed – Ironside here. Where are you and what's going on?"

"We were assaulted. I'm afraid that they have Eve. I'm still near Estes Park."

Ironside heard the exasperation in Ed's voice. He knew that it took a lot to make Ed Brown sound so drained.

In short words Ed reported what had happened.

"Leave everything to me for the time being," stated Ironside.
"Do you need transportation to get here?"
If Ed said that there were no traces, then there were none. No need for him to stay there any longer.

"No. I'll meet you at headquarters. And please tell Danny that I'm all right."

He didn't sound all right and Ironside was glad that Danny hadn't heard him, although he had been standing right beside the phone.

"I want to come with you!" begged the boy.

Gently the Chief shook his head. "I need you to stay here in case your mother calls in. You don't want her to worry because she can't find you, do you?"

Suzanne drove him to headquarters while Danny stayed beside the phone.

Ironside was deep in thoughts. Why had Ed and Eve been assaulted? Were they just two random victims?
No. If they had managed to beat Ed, then these two men were not a pair of random crooks, they were probably fighters, professionals. Had they been waiting for them? Ed's and Eve's being in this area had not exactly been a secret. They had even talked to the receptionist of the hotel where they had spent the night about where they intended to go.
But why? Vengeance? Ed had been a policeman in Denver for many years now, he sure had made a lot of enemies in the underworld, same as Ironside in San Francisco. Some crooks might feel betrayed by Ed's harmless looks and his gentle demeanor. Behind it he was just as tough and as uncompromising as necessary. Ironside had trained the man personally, after all... Yet it would have been easier to kill him on the job.
Or was it a matter of ransom money? Eve lived rather modestly now, by the standards of a millionaire's daughter. From Katherine he knew that the Browns lived on Ed's salary, and they both wouldn't have it any other way. But Eve was still a Whitfield. Somebody might have thought that her parents would pay a ransom for her... and they would be right. It was a possibility, but not a very likely one. If this was the case the hijackers would give notice soon.
And what about that strange hermit? He would have to be taken care of, but it didn't seem as if he had anything to do with the original matter.

Liz Gallagher had heard Ed's part of the conversation.

"You must be worried to death about your wife. Of course I will take you to Denver right away. I understand that you can't eat, although you sure could use it, after running through the woods all night! But at least have a cup of coffee. I don't want you to collapse on the way there."

The coffee was strong and black and it brought a trace of color back to his face, and while he was drinking it she bandaged his scratched wrists.

Later in the car she encouraged him to lie back and get some rest, but he was too jumpy. Therefore she tried to engage him in a conversation. "So you have a daughter and a son?"

"Yes, Suzanne is grown up and Danny is twelve. Both of them are sorely in need of their mother."

It sounded like a perfectly 'normal' family – which they were really, really not. Eve and he needed a lot of energy for Danny with his Asperger's syndrome. Ed kept trying to help him understand the chaos which the world was for him and which frightened him to no end. He also tried to push him to his limits and help him overcome some of them. When his and Danny's nerves were frazzled, Eve was there for them with her kindheartedness and her infinite love. She had softened a lot since being Ironside's young, feisty police officer. She was now a mature, humble woman with an admirably caring soul. He had loved her then and he loved her even more now.

With Suzanne everything was more complicated. He was her boss. She was a smart, very promising young woman. Naturally he might have been a little sterner towards her than towards others, like Chief Ironside had been towards him in his time. On the other hand he was tempted to let her get away with more because he understood her problems. But of course the officers watched him like hawks and they would have suspected him of nepotism. Therefore he was too correct towards her, which didn't help their relationship. She was still mourning her father, which was more than understandable. But she also seemed to compare him to Sam Dwyer. Ed could not see why he should compete with him. He would never be able to replace Sam in Suzanne's heart, and he didn't want to. He just wanted to be there for Suzanne whenever she needed him. She should be the one to define the kind of relationship she wanted with him. Sometimes she tried to provoke a reaction from him, for instance when she had drunk. If he said something different from what Sam would have said, she would reject it. If he said something similar to him, it would be wrong as well. Therefore he just held his tongue, coward as he was. Only Eve was able to give her what she needed... sometimes, when Suzanne was capable of accepting it.

Liz sensed that he was unable to take his mind off his missing wife and respected his wanting to be alone with his thoughts.

Ironside wheeled into Ed's office as if it were his own. Until nine months ago he had worked here, so he knew the business, and people knew and respected him. He had discovered an environmental scandal and a conspiracy within the police department after all.*

He explained the situation to the City Commissioner, and Fisette appointed him a 'special consultant' and assigned him the case.

Ironside started his work in his usual manner, like a general. He chose bulky Sgt. Hank Riley, Ed's self-appointed fatherly protector, as his assistant. An APB was put out on Eve. He also sent out a helicopter to search for Ed's Ford, knowing well that it was easy to hide a car in a garage.

A younger officer put his head through the door. "Sir, there is a call about Chief Brown's wife!"

Ironside picked up the phone.

"Listen! We have Mrs. Brown. We want two prisoners set free, Eric Hall from Natrona County Jail in Casper and Brian Chesney from SD State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, complete with release papers. We want them taken to Denver International by 4pm."

"I want to talk to Mrs. Brown!"

"You won't! Trust me, we have her."

Ironside wanted to insist, but the line was dead.

Immediately he informed Commissioner Fisette. It would be his job to try and get that deal with the prisons, if only to buy them some time. Ironside's was to find Eve.

*"The Return of Ironside", 1993