Chapter 5

Suzanne opened the door before Ed reached it.
"Mom was indeed abducted. The hijackers have called. They don't want any money, but two prisoners set free. Chief Ironside is working things out with the Commissioner. I sent Danny to school. I didn't want him to hang around all day."

The news about the abduction was more a relief than a shock. Eve was alive, that was the main thing.

A few months ago Ed would have reacted angrily about Suzanne's decision though. Danny would be worried sick. He needed a place to retreat, not additional stress. But his marriage to Eve had changed him. She was so sweet-tempered now. It was next to impossible to get angry around her. It felt totally out of place. And in most cases it didn't help anyway, like in this particular one. Therefore he didn't tell Suzanne that he considered this to be a mistake.

"Thank you, Suzanne, for all your help. I will join the Chief right away. Please, offer Mrs. Gallagher a cup of coffee and something to eat, will you?"

He needed barely five minutes to shave and change into clean clothes. To Liz it looked as if the victim of an assault had turned into the man who would do whatever was necessary to free an abducted person – no matter who they were - and call to account those responsible.

"I'm sure you will find your wife, Chief Brown. May the Lord help you!"

"Thank you very much." He put an envelope onto the table. "This is for your expenses on this involuntary trip. I will contact you when everything is over. Thank you again, Mrs. Gallagher."

He picked up Eve's car keys and left with his long stride.

"Thanks for coming, Chief," he greeted his former boss who was already in the middle of a thorough investigation, papers spread all over Ed's desk.

There was no sign of fatigue on Ironside's face, although he hadn't slept the previous night. He looked in top form. His concentrated intellect and willpower would have intimidated any adversary. It was good to have him on one's side.

"Ed, you say that there were two masked assailants. What do we know about them?"

"Well, I know that they were better than me," said Ed with bitterness in his voice.

Actually there was not much. "They were almost as tall as me, about 6 ft and 6 ft1. Both over 200 pounds. Clad in jeans and T-shirts, sneakers. They were wrestlers or boxers, with real training, I mean. They could have just shot me, but probably they thought I wasn't worth a bullet."

Ironside thought about it. Ed's words sounded as if he blamed himself for not being able to protect his wife. The way Ed described those assailants they didn't need a bullet to get rid of a guy like Ed Brown. But there was no use in telling him what he knew by himself.
"Maybe it wasn't the price of a bullet but of a gun. There's a slim chance that the gun was used in another crime."

Ed nodded. "I don't know every criminal in this town of course. But for people who work on this level I should have heard of them. Therefore I think they are likely newcomers or out-of-towners."

Ironside summarized, "We don't have much to go on, but let's start looking for two hired professionals, active or former members of a wrestling or boxing club, tall, athletic."

"What about the prisoners they want to free?"

"A drug dealer named Eric Hall from Casper, and a bank robber, Brian Chesney from Sioux Falls."

Brown looked up surprised, although the names didn't sound familiar to him.

Ironside read his face correctly. "Yes, I thought the same thing. Why Denver?"

"The international airport?"

"Maybe. But let's also check out cottages and vacation homes. Maybe we can find a connection."

"Chief – this may be accidental, but that fight..."

"Spit it out!"

"They hit my back as if they knew about my weak point. How could they have known, being out-of-towners?"

"You were in Craig Institute in Los Angeles long enough back in '72 for any crook to notice it, and some of those flaming papers even reported your sensational healing. So let's also check possible connections to you... or to Los Angeles. And Ed!"

"Sir?" Old habits die hard.

"We'll find Eve."

"Yessir."

Suzanne knocked on Ed's office door. She looked upset and inimical.

"Danny came home from school. He didn't want to stay there. He put up a fuss, so I thought I'd take him here..."

Ed stood up immediately. "Give me a minute with him, Chief."

He left with his son to give him a chance to calm down a little.

Ironside looked at Suzanne. "I understand that you are in sorrow because of your mother. But why are you so hostile towards Ed Brown?"

"He landed my mother in trouble. Isn't that good enough a reason to be angry at him?!"

So she held him responsible for what had happened. "Do you think he could have done things differently?"

"No, he could not. But somebody else could have. Somebody like my dad. He would never have allowed her to be abducted. He would have managed to protect mom. He would have clobbered two men singlehandedly."

Ironside kept his voice soft. "Would you prefer your mother had not married Ed because he's not as strong as your dad was?"

Silently Suzanne started to cry. "It would hardly reverse my dad's death if she hadn't, would it? I suppose it is none of my business who my mother has married. But I lost my dad, and now I may lose my mom too..."
She looked into the clear blue eyes of the man she admired so much and felt that she had to be honest with him and with herself. "I... I know that it wasn't really Ed's fault. I just need someone to blame. I'm sorry."

Gently he laid his hand on her arm. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Suzanne. Ed won't hold it against you. And we will both do everything within our power to save your mother."