CH 12
"Now, Santa gifts." They all give their copper loved ones the Santa sack with their names on it. Pulling out their gifts, they open them.
Susan got a calendar. Looking through it, she laughed at the different pictures while showing them to Nel. Then there was a square box that had a coffee mug with a picture and name on it.
"Elle, did you do these?" Susan asked.
"I did."
"Cool, I love them."
"Thanks, check out December." Susan turns the calendar to December, and they all look at it. It was a group photo that had been taken at the beginning of the month. Everyone was wearing Santa hats.
"This is great!" Nel said.
"And now your secret Santa gifts. " They pull out candy canes and gifts from their unknown "Santa."
As they open their gifts, everyone shows what they got. Tom got an apron saying 'Kiss the Boss' on it, and everyone laughs. Wayne got pots of hair gel since his hair was sitting up everywhere. Nick received five pair of bright coloured socks.
"Nick, if you wear them, we will see you miles away," Susan remarked.
"More likely wear sunglasses day after having a few too many drinks from the night before," Wayne said.
"Very funny," Nick said.
"PJ, what did you get?" Elle asked.
Unwrapping his gift, "Brut aftershave," showing them all, and they laugh.
"Well. you can be a brut at times," Nick said
"Hilarious, Nick."
"Mags, what's your gift?" Unwrapping her gift, she laughs.
"Is it a photo frame?" Susan asked.
"Yes, but it's the photo in it that's special." Maggie turned it around so everyone could see it. It's a photo of Maggie standing next to the welcome to Mount Thomas sign. She was in her uniform and had both arms spread wide and with a big grin set in a blue frame.
"I don't know who got me this or how you got this photo, but thank you."
Then the others who had brought their gifts with them opened their gifts to see what they got.
"Elle, where are your Christmas gifts?" Pat asked while everyone looked at her.
"I got the best gift of all, family...seeing you all together with your families is the best gift anyone could hope for."
The phone rang, and Elle turned to answer it.
"Hello, Mount Thomas police… yes… yes he is," looking to Tom. "Boss, it's for you. Take it in your office," as she transfers the call.
Tom walked into his office and picked up the phone, "Hello, Senior Sergeant Croydon." Then he turned pale with a shocked expression.
"Anna?" Nel and Susan see Tom and enter his office as he sat down in his chair.
"Where are you? Are you ok… yes, Merry Christmas to you… yes, and Susan's here. Well, this is a Christmas surprise. Yes, hang on, I'll put you on speaker.
"Anna," Nel said.
"Nick, get the door," PJ said from the outer office. Nick went over and closed the door.
"Looks like lunch is going to be a bit later; lucky there's snacks."
"Elle, was that call you're doing?" Pat asked.
"Yes, I've got contacts overseas. I heard from one of them three days ago. He had heard from her; hopefully, she will keep in contact."
"That was good of you," Helena said. The group chatted over the next half hour before Tom, Nel and Susan walked out of his office.
"Are you ok, Boss?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah. It was a shocking phone call, that's all. So... shall we eat?"
Sitting down, they all enjoyed cold chicken, ham, turkey, egg, potato and lettuce salads, and coleslaw for lunch. There were bottles of grape juice, lemonade and Fanta. Afterwards, there were the desserts from the week before, along with chocolate-covered strawberries.
Everyone enjoyed themselves until there was a call out. Leaving the staff there to attend their first call out, everyone left to go around to Elle's place as it was almost time for the kid's nap. They brought the leftovers with them.
That evening, the group was still at Elle's place. Music and laughter were coming from the back of the house, and Elle was cooking over her barbeque.
"Busy day?" Susan asked.
"Yes, it was," Tom said.
The BBQ dinner was enjoyed, and everyone was relaxing for a few hours before going their separate ways for the night.
On Tuesday morning, Elle returned to work and had to deal with few drunks that were in the cells for a few hours or overnight. Later that morning, Elle left to pick up the lunches. PJ and Maggie were returning to the station after a call out when and saw Elle walking towards the pub.
"PJ, stop here," Maggie said.
"Why?"
"I want to talk to Elle alone."
"OK," pulling over, Maggie grabbed her hat and got out of the car. PJ continued to the station.
Maggie followed Elle into the pub. "Elle!" Maggie called out.
"Hey, Maggie, I'm here to pick up the lunches."
"Yeah, PJ and I saw you heading this way."
"Ahh... so do you want to talk to me about something?"
Chris returns with the box holding the lunches. "Here you go."
"Thanks, Chris," Elle said, picking up the chilli, then turning and walking outside and back to the station.
"You wanted to talk?" Elle said
"Yeah, PJ said he spoke to you some about ideas on what to get me for Christmas."
"Ah... something personal."
"Yes."
"So what did he get you?"
"Light blue silk and lace short nightie and robe to match."
"OH, how sexy; what about the panties."
"There were none."
"OH... PJ... you animal you," Ells said in a tone that made Maggie laugh.
"Oh, he will be like that on new year's day."
"You're going to wear it then?"
"Yep."
"You go, girl! You deserve happiness, Maggie, and I know that PJ can make you very happy."
"Thanks, Elle."
"So, what did you get him?"
"A black silk robe."
Elle laughs. "You're joking. What did he think of it?"
"He loves it and can't wait to wear it."
"Oh... he might wait until you are staying at his place one night."
"Oh yeah." They walk into the station laughing.
"What's so funny, Elle, Margaret?" Nick asked.
"It's a woman's thing, Nicolas," Elle answers as she put the lunch container on Maggie's table. She opened the bin and, going through it, passed everyone their cool lunches, which includes Tom.
"Elle, great idea to use your chilli bin; at least my sandwich is nice and cool."
"Thanks, Boss"
On New Year's Eve, everyone was at the station to bring it in, and since Nick and Wayne are on duty, they all had non-alcoholic wine and snack foods during the night. Everyone else left just after one. Maggie and PJ helped Elle carry the triplets up to their bedroom before leaving themselves to head to Maggie's place to get a few hours of sleep.
Elle looked at Tim's photo sadly, "Happy new year Tim, good night, my love" she turned the lights off and fell asleep seconds later.
Two days later, Elle got a phone call from her lawyer in Melbourne. When she hung up, she turned around just as Tom walked out of his office. "Boss, that was David, my lawyer on the phone."
"Is everything ok?"
"He called to let me know that the trial starts on Monday. He wanted to know if I'm going to attend. I said I'd let him know soon as I've spoken to you."
"The trial of your husband's murderers?"
"Yes."
"If you want to go, it's fine by me."
"We can take care of things here," Maggie said. "No worries."
"Are you taking the kids with you?" Nick asked.
"Well, that's the thing...the media will be there, and we know what they are like. I don't want to impose on you and Nel Boss, Boss..."
"It will be fine. Nel did say to let us know when the time comes up for the trial and that we will look after them."
"Thanks, Boss."
"Call your lawyer back."
"Thanks" she turned around and made the call.
During the next few days, Elle tries not to think about the upcoming trial. After dropping her kids off at Tom and Nel's place on Sunday, she drove to her condo penthouse in Melbourne.
The following morning she arrived at the courthouse in a taxi. The media was outside the courtroom, as was exexpected when she walked in. She spotted her lawyer. He had a case that was being heard in a different courtroom. He greeted Elle and spoke to her for a couple of minutes before going their separate ways.
Elle walked into the courtroom and sat behind the prosecutor's chairs. They turn around and look at her.
"Excuse me, but you can't sit there," the police lawyer said to Elle.
Leaning forward, "Do you know who I am?"
"No, should I?"
"I would think so. I'm Elle Cole, Timothy Cole's wife." He and the woman who was next to him looked at her in shock.
"I'm sorry, I did know about you, Mrs Cole, but didn't know what you look like."
"Well, here I am, and I know that you will do your best to put my husband's murderers away for a very long time."
"We will do our best."
"That's all I can ask." Then she sat back in her seat.
Elle sat in the same chair every day while the three men were on trial. She listened to their testimony, including that of the captain and XO of the patrol boat that found them after the storm. After lunch, the prosecutor turns to Elle before the judge returns.
"Mrs Cole, I'm going to warn you now; you are in for a big shock, Ma'am."
"What do you mean?"
"It's the next two witnesses..."
"Meaning?"
"All Rise..." was called out as the judge entered the courtroom.
"Just be prepared. As they say in poker, I've got an ace up my sleeve," he said as they all stood up.
The trial continued, and the next witness called was a captain of another patrol boat. After being sworn in, he goes on to answer the prosecutor's questions. Elle was stunned by what she was hearing and grabbed the wooden fence in front of her.
"Lieutenant Commander, the man you found barely alive, can you tell us his name please?" the prosecutor asked as he turned to look at Elle.
"Yes, he said his name was Timothy Cole."
Elle was shocked.
The prosecutor picked up a bag that contained a photo and passed it to and the Lieutenant Commander, "Is this the man?"
"Yes, that's him, that's the man we rescued, Timothy Cole." He passed the photo back to the prosecutor.
Elle started to cry.
"Let the record stand that exhibit five has been identified," and he put it on the table.
"Did he say anything to you, Sir?"
"Yes, while in the wardroom with my coxswain, that's navy police, he told me that a wave had washed him overboard and that the men with him just stood there and did nothing. There was no attempt made to rescue; they didn't throw a rope, nothing. They just carried on while he called out to them for help. I asked him why he wasn't latched onto a safety rope. He said Noel Clake attached the safety line onto his harness. He felt it was secure before going to pull down the sail and tie it up. The others were keeping an eye on him while watching for rogue waves. He then said that one second he was pulling the sail down, and next, he was thrown off the boat by a wave. He told me that he was about five meters from the boat and that they all saw him go over."
"Did you ask him about what time this happened?"
"I object! How could this provide an accurate time of the incident?"
"Overruled, I'm allowing the question," the judge responded.
"Lieutenant Commander, the answer, please?"
"I did ask him. He said it was zero one thirty-eight when it happened. He had looked at his watch right after it happened. He told me that it was an anniversary present from his wife. It's waterproof, and the numbers glow in the dark. Then he asked me if the three men had been rescued. I told him that they had been rescued ten minutes before by another patrol boat and that I would pass the good news on to the captain of the other patrol boat that he had been rescued. Mr Cole asked me not to, and when I asked why, he replied that they had tried to murder him, he didn't know why. He told me that he suspected that they were up to something but didn't know what until he was waiting to be rescued. He said that if they find out that I'm alive, they might try again."
"What happened next with Mr Cole?"
"We sailed back to Darwin at the top of the green, meaning as fast as the boat can go. My coxswain and another medic took care of Mr Cole until we returned to port four hours later. When we arrived, he was rushed into hospital."
"Did you tell anyone else what Mr Cole told you?"
"I did, my base commanding officer. I had told him when I was notifying him as to why we were returning to port."
"Do you know if he told anyone?"
"He contacted the commanding officer in Cairns. He contacted me an hour later, telling me what the three other men had told the lieutenant commander. Their version did raise a few questions. Then fleet command was contacted as well to run a check on all four men. By the time the feds showed up in Cairns, the patrol boat was docked, and the three men were gone. I later learned from the feds that the three men are wanted for questioning regarding accusations of attempted murder on others, along with several murders, and that they are suspected of being hired killers. Mr Cole was their next victim. I was asked to make sure that the crew would keep it quiet that Mr Cole was found alive. It was kept quiet, and then I got the letter about being here."
"Have you heard or seen Mr Cole since?
"Last time I saw him, he was put in the ambulance."
"What injuries did Mr Cole sustain from the incident?"
"He had a head wound from when he was knocked down to the ground, a dislocated shoulder, broken leg, hypothermia and exhaustion."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander, no more questions." Returning to his seat, he looks at Elle, who was crying. He poured half a glass of water, picked two tissues from the box, and passed them to Elle.
"Thank you," she said as he sat down.
The defence lawyer began asking the Lieutenant Commander his questions. When he was finished, the Lieutenant Commander was excused from the courtroom.
"Mr Watson, any more witnesses?"
"Yes, Sir, one more."
"Very well."
The prosecutor turned to Elle and smiled. "My ace," he whispered to her. "I would like to call…Timothy Cole to the stand" Elle went pale and was as stunned as was everyone in the courtroom was shocked.