Back to part 6

Who Says Timing Isn't Everything
by Sammi M.

He quietly worked at fixing dinner only to realize he wasn't hungry. He turned on the television only to discover nothing held his interest. He decided to listen to music, but the only thing he really wanted to hear were tribal drums interspersed with heavy metal. "This is ridiculous," he voiced to no one in particular. "I need to get out of here. Wonder if Lloyd would like some company?"

Jim picked up the phone and dialed the mobile number without thought and waited. "Hey, It's Ellison … Joel? What's a hot stud like you doing working stakeout? I thought Lloyd was up tonight? … He didn't show? … No call or anything? … Well, that's weird … Yeah, I know, so is he … Say, how's it going over there? … They haven't? … Neither car has left? … Hmmm, maybe they stayed in. I guess I could call and check. … What? You see them walking up to the building. … Yeah, I suppose they could have gone to the movies or something. … Yep, that's her. … I know she doesn't look like a criminal, but how many out there do? … Yeah, I know Sandburg looks happy. … Look, why don't I head over there and keep you company? While we're watching, we can come up with a suitable penance for Lloyd for skipping out. … Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

With more spirit than he had shown lately, Ellison hurried up the stairs and grabbed his things. Just as he was about to walk out the door, the phone rang. *Now, who can that be?* For a second he debated whether or not to answer, but the cop in him won out. "Hello! … Blair? … Calm down. Take deep breaths and tell me what happened. … Are you okay? And, Schuy? Okay, you guys just take it easy and don't touch anything. I'll call Simon and let him know we need a team there. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Can you guys hold on that long? … Blair, buddy, do I need to call an ambulance? She doesn't sound so good. … Okay, I'm going to get there as soon as I can, I promise."

The detective almost threw the phone down on the table as he rushed to get to his friend. He had to make sure Blair was as fine as he said he was. He swore to himself as he ran down the stairs and hopped in his truck if Blair was okay, they'd work this out … some way … some how.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

He stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell. As if he was in the room, he heard Blair reassuring Schuy it was only Jim and he had to let him in. His sibling wouldn't hear of letting go and Jim had to turn down his hearing as the shrieks threatened to turn into all-out screams. By the time his partner opened the door, the older man was shaking as much as the two before him. Ellison stepped into the entranceway and closed the door. "Are you okay, Chief?" Even though he knew the answer, he still had to have confirmation from his friend.

Still holding the now quiet, but dazed, girl, Sandburg nodded, "Whoever did this was gone by the time we got here. He was pretty thorough, so he had to have been here a while." He looked around at the destruction that surrounded them. "As soon as we opened the door, we could see … this. It took everything I had to stop Schuy from touching anything down here. Can't say the same for upstairs though. She pushed me down and headed up there." Blair stopped and seemed to struggle with tears. "That's when the screams started. He … umm, … slashed … Why would someone do something like this, Jim?"

Before he could answer, the doorbell rang again and Schuy collapsed in the older Sandburg's arms. Jim ran, threw open the door and headed back to help his partner with the shaking girl. "Simon, get the team to spread out down here. We're gonna take her upstairs and see if we can calm her down some more. She's barely hanging on and I don't want her falling to pieces when someone else shows."

Simon nodded, "Okay, Jim. If you need me to call for medics, just yell. We'll handle everything down here and warn you before we head up there." He silently watched as Sandburg trustingly allowed Ellison to carry the girl upstairs. The detective gently nudged his friend ahead of them and Simon realized the older man wasn't quite ready to let him out of sight. The Captain offered a silent prayer in the hopes this would bring the two back together and then turned to address his people. "I want this place scoured from top to bottom. I want no stone unturned and no crevice unsearched. If I catch anyone even remotely slacking, you'll deal with Cassie first, me second and Jim Ellison third."

The big man quietly walked throughout the downstairs hoping he could find something to clue them in on who could have done something so destructive. Occasionally, he would stop and listen when Schuyler's panic could be heard above the hustle and bustle of the team. *This is a mess and something tells me we haven't been let in on the whole picture.*

Joel sidestepped several techs on his way to his friend. Captain Banks could tell what he had wasn't good and that made the taller man's stomach knot more. "Simon, I just checked with building security. They gave me full access to their logs which shows who signed in and what they were supposed to have been doing. I also saw the security tapes."

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

"Nope. The logs show that a Detective James Ellison checked in at 3:45 p.m. today and checked back out 6:00. Because he has full access as stated by Miss Sandburg, the guards didn't ask him why he was here. The tapes for that time are inconclusive because the guy avoided them almost like he knew exactly where they were."

"Damn!" Simon took an angry breath and held it. "We know it wasn't Ellison 'cause he was with us at that time. Obviously whoever did this wasn't counting on that fact and tried to set him up, but why?"

"Do you think it might have been one of her people trying to throw us off?"

"If you saw her right now, you'd know it's not an act." Jim's voice drifted to them before they saw him standing in the doorway. "She is genuinely afraid. It's almost like she's fearing for her life." He continued into the room raking his hair. "I tried to ask Sandburg what this was about, but all he would say was he was waiting for someone to come help and then he'd explain." It almost seemed like something was stuck in Jim's throat the way he struggled to swallow. "I don't know who's paler – Blair or Schuyler."

"How are the kids?"

"Blair's kind of shocky but he's containing it to help Schuy. Schuy's …," he hesitated as if trying to find the words. "The bastard slashed that giant bear of hers and threw stuffing all over the place. When I left from up there, she was trying to wrap what was left of it around her and rocking – constantly rocking. All she keeps saying over and over is 'He found me. I thought if I came home he wouldn't find me, but he did. He's here.'" Jim shook his head trying to release the scene from his mind.

A young tech walked up to the men, "Excuse me, Sirs, but there's a woman at the door demanding that she see Miss Sandburg. She says her name is Telly Ryan and she's a doctor. Would one of you like to handle it or should I send her away?"

Simon and Joel looked towards Jim and he shook his head and shrugged. Simon sighed, "I'll handle it." The three headed to the door to greet the new player. A petite woman in her late twenties with red shoulder-length hair stood glancing at her watch and tapping her foot. A scowl graced her face as she saw the three men walking towards her. "I hope one of you is in charge because I need to get to my patient as quickly as possible. According to Blair, Schuyler's been in this highly agitated state for almost an hour and I would prefer not having to admit her."

All three men had perked up when they heard Sandburg's name, but it was Jim who answered, "Blair called you. You're who he was waiting for." He ushered the woman in and held out his hand. "I'm his roommate, Detective Jim Ellison. This is my boss, Captain Simon Banks and my co-worker Detective Joel Taggert." He motioned upstairs. "Blair has Schuy in her bedroom and he's been trying to keep her calm, but nothing's worked. Do you really think it's that bad you might have to admit her?"

"If she fights the sedative, which she has been known to do, yes. These episodes are usually bad and when they hit, we're on a timetable. If you gentlemen would excuse me, I really do need to get up there."

They watched as she took the stairs two at a time and headed into one of the rooms. None of them budged until a tired Sandburg wandered out of the room closing the door and heading downstairs. Before any of them could say anything, he held up his hand and motioned them to follow him. They quietly entered a room that looked like it had been a study with beautiful wood accents and a high-powered computer. Unfortunately, the computer was now smashed and books and papers littered almost every space of the floor. For a moment, Blair just stared at the devastation, then he took a deep breath, released it and turned back to his friends.

Jim couldn't stand the haunted look in his young Guide's eyes, so he moved beside him and placed his hand on Blair's shoulder. "Whenever you feel like you're ready, Chief."

Blair smiled at his friend in gratitude and drew strength from the touch, "This all started about nine years ago. Schuy had just turned thirteen and she was so happy. She was a "TEENAGER", in all caps. Mom had decided we were going to stay at one of her friends' house in Nevada while the lady was away for the summer. It was another one of our great family adventures, … but it ended up a nightmare." Blair looked at the overturned sofa and made a move to right it, but before he took a step, his Blessed Protector had done it and was guiding him to it. "The place was gorgeous and Schuy loved it. I was nineteen, so I thought it was okay for a place in Nevada. It didn't take us long to throw off the city feeling we had arrived with and adopt the peace there. I just wish it had stayed peaceful.

"We'd been there about a month and Schuy was like thriving. I caught Mom a couple of times with tears in her eyes because her "baby" was growing up. I was a big-shot senior getting ready to graduate from college, so all I saw was my pain-in-the-butt kid sister enhancing her already natural tan. I chalked all of the laughter and giggles and secret smiles to her having a good time – nothing more. I never realized then it would be a long time before I heard or saw them again.

"What I'm about to tell you *cannot* go outside of this room. I need you to swear on whatever you hold dear you won't tell another soul about this." The young man looked deeply into each man's eyes as each nodded with solemnity. When he was satisfied with what he'd seen, he continued, "Naomi had sent us into the little town to load up on supplies because she was going to be staying overnight at another friend's. Though she was worried, I convinced her I could handle everything." He shook his head and wrapped his arms around himself. "Not everything. When we left the store, I hadn't realized we'd picked up a tail. We headed to the house and saw Naomi off and I sent Schuy upstairs to work on some of the workbooks her teacher had sent home over the summer." Blair's voice cracked and he tried to stay in control. Jim sat next to him and again offered his hand in support. "I didn't want her to be underfoot while I finished dinner. A good thirty minutes had passed when I heard a noise out back. We'd had some problems with scavengers getting in to the trash and I hated doing pickup, so I headed out there to nip it in the bud.

Jim noticed the increase in the younger man's trembling and sat closer to him almost to the point where Blair was in his lap. Blair didn't notice; he was too far in the past. "I don't remember much of what happened after that, but I do remember being dragged into the den bleeding and being dropped there. Once when I was lucid, I heard screams, … but when I tried to move, I just passed out again. The next time I woke up, Schuy was there and she was rocking me and singing this old lullaby Naomi used to sing to her. But it wasn't *my* Schuyler; this person's eyes were so … dead, I …couldn't …"

The Sentinel had noticed his partner's increased breathing and he was prepared for the attack, "Easy there, Blair. It can't hurt you. It's in the past. Just take deep breaths and focus on being here. … That's it. Slow, deep breaths." He smiled gratefully at Simon as the man miraculously handed him a glass of water. The other man shrugged and motioned to an en suite bathroom tucked in the corner. Jim guided the water to his friend and rubbed his back in soothing circles until he was sure Blair was better. "You don't have to go on, Chief. If you can't, we'll understand."

Blair shook his head, "I can do this. I just need a minute." He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths and in his most clinical voice, continued, "When Naomi found us, both of us were in pretty bad shape. They had almost beaten me to an inch of my life and the doctors first told Mom to prepare for the worst, but I wasn't quite ready to give up. No, that feeling came *after* they finally let me see Schuy." He took another deep breath. "Those animals had taken … turns destroying my baby sister's life. When she finally started to talk again and when she could talk about it, she told us she was aware of at least four of them, but after that she just … Because I never saw them and Schuy was pretty much catatonic for about six months afterwards, they never caught the guys. It was such a nasty little thing to happen to their town that I don't even think they looked too hard. The Chief labeled it a sexual and aggravated assault perpetrated by persons unknown, probably vacationers. Everyone accepted that decision, except for one cop. He just wouldn't let it alone." Blair pulled his wet hair from his face and pushed it behind his ears. "Every time we turned around, he was there. He was at the hospital and the house and at the therapist's and just … everywhere.

"Naomi was like at the end of her rope. What with having to deal with my physical therapy and … the stuff with Schuy, seeing him all over the place just pushed her over the edge. She demanded that Schuyler be released into her care with a promise that as soon as we got back here, she'd re-admit her and get her some help. We closed up the house and drove home." A slight grin graced his washed-out features. "She was amazing. We got stopped once and she jumped out of the car and demanded the officer quit harassing her because she was already having to take care of an invalid son and a catatonic daughter and she couldn't deal with some s.o.b. of a cop on a power trip. I don't know if it was her wrath or the fact that he looked at us in the car and we looked pretty bad … or maybe it was the silent tears that were rolling down Schuy's cheeks because of the yelling, but he apologized and then he escorted us with full lights and sirens to the state line.

"We hadn't been back for more than a week when we saw that cop who'd been following us in Nevada. At first I thought I was seeing things, but I wasn't. Naomi called the police and they picked him up, but somehow he was able to talk his way out of it. He told them he was worried about our family and he was keeping an eye out on us because of the tragedy that happened to us. They let him go and praised him as a dedicated cop. Naomi had another word for him when she found him in Schuy's hospital room just watching her. She called up a lawyer friend of hers and begged him to help her keep this freak away from her babies and they got a restraining order on him and the lawyer hired some muscle to watch out for us. He disappeared for a while and Schuy seemed to be getting better. She started talking again about nine months after the ... assault and she was able to be around other people without totally hairing out after a year. Naomi decided to have her home-schooled at yet another friend's house with some other kids and it was when she was picking her up one day that she noticed he was back. He followed Schuy around for a few months, never getting inside of the restraining order field, but we knew he was there.

"When she went off to school, he followed her and she swears she saw him at her college graduation. He never tried to talk to her or do anything - he was just always there – until a few months ago. Schuy told me she started receiving love-hate mail. Stuff that said, 'I love you. You're my life. I have to keep you with me always' and they kept getting coarser and coarser. She always checked in with the police wherever she went and showed the old reports of him stalking her, but when they'd check on him, it was like he'd disappeared. One of the cops told her he'd probably changed his name and to not rely on that or how she remembered him because he might have changed his look.

Blair finally seemed like he was winding down and after the rollercoaster they'd all just been all, none of them were displeased. "About two months ago, Schuy's best friend, Hannah Jacobsen, was found dead in Schuy's apartment. The police think the guy's escalating and that he got Hannah by accident."

"The wedding invitation," Jim whispered.

The younger man nodded, "Hannah was set to get married two days after they found her. They buried her the day after. Schuy believes he meant to take her out and this," he motioned around them, "was his way of letting her know he was here for her."

Simon finally found his voice, "Do you have a name for this psycho?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't think I'll ever forget that, but I doubt it'll help since he's probably changed it. Still, it couldn't hurt. The s.o.b.'s name is C.L. Harriston."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

On to Part 8 - Part 8
Back to the main page - Major Crimes
Comments, criticisms or kudos -

Sammi