Richard Hale - Frozen Past

“The chief back then probably had no choice but to put them together,” he laughed.

“Oh-right! How could you NOT team those two up?”

“The English investigator extraordinaire, and the brazen mountain man!”

They were laughing so hard that people were coming over and wondering what the hell was going on. They couldn’t stop to tell them. Jaxon just waved them away and they wandered off looking back over their shoulders at the two overworked and exhausted crazy people.

Jaxon was still trying to control himself as he looked over the papers in his hand for other unusual names associated with the case. He found one he recognized and at first it didn’t register anything other than being familiar. Then his laughter stopped suddenly and he sat up.

“Fuck me,” he said, and she said, “Not here.”

He looked up at her and she was still giggling. She saw his face and stopped. He handed her the piece of paper and said, “Third paragraph down, about midway through.”

She found it quickly and looked up at him. “We need to talk to June Littleton.”

As they were driving to June Littleton’s, Jaxon’s phone rang. He answered on the third ring and one of the officers at the Harrison house told him he needed to get over there.

“What’s going on?”

“The Pemberton girl got a package and it must be from the guy.”

“What’s in it?”

The officer told him.

“Shit. On our way.” He turned on his lights and made an illegal u-turn heading back to Annandale. He left the lights flashing but kept the siren silent.

“What’s going on?” Victoria asked after recovering from his violent maneuver.

“Ellie got a package delivered.”

“What?!”

“From him.”

“Is she ok?”

“She’s hysterical. We’re going there first. Call the Crime Scene Techs and get them over there.”

She took her phone out and got things rolling. If the traffic held up, they would get there at the same time.

After she hung up, she said, “Do you know what was in the package?”

He nodded. He told her and she turned and stared out the window. “Fucking bastard,” she said under her breathe.

“Yes.”

They got there a few minutes before the Crime Scene guys and walked into the house. Everyone was in the living room, crowded around Ellie who was still sobbing, holding on to Luke like her life depended on it. It sounded like she was saying, “Get it out of here! Get it out of here!” over and over again.

The officer took them to an upstairs room and showed them the box. Inside was the thawing head of a dog. The mouth was open with a greyish tongue lolling out and its eyes were open, but yellowed with the pupil’s bottom edge showing from beneath the eyelid. The brown, matted fur still had dried blood on it and Jaxon could even see raw flesh where the head had been severed from the torso.

“Is this her dog, Bentley?” Victoria asked.

The officer nodded. “She kept saying that name over and over again after she stopped screaming. The boy said it was her dog. Poor girl’s a wreck.”

“Have you touched anything?” Jaxon asked.

“You know better than to ask me that, sir.”

“Right. Sorry. How did it get here?”

“The brother brought it over along with a suitcase.”

“Do we know how the brother got it?”

“Lucas Harrison said the brother told him it was delivered this morning. I haven’t talked to the brother.”

“Ok. We’ll talk to him. Good job. I’m glad you called us.”

Jaxon took out a pen and used it to flip over the lid of the box exposing the shipping label. It was addressed to Eliana Worthington, not Pemberton. He showed it to Victoria who frowned.

Just then the Crime Scene Techs stomped upstairs with their stuff. Jaxon and Victoria let them do their work.

Walking into the living room, Victoria went to Ellie and touched her shoulder. She was huddled against Luke with her face buried in his sleeve. Natalie Harrison was trying to soothe her, but she appeared inconsolable. Victoria’s touch made her flinch.

“Ellie? It’s Agent Elliot, honey. It’s alright. Can you look at me?”

Ellie turned to her and said, “Is it gone?”

“It will be soon. They have to go over it for evidence.”

The girl’s face fell and a noise escaped her that broke Jaxon’s heart.

“Please, make them hurry!” Ellie said. “I can’t stand to think it’s in this house.”

“Let’s go outside,” Victoria said, standing and extending her hand. Ellie looked from it to Luke, but didn’t move.

“Luke can come with us. It’ll make you feel better. Just until they’re done, ok?”

Ellie nodded and reluctantly took her hand. Her other hand grabbed Luke’s and Victoria walked them out back while Jaxon stayed in and talked to the parents. Ellie looked a little better already.

Ellie’s mother came to the door looking distraught and Jaxon led her to her daughter. Ellie sagged into her mother’s arms and cried even harder. At least her mother was here.

Back inside, Jaxon determined the Harrisons knew very little about the package and he knew his best bet would be to talk to the brother. They would stop by on the way out of the neighborhood after everything calmed down.

The Crime Scene guys finished up quickly at the urging of Jaxon and left with the dog’s head and box within an hour. Ellie looked instantly relieved, but still would not go up to the room. They talked with her about staying at the Harrison’s and the importance of remaining hidden and she said she wanted to stay.

“Would it be ok if I slept in another room?” She asked.

“You can sleep in my room with me,” Deana said, and smiled. “I can move some stuff around and put the blow-up mattress on the floor.”

Ellie smiled and said, “That would be great.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come home, Eliana?” her mother asked.

“I think she will be safer here,” Victoria said. “He sent the package to your house in the belief she would get it there, so he must not know she’s here. Plus, Jaxon and I will be here again tonight, all night, along with the officers out front and back, and the officer in front of your house for appearances.”

Madison Pemberton nodded, but did not look happy. Jaxon was sure she missed her daughter and probably worried herself sick over her being here. Mrs. Harrison must have known it too.

“Madison? You can stay here with her if you like. We have room.”

She hesitated, but then shook her head. “I really appreciate it, Natalie, and I really want to, but that would mean leaving Patrick alone and I couldn’t do that. He won’t stay here even if you begged him.”

“You’re both welcome to stay if you change your mind,” Natalie said, and smiled.

“Thank you,” Madison said, then to her daughter. “Are you alright? If you need me, just call. I’ll answer quick and come over right away.”

Ellie nodded, a few tears showing, but she held it together. She gave her mom a hug and Madison left.

“We’re going to follow your mom to your house so we can talk to Patrick about the package,” Jaxon told Ellie. “The two officers are still here, so don’t worry. If another package shows up, don’t open it. Don’t even bring it into the house. Call us right away and we’ll be over immediately. That goes for everyone. Nobody opens any strange packages.”

“Where are you going after my house?” Ellie asked.

“We have some leads to follow, sweetheart,” Victoria said. “We still have to catch this guy and we’re getting closer.”

“What did you find?” Luke asked.

“Not right now,” Jaxon said. “We’ve got a lot to do so we can get back here tonight. We’ll fill you all in when we get back.”