Chapter Twenty-Eight
The early morning air in Roland was cold and foggy. Lizzie shivered as she walked from her car to the police building. She changed into her uniform and grabbed her heavy police jacket. She hurried to the briefing room to find Dekker.
When she arrived Dekker was waiting for her. “Bad news kid. Search warrant has been put on hold. Sergeant Shaw wants us to stick around while they iron out some kinks. Now it’s just hurry up and wait.”
Lizzie’s shoulders dropped in disappointment. “Ok, so what do we do now?”
“We might as well hit the street and work on some car stops. Maybe work on your geography? But first, coffee.”
Since their usual patrol car was currently in use by a graveyard officer, they signed out a spare. It was a little rundown and not nearly as comfortable but Lizzie did a full inspection and loaded their gear before jumping into the driver seat. Dekker directed her to the nearest donut shop and they went in.
Dekker asked, “You drink coffee, right?”
“I’m a mom aren’t I?”
Dekker ordered two large coffees to go. “You take cream or sugar?”
“Neither. Just black, thanks.”
“You just made probation,” quipped Dekker as he handed her a cup.
Lizzie grabbed a lid for her cup and followed Dekker back to the car. Sirens screamed as fire truck sped past.
“I wonder what’s going on,” said Lizzie as she pulled the patrol car away from the curb.
“Doesn’t matter.” Dekker checked the cars mobile computer. “There are no calls holding. They are probably just going to a medical call.”
A second fire truck blasted past them. Lizzie asked, “With two fire trucks?”
“They could have twelve trucks for all I care. If there’s no police detail we don’t go. If we do go we will end up getting stuck doing scene security and then when the real calls come out someone else will get the good stuff.”
Lizzie countered, “It’s early and we don’t have anything to do just yet. Can’t we at least just see what’s happening?”
Dekker looked at Lizzie and then set his coffee cup on the dashboard in front of him. “Ok fine. Go ahead rookie, catch up, but if you spill even one drop of that coffee on me you won’t get to drive for a week. And you’ll be paying my dry cleaning.”
Lizzie drove carefully but skillfully until she caught up with the fire trucks. She followed the lights and sirens southbound onto the frontage road and slowed as the two firetrucks pulled up outside of the rail yard gates.
It looked like they were late to the party. A car was fully engulfed by flames under the overpass. Firefighters got busy dousing it with water. They were moving quickly with two hoses trained on the small inferno. Water and noxious fumes flooded the nearby homeless encampment. There were no people scrambling so Lizzie figured the encampment was vacant.
“Better start directing traffic onto the freeway,” said Dekker. “You asked for it so now you get to play crossing guard.”
Lizzie parked the patrol car across the oncoming lanes of traffic to keep people from driving through the area. She started directing angry drivers onto the freeway. Dekker headed towards the fire captain who was barking out directions.
Lizzie could see Dekker and the fire captain shake hands like old friends. They appeared to be deep in conversation as they watched their respective worker bees do their assigned jobs. Smoke blew Lizzies way as more commuters entered the freeway.
A truck pulled up and then stopped. The driver window rolled down. “Hey gorgeous!” Lizzie was startled to see Jack.
“Jack! What are you doing here?”
“I was out on the job and on my way home when I saw the smoke and this gorgeous blonde waving at everyone.”
“Ha. Ha. Very funny but you’re blocking traffic.”
Jack ignored her. “So what’s going on?”
“Just a car fire.”
“Have you been over there?”
“No. Dekker was kind of pissed I wanted to come to this but here we are. Now I’m stuck with traffic post.”
“Any idea how it started?”
“No. I’m sure Dekker will fill me in when he gets back from chumming around with the fire captain. Hey, did you get my messages?”
Jack tore his gaze away from the car fire and focused on Lizzies face. “Yes, sorry I didn’t get to call you back but we were slammed. By the time I could call you back I figured you would be asleep.”
“Well I’m wide awake now! Although I am glad it’s my Friday. How would you feel about taking Sam away for the weekend? We could head to the coast or maybe go camping up in the redwoods? Maybe celebrate a little that my first week is done and we both survived?”
Jack smiled at Lizzie, “Sure, that sounds nice.” He thought getting out of town sounded like a great idea after all he had been through in the last few days. It would be nice to be away and maybe he could focus on his little family’s future, now that his past was laid to rest. Lizzie was right, a little celebration was indeed in order.
“Ugh, that fire smells horrible,” said Lizzie, wrinkling her nose. “You better roll up your car window before you get smothered. I’m sure it’s already soaked into my hair.”
“Yes, boss,” said Jack with a lopsided green.
Lizzie looked down the road to the accident scene and saw Dekker watching her.
“You better get out of here or you’re gonna get me in trouble!”
Jack followed Lizzies gaze and saw Dekker start towards them. “Yep I think you’re right. I’ll see you at home babe. Be safe.”
Before Lizzie could say another word, Jack quickly pulled out into the roadway and ignoring the angry horns of other drivers, he sped onto the freeway entrance.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lizzie heard Dekker’s voice through her police radio. “Two Lincoln Six, carry us out with the fire department at the rail yard. Route me two more units if you have them available.” Lizzie looked quizzically over in his direction. Dekker was coming her way, fast.
“Ok rook, your off traffic control,” he said as he reached her. Two more patrol cars arrived and Dekker directed them to take over traffic control. He placed one police unit on either side of the fire and ensuring no through traffic.
“Hey Johnson, can you take her spot? We got this as primary.”
“Sure thing boss.”
“We got what as primary?” asked Lizzie as Dekker got into the driver seat of their patrol car.
“They found a body in that car. Congratulations.”
“A body?”
“Yes. A body. A dead body. Now get the hell in the car so we can start doing our job.”
Lizzie drove their patrol car closer to the scene of the fire. The firefighters had extinguished all the flames. All that remained was a wet sizzling pile of blackened metal and smoldering human flesh. Lizzie followed Dekker up to the burned out car. The air smelled of acrid diesel fuel, charred human flesh and burnt tires. The smell made Lizzie gag. She held her sleeve over her mouth and nose but Dekker didn’t seem to mind at all.
Lizzie walked around the whole exterior of the vehicle. She could see what may have once resembled a human, melted to the driver seat. The remains were completely charred.
Dekker nodded to the fire inspector. “Any signs of arson? Any signs of trauma to the body other than the melting flesh?”
“Won’t know until you get the body back to the morgue. Found what’s appears to be a soaked rag in the drivers lap. Could be the flash point. He or she could have been drunk and smoking and fallen asleep and died that way. Can’t say for sure at this point.”
“Ok we got a couple units setting up a bigger perimeter and we will do a neighborhood check. I’ll need your guys names for the preliminary report.”
“No problem. I’ll send my guys over as soon as they put up the hoses.”
“Point them to my rookie. She’s doing all the writing.”
Dekker turned his attention to Lizzie
. “Officer Noble, start writing down everything you see here. When the fire fighters finish what they are doing, get their names, badge numbers and truck number for your report. I’ve gotta call out detectives.”
“Yes, sir.”
A young firefighter approached Lizzie.
“You need some info for your report?” he asked.
“Um, yes please. Name?”
“Rogers.”
“Badge number?”
“317 and I’m on fire unit 5. Anything else?”
“Was there anyone here when you got here?”
“You got here the same time we did. I didn’t see anyone, did you?”
“Uh no.” Lizzie grinned a little sheepishly. “Do you know who called it in?”
“Sorry kid. That’s a question for dispatch,” said the firefighter as he unceremoniously walked away.
Lizzie walked to her patrol car and fired up the mobile computer. She called up the details on their call for service. The dispatcher had written that an anonymous caller had called in the vehicle fire on his way to work and was not available to be re-contacted.
Lizzie punched in the license plate numbers she had taken from the car. “STOLEN VEHICLE! STOLEN VEHICLE!” She hit the mute button on the stolen vehicle alert.
“2L6 is it occupied?” squawked the dispatcher through the radio mic.
“2L6, it’s for reference only. It’s the plate on the car fire. Can you note it on the detail log please?”
“Copy” the dispatcher replied. She sounded annoyed.
Lizzie returned to the burned out car just as Dekker hung up his phone.
“Stolen huh?” Dekker continued, “Ok. I’ve got detectives coming out to take a look so before they get here I want you to check the gas station and these little homeless hovels for any possible witnesses.”
“Yes, sir” Lizzie headed toward the only business on the street. The gas station had no cameras and there was no one inside the attendant’s kiosk. She would have to come back later. Lizzie walked back towards the few makeshift shelters she saw in the area but quick peaks inside revealed no one home there either. Lizzie returned to Dekker to give him the bad news and watched as two black slick top detective cars pulled up.
“Hey Dekker,” said a tall female detective, “Shaw is looking for you.”
“Thanks. We were supposed to help her on a entry this morning but got sidetracked while we were waiting.” Dekker gave Lizzie a side-glance that told her she would be hearing more on the subject later.
The detective continued, “Well don’t let us keep you. Dayshift is here now and they can wait on the coroner. I’ll get one of them to call a tow. Better we get outta here as quick as possible before all these commuters start calling in complaints. And you know how those gals over in dispatch get when we make their phones ring unnecessarily.”
Dekker laughed. “Don’t I ever! We canvassed but there were no witnesses that we were able to uncover. I’ll have my rook write up her report and get it to you personally before the end of shift.”
The detective didn’t even look at Lizzie as she shook hands with Dekker and then walked to the car to speak with her partner.
As Lizzie and Dekker drove back to the station, Dekker was the first to speak, “so who was the guy?”
“What guy? How do we know it was a guy? The body was completely charred!”
“Not the dead guy, the guy in the truck. The one who stopped and took your attention away from traffic control for a whole five minutes?”
“Oh him. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was that long. He was just some looky-loo trying to find out what happened. I told him to move on.”
“Mmm hmm.”
Lizzie tried to distract Dekker from his line of questioning. “So what happens next?”
“The coroner will come out and collect the remains. She will do an autopsy and determine final cause of death if she can. The car will be towed to an impound lot and the crime scene officer will go out there and try to collect any evidence they might be able to find. I doubt they will find anything though. Between the fire and the water, most of the surfaces will be ruined and there won’t be any useable prints or DNA.”
“When will we know if they find anything?”
“Probably not until Monday when we come back to work.”
Back at the station Dekker directed Lizzie to go up to the locker room and change into a clean uniform while he went to find Shaw. “You don’t want the criminals to smell you coming before we can sneak up on them do you?”
Lizzie went upstairs to the locker room. She took of her smelly uniform and put it all in a plastic bag. She suited for the second time that morning and then hurried back down to the patrol car. Dekker was already waiting for her.
“Search warrant is canceled for the day he said with a yawn.”
“Bummer!” Lizzie replied. She had really been looking forward to it.
“I talked to the Lieutenant though and he gave us permission to go to the autopsy on Monday morning. I’ll find out the exact time from the detectives and let you know over the weekend.”
“Um ok. I’ll be out of town this weekend.”
“And you don’t have voicemail”
“Oh yes,” she laughed, “of course I do.”
“Ok then. I’ll leave you a message on Sunday. That way you can decompress with your boy this weekend. Sound good?”
“Yes boss.”
“Ok let’s hit the streets and do some work”
Lizzie thought to herself that even if she spent a month at the coast, the picture of that burned body was permanently tattooed in her mind. Lizzie knew she could wash the smell of that scene away but shedding the visual would be a tougher job. She found herself hoping the beautiful innocent faces of Jack and Sam would somehow replace the memories of a burned out skull.
Chapter Thirty
Jack unlocked the front door of the apartment and headed straight to the laundry room. He stripped down as fast as possible, leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. Not even bothering to grab a towel he strode straight to the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as he could get it. He got in and let the hot spray beat down on his head. He didn’t care if it scalded him. Jack scrubbed himself until his skin was raw. It didn’t matter how hard he washed, Jack couldn’t get the nights smell from his nostrils. He thought back over the night and the nausea threatened to send him into another fit of sickness.
Jack stood under the spray until the water turned cold. Getting out, he dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a heavy sweatshirt. Now, he was cold to the bone. He shivered uncontrollably. Jack lay on the couch and pulled a heavy blanket over himself. He flipped on the television. He didn’t think he would ever sleep again. So much was running through his mind. He desperately needed an escape. His guilt weighed heavy on his conscience but even so, he immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Thirty-One
It was late when Lizzie tiptoed through the front door. Lizzie saw Jack sleeping on the couch. Even in sleep he appeared restless. She wondered if she should wake him but decided it was best to leave him be. She went to the laundry room and put her uniform in the wash. It was just too putrid to inflict on the kind woman at the dry cleaners.
Spying Jacks clothes piled on the floor she added them to the wash load. The smell of death was so strong even his clothes stunk of it! She hadn’t realized Jack was at the scene with her for so long.
Lizzie walked back out to the living room and took one last peak at Jacks slumbering figure. It was moments like this one when she felt so lucky to have him in her life. Having someone to come home too made the days atrocities easier to bear. She climbed into bed and thought about the day she had just experienced. You really couldn’t make this stuff up.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jack and Lizzie woke to the sound of Sam singing along with his cartoons in the living room. With a happy sigh, Lizzie rolled over and kissed Jack on the cheek. “Hey sleepyhead. You finally came to be
d last night.”
Jack smiled at her, sweeping the hair from her forehead. “Yeah who wants to sleep on the couch? Id much prefer waking up to your sweet face.”
“What are we going to do today?”
“I’ve got it all planned.”
“Oh you do, do you?”
“Yep! I booked us two nights at a B and B in Trinidad. Nothing but sun, ocean breezes and seagulls.”
“Oh Jack, that sounds so lovely!”
Lizzie was excited at the thought of putting the workweek behind her and relaxing with her little family. She got up and got dressed. She threw a shirt at Jack’s head as she went to get Sam packed.
Breakfast was a short affair and after packing up, they were quickly on the road. As they drove in silence, Lizzie rolled her window down to breath in the sweet salt air. She looked back at Sam and smiled. He had his headphones in and was watching a movie on his tablet. His blonde hair feathered in the breeze. All was right in her little world.
Lizzie reached for the radio but Jack stopped her with a gentle hand on hers. “Tell me how your first week in your new job went.”
Lizzie felt mild irritation. She would rather not discuss work but she didn’t want to make Jack feel as if she was shutting him out either.
“Work was good! Remember that car fire?
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well after you left, we found a body in it.”
“You did? That’s crazy! What happened?”
“I’m not sure. It was seriously burned beyond recognition. We don’t even know if the body is male or female yet.”
“Yet?”
“They sent the body to the morgue for an autopsy. We should know more after that.”
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