Shannon hobbled out to the shop to get the mop and bucket. She filled the bucket and wheeled it back to the break room. Halfway through mopping the floor, someone started pounding on the door.
“Ugh, go away!” she yelled out, “everybody is gone, no one is home.” Of course, no one could hear her. The pounding continued. She threw the mop in the bucket and went to answer the door.
“Who is it?” she said loud enough to be heard.
“Delivery. Package for Bradley Fletcher.”
“Can't you just leave it in the bin?” They had a container set up outside for deliveries.
“I need a signature, or else we have to send it back.”
“Just a minute,” Shannon told him. “It's probably a part for his precious helicopter.” She opened the door and came face to face with the man from her dream. She tried to slam the door, but he pushed it open. Shannon ran for the break room, hoping she could lock the door behind her, but he was too fast.
“I just want to talk to you,” the man told her.
“Who are you?” she screamed. She kept moving away from his approach.
“I'm Weston, your fiancé, or at least I would have been, if you hadn't stood me up.”
“My fiancé? Stood you up? I don't even know who you are.”
“Oh, come now, Donna. We dated for six months.” He kept moving towards her.
“You have the wrong person; my name is Shannon.” She stood behind the mop bucket, hoping she could keep it between them.
“Dr. D. S. Stevens, so the S was for Shannon. You never told me, I always called you Donna. Why wouldn't you tell me that? We're going to be married.”
“Go away, I don't know you!” she screamed. She watched as he started to change and snarl at her. She pulled the mop out of the bucket and swung it at him, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed the mop out of her hands, causing her to lose her balance. She couldn't get her footing on the wet floor and fell back, hitting her head on the floor with a loud crack. She stared at the ceiling as the lights dimmed and everything went black.
Chapter 22
It was late in the afternoon when the team returned to base. The bay doors opened, and everything looked normal. Everyone did their equipment check, while Gary fueled the chopper. Fletch ran upstairs to wash up, it was his turn to cook. He stopped by Shannon's room to say hi, but she wasn't there. Fletch headed for the break room, the others were still finishing up.
“Hey, Shannon, where are you hiding?” he called out as he entered the break room. He looked around and she wasn't there. The rest of the team joined him.
“Fletcher, is Shannon upstairs?” Gary asked.
“No. I thought maybe she was here, but she's not.”
“Guys,” Stan interrupted, “you better come over here.”
Gary, Kenney, and Fletch, joined Stan to see what was up. The mop was on the floor and the bucket was tipped over at the far end of the room.
“Don't touch anything.”
Gary carefully stepped around the water on the floor looking for clues of what happened.
“Check everywhere for Shannon, she might be hurt and hiding.”
“Boss,” Kenney called, pointing to a package on the floor. It had Bradley Fletcher’s name on it.
Gary immediately called the local delivery company to find out who made the delivery. He watched Fletch kneel down near the mop bucket, there was blood on the floor. The delivery company informed him that they were missing a delivery truck and a driver.
Gary hung up and called Frank Miller. He informed Frank what had happened.
“Don't do anything. I'm on my way over and don't touch anything, maybe we can get some fingerprints.”
“Thanks Frank. Please, get here fast.”
Gary hung up and looked at Fletch, still kneeling by the bucket.
“Fletcher, you okay?”
“This is my fault. If I hadn't ordered that part, she'd still be here. I told her I wouldn't let him get her. I promised!” he yelled. “He must have been watching us all this time. He knew she was alone and jumped on his chance to get her. Son-of-a-bitch!”
“But how could this guy have known there was a package for you?” Kenney asked.
“Maybe he was working for the delivery company,” Stan added.
“The cameras.” They all ran upstairs to his office. Gary played back the surveillance footage. They watched as a man forced his way through the door and into the hangar. He followed Shannon to the break room. “Damn it, there aren't any cameras in the break room.”
They continued to watch. The man came out of the break room, carrying Shannon over his shoulder. He carried her outside and placed her in the back of the delivery truck. He went back inside and picked up Shannon's cell phone that was sitting on the table and closed doors as he left.
“Why would he take her phone, doesn't he know we can track her with it?” Kenney remarked.
“Not if he removes the battery,” Fletch replied. “Gary, play the footage again.” He watched very carefully. “Can you freeze it as he goes through the door?”
Gary replayed the footage and stopped it where Fletch indicated.
“Damn, I don't see it?”
“See what?”
“It looked like she reached for something as she went through the door.”
Gary replayed the footage again, almost frame by frame.
“There!” Fletch yelled. “She grabbed something.”
“I saw it, too,” Stan added.
Gary played it again, and sure enough, Shannon reached for something as her abductor turned sideways to carry her out the door. The move was so subtle, it was almost missed.
“What the hell? What do you keep by the door?” Fletch asked.
“I don't know, maybe it's something Shannon left there.” Gary didn't know.
Fletch ran down the stairs to see if he could figure out what she took. There, by the door, was a box of tracking beacons, something they put in, or attached to, some of their equipment, so it could be retrieved if it was dropped or lost. He ran back upstairs to show them what he found.
“Smart girl,” Gary remarked. “The way he was carrying her, she must have been unconscious when he picked her up, but it looks like she came too and didn't panic.”
“Can you see any injuries? That had to be her blood on the floor,” Fletch asked.
“I can't tell,” Gary replied.
“She could have slipped on the wet floor, fallen and hit her head,” Stan added.
“What are we waiting for? We have to go find her.” Fletch was getting anxious.
“Whoa, we can't go off halfcocked. Frank is on his way here. We have to follow protocol and he has connections.”
“Well, I have connections, too.”
“Fletch, stand down. Take a deep breath.” It sounded like an order, Fletch knew better than to argue.
When Captain Miller arrived, he gave the siren a quick tap to let them know he was there. He went directly to the break room. Three men accompanied him. He left them to look for clues and went upstairs.
“Okay, Gary, what do we know?” Frank asked as he entered the office.
“Shannon was carried out of here and put in a delivery truck. I called, they said they were missing a truck and driver. Frank, we think this guy must have been working for the delivery company and just waiting for his chance.”
“I'll check on that. What else?”
“She has a tracking beacon.”
“What's it’s range?”
“About a mile.”
“That's not very far, but it's better than nothing."
“Yeah, but where do we start?” Fletch asked. “We have no idea who took her, or where they have gone.”
“First, we have to identify this guy. I have a couple of my men downstairs checking the crime scene.”
There was a large bang, and everyone turned to see what it was.
“There shouldn't be a crime scene.” Fletch had punched the wall. He stood there shaki
ng his now, very sore hand. “This is my fault,” Fletch wailed, close to tears.
Frank gave Gary a questioning look.
“The delivery was for Fletcher. He feels that is the only reason this guy got in.”
“Fletch, you just happened to be the recipient of the next delivery,” Frank told him. “It could have been any one of you.”
“But it wasn't, was it!” he yelled out of pure frustration.
Kenney went to him to calm him down and check his hand. If it was broken, it would heal in a few days.
One of the men, that arrived with Frank, knocked on the door jam.
“What did you find, Gerad?” Frank asked his man. Gerad handed him a bloody piece of paper. “What is this?”
“We found it under the wash bucket. She used her own blood to write W Cr. I think she was trying to tell us who it was, but that is all she was able to write.”
“Stan, were you able to get a list of people that attended that convention?”
“No, sir.”
“Fletcher, do you know anyone that can help?” Gary asked.
“I'll make some calls.” As he tried to reach for his phone with the wrong hand, his phone rang. Kenney shook his head and pulled the phone out of Fletch's back pocket and handed it to him. He looked at the caller ID, it was Charles McCormack. “Hey Charles, what's up?”
“Did I call at a bad time?”
“Shannon's been kidnapped.”
“By the wolf?”
“Yes. Charles, I can't really talk right now.”
“Weston Cruz.” That is all Charles had to say.
Fletch stopped in his tracks and held up his hand for everyone to be quiet. He put his phone on speaker.
“How do you know that.”
“When you told me about Shannon and the wolf stalking her, I did some digging. I have friends, remember. Luke ran facial recognition on that footage you sent him and got a hit.”
Gary gave Fletch a questioning look.
“Who is there with you?”
“My boss, two coworkers, the police chief, and some of his men. Everyone, the voice on the phone belongs to Charles McCormack.”
“I won't go into all the details. Listen carefully, Weston Cruz is an egotistical psychopath. He was institutionalized just outside Raleigh, NC. He impersonated a doctor to escape the Institution. When he escaped, he attended a medical convention in Raleigh to lose himself among the attendees. He continued to pose as a doctor for at least six months and continued to do so until someone questioned his identity. He has left a trail of bodies in his wake. Weston Cruz is a very dangerous man.”
“Excuse me, Charles. My name is Frank Miller, Chief of Police. I'm not a shifter, but I assume you are. The men with me are also shifters. Did your findings suggest where we might find this man?”
“FBI sent a friend of mine to interview Shannon's neighbor again, just in case she might have remembered something. The agent spent several days with her, we wanted her to feel comfortable around him and it worked. She remembered Shannon saying something about her parents owning a cabin near Flathead lake in Montana.”
“Shannon told us the closest she ever got to a forest was Central park,” Kenney spoke up.
“That may be true,” Charles remarked, “she’s probably never been there. She went away to medical school. When her parents died, she joined the military and I think you know the rest.”
“Charles, how did her parents die?” Fletch asked.
“They were flying their private plane, on their way to Shannon's graduation from medical school. They never made it. Shannon inherited the cabin, but, like I mentioned before, I doubt she's ever been there.”
“Do you think that is where he is taking her?”
“It's a good possibility he is headed that way. When the FBI checked on the ownership of the cabin, they were informed someone else had inquired about it recently. When was she taken?”
“According to our security footage, three o'clock this afternoon,” Gary answered.
“Then he has a couple hour head start. I'll let the FBI know, they'll head for the cabin.”
“Thanks Charles, I owe you,” Fletch replied.
“Go get your girl, Fletch.” Charles hung up.
No one said a word about the last remark. Kenney was about to say something when Gary shook his head.
“Montana is out of my jurisdiction, Gary,” Captain Miller remarked. “I notified the State police. They’ll be on the lookout for the delivery truck.
“There's nothing more we can do but wait,” Gary replied.
“No way, I can't sit on my ass, waiting!” Fletch yelled. “All of you have known Shannon a lot longer than I have and you're just going to sit here?”
“There is nothing else we can do right now, Fletch.”
“Well, I can do something, I have to go look for her.” Fletch ran out of the room before anyone could object. Fletch headed for Grumpy, his newly rebuilt helicopter, Kenney was on his heels.
Chapter 23
“Fletch, what are you going to do?” Kenney asked as he followed Fletch.
“I'm going after her; what do you think I'm going to do!” he yelled.
“Fletch, you can't. You don't even know where to start. Wait until we get word. If they find the truck, we'll have an idea where to start.”
Fletch stopped. “You said, we.”
“You don't think I'm going to let you go after that bastard all by yourself and miss all the fun.”
“Fun?”
“Yeah, kicking his ass.”
“Alright,” Fletch chuckled, “maybe you're right.”
“You know I am. Let's make sure Grumpy is ready to fly. Gary isn't about to let us take the rescue helo.”
“If we get in trouble, you could lose your job,” Fletch warned.
“I don’t care; Shannon is my friend; she would do the same for me."
“I think you're right.” They went outside to go over Grumpy with a fine-tooth comb. They needed to do something to keep their minds off of Shannon for the time being.
*****
Stan ran out to the storage yard where Fletch and Kenney were working. “Hey, guys, they found the truck!”
Fletch and Kenney both dropped what they were doing and ran inside.
“Where is it? Where’s the truck?” Fletch was breathless.
“They found it on the side of the road near Warren.”
Kenney scratched his head. “What the hell was he doing there?”
“Why?” Fletch asked.
“The road to Warren doesn't go through to Montana. He must have taken a wrong turn.”
“That's good for us, right? Are they with the truck?”
“No, the truck was abandoned,” Stan replied.
“What is in that area?” Fletch wasn't getting answers quick enough.
“Nothing but rugged mountains, forest, and a river. It's not a safe place for someone unfamiliar with the area. There are a lot of pitfalls. The overgrowth is so thick, you can walk off a cliff before you know it's there,” Stan informed him.
“Shit, I have to get out there,” Fletch couldn't wait any longer. “I have to find her.”
“Whoa, you can't go out there, you don't know the area any better than Shannon does. Besides, we can't do anything tonight.”
“My bear will find her.”
“Sorry Fletcher,” Gary walked into the room, “I can't let you go out there.”
“Why not?”
“It's bad enough we have lost one member of our team out there, we don't want to lose you, too.”
“We haven't lost Shannon, don't even think like that!” Fletch yelled, his frustration was showing.
“No, we haven't, but it's up to law enforcement to make the next move.” Gary didn't like telling him he had to stay put. He wanted to go after Shannon just as much as Fletcher did.
“Fine!” Fletch stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“Doesn't he realize we're all worried?�
� Gary said with a frustrated sigh.
“He does. I think he's just starting to realize what this means to him. Did you know Shannon was his mate?” Stan asked.
“I knew there was an attraction, I just didn't know how far it went.”
“He didn’t either. Give the guy a break, you know what it’s like to lose someone.”
“I told you never to bring that up!” Gary snapped at Stan.
“It was just a reminder.” Stan left the room to find Fletch, leaving Gary to stew in old memories.
Stan was right, he did know what it was like to lose someone. He was happy once and refused to dig up old memories. He was pissed at Stan for mentioning it.
*****
Stan found Fletch out back, working on one of his helicopters under the floodlights.
“Hey, Fletch, sorry about Gary's attitude.”
“Why should you be sorry?” Fletch asked as he worked. “It's his attitude, not yours.”
“I know, it's just, Gary and I have been friends for a long time and sometimes he forgets how to be diplomatic.”
“Don't worry about it. He's the boss, I understand.”
“No, it's not like that!” Stan barked rather abruptly.
Fletch gave him an inquiring look.
“Never mind,” frustrated, Stan went back inside.
Fletch leaned against the chopper. He knew he had to do something, but he'd have to wait until morning. He went back inside to the break room. He studied the map on the wall. He located the town near where the truck had been located, but he didn't know exactly where.
“Fuck, that doesn't help me at all."
“Fletch, what's up?” Kenney had been looking for him.
“Do you know exactly where the truck was found?”
“Not exactly,” Kenney looked at the map, “but Warren is nothing more than a ghost town. There is nothing out there.”
“Nothing? There is someone, and she's waiting for us to come and get her. That is all I care about. I have to get out there and find her.”
“Not tonight.”
“I know, but they won't be able to stop me in the morning.”
Haunted by the Wolf- Shannon Page 12