Turn for the Worst

Chapter 30

David decides to leave his boss in privacy and head outside for a little bit.

He sits on the steps of the station and drinks his coffee. He watches the regular Boston traffic roll down the street and people milling about, going in and out of shops and other buildings.

One of them might know where Emma is, one of them might have Emma hostage. I hope this clue will go somewhere, give us a chance to find her.

David shudders at the thought of what Emma might be going through. Maybe she was chained to a bed somewhere, locked in a shed, in a prostitution ring, on a boat half-way across the world, buried alive or stuck in a hole where a man with a dog feeds her by lowering a basket into it... maybe not those last ones, he's been watching too many movies.

Then his mind goes to the worst case scenario and his stomach twists so tightly that he can't finish his drink. Maybe Emma was dead... she was dumped in a forest or along a highway. Had she been shot? Stabbed? Strangled...left to starve. David fights back his own tears, swallows a large lump in his throat and checks his phone.

There's a message from his wife.

Aurora with me, not feeling great today, baby kicking a lot. Today is the day... I know it.

David always admired his wife's optimism and hope, even in the most dismal situations. It's one of the reasons he loved her so much. She tried to remain positive, even after her father died, she said that he was in a better place and even though she would miss him, he'd always be with her. However, David knew his wife used this positivity to mask her pain. She was always concerned for others and sometimes neglected herself in the process. She was happy during the day, but at night, like for the past week, she's been crying, terrified and fearing for her best friend. David knew he had to be strong for his wife and be her rock, but he too was close to breaking. They had to find Emma.

Suddenly, David sees Neal coming up the street. He has his hands in his pockets and he's coming towards the station. David swallows a new kind of lump in his throat, one of resentment and anger. Neal looks up to see David and he merely grimaces.

"Hello David," Neal says. "Any news?"

David shakes his head and avoids Neal's eyes.

Neal could feel the anger radiating from the lieutenant and he knew that he deserved it. He had made some bad choices and hurt Emma and his own son. Every day the guilt ate at him and he'd become numb to the anger he felt toward himself. But now, being back in Boston, it was a new wave of anger from those who loved Emma and Henry and it was just opening old wounds, causing them to bleed again and making him feel even worse. The pain cuts deep into him.

He merely stands in silence, head down in shame, as if he was a child who just broke a window with his baseball. He knew that no one would forgive him, but he wasn't here for redemption or to even be liked again, he wanted to find Emma...for Henry.

David's walkie-talkie suddenly buzzes to life.

"David we've got the cell tower."

David leaps up and races into the building at top speed, Neal following at his own pace behind him. David runs past the others before going back into the evidence room where Nova and Leroy are.

"Where... Where is it?" David pants, his body pumped full of adrenaline. His wife had been right; they would get the evidence they needed.

"Right here," Nova says, holding up a few pieces of paper. On one, there was a map with a triangulated diagram, David knew immediately that this was the general area where Emma's phone had last sent signals.

"The records indicate that it came from a cell tower in the outer area of Boston," Nova says. "Around several suburban neighbourhoods."

"That's a lot of ground to cover," Leroy points out.

"Then we'd better get going," David says.

He assembles as many police officers as he can, including Jack and Nova and they plug the GPS location into the cars. David has to tell the rest of the gang to go home and wait. They had only been allowed to be in the station because David worked there, but since he was out, they would just get in the way. Henry's eyes lit up with hope and he hugs David before the lieutenant gets into one of the cruisers. The others mirror his new spark of hope, even Neal looked at least optimistic.

"I promise I'll bring her home soon," David says.

...

Nova sets out with the detectives and cadaver dogs as they comb through the neighbourhoods. The police had managed to find the cell tower and were searching the area.

David walked along the streets, asking any passerby's if they had noticed anything suspicious or if they had seen Emma at all.

They finally reach a smaller neighbourhood with older and less than well cared for homes. That's when the dogs get very excited and bolt to a house closer to the end of the street. David's heart is pounding loudly as he runs to keep up with the dogs. He has his gun drawn in case this gets violent.

The dogs come to a halt at the front door of a small two storey house, they barking wildly and paw at the door. There's yesterday's newspaper on the front stoop and the curtains are drawn across the windows.

"Secure the perimeter," David orders, not wanting anyone to escape.

David has a very bad feeling about this house and he has his gun at the ready. He knocks on the door and waits several minutes for an answer. He rings the doorbell and knocks again, the dogs still going crazy, scratching at the door. He peers inside the windows, but cannot see very much, just a hallway leading to a kitchen. Several other police officers go around the house.

"Hey, Lieutenant?" Jack's voice comes over the radio.

"What is it?"

"We've got blood in the back hall."

One of the cadaver trainers comes up and the dog paws him the way she was trained to and whines. "Nyla can confirm that; she can smell blood in there."

"I'm breaking the door down," David warns.

David uses his boot and gives a good hard shove. After several attempts, the door practically comes off his hinges, opening forcefully with a large cracking sound. The lieutenant immediately rushes in and he can see the described blood on the floor. He prays that it's not Emma's and comes to the end of the hall, expecting an attacker, instead, he sees a woman with dirty blonde hair and a pale face lying next to the trail of blood that leads into the kitchen. David's stomach twists, thinking that this might be another one of the kidnapper's victims and she might be dead.

He rushes over, putting his gun in his belt and checking her pulse.

"Nova, call an ambulance, we've got an unconscious female who is bleeding but is still alive!"

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