“Cade, put those handcuffs down. You are not going to arrest me and I am not going to move into town so you can babysit me. I have work to do and I have a job to get back to when it’s done. I’m not staying here forever.” She stated as he stalked her with the handcuffs. A small look of disappointment crossed his face before he masked it
“I know that but, in the mean-time I don’t like you out here by yourself.” He stated with concern. She stopped when she hit the wall behind her and he loomed over her. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He stopped in front of her as he dangled the handcuffs in her face. She moved them aside and looked up at him.
“I appreciate your concern; I really do but I’m fine.” She said softly. God he was too close. She could smell his cologne which was spicy but subtle. His heat was intense and his lips looked soft and kissable. She had always wondered what it would be like to kiss him, even in high school. Now they were adults and nothing was stopping them. Except the fact that she was leaving eventually but she didn’t want to think about that. She couldn’t go back to Seattle anytime soon, at least not until the threat of Terrance was over. Hopefully her plan that she had concocted with Karen didn’t back fire on either of them. She trusted her friend to be discrete and she knew how to handle herself. But Ellie knew that if anything happened to her friend because of her, she would never forgive herself.
“Then at least agree to let me help you with this place. I’m a pretty decent carpenter and I fix things at mom and dad’s place all the time.” Cade stated putting the handcuffs back on his belt. The idea of Cade using the handcuffs for other reasons suddenly popped in her mind and she blushed just thinking about it. Cade must have read her mind because a twinkle formed in his eyes and a smirk.
“Great minds think alike.” He said playfully. She shook her head.
“Get your mind out of the gutter Cade Masterson. Fine, I will accept your help but I don’t know how you will do that with that big case you were talking about and I WILL pay you for helping me.” Ellie stated crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. Cade scowled and shook his head.
“You will NOT pay me and I have other people who will be helping with the case including the FED’s probably, which if you are one, I shouldn’t even be telling you about the case. Don’t think that you can use my job as an excuse.” Cade stated heading for the door. Ellie stopped him.
“Cade you are not going to come out here, work on my house and not get paid and I am not an agent, I just assist them from time to time with certain cases. I’m a profiler.” Ellie stated watching Cade look to her lips and then back to her face. He was making her nervous and she was worried that if he didn’t just get in his squad car and leave immediately, that she was going to do something to embarrass herself. She didn’t have to. He turned her around, backed her up against the door to her cabin and had his hands in her hair and mouth on her lips. Ellie was in shock at first but then felt herself relax into him. She heard a small moan and realized it was her that had made the sound. That caused Cade to intensify the kiss and she felt his tongue push its way inside her mouth. Heat exploded between them and it was all she could do to stop herself from screaming out for him to take her right there up against the door. But she barely knew him. He had been her infatuation in high school and he had saved her that night from the gunmen but that was it. She knew nothing about the man he had become. She finally pulled back and pushed her hands between them.
“Cade stop, I can’t.” She stated breathlessly. She moved out from his grasp and away from his intense energy. “I…I’m sorry. I just can’t.” She stated touching her lips and then turning around to face him. He was looking at her wildly and then she saw understanding in his eyes He had been caught up in the moment as well.
“No, Ellie. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I shouldn’t have come on to you like that. I’m an officer of the law. Please forgive me. I still want to help you and I promise that nothing will happen like that again.” Cade stated with conviction. Well, he didn’t have to say it like that. She had liked what had just happened and wouldn’t be upset if he did it again, but she didn’t want to start anything with Cade knowing she would be leaving. It wouldn’t be fair to him and she could very easily lose her heart to him.
“It’s ok. I kissed you back. I will accept the help.” Ellie stated. She wanted to see Cade while she was here, she just couldn’t give in to her desire for him. Cade nodded and started to leave.
“I have to get back to the scene and to the station. Oh, by the way, something weird about this case.” Cade stated. Ellie watched him turn slowly back to her.
“What about it?” Ellie asked.
“They found bodies in a large mass grave. Lots of them. Some fully skeletonized, some partially decomposed. It made me think of that night.” Cade stated. Ellie felt the air leave her lungs. She closed her eyes, took deep breathes, focus on the here and now, she said in her head. She was not going to go into one of her visions with Cade standing in front of her. She could control it; she had learned how and now was not the time to fall apart. She watched him move towards her and then stop himself. “Are you ok?” He asked. She took a breath and swallowed.
“Yeah, I mean why now, after all this time. Do you think it has anything to do with that night?” Ellie asked? Cade shook his head.
“I’m not sure but you don’t find a mass grave like that and not have something suspicious going on.” He watched her a for a few more minutes and then turned to walk away.
“Cade.” Ellie yelled. He turned around
“Yeah?” Cade asked.
“When are you coming back?” Ellie asked. He gave her a lopsided smile.
“When I’m invited.” He stated. He gave her a half salute, got in his car and backed out of her driveway. Ellie felt her heart melt and knew that Cade Masterson was going to be a big problem.
Chapter 4
Cade sat at his desk at the Sheriff’s Department looking through the police report that Chief Deputy Rogers had left before checking out for the night. On the surface, it looked like a complete report, evidence catalogued, time stamps seemed correct but little things stood out to him. The names of some of the deputies at the scene were left out, the ME arrival time didn’t match what the ME had in her notes, and the number of bodies found didn’t match with the ME’s report either. Not only that, but Hank had conveniently left out the part about him leaving his DNA at the scene.
Cade closed the file and sat back rubbing his eyes. It had been a long day and it wasn’t over yet. He was still waiting for the ME to give him a call with her preliminary report. There were too many bodies for him to go to every autopsy but he at least needed to know time of death if she could pin point it at all. Then there was Ellie. Elinora Ridley was back in town and damn if he didn’t know how to feel about that. He could have kicked himself for giving in and kissing her but damn if it didn’t feel good. Her lips had been soft and her little mews had almost been his undoing. If she hadn’t pushed him away and stopped their heated embrace, he might have done something stupid and begged her to let him take her right up against that wall. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn’t behave that way, his parents had taught him better but with Ellie, nothing ever was normal.
He didn’t know why he had volunteered his services to help her out at her house, when he knew that just being in her presence without touching her was going to be torture. The phone rang on his desk.
“This is the Sheriff.” Cade stated.
“Sheriff Masterson this is Alan Jeffries, the Deputy Director of the FBI in Madison, how are you doing sir?” said the man on the other end. Cade had been expecting the call but he figured it would be a week or two.
“Director Jeffries, I’m very well sir. How about yourself?” Cade responded.
“Well as good as can be expected under the circumstances. I hear you have one hell of a case up there and we want to offer some assistance if we can.” Director Jeffries stated. Cade had wanted at leas
t a few days to work the case without the FED’s moving in and closing them out. The fact was, several of the people in that mass grave had to be from Badger Falls. Many girls from the reservation and from the local area had come up missing and presumed as runaways over the last 20 years and Cade knew there had to be some kind of local connection.
“Yes sir, we have a big problem on our hands. Any assistance we can get would be appreciated.” Cade stated trying to sound diplomatic about it without saying he didn’t want the FBI taking over.
“Well, I would like to send some of my people to just check out the case, look at the crime scene and see what you have, if that is ok with you?” The director stated, basically asking permission to take over the case without out coming out and saying that they would indeed be taking over the case. Cade rolled his eyes. He hated political games but if he wanted to remain Sheriff, he knew that sometimes you just had to play nice and work with the FED’s whether you wanted to or not.
“Yes sir.” Cade hung up and blew out. He moved out from behind his desk and headed towards the conference room. A white board sat at the end of the room and he picked up a black marker and took off the cap. At the top of the board he wrote “Mass Grave Killing”. Underneath that he wrote Suspects on one side, Victims on the other. He stepped back and looked at the mostly blank white board. Not much to go on yet but it was his process. Get it on the board and then start adding daily during their morning meetings. He wasn’t excited about the FED’s coming into this case but Cade had a feeling that he was going to need their help. Something terrible had happened to all of those people and he owed it to them to push his pride aside and let the FBI help if they could.
A door opened behind him and the slim good-looking medical examiner walked through the door with a look of distress on her face. Megan Martin was 35 years old and the youngest medical examiner in the state. She was smart and beautiful and totally a nerd. Several officers had asked her out but she insisted that she wasn’t that beautiful and she would rather spend her time in a good book or watching Star Trek then going out on a date that would lead nowhere.
“Evening Doc. What has you looking so perplexed this evening?” Cade asked. She looked at him with a crooked smile and then sighed.
“Good word Sheriff, you have been doing those brain teasers I gave you for Christmas last year.” She stated. Cade had been offended at first but then realized she hadn’t meant it as an insult. She told him she liked him a lot and he was a lot smarter than he gave himself credit for and just needed a better vocabulary.
“I have, so…” Cade stated.
“Well you know it’s about those cases. This is going to take some time but just from my initial observation, it looks as though all of them are female, 14 to 18 years of age for the most part, with a few older ones in the mix. Mixed races, native, African American, Latino and Caucasian, all with blunt force trauma to the cranium, rope tied around their wrists and ankles. Some of the rope is still there but it’s hard to tell which victim it came from.” Megan stated. She pulled out files from her bag and laid them out on the table for Cade to look at. Pictures at the mass grave showed the bodies from different angles and there were 20 bodies total. Each one getting their own mug shot before the CSI techs pulled them from the pit.
“Any other similarities?” Cade asked. She shook her head.
“Not that I have found so far but honestly, it’s just the beginning. All of them have been taken back to my facility in Rhinelander and my techs will start cleaning the bones.” She said. Cade felt his stomach flipflop. He hadn’t eaten all day and the thought of his own bones being boiled made him want to vomit.
“Anything else Doc?” Cade asked. She pulled out one file and handed it to him.
“This is the only odd one in the bunch so far. She’s probably in her 20’s and she had no similar injuries, but the Hyoid bone is broken which leads me to believe she was strangled to death. I’m going to work on her first because maybe identifying her will start a chain reaction to finding out what happened to the other victims.” Megan stated as she put all her other files back into her bag. “I sent copies of all of my findings so far to your email but I was on my way home so I figured I would tell you in person.” She stated smiling at him. She raised a hand and spread her fingers wide. “Live Long and Prosper Sheriff.” She stated. Cade looked confused at first and then suddenly remembered her love for Star Trek.
“Oh, yeah same to you.” He stated. She shook her head and pulled her hand back.
“Sorry, I forget not everyone is a geek like me.” She stated blushing. He liked her but he just couldn’t see himself dating her. He enjoyed science fiction but he didn’t live it.
“Thanks Doc, for stopping by, when you get more let me know.” Cade said. She smiled and walked out the door. His stomach rumbled and he wondered if Ellie had eaten dinner. He said he wouldn’t go back until he was invited but he thought maybe he would just invite himself. He knew he was playing with fire, but the need to see her, outweighed his brain telling him to leave her alone.
Chapter 5
My Journal Entry
November 2008
My grandson contacted me today. Alex hadn’t been heard from since graduating and leaving. I am the only one who knows what he is really doing. My son thinks he joined the peace corps but I know better. He wanted to know about his sisters and if there had been any news about Allison. I had to disappoint him and tell him she was still missing. He had his reasons for leaving and they are his own secrets to keep or reveal. I told him what Ellie was doing and he said he was proud of her for making it on her own. I don’t like living with all the secrets and lies. It hurts me that my grandchildren are paying for the sins of their father. I fear I may die before I ever see all of my grandchildren again. Until next time
Greta
Ellie had finally finished putting plastic up over the windows and repairing the gutter that she had ripped off of the house when she fell. She was exhausted and she couldn’t get Cade out of her mind. Not only that, what he had told her about the mass grave had brought up memories she had tried desperately to ignore. She had snuck into town to get the items she needed at Home Depot just to avoid accidentally running into anyone she knew from her past. Of course, the one person she had thought of, dreamed of constantly for the last 14 years had been the one to see her hanging from the roof, watched her fall and had carried her into the house like a damsel in distress.
She walked into what was now her bedroom and then into the attached bathroom. She hadn’t even tried to see if there was hot water and moving to the bed and breakfast that Cade had suggested sounded more and more tempting by the minute. Then anger surged up in her. He thought she was a weak female and had to be rescued all the time but she wasn’t. He had no idea what she had endured and she would prove him wrong. She could take care of herself and wasn’t going to let something like hot water deter her from getting the cabin fixed and sold. She turned the knob and a groaning sound came from under her feet. She stepped back from the shower as dirty brown water spurted from the faucet and splashed into the bathtub. She pulled the handle to start the shower and it fell off into her hand. Water sprayed out all over the walls and onto the floor as Ellie tried to turn the water off. It was freezing cold and she could taste the grit in her mouth from the gross dirty water.
She finally got the handle turned far enough to stop the water from flowing out but now only a slow drizzle fell from the shower head. Well, it was better than nothing. She put her hand under the water and it was sort of warm. Sighing, she stripped out of her sweaty, dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. By the time she was as clean as she was going to get, the hot water had run out and the water was freezing cold. She shivered as she dried herself and wrapped her hair in a warm fluffy towel. She slipped on warm pajamas and was about to pop a microwave dinner into the oven when her phone rang. She looked at the number and realized it was the FBI office in Seattle. She answered immediately worried that something had happ
ened to Karen.
“Doctor Ridley.” She said.
“Doctor Ridley, this is Deputy Harris. Sorry to bother you on your leave but we have a situation and I was wondering if you could possibly help us out. In fact, where we need you is right where you are already.” He stated. Damn it. She knew exactly which case he was talking about and a bad feeling crept into her mind. Not only that, but Cade would be working for her. Usually if she was sent in as a profiler, the local police were ordered to stand down and let her and the other agents take over the case. He was NOT going to like it and she had to admit it didn’t make her feel good either. But it was her job. She didn’t need to work now; her grandmother had left her a sizeable inheritance, but she loved working.
“Yes sir, what’s the job?” Deputy Harris explained to her about the mass grave and that she would be meeting 2 agents at the Sheriff’s Department at 8am. She said good bye and put her phone down. How the hell was she going to explain this to Cade? He would probably think she had known all along about the case. A loud knock on her front door made her jump and had her shaking. Who the hell would be knocking on her door this late at night? She stepped closer to the door and the knock came again.
“Ellie, it’s me Cade.” The deep male voice called from the other side. She let out a breath and opened the door. He stood on her porch with a brown bag in one hand with a smell coming out of the bag that had her mouth watering and a cup holder with something steaming which smelled like coffee.
“I don’t remember ordering take out?” She said jokingly. He smiled at her.
“Well I was dying holding my breath waiting for an invitation so I decided to invite myself.” Cade said with an eyebrow raised. He held up the bag and shook it. Her stomach growled and she decided her hunger outweighed her stubbornness.
“I don’t have any plates.” She stated grabbing the bag and pulling him inside. He closed the door behind him and she heard him laugh.
Visions Of The Past Page 4
