Visions Of The Past

by Elizabeth Mahood

  “How are we going to explain me living with you Cade? This isn’t official business and I don’t want our case compromised because of our relationship.” Ellie said. Cade pulled into his garage and turned off the engine. He turned to her and put a hand on her cheek.

  “Honestly I don’t care what people think. Can you be professional when we are at work?” Cade asked. “Of course.” Ellie stated crinkling her brow at him. He leaned forward and kiss her brow and chuckled.

  “Ok then. What’s the problem?” He asked kissing her softly on the lips. He knew they had to get back to work but he wanted to let her relax after the scare at the bed and breakfast. “Come on. I’ll make you lunch and then we will go to the school. I think we need to check into Leslie’s activities there and see if any of the old teachers still remember anything about her.” She leaned into his touch and he saw desire in her eyes.

  “Just lunch?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. He felt himself harden.

  “Inside, now.” He growled.

  ✽✽✽

  Ellie walked into Cades house and expected it to be a total man house however what she saw thrilled her. He had put a lot of thought into the décor and the wood work was meticulous. The entry opened up into a large open room with vaulted ceilings and high windows looking out over his south lawn into the woods. A gourmet kitchen was attached to the dining area and a living room was just off the kitchen. Ellie turned around in circle looking at every angle she could see. She could see herself living in something like this. Like her apartment in Seattle, the windows were the money shot. She could see herself sitting in front of those windows, watching the sun come up or the snow fall with Cade. That thought made her stomach drop but in a good way. The idea of leaving Cade when the case was over and it was safe for her to return was starting to terrify her. She was getting used to him being in her life and perhaps he would move to the city with her. But Cade wasn’t meant for the big city. He was a midwestern boy, born and bred. Truth be told, she was starting to become tired of the city life. Being back in Badger Falls had made her realize how much she missed the small town feel kind of living.

  “What do you think?” Cade said, bringing her out of her fantasy. She looked at him as he watched her seeking her approval of his home. She smiled at him.

  “I think I’m very hungry.” She said watching his eyes dance with desire. He moved towards her and took her in his arms.

  “Well what kind of a host would I be if I didn’t feed my guest.” He said with a deep growl. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His mouth was on hers as he carried her into his bedroom. He set her down next to a large wood carved bed. “Ellie, you are so damn beautiful. I can’t stop wanting you.” He stated against her neck as he placed searing kisses down towards her collar bone. Her hands went to his thick hair as he unbuttoned her shirt quickly and pulled her bra down exposing her breasts. His mouth was on her nipple instantly and she threw her head back, sighing as he licked and sucked each one in turn. Heat pooled between her legs as he continued to torture her nipples over and over. He pushed her backwards on the bed and came down on top of her pulling her nipple back into his mouth once again. She arched up into him making him grind himself against her.

  “CADE!!” She whispered “Oh god Cade I want you.” She panted as she felt his hand move down her belly and to the button on her dress pants. Just as he was about to reach the spot, she ached to have him touch, Cade’s work phone rang. He pulled his hand out and looked at her with desperation.

  “Sorry baby, I gotta answer.” He said with a strained voice. She nodded at him as he reached back to the side table to grab his phone. “Yeah. What? Shit ok. I’m on the way. No cord it all off and don’t let anyone except the medical examiner in there. I’ll be there in 15.” He said looking at her exposed breasts like he had just been denied a steak dinner. She smirked at him as he hung up.

  “Rain check on lunch?” She said as she started to fix her clothes. He helped her off the bed.

  “Definitely. We have two bodies about a mile past your house. I guess it’s pretty bad. Do you want to ride along or stay here and take a nap? I might not be back for a while.” Cade stated trying to adjust himself back into his uniform. She looked down at the bulge still prominent in his pants. He shook his head when he caught her looking.

  “It’s a shame to let it go to waste.” She said giggling at him as he scowled at her. “I’ll ride along. Maybe I can help.” She said trying to keep her eyes off of Cade. He came up behind her and pulled her to him. His erection had reduced but only a little. She could feel it up against her bottom and she wiggled back into him.

  “If you keep that up, we won’t make it to the crime scene. I mean, they aren’t going anywhere but It won’t look good for the sheriff to show up so late to the scene.” He kissed her neck and turned her around. “Ready.” He asked. She kissed him and pulled back.

  “Yes Sir.” She said with a salute. He swatted her bottom as they headed out the door.

  Soon they were driving past her driveway and then made a turn down county road K. They pulled onto a backroad that incidentally ran along the back part of her property.

  “Cade, this is part of my grandmother’s property.” Ellie stated feeling apprehension start to creep into her mind. Cade looked at her and then back to the road.

  “Let’s just see what we have first before we jump to any conclusions.” Cade stated but he was feeling it too. Ellie could feel the tension and the energy shift in him. She stayed silent until they reached two county cruisers with lights flashing. The medical examiner had not arrived yet so they would have to be careful about what they touched but Ellie was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She hoped she didn’t have a vision out here in front of Cade’s deputies. She was able to explain herself to Megan, she wasn’t about to try and explain it to a bunch of cops.

  They got out and approached the two deputies standing in a grove of trees. They turned and waved at both of them.

  “Sheriff, Dr. Ridley, sorry to call you away from whatever you were doing sir but given the state of the bodies, I just thought you would want to be called in on this one.” Deputy Jackson stated. He looked to Ellie and then back to Cade. The other deputy nodded at Ellie but she felt unease coming from him towards her. They made eye contact but he turned away quickly. She wasn’t sure what that had been about but she tried to ignore it.

  “No, you were right to call. What do we have?” Cade stated moving forward towards the trees. Ellie followed him and then almost ran into him as he stopped quickly. He put his arm out.

  “Ellie, don’t.” Cade said. But she had already move around him and stopped in her tracks. She felt sick to her stomach. She could smell rotting flesh and the bodies on the ground were unrecognizable. Their faces had been smashed into bits of bone and brain matter which littered the ground around them. Next to the bodies were piles of bricks and as she moved closer, she saw the words. “Pay back is a bitch. Go home or Die.” She couldn’t breathe, Ellie felt her stomach lurch and moved over quickly to a bush. She started heaving and she felt a warm hand on her back.

  “It’s ok baby. Easy now.” Cade said softly. She saw him hand her a napkin and she wiped her mouth and took a deep breath. When she stood up, Cade was watching her with concern. He handed her a bottle of water and she rinsed out her mouth, spitting the water away from the scene into the woods.

  “I’m good. Sorry about that.” Ellie said starting to head back to the scene.

  “No, you can’t go over there. This is about you Ellie; someone is threatening you and now they are killing to prove a point. I don’t know what’s going on but I am not going to put you in the crossfire.” Cade stated.

  “I am already in the crossfire, bricks through my windows, blood on my walls, and now this. How much you want to bet that blood belongs to these two people. Someone is trying to prove a point and I’m not going to let them scare me off. That’s what they want.” Ellie stated, trying not to show Cade
that she was scared to death. Her first thought was Terrance. What if he had found her? Would he come all the way to Wisconsin, just to get her? He was on house arrest anyway, there was no way it could be him. But her fear of him made her think it could be possible. She would make a point to call Karen and get a report on his activities.

  “Fine, but you don’t go anywhere without me, are we clear.” Cade stated. She could see by the look on his face there was no negotiating.

  “Yes.” She said. He nodded and turned back towards the scene. She heard a car door and turned to see Megan Martin walking towards them with several crime scene techs in tow. She smiled as she neared.

  “Nora, good to see you again although maybe not like this. What do we have Cade?” She asked pulling on gloves and moving under the crime scene tape that Cade was holding up.

  “Two males I believe. Faces smashed in, presumably by those bricks but of course that is just a guess.” Cade stated moving back towards the bodies. Ellie moved up next to them both but she couldn’t stop looking at the bricks with the writing. They were taunting her and almost calling out to her. She moved over to look closer at them. She slid gloves on her hands before reaching down to touch the brick. She knew better than to pick it up before photos of the scene were taken but she just had an urge to touch. A cool breeze hit her face, men’s faces holding guns, Allison. “Allison” Ellie said on whispered breath. Allison was laying on the ground. It was cold, she was dirty and older but she still looked like her sister. “Allison!!” Ellie called out. She turned to look at her and recognition hit her. Allison moved her mouth. “Elinore!!” Ellie tried to reach out but was pulled back. “Allison!!!” She screamed.

  “Ellie.” Someone was saying. “Ellie honey come on. Talk to me.” Cade. She was on the ground with Megan and Cade kneeling next to her. The other two deputies were not in sight and she wondered if Cade had sent them off to do something else while she had her vision.

  “What, what happened.” Ellie said trying to sit up. Cade was watching her with concern.

  “You were screaming your sister’s name baby.” Cade stated holding her hand. She closed her eyes and tried to remember.

  “She, she was in a room, dirty and on the ground. She’s alive Cade. She’s older but she’s alive.” Ellie said with a sob. Cade looked at Megan and then back to Ellie. “You don’t believe me?” She said feeling embarrassed and concerned that Cade might start thinking she was a flake.

  “I believe you honey, but I’m worried your visions are getting worse. This is the second one you have had where you stopped breathing.” Cade stated with worry. Megan had a blood pressure cuff around her arm and was pumping it up.

  “Just hold still. I don’t want you getting up until your heart rate drops.” She stated holding up a figure so she could hear Ellie’s heart. After a few minutes, Megan pulled the stethoscope out of her ears and pulled the cuff off. “Ok, you are back to normal but Nora, this really concerns me. Next time, if you stop breathing, we will have to do CPR. You have been going too long not breathing.” Megan stated. Cade helped her sit up and handed her more water.

  “I think it’s time to get my grandmother exhumed. I don’t think she died of natural causes. Her visions were getting worse and she was getting sick. She was close to figuring out what was going on and then suddenly she died.” Ellie stated looking towards Megan. She sighed.

  “Ok, get me that warrant and I’ll call the pastor. I know you don’t have a good history with him. That will save you the trouble of having to ask.” Megan said smiling at her. Ellie could see being good friends with the nerdy doctor. She liked her and respected her.

  “You got it. We have to go talk to him anyway but that’s one less thing for us to worry about.” Stated Cade. “Megan, when do you think you can give us cause of death or identities?” Cade asked. Megan stood and headed back over towards the bodies. She moved all around the area before approaching.

  “Well, it looks like blunt force trauma will be the cause of death although I don’t like guessing. I’m going to guess again that those bricks are going to be the weapon of choice. Do you think we could get lucky and have finger prints in the system to identify the bodies?” Megan asked. Ellie didn’t think they could get that lucky.

  “I doubt it.” Cade stated. “If they are locals, someone will ID them pretty fast. Cross reference the blood from bricks that were thrown through Ellie’s windows a few nights ago, the blood that was found on her wall this am and the blood from these two victims and the blood on those bricks.” Cade stated pointing to the bricks Ellie had just been touching. She still couldn’t shake the vision and the idea that Allison was still alive and asking for her help gave her new motivation to help figure out what was going on.

  Megan continued to work alongside her techs and after a few hours, the remains of the two victims had been placed in black pouches and moved on two waiting gurneys’. Megan pulled her gloves off and put them inside the body bag and zipped them up.

  “I’ll start on them right away. The others have been missing for a long time and can wait. This is a priority now.” She said moving up next to them.

  “Thanks Doc. Let us know what you find.” Cade stated. She gave him a Vulcan salute which made Ellie smile since Cade had no clue what it meant.

  “Bye Nora. See you soon.” Megan said and walked back to her car giving orders to her techs. Ellie took deep breaths as the remaining techs loaded the bricks with blood and tissue into evidence bags and several other techs combed the area.

  “Now what? Ellie asked. Cade started leading her back to his SUV.

  “I need food.” He said with a grumble. “Our lunch got interrupted so we might as well really eat lunch.” He said with a pout. She smiled at him.

  “Ok well then the school after?” She said getting in and buckling her seat belt.

  ‘Yes, and then after that, your father.” Cade said pulling away from the scene.

  Ellie felt sick to her stomach again. She didn’t know if she could handle anymore visions today but she knew she needed to be prepared.

  Chapter 17

  Cade watched Ellie pick at her food. He had picked the boathouse for lunch because it was late afternoon and very few people would be out and about. They had gotten several looks from people when they walked in together and he could see by Ellie’s demeanor that it had put her in a bad mood. Not only that, but the vision she’d had out at the crime scene had been intense. She had been screaming her sisters name and reaching out like she had been just in front of her. Cade was starting to worry that being here in this environment wasn’t good for Ellie and that thought made him depressed. He didn’t want her to leave, but he also didn’t want to see her get hurt. He didn’t know what was going on, but whatever it was, someone had it out for her and he was worried that if he didn’t figure it out soon, something was going to happen to her. Another thought crossed his mind, and that was her attacker from Seattle. Ellie had told him the guy was on house arrest but if he wanted to get away and find her, Cade was sure he could probably figure it out. He made a mental note to remind himself to call the King County Sheriff’s Department and see just what Terrance Allen Jones was up to these days.

  “Are you going to eat that or stab it to death?” He asked her. She looked up.

  “What?” She said curiously, then looked down at the salad that had barely been touch. She looked back up at him and smiled weakly. “Oh, sorry. I guess I’m just not that hungry.” She said softly and put her fork down.

  “Ellie.” He said taking her hand. He felt her tense and then look around. He started to pull back but she took his hand firmly and smiled at him. “Are you ok. I…I’m worried about you honey. I don’t know if Badger Falls is good for you.” He stated. He didn’t want to push her away, but he needed to know what she wanted. She jerked her head up to face him.

  “You want me to leave?” She asked almost in a panic. He took her other hand.

  “Oh God no. I just…I’m scared baby. I don’t wan
t anything to happen to you and If something did happen, I would never forgive myself for not being able to protect you.” Cade stated feeling a desperate need to make her understand. “I…that is…I like having you here but your visions are killing you.” Cade said watching her stare deep into his soul. It made him nervous and he had to look away. Ellie was the only one who could see deep into his mind and he wasn’t sure he wanted her all the way in his subconscious. There were some things he had never told anyone about his army days and he would very much like to keep it that way, but with Ellie, it was hard to hide anything.

  “There is a deep plot going on here Cade. It goes deeper than me and I can’t leave now. It has to do with my father, my sister, Leslie Cooper and now all these things happening to me. Someone is trying to scare me into leaving so the truth isn’t revealed and I am not about to give up on my sister or those women in the grave. They deserve justice.” She stated vehemently. He squeezed her hands and pulled one to his mouth and kissed it. She didn’t resist and it made him feel good that she was starting to be comfortable with them in public. They ate their lunch and just as they were leaving, Hank Rogers stepped out behind them from the restaurant

  “Well, well. What do we have here? The piece of shit Sheriff out fucking around with the looney tune “FBI” profiler. I’m not surprised, I’d fuck her too if I was a big shot sheriff.” Hank stated slurring his words and stumbling forward towards Ellie. Cade stepped in between.

  “Hank, you have been drinking. How about I call you a ride and you go sleep it off.” Cade stated pulling out his phone. Hank knocked the phone out of Cade’s hand.

  “Fuck you. I don’t need you to do shit for me. You and your daddy fucking rigged the damn election so I had to be second in command again and kiss your ass. Well, guess what you don’t know shit about this town man. You have no idea what’s going on behind your back and right in front of your face. And you missy, your daddy should have whipped your ass more and maybe you wouldn’t be such a fruit cake, yeah that’s right I know about your little psycho vision bullshit. You should join your mommy in the looney bin.” He snarled. Cade felt rage as he surged forward and punched Hank in the nose. Ellie screamed behind him.