Many thanks to Cee for the edits.
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Shrugging his jacket off as he got back to his desk, Jim hung it on the back of his chair and then sat at his desk. He tried to make sense of the information Donna had given him about the kidnapping and its aftermath; how hardly anyone in the state had even known that Courcy had a teenage daughter, let alone tragically losing a wife in a forest fire. Of course, none of it even connected to the dampener raid or the taking of the guides. There were no grounds for suspecting Courcy, but Jim just knew the man was involved somehow. And why bother to land yourself with five prisoners to handle when taking Blair would have had the same effect? Jim stared at the empty chair at Blair's desk wishing he were explaining it all to Blair; he would be able to see which piece of information was important and which wasn't.
"Jim-"Jim whirled around to face the intruder. Rafe took a step back and held up his hands. He inclined his head in the direction of the break room and said, "Jim, Naomi's in the break room."
Jim sniffed the air and recognised the smell of sage. How had he missed that when he walked in? He asked, "How long has she been here?"
Rafe glanced at his watch. "About twenty minutes." He looked apologetic. "The desk sergeant kept her waiting downstairs for a while before he called up. The break room seemed the best place for her to wait, you know just in case…."
"Good thinking, Rafe." He began to go over to the break room and then stopped, turned back and asked, "Any other messages for me?"
"Yeah, Hayes said that Curtis was happy with the phone installation. He said that he'd double checked the wiring downstairs just to make sure that nothing screwed up."
Jim just nodded in reaction to that news. Inside he was happier that he – that Major Crimes he corrected himself- would now have access to the GDP unit's movements. "Thanks, Rafe." Before Rafe could say anything else, Jim walked across to the break room. He glanced through the window before he opened the door and saw Naomi curled up on one of the chairs, head bowed. He opened the door quietly and said, "Naomi."
Naomi looked up as soon as the door opened and wiped her face. "Jim! I came as soon as I heard." She went on to explain, "Roger had difficulty meditating yesterday, a last minute problem with the contractors at the institute. So I meditated with him. It was wonderful! Roger said he felt cleansed afterwards. Anyway, I was exhausted, so I went straight to bed. I didn’t hear until breakfast."
Jim sat down and covered Naomi's hand with one of his; he didn’t quite know for whose comfort - hers or his own. "He'll be all right, Naomi, I'm sure of it."
Naomi nodded and confirmed, "I'm sure he will be." She removed her hand from Jim's and asked, "Who is it? Do you know yet?"
Jim shook his head. "All we have is supposition. Nothing concrete to go on."
Naomi bit her lip again and then asked, "The news said there was a dead guide."
Jim flinched internally, the too new memories of hearing Smith cry out in pain, the nightmare that had jerked him out of his sleep … with difficulty he banished the images from his brain and nodded. "We don’t know why yet. It was a guide from out of the city."
Naomi nodded. "I heard that. His sentinel must be in so much pain." After a few moments of quiet, Naomi asked, "Why aren't you out searching for them? The people that took them could be anywhere by now. Roger was shocked when he found out that you, I mean, that there was no active search parties out."
"How did Roger find that out?"
Naomi shrugged and commented, "What? Oh, it was on the news broadcast wasn't it? I was in the shower; Roger told me when I came down to breakfast."
Jim absorbed that information and then explained, "The weather makes it too dangerous to be out without a clear search plan. It's a large area to search. If we're not organised, we may miss them. I'm not letting them get away with this, Naomi. It'll just take time."
Naomi took hold of Jim's hand again. "I know you won’t., You and Blair share something special; you won’t let go of that easily." Naomi squeezed Jim's hands and said, "Thanks for taking the time to see me, Jim. I know you're busy. I'll go back to the loft and light a candle. Blair will appreciate that. Keep me informed of any developments." Naomi stood up and collected her purse and slung it over her shoulder.
Jim sighed; he'd totally forgotten to call Naomi last night. "I'm sorry, Naomi. I just…."
Naomi smiled briefly. She put up a hand as if to ward off the apology. "It's okay, Jim. I know you had a lot on your plate last night; I know it wasn't deliberate. Any other sentinel … but not you." She reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I'll be at the loft for a little while and then Roger's apartment if you need to reach me." Jim opened the break room door and said, "I promise, the minute I hear anything I'll call."
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Curtis was rudely awakened from her doze by the sound of her phone ringing. She snatched up the receiver and said, "Yes?"
The metallic voice said, "The frequency is 143.3. It should be active within the next few hours, if it hasn't been activated already. If Ellison hasn't moved by this afternoon, you know what to do."
Curtis swallowed and replied, "Yes, I do."
"Good. The payment will be in the account by the usual date." Before Curtis could answer, the connection was terminated.
Curtis stretched and looked out of the window. It was still raining and windy. It didn't matter to her; her promotion leave would be spent somewhere sunny and warm.
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As Jim re-entered the bullpen, he immediately noticed Edwards and David standing by his desk. He also registered the sentinel that stood by Edwards. He almost smiled as he heard Blair's voice in his ear describing the two sentinel-guide pairs. 'Dark suits, dark ties, identical creases in the shirts.' As he approached the group, he looked to his deputy for an explanation and an introduction.
"Senior Prime, this is Sentinel Walton. His guide is- "
Jim finished the introduction; the names of the guides had become ingrained on his soul over the last twelve hours. "Mark." He held his hand out in greeting.
"Why are you still here?" Walton moved towards Jim. The sentinel stared hard at the Prime. "It's light now."
Lisa moved to insert herself between the Prime and the angry sentinel. Jim stilled her movement with a hand gesture. Fighting down the instinctual urge to respond to the challenge that Walton was unconsciously issuing, Jim answered mildly, "The storm is still active. We wouldn't get anywhere searching in the forest in this sort of weather."
"What about the danger to our guides? I should never have agreed to Mark being in the same bus as the Prime; I should have known that it was too dangerous."
Jim heard the low growls that came from Lisa and Edwards. Jim could feel the dark sentinel come to the fore. Resisting the urge to blast the sentinel away, Jim made an effort to soften his stance. Conscious of the stares that the group were receiving from the rest of the crowded bullpen, Jim placed a hand on Walton's arm and pushed him a little towards Simon's office. He said gently, "In there, we'll deal with this in there."
The group moved into the office. Simon rose from his chair as the group of five walked in. Before Simon could say anything, Jim said, "This is Sentinel Walton. Mark, his guide, was taken with Sandburg."
Simon moved from behind his desk, standing a little back from the rattled group. Addressing Walton, Simon said, "We're doing all we can to get them back safe."
"We've never spent a night apart in all the time that we've been bonded." Walton sagged. He wiped a hand over his face and hair. "I can't feel him at all."
David, taking control of the situation, ushered Walton to a chair at the conference table. He gave Edwards a glance, and when Edwards nodded , David bent down over the ragged sentinel. Edwards watched the pair for a little while, then apparently satisfied at what he saw, he turned back to Simon and Jim.
Simon sat back down behind his desk and asked quietly, "Any progress, Jim?"
Jim sat down on the edge of Simon's desk and shrugged. "No proof of anything but…."
Edwards coughed and shifted a little. Simon looked at the detective and then back at Jim. Simon snapped, "But what, Detective?"
"I don't know. There's something staring us in the face, and I don't know what it is. " Jim's right hand curled up into a fist; his left flexed and stretched.
"The thing that's staring us in the face, Prime, is that six GDP personnel were killed, five guides kidnapped, a guide killed, and Commander Slater taken," Lisa said.
Jim, astonished at Lisa's aggressive tone, looked around and saw that all, apart from David and Walton, were watching him to see how he would react. He turned to stare at Lisa until the younger sentinel broke her gaze to look at the floor. Jim turned his attention back to Simon. With a deceptively mild tone in his voice he commented, "That's the problem, Simon. Complete overkill. Even Donna James said this morning that the guides had been taken in the most bloody manner possible. It’s like we're being given an invitation that we can't resist."
"What are you saying? That Mancini wants to take the Clan, GDP, and the Cascade PD on, all at the same time? I can understand it maybe, if you were talking about a radical wing of the GLA or a terrorist group, but there's nothing to indicate that Mancini is involved with any of those groups."
"I know, Simon, I know." Jim rubbed his temple. "That's what I can't figure out. That's why I don’t want anyone to rise to the bait. We don’t know what we're going to be facing out there."
"But Mancini might have a motive,” Edwards commented, “I mean you said he was a .…" Edwards stopped when Jim made a shushing gesture. Edwards nodded and turned to his guide and instructed him to take Walton out into the bullpen. David obeyed immediately. Lisa locked the door behind the pair. To complete the security precautions, Edwards brought out a pocket white noise generator and switched it on.
Barely waiting until the white noise generator was operating, Simon demanded, "Jim said Mancini was a what?"
"He's a guide." Jim answered avoiding Simon's astonished gaze. "That little trip I took yesterday, the witness overheard a conversation where it was explicitly mentioned that he was a guide."
Simon leaned back in his chair. He looked directly at Jim and asked, "Why didn't you happen to mention this fact last night, Detective? I'm sure the GDP will want to know that."
Jim just looked back at Simon and said, "Seeing as we found some dampeners with his fingerprints on them, it can hardly be that big a surprise can it?"
Simon pressed his lips together and frowned at Jim, who returned the stare unflinchingly. After a few moments of this silent trade off, Simon said, "I guess not." He leaned forward, "I don't want to be left out of the loop with any information concerning this investigation, is that clear?" Simon waited until Jim nodded before continuing, "any information that comes into this office will not leave it unless specifically asked for by the GDP. If Curtis asks me whether Mancini's a guide, then I'll have to tell her what we know. Until then it will stay within this office. Besides those of us in this room, who else knows?"
"Niven, , Karl, Jon."
Simon nodded. "Lets keep it that way. So, Jim, what have you done this morning?"
"Had coffee with Donna James. Lisa, did you get the license of that grey Saturn?"
"Yes, Prime. Want me to run it?" Jim nodded. Lisa took it for the dismissal it was and left the office.
Edwards cleared his throat. "She didn’t mean to question your motives., We all want - " "I know what you all want,” Jim snapped, “don't you think I want that too?" Jim stepped away from the desk and went over to the windows. With an effort he refocused on the case. Looking over at Edwards, Jim asked, "Found anything on Jonas and Smith yet?"
Edwards shook his head. "I'm working on it. SWAT specialists don't tend to spend a lot of time at their desks." Edwards paused and asked, "Did James say anything about Mancini's sentinel?"
"No, she didn't. But I know who his first sentinel was."
Simon raised an eyebrow. "First sentinel?"
"Yeah, first." Jim sighed and moved over to Simon's desk. He picked up the Courcy kidnapping file. He handed it to Edwards. "Seven years ago Mancini kidnapped Meggie Courcy, seventeen year old daughter of Roger Courcy, . Courcy received a ransom demand for three million dollars. According to the file, Courcy elected to handle the situation with only the aid of the local police. Something happened when his security people were handing the money over and there was a shoot out. When it was over, the security chief and his guide were dead along with one of the gang members, one Mickey Rossetti. The feds that were brought in afterwards found the gang's hideout but no hostage. Mancini didn't surface for three months. He didn't even attend the funeral of his good friend Rossetti."
Simon digested the information for a moment and then said, "So Mi… your informant yesterday identified Mickey as Mancini's sentinel?"
Jim nodded. "She wouldn't know about the kidnapping and its aftermath because she was in isolation by then."
Edwards frowned. "So he's obviously got himself another sentinel then. Who?"
Jim leaned against Simon's desk. He folded his arms and said, "Well, that's the kicker. We know that Courcy has at least one heightened sense and that someone in Mancini's gang knows plants."
"Meggie Courcy?" Simon grimaced. "Are we looking at a Patty Hearst situation here?"
Jim thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. That's a possibility but … I just don't know, Simon. If she is a sentinel, naturally the dynamics of the relationship would be that she was the lead." Jim shrugged, "maybe this is a way of getting back at her father; you know what teens can be like. I'm not a psychologist." "So where does Courcy fit into this?" Simon asked. "Maybe his coming to Cascade was the catalyst. I don't know, Simon. Maybe the original kidnap was another set up. Donna seemed to indicate that there was a two-week gap between Meggie’s kidnapping and the attempted exchange "Any sightings of her recently? What about bringing the feds in on this?" Edwards asked.
"Another agency?" Simon's voice rose another notch.
Jim shook his head. "No, we don’t need anyone else. Simon, can someone go through Donna's file with her? Just to check that we're not missing anything, oh, and while they're doing that, they can also check the news reports this morning."
"What for?" Simon barked.
"Just something Naomi said. She said that Roger Courcy told her that we didn’t have any active search parties out yet. Said that snippet of information came from the news broadcasts. I'd like to know who is speaking to the press."
Simon searched for the subtext in what Jim was saying. When he found it, he frowned. "I'll get the texts of the statements and broadcasts checked. Rafe and Brown can do that as well as checking Donna James's file. I'll get them on it straightaway." Simon got out of his chair and ventured out into the bullpen.
While Simon was gone, Edwards asked, "Courcy? The 'sentinels are genetic throwbacks' guy?"
Jim nodded. "One and the same. I guess his attitude stems back to the kidnapping. Donna told me that Courcy left Meggie under the protection of his sentinel security chief while he went on a rare business trip. You can guess the rest."
Edwards grimaced. "They were bonding and didn't react when the alarms were taken down?"
Jim nodded. "Anyway, that's immaterial now. We've got to decide what our plan is going to be for finding them. They could have covered quite a distance before the storm hit." Jim grabbed a map of the greater Cascade area and spread it out on the conference table.
Edwards leaned over the map and asked, "Did the GDP find any tracks before the area was closed?"
"I don’t know. Curtis hasn't told me if they did. I'll call upstairs and get her to send everything down to me."
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From the corner of his eye, Roger Courcy saw the light flashing on the communications console in front of him. He turned his head away from the TV screen to look at it. He paused the tape he was playing and picked up his phone. "Yes?" He listened briefly to his caller and then snapped, "She's nothing to worry about. She doesn't know anything; nothing that will lead them to me."
Courcy listened to the caller for a few more moments and then said, "By the time we are in position, I am sure Senior Sentinel Prime Detective Ellison will have succumbed to the pressure of his instincts and be out in the field., I'm sure Curtis will be able to guide them to the right position at the right time; that's what I pay her for isn't it? " His caller interrupted with a comment. Courcy replied, "Even if they did go into the field now, where would they start? Curtis would make sure they started well away from the relevant areas. "
Courcy looked back at the TV screen.; It showed the blurred picture of a young woman dressed as a hippie holding a guitar by her side. Absently, Courcy traced his fingers over the screen. With a wrench he turned back to his phone conversation. "I want to be left alone for a while. Don’t worry. By the time we're ready for them, Ellison's clan will perform their role just like the good instinct driven sentinels they will be by then." Courcy glanced at his watch. "We'll leave in sixty minutes. Curtis should have done what I asked her to do by then." Without a word of goodbye Courcy hung up the phone.
Courcy turned back to the screen and began playing the tape again. After watching the young woman laugh and then strum a few chords of 'Let it be', he murmured, "Jenny, Meggie used to love that song. Bet you played it a lot at the commune didn't you? You understood why I told the GDP don't you? They would have found out eventually. I thought you and Meggie could have come away from there and live with me. The commune was no place for you, no place for a growing girl like Meggie." Courcy paused and wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, she was beautiful. She looked just like you. But then that man Mancini took her away. She's different now. Just like you, she changed. Is it the senses? Does being a sentinel make you like that?"
Courcy paused as he saw the tape had come to a stop. He ejected it and reached for another one. He watched coldly as the pair on the screen bonded, obviously unaware that their bonding was being filmed. The film was dark due to the covert circumstances in which it was made, but Courcy didn't need to see the female involved. The voice that she used to initiate the bond with Mancini was the same voice that had just a few years prior to the recording been calling him Daddy. As the tape ended thirty minutes later, Courcy whispered, "Is this my punishment, Meggie? Is this my punishment for telling the GDP that the commune contained rogue guides? Did you find the papers in my office, or did Brook tell you about the observation he did when he took you painting?" Courcy shook his head, "You won't ever get to tell me, Darling. Naomi was right when she told me it was time to let go of my pain. You'll lie with your mother, I promise, you'll both be together again soon. Don't worry; it'll be quick. There won't be any pain. The people I'm sending are the very best."
After a moment's pause, Roger got out of his chair and moved to the window that dominated his office. In front of the window was a small table on which sat a single candle. Roger lit the candle and sat down to meditate on cleansing his aura.
TBC - Chapter 13
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