New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
Independence
by Suzie
Summary: 4th of July 1997. Blair joins Search & Rescue.
Disclaimer: Some of the characters in this story belong to the UPN Network and Pet Fly Productions as part of the television show The Sentinel. I do not claim these characters as my own. No money has changed hands.
Notes: Hiya ~ Just a quick note. This story was bound to happen. <G> I am a member of an urban search and rescue unit and my DEM number is 1058. (DEM = Department of Emergency Management) 99% of the procedures mentioned in this story are actual. I just wanted to get on my little soapbox here and say that, though I wrote this story for fun and entertainment, I do take S&R *very* seriously and the procedures we have to follow are *very* strict. S&R is *not* a game! Bob Tilley and Randy Davis are two people in my unit. This story is not based on any one search that we've been involved in, but is a culmination of several of the more memorable searches that have happened over the past five years. Oh yeah, the only reason Blair's unit uses their DEM numbers for call-signs is because I didn't want to get into the amateur radio license/call-sign thingy.
HT = Handy Talky (radio)
Thank you oh wise and wonderful Beta Beast! (Can't you just see me bowing at her feet <hee hee>)
Wednesday evening ~~ July 1st
Blair rushed off the little elevator, nearly dropping the paper bag he carried as he pulled his backpack onto one shoulder, and hurried towards the loft. He was excited, nearly giddy, as he fumbled with his key to the loft's door. "Damn ... c'mon!" he cursed, trying to fit the key in the lock. Finally, he pushed the door open and burst into the loft. "JIM!" he called loudly, making his way to the dining table. "Hey, Jim!" Blair yelled, depositing his things on the table.
"I'm comin'," Jim called from his upstairs bedroom. "Stop hollerin'!"
"Jim, come down here ... please," Blair called, trying to keep his voice down. "Hurry!"
A quick check of the younger man's vitals told the Sentinel that something had happened. Blair's heart was racing, his breathing was quick, and he was mumbling to himself excitedly.
"What is it Chief?" Jim questioned, as he hurried down the stairs.
Blair pulled a bright orange vest out of the paper bag he had just set on the table and held it up in front of himself. "What do ya think?" he beamed. "Is it my color?"
Jim stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stared for a moment. Then a grin spread across his face and he said, "You passed?! I mean ... I knew you would, but ... you passed!"
Blair bounced as he nodded, his bright blue eyes excited as he slipped the vest on and turned a slow circle. "Oh man ... I can't believe it!" he laughed, as he faced his friend again.
Jim stepped over to Blair saying, "You look great buddy."
"Twelve weeks! Twelve weeks of sitting through films and seminars, the training, reading the manuals, first-aid and CPR classes!" Blair shook his head in wonder, "I can't believe I actually did it, Jim."
"Well, believe it!" Jim said, getting caught up in Blair's excitement. "You did it!" Without warning he pulled his best friend in for a bear hug, "I am *so* proud of you."
Blair hugged the big man back, "Thanks big guy that means a lot." He pushed back away from Jim, saying, "Hey ... look at this." Blair retrieved a box from the bag. "I've got my very own badge now," he said, opening the box to show Jim the shiny, silver object.
Jim picked the badge up and read, "Urban Search and Rescue. Unit 29."
"1058 is my DEM number," Blair beamed. "I am like *soo* official now."
Jim pinned the badge to the vest Blair was still wearing. "You sure are Chief. Why don't we go out and celebrate? My treat."
A muffled beeping sound could be heard from the paper bag on the table.
"What's that? A pager?" Jim asked.
"The unit issued me a pager," Blair answered, digging the little black box out of the bottom of the bag. "Bob Tilley, our unit commander, said he'd be testing these tonight. I gotta call in."
**********
Friday afternoon ~~ July 3rd
"NO! I Won't Do It! You *CAN'T* Make Me!" fifteen year old Colleen Marple yelled at her mother.
"Sweetheart," Shirley Marple said, trying to reason with the girl. "If you don't take the summer class you won't have the credits to graduate next year."
"I ... Don't ... CARE!" Colleen cried angrily. "I spent all winter at school mom! I refuse to spend summer there too! Besides ... what good is history anyway?!" she whined. "It's only stuff that's *already* happened! I don't think it'll do me any good in the future!"
"Colleen, it's a required course," Shirley said, keeping her voice soft and non-threatening. "You know that. Whether you need it in the future, or not, is not the issue. You need the credit to graduate from high school."
Colleen turned her back to her mother, arms crossed defiantly.
"Colleen ... sweetheart ... it's only a four week class. Can't you at least try it?"
Tears flowed down the young girl's cheeks as she shook her head.
"Please?"
With that, Colleen bolted out the front door of the house.
Shirley Marple collapsed down in a chair at the dining table. She seriously wondered if she would survive her daughter's teenage years.
Colleen ran until she was out of sight of her house, then she slowed to a fast walk. I'll go over to Terri's house, she thought tearfully. I *will not* spend my summer in school! I refuse!! I'll run away if I have to! Colleen knew her best friend, Terri, would help her. I can make it on my own.
She didn't pay any attention to the van as it pulled over to the curb just ahead of her, so Colleen was startled when a man stepped out to block her path.
**********
Saturday ~~ 3am ~~ July 4th
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Blair jerked awake at the shrill sound of his pager. "Oooh, man," he groaned.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
"Shit!" Blair cursed, quickly reaching for the noisy object on his night table.
The pager read, "Missing female, 15yrs, b/b, approx 5'5", 100lbs. Report 6134 12th St N."
Suddenly it dawned on Blair what was happening. "OhmyGod! A search!" he said, as he jumped out of bed and started pulling his clothes on.
"Chief?" Jim called sleepily. "What's goin' on?"
Blair hurried out of his room. "I got a search, Jim!" He grabbed the phone. "Fifteen year old girl." Blair punched in his call-out person's phone number.
Jim wandered down the stairs to the living room in his boxers.
"Yeah ... this is Blair Sandburg. I'm on my way to 6134 12th St. N." Blair listened for a moment, then said, "Yes, I have the description. I'm leaving right now."
"Want me to go with you?" Jim yawned.
Blair grinned at his friend, "No Jim, go back to bed." He slipped the orange vest on over his windbreaker. "Sorry I woke you man."
"S'okay Chief. Drive careful ... don't hurry," Jim told him as they walked to the door. "Got your cell phone?"
"Yeah," Blair said, patting his coat pocket.
"Be careful out there, okay?"
Blair nodded, "I will."
"Gimme a call later if you get a chance."
"'Kay ... see ya later Jim," Blair said as he slipped out the door.
Jim closed and locked the door. He'll be fine Ellison, he thought as he turned off the lights and headed back up to bed.
**********
Fifteen minutes later, Blair reached the house at 6134 12th St. N. He was among the first of his unit to arrive.
"Okay, this is what I have," the unit commander told the group. "Her name is Colleen Marple. She's been missing approximately twelve hours. She's fifteen, about 5-foot 5-inches tall, 100 pounds. Brown hair and eyes. Last seen wearing loose fitting denim jeans with a pink shirt and pink Keds, and a denim jacket." Tilley passed photocopies of a picture of the girl along with the description to the unit members. "Colleen had an argument with her mother, so there is a possibility she's hiding or has run away. But, she's apparently not seen or spoken to any of her friends since she left the house, and she has not run away before." Passing out maps with a search grid marked out for each team, Tilley said, "I know this is a first for some of you. If you don't know the area, team up with someone who does. Stay within your grid and report in every ten minutes. When you finish your grid search let me know. Any questions?"
There were none to be heard.
"Okay people ... go sign out an HT, and head out. Your DEM number is your radio call-sign."
**********
"Come!" Simon growled at the knock on his door.
"Hey Simon," Jim began as he entered the captain's office. "You know anything about a missing girl reported last night?"
"Morning Jim," Simon smiled. "Just that there's a fifteen year old girl missing. Heard it on the news this morning Why?"
"Sandburg got called out at 3am this morning to help look for her. I was just wondering if there's been any word yet."
Simon gave the detective a *I know what you're thinking* look and said, "Don't even look for reason, Jim. There's no reason for you to go out there."
"I just thought I could ..."
"No! The kid will be fine. Let him call you if he needs to."
Jim pursed his lips and frowned.
Simon gave his friend an amused look and said, "I saw your desk. It's not like you don't have anything to do."
Jim chuckled softly, "Yeah yeah." He sighed, "You're right, Blair will be fine." I just have to convince myself of it.
"Of course he will be," Simon agreed, hoping that it would be the truth. "Now, if you can get through half that paperwork on your desk by noon I'll buy you lunch."
Jim grinned, "You're on!"
**********
Blair teamed up with Randy Davis. A big, burly, man in his late forties, with short bushy hair on his head and face that reminded Blair of a big teddy bear. Randy had been in the unit for almost five years and had taken a liking to Blair and his enthusiasm. And Blair like Randy because ... well ... he smiled a lot.
They had been at it since 4am. Driving up and down streets and alleys in Randy's old Jeep Wrangler, shining their searchlights into every darkened corner they came to. They had even checked all the dumpsters in the area. Blair found it exciting, frustrating, and a little scary all at the same time. Every time he had shown the light into a blackened space, or pushed the lid up on a dumpster, his heart pounded for the moment it took to discover that there was no body there.
By 10am Blair and Randy had finished a thorough search of their grid and went back to base for some food and coffee. The Red Cross had arrived earlier with breakfasts donated by a local McDonald's.
Taking one of the now slightly soggy and barely warm Egg McMuffins along with his cup of coffee, Blair sat down on the curb in front of the Red Cross van. He took a bite of the sandwich and found the damp texture rather distasteful, and couldn't tell if it was soggy from sweating in its wrapper or the grease ... or both. At least the coffee's hot, Blair thought as he tried to wash the McMuffin down.
After he finished eating, Blair pulled his cell phone out and punched speed dial number one.
"Ellison," Jim sighed into the receiver.
"Hey Jim, it's me," Blair said.
"Hey Chief. How's it going?"
"Not too good. There hasn't been any sign of her at all," Blair said wearily. "I was just takin' a break and thought I'd call."
Jim could hear how tired and frustrated his Guide was. "Have you eaten?" He asked, knowing how Blair tended to forget *little* details like food.
"Yeah ... just now," Blair smiled. "It wasn't great, but it was food." Looking up he noticed Randy waving to get his attention. "Look, Jim, I gotta go back out. I'll try to call again later, 'kay?"
"Sure Chief, keep me informed ... and be careful," Jim said. His tone giving away the ever-present concern he felt for his friend. Remember ... you're not a cop.
"I will big guy. Bye." Blair pushed the cell phone into his coat pocket and jogged over to where Randy stood next to his Jeep. "Anything new?"
"Yeah," Randy smiled. "A couple of kids saw a girl matching Colleen's description being forced into a light blue Astrovan. It happened about two blocks from here at a time that corresponds with the time she ran from the house."
"That's great!" Blair grinned excitedly as he pushed his hair out of his face. "So now what do we do? Go back out to look for light blue Astrovans? Those kids didn't by chance get a license did they?"
"039 PTU," Randy replied. "And, yes, that's *exactly* what we're going to do. The Sheriff wants us to do a house to house, ask people if they've seen the van, the girl, or the guy that the kid's saw driving it."
"I'm impressed!" Blair said, as he bounced with growing excitement. "So they got a description of the driver?"
Randy loved to see this reaction in people. "Tall, over six-feet, skinny, wearing green coveralls. Dark, shoulder-length, straight hair, mid-thirties. Not a great description, but not too bad for two kids lookin' out an upstairs window. In fact one of the two lives right over there," he said, indicating a house across the street.
Blair looked at the house across from where they stood. Two young faces, not more than twelve years of age, peered out from the front room window. Raising a hand, Blair gave a short wave to the boys. They both grinned widely and waved back. Blair then reached for the door of the Jeep, "What're we waitin' for? Let's get goin'!"
"My sentiments exactly!"
**********
A small, unfurnished room, its single window boarded up on both the inside and outside, and the door locked with a deadbolt. There was no light, no sound, save the sobs of one very frightened fifteen-year-old girl.
Her face was bruised and swollen from the beatings she'd endured and the crying she had done nonstop since her kidnapping. The man had threatened numerous times that he would rape her, and Colleen had no doubt that he would ... eventually ... before he killed her.
"Mommy," Colleen sobbed quietly into the darkness. "Help me! I need you!"
**********
Simon walked out into the bullpen and spotted Jim coming out of the break room with a mug of coffee. "Hey Jim," the captain said as he met the detective at his desk. "There's been a break in Sandburg's search."
Jim raised his eyebrows as he sat down.
"I ... ah ... made a couple of calls," Simon explained. "I was curious."
"And?" Jim smiled.
"A couple of kids saw the girl get kidnapped. The search teams now have a description of the van and the driver."
"Great! But why didn't the kids say something sooner?"
Simon shrugged, "Probably scared ... or didn't think anyone would believe them. But at least the Teams have something to works with now."
Jim nodded his understanding.
"Well it's noon. How're you doing here?" Simon smiled as he looked at the shrinking pile of paperwork scattered on Jim's desk.
Jim sighed, "Not as well as I thought sir. Having some problems finding some of the lab work on several of the files. Didn't quite make it through half."
It's not for a lack of trying, Simon thought to himself. He did make some excellent progress though. The captain smiled, "Well, it's close enough, and I'm hungry."
"You don't have to Simon. A deal's a deal after all."
"I'm in a good mood, take advantage of it."
"Yes sir," Jim grinned as he stood.
**********
It was 3pm when Randy pulled the Jeep over to the curb on the edge of their new grid pattern. Blair rubbed his hands over his face and yawned.
"How ya holdin' up?" Randy asked; looking as tired as Blair felt.
"I'm okay."
"You can call it quits any time you know, you're a volunteer, there's no need to kill yourself doing this. There's plenty of Teams out here if you wanna go home and get some z's."
Blair smiled, "No, I'm fine ... really. How 'bout you?"
"I've just gotten used to it. As long as I stay busy, I'll be fine." Randy gave Blair copies of a map of their new grid and a list of addresses. "Okay, let's go. Remember to stay in sight of each other, and don't go inside any of the houses."
"Right," Blair nodded as he slid out of the Jeep. "No problem." He picked up his stack of flyers with Colleen's picture and the descriptions of her, the van, and the driver.
"Where's your radio?" Randy asked.
Blair grabbed it off the floor of the Jeep, "Right here."
"Okay, let's be off then."
**********
"How's it going, Jim?" Simon asked. He was carrying his briefcase, and his coat lay over one arm.
"Fine, sir. Soon as I finish this one, I'm headin' home," Jim said.
"I called the Sheriff's office again, but they aren't releasing any more information to anyone other than those involved in the search." Simon shrugged slightly, sighing as he said, "Okay, I'm heading out now. I'll see you on Monday."
"Right, Simon, doing anything special with Darryl tonight?"
"We're going over to Channel Park to watch the fireworks. Suppose to have quite a display arranged."
"Yeah, I read about it in the paper. Should be a good time."
"What about you and Blair? Want to come along?"
"No thanks Simon. No doubt Blair's going to be exhausted by the time he gets home, and I never did like all the noise. But thanks for askin'."
"Think the search will be done by then?" Simon asked.
"Hard to say," Jim replied. "You know how these things go. But he's going to need to come home and sleep. I just hope I don't have to go get him and drag him home to his bed."
"You really are trying to let him do this on his own, aren't you?"
"Well, you said it earlier. He'll call if he needs me. He's done this whole search and rescue thing on his own so far, and I don't want him to think that I don't think he can handle it on his own."
"You're letting him be independent?" Simon chuckled.
Jim only smiled, blushing slightly.
**********
Jim cell phone chirped at 6pm. "Ellison."
"Hey Jim, it's me," Blair said, his voice tired. "I wasn't sure where you'd be."
"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Jim asked. "You comin' home soon?"
"Um ... no luck yet. If we don't find anything by the time it gets dark, the Sheriff is going to call the search off."
Jim heard the exhaustion in his friend's voice. "Where are you now?"
Blair sighed, "Back at base takin' a break. We'll be going out again soon. I just thought I'd check in. How'd things go today?"
Jim chuckled, "Boring as hell! Paperwork all day!"
"Ah ... poor baby," Blair said with mock sympathy.
"Best part was Simon buying lunch."
"Oh man! That is like *sooo* not fair! He never buys lunch when *I* do the paperwork!" Blair laughed. He saw Randy walking towards him. "I gotta go now, Jim. I'll be home in a couple hours or I'll call, 'kay?"
"You take it easy out there, okay Chief?" Jim said. He is way too tired. "Call me if you need a ride home."
"I will. Bye Jim."
Randy handed Blair a new grid map, a granola bar, and a small bottle of water. "Okay, this will be it for us, Blair. If we don't find anything in this grid, we're callin' it quits."
Blair nodded silently. He twisted the cap off the bottle and took a long cool drink.
"What say we go get lucky?" Randy smiled, noting the tired frustration in Blair's statement.
**********
Colleen screamed as she fought the man holding her on the floor. The sting his hand brought as he slapped her yet again silenced her.
"Please!" Colleen begged between sobs. "Let me go! I'll never tell anyone what you look like!" She shivered and cried, "I'll lie to the police ... give them a different description ... one that's nothing like you!"
He slapped her again, "Shut Up!!" Placing both of Colleen's wrists in one hand, he began to unbutton her shirt. "It's time!"
"Nooooo!" Colleen wailed. "Mommy, where are you?!"
**********
Blair was getting increasingly frustrated as he went door to door. No one was home! It was a holiday and no one was staying home!
Randy was having the same kind of luck. "People are startin' to migrate to where the fireworks displays are going to be," he told Blair over the radio.
Blair rang the doorbell at the fifth door on his current list. He wasn't surprised when there was no answer, but then he thought he heard a muffled sound inside. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! "Hello! Anyone there?!" Blair called as he stood at the front door. "I'm with Search and Rescue!" He frowned as he listened. Coulda sworn I heard someone in there. "Can I please just talk to you for a sec?!"
Nothing more could be heard.
Blair shrugged and turned to leave when he heard the lock click and door open. He turned back to see a tall, skinny man with shoulder length hair. Oh my God! "Hi, didn't think anyone was home," Blair smiled.
"Oh ... ah ... sorry. I was out back ... didn't hear you right away."
Blair quickly took in the mussed hair and clothes that had obviously been hastily pulled on. "Well ... hey ... I'm with Search and Rescue and we're out looking for a fifteen-year-old girl." He handed a flyer to the man, "Have you seen her?"
While the man looked over the flyer, Blair tried to see passed him into the house. He managed to make his gasp sound like a cough, as he caught sight of a pink shirt that had been tossed onto a chair.
"No ... haven't seen her," the man said. "Sorry."
Blair gulped down his growing apprehension and said, "Are you sure? How 'bout the van?"
"No sir, haven't seen any light blue vans around here. She's a pretty little thing. I think I'd remember if I saw her," the man grinned.
Blair tried to act nonchalant and said, "Yeah, she is pretty. I'd hate to think of her gettin' hurt." He watched as the man's statement changed and darkened. "Um ... well, thanks and kinda keep an eye out for her okay? If you see anything call 911."
"Yes sir, I'll be sure to do that," the man said.
"Thanks," Blair said. He heard the door click shut as he headed down the steps off the porch. When he got back out to the street, Blair started walking back to where the Jeep was parked. "Randy ... this is Blair," he said into his radio as calmly as he could.
The first thing Randy picked up on was Blair's use of his name on the radio. They hadn't done that all day. And the shakiness in Blair's voice told him that something was happening. "Yeah, Blair, what's up?" Randy asked calmly.
"Um ... I think I found our subject. I'm heading back to the Jeep," Blair said.
"Okay, I'm right behind you."
**********
(Author's note: I'm not going to go into the part of the story where the girl is actually found in the house because it brings up too many memories, and I don't want to start having bad dreams. So please forgive my skipping over it.)
**********
The clear July sky was just darkening when Blair walked wearily up to the loft door. His body was so tired it ached, and his legs felt like lead weights.
Jim, of course, had heard the Volvo drive into the lot below and opened the door before Blair was able to put his key in the lock. "Hey, Chief," Jim said, not liking the worn look on the young man's face. "Heard you found the girl. Congratulations."
"Jim ... she's dead," Blair whispered, dropping his things on the floor.
"Oh Blair, I'm sorry," Jim said quietly. "I just heard on the news that she'd been found ... nothing was said about her being killed," he stopped himself, not wanting to say it. "Simon called the Sheriff's Department a couple of times, but couldn't get much information."
"The Sheriff wanted to keep the media away as long as possible. Give the girl's mother a chance to ..." Blair's voice shook with raw emotion. "She was alive when I was outside the house Jim, but by the time ..."
Jim gathered the tired and shaking body into his arms and held tight. "You didn't see the ... her, did you?" He felt Blair's head shake slightly. "Good. I'm glad for that anyway."
Blair sobbed quietly, his arms coming up to cling to the back of Jim's shirt.
"It's going to happen once in a while Chief, you know that. Unfortunately they can't be all good finds," Jim said, trying to comfort the exhausted body he held.
"I know, but we all worked *sooo* hard ... and I am *sooo* tired."
Jim pushed Blair back a little and said, "I know, go sit down and rest while I fix you something to eat."
"I'm not hungry Jim," Blair sniffled as he made his way to the sofa. "Just tired."
"I know the kind of food they give the search teams ... and I know your eating habits. You need to eat something before you pass out."
Blair managed a small, lifeless smile.
"Ya know Blair," Jim said as he opened a can of soup and poured it into a pan. "It's not going to be like this every time. The majority of the searches you'll go on won't end this way."
The first of the night's fireworks lit up the sky outside and reflected off the bay.
"I know Jim. They explained all this during training ... and again during the debriefing," Blair yawned. "I'll be okay."
"I know you'll be okay, Chief," Jim said while he started a grilled cheese sandwich.
"I just can't help but think that if we'd been just a few minutes sooner ..."
"It wouldn't have mattered."
"I know." Blair walked through the open balcony door. It was still pleasantly warm, and he leaned against the railing. The sky was lit with a continuous barrage of light and sound.
A few minutes later Jim appeared at the door, "Soups on."
Jim had set the soup and the sandwich on the coffee table, obviously relaxing the house rule about eating in the living room. Blair smiled at this as he sat on the sofa to eat.
"You going to continue with the search and rescue stuff?" Jim finally asked after several minutes of silence, save the distance noise of the fireworks.
Blair swallowed a bite of the sandwich and said, "Oh yeah ... definitely."
Jim smiled, "I'm glad. I was afraid that after what happened today ..."
"Well, to be honest, I thought about quitting. But, then I remembered what they told us during training."
"What's that?"
"Any find is a good find. At least her mother won't spend forever wondering what happened. She's got *some* closure. I mean ... I'm not saying that this has been easy. I've still got to deal with some feelings here, but ..."
Jim was relived to hear those words. He was beginning to worry about where Blair's head was.
"But Jim, there is going to be a next time ... another search. And I know it won't be like this one was. I really *like* doing this Jim. It makes me feel like ... like ... I don't know. It just felt good doing this on my own."
"Without me," Jim grinned.
"No ... I mean ... ah," Blair tried, thinking he had hurt Jim's feelings. "That's not it!"
Jim was quick to calm the younger man, "I understand ... really. It's the first thing, other than your schoolwork, that you've really done on your own since I've known you. It's about independence."
"Yeah, I guess so," Blair said quietly.
Blair finished his meal and leaned back into the cushions of the sofa to watch the fireworks with Jim.
They sat quietly, uttering an occasional "oooo" or "ahhh." After a short time Jim felt a weight against his right side and turned to see that Blair had fallen asleep against him. He shifted carefully to bring his right arm up and around the smaller man's shoulders as Blair snuggled closer in his sleep.
"Happy Independence Day Chief," Jim whispered as a huge explosion brought forth an American flag all in red, white, and blue sparkles.
<>~~<>~~<>
end