Cole Ethridge's Residence

  7:52 a.m.

  Cole is working in his garage, buffing out a pretty bad ding on his 1977 Chevy Camaro, when the phone inside the house begins to ring. Cole angrily removes his safety glasses and throws them down on the garage floor.

  "Dammit! If that phone rings...Just one more time...I'm gonna rip it out of the damn wall! Jeezus! Can a man get any work done around here? Damn it!"

  Cole wheels his way back into the house via an accessibility ramp leading into the back door. He goes to the phone on the wall and yanks the receiver off of the cradle.

  "What?" Cole barks into the phone.

  "Cole? Cole, it's Rachel. Where's Detective Mackey? I need to speak with him. It's important."

  "It's important? Ha. Getting my damn car buffed out is important. Your detective fella is on borrowed time. Can't nothing concerning him be that important."

  "Damn it, Cole! Just get James on the phone. I don't have long to talk. The other detective will be here in a minute. Okay...Look. Just tell James we may have a lead on his son. He's in an abandoned building on Route...Oh shoot. I've gotta go. Tell him, Cole. Everything is gonna be fine. Tell him that. Bye, Cole."

  Rachel hangs up before Cole can get any more details out of her. Cole gazes down at the phone in bewilderment.

  "That wasn't much help. An old abandoned building on route...Route what? Come on now, Rachel," Cole complains aloud. "You gotta do better than that. How's a man supposed to pass on a message like that? It leaves more questions than answers."

  "What does?" Mackey inquires, appearing in the kitchen doorway.

  "Uh. That was Rachel," Cole says wearily. "She said...The department may know where the kidnappers are holding your kid."

  "They do? Where?" James asks, true excitement in his voice for the first time in days. "Where is he?"

  "Well, that's the part that gets hazy. I'm not sure, Detective. Rachel had to run before she could give me the entire message. All she said was...An abandoned building on Route. But she never said the route number. She said the other detective is on his way out there right now. They're gonna find your son. There's nothing to worry about anymore. Everything is gonna be okay. In a few days, all of this can be put behind you. And I can have the complete use of my wine cellar back."

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  James doesn't say a word as he whirls away from Cole and strolls back down the hall. Cole senses something isn't quite right about the injured detective's demeanor. He races after James in his wheelchair.

  "Hey, Mackey. Where you going? Wait up. I can only roll so fast. Slow the hell down, asshole!"

  Mackey does slow down. He pivots on his heels to glare at Cole.

  "Now...Just where do you think you're going buddy!?!" Cole exclaims. "Don't tell me you're thinking of going out there? First off...You ain't got no wheels. Secondly, you're in no condition to be going off playing 007. Just sit your ass down and wait for the word from Rachel. Like she said, the cops are on it."

  "You mean...Like how they were so onto the people who framed me? You mean...Like that? Forgive me, Cole...If I have zero faith in the department's ability to find my son. As far as having no ride? Sure I do. You're my ride, Cole."

  "Like hell, I am!" Cole barks back, wheeling his chair backwards about a foot.

  "Like hell...You aren't," Mackey growls, closing the distance again.

  "I saw what's in your garage, Cole. Real nice setup you've got there. It would be a real pity if the department found out about it. Or the stash you've got hidden behind the false bookshelf in the wine cellar. Don't play games with me, Cole. I'm not in the mood. Somebody has my son. And you're gonna help me find them. I don't care if we have to drive around forever."

  Cole huffs and rolls his eyes. He considers snapping at Detective Mackey but decides to go the wise direction instead.

  "Okay...Mackey. I'll be your chauffeur for the day. But, if I help you...You forget what you saw in the cellar and in my garage. We got a deal?"

  "Sure," Mackey says.

  "Nope. Not good enough. You make a deal with a man you say yes and shake his hand," Cole argues, sticking out his right hand for Mackey to shake. "None of that cop double speak. We have a deal?"

  "Yes," Mackey finally says, shaking Cole's proffered hand.

  "Okay, then. We use my Tacoma. It's out back. Stefan hooked up a real nice ramp where I can get my wheelchair into the back and then slide into the truck through the back window. Fun times, we had...Me and Stefan. I hate what he became. That man had a wizard's mind when it came to electronics. I miss him every day."

  "Uh huh. Let's go. Please."

  "Right. Just let me grab a couple of things," Cole says. "You got a gun, cowboy? I'm guessing you don't. Might need one. I'll be right back."

  -

  -

  Behind the wheel of his department-issued Ford pickup, Dave turns a sharp corner almost too fast. He gently presses the brake, slowing the truck down. Up ahead looms the Route 22 marker Detective Samuels had described over the phone. Almost there.

  Fury causes the senior deputy's heart to race. The idea of someone harming poor little Jamie Junior is too much to even think about. What kind of senseless monster harms a child? Thank goodness, this whole ordeal is almost over. Once the infant is safe, and the perpetrators are apprehended, James' reputation can be restored. And life can start returning to normal. But can it really? In Dave's opinion, the entire Castleton Police Department has shown their whole ass. Distrusting Mackey like that? How convenient that a single bullet would be found at the crime scene. Something about this case definitely stinks. Why Chief O' Leary can't see that is completely beyond Dave's understanding.

  But it's almost over now.