CHAPTER XXI: BREAKING THE CHAIN...

Johnny. Johnathan Edward Chase III. Lovely young lad, except for his lack of a personality, deviant attitude, and so forth. Ah well, can't all be perfect like me I guess. 

HAHA.

Sadly, if there was one thing he was NOT shortchanged on it was looks. No question he was drop-dead gorgeous, a total hunk from the hair to the toes and everywhere in-between and it was the in-between that you almost couldn't take your eyes off of. That obvious, that pronounced, and the shivers that followed a passing glance you knew thrilled him to know he could cause that kind of reaction.

The first thing I noticed when I saw him for the very first time...was the eyes. Haunting. Truly haunting. Devilish, yet angelic too. There was almost a gentleness that you just knew belied a darkness behind the outer facade. When he looked at me I felt a chill, and the trick was to figure out what the source of that chill was. Intrigue? Sexy? Fear? It bothered me for a long time afterward. I have seen others who have that kind of an effect and usually you know they know they are doing it and revel in that fact. Johnny almost seemed oblivious, and I say almost. Since he was at this point only technically a person 'of interest' in the killing spree we were trying to resolve, it was a strange kind of attitude he evidenced.

Drew told me that Johnny's father had long since become dissipated looking but Tommy had shown them pictures of their father as a young man and that from early on he was a stone hottie, as was he surmised the grandfather...and both Johnny and Tommy bore out that genetic strain. Not to discount Katie, She I could tell had been a real beauty in her youth. (Katie showed me later on a picture of her daughter and what a shame. Beautiful girl, but I surmised at the time and correctly so that her lifestyle was taking its toll on her beauty and by the time I first saw her in person I scarcely recognized her.

It is a crying shame what life does to people sometimes, or maybe what they do to themselves, voluntarily or not. At this point I had no clue what John Sr had been like as a kid. Maybe a sweetheart like Tommy. But the abuse he suffered changed him dramatically and set him on a collision course with heartbreak and years of tortured existence. The pain he has brought to his entire family is undeniable, and may well have contributed to what his son I suspect has done. That obvious fact at the time saddened me and still does to this day.

One son dead, the other one might as well be, and a daughter way too grown up wayyyy too soon and seemingly living a life nobody should ever have to.

But it wasn't our place to play Psychiatrist or counselor or sympathy vendor. Our job was to find a murderer and bring them to justice NO MATTER WHO it is and as odd as it may sound part of me was hoping it would turn out NOT to be Johnny Chase being the murderer. Weird, but maybe sometimes some people/families just get so beset by genetic aberrations or circumstances originating in not of their own making that maybe something needs to come along to break the chain and restore some sense of normalcy. I would not have hoped that before meeting Katherine Chase I don't think, but meeting her and seeing into that family and its horror show of a life across multiple generations had perhaps changed my perception a bit. I wasn't sure and am still not, but that seems logical. I wondered if after all this was done and over with no matter the outcome...would she be able to pick up the pieces and move forward in a new way? What about her husband? Was he involved in the murder spree? The fact remains. One son dead and the other at least suspected of being a serial killer and a husband totally off the rails along with a daughter the same. Not a good spot for anyone to be in but there she was.

Yes, I finally dozed off, albeit fitfully.

As it turned out, we actually did need the twins at home. Neither Rob nor I would have let Katie stay at the house unattended and there wasn't anyone else to keep her monitored. We didn't really know just what shape she was in emotionally but we could just imagine. In any event we were (secretly of course) glad that we had Dylan and Drew to help but weren't about to tell them that, hahaha, at least not until sometime after all this was over. IF it ever would be.

When we got to the station the next morning with the twins keeping watch on Katie, Sgt. Barton was still interrogating the young Mister Chase...with his public defender present and he looking none too gleeful, and my penchant for irreverent misplaced-in-time humor almost gotcha me again, BUT...I managed to stifle temporarily I am sure.

Rob walked over to the one-way glass window of the interrogation room and tapped softly. We could see the stand-off in progress and under other circumstances...

Sgt. Barton appeared in the doorway and Rob motioned for him to come out which he did.

"How's it going, Doug?"
"Well let's just say that if I was banking my entire career on breaking this one, I would be fearing for my pension about now"

Ok, that did it and I did laugh...and immrediately apologized.

"It's Ok, Dyl. I meant it to be funny."
"Thank God."
"You want some relief, Doug?" Rob asked him.
"Well, I could use a break to rid myself of this GODAWFUL coffee we are forced to endure around here.
"You got it. Pee, smoke, whatever. Take some time you earned it."
I did notice that he made tracks and that begging him had not been necessary.

"I'm going in, babe."
"Ok," and he did while I  prepared a report for the station (My TV one).
Then Drew called. Seems our lovely houseguest had been inquiring as to our whereabouts and when told where we were started saying she wanted to come to the station to see her son.

OH GOOD. Just what we needed. Mother and son from Hell reunion, amidst tears and apologies and recriminations and ok, maybe not.

Drew wanted to know if they could bring her while I heard Dylan in the background noisily mentioning how he didn't think that was a good idea and we were SOO busy and...

I'll give the twit credit. When he has to he can improvise like nobody I have ever seen...maybe Vegas will call and offer an opening. Yeh, and maybe pigs will begin to fly again and...

I told Drew it wasn't up to me and I would have to ask Rob, and he concurred while Dylan held court in the background...and I went to the squawk room (nickname) to see what Rob wanted to do.

He slipped out into the hall after my tapping on the window and I told him what was up. I was surprised but he agreed and sent me back to tell Drew it was a go...wonderiing how Dylan was gonna take that news. Oh well, he is young and has plenty of recovery time left. HAHA.

It wasn't long before our incorrigible twins arrived with Katie in tow, and Ryan showed them back to where I sat in Rob's office working on a script for a station promo to be aired next week. (Sometimes I barely remember that I actually work for a TV station and not the police department. Seems like I spend 99% of my time here).

"Hey Dyl," Dylan hollered at me coming through the door.
"Hey back," and with that they all got into the office and into chairs (which is a serious affront to all honest-to-God chairs everywhere. I swear to whoever is listening this week that  I am going to spring for new office furniture for Rob...any minute now).

"Katie," I looked at her.
"Johnny is being questioned right now and we cannot interrupt that, but I am sure that as soon as he can,  Rob will let you see him. Promise."
She nodded.

I just hoped I wasn't being prematurely optimistic.

I got Drew to get some 42 year old magazines from the lobby which he brought back, and I let them all read while I continued to work on my script while thinking to myself that this was gonna be a really long day and I was right.

Sooner rather than later, Dylan got antsy having devoured several rather decrepit magazines and asked if it would bother me if he turnd on the TV. I said no (which was a flat out lie) and he did...considerately keeping the sound down for my benefit. Good boy. About ten minutes went by and I saw Rob peeking in through the doorway and he motioned me to come out which I did. Nobody else noticed thank God.

"Hey, honey," He smiled.
"Hey hotstuff," and he blushed.
"Doug (Sgt Barton) is questioning Johnny and we gotta let this take its course."
I nodded assent.
"Any progress?"
"Damned little, dammit."

I felt for him. I knew how badly he wanted to wrap up this case. It was eating at him bady.

"What is your gut telling you at this point," I asked him.
"I think he did it, but it is a matter of either getting him to confess or proving it another way." Again I nodded.

"Will he crack?"
I have watched way too many TV mysteries.

"Hard to tell at this point."
"You hungry?"
"Yeh, kinda," he said and I said we could all go get something to eat and he agreed. I went back in the office and rounded up the posse and as they say we split like a banana.

Fortunately there is a really good restaurant/diner on the same block as the precinct and we headed there. Nothing fancy but really good food. We piled into the big booth at the far rear of the restaurant (near the kitchen which I always like) and sat pondering our navels, our water glasses, the menu's, and each other not necessarily in that order. Soon our server (cute young hottie named Chuck) arrived and took our orders after which we were left to do more contemplating and discussing.

One thing kept nagging at me and I couldn't put my finger on it until suddenly it dawned on me.
"Katie? Where is your husband?"

He has seemed AWOL all through this and I for one wanted to know why.
She sat for a minute looking both pained and insecure and then...
"I have no idea. I haven't seen him in at least a couple weeks."
Hmmm.
ODD.
All these murders and husband nowhere in sight?
I looked at Rob who looked at me right back. I think that he too had just realized that John the father (definitely no Baptist) was missing and not in plain sight.

"I for one think we oughta find out where he went off to?" This from Dyl the younger, and we all agreed in unison.

We ate fairly silently, and then whether we wanted to or not we returned to the station and we had just gotten seated when Doug came and got Rob for his turn again, and let it be known he had accomplished little, that the Public Freebender was getting antsy and he was needing to spend a year or so peeing. (office coffee will do that to yah).

Rob went to relieve him (sort of) and I went back to pondering the meaning of life, my life, Rob's life, the twins life, and why bread is so good in warm milk and other really deep thoughts.


CONTINUE TO CHAPTER XXII: