LOST IN THE LAW

Chapter 8

Rain had began to pour from the sky. The darkness and the rain made it harder to arrive at Charlie's destination. She felt unsure if she was at the right stop. She had been heading North towards the Oklahoma border, when she veered off into a dirt path.

The path was rocky and uneven, making Charlie slow her vehicle down. Robert had said they were leaving the station right then, but the detectives would be a while, they had been back at the crime scene.

Charlie left immediately. She hadn't bothered to grab a coat, she just rushed out of the house, leaving Amanda with Carol.

Charlie stopped at the yellow tape. Some officers had already gotten here. Charlie turned off her car and stepped out into the rain. Robert met her by the tape. "The car looks to have been recently abandoned, no more than two hours ago." He said.

"Has anyone opened it?"

"Keys are gone, we have officers working to get the doors unlocked. We have dogs walking around in five mile perimeter." Robert just finished speaking when another voice called out.

"Chief! We got it!" The doors to the car was opened. Charlie immediately walked over. Placing some gloves over her hands, she sat in the car. A piece of plastic was set underneath her, keeping the seat dry. Charlie shuffled around through the center console before moving to the glove box. She reached her hand into the back, grabbing everything out.

A white stick fell from the pile of documents. Charlie's heart dropped. She picked up the stick and gasped. "Uncle!" She shouted, scrambling from the car, "uncle!"

"Did you find anything?" Robert asked.

Charlie held up the stick. "Courtney's pregnant."

———

"How is he?" Finn took a seat next to Charlie upon arriving at the station. Jayden paced around a conference room. The news had just been given.

"Not good," Charlie said. "He's worried."

"Did they find anything in the car?" Finn asked.

Charlie nodded with a sigh, "there was blood in the trunk along with zip ties and tape. There was hair, but I'm not sure if it's Courtney's or not."

"So, until the lab analyzes those samples, we still have nothing?" Finn summarized.

"Yep." Charlie watched as Jayden paced. She felt sorry for him. His wife was missing and she was pregnant. Charlie sighed and shook her head. Where in the world was Courtney?

"I got something!" Charlie turned just as the young officer ran right into her. Charlie felt her balance tilt as she began to fall to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud and Finn was at her side immediately, glaring at the young officer. He helped her from the floor, holding an arm around her waist. "I'm so sorry," the officer said.

"It's alright," Charlie said. "What have you found?"

"Information on the Domen Case!" The officer said. "We have received several reports of a peeping Tom around the community. No one could see who it was, but we had been on the search for him for weeks. The last person to report seeing him outside their window was Mrs. Domen."

Charlie's heart flopped. "And you never found out who this person was?"

He shook his head. "He would always leave before we arrived and he wore a cloak to cover his face."

"I want to look at the reports of this, especially the one filed by Mrs. Domen." Charlie instructed. She looked back at Jayden, "I have one more thing to ask him."

She entered the conference room and Jayden immediately looked at her. "Has anything been found?" He asked.

"Nothing has come back from the lab yet," Charlie said, "I want to ask you about a report Courtney filed. She reported seeing someone stand outside her house and watch her. Did you know anything about this?"

"Courtney had brought it up, so we placed security cameras around the house. Every time she said she saw someone, we checked the cameras, there wasn't ever anyone there." Jayden explained.

"So, she filed the report without your knowledge?" Charlie asked. Jayden nodded.

"Does this have something to do with the fact she's gone?" Jayden asked, his eyes widening in fear.

"Possibly," Charlie said. "We are going to look into the reports on this peeping Tom and see what we can find. I also want to look into these tapes."

"Of course, they are all saved on my computer at home. I'm certain it was taken by the police as evidence."

"I'll get it." Charlie stood and walked out of the room. She walked to a caged area of the station. "Hello, I need to know if there was computer confiscated in the Domen case."

The person behind the counter nodded after looking at Charlie's badge. A computer was handed to Charlie a couple seconds later.

Charlie entered the conference room and handed some latex gloves to Jayden. "Just in case they still need it," Charlie offered.

Jayden slipped the gloves on and opened the laptop. He signed into a website and then turned the computer towards Charlie.

"This was the first night after Courtney said she saw someone." Jayden said. The clip was taken outside what appeared to be their bedroom. Courtney was on the bed, sewing something. She looked up before standing and rushing from the room. Moments later, Jayden returned with her.

Charlie's eyes scanned over every inch of the film. She stopped the film when it appeared to cut to Courtney sewing again. "Did Courtney go back to sewing?"

"No, she was terrified to be in that room alone so we closed the curtains and I stayed with her." Jayden said. "This looks like the same film as before."

"If this was cut in, that means someone hacked your system, or it was something to do with the security system you got. What system did you get?" Charlie asked.

"Harlan and Co. Security," Jayden said. "Someone named Allen helped us."

Charlie nodded as she searched up the name. It opened at nine. Charlie's eyes lifted to the clock. It was only six. "I'll go pay a visit there once it opens," she said, "as of right now, I need some coffee."

She excused herself from the conference room and walked to the break room where she poured herself a warm cup of coffee.