The Long Flight Home
      Chapter 8
 

Now let the night be dark for all of me.
Let the night be too dark for me to see
Into the future. Let what will be, be.
--Robert Frost

Danny wove a weary hand through his hair. He had driven behind the Coroner's van through the twisted maze of switchbacks until he had gratefully reached his own turnoff. As the taillights of the van had disappeared from sight, he had sent up a long withheld sigh, thankful that his place in this funeral cortege was now over. For some reason, he found himself unsettled by the whole experience. Death was no longer a mystery for him. It had become a black and white reality. The day his father had been killed, was the day that a numbness had begun to overtake him. It had only grown more acute as the years had passed, until… "Stop torturing yourself, Danny, you have a lot to look forward to today", he chided himself, out loud.

A lightness overtook him as he turned up the steep drive to his home. Some home, he thought cynically. There were lights blazing in the main house, and Danny knew that Mama must have arrived home. As he drove past the guard's shack, he gave Paulo, their night guard a nod of his head. As the iron gates of Casa Santos swung open, Danny felt a sense of welcome, only for the fact that he knew Pilar would be waiting for him.

As his car traveled up the drive he stole a glance at the formal rose garden sweeping down and to his right. The bushes were heavy with blooms, and the rain had made their bounty sparkle in the night. He knew that if the car window was rolled down he could smell their heady scent. Pilar's bedroom balcony opened towards the garden and when the wind was just right, the roses fragrance wafted on the night air like a lovers caress. If the weather hadn't been so uncooperative, he would have stopped to have picked some blooms for Pilar. Mama had started the rose garden when Pilar had been born. She was a rose amongst all the thorns of the family, she had once said. Danny smiled as he remembered that thought. She surely was the beauty in all the ugliness of this life, at least for him. Tomorrow, no later today, he corrected himself, he would bring Pilar down to the garden and she could show him around. His mood was always lifted when she came home from a long absence and insisted that he tour "her" roses, with her. She was like a little child as she discovered the new bushes their gardener, Pietro had planted, and the new statuary that had been added. She was especially fond of lilac, pink and sterling roses, so Pietro did his best to display these colors to their full advantage. She also loved Angels, so many times, on moonlit nights, the garden seemed inhabited by a heavenly host of God's messengers. Their ephemeral beauty drew him, even though they were cast only of stone and marble. They hinted at an other worldly beauty, one he was not a part of.

Passing the hedges of the garden, his car stole through the over-hanging arch of the bricked courtyard. Here the walls were a riotous bloom of Bougainvillea, Clematis, Camellia's and assorted planters of Citrus. His ancestors had come from the heated interiors of Andalusia, and so there was a feeling of Moorish influence in the house's design and landscape. Drawing his car to a halt, he jumped out, pocketed his keys with a flipping toss of his hand, and swaggered to the door, his step light and cavalier. He was fully waiting for Pilar to greet him at the front doors, a welcoming, teasing smile on her face. So, he was surprised when there was no welcoming light spilling into this darkest, and chilling of nights, no warm greeting, no teasing smile. There was only a disquieting stillness.

"We got another arrival for you, Joey", the field assistant glibly stated as the wheels of the gurney rattled on the cold tile floor. "This one was DOA at the scene of a car accident. Poor thing never had a chance. She's a Jane Doe for the time being until we can find out who she is. The car she was driving in became an inferno, and their was no ID on her person to indicate who she is, so we'll let you know who she is as soon as we do, O.K.?"

"Thanks guys, just fill out this paper work for me, will ya? We've had a busy night and I'd like to get home soon. My shift ended at midnight, but we've been unusually busy this past evening with this crummy weather. We've been suffering intermittent power outages and phone line interruptions. Geez, you would think we've been operating some kind of house of horrors here!"

God! Joey, you sure know how to make us fellows feel safe now , don't ya? Next time I come in I'll be expecting Jason to attack us."

They all chuckled a little bit at this. They tended to have a morbid sense of humor in this job. It wasn't easy to do what they did. They were one of life's last stopping points, and the responsibility of their jobs weighed heavy on them sometimes. Springfield's Coroner unit was in close proximity of the hospital so it made it easier to process "their guests".

"So, where do you want her?" they asked as they juggled a clipboard and the gurney at the same time.

"I'll take her in for processing as soon as you guys finish up the paperwork, so you can just leave her right here."

"It's a shame really. It was a very nasty accident", one of the field workers said.

"Yeah, we've seen some bad ones come through here. Most of these folks are innocent victims, and they end up being in the right place at the wrong time. I guess them's the breaks, huh boy's?", Joey said not very convincingly.

With a click of the ball point pen, the paperwork was completed. As the field assistants said their goodnights and took their leave, Joey wheeled the gurney into the processing room. He did his job methodically and with care. He believed in the dignity of victims even in death. He found himself to be in awe of the preciousness of this life as he worked. He always reminded himself that even those who passed through this place were gone in body, they had laughed, and dreamed and made plans for the future. He was very respectful of the fact that it was only by the grace of God that he had enjoyed the life that he had.

As he worked, he placed her personal effects in a yellow envelope and placed her other things in bags, which he then labeled. Even in her traumatized state he noticed a beauty about her. The air conditioning in the room caught a lock of her inky hair and blew it gently over her face. He paused at the sight. Even in death she had a tranquility. As he took an inventory of her injuries, he was careful to look for anything that might be unusual. Her injuries seemed to be in line with those suffered in dramatic car accidents, but as he turned her body over, he was shocked by what he saw. He immediately went to the phone and dialed the police station. Hopefully, the officer in charge of the accident site had not left yet. Feeling his adrenaline pumping, he knew today was going to be very interesting indeed. He was connected with a lead detective and bluntly told him of the Jane Doe he had in the morgue. Yes, she was involved in the car accident on Old Highway 78, but there was nothing ordinary about her injuries. When asked to expound, he told the detective that they might want to secure the accident site. This was no longer an accident investigation, this was a possible murder scene. His Jane Doe not only had traumatic blunt force wounds, but she had been shot as well.

Senior detective Frank Cooper took the phone call at 3:00 a.m. It woke him out of a deep sleep and he wasn't pleased at having his sleep interrupted. He'd had a hell of a day with the usual crap that went along with carrying a badge, and then this damned storm was the topping on the cake. He'd finally fallen to sleep at 1:00 a.m. to be woken by this shrieking in his ear. Swearing, he picked up the phone and barked, "Cooper" into it. "

"Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but we have a suspected murder scene out on Old Highway 78, a junior officer apologized. You were the on-call detective tonight, so you get first dibs on this one."

Frank was instantly awake. The word "murder" stirred up a thousand emotions in him. He was all business in a matter of seconds. Making sure he didn't wake his wife, he thanked the officer and went to dress himself. How's?, and Why's? were swirling through his mind as he made his way to the location the officer had given him. As he drove, he thought of the old adage that "It is always darkest before the dawn". Well, this morning was no exception. The storm seemed to be dying in strength, but there was still a consistent fall of rain. The thunder and lightning had abated, thank God. He hadn't relished the thought of becoming a target for the elements. It took him almost forty minutes on the rain gushed streets to get to the scene. He had radioed the officer in charge to secure the site. He wanted nothing to go in or out of the area. He prayed for daylight. There wasn't a lot they could do without light.

Arriving on scene, Frank spoke with the officers and firemen still present. He inspected the point of impact for the vehicle, which he was told had finally been identified as a Limo. The license plates were badly damaged in the fire, but the officer had been able to read the numbers.

"I've run a check on the license plates Det. Cooper and you're not gonna believe who this Limo belongs to. It is registered to the Santos family."

Frank's head jerked up at from his scrutiny of the broken and crushed guardrail. "Oh, man, this is too good to be true. You've got to be kidding me? We've been keeping tabs on this family for years, hoping to pin something on them, and then someone beats us to the punch. Shit! This will send them into hiding for sure. I wanna go take a closer look at this car".

As he tried to gingerly move down the slippery slope, momentum carried him along and he had to clutch at the branches of large trees not destroyed by the Limo's rapid descent. There had been a wide swath of destruction, and Frank was amazed at the physical damage done not only to the Limo, but the hillside as well. Even in the darkness, he could smell the still smoldering car and he could see that it had burned down to the frame. God, he wished this rain would stop. If he had a murder scene on his hands, there wasn't going to be much to recover at this rate. Water was running in ever widening streams down the hillside making it almost impossible to save the integrity of the investigation. He could only guess at the evidence that was at this moment washing down the hillside.

Making his way back up the embankment, he looked over the notes of the officer who was first on the scene. They discussed the teen's who had first discovered the wreck, and the body of the young woman. Frank made it a point to let the officer's know that they may have to re-interview the teen's now that they had new information from the Coroner's office.

"Do you want me to contact the Santos family, Det. Cooper and let them know there's been an accident"?, the junior officer questioned.

"Let's wait until we have some light to see what we are up against. I want to be very thorough with this investigation. I don't want to leave room for recriminations from them, got it"? If it's one of their people, they'll know soon enough, won't they? Let's make sure we're ready for them when the shit hits the fan". The other officer nodded, and went to check on the progress, if any, of gathering identification on who the victim was.

Frank took a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and placed one between his lips. It was a nasty habit, but he didn't have a good feeling about this probable murder investigation. When the Santos family heard this news, he had to be prepared for all hell to break loose. He would personally deliver the news to the Santos home. He wanted to be out in the open with this one, no passing the buck to any other detective. If he could get in the door with this, he just might have the opening he was looking for to bring down the Santos empire once and for all. Shaking his head, he lit the cigarette, studying it's glowing tip. Then, he waited in the chill, rain shrouded ebony of the early morning, for the arrival of first light.

When Danny entered the house, it was literally humming with activity.

"Thank God, where have you been Daniel? I've been going out of my mind worrying about you!, Carmen exclaimed. "I thought you'd be home before me, and then when I get home, you're not here and neither is Pilar. Where the hell have you been?"

Danny had learned to tune out his mother, but something she said caught his attention. "Pilar's not here? She should have been here hours ago, Mama." A profound sense of disquiet overtook Danny. He immediately felt a surge of undeniable energy. He felt his heart beginning to beat faster, felt his blood rushing in his veins. "Have you tried to contact Jimmy in the Limo, mother? Mother, mother, are you listening to me?", Danny's voice rang out authoritatively.

"Yes, Daniel, I've tried to get in contact with Jimmy, but the storm has been interfering with the connection", she said with a worried furrow to her brow.

Galvanized by his own inner turmoil, Danny spun around on his heel to head back out into the hell of the beckoning storm. "I'm going to go look for her, Mama. I'll trace their route from the airport. You and Dietz stay here so I can know what's happening. I'll try to call you on a pay phone if my cell phone won't work."

"Don't go Daniel, I need you here with me", Carmen pleaded. I have men out looking for them. Stay here in case they come in soon. They could have had a breakdown, or maybe Pilar was hungry for McDonald's french fries. You know how much she likes them. Maybe she and Jimmy stopped for something to eat." She was babbling now, but it was better than where her thoughts kept straying. "Oh God, she couldn't loose another child, she couldn't!"

For a moment, Danny hesitated at the look in her eyes. He'd seen it before, it was etched in his memory. This time, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He mustn't let emotion rule him now. He needed to be pro-active. He had to keep his wits about himself. He was the only one he truly trusted. So, crossing the rich toned Persian carpet, he took his mother's face in his hands, gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, then turned to walk away, his steps leaden, but purposeful.

Frank was working on his fourth cup of coffee and his fifth cigarette when one of the firemen from the remaining rescue unit on scene, began to have an animated conversation on his walkie talkie. He immediately jumped into action, ordering something over his radio. The first rays of dawn's light were touching the horizon. The storm had finally passed about thirty minutes ago, leaving a bruised sky full of trailing clouds which were now being lit from within by the light of a new day. The fireman rushed over to Frank.

"You're not gonna believe this, but we've found another victim. They are alive, just. We missed them in our initial sweeps. They were behind a bunch of tangled brush and limbs, blended into the rocks and debris. One of our men saw what looked like a foot sticking up through some undergrowth near the far side of the vehicle."

"Geez", Frank exclaimed as he jumped up, spilling hot coffee on his lap. I'm gonna go down there. Did you radio for a paramedic unit?, he yelled as he took off running to the looming precipice. Teetering on the edge he found the site of the Limo and the surrounding area looking like it was part of a war landscape. Jumping and slipping down the slope, he couldn't believe that anyone would have survived this accident.

It was easy to spot the firemen. Their reflective jackets led Frank right to them, and the victim. It was a slight form with what looked like blond hair. It was hard to tell because the hair was matted with mud, twigs, leaves, and what looked like blood. The casualty was face down, and the fireman were trying to assess their injuries before moving them. Frank couldn't believe they had found this victim. They were literally covered in mud, and he knew that they had to be suffering from exposure along with any other injuries they might have. The victims' face rested between the crevice made by two large rocks. This is probably what saved them from drowning in the torrential downpour of the night. If they lived, Frank knew that surely God had had his hand upon them.

The loud lonely wail of a paramedic unit could be heard above on the road. Willing them to hurry, Frank again glimpsed at the still form. As the paramedics drew abreast of them, Frank moved to the side. After their initial exam, they felt it was imperative to roll the victim over, so they could better determine where they stood in terms of injury. Carefully placing a cervical collar around the victim and strapping a back board on them, they rolled them over, on the count of three. When the victim was turned over, Frank looked closely through the tangled mass of hair, at their face. He audibly gasped. Oh my God!! I know this person. Oh, my God, Sweet Jesus, no, he thought. He found himself staring down into the face of Michelle, Michelle Bauer! His whole body went cold.