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Witness To Murder Episode 13 written by Janet
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| Disclaimer: The
characters in the following fan fiction do not belong to me. They belong to CBS and Viacom
and other powers that be. I am only using them for the purpose ofwriting this story. No
money is being made from this writing it is for entertainment purposes only. And now on
with the show...
Despite the cool breeze which the air conditioner
was throwing out, his palms were slick with sweat, so much so that they kept slipping on
the steering wheel. Rubbing them along the top of his jean clad thighs he cast a look at
the clock on the dashboard. Fifteen minutes until the final bell of the day rang. Another
fifteen minutes after that and she would be walking down the long, red brick steps towards
him. Two minutes after that...............his fingers tightened around the smooth softness
of the steering wheel and the toes of his right foot scrunched up in his shoe, as he
mentally rehearsed his plan. The young boy sat in the third row from the back of the classroom. His head was bowed over his work and his pen flew over the page as the words came tumbling out of his head, down his arm, through the pen onto the page. The ringing of the bell cut through his concentration, a split second before he heard his teacher say, "Okay, time's up. Put your pens down and pass your papers to the front." Silently the class complied and a short time later thirty ten year olds filed out of the classroom on their way home. Their English teacher, Vanessa Carmichael, sat surveying the pile of papers in front of her. She could already predict the evening that lay ahead of her. A quick, microwave meal, and then she would settle down on the sofa with a glass of wine to help her mark the thirty essays. Some papers would be below potential, some would reach their potential and an even smaller number would exceed their potential. Shuffling the papers into a neat pile, Vanessa scooped them up as she left the classroom. Walking along the corridor she opened a door on the left hand side and entered the staff lounge. A tall, bespectacled man looked up from the pile of paperwork he was wading through and asked, "Had a good day Vanessa?" Smiling, Vanessa responded, "Better than some, I daresay Clive. How 'bout you?" "Not too bad. I even think that some of the little horrors might even have retained some of the information I so generously imparted." Knowing that Clive's words totally belied his real love of the children he taught, Vanessa smiled and simply said, "Get away with you." Moving across the lounge towards a large bank of lockers, similar to those found in the tiled corridors for the pupils, Vanessa opened one and pulled out a capacious bag into which she carefully place the papers she had been carrying. Ruffling Clive's hair on the way past Vanessa called over her shoulder, "See you in the morning." Vanessa was a very popular teacher and as she walked towards the main entrance her journey was punctuated by many calls. "Night miss." "See you
tomorrow." "Have a good evening." He saw Vanessa walking lightly down the steps and reaching down, turned the ignition on. As she reached the third step from the bottom he put the car into 'drive' and gently placed his foot onto the accelerator pedal. Vanessa was halfway across the car park when she became aware of the sound of a car coming towards her. She had barely managed to turn her head towards the sound before the car struck her. Her body flew up into the air and across the hood of the car before falling in a broken heap on the asphalt. Following her down the steps the boy also heard the car. Being further back he was able to survey the whole scene and he saw the car bearing down on his teacher. He cried out a warning to her but his cry was lost in the roaring of the engine. As he ran down the final few steps towards Vanessa he saw the car turn around for another pass. When the driver realised that he had been seen he swerved the car around the prone figure and sped off into the distance. However, he realised that the boy running down the steps had seen him and could be a serious threat. A threat that he intended to deal with. Reaching Vanessa the young boy knelt down by her
side and, as he had been shown by his mother, checked for a pulse. A faint beat fluttered
underneath his fingertips and he scrambled in his pocket for his mobile and dialled 911. Lieutenant Steve Sloan sat at his desk, wading through the mountain of paperwork that seemed to be his constant companion these days. He placed his pen down onto the desk and rubbed his hand wearily across his eyes. He had been on duty for about 6 hours and had been stuck behind his desk for most of that time, on the specific orders of Captain Newman who was sick of not being able to see his Lieutenant from behind a huge pile of paperwork. The trilling of the phone on his desk interrupted
his mental grumblings. Reaching out he snatched up the handset from where it rested,
placed it to his ear and spoke, hoping against hope that it would be something which would
drag him out of the office. A few seconds later he jumped up from his seat and was on his
way out of the office. Arriving at the scene of the hit-and-run Steve got out of his car and wound his way through the black & whites and past the ambulance, towards the steps of the school. Sitting, hunched on the bottom step, with a paramedic sat next to him was the young boy who had witnessed the incident. Hearing footsteps coming towards him the boy looked up and Steve halted, shock and surprise etched on his features. "Dion!" "Uncle Steve!" Dion leapt up and ran towards Steve, flinging his arms around Steve's waist and buried his head in his chest. Closing his arms around Dion for a minute, Steve stepped back and dropped down onto his haunches in front of the boy whom he considered as part of his family. He looked at Dion and asked, "Are you okay?" "He just drove at her Uncle Steve," Dion replied, in a voice that wobbled and tears started in his eyes. "Okay Dion." Steve stood up, plunged his left hand into his pocket and brought out his car keys which he handed to Dion, "Go and wait in the car." He watched Dion begin to walk towards his car then turned to speak to the uniformed officers at the scene. Vanessa Carmichael was in a critical, but stable, condition and the paramedics were preparing to transfer her to Community General. Steve detailed the uniformed officers to canvass the immediate area to check for any other witnesses. Satisfied that everything was in hand Steve made his way back to his car. Opening his driver's door Steve slid in and sat down next to Dion. He looked across at the young man and said, "Okay, let's get you to your mum shall we?" "Yes please Uncle Steve," Dion replied. Steve reached down to switch the engine, but his hand halted halfway there and he looked across at Dion and grinned, "Can I have my keys back please?" Answering Steve's grin with one of his own Dion, who
had until that second forgotten he still held them, passed them over. As the car pulled
away Dion sat back in his seat and looked over at the tall, powerfully built man next to
him. Just the sight of his Uncle Steve was comforting and, for a while, the horrors of the
past hour faded into the background. Amanda closed the door on the corpse. It had been a difficult autopsy to do for there had been no obvious cause of death. Looking at her watch Amanda decided to take a well earned break. Locking the door to her lab she walked along the corridor towards the doctor's lounge. Through the open door she could see that Jesse was already there. "Hi Jess," she said. Entering the room she went straight across to the seemingly ever full, coffee pot, "how's your day been?" "Fine," he replied. Looking over her shoulder however, he continued, "but yours may about to take a downturn." Amanda turned to follow Jesses gaze and saw her son
walking up the corridor towards her alongside Steve. His whole demeanour screamed out to
her that something was drastically wrong. Amanda, however, was not one of those mothers
who jumped to conclusions, so she was prepared to wait until she heard from Steve. Dions
eyes were downcast but Steve, seeing Amanda, bent down and whispered something in his ear.
"Do I have to go to the station?" Dion asked, half fearfully. "No, Dion," Steve responded, "I can take your statement at home." By this time Mark had arrived and on hearing what
had occurred, immediately ordered Amanda to take Dion home, ignoring her protests that her
shift had another hour to go. "Can you describe the vehicle to me, Dion?" Steve asked. "It was a silver grey Ford, Uncle Steve." Dion answered, "I didn't notice the licence plate, I'm sorry, but I do know that there was a little nodding dog on the rear shelf." "Can't you remember anything about the licence plate, sweetheart?" Amanda pushed a little, "Close your eyes and see what you can see." Complying with his mother's request, Dion closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander back. He shook his head, "I can only remember a couple of numbers, 010." "That's great, Dion," Steve encouraged, "those numbers linked with the car and its colour will be a great help." "Uncle Steve?" Dion's voice, when he spoke, was questioning. "Yeah Dion," Steve looked across at him. "What if the guy in the car comes back to school and tries to find me?" "What makes you think he might sweetheart?" Amanda sat down beside her son, laying her arm around his shoulders. "Because as he was driving past he looked straight at me," Dion responded. "You didn't say anything about this before Dion," Steve was concerned to hear what the young man had to say. "Because no-one asked me before Uncle Steve," Dion replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "That changes everything Dion," Steve answered then, turning to Amanda he continued, "I think you and the boys ought to move into the beach house until we have tracked this guy down." "We can't do that Steve," Amanda protested, "we can't put you and Mark out like that." "Amanda," Steve grinned, "considering how many times the boys stay at our place anyway, it won't be anything new." Gracefully Amanda gave in although, if the truth be
told, she was relieved to go along with Steve's suggestion. She wasn't afraid for herself
but she knew that she had to do her best to keep the boys safe and staying at the beach
house was the best bet for that. After having dropped a protesting Dion at the school gates, Steve drove on to the hospital to see how Vanessa Carmichael was doing. Knowing that his son was on his way, Mark had already been to ICU to check and so, when Steve arrived, he was able to give him up to date information. "So dad," Steve asked, "is Miss. Carmichael liable to regain consciousness soon?" "It's hard to say Steve," Mark replied, "she could come round this afternoon or she could be unconscious for weeks." "Okay," Steve replied, sighing to himself
for he knew that the longer Vanessa Carmichael was unable to talk to him, the longer Dion
would be in danger. Dion was not enjoying his day at school. From the moment that Steve had dropped him off he had been bombarded with questions. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. By morning break he was so fed up that he decided to take refuge in the library which was a place that, under normal circumstances, he would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into. Sitting by the window, he looked out onto the front steps towards the spot where the silver grey Ford had hit Vanessa Carmichael. If he shut his eyes he could see it speeding forwards, Vanessa flying thorough the air .......... Dion jumped, for in his mind he could swear that he heard the thud that Vanessa's body made as it hit for tarmac and the crack that had reverberated around the car park as her head slammed against the floor. The bell signalling the end of break and Dion stood, sighing as he prepared to rejoin his peers. The rest of the day passed by in much the same way as the morning with Dion enduring his classes and avoiding his classmates. He was extremely glad at the end of day to see Amanda waiting for him at the school gates, the back packed to the gunnels with cases, toys and computer games. After picking up CJ from his school they drove out to the beach house. After helping their mother unpack their things, the boys changed into their swim gear and ran down onto the beach. Calling after them an instruction not to go out of sight, Amanda sat in one of the easy chairs on the decking and poured herself a large glass of the cold lemonade that Mark had left in the refridgerator for them. Halfway down the glass she heard the front door open and a voice call out, "Hi, anyone home?" "Out here Mark," she called, picking up the pitcher of lemonade and pouring Mark a glass. "I see you've unpacked," Mark chuckled throwing a glance back into the lounge. "Mark I'm so sorry," Amanda apologised, "I'll clear it all away in a little while." Walking across to her, Mark placed a hand on her shoulder saying, " Amanda, don't apologise. I love seeing children's stuff around the place. It reminds me of when Steve and Carol were young." Amanda laid a grateful hand over Marks and said, "Thank you Mark, for everything. I am sure we are being a real imposition." Chuckling, Mark sat down and took a long draught of his lemonade. "Amanda, we have had any number of people staying here over the years for all sorts of reasons. It's nice to have family stay here for once." She smiled and relaxed back into the chair to watch
her boys on the beach. Dion was thoroughly fed up. For the last week he had
been dropped off and picked up from school, he hadn't been allowed to go anywhere without
either Steve, Jesse or his mom in attendance and for a young man used to his freedom this
was very frustrating. "Are you coming Dion?" his best friend, Sheldon, asked. For a few seconds Dion was silent whilst his sense of self-preservation warred against his natural curiosity about the computer game - natural curiosity came out on top. "I'll be there," he said. As part of his 'escape' plan Dion needed CJ's help. After arriving back at the beach house that afternoon they dumped their bags and went straight out onto the beach, where Dion told CJ about meeting his friends at the mall. "If mom asks where I am, tell her that I am in
our room studying for a test and I don't want any interruptions until dinner," he
continued, "that should give me plenty of time to get back from the mall." Half an hour later Dion was on his way to the mall
and the new computer game. The noise in the store was almost deafening as
groups of young people gathered around a number of computer screens watching as their
friends played the brand new, state of the art game that had been released that day. Dion,
at the back of the group stood, transfixed by the graphics that he was seeing. He didn't
notice anything that was going on around him and he certainly didn't notice a young mans'
startled expression when he spotted him in the crowd. Back at the beach house both Mark and Steve arrived home from work early to find Amanda in the spacious kitchen preparing the evening meal, a task which she insisted on doing whilst she and the boys stayed there, and CJ in the lounge watching cartoons. "Hi there CJ," Steve called, as he dropped his keys and sunglasses on the hall table. "Hi Uncle Steve," the young man answered, barely looking up from the TV. "Where's Dion?" Steve asked as he continued on his way through to the kitchen. The split-second delay and the over casual tone of CJ's answer, "In his room studying and doesn't want to be disturbed." was enough to cause Steve's police instincts into overdrive. He turned on his heels, walked back to the sofa and sat down next to the young man. "CJ," he began, " If I went into your bedroom right now, would I find Dion there?" Looking up at his Uncle Steve, CJ struggled between lying to a man he regarded as a hero and his loyalty to his brother. "CJ," Steve gently urged. "He's gone to the mall with his friends to play a new computer game." "Damn!" Steve let out an expletive that he would not normally have used in front of a child and jumped up from the sofa calling out, "Amanda! Dad!" Amanda and Mark came rushing in from the kitchen and Steve quickly told them where Dion was. "I'm going to the mall now and bring him back," Steve said. "Make sure that he is alive Steve," said Amanda through gritted teeth, "I would just hate for anything to happen to him............................at least before I can get my hands on him." Despite his concern for Dion's safety, Steve could
not help grinning as he drove towards the mall. Even if he managed to get Dion back to
beach house in one piece, he wasn't sure how long that would last once Amanda got her
hands on him. It was finally Dion's turn to play the computer game and he eagerly sat down in front of the screen and clicked on the 'play' button. Almost immediately he was immersed in the surreal world that was the computer game. He was unaware that the crowd in the shop was growing smaller as many of the previous players left. When his cyber alter-ego finally died he looked up to find that only he and Sheldon were left. He looked at his watch and his eyes opened in shock, "Why didn't you tell me it was getting so late?" "I tried Dion," his friend said, "but you were so into the game that you didn't hear me." Gathering up his jacket Dion rushed out of the
store, closely followed by Sheldon, into the still crowded mall. Both boys hurried towards
the exit, Dion hoping against hope that he would still be able to get back to the beach
house before he was missed. At the end of the road that led down to the beach house Sheldon carried straight whilst Dion turned right. It was only after he had walked a few metres on his own that he became aware of something behind him. Turning his head he was horrified to see the heels Dion flew along the sidewalk, as fast as he could, hoping that he could outrun the dilapidated car. His breathing became laboured and his heart pounded in his chest as he ran for his life. Chancing a look over his shoulder Dion didn't see the trash can in his path and he fell over, wrenching his wrist as he put both hands out to cushion his fall. As he lay there winded and in pain, Dion heard the
unmistakeable sound of a car engine revving up, although it sounded incredibly loud to his
young ears. He sat up and watched, in growing horror, as the light grey Ford came ever
closer. Shutting his eyes, having decided that if he was going to be killed he wasn't
going to watch it happening, Dion did not see what happened next. Driving his truck along the road towards the mall as fast as he dared Steve hoped that he would find Dion before anything happened to him. Suddenly he became aware of a car on the other side of the road that seemed to be stationery and yet its engine was racing. Rapidly looking around Steve was shocked to see a figure huddled on the floor which he immediately recognised as Dion. As he looked he was horrified to see the Ford begin to move forward. Swinging the steering wheel to the left Steve pushed the accelerator to the floor intent on putting his truck in between the Ford and Dion. Steve's truck skidded to a halt halfway across the sidewalk and the Ford, in trying to avoid contact, clipped the trash can that Dion had fallen over and flipped over onto its roof. Leaping out of his truck Steve called out to Dion,
"Are you okay?" and on receiving a positive answer, ran over to the Ford to
check on the driver. Dion sat one of the examination tables in the ER of Community General whilst Jesse checked his arm out. "Well I don't think that it is broken Dion," he said, "but I'll send you down for an X-ray just to be on the safe side." As he finished speaking the door opened and Amanda entered. The look on her face was a mixture of joy that Dion was relatively unscathed and anger that he had put himself in danger in the first place. On seeing her Dion's young face crumpled and he began to cry. "I'm sorry mom," he said in between tears, "I didn't think." "No Dion you didn't," Amanda replied, "and that is something we are going to talk about at great length when I get you home." "Any word on the driver?" Jesse wanted to know. "He'll survive," Amanda answered, although her tone displayed a total lack of concern. "Do we know who he is?" Jesse persisted. "Not yet although Steve should have some
answers for us later on. Come to the beach house later on." Amanda replied. Some hours later and everyone was back at the beach house. Dion, luckily, had not broken any bones although he did have his wrist strapped up and in an elevation sling to keep it immobile for a day or so. Mark handed round the drinks and sat down. "So," he asked, "what can you tell us Steve?" "The driver is called Nathan Turner. He is an ex-boyfriend of Vanessa Carmichael. They had recently broken up and he wasn't taking the break-up well. It's a very old story dad. Turner decided that if he couldn't have her then no-one else was going to either, it was just unfortunate for Dion that he happened to be a witness." Steve explained. For a little while there was silence and then Dion asked the most burning question on his mind, "Is Miss. Carmichael going to be alright?" Mark answered, "We think so son. She took a serious knock when the car hit her but, somehow, she avoided any major damage." "That's great!" Dion was thrilled. "I'm glad that you are pleased Dion," Amanda replied standing up, "now we are going to have a long chat about following the rules especially when they are there for your protection." The look on Dion's face as he followed his foster mother was a picture and the sound of Steve, Jesse and Marks laughter followed him out onto the deck where Amanda was waiting for him. THE END home | vs home | season one | season two | season three | join dmvs | e-mail us | guestbook |
