Chapter 4: John C. Hawk
As John C. Hawk lied in bed next to his wife, he couldn’t help but stay awake. He had too much going on to be able to sleep. The day had been long and arduous and its happenings raced through his mind, starting with a phone call he’d received.
It was five o’clock in the afternoon, just about time to head home from the law firm. John’s court case had been a huge success and justice most certainly prevailed. Being a district attorney, John’s job was to preserve justice all that he could. He didn’t do it for pleasure or for fame. He didn’t do it for religious or moral reasons. He did it because he was good at it. As John left the court house, he turned on his cell phone. It beeped and flashed. He put his finger on its top, and pushed on a red ‘stop’ button. The phone ceased its flashing and beeping, and John continued to walk to his car. As he approached it he pulled out his keys and opened the driver’s side door. He side stepped and crouched into the car in a single fluent motion, closing the door after him. He put his briefcase next to him on the passenger seat, sighing. He leaned back in his seat and smiled a little, being glad the day was over. He pulled his cell phone out again and opened it up. After pressing a series of buttons, he put the phone to his ear. “You have, three, new, messages!” answered a recording.
“Message, one,” beep.
“Hey John, it’s me; Got some more news about that Dover guy for ya. It seems he’s been working’ on a big project west ‘a here, in Jersey. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I’ll let you know ‘soon as I get more info. Talk to ya soon.” Beep. John clenched his fist. His private eye was amazing, but Dover still seemed to have some secrets that needed uncovering. He hoped that this secret was the one thing that would have Dover sent to jail for life, or at least made the feds look at him more closely.
“Message two.” Beep.
“Hey John, it’s Justin. I was wondering what you were doing this weekend? My little girl and I would love to have you over again, and I think Rebecca would love to see your boy again. Call me back, ‘kay? Bye!” John chuckled from the comment; Justin was one of his best friends and closest partners in the firm. Tristian and Justin’s daughter had a bit of a history. That is to say that his daughter had a history of chasing Tristian around, and Tristian had a history of telling her to leave him alone.
“Message three.” Beep.
“Jonathan! It’s Cheryl! Tristian was kidnapped! Please come home as soon as you get this message! The police are here looking around! His door was knocked down, and there is a fake gun, and he’s gone! He’s gone John, our boy is gone!” She cried. John stared into nothingness for a second. He thought about what he had just heard. ‘Is this a joke?” He thought. ‘My son couldn’t have been kidnapped, no, that’s not possible!’ He listened to the message again, and again. He listened harder and harder each time, trying to see if there was even a hint of fakeness in his wife’s voice. There wasn’t.
John put his car in reverse and backed out of his parking spot so fast that when he stopped to go into forward drive, his tires screeched. The screech scared some people around him, but he didn’t care. He drove off out of the court house and onto the road. He knew he was lucky no one had stopped him; pulled him over; or given him a ticket. Even if they did, he wouldn’t care. He was a lawyer and under these circumstances, NOTHING in the world mattered to him more.
When he finally pulled down his street, he was blocked by lines of cop cars and yellow tape. He pulled over next to the sidewalk and got out of his car, leaving his suitcase. He approached the yellow tape and pushed past the small group of people gathered around. When he began to move past the tape, however, he was stopped by a police officer.
“I’m sorry sir but this area is closed off, you cannot come through here!”
“Yes I can, that’s my house right there,” John retorted, pointing to his house “And that’s MY son that was kidnapped!” He yelled a little loudly. He was slightly enraged by being stopped by an officer. It was his damn kid and his damn house, he had the right to go in and see the scene of the crime, and he knew his rights.
“Let me see some identification sir.” The officer requested calmly. John whipped out his wallet, handing it to the officer. The officer inspected the license inside the wallet, and looked up at John. He looked back down at the wallet, and handed it back to him. “Go on through sir.” John hurried past the cop, and started the walk to his home. He walked a bit faster, almost into a jog until he reached his front door. There was no door though, and as he peered into his house, he saw his wife sitting on the couch crying. There were also many officers moving about, writing notes, and talking to each other. John ran over to his wife, hugging her tightly. He too burst into tears. After some time of crying, the two calmed down. They were talking on the couch when an officer approached them. He had a thick red mustache with matching head hair. He was pale white, but didn’t have any freckles like one would expect. Both Cheryl and John stood up.
“I’m police Chief O’Doyle. Do you two have a moment?” He asked. John extended a hand to shake the officer’s. His wife clung to him. “Yes we do. I’m John Hawk, and this is my wife Cheryl. Please officer, tell me what you know!” He begged, still teary eyed.
“We can only reveal so much, Sir but I will tell you what I can. It seems a group of men broke into your house this afternoon and kidnapped your son. It looks like he fought back. We found an airsoft pistol on the ground in his room. It looks like his window was open, but the crooks broke down your door. We assume your son tried to escape, but couldn’t.”
“How do you know he didn’t escape?” John asked.
“We found drag marks on your carpet, and tire tracks leading away from the scene of the crime.” The officer replied.
“Are there ANY leads at all officer? Do you have ANY clues?” John asked desperately.
“We’re sorry sir, but so far, we have no leads.” The officer replied. The officer seemed deeply upset and troubled. There was something else on his mind. “Mr. Hawk, there is something we found, but I don’t know if it will help us in our investigation.” John and his wife looked at the officer, their eyes wide and hopeful. “We went through your son’s things. We’re going through his computer now.” He said, pausing. “I’m not sure if you know about this…” He said. “But your son seems to have some ‘skeletons in his closet.’ The two parents looked at each other momentarily, somewhat troubled.
“Oh please officer! Tell me it isn’t drugs! Tell me he isn’t doing anything illegal! I’ve taught my boy better than that!” John pleaded, tears rolling down his face, his fists clenched, and a look of both worry, and anger in his eyes.
“Sir, it’s nothing illegal, and I can’t really say it’s something ‘bad’, but when this is all over, you might want to talk with your son.”
“What is it though?” Cheryl probed.
That was all the reminiscing John could take. He grabbed his head and clenched his eyes, stopping the vivid images of the past day. “Diapers…” He thought. “Diapers and baby things… Why didn’t he come to us?”
