Justice

Disclaimer: I don't own High Mountain Rangers or Jesse Hawkes, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warnings: Angst, Violence

Rating: FRT

Justice
Chapter 4

Marty Clark pulled up next to the warehouse he owned. He had been wondering how the Hawkes family was coming along with the renovations and today seemed like as good of a day as any to find out. Knocking on the door, but there was no answer. He'd seen Jesse's truck, so he knew they were here. Maybe they were working and couldn't hear him knocking. With that in mind, he opened the door and peaked inside. "Oh God," he cried out as he took in the sight before him. Rushing to the two fallen men, he quickly checked them for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it. Both men were bleeding heavily and their pulses were weak, but they were still alive. Marty didn't waste a moment; pulling out his cell phone he called the police and an ambulance.

Jesse felt a hand on his shoulder, "Cody?" he weakly called.

"No Jesse, it's Marty Clark. You lay still, there's help on the way."

"Cody...find him," Jesse ground out as he tried and failed to sit up.

"I'll find him Jesse, you just lay still," Marty assured him. As he shifted to push himself to his feet, Jesse's voice stopped him.

"Took him."

"Somebody took Cody?"

Jesse nodded, he was rapidly losing strength and with it the ability to speak.

"Do you know who?" Marty asked, but it was already too late. Jesse's eyes slid closed, his battle to remain conscious lost. At the sound of sirens he rose to his feet and headed outside. Directing the ambulance crew and police inside, he stood back out of the way.

"Mr. Clark is it?"

"Yes sir," Marty confirmed.

"I'm Detective Simms, can you tell me what happened here?"

Marty sighed, "I don't really know. I own the building and I just came by to see how Jesse and the boys were coming along with the renovations. I didn't get any answer to my knock, but that's not real unusual."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, a lot of times they'll be working and not hear me. So I opened the door and," he shuddered slightly.

"You said Jesse and the boys?"

"Yeah, Jesse and his sons have been renovating the place for me."

"Our two victims are?

"Jesse Hawkes and his oldest son Matt."

"Do you think his younger son could have...."

"No!" Marty nearly yelled. "Jesse said somebody took him," he continued, forcing himself to calm down.

"He was awake?"

"Only for a minute and he didn't say much. Just to find Cody and that whoever did this took him."

"Did he tell you who it was?"

"No, he passed out again."

Simms sighed, he should have known it wouldn't be that easy, but a man can hope. "Can you tell me what Cody looks like?"

"Yeah, in fact Jesse should have a picture around here somewhere." Glancing around the room, he searched in vain for a photo of Cody. Rubbing his hand thoughtfully over his grizzled face he suggested that there might be one upstairs.

"We'll look in a minute, but for now could give me a description?"

Marty nodded, quickly giving the middle-aged detective a description of the missing boy. By the time he finished talking to the detective, Jesse and Matt were on their way to the hospital.


Larry drove for sometime before finally pulling up in front of a small cabin that set well back from the road, safe from prying eyes. Pulling Cody from the trunk, he shoved him towards the cabin. "This is your new home dog." Giving the boy a final shove, his laughter rang out as Cody fell to his knees on the hardwood floor of the house. "Let me see your hands."

Cody didn't dare argue. Nervously, he held up his hands to Rassy. He couldn't help the sigh of relief when all the man did was unlock one of the cuffs.

"Good start," Larry complimented the boy. "Now I want you to go over to the stairs and cuff yourself to the railing." He grinned at the flash of defiance in his slave's eyes. Good, a little defiance would make breaking him more fun. "Good dog," he praised when the boy obeyed the order. "I wasn't planning to bring you here with me so I need to go out and buy a few things. I would take you with me, but I can't take the chance that you'll decide to bang on the trunk lid to get somebody's attention. So, you'll stay here and to be on the safe side I think I better put the ball gag back on."

The moment Rassy left the cabin, Cody began to struggle against the cuffs. He was hoping he could manage to pull the post he was cuffed to loose. It didn't take him long to discover that the rail was entirely too strong to succeed. With that failure, he got busy on trying to work his hands through the cuffs. By the time Rassy returned, he had only managed to bloody his wrists and wear himself out.

"I'm not surprised you tried to escape," Larry smiled as he looked down at him. "You know this means I'll have to punish you now?"

Cody glared at him, knowing the man needed no excuse for punishing him.

"First though, I need to put some things away." Smiling to himself, he headed into the kitchen where he began to put away some of the things he had bought. It didn't take long; he grinned as he imagined the look on the boy's face when he saw what all he'd bought. Walking over to the boy, he drew an item from the bag he carried. "Time to make your new status official," he grinned as he fastened the collar around Cody's neck, locking it in place with a small padlock, such as might be on a diary. It wasn't very big, true, but it was big enough for this purpose.

Reaching down, he undid the boy's cuffs and stepped back. "The gag remains in place for now," he calmly ordered.

The moment his hands were released, Cody reached for the straps of the gag, stopping when ordered. Keeping his eyes down, he wondered what other humiliations Rassy would inflict on him.

"Dogs don't wear clothes, strip."

Reluctantly Cody did as he was told, immediately covering himself with his hands.

Larry laughed, "I ain't interested in your virtue boy, but that don't mean you got the right to modesty. You're a slave, you have no rights. Move your hands," he coldly ordered. As he'd told the boy, he had no interest in him sexually but he wasn't above using any means at his disposal to break and control him. "That's better, now go in the kitchen and make me something to eat."

Cody obeyed, though every fiber of his being was screaming at him to refuse. He hoped for the chance to escape, but he wouldn't try unless he was sure that Rassy wouldn't be able to go after his family. Fully aware of the man standing in the doorway, watching him, he went about making lunch.

Rassy walked to the cabinet and pulled out a dog dish, filling one side with water, he emptied a can of dog food into the other side and sat it on the floor. “Crawl over here dog.” Smiling, he took in the sick look on the boy's face as he reached to remove the gag. “This is your lunch, eat up.”

Cody looked up at him, “You're kidding me.” His head whipped to the side from the impact of the backhand Rassy delivered.

“Already forgetting the rules? You don't speak without permission, unless I ask you a direct question and you will call me master. Do you understand?”

“Yes master,” Cody replied, after only a moment's hesitation.

“Good. Now as I was saying this is your lunch; you will eat it,” he coldly ordered. Turning away, he walked back to the table and his own lunch. “Oh and I suggest you keep it down or you'll be eating your own vomit next.”

Cody fought back the sick feeling, knowing that Rassy was serious. His stomach roiled at the thought of eating the dog food, but he realized there was no choice. Reluctantly, he scooped up a handful of food. Cody yelped, holding his hand to his chest.

Larry grabbed a wooden spoon from the counter, using it to slap the food from the boy's hand. “You're a dog, I expect you to eat like one.”

Cody nodded and lowered his head to the food dish. It was awful, still he ate it, somehow managing to choke it down. Having eaten as quickly as he could, the only way he was able to get it down, he was done long before Rassy.

Larry glanced over at the boy, “If you're done, start cleaning the kitchen.” He returned to his meal, not waiting to see if his order would be carried out.

“Come over here boy,” he commanded a short while later. “On your hands and knees,” smiling when the order was obeyed. “It's time to instruct you on your behavior. As I've already told you, no speaking without permission, unless asked a direct question. You will address me as master and you will never again look me or anybody else in the eye. You're a slave, a dog and you will behave as such. From now on you will only be allowed to stand when the chore you are performing requires it; otherwise you will remain on your hands and knees. Do you understand?”

“Yes master,” came the quiet reply. What else could he say? Arguing would only result in punishment for himself and perhaps worse for his family.

“Good, now come into the living room with me.” Standing up, he led the way into the other room and to the bag he had left there. “I have something here to complete your look,” he smirked as he drew an object from the bag.

Cody's eyes widened, that couldn't be what it looked like. Shaking his head, he instinctively moved away from the man before him.

“Stop! Good dog,” he praised when Cody stopped. “I think you've figured out what this is, haven't you?”

“I think so master.”

“What do you think it is?”

Cody swallowed past the lump in his throat, “It looks like a tail master.”

“That's exactly what it is,” Larry smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. “I'll be kind and apply lube to the plug,” he continued as he put actions to words. It was the only concession he made, the moment he had the plug ready he shoved it into place, enjoying the sound of pain coming from his slave. “That's better, now you look more like a dog should. You are never to remove your tail, if you need it removed you will come to me and I will take care of it. Do you understand?”

“Yes master,” Cody stuttered.

“Good, now time for your punishment....”



It took three days for either of the Hawkes to become coherent enough to answer questions. During that time the police had issued an alert on Cody, but beyond that there wasn't much they could do without more information. Detective Terry Simms rushed down the hospital corridor, praying that the men he was coming to see would be able to tell him something useful.

Pushing open the door to the shared room, he quickly introduced himself.

“Have you found Cody yet?” Jesse asked as soon as he knew who he was talking to.

“No sir, I'm sorry we haven't,” Simms apologized. A father himself, he hated the fact that he couldn't give the man in the bed better news. “I was hoping you could help us out with that.”

Jesse nodded, “What do you need?”

“Do you know who took Cody?”

“Larry Rassy, he was supposed to be in prison on charges of accessory to murder and attempted murder.”

“You had something to do with that?”

“Cody witnessed Rassy's brother murdering another man. He was spotted though and the whole family came after him. We were cut off and I had to send Cody out, alone, for help. He made it, obviously, but not before Rassy's son was killed. Rassy himself took the coward's way out, blew his brains out when he realized he was going to prison. Larry must have escaped somehow and came after Cody.”

“Rassy the one that stabbed you both, or did he have help?”

“He did it, as far as I know he was alone. We came home and found him there with Cody, torturing him,” Jesse growled. He could feel the rage building as he told the detective everything that had happened after they came home.

“Do you have any idea where he might have taken your son?”

“No, he didn't give us any hints at all.”

“I'm sorry for all you've gone through Mr. Hawkes,” Simms quietly offered.

“Thank you Detective Simms, but I'm more interested in what you're doing to find my son.”

“Until now there wasn't much we could do except to issue an alert for Cody. Now that we know who took him we can start looking into the man's history. See if there's any likely places he might have taken Cody. Additionally, of course, we'll issue an APB for Larry Rassy as well. Even if he keeps your son out of sight, he'll have to get supplies somewhere, hopefully when he does he'll be spotted.”

“You might want to suggest that if he is spotted and he's alone, that instead of trying to stop him, they follow him,” Jesse suggested.

Simms was surprised by how calm the man in the bed was. He knew that if it were one of his kids who had been kidnapped by a madman there was no way he could manage the same feat. “Why is that?”

Jesse may have seemed calm to the detective, in actuality he was far from it. However, he knew that he couldn't help Cody if he allowed his fears for his son to overwhelm him. “Because if he's caught alone he might refuse to tell where Cody is.” Jesse's tone clearly said he thought that would have been obvious.

“Good idea, I'll make sure that it's part of the alert. Do you have a number where I can reach you if I have any news?”

“No I don't, but I'll get a cell phone and give you the number.”

“Okay, and will you be returning to the warehouse when you're released from here?”

“We're going looking for Cody as soon as we're able to,” Jesse firmly replied.

“Mr. Hawkes that's not a good idea,” Simms began, only to be interrupted.

“Detective Simms, no offense, but that is my boy out there being put through God only knows what kind of hell. I won't, I can't just sit back and wait for you to find him.”

Terry sighed, he wasn't really surprised. He'd done his research on these men, “I won't say I'm happy with your decision, but as a father I understand it. At least you and your son are both experienced law enforcement,” he conceded. “I do expect you to keep in touch with me though and share any leads you get.”

“Of course,” Jesse easily agreed, though he knew he had no intention of sharing any leads unless he thought they needed help.

“Thank you,” Simms acknowledged. “I'll just get back to the station and get started on this new information. Good-bye Mr. Hawkes,” he said.

“Good-bye Detective.”

“How long are we going to wait Dad?” Matt asked the moment the detective left.

Jesse sighed, he wanted to get dressed and start looking right away. That would be foolish, no matter how much he would prefer action to waiting. “Until the doctor releases us from the hospital.”

“Are you serious?” Matt yelped. He couldn't believe that his father was willing to wait like this.

“I know how you feel son, but we won't do Cody any good if we take off before we're healthy enough and collapse. I don't plan to wait too long, but I want us to have the best chance we can at finding your brother.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Matt admitted. “Sorry for snapping at you,” he quietly added.

“It's okay Matt, I understand how you feel, believe me. Of course being stuck in the hospital doesn't mean we can't start working.”

“How?”

“I'll call McBride, ask him to start checking on places Rassy might own or have access to where he might take Cody. Hopefully by the time we get out of here we'll have some good leads to check out.”

“I hope so,” Matt sighed. Closing his eyes, he remembered the look of terror, mingled with determination, on his little brother's face as Rassy dragged him from the warehouse. He'd always known Cody was a strong kid, but he'd had no idea he was that tough. Matt wasn't sure he could have made the same deal, even now, and he was sure he couldn't have at seventeen. As he drifted to sleep, the last thing he heard was his father talking to Mike McBride in Tahoe.


TBC

So very sorry for the long delay, real life created stress which unfortunately interferes with the muses. Please feed the muse with reviews and I'll try to update more quickly next time.