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Adam	By : kattanon Category: S through Z > The Shield Views: 1482 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Shield, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: - I don�t own any of the characters of The Shield, they all belong to Shawn Ryan and FX.
Adam Chapter 3
Claudette and Josh had no sooner gotten back to The Barn from the coroner�s office than Claudette was summoned to Aceveda�s office. As she walked towards his first floor office she passed Shane Vendrell hanging about outside one of the interrogation rooms. Claudette frowned at the way he paled slightly when he saw her and turned away. Turning the strange reaction over in her mind she was determined to get to the bottom of it later. Firstly, she had to see what the Captain wanted. She hoped it wasn�t going to be some not-so-subtle pestering concerning the strangler case her and Josh were working at the moment. The latest victim of whom they�d just seen in the morgue. She really didn�t want to hear how the Mayor was taking a personal interest, or how the Chief wanted an update. Bracing herself for the possibility of politics getting in the way of her job Claudette rapped on the door and stepped inside at Aceveda�s called out,
"Come in!"
Hovering just in front of the closed door Claudette asked,
"You wanted to see me?"
Aceveda stood and indicated the chair in front of his desk.
"Sit down Claudette."
Claudette was immediately on her guard. Aceveda seemed on edge, the tight smile he flashed her not reaching his eyes. Intrigued, but wary Claudette came forward and sat down. Her eyes swept quickly over the top of Aceveda�s desk looking for a visual clue to her summons and his uneasy body language. Her gaze rested on a pale blue folder and the photo that sat on top of it, and she found what she�d been looking for.
Her eyes immediately flicked back up to the Captain�s face and the expression there confirmed her hopes, or maybe it was her fears.
Not knowing what had happened to Dutch haunted Claudette and she had never given up looking for him. True she no longer put in sixteen or eighteen hours days at The Barn, but that was only because Aceveda had threatened to suspend her until she was cleared by the Department shrink if she didn�t stop "obsessing", as he�d put it. It hadn�t stopped her searching for him in her own time though. She knew the location, sex, and where possible, identity of every dumped body found in Los Angles and the surrounding area for the past year. She spent hours going over witness statements that she�d already read a hundred times just in case there was something buried in them that might be the break-through they needed. She pestered the Feds, who�d been called in to head up the investigation into Dutch�s disappearance, so much that they knew it was her on the phone before she�d barely gotten out a syllable.
Not knowing drove her crazy. It lead to nightmares that left her kneeling on the floor of her bathroom throwing up, while trying to banish the hideous images her subconscious had conjured up to torture her with. It led to sleepless nights when thoughts of what might have happened left her unable to sleep in the first place. However, not knowing also left a tiny space in her heart for hope. Hope that he was still alive somewhere, hope that one day he�d just walk back into The Barn, hope that wherever he was that he was okay. While she had that little sliver of hope to cling on to Claudette could get up in the morning and carry on. While she had that little sliver of hope she could stop the guilt she felt, for sending him off that night when he�d offered to stay behind to help her with the paperwork, from eating her alive. Now Aceveda�s next words could snuff that tiny, struggling flame of hope out forever, and she felt afraid.
"We think he�s alive Claudette."
The sound that left her lips at the Captain�s words was a very undignified sounding little grunt, but at that moment Claudette felt like she�d been punched in the stomach. The breath she hadn�t realised she�d been holding since she�d first seen Dutch�s photo on Aceveda�s desk rushed out of her, and she folded forward in her seat. Concerned Aceveda leant forward,
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Her mouth dry Claudette had to take a deep breath before looking back up at Aceveda�s concerned face,
"He�s been found? Is he alright?" Her voice sounded unsteady, but she didn�t care.
"Vic and Shane brought in a drug dealer who claims to have seen him two weeks ago. He said he�d seen a Farmington cop who�d been missing and he picked Dutch�s picture out and insists it was him."
"Thank God." Claudette whispered closing her eyes. Her emotions whirled around inside her brain as relief flooded through her. She started, and looked up as she felt a hand close gently on her shoulder, Aceveda stood next to her and giving her shoulder one final squeeze said,
"I�ll get you some water, it�s been a shock."
It was only when he left the room that Claudette realised that her face was wet and that Aceveda had left to give her some time to gather herself for which she was grateful. Reaching up she wiped her tears of relief away with the palms of her hands and tried to reign in her emotions.
The moment that she�d wished for, now that it was here, hardly seemed real to her. It had been just over a year� Who was she kidding, she knew exactly how long it had been � twelve months, three weeks, four days, and eleven hours � since her phone had woken her up and she�d heard Aceveda�s voice telling her that Dutch�s car had been found abandoned by the side of the road down in Orange County.
Dutch had had a long weekend off and had planned to visit some friends who lived in Huntington Beach. Claudette knew he�d been looking forward to it, and so when he�d looked guilty at leaving her with the paperwork at the end of the shift and had volunteered to put off his journey for a couple of hours to help her, she�d refused and insisted he left. Jesus, how she�d regretted that decision, always wondering if she�d taken him up on his offer if he wouldn�t then have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he�d set out a few hours later than he�d planned maybe he would�ve finished his journey safely.
That night she�d rushed into The Barn to find Aceveda waiting for her. Apparently an abandoned car had been reported to the Highway Patrol who�d sent a unit to investigate. They�d found Dutch�s car by the side of the road, trunk open, driver�s door wide-open, keys in the ignition, and his gun, wallet, and badge all still in the glove compartment, but no sign of Dutch.
The next day forensics had discovered blood on the steering wheel, and on the ground by the driver�s side. Scuffmarks in the dirt around the car that indicated a struggle had taken place and tread marks that proved two other cars had been present. The evidence of abduction was clear and the FBI had been called in. The eventual theory was that a car had been parked by the side of the road and for some reason Dutch had stopped, pulling in front of it. It was surmised that he was flagged down, and thinking someone was in trouble had stopped to help. The Feds guessed that whoever had flagged him down claimed to have a flat tyre and this was why Dutch had popped his trunk, to get to his jack. At some point a second car arrived, pulling in front of Dutch�s car to prevent him from leaving. Dutch realising that something wasn�t right had tried to get to his gun in the glove compartment, but had been stopped by at least two assailants. The blood found matched his indicating he hadn�t gone without a fight.
Then he had simply disappeared into thin air.
Claudette knew that most people, hell everyone, had thought Dutch was dead. The search for him had turned up nothing but dead ends. After two months the FBI had cut down the team looking for him, pulling away agents for other cases. The clue trail had gone cold, no motive could be found, and Dutch had been filed away as another statistic.
Claudette hadn�t given up on him though, just as she�d known that he wouldn�t have given up on her if their positions had been reversed. After the Feds had left for Wiltshire Boulevard she�d carried on trying to find a clue, a witness, a reason. Until Aceveda had stepped in and threatened her with a psyche review. It hadn�t stopped her digging though, although she thought with a pang of guilt maybe lately she hadn�t been devoting quite as much time to it as she used to do.
Three months ago she�d finally relented and allowed Aceveda to assign her a new partner. Josh Yendall was a good kid, a little wet behind the ears still but he had good instincts. Claudette liked him, and she realised that more of her attention had been focused on him and their cases than on Dutch�s disappearance lately. Claudette felt slightly sick when she realised that maybe she�d been in the process of giving up on Dutch too, just like everyone else had. She�d been losing that hope that she�d clung on to. It was only now that she knew he could really be alive that she recognised the way she�d been slowly letting him go. Assigning him to a nameless grave somewhere just like everyone else. However, she wasn�t "everyone else", she was his partner and she�d be damned if she was going to fail him again. Hearing the door open behind her and turning to see Aceveda entering with a woman she recognised as Assistant District Attorney Ruth Cully, Claudette prepared herself to fight to get here partner back.
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Adam