The Journal

Chapter One

Charles Norton had grown up with the same sadistic tendencies as his father, but he was far more intelligent and resourceful than his father had even been. Now a successful accountant, he indulged in his fantasies and covered his tracks well. However, he was sure his embezzlement of company funds was nearing discovery, not that he was disappointed. He had set out to defraud his partners and he had done that successful for several years.

He had planned his disappearance meticulously and would put those plans into action within the month. First he had some scores to settle. His father's death in prison had spurred him in to action. He looked down at the four names on the paper in front of him and the information that accompanied three of the names. Only one person was proving difficult to trace, but it was only a matter of time before he was found. He would like to have eliminated his foster brothers and sister sooner, but had decided to wait until the death of his father from cancer. He had hated all of them when he was made to share his home with them and that hatred had festered over the years. It had taken a while until he felt he had the resources to trace, eliminate them and cover his tracks. Leaving others to take the heat when he disappeared.

SIX WEEKS LATER

It was late in the afternoon at FBI headquarters in New York. The team had taken advantage of a lull in their workload to tackle the mountain of paperwork they had amassed after two weeks of solid work.

"Angie Matinez." Danny didn't realise that he had spoken out loud.

"Sorry." Said Sam. "Didn't catch that."

"Talking to myself, I just seemed to know the name."

Sam walked over and picked up the sheets Danny was reading. "Angie Matinez." read Sam. "Prostitute found murdered on Thursday morning. Missing for five days, tortured and raped before her death. No leads at present."

Danny retrieved last week's bulletin and began to flick through that. Sam looked bemused. "You can tell it's quiet, you're looking for work now"

Danny smiled briefly and continued to flick through the sheets. Sam gave up on the conversation and returned to her desk. He found the page he was interested in and started to read. It gave details of the death of a homeless man called Eddie Lee. He had been missing from his work program for about five days and had been murdered and sexually assaulted before his death.

Martin tried twice to get Danny's attention, finally getting up and tapping his friend's shoulder. Danny jumped, surprising both of them.

"You ok?" Asked Martin concerned at Danny's reaction.

"Yeh, I'm fine, just a bit tired."

Martin wasn't convinced, but he didn't press the issue.

"Just wondered if you wanted a coffee?"

"Yeh, thanks."said Danny still sounding distracted.

When Martin returned with the coffee, Danny was on the phone. He seemed to be requesting police reports on something.

Martin put the coffee down and returned to his desk. He tidied up a bit, throwing a concerned look at Danny every now and again. Danny seemed lost in though and his coffee was left untouched.

Before he left the office, Martin went over to Danny.

"Listen. I'm having dinner with my father tonight, but I'll be home by ten. Phone me and we'll talk, OK."

Danny nodded. "Thanks Martin."

Danny stayed at work for another couple of hours then headed for home himself.

On arriving home, Danny turned on the coffee machine and then went into the bedroom and took some cardboard boxes out of the high cupboards. After an hour of searching through the boxes he found the small journal he was looking for. Tidying most of the things back into boxes, Danny took the notebook back into the living room, setting it down on the table while he made himself a coffee and a sandwich.

Settling down on the sofa, he steeled himself to open the small journal that he had closed over twenty years ago and never opened since. Someone from child welfare had suggested Danny put down his experiences of foster care in writing. Picking it up, he flicked through until he saw the name Norton. Taking more interest in what he had written now, he found the names of the kids he had been fostered with at the Norton's. Mikey of course, Angela Matinez, Eddie Lee and Tony Dean. Picking up his phone, he dialed a friend in the police department and asked for a search on the name Tony Dean. Within minutes, he was informed that Tony Dean had died three weeks ago during an attempted car jacking.

He knew he had to talk to Martin, really he should contact Jack, but he wanted to talk to his best friend first. He dialled Martin's cell, intending to leave a voice mail, he was surprised when Martin answered.

"Dinner going well?" asked Danny.

Martin could imagine the smirk on Danny's face.

"Fine."

"Not mentioned adopting me yet then?" Quipped Danny.

Martin laughed out loud at this.

When Danny asked if he could call around later, Martin suggested he make it about 9.30. Obviously the meal with his father was going as well as usual.

"Work?" asked Martin's father curiously.

"Just Danny, he's popping round later."

"You should widen your circle of friends Martin. I could introduce you to people who could help you."

One day thought Martin, he might do something his father approved of and he was sure Danny reminded his father of a younger version of Jack. Despite telling his father how settled and happy he was now, his father still wasn't satisfied with the choices he'd made. He must be spending too much time with Danny because he found himself caring less and less about what his father thought.

Danny headed off at 9.30. He didn't notice the black car that had followed him as he left and pulled in front of him outside Martin's apartment. As Danny got out of his car, he saw a large man emerge from the passenger side of the Lexus in front of him, walk around and pull the driver out of the car. Danny sighed, he really didn't need this, he pulled out his ID.

"FBI" he announced as he approached the car. "Just calm down sir, I'm sure we can sort this out."

The smaller man leaned back against the car and the large man moved away.

"What's the problem?" asked Danny. He moved in to support the smaller man who appeared to have collapsed. As he did so, the larger man brought the butt of his gun down on Danny's neck, then hit him again just to make sure he stayed down. Danny was quickly bundled into the back of the car and it sped off into the darkness.