The characters of Emergency! are owned by Universal and Mark VII. No copyright infringement is intended.

MISSING…BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

By LaJuan

"Come on, Uncle Johnny.  Let's go.  It's not every day a girl gets to have a date, movie, and dinner with her favorite uncle on her sixteenth birthday.  I'm famished."

"That makes two of us, Jenny Bean.  It's not everyday this uncle has such a fabulous looking date."

"Can I drive?  Please?  I have my license now."

"What is it with you DeSotos?  You must take after your dear old dad, always having to be in control of the steering wheel."  Roy could see the crooked grin his friend Johnny Gage shot his way and the squeal of delight as Johnny tossed the Land Rover keys to Roy's daughter. 

Shaking his head to snap himself back to the present, Roy gazed again at the green with white top Land Rover before him in the used car lot.  The spare tire graced the hood like a raised pimple.

"Hey fellow.  She's a beauty all right.  We haven't had her long.  She just came on the lot yesterday.  Are you interested in Land Rovers?"

"My friend had a Land Rover once.  We took a lot of fishing trips in it.   May I look inside?"

"Sure.  Let me go into the office and I'll get the keys.  We'll start her up and let you listen to her purr.  She runs real good for such an old girl.  She was certainly taken good care of."

Roy saw his long, lanky, black-headed partner escort Jennifer to the driver's side of the Land Rover.  With an exaggerated bow and a flourish of his arm, Johnny opened the door and helped the young blonde-headed beauty into the driver's seat.  With a quick run, Johnny was on the passenger side and sliding into his seat.  He saluted Roy as Jennifer backed the Land Rover out of the driveway.  Roy watched long after the vehicle disappeared down the street.

"Here we are.  Why don't you take these keys and really look her over.  You know she's priced to steal!"

Roy opened the door and slipped inside onto the passenger seat, earning a puzzled look from the over eager salesman.  "Hey Mister.  Aren't you going to start her up?"

"In a minute.  I just want to sit here and enjoy the feel."

The salesman watched but quickly got distracted when a man and his wife came strolling onto the lot and started looking at the cars.  Gazing behind him, the salesman knew the Land Rover was boxed in.  The customer sitting in the Rover couldn't take it anywhere.

Roy looked over to the driver's side and saw Johnny reach up to the flat dashboard for his sunglasses.  Taking the small dreamcatcher off of the rear mirror, Johnny handed it to Roy.  "Hey, Pal.  Can you store this in its usual place?"  Johnny had done some modification to his vehicle.  The shelf before the passenger seat was still open, but Johnny had fashioned a flap door over the back of the shelf.  Tucked behind it was a small hidden metal box.  When traveling, the dreamcatcher and braided horse hair was kept there.  Johnny never explained; he just said it was an Indian thing.

Still with his mind dwelling in the past, Roy's hand automatically reached out to the shelf and searched for the flap.  Abruptly Roy's mind raced to the present when his fingers brushed over the flap door.  Even though he was now a Captain in the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Roy still retained some of his habits from his paramedic days.  Taking his penlight out of his pocket, he flashed it into the shelf area.  Lifting up the flap door, the light revealed a small dreamcatcher and braided hair.  Roy's hands trembled and his legs turned to Jell-O.  He felt weak and sweaty.  After all this time, it couldn't be Johnny's Rover, and yet the proof was there before him.

"Hey man.  What do you think?  Ready to start her up and take her for a spin?  Are you okay?  You look like you've seen a ghost.  Can I get you some water?"

Taking a deep mental breath, Roy pushed his panic away and reached out to gather calmness back to him.  "How much did you say the price was?"  The salesman was right - the price was a steal, but Roy would have paid any amount to buy this vehicle.  Getting out he held onto the door and shut it gently.  "I'll take her.  How soon can we get the paperwork done?"

"We can do the paperwork now, but it'll be tomorrow before she's ready.  We like to put a polish inside and out on our cars before they leave the lot."

"No!  I want it left just as it is.  In fact, I won't be the one picking her up.  I have a friend who will do it.  Once we finish the deal, I'll call him and make the arrangements."

"Sure Mister.  The phone's in the office."

Once Roy handed over cash and everything was signed, Roy asked to make his call in private. 

"Sure.  I'll wait on the showroom floor.  Come get me when you're through."

Roy was impatient for the ringing phone to be answered.  "Detective Troy Samson, LAPD."

"Troy, Roy DeSoto."

"Hi, Roy.  It's been a while since I've heard from you."

"Yeah.  Listen, Troy, I need your help.  I'm in Phoenix, Arizona for a conference and in a nearby car lot I found a vehicle I never dreamed I would see again.  Troy, I found Johnny's Land Rover."

"How?   Are you sure?"

"It's Johnny's.  No doubt about it.  I just finished buying it and I've kept the salesman from cleaning it."

"Roy, stay on the line.  I'm going to go to another phone.  I need to make a couple of calls, then I'll be back with you."

In five minutes, Troy was back.  "Roy, Detective James Thom from the Phoenix Police Department is on his way.  He's going to talk to you and the sales staff.  The Rover will be impounded and the wrecker should be there soon. We will check it out thoroughly.  I'm making arrangements to fly out there tonight.  How long are you going to be there?"

"I'm suppose to leave in two days, but I'll stay as long as necessary."

"Roy, we have yours and Johnny's fingerprints on file, but we don't have Jennifer's."

"Troy, Joanne and I couldn't bear to do anything to Jennifer's room.  We just shut the door.  Everything is still as it was when she left with Johnny.  It was Joanne's dying wish that I keep the room as is for Jennifer's return.  Can you still find fingerprints after all these years?"

"Maybe.  It's worth a try."

"Okay.  I'll give you Christopher's phone number.  He has a key to the house and can let you in.  Troy?  Can you leave the room as it is?"

"I'll make sure we're careful.  Hang in there, Roy.  This is the break I've been waiting for.  Where are you staying?  I'll call when I get there."

Roy wandered out into the lot and stood looking at the Land Rover.  In the distance he heard the siren coming closer.  It brought back memories of the siren going in the squad with Johnny riding shotgun to his side.  The unmarked police car swerved into the lot and the sound stopped.  Turning, Roy walked over and introduced himself to the detective.  They drew a sizable crowd, not only from the used car lot but also from a couple of neighboring shops.

"Mr. DeSoto, I got a short briefing from Detective Samson, but I need more information.  Would you tell me what happened?"

"Four years ago in LA, my partner took my daughter out in this car to celebrate her sixteenth birthday."  He waved toward the Rover.  "They were never seen again.  I'm here for a Firemen's Conference and I saw the Land Rover.  I was looking in it and found proof that it's my partner's car."

"Partner?"

"We were paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.  Johnny Gage was like an uncle to my children.  Jennifer was especially close to him…. I miss them both."

"Who's the sales staff here?"  Three men stepped closer to the detective, including the one who had dealt with Roy.  "What do you know about the history of this Rover?"

"It was brought in late last night by a man and a woman.  He did the talking, said they didn't need the vehicle and wanted to sell it.  Interestingly when it came time to sign the papers, the woman signed.  Said it was hers. He wanted cash.  I didn't have enough in the safe.  I told him to come back this afternoon and I could pay him then. He was coming back at four."

Roy reached for his wallet and pulled out a snapshot of Johnny and Jennifer the night they left.  "Were these the man and woman?"

The three salesmen looked at the picture.  "It's the woman, although she could sit on her hair now.  Don't know who this dude is."

The detective confiscated the picture and tucked it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.  "I'll need to borrow this to get copies made."  Roy nodded in agreement.  "I want to see the papers on this vehicle."

"Sure, officer.  Let me take you to the office.  Uh…it was just bought by this man," referring to Roy.

"Come on, DeSoto.  Let's go to the office."  They went into the dealer's building and waited until all of the paperwork was pulled.

"Here's your papers, Mr. DeSoto.  The Land Rover is ready whenever you are."

"It will be impounded by the Police Department.  I have a wrecker on its way.  I expect you can open a pathway to it?"  Turning to Roy, the detective continued.  "Before we leave, I will need to know where you are staying.  We'll release the vehicle once Forensic goes over it."

"No problem, Detective Thom."

"Now I want to see the rest of the paperwork."

The salesman separated the papers and passed over the sheets.  The detective thumbed through them until he found what he wanted.  Passing it over to Roy, he waited for a reaction.  Roy did not disappoint him as his face tightened with anguish when he read the signature 'Jenny Bean-Gage'.

"Jenny Bean.  That was the nickname Johnny gave Jennifer when he first met her.  She's hyphened his name on it.  Detective, she's telling us Johnny's alive!"  Roy abruptly stood up and walked out.  Minutes later Detective Thom found him outside watching as the Land Rover was being loaded onto the wrecker.

"Mr. DeSoto?"

"Roy."

"Okay, Roy.  I'm going to return to the department and get copies of your picture passed around.  I'll have this place staked out so we can follow the man when he leaves.  We'll find her."

Roy's voice was soft as he watched. "You know I have to be there when you find her.  I've been searching for so long.  I have to be there."

"Can I give you a lift to your hotel?"

"No.  It's not very far.  I would rather walk.  Here's the address and room number where I'm staying."

"I'll pass this along to our watch commander.  We'll contact you as soon as we know something.  Thanks, Roy.  This means a lot, man."

Roy got a call around seven that evening.  Troy Samson was in town and on the way to the hotel.  When he got to Roy's room he called the local Police Department.  James Thom reported that nothing had happened yet.  One of his men was following the man who had been with Jennifer. The beat cops had copies of Roy's picture and word was on the street to look for the girl with the long golden hair.

"Troy, other than courtesy among police departments, what is going on?  Detective Thom thanked me and said this means a lot.  Why would he say that?"

"Roy, he's been on some missing person's cases almost as long as I've been on Jennifer's.  He has four sixteen-year-old blonde-headed girls missing in the last three years.  The last one went missing two months ago.  Their ages should now be nineteen, eighteen, seventeen and sixteen."

"Hum.  Jennifer is blonde, twenty and went missing when she was sixteen.  So he thinks there's a connection?"

"Yes, although he wasn't aware of Johnny until you brought out that picture."

The phone rang and Roy listened carefully as he answered.  "Yes, hold on.  Troy, it's Detective Thom."

Roy listened to the one-sided conversation impatiently.  He saw a satisfied smile on Troy's face when he hung up the phone.  "Okay.  He has a squad car downstairs for us.  They have been following the man.  He got the cash and walked to a motorcycle dealer and bought a motorcycle with a sidecar.  He drove around and is now in a motel on the south side.  You insisted on being there, so grab your jacket."

When they pulled up to the motel, action was already taking place.  Three officers with guns drawn were at a motel door.  Roy heard them yell, "Police!  Open up."

With no answer, the door cracked with the battering it took from the officers.  They rushed in and shortly Roy heard a sharp yell.  "We need an ambulance and paramedics in here."

Thom got on the radio and made the call.

"I've kept my paramedic certification up in LA.  I may be able to help until your paramedics come."

"It may be your daughter in there."

"I'll take that chance."

They ran into the motel room just as the police were escorting a handcuffed man out.  The room was dark and dreary.  Cowering in the corner was a blonde-haired woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy.  She had bruises on her arms and a handprint on her right cheek.  As he looked at the woman Roy said, "Jennifer?"

She gazed up, "Daddy?  Oh, Daddy!"  She started to get up, gave a gasp and grabbed her stomach.

"Here, Jennifer.  Don't get up."

"Daddy, you don't understand.  My water broke four hours ago.  I'm having contractions."

"Okay.  Let me help you up on the bed.  Are you injured anywhere else?"

"I'm bruised, but nothing else.  I'm used to this from Jack Kent."

Detective Thom looked over at Roy and took over the questions as Roy and Troy helped Jennifer to the bed.  "You've known this Jack Kent a long time?"

"Ever since he kidnapped Johnny and I on my sixteenth birthday.  Ahhh….."

"How close are the contractions, Sweetheart?"

"They're about two minutes apart, Daddy."

"Okay, Hon. I'm going to check you out until the ambulance gets here."  After looking her over Roy knew his first grandchild would be delivered in a sleazy motel room.  He heard twin sirens going and knew a squad and ambulance was pulling in.  When the paramedics came in, Roy told them Jennifer's vitals.  Her breathing pattern changed and she told him that she could feel the baby coming.  It was difficult to allow others to take over the care of his daughter.  Roy needed to step back into his role as father and soon-to-be grandfather.

Jennifer tried to continue her story between her pains.  "He beat Johnny too, many times, until I told him I would do anything he wanted as long as he didn't beat Johnny.  It's my fault entirely that Johnny was hurt so bad.  Ahhh…."

"Jennifer, hush.  You can talk when you get to the hospital.  You need to concentrate on your breathing."

"Okay, Daddy.  Would you hold my hand?"

"Sure, Sweetheart."  Roy moved to the top of the bed, pulled up a chair and brushed Jennifer's shaggy bangs out of her eyes.  He talked to her in a low tone as he waited, stroking her forehead as he held her hand.  She gave out a grunt, squeezed her eyes shut and began pushing.  He coached her on breathing and in three pushes, a boy was born.  The paramedics bundled up the child and gave him to Roy as they worked on his daughter.  He looked down on the boy with its shock of black hair.  The child was angry and worked to pull its hand free from the blanket.  The hand waved in the air as the child cleared its lungs with loud cries.  Roy murmured to the baby as he followed Jennifer's gurney to the ambulance.  He waited as they loaded her into the ambulance and then climbed in with the child.

Later after she was settled in her room in the maternity ward, he went in to visit with her.  Troy and Detective Thom were insistent on going with him.

"Hi, Hon. How are you doing?"

"I'm tired, Daddy, but glad to be free.  How's my baby?"

"He's doing fine.  He's seven pounds and eleven ounces.  He's 20" long with a full head of black hair and no physical problems."

"I'm so glad he's okay."

"Sweetheart, are you up to talking about what happened?"

"Uh.  I guess so, Daddy."  She looked nervously at Roy's two companions.

"Jennifer, this is Detective Troy Samson of the Los Angeles Police Department and Detective James Thom of the Phoenix Police Department.  Troy has been working on your case ever since you disappeared.  Detective Thom has been working on some local missing cases."

"Detectives.  I'll try to help as much as I can.  Daddy?"

"It's okay, Jennifer.  Do your best.  I'll be right here for you."

"Miss DeSoto, are you the only one that Jack Kent took?"

"When he took me, he got Johnny also.  He couldn't separate us."

"Johnny Gage wouldn't leave you?"

"He wouldn't, but he couldn't.  We were handcuffed together."

"What?"

"Daddy, it was a childish prank.  I had been teasing Johnny that he was going to be mine forever.  While he was driving us to the movie, I took a pair of handcuffs and put them on his right wrist and my left wrist.  I had hidden the key in the Land Rover earlier.

We stopped at a stoplight and Jack Kent jumped into the back seat and put a gun to Johnny's neck.  He told Johnny to keep driving.  He had us drive into the desert where he made Johnny stop and park. Jack was still in the back.  He hit Johnny on the head with the gun several times.  Then he got out and tried to drag him out of the car.  That's when Jack found the handcuffs.

He was furious with Johnny. He tore the back of the Land Rover apart looking for bolt cutters.  He went through Johnny's tool chest and found nothing.  He dragged us out of the front and tossed Johnny into the back seat.   I had to climb over Johnny.  I reached over the seat, found the first aid kit, and bandaged Johnny.

By that time, Jack had gotten the vehicle started and he wouldn't stop driving until we reached his cabin.  He carried Johnny in and put him on the bed.  I had no choice but to lay on the bed with him.  Johnny was in and out of consciousness.  Oh Daddy, Jack came back in later that night and raped me.  Johnny woke up in the middle of it and tried to stop Jack, but he couldn't do much one-handed.  Jack beat him up again. 

Jack said he was going to go to town the next day to get bolt cutters.  He left the Land Rover and took his pickup.  I knew it was our chance to get away.  So I was able to get Johnny up and moving and we went out to the Rover to get the key.  I got the handcuffs off.  I wanted to get away in the Land Rover, but Jack had taken the keys.  Johnny wasn't acting like himself.  I think the beatings he received had damaged his brain.  He wasn't talking and he was spaced out.  He would do what I told him to do, so we ran into the woods.  I got lost. 

Jack found us two days later. He beat us both, Johnny more than me.  I begged him, I pleaded with him, and finally, I promised him I would do whatever he wanted as long as he would never beat Johnny again.  Oh Daddy!  I'm so sorry."

"Jennifer, is Johnny dead?"

"No, Daddy.  But he's not the same anymore."

"Miss DeSoto.  I'm sorry to put you through this, but I have to know.  Did Jack take any other girls?"

"Yes, Detective Thom.  He took four others: Mary, Sue, Nadia, and Beth.  They were okay when we left the cabin.  They are taking care of the other children and Johnny."

"Why didn't the others run away when Jack left with you?"

"Because they grew to love Johnny as much as I do and Jack would chain him when he left.  Jack threatened to kill Johnny if they ran."

Detective Thom looked down to his written notes.  Thumbing through them, he found his notes on his four cases and read off the names of the girls: "Mary Scott, Susan Britton, Nadia Conners and Elizabeth Smith."

"Yes, those are their names."

"You said they were taking care of the other children."

"Jack had dreams of his own commune.  He had strict rules for us.  No one was allowed to wear short hair, even Johnny.  We got good at braiding hair. We wore plain clothing that I learned to sew. We gardened and raised our own food. He tried to keep us pregnant.  I managed to track my cycles so I was able to avoid him when I was fertile. He caught on and threatened to kill Johnny, so I got pregnant.  By us having children, he figured if he killed Johnny he still had reasons for us to stay and he still had the beginnings of his commune."

"Oh my God!"  Roy got up and left the room.  He wandered the halls of the hospital and stopped at the windows of the nursery.  He stared at the boy wrapped in blue.  "This was his grandson, but who was the father? How could Jack Kent put his daughter through hell for the past four years? What about Johnny?  He went through hell also. How was he going to tell Jennifer about her mother's death?  What was life going to be like for all of them now?"  He went to the door of the nursery and asked the nurse if he could hold his grandson.  He was led to a room off from the nursery and told to sit in the rocker.  The baby was brought to him and placed in his arms.

Alone, Roy rocked the boy.  The child was calm and looked up into Roy's blue eyes.  Roy studied the child, opened his blanket and examined the child from head to toes.  What he found made him suspicious of the parentage of the child.  He bundled up the child and returned it to the nurse.  Pausing at the nursery windows to watch the nurse place his grandson in his bassinet, he noticed the nametag. Abruptly he turned and made his way back to his daughter's room.  He found her alone and in tears.

"Oh Daddy.  I'm so sorry.  I'm the cause of all this.  I'm the reason Johnny was injured.  I am so sorry I disappointed you."

Roy gathered Jennifer into his arms and whispered into her ear, "I'm not disappointed.  You did what you had to in order to live and keep Johnny alive.  I'm just so sorry you lost so much of your life.  Sweetheart, I need to ask you a question.  I think there's more to your story that you haven't told.  I have to ask.  Who is the baby's father?"

*********************

The Land Rover had been the key to tying the case together in both states.  All the girls' fingerprints were in it as well as the fingerprints of Jack Kent.  Johnny's dried blood had pooled under the driver's seat. 

Roy had stayed in Phoenix for several weeks until the cabin was found and the girls were rescued.  Unfortunately Johnny had pneumonia when found. Roy and Jennifer had made plans to drive the Rover back to Los Angeles once Johnny was released from the hospital. Dr. Brackett thought that with brain surgery, the pressure Johnny had would be relieved, but some damage had occurred.  He didn't remember his time in Arizona. He had worked hard during therapy and had regained his speech.  Sometimes when he was tired he would stutter, but they were used to it and paid no attention.

With Johnny's back pay, disability checks, Roy's sale of his house, and his salary as Captain, the two pooled their resources and purchased a ranch with barns and horses. Johnny still had weakness on his left side but it didn't keep him from riding and working with the horses. Jennifer showed no interest in dating and she set up housekeeping and took care of little Jamie and Johnny while Roy went to work.

Roy leaned against the tree as he watched his friend teaching Jamie how to fish.  Both had black hair, although Johnny's now had a streak of gray around the temple.  Both had the same coloring and had similar birthmarks between the toes.  Six years back Jennifer had refused to answer her father's question, but he knew the answer. Oh yes, he knew.  What he didn't know at the time was why Jennifer made the decision she obviously had made.  But after watching her with Johnny and Jamie and remembering the nametag on the bassinet, Roy was at peace with her choice.

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This story continues in a sequel titled Missing Years…Forgotten

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