Silence Search

It's morning, and inside of a nice house, a man walks down the stairs. He has blond hair that is brushed back, a strongly built body, strong cheekbones, and big hands. His name is Gudmund Thoresen. He gets down to the bottom of the stairs and walks down the hall to the kitchen. Soon, he finds the kitchen and sees his wife cooking. He walks over to her and puts his arms around her waist. "Morning, my sweet," he says.

She turns her head and kisses him, "Morning, sorry I wasn't still in bed when you woke up." She is a slender woman with a long neck, long blond hair, pale skin, big eyes, and a small nose. Her name is Aurora Thoresen. Gudmund kisses her on the neck and on the cheek.

"It's ok." He lets go, leans up against the counter, and smiles at her. "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and some fruit."

"Nice, making sure we remain healthy," he says, smiling, and his wife kisses him. He sits at the table and kisses his four-year-old son already sitting at the table. His name is Ryan; Ryan was named after a late soldier buddy of Gudmund.

Then, a young twelve-year-old girl walks into the kitchen. She has long blond hair, light skin, a thin body, a long neck, and blueish-green eyes. She sits down at the table next to her dad.

"Morning Astrid, ready for the first day of school?"

"Yep, but I wish summer didn't end so soon," she says.

"Well, maybe this school year will go by quick," he hopes aloud and puts the paper down as his wife sets the food on the table. The four then started to eat.

"Astrid, did you get your essay done for the school of what you did over the summer?" Her mom asks.

"Yeah, you want to see it?" She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a paper. She hands it to her mom, and Aurora starts to read it.

"Nice. You wrote about the trip we took to the Bahamas," she says.

"Yep, I wanted to add some of the other places we went to during the summer. That might be too much since we went so many places."

"This summer was really good," Gudmund says and also looks at Astrid's essay. "I see you added almost every detail of our trips. If you end up talking about the trip in front of the class, you might want to shorten it."

"Ok," Astrid says as she takes the essay back. "Is Auntie Nozomi coming back home today?"

"Yep, I just talked to her last night on the phone," Aurora answers. "They'll be coming by tonight for dinner."

As soon as they finish eating, Aurora gets ready to take Astrid to school and Ryan to preschool. Aurora works with the DA as she is the Chief Legal Advisor.

Gudmund gets into his red Fiat Bravo and drives off for work. On his way, his cell phone rings, and he answers it simply, "Thoresen." He listens to the person on the other end. "On my way," he says and hangs up.

Twenty minutes later, he arrives at a field just outside of the city. He gets out of his car and walks up to a police captain. The police captain walks up to Gudmund, saying, "Some hikers found the body."

Gudmund walks up to the body, and two members of his team are already looking over the body. "What you both got for me?" he asks, and the man looking over the body turns to him.

"Well, he doesn't have an ID, but we are running a facial scan and fingerprints scan right now. And we found something," the man turns the body's head to the side. "His ear has been sliced up on the inside. Butch is on his way to take the body."

"Thanks, Ashton," he turns to the woman that is with them. "Elena, once we get an ID on the victim, I want you and Derek to figure out where this guy was originally killed. Because this place is a dumpsite for the victim, there aren't any signs of him being killed here."

"Should I wait for Butch to get here?" Ashton asks.

Gudmund turns and sees the recently arrived coroner van. "After Butch looks over the body, go back with him. I want to know the COD. As soon as we find out who he is, we need to find the killer and bring that person in."

Later at the Headquarters of Gudmund's police taskforce team, Gudmund stands next to the team's Head Technical Specialist. She is working on typing on a table that doubles a huge screen that works with the monitors that are on the wall. "Ok, we got an ID on the victim," she says as she pulls up the driver's license of the deceased. "Roland Carlsson, born in Cranston, Rhode Island, age twenty-eight. He moved here in Southern California two years ago."

"Can you find his address and what he was doing for a living?"

"Yes, he lives in Sen Luis Obispo, three hours from here."

"What was he doing down here then? Maisie, try and locate anything that Roland was doing in Long Beach."

"Got it, boss," Maisie starts to look up Roland's recent credit card activity. "Got it. His last credit card use was at a hotel nearby. Oh, and it's currently hosting a convention for the Deaf Community," Maisie says.

Gudmund calls Derek. As soon as the call is connected, he wastes no time. "Derek, I need you and Elena to check out the Maxwell Hotel; our victim was a guest there. He might have gone for the Deaf Community convention."

"Got it, Thoresen. We are on our way," Derek replies and hangs up.

Derek and Elena soon arrive at the hotel and enter the building. "Wow, this is a nice place," Elena says.

"I know. The cheapest room is eight hundred dollars," Derek says, and Elena looks at him, shocked.

"How did you know that?"

"I came here with my wife before, and the cheapest room was eight hundred dollars. We came here about a month ago with our daughter. Juliana loved it. They also have the best cakes." The two went up to the front desk and showed their badges to the man behind the desk. "We are with the pINPOINt. I am Detective Fischer, and this is Detective Blanchard."

"How can I help you both?" the concierge asks.

"Can we speak to your manager?" Elena asks, then follows up with, "It's about a case we are working on."

The man goes to get the manager and returns with her close behind. "Hello, my name is Cho Won; how may I help you?"

"Do you know this man?" Derek asks, showing her a photo of Roland on his phone.

"Yes, he is Roland Carlsson, one of the board members of our conventions."

"So, he was on the board for the Deaf convention?" Derek asks.

"Not just that; he works as our conventions coordinator, which put him on the board. This was one convention we didn't want to do yet, but he was set on it."

"Why was that?" Elena asks.

"Because he is also heard of hearing, and he been part of their conventions for five years. He went all over the place with them and wanted to bring them to Long Beach. Then yesterday, he got into a fight with someone from the board."

"Do you know who it was?" Derek asks.

Cho pulls out the names of the ones on the board, "Here. These are the names of the people on the board with him. I didn't catch his name, but these are the people on the board."

Derek looks over the list and sees five names; three are males. Derek calls Maisie. "Maisie, I got a list of names of those that were on the board of the convention here. There are five, but we want to look at only these two other males because the manager says that Roland was in an argument with a male member of the board. I'll send the names to you," Derek finishes.

"Got it, send the list," Maisie says, and Derek takes photos of the list and sends them over.

"Can we talk to someone from the board right now?" Derek asks Cho.

"Yes, should I get you a translator that can sign for you?"

"No thanks. All members of pINPOINt can sign," Elena answers.

With Ashton, he and Dr. Harris are finishing up with the body. "Ok now, the time of death would be about around eleven last night. And for the cause: sharp knives in the ears," Butch says.

Ashton looks at Roland's hands and notices some defensive wounds. "It looks like he put up a fight against the killer."

Butch examines the hands. "It seems like he was in a fight before the killer killed him." Ashton looks at him, clearly confused. "You see, these are a bit older than twelve hours. I'm guessing he was in a fight with the attacker an hour before the kill."

Ashton grabs his phone and calls Gudmund with the information. "Thoresen, Butch thinks that Roland was in a fight an hour before he was killed. By fist, not words. He must have gotten in a fight with the attacker at least an hour before his death."

"Got it," Gudmund says as he looks over the monitor. "Did you find anything from the body that could tell us the primary location of where he died?"

Ashton looks at Butch and then notices something, "Yeah. I think we might have figured it out. I'll see you back upstairs soon."

Later, everyone meets back up at headquarters and starts going over everything. "Ok, I pinpointed the locations of the histories of his credit cards and his phone calling," Maisie says. A monitor shows a map of the locations where Roland had been. "He had been here for three days so far, and when he arrived, he called this person named Michael Reid, who is also on the board. I pulled up the phone record, and it seems like they have been talking to each other many times. Michael was the last person he talked to on the phone, at nine pm."

"Two hours before his death," Derek says.

"Yes, and the call was at Rainbow Lagoon Park," Maisie continues. "He could have been there when he died. The call lasted for twenty minutes." She started to type on the keyboard.

"What was he doing there?" Elena asks.

Maisie brings up a video showing the park. "I managed to find some cameras nearby where he was. It looks like he got off the phone." She then brings up the time stamp. "Just after that phone call with Michael," she speeds up the video. "And this is thirty minutes later with Roland talking to someone."

"My guess is it's Michael," Gudmund says, and then a third person appears in the video. "Maisie, can you zoom in on them?"

Maisie types and manages to zoom in on their faces. "I'll run a facial scan, so we can find some ID." Then, two DMV photos appear. They all step back because of one of the photos. The first photo is under the name Michael Reid, and as for the second photo, they stood back for a man named Klaus Krueger.

"Klaus? What was he doing there?" Derek asks.

Gudmund and Ashton look at each other and then back to the screen. "Maisie, keep rolling the video, and try and track down the car he was driving."

After a few moments, they manage to get a trail and find the last location Roland's car was at. "It at a Pier F Ave," Maisie says and notices something on the video. "And I think we might find Michael there, too."

"Ashton and I will go and find the car. Derek and Elena go back to that hotel. I want you to meet the rest of the board members and show them the photo of Klaus. We need to find him as well. I won't be surprised if he decides to attack the rest of the board members there," Gudmund says, and they all go to their respective places.

Gudmund and Ashton drive off. Ashton looks at his partner driving. "I am kind of surprised you didn't want to try and track down Klaus."

"If we find Roland's car, maybe we can find Klaus so we can bring him in."

"He has been on the run for four years, ever since he killed your brother Sigmund."

"I know! He can slip through every single thing that he does. When we manage to pinpoint a location on him, he slips away. I need to find him and bring him to prison."

Soon, they arrive at the port and stop as they see a red 02' Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Ashton calls Maisie and relays the information. "We found a car; it's a red '02 Volkswagen Jetta TDI with the license plate VWX-589."

Maisie looks it up and confirms, "Yep, it's Roland's car."

Gudmund pulls the car up next to Roland's car, and they get out. They walk to the car and look around it. Gudmund feels the hood, "It's warm," he says, looking at his partner.

"I guess whoever killed Roland kept using the car," Ashton says and hears something nearby. "I guess that guy is inside of that building."

The two draw their guns and walk into the building. Gudmund signals that he'll go right, while Ashton goes left. Inside the building are many boxes and machines. Then, gunshots nearby. The two rush to the sound and see someone running away. "I'll follow the guy; you go and see who he shot." Gudmund rushes after the shooter while Ashton searches the area where the gunshot was fired.

Ashton finds a man on the ground, and it's Michael. Ashton sees that he is still alive but badly hurt. He grabs his radio, "This is Lieutenant Watson, and I need a bus at Pier F Ave in warehouse five. Major Thoresen is running after the suspect right now." Ashton pulls out his phone, brings up the photo of Klaus, and shows it to Michael. "Michael, was it this guy that shot you?"

Michael looks at the photo, but he can't hear what Ashton is saying. Michael points to his ear, and Ashton looks. Ashton figures that the guy is deaf, so he does his best to sign his question for the man. Michael nods in reply and starts to close his eyes. Ashton starts performing CPR to try and keep the man alive.

Gudmund has the shooter insight and is still chasing him. "Stop, or I'll shoot," he says, and the man gets to a tall fence wall. With nowhere else to run, "Ok, turn around nice and slowly with your hands up over your head."

The man turns and smirks at Gudmund, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Major Thoresen. Nice to see you again."

"Klaus," Gudmund growls, "Did you kill Roland Carlsson?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Klaus laughs, "You know very well that I can easily get away with murder. So far, I am the only crime lord you haven't been able to pinpoint. Your brother, Sigmund, may have managed to gather all of the intel on me and get a big case ready to send me to life in prison, but I got to him just in time and killed him. I got all of the evidence destroyed before that lawyer's wife of his could get them. I am glad I manage to kill the two, and now I am still a walking free man." He looks at the nearby security cam pointing to them.

On the other end of the camera, Maisie watches them. She had already gotten the video started on being downloaded. "Keep making him talk, boss. We need to gather this as evidence," Maisie says over the microphone.

Klaus looks back at Gudmund, "I am still surprised that a colonel like him didn't beat me. You, your brother, and your sister were both in the military. Same with four generations of Thoresen's before you, as the four before you were in the Norwegian military, while you and your brother and sister were in the American military."

"The three of us have connections to the Norwegian military. If you were to ever step foot in Norway, we can come and arrest you and bring you back to America."

"Not if I am at my homeland in Germany. Oh, and I almost forgot," he pulls out his gun and shoots the security cam. "There. Now that should have been long enough for your friend to download the video." Then, a helicopter arrives and drops a rope ladder for Klaus.

"You are not getting away, Klaus, not on my watch," Gudmund says and gets ready to shoot.

"Why don't you go to that hotel where that convention is being held? It's supposed to be a huge blast."

Klaus grabs the rope ladder, and it starts to carry him off. Gudmund rushes off and sees Ashton running to him. "We got to get to the convention," he calls out.

"What about Klaus?"

"He's got a bomb there, and it's going to blow up."

The two then rush back to the car and off to the hotel.

Derek and Elena wrap up talking to the members of the board.

"Nothing," Elena says to Derek; they were unable to get any information. Then her cell phone rings, and she answers it simply, "Blanchard." Her eyes widen. "Got it." She soon hangs up. "That was Gudmund; there's a bomb here, and we need to get everyone out."

The two start to get everyone out of the building, and Derek goes to look for the bomb. He calls Maisie. "Maisie, try and pinpoint the location of the bomb."

Maisie starts to type quickly and manages to find a location. "It's in the basement. I am picking up some high heat waves from it. Right under the room where the convention is being held," she says. "I already called the bomb squad, and they are on their way."

Derek rushes down to the basement and looks at his phone. He's received a map that Maisie sent him so he could track down the bomb. Soon, he finds the bomb, and it has many pipes and some explosive clays. "This is the biggest bomb I have seen," he mutters to himself. He looks at the timer. It has foreign numbers on it, so he calls Maisie back. "Maisie, I need you to look up these foreign numbers, so I can tell how much time I have left." He takes a photo of the number and sends it to her as fast as he can, ensuring the picture isn't blurry.

Maisie does a quick look-up and finds a match. "Ok, they are in German, and it looks like less than two minutes left. I am sending you an English countdown timer."

Derek looks at it and starts to try and figure out the bomb. He sees some cords coming from the bomb to other locations. "Maisie, I think there might be more bombs in the hotel."

Maisie starts to type faster and manages to pinpoint the locations of the other bombs. "Ok, the one that is in front of you is the main bomb. Once that goes off, all of the others do, too. It looks like Klaus planned on going all out."

"Maisie, Derek, I am already getting everyone out," Elena says over her earpiece. "People on the top floors are still coming down the stairs."

With Maisie, someone enters the room, and Maisie smiles, "Nozomi, you're back."

"Yeah, I just talked to Gudmund." She saunters to the table and starts to look at the bomb. "Derek, I am locating the main wires of the bomb."

"Thanks, Nozomi, and welcome back. I hope the trip was great."

"I got the photos. Now let's see where that main wire is located." On the monitor, the image of the bomb appears and starts to fall apart. "Ok, Derek, listen closely to what I say. Move the sixth tube from the right and set it down gently. Then there should be a panel that opens up. Inside are six wires, and you must cut two of them. Once you do, the timer should slow down a bit."

"Ok, which wires should I cut?" Derek asks.

"Cut the two from the far left," she answers, and Derek cuts the two indicated.

"Ok, the timer slowed down a bit; now what?"

Nozomi reviews the image of the bomb and finds what she is looking for. "Ok, now lift the timer, and under the timer are two wires. Untie them off of the metal clip, and tie the two wires together. Once you do that, go back to the other wires from before. The third one from the left should stop the bomb."

Derek does as he's told and starts to get ready to cut the last wire. Just as he cuts the wire, the timer speeds up. Then it hits zero, and nothing happens. "What the hell?" He looks at the timer, and words start to spell out the words, "I fooled you people, but next time you'll all die, and so will your loved ones."

Later, Gudmund and Ashton talk to Derek and Elena. Ashton looks over the timer that still has the same words on it.

"Looks like he wants to play with us," Ashton says.

"Well, next time, we'll capture him and bring him down," Gudmund says.

They head back to the office and meet up with Maisie and Nozomi. They close the case, and Gudmund places the case folder on a pile on his desk. He looks at a photo on his desk of him and his brother. It was taken when Gudmund headed out to fight in the first year of war in northwest Pakistan.

"We all miss him," says Nozomi, and Gudmund turns to see her standing in the doorway. She walks up to him and continues, "I remember when he helped me study for my police academy exam."

"He was the best; he served in the army for twelve years and ran pINPOINt after the army. Now we are trying to find Klaus and bring him in. Today, I almost had him, 'til he planted that bomb."

"We'll get him and bring him to justice," she says, smiling, and the two hug.

"Thanks, and are you still coming over tonight for dinner?"

"Yes, in fact," Nozomi looks at her cell and checks for a message. "Takeshi and the kids are going to be meeting me there."

Ashton knocks on Gudmund's glass door, and the two exit the office. "We got a video email from Klaus," he says, and they go to the monitor.

On the screen, Klaus appears, smirking, "Look like you are all alive, I am sure. I want to let you know that I am heading back to my homeland. I will keep the remaining ten steps ahead of you all. The California pINPOINt won't be able to stop me. I'll look forward to making you all chase something that isn't there. Ta, ta!"

"Maisie?" Gudmund looks at her.

"No way to track the address to the video. It looks like it was taken on a private jet," she answers and turns to her boss.

"He'll be back. Let's just try and keep Southern California safe. When he returns, we'll have a better plan ready to capture him," Gudmund says, and the rest of the team agrees with him. "By the way, how is Michael? Any words yet?"

"Just talked to the hospital; he is recovering right now," Ashton answers. "I'll head out and talk to him to see if we can find out why Klaus was here and why he killed Roland."

Later that evening, at Gudmund's house, everyone is sitting around the dining room table. Gudmund sits at the head of the table with Aurora sitting next to him. Next to her on the other side is Nozomi, and the two half-sisters are talking. Gudmund is talking to his brother-in-law, Takeshi, who is sitting on the other side of him. Astrid is talking to her cousin, Rin, who is ten. Nozomi's youngest son, who is four, is sitting next to her, as Ryan is sitting between his parents.

"Nozomi, you did bring the photos, right?" Aurora asks.

"Yes, I did, and I'll show you them once we finish eating."

"Ok, and I'm glad you guys had a great trip. How was Orlando?"

"It was great, and the kids kept going on every ride in Disneyworld," Takeshi says.

"Mom, tell Auntie Aurora about the place we had dinner at," Rin says.

"Oh, yeah! We had dinner at a restaurant that looked like a ballroom. Huge! And once we got in, Takeshi says we should leave." Everyone looks at her husband.

"What? I thought it was going to be like that once French restaurant we went to one time. But the bill was good for that place," Takeshi says.

"Mom, Dad, we should go to Disneyworld one day in Florida," Astrid says.

"We already have been there. Three years ago," Gudmund says. He notices a look on his daughter's face and quickly says, "But maybe one day in the near future, we can again."

A few hours later, Nozomi and her family leave. Astrid goes to do her homework as Gudmund and Aurora sit in the living room together and relax after putting Ryan to bed. The two cuddle on the couch and look at the fire going in the fireplace. "Dinner was great," Aurora says, and Gudmund kisses her on the head.

"I'm glad that Nozomi and her family had a blast on their trip." He and Aurora kiss each other and smile. "I love you, my sweet."

"I love you too, my love," she replies.

"Ashton and I came across Klaus today." His wife looks at him, shocked. "He got away, but I almost had him."

"You'll get him. He's been running from you for four years. But you'll get him for his crimes."

"Klaus has been the number one criminal on the pINPOINt wanted list for ten years. It took my brother eight years to build a case. Then, once he and his wife got the case made for Klaus, he killed them. Klaus managed to kill my brother, my sister-in-law, and my unborn nephew."

Aurora leans on Gudmund. "Sweetie, we all miss them very much. She was my best friend, and she was Astrid's godmother."

Then Astrid enters, carrying one of her textbooks. "Mom, dad, can you help me with my homework?"

"Sure, baby," Aurora answers, and Astrid sits between them. She shows them the problems she is working on. Gudmund and Aurora continue to help her with all of her homework. Later, Astrid goes to bed, and her parents tuck her in. They check on Ryan and see he is sound asleep.

While on a private jet that has already crossed the ocean, Klaus is handed a glass of red wine. He looks at a file folder full of photos. They are photos of members of pINPOINt from Southern California and members of their families. Then a man hands him another folder with the title 'Northern pINPOINt.' "Good. The northern team, and I am sure Major Gudmund Thoresen's sister Major Irene Bergfalk would be happy to see me. She is married and has a son named after her grandfather Oddvar Thoresen, but instead of Oddvar, it's Oddmund. That Thoresen family loves to use the mund in their names."

"Sir, may I ask, why are you showing yourself to them now?" asks one of his goons.

Klaus glares at him and turns back to the folder. He set it down and takes a sip of his wine. "Because I want to kill that Thoresen family and make sure they don't find that evidence. Somehow, Colonel Sigmund saved copies and hid them somewhere. If I manage to kill every member from old to young, there won't be anymore."

"But why do you want information on the members of both teams?"

"Because they would come after me no matter what," Klaus answers. "After a few days in my hometown, we are going to Norway to visit some members of the Thoresen." He looks at a photo of two old couples that are in their nineties but look ten years younger. "By the way, how is Michael Reid?"

"They got him to the hospital in time to save him. But we managed to kill him before Major Thoresen's team could question him. The security cameras got hacked and cleaned so no one can find out. That case will be cold for a long time, sir. By the way, why do such a random kill anyway?"

"Just to show that I am back and to score a new deal for my empire. Let's say that hotel is now under my control. Random kill is always fun as long as you cover your tracks."