Logan

135. My Daughter

*Ripley's POV*

Duty for the next three days would be hell, not having the extra hands would put more strain on the remaining crew. Thankfully, Huxley agreed to fill in.

I was on my way when Huxley handed me a note, his charcoal black hair still wet from the shower, a little bit of water dripped on my hand with the note. "Sir, an Agent McTavish is on the line for you, says its urgent, concerns that accident this morning." I was confused, McTavish sounded familiar, but I shook it off.

I went up the steps and answered the phone, "Yes, Agent McTavish, how can I help you?"

I heard a throat clear before a thick Scottish brogue spoke calmly on the other line, "Sir, Captain Ripley, your department assisted in a car accident this morning out by the Hansen bridge, I was just wondering if you had any more details?"

I sat down and looked over the file on my computer, citing the details I could share, "Pretty routine clean up, although there was a Jane Doe, DOA, I mean, I'm sure you're able to get these details from local PD."

"Please, this information is critical to an identification we might have to a Miss Natalie Koughlin, it's a bit of a sensitive nature."

My heart dropped into my chest, "Are you serious? Has the body been identified?"

"Not as of yet, the family has been told it will be some time before it can be identified. It may not be her, but I have to explore every angle."

"Of course, call my personal number for any update, please." I gave him my information and dropped the phone onto the hook. I called her with no answer. For once, I was frozen. I didn't know what to do, this was someone's daughter, my daughter.

My phone rang and I saw Alex Koughlin's name on the contact. I answered immediately, "Hello, Alex?"

I heard his voice shaky over the phone, "Has my sister called you?"

I shook my head, "No, but I heard some things about what happened. Has she contacted you yet, do you know of any place she could be?"

"Lots of places, she likes to go everywhere when she gets upset. We got into a fight, Everett went to her room to get her for breakfast the next day and she was gone. When she didn't come down for dinner I just thought she was still mad at me. I said some things, I didn't mean any of it."

"Alex, just take a breath, think for me. Have you contacted her friends?"

"Her friend Frankie says she hasn't heard from her in a couple days, and our friend Ophelia just left yesterday. A charge on her card said she went to the gas station, but that's the last I see on the statement."

"What was that time stamp?"

"Sometime around 10am yesterday. Our fight was in the morning." His voice shaky he asked, "I don't want the last words I said to her be an argument. What if she's really-"

"-Don't finish that sentence," I said, "Things are going to work out, we're going to find out what happened. Any other friends she could have gone to?"

"No, I called some of her exes and they said they haven't seen her. The only ones that didn't answer were Wren and Desmond, she just dumped Wren so I don't think she would've called him. My sister has a birthmark, if the coroner calls you." Alex sounded equally worried, but then my phone line lit up with a second call on hold, so I had to find a way to find her and take this call.

"I kn-I will call you if I hear more, I have another call coming in."

"Thank you."

Alex ended the call and I tried to take a deep breath before answering the next call.

"Good morning, Captain Ripley."

"How dare you suspend my grandson! He works harder than anyone I've ever seen in the firehouse. I mean thank god the boy has friends or he would be driving me up the walls. But still! That other firefighter had no right to put his hands on my baby, you're lucky I don't sue the city for damages," Her angry New York accent told me who this might be.

"Ma'am I'm assuming you're calling on behalf of Raleigh."

I heard her sigh of frustration on the other line, "My baby doesn't fight, so it was that other guy's fault."

"Raleigh was in an altercation with another firefighter, resulting in physical injury and damage to property, so I suspended him. He needed cooling off."

She scoffed, "Desi has a bruise on his cheek, and his knuckles look like something from fight club. I don't want him getting into fights, so you need to talk to your people."

I sighed, "Ma'am, listen I would care to discuss this further, but I have more pressing issues at the moment."

She sighed, "Fine, maybe that girl Natalie can talk some sense into him, bright girl."

My voice wavered a bit but I cleared my throat, "Miss Koughlin is very bright indeed, why do you think she would be able to talk sense into him?"

"You know, I really misjudged her. Said some pretty awful things, even to her face. But she has been so good for him, a great friend. She had a pretty nasty nightmare last night from what Desmond told me, but I left this morning for a trip to my friend's house because she said there's supposed to be a storm coming in."

"Wait, she was at your house?" The phone made a weird noise and I realized I'd been gripping it too hard.

Breathe, Thomas.

"Oh, yeah, we all had dinner and then she stayed the night. Poor thing lost her friend in an accident, so she was really upset."

I sighed a breath of relief, "Do you know if she's left the house?"

Mrs. Raleigh laughed, "I checked in on them early this morning, they were all cuddled up in each other's arms. But don't tell him I told you that."

"Thank you Mrs. Raleigh, I'm sorry but I have to go." I hung up the phone and grabbed my coat and keys. Thank goodness she's alright, at least, I hope so.