Undiscovered protégé

Chapter 2 - Connections

I woke up at 3. I usually wake up at 5:30 so if isn't too early it's just that I've only slept 4 hours by now because I went to bed so late. I toss and turn and try to sleep for another hour but I can't sleep so I decide I should just go in to work. I go brush my teeth and my hair then go get my laptop to put in my bag and then go to the living room. I grab a zip up hoodie I left there a few days ago and put it on because it's probably cold out. I just head to work from there. A million thoughts about the case race through my mind on the drive to the station. I take every car I drive by's plate in my head without thinking about it. Once I get to work I head to a computer. Clock in. Log in. Open the documents. I examine them from top to bottom trying to see if something will lead me to this girls killer.
I didn't even notice how long it's been until someone taps my shoulder. I jump a little, and turn
"Nyla?"
"Lucy, when did you get in?"
"Uhhh-" I look at the clock. "2 and a half hours ago." It was now 5:30. The time I'd usually wake up to be here and ready by 6. She looks at my screen
"Found anything?"
"No."
"Ate anything?"
"No." I smile as I log off. I stand up because she implied that I probably should have something to eat. We walk to the break room together
"Have you found anything?" I ask
"No, not really. We don't have that much information because the body was just found yesterday."
Silence for a minute.
"Mhm so we know nothing"
"Not yet but we'll get an ID real soon, and the ME can probably get some more details, so we'll have a lot more to go on by the end of day"
"Okay"
Once we get to the break room I grab a protein bar and walk back downstairs, Nyla doesn't follow me. I go get changed because I don't think I'll find anything in the next 10 minutes before people start coming in for shift change. Before I know it Jackson and Nolan get here and we're walking in to roll-call.
We take our seats and grey starts to speak
"Night shift went easy on us today, but we do have a big case on our hands Detective Lopez is working on, because we believe it to be related to Rosalind Dyer,"
Because why wouldn't this be something I expected to be brought up in roll call. I find comfort in knowing that Tim won't try to be sympathetic. I look around as It felt like all eyes were on me. Not a single pair of eyes. I look back up at Grey. He speaks a little more before we're dismissed and we all leave, I follow Tim out.
"Don't expect special treatment because of the case" he says sternly. I find a weird comfort in how he treats me, even if most would find him to be an asshole. I nod at him and we go grab body cams, war bags, and load the shop. We drive out of the station. I look around for anything that we could need to intervene. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Cars. Anyone breaking traffic laws. I see nothing besides the sun starting to rise. I feel a headache creeping in and realize along with breakfast I haven't had coffee. Making this realization I ask, "Tim can we go get coffee?"
He takes a few seconds to think.
"Uh huh" he replies finally, and turns the blinker on for us to turn left. The light changes Color. The red Chevrolet truck infront of us turns right. A car from the left speeds in faster than I can comprehend, followed by a few units that were chasing them. You can't tell that the Red Chevy is a truck. We both unbuckle and Tim puts the shop off drive. We rush out of our car. "I'll help the Chevy driver" I say as fast as words can come out of my mouth, as I run to the drivers side of the truck. Tim calls it in and rushes over to the other car, some sports car which is unrecognizable at this point. I assess the drivers condition. The truck luckily didn't hit anyone else. The trucks bed took most of the damage. The driver was mostly fine, he said his body ached a little but that's expected after a collision like that. So much for coffee to help my headache. Nyla and Nolan are now about a centimeter
From the rear of the sports car. Nolan was driving. I am holding back laughter from this, because it's obviously not appropriate to burst out laughing right now. I am imagining Nyla and Nolan having a conversation about how he was so close to hitting that car but him defending himself with 'but I didn't!'
The sports car driver is going into custody on at least 4 charges if he makes it out of surgery alive. The Chevy driver is mostly fine, aside from some minor things. Nolan and Nyla followed them to the hospital. Tim and I finally make it to a coffee shop. I walk in and I realize I forgot my phone, which I have cash in the case of, in the shop so I had to run back to grab it. I go back in to get coffee, and I also get Tim one. I head back to the shop. I hand Tim his coffee and take a huge sip of mine. Tim quickly places down his coffee and rushes out of the shop. I have no idea where he's going so I take a second to look around. I have to follow him right? I put my coffee down and get out. He runs across the street, I'm still confused. He runs up to a man with a little kid no older then 4 screaming and crying. "THATS NOT YOUR KID!" He yells, and I see a man running out of the convenience store while clearly holding back tears behind the suspect, who's now running with the child being held on his side. I also start to chase him, he drops the child and doesn't look back. Tim continues to chase him while I help the kid with scrapes on his arms as he fell to the ground. The presumed father catches up to me, and thanks me profusely. "Are you alright?" I ask the man, to which he responds "yes, oh my god," he breathes fast as he hugs the kid tightly. I gently smile at them. Probably 2 minutes later Tim turns around the corner with the kidnapper in cuffs.
"He's confesse that he was kidnapping that kid and that's the kids caregiver" he says, to which I nod. Tim brings him back to our shop and I get in the passenger seat, and he gets in the drivers. I take his coffee off the dashboard and put it in the cupholder, and take mine to sip it.
By the time we get back to the station to process the suspect, my coffee is completely finished. I'm about to step out as my phone rings. It's Lopez, and she knows I'm on duty because so is she, and wouldn't call if it wasn't important. "It's Lopez" I tell Tim stepping out and shutting the door. I take the call.
"hello?" I say
"Hi, Lucy, are you guys close to the station? Can you put me on speaker?"
"Yeah well we just pulled in, I just stepped out of the shop" I say, and wave at Tim to get out and come here. "I'm putting you on speaker he's getting out"
"Actually how about we talk in person if you're already here."
"Okay, we have to process a suspect first but we'll come talk ASAP"
"Okay, talk to you soon"
"Okay"
She hangs up
"She's actually gonna talk to us inside let's go process this guy quickly" he nods and we get the suspect out, and do just that. Luckily no interruptions.

After we process him we immediately go find Angela.
"What's up ange?" I ask.
"This is a lot, okay. We got an ID, Stephanie Taylor. We also got in contact with her family. They said she was abducted some time before, during, or after work, and that she's a rookie at BHPD. I contacted them and they said that she came into work that day and clocked out on time, so that means after. Her roommate, also a cop, Hailey Cole, noticed she never came home."
I can't help but draw connections to myself. A rookie. In the police department. who lives with a cop roommate.
"What about Officer Cole? A rookie too?" I ask.
"Yeah, she is, why?" Angela.
"Jackson," I say.
I watch her face fill with realization as she makes the connection I did seconds earlier.

(Note: is this story interesting or should I just stop and focus on the other one I'm writing?)