Detective, We've Got a Problem...

Chapter 8

Aaron was at the hospital, pacing in the waiting room. Sammy and Nic sat nearby, waiting for him to tire himself out or get called into Hallie's room.

"How long is he going to pace? The nurse said she'd come and get him when the doctor was done," asked Nic, staring back when Aaron glared at him.

Sammy sighed. "He's a mom-friend. You should hear him clucking, he's a genuine mother hen," she giggled.

Aaron groaned and sat down on the floor next to Nic. "Nic... she's bullying me again..."

Nic rolled his eyes while Sammy laughed. Aaron kept groaning and decided to hug Nic's leg in solidarity. This got both Nic and Sammy laughing. Aaron wasn't going to lie, he found Nic's laugh pretty great, like he wanted to hear it all the time now.

"Nic," whined Aaron, drawing out his name, "I'm tired and worried..."

Nic placed a hand on Aaron's head and messed up his hair while chuckling. "I'm sure it'll be okay, Rookie. Doctors know what they're doing."

Almost right as he was about to complain again, the nurse came and called for "The party here for Hallie Ingridge?"

Aaron jolted up with Sammy not far behind. Nic followed along, somewhat guiltily. They were lead down a hallway to a room labeled 126. Inside, Hallie laid on a hospital bed, her shoulder wrapped up tightly and slightly groggy. Sammy immediately ran to hug Hallie, kissing her forehead softly. Aaron pulled two chairs over and sat in one, patting Hallie's good arm. Hallie smiled weakly.

"So uh, Aaron, I'm sorry," mumbled Hallie.

"What are you even sorry for? You were right, we needed help. We just didn't plan well enough."

Hallie slowly sat up as the nurse scrambled to raise her bed. "I mean, you were right about it being dangerous. I... I don't know what I was expecting."

Aaron sighed and lightly smacked Hallie. "Funny how I was right when we were dealing with a murderer. Now what did the doctor say?"

"First of all, I deserve that," Hallie took a deep breath then started to speak. "So the knife narrowly missed an important artery in my arm and I'll be in physical therapy for a while. I think at some point they knocked me out and did emergency surgery to reattach some muscles but I don't think I wasn't entirely there when they were explaining everything to me. There's a huge foot-shaped bruise on my back but at least my neck was just a tiny cut, this band-aid is all I need for it."

Aaron, Sammy, and Nic breathed a collective sigh of relief. At least she was okay for the moment. Aaron heard a knock at the door and got up to answer it. It was Chief.

"Howdy ev'ry one. I'm here tah talk about what happ'ned tonight and get yer official statements. And Nic, I'll need'ta talk to ya later. Privately."

"Why can't you say it now?"

The chief sighed exasperatedly and looked around the room. "It's private business detective. I don't care who ya talk 'bout it with after but I'm not allowed tah talk about it in front o' others."

Nic raised his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine. Do you need us to leave for statements too?"

Chief pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled out a notepad. "Jus talk."

Aaron explained the plan to him, Sammy and Nic filling in. Hallie explained her part, what she was doing and why she did it. She even mentioned signing a waiver. Chief wrote down every word, making sure to underline the part about the waiver. When everyone was done talking and answering questions Chief closed his notebook with a quick snap before motioning for Nic to follow him. He obliged and followed him outside the hospital room leaving Hallie, Sammy, and Aaron alone in the room.

***

"What is is it, Chief? I'm kind of in the middle of guilt tripping myself."

Chief took a deep breath. "We didn't get her."

Nic's eyes widened as he resisted the urge to scream. "What do you mean you didn't get her? She was right there!"

"Turns out she had a plan how tah deal with police and boy howdy it works. Let's just say several counts of assaulting an officer are added t' the whole murder and attempted murder thin'."

Nic ran a hand through his hair. "What do we do now?"

Chief shrugged. "I think y'all should temporarily live closer t' the police station and have an escort for travel while we figure out who she'll hit next."

"It's dependant on who interacts with Aaron. I don't know enough about her killing style to know whether or not she'll finish the job. I think next she'll probably go for me, or possibly to finish off Miss Ingridge. A police shift where we're being watched by at least one officer might be best."

Chief looked impressed. "Mighty impressive Nic. I think we'll have y'all move closer fer awhile while we watch over ya. I'll handle the organization."

"Ooh organization, big word," Nic grinned.

"Shut up Richards."

"Of course officer."

***

Aaron sat in his chair waiting for Nic to come back in while Sammy fell asleep next to Hallie.

"Listen, A, I want you to talk to me more. I hate that when you needed help it required me getting stabbed but I want to help when you need it."

Aaron looked at Hallie and rolled his eyes. "Hal, you didn't even need to help with this investigation, but comparing this to my personal life is ridiculous. I talk to you guys all the time, I just don't have any problems."

Hallie looked at Aaron incredulously. "A, you told me and Sam a year ago that you had anxiety but didn't have enough money to go to therapy and your insurance doesn't cover it. I know you just don't talk about it. I'm just telling you now that it's okay to come to me."

"I know Hal, I know. I just don't have anything world ending to talk about."

"That's chill."

The door opened and Nic and the chief walked back in, each with a concerned expression. Something was obviously wrong.

"What's up? You two look like your dog's sick."

Nic perked up and smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, just business things, I'll tell you later Rookie."

The chief smacked Nic on the back of his head. "It's serious business. Nic, don't downplay it."

Nic groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "Jeez fine. So the four of us have to live in a couple motel rooms for awhile... because the murderer escaped custody. We'll be under the protection of the police just to be safe."

Aaron's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Hold on hold on hold on. She wasn't caught? She's gonna kill me! Literally!"

"That's why we're puttin' y'all under protection," said Chief, trying his best to calm down Aaron.

"Hokay, okay, it'll be fine, we'll be fine," mumbled Aaron, trying to calm himself down.

Hallie sighed and moved to rub Aaron's back. "Don't worry about him, he has an anxiety disorder," she turned to Aaron, "A, I need you to breathe so you can calm down."

"Calm? I am calm. I am the calmest I've ever been! So, fucking, calm." Aaron stood up and started pacing. "So where are we staying? I think I need some sleep."

Everyone at once realised how collectively tired they were. Chief rubbed his eyes. "Tonight you'll be moving into two motel rooms, girls in one, boys in the other. You'll be escorted to and from the college in the morning to collect your schoolwork for the two weeks we'd like to watch you. We'll be doing searches in and around the town for the culprit, so until then I'd like you to stay safe."

Aaron turned to the chief. "How did she escape?"

"We'll talk about that tomorrow, I have a couple phone calls to make."

Aaron sat down again, slightly more calm than he was. Hallie, Sammy, and especially Nic looked at him with worry.

"Right."