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King read several papers at once, letting the information run over him as Jessica rested on the bed in her little mind palace whatever he brings her to every night. King had been giving the records a very thorough search but so far it’s come to nothing. That was alright. On Jessica’s end, she was most of the way through the list of citizen detainees, all of the prisoners directly working on disassembly have been interrogated and cleared.
Jessica groaned as she sat up. “I don’t get it. How could a prisoner, under constant surveillance, take weapons from the disassembly line, without being seen or caught by anyone? It’s not possible!”
King gave a non-committal chuff. Jessica sighed, “Have you found anything?”
King shrugged, a bizarre roiling motion that started at his neck and disappeared out the window to continue down his spine. “Probably not. I need to get back to you.”
Lovely. Thomas’ guys had finished looking through the records and the only thing that stood out was a vehicle crash a few months back, but every weapon was confirmed to be present. The driver was just some drunk moron who was out after a morning cup of whiskey or three. The investigation was very quickly going nowhere, and that pissed Jessica off. She could really use the win under her belt. Instead she would have a failed investigation on her record which she doubted would be a good look for her.
Jessica sighed, “I think I just need to sleep. Good night King.”
King nodded, not looking up from the records. With a wave of his claws Jessica was sent to proper sleep.
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Her alarm woke her up, and Jessica cursed. Waking up this early on Saturdays should be a fucking crime. Jessica brushed her teeth and had a quick breakfast of replicated eggs and coffee. She had a second cup to go as she got dressed and left the apartment. Walking down the stairs she saw the old lady again. What was with old people waking up at the ass crack of dawn?
“Oh good morning Jessica.” She said, as Jessica tried to remember her name. “You’re up early.”
Jessica stared for a moment too long then forced a smile, “Yeah, work has been going crazy. Umm, I’m sorry I can’t seem to remember your name.”
The old lady smiled, “That’s alright. I’m Marsha dear. Marsha Calero. I live one floor down from you.”
Jessica smiled, “Of course, Sorry Mrs Calero.”
“Oh please, Mrs Calero was my mother. Call me Marsha. If you do, I can continue my delusions of youth.” Marsha chuckled as she slowly walked down the stairs.
Jessica laughed, “Well, ok Marsha. You have a good morning then.”
Marsha put a hand on Jessica’s arm, “Oh, would you walk with me Jessica? If you have a moment I would love to get to know you a bit better, especially if we keep running into each other on the stairs.”
Jessica almost made an excuse but checked the time, she had a few minutes to spare. “Sure,”
Marsha smiled warmly, a thin hand reached for Jessica’s arm and Jessica reached it out a bit for Marsha to grab. Jessica noted it was the one with her armband, so at least Marsha knew Jessica was Bound and didn’t care. That raised Marsha up on Jessica’s respect metric.
“You are such a kind young lady.” Marsha noted, “How has work been treating you?”
“It’s hard, but everything worth anything is hard.” Jessica quoted.
“So true, so true. It reminds me of raising my little ones. So difficult, I thought I would drown, but look at them now, all grown up with kids of their own. Worth every minute.” Martha gushed. She began to ramble a bit, but Jessica didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if she could have told Marsha anything specific.
“In fact, our summer reunion is in a few months, on the solstice. I just got my new molds in.” Marsha continued.
“Oh? What are they?” Jessica asked,
“Well, that’s the funny thing. They are reshapable. Put them in the oven and then press whatever you want to make into it. I’m making chocolate jewelry and it is looking so good.” Marsha explained, “They are looking much better than when they started. Had to reset the molds twice because they kept coming out wrong. Oh, but now they are looking good. I’ll have a full box in a month. Then I can move on to some gummy worms and the like.”
Jessica smiled, “Sounds like fun.” She looked up, noticing they had reached the lobby. Double checking the time, she nodded. “I’m sorry for cutting your story short but I do have to go or I’ll miss my bus.”
Marsha chuckled, “Oh that’s alright. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. You have a good day now.”
Jessica waved goodbye as she left the lobby and walked to the bus stop.
30 minutes later she was in uniform and back in PDC South. Thomas sighed and leaned back in his chair. It had only been an hour and already Jessica knew it would be another wasted day. She watched the detainee leave, his orange jumpsuit disappearing behind the closing door. Turning to Thomas she asked, “Are we missing something?”
Thomas shrugged, “Probably, I’ll want to go over all the interviews to see if anyone seems to be suspicious. It’ll take some more time and it will be boring as fuck but I think we can rule out the guys who aren’t allowed to participate in the disassembly.”
Jessica nodded, but inside she just groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was go over the interrogations all over again. Granted it would take half the time with both of them watching different days, but that was still another 3 days at least. “What about the records, surely they could go over them again.”
Thomas shook his head, “The report is finished. Those resources are better used elsewhere than going over the same ground. They wont do it unless we have truly hit a roadblock and to be honest, at that point I doubt we’d find the leak either way.”
Jessica sighed and the next detainee was brought in. Getting comfortable, Jessica proceeded to ask the same questions and receive the same answers. No, he was not stealing guns, no he didn’t know who was stealing guns, no, he didn't suspect anyone but he did mention another inmate was generally shifty. Lovely. About half the people here suspected one person or another. Unfortunately Jessica couldn’t just go ham with the questions without another order and it was obvious that without results from the first one a judge won't sign a second.
The man leaves and Jessica rolls her shoulders. Slowly pondering the problem in her head. The primary issue was that there wasn’t a time or place for people to easily remove a weapon from the system without alarm bells ringing. It was all on record and if there the records are clean. Jessica sighed. This was awful. She looked up as the next prisoner was brought in, only for her phone to ring. She looked at the caller ID, it was Mike.
Thankful for the interruption to the slog-fest, she stood and raised a finger. She walked to the corner of the room and answered, “Hey Mike, what’s up?”
There was silence on the other line for a long moment.
“Mike? Are you there? Are you safe?”
Mike’s voice came through, weak and weary. “Yeah, I’m safe.”
Jessica let the dread she was feeling dissipate, “Ok, how are you doing?”
Mike tried to say something, but it came out as a wet cough that shot the dread right back into her heart. “Can you pick me up? I- I can’t go home but I need some help.”
Jessica shot a look at Thomas, he didn’t need any explanation. He packed up the camera and the detainee was walked out. He grabbed the bag as Jessica followed the detainee. “Where are you?”
Jessica pursed her lips as she saw Mike. Getting out she walked over to him. He was sitting on the curb about 4 blocks from his school. People walked past without looking, which Jessica silently hated them for. She knelt down next to Mike, and noticed some blood on his jeans. Just some specks but…
“Mike, are you hurt?” Jessica asked.
Slowly Mike looked up and Jessica saw his face. A swollen eye and streaks of blood that Mike had clearly tried to wipe away marred his face. Jessica didn’t say anything, just offered the kid a hand. She led him to the car, and helped him into the back seat. She got into the passenger seat and Thomas, without comment, drove off towards Mike’s house.
Jessica sighed, “Who did this to you?”
Mike shrugged. Jessica turned his head, but Mike was staring out the window.
“Mike, what happened?”
Mike sighed, “Just some assholes. It’s nothing ok. I just can't let my mom see this. I’ll go when the swelling is down.”
“So she can question the massive bruise that covers half your face right?” Jessica asked. Mike didn’t reply. Jessica rubbed her face. Ok. “Can you pull over at a convenience store?” She asked Thomas.
“Sure,” He said, changing course a bit. Pulling up to a QuickestMart, Jessica got out and opened the door. Mike looked up at her. “Let’s at least get the blood off your face.”
Mike followed Jessica to the bathrooms and she waited outside as Mike washed up. King was making a few observations but nothing Jessica had already put together. Maddie was psycho but at least she had never just beat on her like that. Instead she plugged in her credentials and pulled up security footage of the area. She watched Mike limp out of an ally, and when she tried the other cameras in the area there was nothing looking in the alley itself.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
So, she checked the other side, nothing into the alley, but she watched as three boys left about five minutes before Mike did. She went back further and watched Mike getting chased into the alley by the boys. She saw several people look into the alley as they passed but moved along. Jessica let her anger smolder a bit. She wasn’t expecting a good Samaritan to always be available but the apathy on display pissed her off.
Mike finally came out, there was still some blood on his shirt and jeans, but his face looked a lot better than before. Jessica smiled, “Looking better.” She said, Mike didn’t really react.
“Grab a snack, on me. We’ll get you home after.” Jessica offered. Mike looked pleasantly surprised, though he didn’t quite smile. He grabbed some jerky, and Jessica grabbed some for herself and Thomas.
Getting back to the car, she sat in the back seat with Mike. Thomas gave her a questioning look but it disappeared with the offering of jerky.
“So…” Jessica started, “I pulled the footage from the alley,”
Thomas straightened, “How’d you manage that?”
Jessica tilted her head, “It’s explained in the agent handbook? Any public facing camera can be accessed by our glasses once our credentials are provided. There’s an app for it and everything.”
The uncomprehending look Thomas gave her as he chewed his jerky made Jessica laugh aloud. She turned back and her smile dropped. Mike looked like he wanted to disappear. Jessica sighed a bit. “Who were they?” She asked.
Mike didn’t answer.
Jessica nodded, and patted his shoulder. “Alright, I’ll just show you mom the video and ask her.”
Mike looked at her with the expected anger, “Don't! She doesn’t need that. Not now.”
“She’s gonna want to know why you’re beat up outside of school.” Jessica told him.
Mike refused to answer, turning to glare out the window.
“So?” Jessica asked, waiting. Mike took a long time to answer, long enough that the car was pulling up to the apartment building.
“His name’s Trevor, ok? He’s just some asshole who picks on me.” Mike admitted.
Thomas shared a look with Jessica, she nodded, hoping she was understanding what wasn’t being said.
“Ok, so you understand that I can’t just let this go right? He attacked you, with his friends, and injured you.” Jessica said slowly. “That is a serious crime.”
“It doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Mike argued.
“Not relevant.” Jessica leaned back. Her head tilted back and forth as she wavered a bit. King’s urging for a softer touch finally made her sure. “But if you’re not going to press charges, then we won’t arrest them.”
It was as if a weight was lifted from Mike. He was clearly worried about retribution. Jessica knew the feeling. She wasn’t just going to let it go though. She saved the footage and would upload it into a proper report.
“Thank you,” Mike said, “And… Can you reassure my mom for me? She won’t listen to me.”
Jessica nodded, “I can.”
Opening her door, she motioned towards the building with her head. “Ready to go?”
Mike nodded. “Yeah,”
Thomas brought up the rear as Jessica led Mike up the stairs. Jessica knocked, and Ms Havill opened the door a few minutes later. Seeing Thomas and her she looked shocked, “She didn’t!”
Thomas shook his head, “It’s not Gladys this time.”
Ms Havill looked down at her son, and upon seeing her son’s face the woman went pale. She grabbed Mike’s shoulders and demanded, “What happened? Are you OK? Talk to me please!”
Jessica stopped her with a hand once it was clear Mike wasn’t going to answer, “Please Ms Havill, I think Mike should rest. I can explain everything.”
The withering look the woman sent her had Jessica stepping back, but Ms Havill slowly stood, “Go rest up Mike, I’ll call the school.”
Mike went to his room and Ms. Havill led the agents into the kitchen as she called the highschool. Once she was finished, she leveled a look at Jessica that made her squirm. It was like her mother had found her messing with her make-up and a bear protecting its cub at the same time. Clearly a look perfected over the years while raising Mike.
Jessica sighed, “Are you aware of someone named Trevor?” She asked.
Judging by the immediate rageful red coloring Ms Havill’s face, she did.
“A little shit who has been making my son’s life hell since middle school. Why?” The woman demanded.
“Your son called me a little while ago, asking for help. We helped him get cleaned up and brought him over. While that was happening I looked at some camera footage and…” Jessica shook her head, “Three boys, one of whom is possibly Trevor, can be seen leaving the alley shortly before your son does.”
Ms Havill nodded, “Ok. OK. So what’s next then? You have it on video so-”
Jessica cut her off with a handwave. “He’s a minor, and there are no views in the alley. The footage would make it likely but with Trevor being so young you’re looking at community service at best.”
Ms. Havill looked like she was about to swing at Jessica, but instead she took a deep breath. “So what? Some punishment is better than none right?”
Jessica shrugged, “Maybe, but then he’d be back in school. With your son.” Rubbing the back of her neck she asked, “Do you really think Trevor is above retaliation? It would probably just land him in juvenile detention but…”
Ms. Havill’s face went pale at the thought. “Then what? What can we do?”
Jessica didn’t have an answer. Thomas did though. “Can you give us his last name?”
Jessica kept a very serious look on her face as a secretary led us into class. She pointed to the door labeled 238 Physics Mr Hollons. Jessica opened the door, interrupting the teacher’s lesson. Thomas came in behind her. Looking over each student she spotted one Trevor Horton. Jessica slowly walked over to his desk, standing over the boy who was sweating bullets as a Bound agent in uniform glared at him. Truly, if nothing else. This moment made the last 18 years kinda worth it.
“Trevor Horton, please follow me.” Jessica said, nailing the ‘you don’t have a choice’ tone.
Trevor stood and followed Jessica to the principal’s office. The principal was noticeably absent. Jessica walked to the side as Thomas took the principal’s chair. Trevor was sat in one of the visitor chairs. Sitting in silence. Neither Jessica nor Thomas said a word. Eventually, a squat woman in a pixie cut walked in, looking out of breath. Her face was red, and it only got worse when she noticed Jessica’s armband. Lovely, makes sense.
“Where’s Principal Casas? She asked, her voice akin to a too old child demanding their favorite toy and was about to be told no.
“Principal Casas will not be joining us. This is a matter between you, your son, and the Department of Bound Services.” Thomas said.
Mrs Horton, who sat next to her son, forced herself to be a bit calmer, asked, “Can she leave?” Pointing at Jessica, “I am deeply uncomfortable having one of them around my child.”
Thomas laughed. He laughed for a good thirty seconds. Mrs. Horton’s face was once more resembling a tomato. Thomas regained control of himself and immediately donned a blank face. “No.”
“If you are done wasting my time,” Mrs Horton drew out the word ‘wasting’ as if her child sitting with a pair of government agents couldn’t possibly be worth her attention, “Why am I here? Why is my darling son here?”
Thomas kept that blank stare aimed at her, then waved at Jessica. She walked over and transferred the video footage to the principal’s computer. Thomas turned the physical display around, what normally would hold a student’s grades or an incident report, showed the video footage of Trevor and his cronies chasing Mike into the alley, leaving a few minutes later, and Mike going out the other way, clearly bloody and injured.
The woman watched the video with little reaction, and when the video was over, she shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at.”
Jessica sighed, “You’re looking at a conviction against your son for aggravated battery, and a hate crime.” She kept her voice even, not allowing her annoyance to show.
Mrs. Horton scoffed, “Please, there is nothing here that-”
Thomas clapped and interrupted the bitch. “We are not here to do the job of a jury. This is plenty to arrest your son, hold him till trial, and have a nice public humiliation of your spawn, or…” He trailed off.
“Or what?” Mrs Horton patronized. Jessica was this close to telling her to shut up with full authority.
“Or, we can ignore this. It’s not like your son would get jail time past the hold till trial.” Thomas offered.
Instead of what many would assume was a normal reaction, she just rolled her eyes, “Good. Are we done now?”
Thomas just looked at Jessica, with an ‘yes, people can be like this all the time’ look. Jessica rolled her eyes, “Get a hold of your child, if this bullying continues or escalates then the kid could get hurt.”
Mrs. Horton had the audacity to snort, “I don’t see what you mean. If that,” She waves at Mike in the video, “Thing gets hurt, then quite frankly it’s his own fault.”
Jessica just stared at her, “Tell me, are you normally this dense or are you making an effort?”
The woman’s reaction was instant and violent, “Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” She shrieked and she raised her hand to strike Jessica.
“Shut up and Sit down.” She ordered. The woman’s face as she swung while sitting and unable to open her mouth was priceless, but Jessica could barely enjoy it at the thought of yet another report to be filed.
Thomas chuckled, “I think she’s just this dense normally. Takes a low IQ to try and hit a fucking Bound Agent. She’s lucky we’re in a rush or I would slap cuffs on her.”
The woman’s face, now pale and enraged. The mix of shock, fear, and anger was accentuated by her rather fat face. Jessica rolled her shoulders. “Don’t try that again or I will arrest you. Consider yourself lucky all I did was sit you down and shut you up.”
Finding her voice once more she forced out, “I will sue you into the ground! I will make a formal complaint and-”
“I was talking about your kid you dumb whale. What do you think will happen if a Bound child finally snaps after getting beat up? He awakens!” Jessica had to shout a bit to talk over her objections.
Suddenly, the fight drained from her, “You. You can’t let that happen. Bound are your responsibility! If something happens to my child-”
“It will be his own fault and Mike will get a slap on the wrist, I got off with time served and I made 100 fucking people bow at my seat and used a student as a fucking chair. Short of killing your little shit here, he will be given a few hundred hours of community service which will be over by the time he finishes training for the Bound Department.” Jessica interrupted again.
The woman stared in utter shock at Jessica, but Trevor was the one to recognize her first. “Your solstice girl!” Eyes wide, the fear in his voice was real.
Mrs. Horton, unable to take a hint forced out in a haughty tone, “You must enjoy threatening children huh? Don’t you have anything better to do than harass my child?”
Thomas sighed, “Yes, actually. We have a very important investigation to get to, which is why we are pissed that you have to waste our time being a dense bitch. So shut up and listen before I order my partner to make you!”
Mrs Horton opened her mouth but a sharp look from Jessica stopped her. After a moment of silence, Thomas sent a file to her.
“You are going to sign this. It is an admission of guilt with the promise that a further incident will not happen. This will ensure that if your child tries something like this again, it will be a pattern of behavior and considered a second offense. This will mean spending his time in a juvenile detention center until he turns 18.” Thomas explained, “This saves us the time of having to arrest your son, and saves you the money of hiring a lawyer that isn’t paid for by the council.”
Mrs. Horton scoffed, “Please, why would I sign this? My son isn’t guilty!”
Thomas stared into Mrs Horton’s defiant eyes. “Alright, Trevor Horton, please stand and put your hands behind your back. You have the right-”
Jessica only put a hand on his shoulder before Mrs. Horton cried out, “Fine! I’ll sign your fucking document!”
“So you admit your son assaulted Mike?” Thomas clarified. After a moment of conflicted thought she nodded, “Yes, I do.”
Thomas nodded, “Trevor, do you admit to assaulting Mike?”
Trevor, who hadn’t said a single word out of fear, managed a trembling, “Yes, I admit that.”
Thomas checked over the signed document on his glasses. “Good, try not to commit hate crimes. It’s bad for your future.”
He stood and left the room quickly. Jessica met Trevor's eyes and added, “I recommend that you don’t make me come back here.” and left the fuming woman and her petrified son in the principal’s office.
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King frowned, going over the documents for a third time. Jessica was speaking to that Mrs. Horton character. He knew many nobles like that woman, insufferable, the lot of them. But King wasn’t focused on the interaction as he otherwise would be. Instead he looked at a specific part of the records, the log times. Nothing in the records would indicate a discrepancy, but King had noticed something odd. It was small, very small. So small, it wasn’t worth mentioning really. Except… It happened again, and again, and again. If King was correct, then this occurrence happened perhaps 3 times a year, over a 20 year period. King smiled as soon as he was finished. The grin morphing into a menacing, predatory expression. King, in a slow, sing song voice, whispered,
“Found you.”