Slater | Nick Goode

1.3

"Okay, Ms. Lane, I'll be right there. Mhm, don't worry. Alright," Ellie hung up the phone and rubbed her temples.
"Ms. Lane?" Nick crept up from behind the corner, questioning her.
"Yep. She said some teenagers were being sketchy around her neighborhood. Dropped off two kids and the kids told her that they were being forced to sort drugs," Ellie reported, her gaze meeting Nick's.
"Jesus. You believe her?" The man furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about all of the things Mary had called in about that turned out to be paranoia.
"Only one way to find out," Ellie grabbed her coat, Nick followed behind her before she stopped him, "no, Nick, you should stay here."
"You sure? Mary is kind of prone to violence," Nick recalled, and Ellie quickly answered him.
"I'm positive."

-

"Okay, Mary. How old would you say these two were?" Ellie sat on a cushioned recliner in Ms. Lane's home. Ms. Lane and two children sat on the couch parallel to her.
"Oh, I know who they are. The girl is one of my neighbors," Ms. Lane shifted in her seat before finishing her statement, "Kate Schmidt and Simon Kalivoda. They go to the local high school."
Ellie was anything but surprised. The two had been caught many of times before dealing and selling drugs and pills. Last night, the two were witnesses to the crash.
"You're sure?" Ellie confirmed.
"Yes, I've known her for years. I can't believe she would put these kids in so much danger."
"Did she tell you were she was going?" Ellie questioned, pulling her notepad out and writing their names down.
"The grocery store, but I'm sure she was lying. The boy, Simon, had blood on his shirt. When he caught that I had saw the blood, he quickly tried to cover it up with his jacket," Ms. Lane had a worried look on her face, "oh, dear. I don't have a good feeling about it."
"Alright. Now you two," Ellie pointed to the two kids, seemingly twins, "these were your babysitters? Where are your parents?"
"Mommy's at work, she a doctor helper," the girl answered.
"A nurse, okay. I'll give mommy a call, and maybe she can come pick you up. Can I ask for your name?"
"Raven Graham. This is my brother, Leo." She stated and sat deeper onto the couch, criss-crossed.
"Okay, thank you so much. Can you go gather your things?" Ellie spoke calmly at the kids and watched as they ran off to another room in the house.
"Oh, Estella, you're wonderful with kids. You remind me so much of Ruby," Ms. Lane began, she quickly caught and stopped herself, "I believe their mothers name is Lydia Graham. Thank you for coming. I know that I haven't been giving you much room to breathe lately."
"Oh, Ms. Lane, that's okay. You're worried about your town, that's a good thing. I'm doing my best to keep everyone safe."
"I hope you become Sheriff soon, Estella. You deserve that, no matter what Sunnyvale says," Mary smiled and put her hand on Ellie's right arm.
The kids soon came running back into the living room, wearing backpacks and carrying lunchboxes.
"Okay, kids. Ever rode in a cop car?"

-

When Ellie safely reached the police station with the kids, she quickly got out and opened the back door for the kids.
They climbed out and followed the woman inside. Nick sat at his desk, flipping through a couple of papers when he saw the three walk in.
Ellie acknowledged him silently, giving him a smile and a nod. The kids followed her into her personal office and she sat down, gesturing for them to sit across from her.
"Okay, I'm going to give mommy a call," she opened the bottom drawer in her desk and pulled a small bin full of toys out, "can you play with these so I can talk to her?"
The kids excitedly pulled the toys out, and played quietly.
Ellie punched the hospital number into the phone, only for the machine to make a funny whirling sound.
"Shit," she cursed under her breathe, a little too loud.
"That's a bad word, Ms. Slater," Raven laughed while she played with a rubiks cube.
"You're right, I'm sorry. Okay, I'm going to step into the hall really quickly. Can you stay in here for me? I'll be right back."
The kids nodded, and continued to play with the small arrangement of toys she gave them.
When the woman stepped out of the office, she sighed deeply. Nick gazed over to her, raising an eyebrow.
"So Ms. Lane was being serious?" He questioned, walking over to her.
"Yep. And apparently, the teens who brought her the kids were the same ones from the crash last night."
Nick thought for a moment, recalling the crash. He spoke again, "Deena Johnson?"
"Simon Kalivona and Kate Schmidt," Ellie corrected and shifted her weight into her left foot. Nick was still looking at her, but she focused on a paper weight on the edge of his desk. It was stained purple glass shaped as an octopus. He had told her that his mother had gotten it for him for his birthday one year, "can I borrow your line? I haven't gotten mine fixed yet."
"Yeah, of course," Nick stepped to the side, allowing her to walk to the wall with the phone. He left her alone, walking up to Ms. Viola and starting a conversation.
Ellie punched in the numbers of the local hospital.
"Shadyside Health Hospital, how may I help you?" The lady on the other side of the line said.
"Hello, this is Officer Slater from the county police department. Can I talk to Lydia Graham?"
"This is she. Is everything okay, Officer?"
"Yes, everything is fine. I have your two children here, Raven and Leo Graham. Their babysitter seemed to have left them with a neighbor, and that neighbor called into inform us about some things concerning things the kids say about the original babysitter." Ellie tapped her fingers on Nick's desk, she was crouched over and her gaze was directed at the paperweight again.
"Oh my goodness! My babies! Officer, please say they're okay," Lydia cried.
"Yes ma'am, they're here at the station with me. I was calling to ask, I understand working at a hospital is very prestigious and you have important work, but was there someone to come and get the kids?" Her eyes left the paperweight, only to be locked with Nicks.
"Oh, yes. I can't take off, we're very full. There father, Leroy. He works at a diner, he can take off. I can give him a call."
Ellie's eyes were still locked with Nicks, she replied, "alright ma'am, I can talk to him when he gets here."
"Thank you so much, Officer Slater," the woman pleaded.
Ellie smiled and finally looked away from Nick's eyes, "anytime, Mrs. Graham."
She hooked the phone back onto the wall and let out another breath. Nick made his way back over to her.
"Everything okay?" He asked.
"Of course."
"Ms. Viola is calling the two teens parents. The boy's didn't pick up. She's trying the girl's right now," he revealed. Ellie smiled and looked up at his eyes. She noticed he was particularly close to her, he was peering down at her. There was only about a three inch height difference between them, Nick being the taller one.
"Thanks for telling her," she said, only in a whisper, but he was close enough to hear her.
"Of course."
The bell rang and the door opened, breaking the two out of their trance.
In came Officer Kapinski, holding Martin by his left arm. Martin was in handcuffs.
"Officer Slater!" Martin yelled when he saw the women, "can you help me out?"
"Martin? Officer Kapinski, what seems to be the problem?" Ellie questioned, hoping it was the same as before.
"Caught him spray painting the inside of the mall tonight. Parke said she found him doing it this morning, and you two had a little outing. She said you were getting physical. How about after I lock him up, you tell us about that," Kapinski stated, eyeing her up and down. Not giving her another second to argue, he took Martin to a cell.
Nick gave the women a look, she understood what he meant and smiled, "That was taken out of context. No one was getting physical."
He chuckled, looking down on her, and Officer Kapinski walked back into the room.
"You two? Really?" Kapinski started laughing and pointed in between the two, "Nicky?"
"Uh, no-"
"A shadysider?" Kapinski finished, leaving Nick mouth slightly open.
There was a moment of silence, Ellie finally spoke, "we aren't together. Now excuse me, I should go check on the kids."

-

     "Mr. Graham, I assure you I am going to do everything in my power to make sure your young ones get justice," Ellie reasoned. She was seated at her desk, Mr. Graham seated on the other side.
     "Damn right you better! They're just kids! They shouldn't even know about drugs!" He boomed, his voice was echoey and loud in the small office. The two kids looked up at their dad, fear in their eyes. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Ellie.
      "Please, we can be civil about this. The two teenagers are not home yet, we have no leads as to where they could be anymore. For right now, the only thing I can tell you is to pick someone more trustworthy to watch them," she had tried her best to be helpful but still respectful, "let me walk you out."
       She had gotten up, making her way to the door and held it open for the man and his kids.
       "Fuck every single Officer in this place. My kids could have been drugged yet it doesn't seem like any of you give a shit," the man had gotten in Ellie's face and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
       Ms. Viola and Nick saw the man in Ellie's face and walked over to the scene.
      "Okay, sir, that's enough. How about I drive you home, clearly you're under the influence," Ellie tried to convince him to leave but not get behind the wheel with his kids, "look at your kids."
      Ellie regretted what she said, she shouldn't have provoked him but somehow it worked. He apologized and agreed to allow Ellie to drive him home.
      
-

       Back at the police station, Nick Goode was greeted by two Shadysiders in a panic.
       "Yes! That's what we keep saying! What the hell is wrong with you?" The blond sat across from Officer Kapinski, throwing her hands around in a rage. Nick walked in at a perfect time. Deena was the first to notice him.
      "Sheriff, where's Estella?" Officer Kapinski asked, rolling his eyes at the two teenagers.
      "Officer Slater just left a couple of minutes ago, what's going on?" Nick usually tries to make Kapinski call her Officer Slater, it was formal and respectful. He thought that that's what she deserved.
      "She told us to come to her if we needed. Now, we need her," Deena confessed.
      "She's not in, I don't know when she'll be getting back. Officer Kapinski, I've got it from here," Nick called, and Kapinski left his seat into another room.
     
-

     "And then his mask came off," Deena confessed.
     "And you saw him?" Nick pointed to a printed picture of Ryan Torres.
     "Yeah. Yeah, the mall killer, Ryan Torres," she confirmed.
     Nick sighed and pulled out another picture of Ryan, placing it on the table facing the girls, "that's Ryan Torres," he was dead, shot in the skull. The bullet wound to prove it.
      "Yes! Yes, that's him. I know, but you guys must have made a mistake or something. Look... I know what I saw."
      "Okay. Let me get the right paperwork," Nick shuffled some papers around his desk, pulling out a file, "dead killer chasing. Would you say he was more, uh, Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead?"
     "Wait, you don't believe us?"
     "This was a waste of time."
      "We've had prank calls and reports of skeleton mask copycats all weekend," Nick sat back in his seat.
      Officer Kapinski walked back into the office, "got a call from the hospital. Lady sounded worked up."
      Nick looked back at the girls and to the Officer, "uh, wait. I'll.. I got it. Take care of them."
    
-

     "Ellie.. can you meet me at the hospital when you're done?" Nicks voice came through her walkie talkie.
      "Yep. Everything okay?" She asked, holding the side button and talking into the mic.  
       "Not sure yet, just meet me here," he replied.
       "The hospital... my wife. She works there. Is she okay?" Mr. Graham asked, seated in the passenger seat. They were nearly at the Graham house, only two houses down.
       "I'm sure she's fine, Mr. Graham."
       When Ellie pulled into the driveway of the families house, Leroy stood in the window of her car for a second, "Officer Slater, I wanted to thank you for helping me and my kids. I apologize again for getting upset, I just didn't know what to do."
       "It's completely understandable, sir. Have a good night."
        Ellie watched as the three made it inside, and waited until the door was closed until she pulled away.

{July 26, 2021. 1:06 a.m. 2240 words.}