Safe Place to Hide || Chenford / The Rookie

Chapter 21

"You set her up to get shot — why? Why would you do that to her?" Lucy shakes her head in disbelief.

"I already told you," Marissa snaps, her tone suddenly harder. "It wasn't about her. It was about you. I wanted you to know how it felt, Officer Chen. To lose someone you care about. To have no control over their fate. To have to live through the atrocity of that kind of injustice. I wanted you to know how it felt."

The throbbing in Lucy's head intensifies as she stares at Marissa in legitimate confusion. "But why? Why the notes? Why dig into the IA investigation?"

"I am really going to have to spell it out for you, aren't I, Officer Chen? I thought the notes were pretty clear. I don't care about your sordid little affair. I care that you lied. I care that you saw fit to bend the rules, to make an exception when it served you.

"Honestly, I'm disappointed, Officer Chen, but I'm not surprised. I didn't expect you to realize who I was, not even after I told you all about my big brother, Billy. You remember. The one who died. He committed suicide. In jail.

"Billy wasn't well, you know, but he still did his best. He took care of me when no one else in this world would. And he was trying to get better. Trying really hard. And his doctor, he really believed he was making progress. Do you know who his doctor was, Officer Chen?"

Lucy can feel a sinking feeling in her gut but shakes her head even though she's almost certain about the coming answer.

"Dr. Patrick Chen."

***

Suddenly Angela's there, standing in front of him, and Tim's not even entirely sure when she arrived. She's gripping his arms, and he knows that she's saying something to him. Her lips are moving but her voice is distant and unintelligible to him — like he's trapped behind a foggy pane of soundproof glass.

She finally gives him an intense shake, and she's practically shouting at him, "TIM! I need you here with me. Lucy needs you here. We need to find them. Tell me everything you know."

"It's Marissa — do you have an address on file for her?" Tim asks, the tiny thread of hope pulling him the rest of the way out of his daze.

Angela shakes her head vigorously, "No. After you called, I sent a unit to the address she provided when she was questioned. It didn't check out. Someone else lives there, but no indication Marissa ever has. A patrol unit also just confirmed Lucy's car is parked a few blocks over, but there's no parking on these streets, so it's impossible to know which building she's in. I've got units following up with Jenna and Cara as well to see if anyone knows where she might be. But I need to know more, Tim — why do you think she's going after Lucy?"

"The note — it said 'You're the reason' and it had an article headline about deaths in California jails. I looked it up, and it had several references to suicide being a leading cause, and Lucy said something about Marissa grieving her brother's suicide. And then Marissa called Lucy over to talk about the escort service — it was too many coincidences. Someone needs to pull all of Lucy's cases and find out if any resulted in an inmate committing suicide."

Angela nods, "I'll have someone run a search and have them cross-reference Marissa's last name too, though I doubt she would make it that easy for us."

Tim nods and begins to pace nervously, "But we can't wait. We've got to start a search. She has to be right here; we just have to find her."

Angela surveys the dozens of apartment buildings on either side of the alley. "There are thousands of units, Tim. We can try, but..." She stops when she sees Tim's face. "Look — we'll do it. Let me call this in and get as many units out here as I can. We'll mobilize SWAT — as soon as we know where she is, they'll get her out of there. I'll also have dispatch route us any calls in the area just in case someone calls something in. We're going to find her, Tim."