Chapter Two: Back to the Police
1840 Words
Chapter 2
TANSY hated that she had to go back to the detective. He had laughed at her, something she did not appreciate. It made her feel like a freak. Like the weirdo that showed up at police scenes giving bogus information just because they craved attention.
However, she needed to tell him.
A thought came to her; maybe she could just call him, that would save her the trouble of seeing him. The man unnerved her somehow. The way he smiled at her, looked at her, listened intently to her. And whilst he said he believed her, she did wonder.
Oh, get over it, and just go see him. Tell him what you know, and let it go after that.
Okay, good advice, whether she liked it or not.
She pulled her Fiat into the parking of the building. God, she hated this. Hated looking like the fool. But as she thought earlier, this was a teenage boy, with a family who was probably wondering what had happened to him.
When she stepped into the lobby again, the receptionist looked up. A look passed over the woman's face that spoke of tolerance. "Forget something?" she asked blandly.
Tansy narrowed her eyes at the woman. "No, but I do need to speak with Detective Apodaca again." Honestly... She really hated that woman's attitude.
The other woman simply looked at her, and then picked up her phone. "Captain, a Ms. Luna is here to see Detective Apodaca... again."
Tansy rolled her eyes. This was exactly what she hated. People treating her like she was a crazy woman. She let out a huge sigh of exasperation. She just stood there, waiting.
"Okay" the receptionist was saying. She hung up the phone, looked up at her. "Follow me," she said, standing, and leading her into the bullpen.
At a nearby desk, sat a blonde man working with a wide, flat screened computer, and she noticed the image of the drawing she had given the detective earlier was on the screen. On the right side of the screen, the drawing. On the left faces were flying by one by one, as the computer tried to determine the boy's face.
Once again, she walked down the hallway to an office. But this time, it was not the first office in the area. This time it was at the end of the hallway.
With a big sign on the door that said: Captain Joshua Minor.
Tansy suddenly wanted to flee. She remembered the Captain all too well. He had claimed she must have known more than she made out about Monica Ortiz. And he had kept suggesting it, until, finally, she was cleared of any involvement in Monica's murder. Reluctantly, he'd let her go. But she knew -- knew -- he still had doubts about her.
Unfortunately, before she could request to see Detective Apodaca alone, the receptionist opened the door. "Ms. Luna," she said, with a hint of annoyance.
Matthew Apodaca stood, came toward Tansy as the other woman left them. "Tansy? What's wrong?"
Behind the Detective, she could see Captain Minor eyeing her, and a bemused look on another detective's face. "Uh, can we go somewhere to talk?" she asked Matthew.
"Whatever you have to say to Detective Apodaca can be said in front of Detective Ortega and myself," came Joshua Minor's voice. There was a hint of annoyance in it, coupled with the suspicion of Here we go again. The idea that she was up to something.
Well, crap...."Uh..." she managed intelligently. She looked at Detective Apodaca for reassurance. When he nodded and offered her his seat she timidly sat, trying to avoid Captain Minor's eyes. "I...I think there's more than one missing."
"Oh?" Captain Minor raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."
"Cap," Matthew said, giving him a look. "Let her say her piece."
Tansy found herself wanting to crawl into a hole and pull the dirt over her. "Uhm, the boy I saw said something about 'us' when I just saw him again"
"He talked?" Minor leaned forward onto his desk. "I thought he had his tongue cut out?"
She looked up at Detective Apodaca. He must have informed the two officers here so that he could run facial recognition on the boy. She really wanted to be away from there. This was a mistake. I should have just called him.
Matthew looked down at her green eyes. Kneeling in front of her, he put a hand on hers. "Hey, it's okay, just tell us what you know" A gentle expression was on his handsome, stubbled face.
She looked into his blue eyes and suddenly found herself relaxed. "He did, or rather, does have his tongue cut out" she said in a more confident tone. "But I get snatches of words. Like "Help us" and "Water". So I think there's more than one, and they are by the river."
Matthew smiled a brilliant smile at her.
Which disappeared when Minor said, "The Rio Grande? And he 'told' you this?"
Matthew's eyes closed for a moment as if he was a bit irked by his Captain's tone. "Cap..." he mumbled.
Tansy, on the other hand was getting just a little fed up with the scrutiny. She frowned at the Captain, anger flashing in her eyes. She ripped her hand out of Matthew's and stood. "You don't believe me, fine." Tears were forming. No matter how many times she had dealt with situations like this, it still made her feel like a freak show attraction. Made her want to cry in frustration. "But I am telling you what I know. And look all you want to, Captain Minor, you'll find out I have nothing to do with the boy other than he sought my help." She spun on her heel and went to the door. She turned back to them and stated, "Instead of treating me like ‘the weirdo', why don't you try to find out who this boy is so that his family will know what happened to him?"
All three men remained silent when she left the office.
MATTHEW let out a laugh when Tansy disappeared down the hall and out of the building. Twice in one day, she had managed to impress him. And that had made him want to know more about her, get to know her better.
Joshua, however, was not impressed. He let out a sniff as he sat back again. "Really? What a weird woman!"
While Matthew found the situation amusing, he was a bit angry with his Captain. He stood and faced Joshua. "Did you have to do that?"
"Do what?" Joshua asked. "Treat her as a suspect? Because that's what she is."
Matthew frowned.
"Oh, boy..." Lieutenant Philip Ortega said.
Matthew glared at Joshua. "Do I have this case or not?" He didn't want to be mad at him, but he found himself being irritated at the treatment Tansy received.
"Technically, this is for missing persons..." Joshua narrowed his eyes for several moments, then said, "Do you want this case because of her? Or because of things that happened in the past?"
Matthew narrowed his eyes at his Captain. Brows furrowed together "That's not fair and you know it. But if you must know, it's for both reasons." He hated that Joshua brought up the subject of his sister.
Joshua stared at him for several moments. Then, he pointed at him. "Yes, you have the case. I've made the necessary calls already, so we can work on it. But keep an eye on her." He frowned at Matthew "Philip works with you."
"Fine." Matthew turned and walked out of the office. Walked to his own office and sat at his desk. A hand ran over his face. He should have followed her, reassured her. Instead, he let her walk away.
Again.
He instantly got back up and walked out into the bullpen "Cal?"
"Aye?" came the Scot's voice.
"Is Tansy Luna's address still the same?"
Cal eyed him. "I don' knae. Let me see." He rolled his chair to another computer desk, typed in Tansy's name "Here it is. Uhm, no. She hae moved since then. To th' North Valley."
Matthew looked at him. "Got an address?"
"Aye. 6255 Crow's Walk Lane, NE. It's off of Edith, between Osuna and Los Ranchos."
Matthew gave him a fist bump. "Thanks, buddy." He started back to his office, when Cal stopped him.
"Ye believe her?"
He nodded. "Yeah, for some reason, I do." He shrugged. "Don't know why, but I do."
He did know why, but he wasn't going to tell Cal that. It was bad enough Cal didn't let it alone when the subject came up. He'd never seen a ghost in his life, but there were other... things he had come across.
Cal rolled back to his main desk. "Me Granny believed in th' seeing of spirits. Saw a few. I hae been aroond such things all me life. So, I believe Ms Luna sees something." A lopsided grin came to his face "Of course, me granny said she saw th' fey as well, so..." He winked at him. "But ye knae aboot that, doont ye?"
Matthew rolled his eyes, let out a laugh, and headed back to his office.
TANSY let the shopping bags drop to the counter surface, then leaned against it. Tears of frustration stung her eyes.
Captain Joshua Minor was a jerk. He purposefully made her feel stupid. Right in front of Detective Matthew Apodaca.
Detective Apodaca of the blue eyes. With that two day stubble on his face and the close cropped hair.
Detective Apodaca, who took her hand in his and encouraged her to say what she had to say.
And Captain Minor made her feel like a freak.
Oh, why should I care? It's not like Matthew cares.
She let out a frustrated sigh and began putting her groceries away. She busied herself with the task and turned on the radio to drown out the thoughts in her head.
She was busy singing with the radio and fixing her dinner when she turned away from the stove to find the same boy looking at her. A yelp escaped her mouth, and she dropped the spoon she'd been holding. It hit the floor with a loud clatter. Her hands found the counter top again, and she sighed "Jesus!"
He eyed her. Help us... And he pointed toward the west again.
Tansy breathed out again. "I know!" she said with exasperation. "I did my best. It's up to them now."
He still looked pleadingly at her, still pointed.
"Look, I don't know what you want me to do," she said gently. "So, help me out here."
Water... Bridge...
"A bridge?"
The boy nodded at her.
"Near the water?"
Another nod.
"Not in the water, but near the water?"
Again, a nod.
She blinked. The boy was near the river, under a bridge. "Which bridge?"
Help us...
Tansy frowned. This was typical. Some ghosts either remembered everything about their deaths, or they only got snatches. If the person had died a violent death, not only did they appear to her in the manner of their death, but sometimes they didn't remember how it had happened..
Tansy reached over and picked up her phone. This time, she was going to call Detective Apodaca. No going to the man so she could be humiliated. This time a phone call would do.
But, before she could do anything, her doorbell rang.
- Writer
