So this idea has been knocking around my head for a few weeks and I finally took the time to actually write it. This chapter is more akin to a prologue of sorts, but I have the next few chapters (mostly) finished so it will be updated quickly for awhile. This is my first PLL fic and I hope I eventually get the rhythm of the characters right . Please review if you feel so inclined!
Toby Cavanaugh hovered around the police barrier perimeter trying to keep curious eyes from watching the scene but attempting to get a good look himself. The early morning mid September air was biting and he wished he'd brought his Rosewood PD jacket. Not that it would have helped a whole lot – being out in Buck's County made this particularly gruesome scene out of his jurisdiction.
He'd stopped actively looking for her over a year ago but every time he heard "Jane Doe, mid twenties" over his police scanner his heart missed several beats, especially when it was followed by phrases like "found dead at the scene", "homicide", and "drug related death". Toby had an understanding with his boss, Detective Tanner, that whenever any of these cases came up he'd be over at the scene offering the services of Rosewood's Finest to neighbouring counties while he made sure none of these Jane Does were her.
And the girl at this particular scene definitely wasn't. At 5'2" with a mass of long blonde hair (now caked with blood) cascading over her face this girl definitely wasn't Spencer. From what he put together himself and what he was told by the chatty rookie working perimeter duty, this girl fell from the roof of the town's library where she was living. Given what they found in her backpack still stowed up on the roof it was safe to assume drugs were involved in her death although they'd have to wait for the toxicology report to be sure. All they really knew was that she wasn't from around here.
A crowd was beginning to gather and with a sigh he began to shoo them away. "Move along folks, let's give the officers some room to do their jobs," he prompted halfheartedly. Several of the casual observers dispersed without further prodding but the press, as usual, stayed put. Not that there were many reporters here – it's not like in Rosewood where any whiff of foul play is immediately pounced on by major news outlets. Luckily Buck's County didn't have the same history.
There was a tall wiry woman jotting down notes in an uncomfortably fuzzy notebook and a tall heavy set bored looking man with a camera taking a few shots of the scene. Toby assumed they were from the local paper. A teenager with a skateboard was taking some video on his phone and making notes on his arms, and a red haired girl with thick black glasses and a long, dark green scarf covering half her face struggled to balance a small coffee while writing in her own notebook. Toby suppressed a grin after several close calls of her coffee toppling to the ground. Miraculously she seemed to grab in just in time, over and over again.
"Officer Cavanaugh! Always a pleasure," a man shouted and crossed over the lawn to greet him. Toby shook his hand.
"Hey Tom, likewise," he said. Tom Leroy was the Sheriff of Buck's County.
"Should have known you'd turn up. No luck with that missing person's case then?" Sheriff Leroy asked, knowing full well that if Toby had any leads on this particular missing person he wouldn't be showing up at his crime scenes.
"No sir, but I'm not going to stop looking," Toby said with a heavy feeling in his stomach. How long was he going to do this? She disappeared three years ago.
"Well we appreciate your help all the same, can never have enough bodies with situations like these. It feels like the department's budget gets smaller every year – we're lucky the rookie over there even got approved at all," Tom nodded over to the rookie Toby spoke with earlier, who was currently chatting up the awkward redhead with the coffee. "Well, good luck with your case Cavanaugh."
And with a manly pat on the back the Sheriff left to do his job. Toby pulled out his own notebook to jot down some of the details of this case like he always did after one of his Jane Doe Detours, who knows when something might end up being important in the long run (even if it has nothing to do with Spencer's disappearance). He patted all his pockets for a few seconds before realizing his pen was nowhere to be found. Toby could feel an embarrassed heat rising to his cheeks – what a rookie mistake. He looked around – the wiry woman wrote with a matching fuzzy pen to her notebook, complete with feathers flourishing out the top. Toby grimaced and approached the red head instead.
"Excuse me miss," he said, "Could I borrow your pen for a sec-"
When the woman turned around she choked on the sip of coffee she was drinking and started coughing.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you, I can find some water for you if you need it," he offered feeling guilty. Some people can't see past the uniform and get nervous despite not doing anything wrong.
She shook her head. Her long bangs followed the motion and Toby couldn't help but be reminded of a dog his uncle owned years ago, with fur constantly covering her eyes. "N-no thank you," she said softly and adjusted her glasses anxiously. "Here," the woman pushed a pen into his hands.
"Thank you," Toby said in his best friendly officer voice and threw in his winning smile for good measure. People shouldn't have to be afraid of the police. He started jotting his notes down quickly but when he glanced up it didn't seem to put her at ease at all. This girl seemed to vibrate with nervous energy. "Are you on a student paper?" he asked. Maybe some light conversation would help.
She nodded her head. "Well you already seem leagues ahead of everyone else here," he joked and flipped his notebook shut. "Where do you go to college?"
The girl opened her mouth to answer but before he knew it the Styrofoam cup filled with coffee flew out of her hands and landed right on his shoes. She pulled napkins out of her purse and handed them to him, "I'm sorry," she whispered as they both crouched down to clean up the mess.
Toby was startled for a moment - the apology sounded hauntingly familiar. He stared at her, trying to get a good look at this stranger. Her ginger hair was pulled into a loose braid that lay over her shoulder, her bangs covered her face and Toby had never seen rims as thick even on the most pretentious hipsters. The long scarf was wrapped closely and covered her mouth which made all her words come out slightly muffled.
She noticed him staring and he looked away guiltily, concentrating on getting the coffee wiped off his shoes. When he looked up she was halfway across the street to a car parked there.
"Your pen," he called out to her, willing her to turn around just once more. If he could just get a better look…
"Keep it!" She shouted back in an unmistakably familiar voice as he turned the pen over in his hands. Toby couldn't help but believe he just had a run in with none other than Spencer Hastings and for the first time in three years, he had a lead.
