I don't own Rookie Blue disclaimer.
I need to warn you that this 'story' is taken from an actual event, that my husband dealt with during his time in the police. It certainly made his young colleagues grow up fast ! Rated the way it is for a reason as may be upsetting to some.
Growing up…
Ollie and Andy had been riding round since 6am – nothing seemed to be happening on a lazy Sunday morning and both were feeling that the day could drag on them if things continued to be so quiet.
"Want something to eat"? Enquired an ever-hopeful Ollie….
"Yea guess I could eat something" said Andy turning the cruiser towards the deli at the end of McNeill Street that she knew would be open and it made the most heavenly muffins….
Her stomach grumbled and Shaw allowed himself a giggle despite her glaring at him in mock indignation, but before she could comment, the radio crackled into life
1509, be advised we have a possible domestic disturbance at 2059 Hamer – neighbour called it in.
"Light 'em up" Andy said as Ollie flicked the switch and the sirens and lights began.
0000000000000000000
They screamed to a halt outside a blue painted clapboard with a white porch and a tidy front yard. As soon as she stepped out of the car, Andy was immediately met by a neighbour who still dressed in her housecoat, was clearly upset and at times incoherent.
As soon as the woman saw a male officer, she latched on to him and began to question the wisdom of calling them out. Was she imagining things? Should she have bothered them? She really wasn't sure what she had seen…..
McNally looked beyond her. The house was in darkness and a chilling silence seemed to envelope it. It looked like there was nobody home. Pulling her gun, Andy stepped towards the porch, intent on knocking the door, but hearing the distress of the neighbour, was quickly told to wait by Oliver.
"Hold up McNally…" he said.
Ollie, put his hand on the neighbours arm to calm her and managed to find out that the property was the home of the Edmondson family, who had 3 kids. Mrs Edmondson was quiet, and well liked within the neighbourhood. She had recently started to work afternoons in the convenience store at the end of the street. Her husband had been laid off his job.
Mr Edmondson, used to be a happy go-lucky guy, very family orientated. He had changed however, since he had been spending more time at home. He was always outside hollering at the kids and complaining that he had been put out to grass just so that some snot-nosed kid could have his job and the boss wouldn't have to pay him much.
Earlier that morning the neighbour had been woken by sounds of sobbing coming from the Edmondson's back yard. Peaking through her window to look down at the yard, she had seen Mrs Edmondson on her knees, her head in her hands sobbing her heart out. The back porch door slammed and her husband appeared. He grabbed her by her hair and snarling at her, dragged her back inside. The sobbing was replaced by a brief scream and that was when the neighbour realised that she hadn't seen or heard the children for a couple of days. It then went eerily quiet. Shaken by this realisation and the scene she had just witnessed, she dialled 911.
Ollie nodded to the woman and suggested she wait near the cruiser as he was aware that another car had also responded to the call and would be along shortly. He drew his gun and followed Andy onto the porch.
Andy rapped the door. "Police open the door".
There was no reply, so she tried again
"Police, we're coming in". She signalled to Shaw and burst through the partially open door.
The couple were seated at the dining table – Mr Edmondson glared at them, appearing not a bit shocked to be confronted by two armed police officers in his own home.
Ollie tentatively approached Mrs Edmondson who sat like a statue at the other end of the table, hardly daring to make eye contact.
"Are you ok love"? He queried. She raised her head and he could see her tear-stained face, framed with terror. She started to shake and tried to rise from the table.
"He told me they were staying with his sister….he took them yesterday afternoon when I was at work…he told me,,," - her voice almost breaking as she shook and tried to gulp back her tears.
"Sit down woman, I'll tell you when you can leave", her husband growled.
"Put your hands where I can see them sir", said Andy – "get up from the table with your hands on the back of your head".
"Get the hell out of my house copper, I never asked you in and I don't want your kind here!". Andy had had enough and she cocked her gun
"Gonna ask you one more time, - nicely" she said. He curled his lip at her, but stood, his hands firmly planted on the dining table, defying her.
As the door slammed behind her, Andy caught sight of Noelle and Gail entering the room. Noelle moved forward, cuffs in hand and quickly secured the man laying him on the floor. Ollie was still trying to comfort the woman who had begun to shriek and rock herself back and forth. He tried gentle probing questions, but got no reply.
Leading the woman to Gail to be taken outside, he glanced at Andy's back as she entered the kitchen and started to look around. The place was spotless apart from the washing bowl in the sink which was full of pinkish frothy water…..
Glancing behind her at Shaw, to see if he had noticed the sink, McNally walked into the utility room carefully looking around and straining her ears for any sign that would lead her to the couple's three children.
"Hello. Anybody there?" she tried.
A miniature pair of muddy boots had been left by the back door and a bright orange waterproof, and rucksack were left on the counter next to linen basket which was half full. A boys bicycle was propped up against the wall with some sneakers that had been taken off without the laces being undone. Just as she was about to leave the room, she noticed the trail of small red dots on the floor leading to a large chest freezer that was up against the back wall. Taking a deep breath, she lifted the lid.
The gorge in her gut rose and she quickly stifled a gasp, closing the lid and spinning on her heal immediately. She walked towards the kitchen door, meeting Ollie who was just about to step into the utility. Pushing him firmly in the other direction with her palm on his chest she told him
"You don't need to go in there Ollie – I'll call it in, just,…. just," she stumbled over the words,
"Just go and wait outside for the EMS to arrive please". She met his eyes and he saw raw pain in them, followed by a fleeting sign of vulnerability which was quickly masked. She pursed her lips and pushed at him.
She was forceful when she steered him back into the kitchen.
"What the hell" tried Shaw, but she cut him off with a shake of her head. Catching sight of Noelle behind him, she reissued her request and sensing something was off, Noelle propelled Shaw outside. Andy called it in.
Her breath caught as she said the words, "Dispatch, we need a bus here immediately, alert scenes of crime unit and can you get Detective Barber to call me ASAP"?
Jerry was soon on the line.
"I'm on my way to your location now, can you tell me what we've got"?
"Not over the phone – you need to get here, NOW" Andy told him.
"Jerry, you need to make sure that Traci does not get to come into this house!" she all but begged down the phone." She and Ollie have kids, and there is no way in hell that they need to see what went on here. Keep her outside or something, but we have to get the husband and wife down to the station right now…."
"Ok with you in 5" Jerry replied before closing his phone.
He had a really bad feeling about this, but McNally sounded like she had the situation under control. Nevertheless he flicked on his lights and siren and floored it.
He made another quick call to Sam on his phone relaying Andy's request with regard to keeping Traci outside and distracted.
As soon as Jerry arrived, he took charge of the scene, sending Ollie back to the 15th with one of the prisoners and Noelle, whilst he made sure that Traci who had been riding with Sam that day, immediately went back to the barn with the wife and Peck. As soon as this was done, he strode into the house, Sam hot on his heels.
"Wot we got"? He demanded.
Andy was prowling the house, gloves on, inspecting the pile of bills on the dining room table. She looked up, straightened took a deep breath and told him. His jaw dropped. Sam sucked in his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, finally exhaling.
Shaking his head to clear it. Jerry bolted into the utility remembering to close the door behind him. The EMS and scenes of crime were by now entering the house and Sam had to step aside to let them pass into the kitchen.
He looked across at Andy who was chewing her lip but still had a pile of utility bills in her hand. Her face was stern and she was focused at some distant point on the wooden floor where a weak sun was now drawing patterns from the lace curtained windows.
"You uh…found them"? He enquired.
"Yep" she said shortly. "I'm gonna head out and see what else I can get from the neighbour that called it in ok"? She asked.
"Yea, go ahead, I'll stay with Jerry".
Sam was constantly amazed at the growing maturity that his ex-rookie was showing. She was shaping up to be an outstanding copper, toughening up and thinking through a situation – now - without over-thinking it.
"McNally!" He called her back as she walked towards the door.
"Glad that you had the presence of mind to get Ollie and Traci out of here before the ME arrived and the bodies were removed. Good catch" he added.
She nodded her head, sucked in another breath and headed out of the room.
Sam entered the utility from the kitchen careful to stay behind the scene of crimes guys and immediately wished he hadn't. The lid on the freezer was open and one of the tiny bodies wrapped in polythene which was dark red with frozen blood, was being laid on the tiled floor. Another tiny body was being zipped into a body bag and photos were being taken of the third body that remained within the freezer.
"Holy shit Jerry, she found this"! Said Sam quietly.
"I'd be a blubbering mess if I had been the one to discover this man, she certainly kept it all together in here". Jerry nodded, anger, shock and sadness written all over his face. "This has got to be one of the worst..." He just couldn't get the rest out – a seasoned officer like him and this was, he searched for the word... indescribable...
"Good call to keep Ollie and Traci away" he added.
"Yep already told her that" said Sam.
"You don't need me here do you"? Sam asked. "I'd really like to go find McNally, keep an eye on her, you know…." He waved his hand towards the door and the direction that his sometimes partner had taken.
"Understood" said Jerry, never taking his eyes off the tiny bags that were now lined up on the tiled floor.
"See you back at the barn – ah Sam, tell her I need to see her notes as soon as she feels up to it. Tomorrow will be fine, if she needs the time".
Outside, Andy was standing by the neighbour's house waiting to take her down to the 15th to make a formal statement. She was determined to see this through. Her nails were biting into her palms as she struggled not to let things get to her. Not daring to let her professional façade drop, she waved away the reporter and TV truck that had rolled up outside the property. The well groomed blonde tried to engage her in conversation and thrust a heavy microphone into her face, the camera man working his way around to get a shot of them both and catch her every reaction to the questions being fired at her.
Sam caught sight of this as he rounded the blue house and flew into an immediate rage as he strode over the well clipped lawn.
"Get them the hell out of here" he snarled at a bunch of uniformed officers gathered in a huddle on the front yard.
"Keep them and all the rubber-neckers back and see if you can get the ME to park that van round the side of the property, so that we can take them out of the back door with some dignity", he barked.
He moved on to the neighbouring yard and looked up at Andy who seemed to have suddenly gone dumb. She was standing on the wrap around porch, her head held high, but wound as tight as a drum, her feet planted and her chin set in a determined manner. She was holding it all in, acting like the true professional that she had become. A tiny part of him was so damn proud of her, she was showing every possibility of fulfilling her true potential as a top rate copper.
"You ok"? He questioned, looking into her eyes.
Nodding curtly she turned away, trying to get a grip of her feelings.
"Mrs Toms is just getting changed and then we are heading to the barn for her to give her statement. I need to get this done Sam".
He nodded and looked away to make sure that the TV truck had been moved away from the buildings.
Just before she slipped into the house, she turned and looked hard at him.
"You ok "? She quietly asked, knowing that he would not have spared himself what had shaken her to her very core. He would have needed to know, what she knew, he would have wanted to share her shock and her pain.
He nodded and gave her a half smile.
"Guess I'll see you in our 'office' later for a chat"? He cocked his head to one side waiting for her response.
She smiled quickly at that.
They always seemed to have their 'counselling sessions' in the locker room after shift, before heading to the Penny. So much so, that they both referred to it as their office.
Andy knew that although they would never make sense of what happened here today, that Sam would be the one person who could reassure her that she might never ever get used to it, but that she would learn to live with it. And, - she would believe him. They would cope – they always did.
His coping mechanism included a spell at the Penny for them both, followed by a steady walk home, stopping just to pick up some Chinese before they got to their apartment. He would see to it that they were partnered together for the next few days, just so that he had her close, so that if she needed to talk it over, all she would have to do, was turn towards him.
That was quite simply why she loved him. He was always there for her.
He had trained her well.
"Yea, see you in the office - and Sam - , thanks". She gave a small nod of her head and walked in to the house to do her job.