Well my Robin Hood story went over pretty well, so I figured why not another!
Hope you guys like! :)
Chapter One
Officer Bennett
Faster! Faster! Faster! She kept chanting that to herself as she made her way through the busy Glasgow city street. This was the third time she had to chase after one of these guys in the past week. Always the same. Caught trying to sell black market goods. The old-fashioned marketer would try to sell guns, liquor, or stolen cars, but lately they had been running into strange items that confused even her American mind. A fluorescent green lizard, a curved piece of metal with lights on it, even a medieval gauntlet. She wasn't sure what this guy had but she didn't care.
He ran through a busy intersection and rolled over the top of a screeching cab. She was able to make up some ground as he jumped back up.
"Police! Outta the way!" She yelled as she continued to chase after her subject. He turned down a tight alley and she followed right behind him. What she didn't see was him hiding around the corner with a chunk of rebar. She came up close and he swung; narrowly missing her head, but hitting her shoulder instead. Her running momentum plus the rebar impact sent her down to ground. She swung her legs around in hopes of making some sort of contact. The man's legs went out under him. She rolled on top of him, but the pain in her shoulder make their scuffle quiet short.
He was up and running with her trying to follow. Another intersection and alley later, he began to climb a fence. He was up and over before she even got there. He stopped and stared at her through the chain link; he laughed and turned away. She knew that with her shoulder throbbing, she wouldn't be able to pull herself over, but this wasn't over. She stopped and closed her eyes. She knew which way he was going. She went back down the alley and turn left.
The smuggler casually walked down the street before he ducked into a construction site. He was almost to the other side when she came out from a pile of rubble.
"BLOODY HELL!" The man shouted in frustration.
"You're under arrest,"
"Am I?" He asked as he pulled a gun out from his waist band. She reached for her back holster and nothing. Bastard had her gun! She slowly raised her hands above her shoulders. He stood there triumphant. He could kill her and be long gone before anyone knew it was him. He watched her as she made small gestures with her hands. "Was she signaling someone? She couldn't be," he thought. She didn't have time to call for backup.
"Stop moving!" He screamed as he raised her gun higher, pointing it at her head. She wouldn't stop. "I will shoot!" Her movements were more pronounced now; her right hand and now her head were gesturing to someone. Who was she signaling? He turned to see who was behind him. With him now distracted, she kicked the gun away. He screamed in pain, cradling his now broken hand. Fully pissed off now, she jumped up on a pile of cinder blocks and delivered a right boot to his head. He spun to the ground and groaned in pain. She rolled him onto his stomach and cuffed him. Yanking him up by his coat, she escorted him to a waiting patrol car.
"You know, I could have used some help," she remarked as she tucked him into the back seat.
"Come on now Riley darling. I knew you had it completely under control," the other officer remarked as he handed her the gun the smuggler swiped from her. She put it back in her holster and she glanced around at the crowd that had gathered. She was struck by a familiar face. He was about 35, 6 feet tall with brown hair. He had on a long brown trench coat and white basketball shoes. It was shoes that refreshed her memory. A suit and those shoes. Riley shook off the odd feeling as she got into the car and made their way to the station. She glanced back over her shoulder and the man was gone. Confusion flooded her mind as she scanned the crowd for him. Who was he and why was he following her?
Back at the station, after changing her soiled shirt, she chatted with Officer O'Halloran about her morning run.
"What was he carrying?"
"This, whatever it is," she remarked as she turned the evidence bag over in her hand. The bag held a long wooden box with intricate cravings. There appeared to be no hinges or openings of any kind. It was so light, it had to be hallow. She fought the temptation to open it, but she decided that just might be against procedure.
"Bloody weird if you ask me," O'Halloran said as he walked away. Riley put it aside and got up to file away her report on the incident. As she turned the corner of her desk, she saw three men wearing black coats, of various lengths, and sunglasses walk in. Deep down she knew who they were. They approached her Lieutenant and looked in her direction.
"Shit," she muttered as she turned around and tried to discreetly get away.
"Officer Bennett!" She heard her Lt. call her name; Riley stopped in her tracks and turned to face them. This was not going to add to the "great" day she was already having.
"Yes, sir," she instinctly crossed her arms over her chest. Trying to put a barrier between herself and the men standing in front of her.
"Torchwood is here and they want the evidence from your arrest this morning,"
"Well, sir. Our lab hasn't even had a chance to look it over yet,"
"That's the point, officer," his tone made her immediately want to punch him in the throat. "We don't need you messing around with our evidence," the man in charge remarked. They were always condescending when she crossed paths with them. Crime scenes and witness interviews were one thing, but doing this in their own house was something else entirely. She could feel the heat of her anger rising up to her face and then spreading down her body.
"Officer," he Lt. asked again. Riley turned to her desk and picked up the evidence bag. She handed the bag over to them; very reluctantly. They didn't move, as if they were waiting for something else.
"We'll need your report as well," a smaller man asked. She looked at him in total frustration. She felt like she was running up a hill of marbles; she wasn't getting very far at all and it was becoming rather painful. She pulled out the folder she had under her arm and turned it over to them. They turned on their heels and walked out. The same audience that had stopped to see the show, had gone back work.
"Are they taking my suspect too?" She inquired when they were out of ear shot.
"That's right," her Lt. answered. She could hear the frustration in his voice too.
"Freaking Torchwood," she said under her breath.
"That's right," he said and walked back into his office. Riley slumped down at her desk. She ran her ass off through most of downtown Glasgow and they swoop in. Taking her evidence, her report, even the dirtball who tried to kill her. She didn't even get to question him. As frustrated as she was with Torchwood, it was the man in the trench that pushed to the front of her mind. She went back to work, but she was distracted the entire day. She finished up some reports, caught up with witnesses in other cases, but all of her focus was not there. Toward the end of her shift she decided to act on this nagging feeling. She logged onto her computer and started their facial recognition software.
Riley typed in the particulars:
Age: 30 – 35
Height: 5'10" – 6'1"
Hair: Brown, straight
Eyes: Brown
Scars: none visible
Tattoos: none visible
367 matches!! Great!!
She decided to take another approach. She went into the "Sketch-a-Suspect" software. She hoped her memory was as good as she bragged about. She paged through the choices.
Was he hair short or long? – Short. Was his face oval, round or heart shaped? – Oval with a slight angular jaw. Riley sat there for nearly an hour and half going through every possible choice she had as her disposal.
"Bennett?" Riley looked up to the sound of the voice that called her name.
"Yes, Lt.?"
"Looking for a bit of overtime?" He said with a bit of humor in his voice.
"I'm off the clock sir,"
"So, it's a raise then. I don't want to hear you call out tomorrow," he said with a smile.
"No sir. See you tomorrow," she said as he walked away. When she was sure that she had tweaked the sketch to what her memory was telling her, she imported it into the recognition software she had abandoned earlier. The program churned and ran through thousands of cases. Riley got up to refresh her cup of coffee. When she got back to her desk, she was surprised. 13 matches. Now that was a number she could work with.
"January 12th, 2008," Riley said to herself as she went through the cases. "Man was seen leaving a house just before it exploded. A set of unidentifiable remains were found in the gutted structure. Case 379XB12 was turned over to Torchwood for further examination January 14th, 2008," Damnit!! That case is gone, so, she went to the next match.
"March 28th, 2007," she scrolled through the file. The only sound in squad room was her mumbling as she read the file and the clicking of her mouse. "A white male and white female led a riot at local prep school. A similar incident was reported at a school in London the day before, March 27th. In each case, the school was destroyed. Torchwood London has taken over jurisdiction," Mother of God! When was she gonna catch a break? The next case was going to be a bit harder to check out. The station installed the new computer catalog system in Early 2000.
"March 31st, 1987," Riley sat in shock. If this case was tied to her mystery man, he would have been 10 years old. 1987; that meant she would have to get into the records room. Riley picked up her phone and made a quick call. The phone rang three times.
"Records room,"
"Mary Catherine, this is Riley,"
"Hello sweetheart. Are you still working? I thought only I worked while God slept," Mary Catherine always had a way of shining a happy light on any day.
"Yeah, I'm working on a hunch. Are you busy?"
"Darling, its 2 in the morning. What do you think?" Touché.
"I'll be right down," she said and hung up. Riley wrote down the case files she wanted and made her way to the records room. Making sure she made a quick detour to the kitchen for an eccles cake and a cup of tea. She made sure to grab a coffee for herself. Riley had a feeling that it was going to be an even longer night.
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