Bury me in Snow – Act 1: Missing Mother.
He had thought that his partner was on the late side today. Usually they and Ellie had sat and eaten breakfast together by now whilst the three of them caught up on the latest gossip and case theories. He could tell their secretary was starting to get a bit frustrated with hunger – she didn't say anything but her stomach sure did.
The door to the office burst open and, by some twist of dark irony, young Shaun was the one to come toppling in. "Me Valentine! You gotta help!" he cried, his eyes wide and wild looking. "My mother's been kidnapped!"
Nick stood hearing Ellie gasp and catching her move a hand to her mouth in the corner of his eye. This was no time to panic however. Experience had taught him that a cool head and haste over speed paid off a great deal more regularly than just rushing in blind. He knelt before the child to reach his eye level and lifted his covered hand to place it reassuringly on the boy's shoulder. "Calm down," he ordered gently. "We'll find her and bring her back home safely but right now I need you to take a seat, take a deep breath then tell me everything that happened to you today, alright?" His glowing amber eyes met with the familiar grey ones and the boy nodded miserably but with the new calm determination Nick had hoped to draw from him. He stood up, guiding Shaun to the chair before the main desk before taking up the vacant seat opposite. As the child let out a deep breath he re-prompted him, feeling Ellie taking up her post just behind him with her note pad. "Now. Go over your day for me. Starting from when you got up this morning."
Many have complained before now as to why such mundane tasks were so important when a person was missing but to a detective like Nick these details were sometimes more important than what the missing person even looked like. A name and eye colour were great and all but their habits and preferred lifestyles are what really gave him a feel for the person's mind set and helped him keep an eye out for clues. He knew his partner's habits and lifestyle by this point obviously but there was something else he was hoping for. Something the boy might have picked up on or seen that wasn't important at the time but would make all the difference now. He listened intently as Shaun talked about the two of them getting up from the room his mother had in Vault 81. That was out of the ordinary as she had a house here in Diamond city – Home Plate – but it was still no surprise to Nick. She'd told them previously that she'd be visiting there to follow a minor case. Both he and Ellie had expected her to report in this morning from that very case. No.. nothing strange there. He continued to listen as Shaun narrated their walk home together. They'd been travelling through Chestnut Hillock Reservoir where he'd apparently been asking her about the different plant life and creatures there. They'd been collecting a few samples for him to look at through her telescope back in the small lab she'd built in that house of hers – one that had frequently proven valuable in their work. One little comment he'd made about wanting to set one up in the agency and she'd remembered it months later opening it up for his use too. He smiled at the fond memory, allowing himself just a second to waste on that sense of kinship before shaking his head clear and getting back to the business at hand.
"That's when they grabbed us!" the boy stated sharply. "We were picking some Bloodleaf out of the water when someone snatched me from behind. Mother tried to pull her gun out but someone got her too holding her arms back. She kicked the guy that was holding me in the knee and I managed to get free of him. I wanted to help but she told me to run so.. so I did. I ran all the way back here. Please! You gotta help her!"
The boy started picking up in tone and hysteria once again and Nick lifted a hand in the air to stall the rising panic hushing him as he did so. "Shhh, I will kid don't worry. Just a few more questions and I can be on my way, I promise, this case is top priority." He could see the child was becoming impatient but he calmed once again, a frown marring his youthful brow. "What can you tell me about this group?" Nick asked. "How many of 'em? Did they say anything? Did they have any distinguishing features like a uniform or scars or such?" The boy's head bowed and Nick gave him the time he needed to think on this. It couldn't be easy to do and he was struck by just how well he was handling all of this. The boy certainly took after his mother, that was for sure..
"There where… five of them," Shaun responded. "I think. Two held my mother and one grabbed me but there was another one with a gun just a little bit away further up the hill and another out by the trees. I think he was hiding but I saw him when I ran to get away and avoided him so he didn't catch me. I don't think they had uniforms on but.. they where all wearing suits. A little bit like the guards in Goodneighbor but I don't think I've seen any of them in Goodneighbor before."
"Mm.. hiding in the trees with ranged weapons.. So it sounds like an ambush was planned without immediate intent to kill.. You did well to get out of there unscathed kid. Where any shots fired?"
"No," the boy responded shaking his head. "I think the trees blocked me from them. Mother always told me that if I needed to run I should find cover and run low as I can."
Nick nodded. Good advice to give really but he could see there was something else on the child's mind. Something he'd not said yet but looked to be mulling it over. "There -ah, anything else you can tell me?" he prompted.
"Um… I don't know what it means but.." the child started frowning to himself. Nick waited patiently for him to share it. "I think one of them must have been trying to catch me because I heard one of them shout to him. I'm… not really sure what they said but it sounded something like, 'we only get trades for this one'." He sat looking at Nick now with questions in his own eyes as the old bot mulled the words over.
"So.. could be that this was no chance kidnapping.. Sounds like they knew who they were out for."
Standing Nick adjusted his coat and hat picking up his rifle and a few supplies for the road. Shaun jumped up out of his own seat. "Are we going out to find her now?" he asked hurriedly. Nick shook his head. "Not 'we' kid. 'Me'. I'm better of doing this one alone, trust me on this. You stay here and look after Ellie for me ok?"
As Shaun opened his mouth to speak his argument Ellie stepped in gaining his attention. "I know it's hard staying behind, but Nick is good at his job. You can trust him with this ok?"
The boy looked dejected but bowed his head in miserable acceptance.
"Be good you two. We'll be home before you know it," encouraged the Synth detective, flashing them a wink and a smile before heading on out the door. In his own heart, robotic or not, he could feel the cold chill of worry gnawing the edges. Hundreds of scenarios ran though his head and none were any better than the last… He had to get to the bottom of this and fast.
His first scene of investigation - Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.