Laurel Lance leaned against the wall of her office, face turned toward the window. The lights and movement of Starling City blinked before her, hypnotizing in a way. Not unlike the ocean. The night was young, at least for her, barely ten o'clock. Not that Laurel expected much activity in the coming hours. She and Thea had worked out a schedule with John. They rotated. One night on coms, one night patrolling, and one night off. Tonight was Laurel's night off.
The sound of her cell vibrating on the desk pulled Laurel's attention away from the window.
Schedules were great, until someone needed backup.
"What's up Thea?" Laurel was already grabbing her bag and locking her office door behind her as she answered.
"John just found something you're going to want to see." Thea's voice was overly calm. "Gear up and meet us at the cemetery."
A weight of unease settled in Laurel's stomach. "Give me ten," she responded, ending the call.
Laurel didn't need to be told where exactly in the Starling City Cemetery Thea and John would be waiting. The two hooded figures stood on either side of Sara's tombstone, half in shadow, like sentries guarding her sister.
Laurel said nothing, simply waited for one of them to tell her why they were, yet again, gathered at Sara's grave.
"I noticed something earlier this week," John began. Crouching down he pointed to the base of the tombstone where it met the grass. "Do you see how far up the stone the ground is?"
Laurel moved closer and knelt next to John. "Okay?" she responded, not sure where he was going with this.
"It bothered me," John said. "Tombstones sink, but not this quickly. We buried her less than a year ago." He hesitated, giving the impression of shifting without actually moving.
"Whatever it is you're trying to tell me, spit it out already."
"Sara's body is gone," Thea spoke quietly. "We ran a radar scan."
"What do you mean her body is gone?" Laurel could hear the menace in her tone, but couldn't do anything to stop it.
"According to the ground penetrating radar that I ran tonight, all that's down there is dirt." John confirmed. "No body, no coffin, nothing."
Laurel took several deep breaths, trying to force a calm she didn't feel.
"We don't think this happened recently," Thea said. "The grass isn't new."
The feeling of dread she'd been fighting since Thea called surged. Laurel pulled out a knife and began digging near the headstone.
"Laurel?" Thea questioned.
Laurel ignored her. She continued to dig, plunging the knife through grass then dirt; dropping the knife when she felt the tip strike something metal. She pulled off her gloves and reached into the small hole. Her fingers brushed against the metal object. She pushed in further, using her nails to pry it loose.
"God damn it." In her hand, surrounded by dirt, lay a pewter canary figurine. The very same one she'd buried during her first visit to Sara's grave. "I put this here two days after we buried her."
"They took her before that," John stated the obvious.
Thea's red gloved hand reached out and clasp Laurel's, pressing the small bird between them.
"We will figure this out," John said.
"No," Laurel said, returning the pressure. "We're going to leave, and then I'm going to contact my father."
John gave her a puzzled look.
"I let him think Sara was dead when she wasn't. And I let him think she was alive when she was buried here." Laurel let go of Thea's hand and carefully tucked the canary into her pocket. "He gets the truth."
Laurel had taken the time to shower and change back into the clothes she'd been wearing earlier. Normal clothes. Work clothes. She had somehow hoped to put her father at ease. It seemed silly now that she stood in the station.
The door to Quentin Lance's office was open, but Laurel hesitated before walking in. His head was bent over a stack of reports, hand scribbling a surly illegible signature before moving on to the next. Laurel felt her heartbeat speed up and took a moment to square her shoulders. Their relationship, while no means back to normal, was at least somewhat stable at the moment. She really did not want to go back to cold silence and anger.
"Either come in or get the hell out of here," Quentin said without looking up. "Your hovering is making my neck itch."
Laurel gave him a sour smile, but walked in and closed the door behind her.
Quentin looked up. "It's gonna be that kind of conversation, huh?" He pushed back in his chair. "So am I talking to the ADA or the vigilante?"
"How about your daughter?" Laurel tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but sometimes her father made it so hard. Sometimes it felt like she was never going to escape his anger and resentment.
He didn't say anything in response, but the aggressive look on his face faded into something more neutral.
"Sara's grave's been disturbed." Laurel managed to keep her voice calm and even. "I think someone may have taken her body."
"What do you mean you think someone stole her body?" Quentin stood up and leaned toward her.
"We noticed some irregularities and ran radar on the grave."
"We?" he sneered. "Why are you even telling me?" Quentin said through clenched teeth. "I'm sure you and your hooded pals have already decided what to do."
"No," Laurel said. "I'm telling you, because first, your daughter's body is missing, and I told you that I wasn't going to lie to you anymore."
Laurel wanted to move into his space. Respond in kind with anger and distrust. To let him know that she wasn't intimidated by him. She remained where she was, hands tightening around the handle of her briefcase.
"And second, you're the police. Investigate." She pulled a file from her bag and tossed it on his desk. "That's everything we have."
Quentin stared her down for a moment before dropping his eyes to the file. He flipped it open, paging through the contents. "You ran radar tonight?" He frowned. "And you're already bringing this to me?"
"Your faith in me is overwhelming dad," Laurel turned and walked to the door.
"Laurel," Quentin's voice stopped her before she could pull the door open. He was silent for several moments, but she didn't turn around. "I'm … I ap… I'll look into it."
Laurel nodded and walked out. Once she was clear of the building she let out a huge sigh. "I need a meeting."