New story! Don't worry, I'll be writing the next installments in my other universes after this one. Enjoy!
As soon as Emma entered the station she knew that it was going to be a bad day. There were crying parents sitting in front of David's desk, and evidence boxes being brought in one after another by the dwarfs who had become honorary sheriffs to help with big cases.
Emma glanced over at the boxes that Leroy was bringing in, wincing slightly at seeing the pink backpack inside. This one wasn't going to be fun. She walked over to David's desk, smiling gently at the parents. "Hi. Sorry I got here later than usual."
"Don't worry about it," the mother said, sniffing. "There's not much that you can do anyway. The car drove over the town line."
"Car?" Emma asked. "What car?"
"The car that took our daughter," the father piped in, rubbing his wife's arms to sooth her. "I'm sorry, we should start at the beginning. I'm Jackson and this is Mary. Our daughter Liza was kidnapped."
Mary let out a sob before speaking again. "Right in front of us."
Emma grabbed a tissue from the box on David's desk before handing it to her. "Why don't we all get situated and then you can tell us everything that happened."
"How are we supposed to help them?" Emma asked, watching Jackson and Mary leave. "We have absolutely nothing that helps us."
"Not true," David said, sitting down at his desk and turning his computer on. "I searched for similar cases like this and found one that fits the exact story that they just told us. Only this one happened in California."
Emma looked at him in confusion. "Why would two cases happen completely across the country from one another?"
"No idea," David said, shrugging. "I'll print off the file for us to look over and everything." He glanced at the clock before smirking at Emma. "You may want to either head home or give Regina a call before she comes here and kills you."
Emma rolled her eyes. "You don't need to act so smug. Have you seen the stuff we deal with? She just wants to make sure that I'm safe."
"I know," David said, laughing. He went to get the papers from the printer, frowning as he flipped through the pages. "That's odd."
"What is?" Emma asked, pausing in her actions to call Regina. There was no way she would be home for dinner. This case was already too important. If someone was taking girls from town and then leaving, that was a huge issue.
"There was a witness to the case in California," David said. "But it says that she refused to be interviewed. Why would someone do that?"
"Protecting the kidnapper?" Emma guessed.
David shook his head. "It was a little girl. She was out bike riding with her friend when her friend were kidnapped. She chased the car but couldn't keep up. Reported the incident, but didn't want to be interviewed."
"Does it say why?" Emma asked.
"Something about not remembering what happened," David said. "She remembered that something bad had happened while she was out riding her bike, but that's it. Didn't even remember the name of her friend who was taken. Poor little girl."
Emma froze. "You know, I think I'm gonna go home for dinner. Get my mind off of everything." Without another word, she poofed away.
David looked at the spot where she had previously been at. "That was weird."
Emma stood at the edge of the water, picking up rocks to throw. The splash of the rocks into the water was oddly satisfying, an idea that Regina would no doubt make fun of her for. They had been dating for only a few months, but really they were the last ones to the party. Even those in town had started to make bets on when they would get together.
By the time they did get together, they had gone on more dates than more married couples did without even realizing they were going on dates.
"You don't throw as far when you're upset," Regina said, walking up to stand next to Emma.
"How'd you find me?" Emma asked, throwing her last rock and rubbing her hands together to get the sand off.
"Word spreads fast in a small town," Regina said. "You always come here when you're upset about a case that you can't solve."
Emma smiled. "You know me too well."
"Mission accomplished," Regina teased. "Come on, let's go home. There's dinner waiting for us, along with a very hungry son who will be most displeased if the food goes cold before we get to eat."
"We both have magic," Emma pointed out, lacing her fingers with Regina's and beginning to walk away from the water. "It isn't that hard to heat up food."
Regina laughed. "I distinctly remember the last time that you tried to heat up food it didn't go very well. Just stick to the microwave."
Emma blushed. "I didn't realize that magical flames were so touchy, okay?"
Regina just laughed again and squeezed her hand gently.
The first vision came the next morning after talking to Jackson. He had been the one who had chased after the car.
"I saw the car and everything, I already gave my report on that," Jackson said. "But whatever else I can help with, I will."
"You daughter is 11 years old, correct?" Emma asked. Jackson nodded. "Did she have problems with anyone at school?"
Jackson looked confused. "What would that have to do with Liza being kidnapped? Other kids wouldn't take her."
"No, but they could have older siblings or parents who wanted revenge," Emma pointed out. "We're just trying to cross everything off of our list to find her."
"Of course," Jackson said. "Honestly, it's hard to remember everything. It all just happened so fast. One moment we were off riding our bikes together and having a great time, and the next Liza is screaming and the car zoomed away with her inside."
He started to get teary-eyed, so Emma handed him a tissue. "I'm so sorry. I promise that we're going to do everything in our power to find her."
David knocked on the door, apologizing as he stuck his head in. "Can I borrow you for one second?"
Emma nodded before getting up and following David outside. "What's up?"
"We need to find this little girl, and fast," David said, He handed Emma a photo. "Body was found this morning. It's the first girl that went missing in California."
"Out with the old and in with the new," Emma mumbled, taking the photo from David and studying it. "Don't tell Jackson or Mary about this. We don't need them panicking."
David nodded. "I'll finish up with Jackson, read through the rest of the file."
"Deal," Emma said. She didn't know how much longer she could take having to interview the distraught father anymore. It was starting to get to her. She sat at her desk, looking over the California file. As she was looking at the photos from the more recent crime scene, the vision hit.
"Come on, we have to get back before it gets too dark!" Emma called ahead of her. "Avery, did you hear me? We have to head home!"
"I heard you, I'm just ignoring you!" Avery called back, laughing. "Come on, live it up a little bit. We're almost teenagers!"
Emma rolled her eyes, but kept pedaling. That was when the car pulled up. In 5 seconds, Avery was gone.
Emma was shaking. She didn't know when that had happened. Suddenly feeling nauseous, she put down the file before running to the bathroom and throwing up. What was that? Why was she putting herself in the situation of Jackson and Mary? And who was Avery?
"Emma?" David called, knocking on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Emma called back. "Just something I ate I think. Or a bug. You might want to stay away just in case. Would hate to give you something during an investigation this big."
David rolled his eyes at Emma's lie before pulling out his phone and texting Regina. "Okay, take your time." No sooner had he finished than the door opened to reveal a very pale but mostly okay Emma.
"I'm good," Emma said, brushing past him. "Let's get back to work."
David stared after her with a worried look on his face. Something was going on.
