Broken Trusts
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: This story is inspired by one of my most popular stories that I've written, which was in the iCarly fandom. I decided to write this, it's got a similar idea but different circumstances. Please, enjoy. It takes place nine years in the future, which means Tori is 27.
Chapter 1 (Silent Child)
"Yes mother, I've paid my rent." Tori rolled her eyes and mouthed along to her mom on the other end of the phone. She was busy focusing on the road, and shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving. This was a greater transgression due to the fact that she was driving a patrol car. "Mom, for the last time, I'm working right now."
She peered over her shades and pulled up to a stoplight. Beside her was her partner on the job, Jade Oliver. Jade's hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her police cap was pulled down over her eyes, but her lips were still in a visible smirk.
"For a woman that's estranged, she sure talks to you a lot."
"Not now, Jade." She hadn't seen her mother in nearly six years, which was odd considering how frequently they talked on the phone. Tori took a deep breath and raised her voice with agitation. "I'm driving, mom. I can't talk anymore."
The woman replied with a saddened tone, then hung up. Tori's heart flickered with guilt and she tossed the phone into the cubby space beneath the radio. "I don't know why she even bothers calling me."
Jade crossed her arms and moved her head against the window. "Last time you saw her was six years ago?"
"Yeah, but only briefly. We've been estranged since she and dad divorced and she moved in with Gary." It was a nasty divorce, and it happened nearly nine years ago. The primary reason they divorced was due to her affair, but for the most part, it was Trina's disappearance that got the ball rolling.
"I thought they divorced because of Trina? Your dad even quit his job because she left, right?"
"Something like that." She stretched her arms and curled her fingers around the steering wheel. Her eyes scanned the road once the light turned green and she pushed down on the gas while Jade flipped on the siren. "Trina didn't leave, Jade. There was no sign of her running away."
Throughout her years on the force, Tori came to understand the trademarks of a runaway. She used this to compare what had been left behind the last day she'd seen her sister.
"All of Trina's clothes were still in her room, she left her wallet and purse on the desk along with her laptop. There were too many things that she wouldn't have left behind had she run away." It was hard talking about the subject, but in the nine years Trina was gone, she'd begun to harden herself to the fact that her sister was missing and very likely in a ditch somewhere. "Dad investigated as hard as he could, but that case…it broke him. I've never seen him more discouraged than the day they had to put her box up on the cold case investigations…"
Jade bowed her head and heaved a heavy sigh forward. "I always thought she ran away. I remember Robbie and Andre were really hard on her, and so was I, I know. So I always figured we ran her off."
"That's just it. She was with Sinjin at the time, they were engaged. My sister would never walk out on him." Not a day went by that Sinjin gave up hope that Trina was out there. Tori started a career in law enforcement because she wanted to find her sister, but the more cases she worked, the more she had to accept the possibility that Trina was dead.
Thinking about that aspect brought tears to her eyes, which she immediately wiped away. "I don't have the heart to tell him, or even dad, that there's a good chance Trina's gone." Jade's knuckles came up to her right temple and she rolled her concerned eyes onto Tori.
"Why don't you think she's still out there?"
"I have to think like a police officer. As a sister, I can never give up hope, but as a cop? Jade, how many times have we walked onto the body of a person who has been missing for at least a few months? Trina had everything going for her, she was a beautiful, confident woman, and she's been missing for nine years."
"Ever know of anyone that would want to hurt her?"
"Except Robbie? Nope." She remembered the harness incident from high school. When she became a cop, she investigated the matter herself despite it being well passed the statute of limitations. She was enraged upon learning that he was not only responsible, but he'd gone out of his way to lie about it.
"Yeah, that twit." Jade started to chuckle and Tori looked away, unable to feel the same fondness or nostalgia that Jade felt.
Aside from Beck, for obvious reasons as being Jade's husband, they didn't keep up with the other friends. Andre left years ago when he entered college, and Robbie left to get a head start on his ventriloquism. Even Cat moved away many years ago, without so much as a word to her roommate.
The girl always did seem to be a drifter.
"Speaking of Robbie. Is there any way to contact him?" Tori pulled up alongside another squad car with its lights flashing. In front of her were several officers standing inside an area marked off by police tape.
"His family lost contact with him, I think. His sister probably knew where to find him."
Frown lines formed around the corners of her lips and she shook her head sadly. "That's unfortunate." They opened the doors and made their way to an officer at the scene. Tori pushed her hands into her pockets and glanced towards the door. "So what's the story?"
"No sign of forced entry. Young mother was washing the dishes when the assailant entered the house. There's a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, and no casing."
Tori followed the officer in, making sure not to touch anything. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Jade was behind them. "Was there anything else found?" Jade asked while stepping carefully into the house. A sad glint shone in the officer's eyes as he turned towards them.
"The five year old child in the bedroom was asleep when the attack happened." He led them into the child's bedroom and Tori's heart stopped at the sight of a pale child on the bed. His lips were bluish in color and there were markings on his neck.
It was not the first time she'd seen a young child murdered at a crime scene, but no matter how many times she saw this, it still kept her from being able to breathe. "Strangulation." She put her hand up to her chest and bowed her head. "Poor child. It looks personal. Let's see the other victim…"
"Right this way." As she followed, she took note of the surroundings. The furniture wasn't disturbed, there were no scratches on the walls or scuff marks on the floor. In the kitchen, it was just as undisturbed, which was a clear sign that the killer had only one thing on their mind.
"Megan Shapiro," the officer stated, "Twenty-four and a single parent." Tori walked over to the girl's body. Megan was hunched over the counter, her right cheek pressed against the surface and blood had pooled beneath her head.
Tori reached carefully for the girl's dark hair and pulled it up to see the gunshot wound. The entry was in the back of the head, towards the bottom of the skull. There was a bruise around the area, which seemed indicative that the weapon was pressed against her head when she was shot.
There was an exit wound on her forehead, so Tori looked towards the walls to try and figure out if it struck anywhere. "You said you found no casing? What about a bullet?"
"CSIs have searched the area, there's no bullet."
"So, the killer made sure we couldn't track down the gun." She pulled her hand back and looked to Jade for ideas. When the woman shook her head, Tori returned to the officer, curious to hear more details. "Who found the bodies?"
"The neighbor. The neighbor noticed the door was open and went to check on our victim." The man motioned out the window and Tori spotted a woman talking to an officer. "We're getting a statement from her right now."
"Good. Now, our victim, what do we know right now?"
"Only what the neighbor has told us thus far. She has no family, her parents live out of state but she hasn't spoken to them in years. The neighbor has also mentioned our victim having a brother, but she doesn't know where he's at right now."
"Robert Shapiro."
"You know the victim?"
"No, but I knew her brother back in high school. We lost touch after graduation…"
On the way home that evening, Tori lamented over the grisly murder scene. It was unlikely she'd be able to work this one without letting her emotions get in the way. Primarily because of her connection to the victim's family.
"Some days I wonder why I gave up singing for this job." It was a tough job to do, being knee deep in blood nearly every other day. She looked forward to getting home, at least there she could get some much needed rest.
Tori passed by the crime scene slowly, as she often practiced driving by the most recent crime scene when leaving the crime lab. This was mainly due to instilling in herself an extra push to solving a crime. The other side of it was due to checking to see if anyone was returning to the scene, this was a tactic she learned from her father.
"Took the job to find my sister. She's out there, but she's not alive-she can't be." If she were, it meant one of two things, Trina could be safe somewhere and just hadn't contacted the family in nine years. This was closer to the running away theory. The other aspect was, if Trina were alive, then whoever took her was keeping her alive.
There was the situation that made the acid inside her stomach churn, and the reason she'd rather believe that her sister was dead after all these years. There were sometimes cases with kidnapping that the attacker kept the victim around for a number of reasons, and Tori didn't want to think about her sister in a helpless situation like that nine years after her disappearance.
Shaking the persistent thoughts from her mind, she looked out to the house and slowed the car to a stop. There was an open area next to the building, followed by a stream with an unstable tree. There was an unusual shape on the tree that caught her eye.
Once she left the car and started for the creek, she was able to make out the image of a small child clinging to the tree and staring down at the water below. The child's ankles were tied, and her wrists were bound to a branch that was beginning to break.
"Hold on!" Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she ran for the child, her eyes were locked on the branch and her heart was pounding with each frantic step.
The child looked up with wide chestnut brown eyes that peered through the sandy brown curls covering her small oval face. When the child moved, the branch started to break some more.
Tori reached out, calling for the child. "No, stay still!" She extended her arms and leapt forward as the branch finally snapped. She propelled herself across the creek and wrapped her arms and body around the child, landing on the other side and striking her back hard against the rocks.
When she looked up, her mind was on the child's safety. She met the girl's eyes and watched as she lifted her wrists. Tori instantly worked at untying the ropes. She wanted to ask questions, but right now the important thing was getting this child somewhere safe.
Her first thought was to take the girl to the police station, but looking into this kid's eyes, something stopped her. There was a familiarity to this eight year old little girl, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"What is your name?" The child's lips sank and her body started to shake. The corners of Tori's lips sank back into her cheeks as the girl wrapped her arms around her neck. "Right, let's get you someplace safe." The girl's eyes looked to the badge on Tori's chest, so she smiled and reached for the badge. "I'm a police officer, you can trust me." She felt the child's body continue to shake, and the grip she had around her neck grew stronger.
How long had this child been out here and who tied her to the tree? She needed to figure this out. She would let this child stay the night in a warm bed and she'd give her some hot soup, then tomorrow she would try and find out what she could.
I should probably let you know at this point, we will be seeing Trina. We will be seeing the other friends. Not everything is going to be revealed at once, and it isn't completely investigative stuff, though that's a big part of it. Also as it is mentioned, Trina's a big part of the reason Tori has become a police officer, that will actually play a role in finding her. By the way, I should also let you know that aside from that child, and a few minor characters, there are no major OCs. That means even wherever Trina is, the people around will be known to the Victorious realm.