MILES TO GO
Chapter One – First Blood
The room was filled with crates all carrying Jingle Jangle. The blonde paced back and forth, waiting for her delivery boys to show up. It was 9:15, and this delivery was due by midnight at the latest. She had been waiting to make this deal for a while, since Clifford Blossom was pegged down from the murder case and she was put in charge of the dealing. Despite her new position of power, it was still risky dealing in this side of Riverdale.
The door behind her opened, and she turned to find a pair of Serpents walking in. One of the men she recognized (she saw him almost every night in the Whyte Wyrm), the other….was new.
"You boys are early." Penny exclaimed as she walked over to them. "I'm impressed."
"We know this deal's important to you. Besides, we need to give our new rookie here some time to know our business." Tall Boy explained as he nudged the unfamiliar man next to him. Penny smirked and eyed the stranger.
"You can refer to me as the Snake Charmer." she extended her hand out to him. He didn't take it.
"Let's just get this over with." he replied, rolling his eyes. Penny coldly brought her hand back to her side, and she walked back over to the crates, gesturing the men to follow her.
"These crates need to go to Greendale before midnight. You got other people with you?"
"Just out back, yeah."
"And only Serpents?" she asked, stopping in her tracks to glare at the men. Tall Boy glanced over at the new Serpent.
His hand began shaking. What if this goes wrong? What if she figures out why I'm really here? It was reminding him too much of what happened in….
"Hey….you alright?" Tall Boy asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"I'm fine." he mumbled nervously.
"Alright boys," Penny snapped her fingers at them and whirled her finger around in the air. "Let's get this shit loaded up." Tall Boy and the new Serpent began to move towards the crates. But before the new Serpent could get his hands on the crates, Penny took his arm and rolled up his sleeve to examine his forearm.
"Where's you tattoo? Aren't all Serpents supposed to have tattoos?" Shit. Is she catching onto me?
"I haven't figured out where I want it yet," the stranger spoke, pulling his arm back. He looked at Tall Boy, trying to figure out how to take this next step.
"Should we open up the garage door?" he continued, pointing to the garage door behind his partner. Penny scoffed behind him.
"Tall Boy, please tell me he's joking." She was practically chuckling. "Tell me, where exactly did you find this one?"
"Unimportant…" Tall Boy defended, which shut her up. "And he's got a point," he gestured to his partner, "our car's out back here behind this door."
"Would've been nice if you stated that earlier, dumbass." Penny brought her hands together, looking back and forth between the two men. She sighed and moved past the new Serpent towards the garage door. "Fine, just open the door, but we need to get these crates out. We are on a schedule here."
"Whenever you're ready." Tall Boy asked the Serpent. He gave Tall Boy a thumbs up, and Tall Boy pulled the chain, opening the garage door. Penny expected the lot to be empty with only their truck. Instead, she was harshly greeting with blaring red and blue lights and dozens of police officers standing outside pointing guns at her.
"Put your hands up! Stay where you are!"
"What-what the fuck is this?" Penny stuttered as she slowly lifted her hands in the air. She turned to face the new Serpent, but he brought her hands behind her back and pushed her face down onto one of the crates, handcuffing her.
She tried to find words, but she was baffled, shocked. The Serpent, or whoever he was, smirked at her and pulled out something looking like a black wallet. She didn't even have to guess what was inside, for part of her knew already what he was.
"You're fucking PD?"
"Consider yourself under arrest, Snake Charmer." FP replied, showing her his Riverdale Police ID card and pulling her off the crate. He led her over to where the other officers were waiting.
"She's all yours" he stated as he handed her off to one of the officers, who began stating her Miranda Rights. FP watched as Penny was shoved into one of the cars, glaring at him. Officers behind him began to investigate the crates. Tall Boy joined his side and watched the Riverdale Police at work.
"This is the last time the Serpents do you a favor, Jones." he muttered so no one else could hear the conversation. "People on the Southside are starting to question your loyalties." FP rolled his eyes and turned to face Tall Boy.
"Look, I'm not in charge of what Keller gives me for cases. I do this so I can prevent the Serpents from ending up behind bars. I catch real criminals."
"That's what you said about Keller last time…" And FP knew he was right. Keller has been making him bounce up and down every corner of Northside and Southside, playing the role of the gang member to turn the drug dealers in. And it's been happening for almost 7 years.
"How many more cases do you think he's gonna make you do?"
"I don't know." And that was the truth. Tall Boy clapped FP on the back and gave him a soft smile.
"Well, if you're all done for tonight, could use some company at the Whyte Wyrm." The offer made FP roll his eyes.
"You realize I'm supposed to be 3 years sober now, right?" Tall Boy backed away.
"You do you, Jones. Have a good night." He said, waving goodbye as he walked off, FP watching him.
He's got a point, he thought to himself, How many more times is Keller gonna make me do his dirty work? Wasn't I supposed to be done by now?
His phone buzzed in his pocket. FP pulled it out to find no one other than Keller calling him. He slid the "Slide to Answer" button and spoke.
"Yeah, Keller. It's me."
"You got the Snake Charmer taken care of?"
"Got her in a car to the station now." he answered as he began to head over to his truck. With his free hand, he rubbed his forehead, trying to remove the sudden small headache he was getting.
"Good work, Jones. Come by my office tomorrow morning, and I'll follow up with you on where to go next."
"Wait, what's next?"
"To discuss your next job. Just meet me tomorrow at 10."
He wasn't in a mood to fight with Keller now. So he just simply replied, "Okay."
The conversation ended and FP got into his truck. He placed the keys into ignition but didn't turn the truck on. He needed a moment to think, to breathe.
How many more, Keller?
Minutes later, he turned on the ignition and drove out of the scene.
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The man waited outside of Pop's in the early dawn of morning. He had just witnessed his target walking in with his youthful son. He wanted to follow them in, but he figured it would be too soon. No, let them have their moment of peace. Their calm before the storm.
He waited about 10 to 15 minutes before he slowly made his way to the entrance of Pop's, wielding the gun in his hand.
He watched as the son went into the bathroom. Perfect.
The hooded figure opened the door and attacked.
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FP nervously sat in Keller's office, drumming his fingers on the arm rest. Where the hell was he? It was practically 8 minutes after 10.
Tom Keller entered the office, removing his hat and placing it on the table in front of FP.
"Sorry for the wait, Jones. Something's happened at Pop's." he explained as he sat down in his chair. FP stopped drumming his fingers and leaned forward.
"What happened?"
"Not your concern right now. Good thing we're talking now, because this is the only free time I have for this morning." FP nodded, sitting back into his chair.
"So what did you want to discuss with me?" Keller let out a frustrated breath, then spoke.
"At the moment, I...frankly, don't have anything more for you." FP raised his eyebrow at Keller. So this is good news.
"That doesn't mean you're off the hook entirely. I might need you to come onto to something later." FP scoffed, and crossed his right ankle over his left knee.
"Don't lose all hope on me now, Jones. I might make this your last one." But FP didn't look at Keller. He looked down at his foot and began drumming his fingers again.
"You said that about the last case, Sheriff." FP replied coldly. Keller sat there with his mouth slightly hung open. He brought his hands down onto the desk and closed his lips tightly together.
"FP-"
"And the case before that." FP interrupted, bringing his foot back down and leaning forward again. "And the case before, and every other case before." his voice began to escalate. Before he completely lost it, he clenched his fist, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He lightly brought his fist down to his knee and opened his eyes. Keller looked pissed.
"Consider this your best interest, Jones." Keller stated, tapping his finger on the desk. "Be lucky you're spending your time busting other criminals instead of spending a sentence behind bars, like it was originally planned for you. So lose your temper at me again, and that's where you'll end up."
As much as he wanted to reach across that desk and strangle Keller, the man had a point. If it weren't for this job, he would never see the light of day. Nor would he even be given the opportunity to see Jughead and Jellybean again.
"Look," Keller spoke again, softer this time, "I know you want out of this place. You want to see your kids again, I get it." He stopped for a moment, pondering the right words to say, before he continued, "But I need you, FP. You're one of the best in this force. If you walk out now…."
"I got it." FP replied, softly. "I hear you, Tom." Keller smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Glad we could see eye to eye on this. Go home and take some time off, FP. I'll call you when I need you." he extended his hand out. FP hesitated for a moment before taking it. They shook hands and FP stood up.
"You know where to find me." he called out to Keller, saluting to Keller with two fingers before exiting.
As he walked out of the office, he bumped shoulders with someone close by. A blonde woman about his age met his gaze. Her eyes were what caught his attention - they were cold. Time seemed to slow down when he saw her. FP didn't know what to think of her. He couldn't tell if she was angry, or puzzled, or some combination of both. But for some odd reason, he couldn't stop staring at her. Had he seen her somewhere before?
He shook himself out of it and continued on his path, out of the station, back to his truck, not even bothering to look back at the woman.
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Who the hell does this man think he is? He just casually strolls out of Keller's office and bumps into me without an apology? And he just stares…..he just fucking stares…
Part of Alice wanted to go after the man and give him a piece of her mind, but she had to stay focused. She needed to talk to Sheriff Keller about what happened at Pop's.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned her heel and strode into Keller's office. She barely gave Keller any time to acknowledge that she was in the room before she spoke.
"Keller, we need to discuss the shooter at Pop's."
"Jesus, Alice. I don't have time for this now." he responded, bringing a hand to his face. She sat down across from him and continued.
"It's obvious this masked….murderer had a motive to shoot Fred Andrews. If we can track him, if you have ME track him…"
"Alice, slow down. We don't even have a lead on this case yet." he cut her off, motioning her to stop. "We don't know why this masked man shot Fred. You're getting way too ahead of yourself."
"That shouldn't discourage me from being ambitious!" Alice, remembering the files she had in her hands, leaned forward and dropped the files on the desk.
"You put me in charge of the Jason Blossom murder case, and look how that ended! With Clifford Blossom behind bars, thanks to me! How is this going to be any different?"
"Alice, are you just wanting to hop on the case to distract yourself from what's going on with you and Hal?"
That question felt like a jab. She sat back, most of her courage fading. Alice shouldn't have told him about so much about her personal life. Especially about her separation with Hal. She didn't answer. She didn't even look at Keller. She clenched her fist tight, almost to the point where her nails could dig into her palm.
"How's that going, by the way?" Keller asked. Alice sighed. She really didn't feel comfortable discussing this right now.
"There's still some matters we need to settle." And she left it at that. She released her fist and looked at Keller. "I need this case Keller. Just give me a chance. I can get a lead."
"And we need time, Alice. I don't even know if there's someone available to help you out with this." Alice stood up and slammed her hands on the table.
"Well, just give me someone, anyone to work with! Hell, I'll work with the custodian if I have to. Would that be enough to convince you that I am fucking stable enough to catch this maniac?" Her breathing felt heavier and shakier.
Keller stood up from his spot and opened up one of her files. He took a moment before giving her his final decision.
"Let me examine these, then I'll get back to you. Now, if we're done here, I have to go question Archie Andrews about what happened." He began to grab his hat, but Alice placed her hand on top of his wrist, stopping him.
"Then let me do that!" she replied. Keller rolled his eyes and exhaled.
"Okay, fine." he responded, handing her the examination folder. "He's at the hospital right now. Just don't push the boy too much. He's been through enough already."
"Thank you." Alice smiled. Proud of her accomplishment, she walked out of his office and shut the door.
"Jesus…" Tom groaned as he sat down. First FP Jones started questioning his authority, and now Alice Cooper was jumping down his throat about a case that hasn't even grown yet. They practically deserved each other.
Tom contemplated on what to do. Who ever thought it would be a great idea to attack Fred Andrews at Pop's seriously had something wrong. But would this person strike again? Who would even be their next target?
But most importantly, what was he going to do about FP? He didn't need him at the time being for any more drug busting. He was stuck. There was actually nothing he could have FP do.
Unless…...UNLESS…
Tom opened another of Alice's folders, scanning the information from the Clifford Blossom fiasco. This man was dealing with drugs. Drugs that FP would know about.
Maybe he did have one last job for FP after all….
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As the sun began to go down in suburban Greendale, Jennifer Gibson, who was hiding out under the name Geraldine Grundy, watched her student leave from her house. The piano lesson had gone better than planned. He was starting to get better.
She went upstairs to go draw herself a bath. It had been a long day for her, and she deserved it. As the water began to fill up the tub, she headed into her bedroom to change into her robe and fixed her bun.
As she began to head back into the bathroom, she heard a noise from downstairs. Jennifer stopped in her path, her breath hitching.
"Hello?" she cried out. Jennifer contemplated on whether or not to just ignore the noise and head into the bathroom. But she couldn't let it go.
She let the tub be and headed down the stairs, being sure to go slow.
"Hello?" she called out again. "Is anyone here?" She reached the bottom step, noticing her front door wide open. She looked around - no one was here. Maybe the wind blew it open.
Jennifer hurried to the door and shut it, locking it tight. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes, praying that whatever the hell was going all would just end.
A high pitched noise from the kitchen caught her attention. I don't remember putting on a tea kettle, she thought.
Jennifer opened her eyes, and for the first time, noticed the dirty footprints on her floor, leading to her kitchen. She followed the path and found her kettle whistling at full steam. That wasn't what left her unsettled about the settle. What left her unsettled was the message scribbled out for her, taped her microwave.
YOUR SINS ARE MUSIC TO MY EARS.
"What the hell-"
And she was struck in the head with something, sending her glasses flying off her face and knocking her to the floor. Jennifer couldn't comprehend what was happening; her head felt groggy. She tried to turn around and look at her attacker, but she couldn't move. The pain was too much.
Her attacker took his foot and flipped her over before getting out of her view. She was looking up at the ceiling, but she couldn't focus. The attacker came back into her view and her eyes widened.
This attacker wore a black ski mask and he held the boiling hot kettle in his eyes.
Jennifer screamed, but not for long as the killer brought the kettle to her head, repeatedly.
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The TV blared in the background while FP slept on the couch, cradling his empty Chinese takeout box in his hand. He spent the rest of the day at the trailer cleaning his mess of a bedroom. He ended up shoving a majority of his files in a shoebox and placed that on the top shelf of his closet, next to his army memorabilia. He ordered some food around 5:30 and turned on his TV to distract himself from his thoughts, but eventually, he passed out.
The only times he saw Gladys was when he slept. The incident recurred in his dreams like a broken television that he could never turn off. Her face pierced his mind; it was a blessing and a curse all in one. The way her body fell onto the pavement with those men standing over her. The way her face lost all the light, especially her eyes. All that blood oozing out of her skull from where they hit her…
The phone buzzing in his pocket was what woke him up. He stirred out of his sleep and pulled his phone out. He stared at the ID, puzzled at first, then sitting up straight on the couch before answering.
"Keller?"
"Jones, I need you out here in Greendale. Woman's been murdered, quite brutally."
"Wait, what time is it?" he rubbed his face to help wake himself up. FP searched around his trailer to find a flannel to throw on and his combat boots, holding his phone between his ear and his shoulder.
"The murder we think took place around 6:45, about 5 hours ago."
"Wait. You're putting me on a murder case?" He heard Keller sigh on the other end.
"Yes, but you won't be working this one alone. You'll be with someone. She's good at her job, but don't let her attitude drive you off."
FP stopped tying his shoelaces for a second. Wait, did he just say SHE?
"She? Who the hell did you pair me up with?" That could almost be anyone there, unless it was that...
"Does it sound like I have time to play 20 Questions with you, FP? Just get out here. I'll send you the address." Keller hung up and FP finished getting ready. He plugged the address into his map and left the trailer.
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Alice stood in the kitchen examining the killer's note. The other officers behind took photos of the scene and scraped up blood samples. Keller moved past the others and joined her.
"I don't get it. What sins were she committing?" Alice asked.
"We're going to have someone from the lab dig up her files. The only thing we know as of now is that she was a music teacher who had to leave her job."
"What happened?"
"That's what we need to find out. Could explain a motive." Keller motioned for her to follow him into the living room.
"Keller, I really appreciate you letting me work on this."
"Yeah, about that…." he began, about to break the news on her partner.
However, before he could tell her, she stated, "I got some information from Archie."
Keller stopped in his tracks and turned to her. "Really? Anything?"
"He said the man wore a black ski mask and had these….distinct eyes. He heard a noise as he was in the bathroom and ran out to find the man firing at his dad. Archie was able to get his dad to the hospital, but he might be in a coma."
"So?"
"This might be a bit of a stretch, but," she showed Keller the note, "maybe whoever shot Fred Andrews might have something to do with Miss Grundy."
"It's a possibility Alice, but we can't….." Keller continued to speak, but Alice became distracted by something else from outside. A run-down truck pulled onto the curb, and out of the truck came a man about her age with scruffy hair…..and a blue flannel….just like the man she saw earlier.
No. This WAS the man from earlier. The one from the hallway. And now here he was with his hands in his pockets out on the lawn without even one care at all.
Alice was stunned. Infuriated. She felt her blood beginning to boil. What the fuck was this man doing here?
"Alice, are you even listening to me?" Keller tried to regain her attention, but her focus stayed on the man outside. She shoved the note into Keller's chest and marched out the front door.
"Dammit." Tom exhaled and followed her outside.
Alice made her way over to the man, about ready to pounce at him.
"Excuse me…..hey I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
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FP took a moment to examine the scene around him, checking to see if Keller was anywhere outside. He saw Keller's car on the other side of the street, and noted many worried neighbors standing outside .
"Excuse me…."
He didn't realize that an angry voice was calling from behind him.
"Hey I'M TALKING TO YOU!" the voice from behind gripped his shoulder and violently turned him around. He was now standing face to face with the woman from the hallway. Her eyes were full of spite fire. FP slowly raised a hand and backed away, slightly.
"Um, can I help you?" he replied as she began to move closer to him.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing out here? Do you realize this a crime scene?"
"Look I-" he tried to respond, but she cut him off.
"Oh, don't act like I don't remember seeing you come out of Keller's office! What authority do you think you have?" she spat out, pushing a finger into his chest.
"Alice, Jesus, can you take it easy?" Keller came in to interrupt the situation.
Alice. So that's her name….
Keller looked at FP and stated, "About time you showed up, Jones. Needed to get you two introduced."
The two just stared at each other as Keller continued to speak. "Alice, this is FP Jones. I usually have him working undercover on the Southside, but I've decided to move him up to this case. FP, this is Alice Cooper, one of my lead detectives. You might have heard about her from the Clifford Blossom case."
He had heard many stories about Alice Cooper. How she's good at what she does but her methods are quite….well maniacal. He heard all the horror stories, but could never put a face to her name. Until now…..not leaving his eyes off of her.
Alice broke their gaze and turned to Keller and glared at him. "What exactly is this supposed to mean?" she asked, gesturing to herself and FP.
"What do you think it means, Alice? You two are working on this case together. As partners."
FP didn't know how to respond. And neither did she.
"Hold on..." he began.
"Keller, you've got to be serious…" she overlapped.
"Look, we have a murderer to catch, and I don't have time to babysit the both of you right now!" Keller snapped at them. "So can you two please just…..try not to jump down each other's throats tonight?"
Neither one of them responded. FP clenched his fists and began to back up towards his truck.
"Anything else you need from me tonight, besides…." FP stopped in his train of thought and looked back at her.
"Well, for now, that was it. But I will need you both tomorrow at the autopsy. At 9:30 on the dot. Got it?"
The two didn't speak. Instead, they both nodded.
"Good. I'll see you two in the morning. You're free to go for tonight." he finished as he turned away from them and went back into Grundy's home.
FP saw Alice wanting to go follow Keller, but stopping herself in her tracks. FP turned away from her and went over to his truck. He rested his forearm against the top of the truck and rested his head on top of his forearm.
Jesus, Keller….out of all the cases you could've put me on….why this one? And why with her?
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Alice wanted to follow Keller into the house, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was flustered about everything.
Just give me someone, anyone to work with…..I am fucking stable enough to catch this shooter!
Goddamnit why did she have to say those words? She turned her head to find FP leaning his head on his truck. She tilted her head slightly, her fist tightening. She straightened her head and made her way over to FP.
The sound of her footsteps must have caught his attention, because now he was staring at her again, and not the way he was earlier. Now he must think that she was a monster. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't exactly find the words just yet. Her hesitation gave him just enough time to shift his balance and rest his elbow on the door. And he just smirked.
"So you're the infamous Alice Cooper….." he began, with that smug voice. She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What? You really think I haven't heard the horror stories?" He took his elbow off the truck and began to move towards her. "How, legend has it, that you scare all of your partners away because you're so…." he paused, now leaning against the back of his truck. He didn't complete the sentence, which was starting to tick her off.
"What?" she retorted, now enclosing the space between them. "Because I'm what?" All he did was chuckled.
"Oh…." she responded, tilting her head. "You think this is funny. Well, I've have you know, Mister F...whatever your name is, Jones. As one of Keller's lead detectives, I have a hell bound to catch this asshole and to give him the punishment he deserves. And I don't have time to wait around for slacking, sleazy primals like you to slow me down." That statement got him to stop laughing; she was rather pleased with herself. She continued, "So if you decide to pull your fair share, then….." she paused, trying to think of what else he needed to know.
He looked as if he was going to speak, so she continued before he could, "Then you better be prepared to do things the hard way, and I mean MY way. And if you can't live up to that, then you may as well kiss my ass and Keller's goodbye. Are we clear?" She closed her mouth after her speech and glared at him. She waited for him to respond. But he didn't say anything, not at first. He just smirked again.
"Don't act so high and mighty on me, Alice." Her mouth opened slightly at the response, and she began to slowly back away.
"Are you threatening me?" she gritted through her teeth. He moved towards her, keeping their enclosed space.
"Whether you like it or not, we're in this together now. So you're gonna need to find some new tricks to get rid of me, because I'm not leaving anytime soon. And besides…" he stopped, looking straight into her eyes. "We actually could make quite a decent pair, you and I."
That finally set her off, but it took every nerve in her body to not lunge at him and strangle him. She needed her authority here, now more than ever.
So instead, she said, in a calm but still angry manner, "Goodnight, FP. Now get the hell out of my sight."
He must've taken the hint, because FP backed away and went to hop in his truck.
"See you in the morning, partner." he replied, giving her one last look before entering his truck and slamming the door shut.
Alice rolled her eyes and looked back at Grundy's house. She could hear FP's engine starting, but she didn't bother to watch him drive off. She was too pissed to even care.
She felt her nails digging into her palms again. She didn't know if it was her anxiety or her anger towards her newly appointed partner, but this was the first time in awhile since let her nails dig in this far.
She needed this case. But Jesus, why did it have to be with him?
I am fucking stable enough to catch this shooter!
Why him, Keller? Why?
I am fucking stable enough….I am fucking stable enough….I'm stable enough…..
Her knuckles had gone almost completely white, and her nails were starting to draw blood.
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End of Chapter One
