Chapter 2- Silence of the Darkness

In the silence of the darkness, I can't pretend I'm wide awake, afraid I could go under. –Kamelot "Silence of the Darkness"

Omaha was not what Cabe was expecting. He expected rows and rows of cornfields. There were farms, of course, but Omaha was still very much a city.

They were greeted at the airport by a local Homeland Security agent, Penelope Ortiz. She handed them the keys to an SUV, while she drove a different one. Cabe chose to ride with her, along with Walter, Paige, and Sylvester, so they could get up to speed.

"What do we have going on exactly?" Cabe asked.

"Two homicide detectives went missing yesterday while investigating the murder of a well known local TV news anchor, Sophia Miller. Last night, the police department was hacked. It doesn't look like anything was deleted, but they certainly had the chance to look at a lot of stuff. The trouble is, without the detectives, we can't know if anything from their case is missing or if it was tampered with," she explained as she drove.

"That can be easy enough to tell in code," Walter said.

"Omaha may be a city of half a million, but admittedly the police department is maybe a little behind in terms of their cyber division," Agent Ortiz said. "Whatever Scorpion can do will be a huge help."

"Any news on the detectives?" Cabe asked.

"None so far."

"But you're sure both events are connected?"

"From what our tech guy told us, it appears they mostly stayed in the file of the case the detectives were working on. But these guys are mostly old school, so a lot of their work is on paper, as opposed to the computer. So there wasn't much for the hackers to find. But yes, we're about 95% sure the events are connected," Ortiz told them.

"Okay, it gives us somewhere to start. Sylvester and Walter," Cabe said as he turned around in his seat, "you two can start on the hackers. Tim and I, with everyone else's help, will start looking at the case the detectives were working on. It would appear that whoever committed the murder didn't want them to solve the case, so our best bet is to solve the case."

The trio nodded to Cabe.

"We'll do what we need to to find them, Cabe. Don't worry," Paige said, as if Cabe had some level of investment in this other than wanting to find two missing detectives.

Cabe smiled at her and turned around in his seat. He hoped they'd find the two men.

The Omaha Police Department Headquarters was a bigger than expected building, but still fairly small as far as headquarters went. It didn't, from the outside, seem to be much bigger than Scorpion's garage. It was, but not by much.

Agent Ortiz took the group inside and to a conference room where they would set up.

"The Commissioner will be coming by to meet you as well as the Captain of Homicide, Peter Jones. Otherwise, you should be left alone to do your stuff. But if you need any help, I'm only a phone call away," Ortiz said.

"Thank you for your help," Cabe said, shaking her hand.

"Good luck."

With that, the group of seven were left alone to do their work. Cabe waited a few minutes while Walter and Sylvester set up their computer equipment before Captain Peter Jones made his way to their makeshift office.

"Agent Gallo?" the man asked, entering. He was slightly taller than Cabe, thinning red hair, and more wrinkles than Cabe could count.

"Good morning, sir," Cabe said, extending his hand.

"I'm Captain Peter Jones and I run Homicide. I thank you for taking time out to help find our boys," he said, shaking Cabe's hand.

"Of course. We law enforcement have to stick together. What can you tell me about their case?"

"Detectives Muncie and Harrison were investigating the murder of Sophia Miller, a morning news anchor on one of our local channels. She didn't show up to work, an assistant went to her home and found her dead. Miss Miller was well liked by everyone, seemingly, but the murder was pretty brutal. She was bludgeoned to death," Jones explained.

"Anything in their files point to why hacking was involved?" Walter asked.

"Nothing that I saw. Detective Laurens will be bringing the boxes in for you so you can go through. She can help out if you need it. I looked over a little bit, but Laurens is more familiar with it."

"We'll do our best. These guys are good at what they do."

The Captain gave the group a smile and left the room. Almost immediately, a dark brown woman entered the room with a box of files.

"Hi, I'm Detective Laurens! Here is box one of three for you," she said as she sat the box down in one of the chairs.

"Let me help you," Tim said.

"That would be swell!" She smiled brightly and turned to leave the room, Tim following her.

Cabe sat down next to the box and began going through the file on top. He glanced up a minute later as Tim and Laurens returned with the other two boxes.

This was going to take a while.

Her day off was boring. Leah sat, binge watching Ripper Street all day. She crawled into bed after eating ramen for dinner and slept poorly, missing Cabe. Which was funny since it wasn't as if they had been sleeping together for long, but already she was used to their schedule and didn't like when the schedule changed.

Morning came and Leah was up at 5am to get ready for another long day in her cubicle. She had been at Homeland for a month since finishing her training. She was still in the probie phase, so they kept her in a cubicle running logistics for agents in the field.

It actually wasn't terrible, it was just long.

But having a real desk was pretty neat. She got to decorate her desk with photos, mostly of her kids. Leah did, however, keep one photo of her with Cabe next to her computer.

Most days, it comforted her. Today, it made her sad since he was out of town. He had gone out of the city since they began dating, but this was his first overnight trip out of the state. Leah didn't know where he went, just that he was no longer in California.

Boy, did she miss him.

Right on cue, her desk phone rang. Expecting a call from an agent, Leah picked up the phone.

"Agent Hudson. How can I help you today?"

"So professional," Cabe said from the other end.

Her heart skipped and she smiled uncontrollably.

"Cabe! How are you? How is the case going?" she asked, speaking quickly from excitement.

"I'm fine. It's a tough one, which is why I'm calling."

She sat up. "Oh? What's going on?"

"Two homicide detectives have gone missing and there was a cyber attack on the police headquarters, which Walter determined was connected," he began to explain.

Leah listened intently as Cabe told her about the different aspects of the case. As he talked, Leah felt a sort of dread building.

"We could use your help, Leah."

She cringed. "My help? I don't know how to solve cases."

"You were a cop once, remember?" he joked.

"A century ago. I'm still confused on why you think I can help?"

"Right. Sylvester and Walter think the cyber attack, and maybe the murder, was orchestrated by the Russian mob."

Leah almost screamed. Of course. She was the resident expert on all things mob related. Of course they came to her.

She sighed. "Cabe, you know how dangerous it is for me to get involved."

"I don't want you in the field, so to speak, Lee. I was just hoping you could come to Omaha and help us out from the department."

A record scratch sounded in her head. "I'm sorry, where?"

"Omaha. Nebraska? You know? Corn fields?"

Leah felt the panic rising in her chest.

Cabe knew she had been a cop. That she had started in Michigan and moved around a couple of times. But she left out she ended her career in Omaha.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Leah took a deep breath, trying to settle her thoughts and her racing heart.

"Lee?" Cabe asked.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Could she really say no? What if the cops were people she had known? Did that matter? She had a duty as a federal agent to help, didn't she?

"Yeah, yeah I'll come."