Chapter Two
He was at his desk eating a doughnut. It was a stereotype his fellow officers teased him mercilessly about, but it was an addiction he couldn't break. Officer Espinoza blamed Krispy Kreme. His lips were just about to come in contact with the sweet glaze when he saw his partner walk through the doors and he quickly abandoned his breakfast. "Drew! Drew, hey!"
Officer Trudeau paused at his partner's desk, which was only a few feet away from his own. "Hey, morning Bill. What's up?"
Officer Espinoza rose to his feet while simultaneously checking his watch. "Look, I need you for a few minutes, okay? There's this girl I want you to meet-"
"A girl?" Drew asked skeptically. "You do realize I'm happily married, don't you?"
"Shut up," Bill grumbled. "She came in yesterday evening looking for some help about locating her birth parents and I thought you might be able to help."
"Me? Why? I'm not a private investigator."
"I think you'll know when you see her." And as if on cue, he spotted Paige walking through the doors, two minutes earlier than she was supposed to. "And there she is."
Drew turned and his face screwed up into a squint. "The one with the black hair and bangs?"
"Look like anyone you know?" Officer Espinoza asked with a rhetorical accent. He waved Paige over to his desk and shook her hand. "Paige, hi, nice to see you again."
"Likewise." She nervously ran her hand through her hair. "Is your partner-"
Drew held out his hand. "Andrew Trudeau," he introduced. "Bill's partner. But most people just call me Drew."
"So you're the one who knows about my mother?"
Drew looked over his shoulder at Bill, with a questioning expression. "I'm afraid I just got in and-"
"Why don't we go talk in there," Bill suggested, motioning to an empty interrogation room. "This is a little personal and it's a little noisy in here." He ushered his partner and Paige into the room and shut the door, immediately relishing the silence. "Drew," he explained, "Paige is looking for her birth mother. I uh, thought you might know something. You know what I'm talking about right?"
Drew studied Paige from his seat across from her at the interrogation table. There was no doubt about it: she looked like Prue. Not exactly, but most of her other traits were recognizable within the Halliwell family as well. He wasn't sure where his partner was going with this, though. "How can I help?"
"Paige said her mother left her at a local church after she was born. It's a few streets down."
"Yes?"
"Well…she was born in seventy-seven, August. I uh, I was wondering if she could possibly be related to the Halliwells. Her adoptive parents died about four weeks ago and-"
"I need some answers," the teenager spoke up. Her voice was hard and determined, reminding both officers even more of Prue and Prue's grandmother, Penny.
"August of seventy-seven?" Drew shook his head. "Paige, I'm sorry, but I've known the Halliwells for years. One of Patty's daughters, Prue, goes way back with my son. I remember seventy-seven quite well, because that's the year Patty divorced from her husband. It was pretty painful for the kids that first half of the year." He shakes his head. "And to my knowledge, she was never pregnant after Victor left. Considering my son was a frequent playmate at their house, it would've been a little difficult to miss. And then," he closed his eyes, heaving a weighted breath, "she died that next year. The last in a string of drowning incidents at a summer camp."
"So…you're saying that she's not my mother?"
"Patty Halliwel only had three children. I'm sorry. I know this must be frustrating for you and I apologize. I'd love to try and help you in any way that I could, but I'm positive that you're not related to the Halliwells. Not as Patty's daughter, anyway." He stood up and pulled a card from his breast pocket. "Here's my card. I'm no P.I. but if you get anymore leads, give me a ring. I will do my best to help."
"Thank you." Her voice was mellow, barely a whisper. She slipped the card into her pocket as Officer Espinoza opened the door.
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks." Paige shuffled out with her hands in her pockets, fingering the edges of Drew's card as she walked towards the doors. For a minute, she had thought she might have found her birth family, but the minute was gone. As she reached for the doors, one opened and an officer lead a brunette haired girl in past Paige. She had long hair, bangs not unlike Paige's, and a sneer on her face. Paige paused, staring as the girl passed her.
"What are you looking at?" the girl snarled between pops of her chewing gum.
The officer leading her in jerked her head away. "Keep moving!"
As Paige placed her hand to the door, she looked back over her shoulder to see Officer Espinoza and Officer Trudeau talking to the girl. Her stomach gave an odd flop, digesting a strange sense of déjà vu, as she left the San Francisco police station.
