By the time Arizona actually had a chance to sit at her desk later that afternoon, her rumbling stomach which had been very patient since she had risen six hours ago and only had ingested coffee, finally demanded food.
She grabbed her desk phone as it began to shriek, "Robbins".
"It's Bailey, we got a break down here on your perp from this morning, her nails had remnants of skin and luckily a few drops of dried blood under the right forefinger from where she fought back at least...she scratched our guy good..check your suspects for lacerations to the face, or upper torso... if you can get a body to pull in for questioning.", Her no-nonsense tone brisk as usual.
"Got it..thanks for the heads up...good work, Miranda"
Just as she hung up the phone, the wafting smell of a local hamburger shop filled the room. Her nostrils flared and her mouth watered, as she saw the smiling face of her partner come into view.
"Hey, blondie...figured you would be hard at work and wouldn't remember to eat , so I brought us lunch.., his scruffy face curled into his trademark smirk.
"Well, Sloan...one of us actually has to work around here to keep Webber off our asses...and luckily for you..it's me. So, please tell me which one of your lucky 'ladies of the night' kept you gone for a two hour lunch!" Arizona huffed indignantly, but snatched the paper bag with her favorite cheeseburger and fries from his hands...since he had been hanging it just outside her reach in jest.
"Easy...easy...I'm sorry okay...I meant to get back sooner...but I barely got her to agree to even meet me for lunch. Once we started talking, I just couldn't make myself leave...she says the most random, funny things sometimes...and she's smart, Arizona...you wouldn't believe what.."
"Ha, she must not be too smart if she's going out with you.."Arizona interrupted, "Please just get her up to your apartment, do your famous 'Sloan method of hump and dump'... so I can have your mind on this case...I need some help rustling up Benny to get a location on this sick bastard."
"Hey, now Lexie isn't that kinda girl Robbins.." Mark bristled in defense of his lunch companion..."She's really rising up the ranks over at the 23rd precinct too, I'm telling ya...this one is different...but I promise no more long lunches until we get this one wrapped up...I'll just have to find another way to see her, if she lets me that is...apparently my lethario legend is not that impressive with these types.", Mark had a sad look in his grey eyes that Arizona had never seen before and decided to let up on him a little.
"Okay, deal...she said around the mass of burger in her mouth...you're forgiven."
No sooner had she finished her meal for the day, when their boss came in and slapped a thick manila file on her desk.
"I just spent the last thirty minutes on the phone with local authorities outside of Chicago, they're calling in for more resources and help on several disappearances around a local lake out there. Now, the last victim's family is really putting up a fuss, claims they'll contact the local media if they can't find someone to prosecute soon.", Webber's forehead wrinkled with frustration as he ran a hand over his graying stubbled hair.
"Well, we kinda got a lot on our plates, boss..", Mark hedged
"I'm not asking you two...I'm telling you...we can't afford any more negative new pieces about cops right now...just take a ride out there...nose around...see if you can help point their team in the right direction...your main contact is a guy named Karev, he's the lead man on the case."
"Fine...Arizona wanted to balk at the extra work but just pushed her irritation down..."just tell me where we're going.."
Webber pushed the file folder into her hand as she grabbed her jacket, and car keys..."About forty miles north of here...town called Grayslake."
As they left the city and began the trek of winding roads with miles of trees, nearly an hour later they pulled up in a black unmarked sedan at Grayslake PD. Arizona flashed her badge as the desk clerk bristled at the higher ranked officers. They were led through the double doors and into the chaos of the main office.
"Just let me know when you have something I can actually use...don't call me back until then," a gruff voice barked as he slammed the phone down. Alex Karev swirled around his chair, just as Arizona and Mark approached his desk.
"Detective Robbins from Chicago PD", Arizona stated as she thrust her hand into his, and gave it a firm shake. Karev's face immediately creased with frustration at accepting help from another department.
He took in the woman's appearance, small frame, blonde hair...her body was damn nice ...and then, he was met with the angry eyes of her partner as he was caught staring. He rose and winced slightly as the other man gripped his hand much harder and longer than necessary. "Detective Mark Sloan", the men held some sort of testosterone influenced stare-down momentarily before Karev looked away and grabbed a file folder with information.
"Well, to be honest we don't have much to go on...there's a small chain of lakes about eight miles out from here that has some foot traffic mainly for water recreation, a few businesses, and bed and breakfast for out-of-towners. We have some transients... Alex paused at Mark's raised eyebrows...homeless folks..that camp out on the lakes that don't want to use the shelter. The shelter has noted three or four of their regulars quit showing up in last 6 months and now a town resident has went missing."
"How long since last contact?", Arizona questioned.
"One week, ...a female voice chimed in, Mark noted her fresh young face and long red hair..."and the Murphy's say that their daughter, Leah was visiting them from college. Normally, she stays with them but this time they were doing some rennovations to her old room since she graduated high school. She checked in down at Copperstone, the B&B , and two days later ...she vanished.", Alex nodded over..."This is my partner Officer Kepner."
"So, I presume you've questioned around..."Arizona trailed off.
Alex nodded firmly with an exasperated face...she continued..."And, nothing so far...no leads, no witnesses...
"Yup, and family says she had no one that would want to do her harm here, no current boyfriend and one friend here locally, Stephanie Edwards from high school." Alex slammed the file shut indicating he had nothing more to say.
"Okay, then...", Arizona summed up while taking the file with her. "Well, we have no choice then to continue to re-question the inn owners, and maybe we'll track down the high school friend, perhaps Leah had some people here that weren't too happy to see her back in town that her parents wouldn't have known about. I'll keep you informed of any new information. Thanks for your help, Officer Karev."
Copperstone Inn
As they pulled in the circle drive of the inn, Arizona noted the picturesque scenery. The lake near Waukegan Harbor stretched out as far as her eyes could see dotted with trees and laughing residents could be heard in the distance having water escapades, complete with kayaks and a few sailboats catching the breeze. The inn was a multi-level old house with a wrap around screened-in porch. It had coordinating color patterns on its exterior and window panels.
She let Mark lead in, as he sometimes had a more imposing appearance and she liked to look around unnoticed momentarily. The file she had skimmed on the way over told her that the Inn was owned by the Torres family. Lucia, the elder was the owner, and her daughters helped her run the place, with a fair amount of success judging by the amount of people dining inside. The soft sound of a piano being played suddenly reached her ears, but the source was unseen. "Hello, m'am we are with the Chicago PD", Mark announced as he flashed his badge, and his best charming smile at the young Hispanic girl at the front desk. Arizona stepped further inside, allowing him to briefly conduct their business as she continued to look around.
Her blue eyes scanned the dining room and saw only the back of another woman with long, curly black hair finally finding the source of such talented piano play. Some nights when she couldn't sleep...which was plenty of them if she counted...she would listen to the classical station, and if Arizona wasn't mistaken she thought that sounded like 'Moonlight Sonata' being expertly played.
The last of the notes hung in the air as the crowd politely clapped, but the best part Arizona found out wasn't her playing, it was her breathtaking smile as she turned to face them...Arizona stood with her mouth slightly agape at the unexpected beauty of this woman. Full red lips, the striking planes of her face...Arizona's eyes were trapped in the depths of the warm chocolate ones now holding hers, unknowingly holding her breath for those seconds...before the stranger broke the contact first and bent to scoot in the piano stool. She turned leaving Arizona standing there speechless, as she disappeared through some double doors on the other side of the dining room.
A/N hello...again...I couldn't even begin to apologize for the very long break off, but since I have basically finished 'Split Decision', thanks again for all the followers of that one. This story is now my priority. So please stick with me, hopefully follow and review- it means alot, and you won't be disappointed...this one is going to be fun to write.