The chapel was filled with daily police officers, buzzing around like bees with their daily work. The four youngsters sat on a table in the middle. Penhall and Ioki were eating pizza while Judy sat with Tom, who looked worried. They were at the chapel today as Ruby was absent.
"I'm sure she's just ill, Hanson," Judy assured Tom.
"I don't know. I should've followed her afterwards, made sure she got home."
"She called in absent, Tom," Doug pointed out. "Don't sweat it. Hey, have some pizza."
"Not hungry."
Tom continued to stare at his shoes which were placed on the table. His legs nearly covered the table.
"Well, look on the bright side." Judy said. "We have more information from your description."
"But was that her stalker?" Tom asked.
Ioki sighed. "Hanson, it's obvious that was her stalker. You're thinking it over too much. But what we need to find out, once she's back at school, who that was."
Tom nodded. His eyes drifted to the pizza. Perhaps he was worrying too much. And he was really hungry which could be making him paranoid.
"You're right. Here Doug, give me some pizza."
"Sure thing boss." And Doug passed him the pizza box over.
Once Tom had gotten half way through his slice of pizza, Fuller came out of the office and walked over to them. He didn't look happy.
"Alright, Captain?" Penhall asked.
Fuller looked worried. "No, not really, Penhall."
Tom sat up. "What's wrong?"
Fuller looked at Tom. Tom knew it wasn't good.
"Ruby isn't ill. She didn't come into school at all today. She's gone missing."
"Missing?" Judy said. "But she called in and said she was sick."
"Well she did, but it's obvious now it was some sort of cover up." He paused. "Her mom and dad called the police this morning, saying she didn't come back last night. They stayed up and then went to bed, presuming she would return like she always does."
Tom stood up and kicked his chair slightly.
"I should've followed her. I knew this was going to happen"
"Now Hanson, don't panic. We don't know if she has been kidnapped." Although Fuller didn't sound confident.
"Don't panic? Captain, I was there. I saw her stalker. I could've jumped in. Instead I stood there like an idiot and watched it all happen as if it was a movie. It's obvious that the reason she has gone missing is because she's been kidnapped by her stalker."
"Hanson, don't blame this on yourself. And we don't know for sure what has happened." They all nodded apart from Tom. "But what we need to do now is go to school. Hanson, Penhall, I want you to find Georgia and ask her what's going on. Judging from the reports you gave me yesterday, she knows something. I'm going to be doing an assembly for the older years on Ruby going missing. Judy, Ioki, I want you to patrol the area. If you see anything suspicious looking or if you see Ruby herself, call me."
Everyone sprung to action apart from Tom who continued looking down at the floor. Fuller walked over to Tom and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Hanson, don't beat yourself up over this. We will find her."
"But what if we don't? Or if we do and she's… She's innocent, captain. She wouldn't hurt a fly and she's missing, possibly kidnapped."
"We need to be positive. Follow Penhall. That's a command."
Tom looked at Fuller. But he nodded and gave a small smile. "Yes, sir."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"That cousin or whatever," Penhall said as they drove at a quick speed. "There's definitely something going on there. Do you think he kidnapped her?" It hadn't been made clear yet whether she had been kidnapped, but both Tom and Penhall were convinced she had.
"No," Hanson shook his head. "The person I saw was too tall to be her cousin."
"Was it definitely a man?"
"Yeah, he had a man's build, even if he was on the skinny side."
They pulled into the parking lot of the school. It was deserted of students, the cars taking their places. Hanson and Penhall ran into the school and headed for room 80, which was on Penhall's timetable and knew that Georgia was in that class.
They arrived at the class. Hanson was about to barge in but Penhall stopped him.
"We don't want our cover blown," Penhall said.
"Doug I don't think that really matters, considering the circumstances."
"But it's not necessary. All I have to do is knock, ask if I can borrow Georgia to quickly discuss something, and then to her we can reveal who we really are."
Tom was about to argue. But Penhall was stubborn. Tom nodded and stood back. While Penhall knocked and lied to the teacher, Tom took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. But in the back of his mind he wondered how much time he had left.
The blonde haired girl came out of the classroom. She attempted a smile but Hanson could see the worried look in her eyes of her friend going missing.
"Hey guys, everything alright?"
Tom and Doug looked at each other. They both nodded and in sync with each other, they pulled out their police badgers and showed them to Georgia. Her forced smile completely vanished.
"We're cops, Georgia," Tom said gently.
"You're cops? Why…"
"We've been investigating Ruby's claims of being stalked." Doug stated. "We were wondering now if you know anything, seeing as you're her closest friend."
Georgia stood back. It was a lot to take in.
"Please Georgia," Tom said. "Whatever it is you know you need to tell us. For your friend's welfare."
"But I promised I…"
"Don't worry. You'll be a great friend if you tell us what had been happening."
Georgia stared at the two boys. Then she nodded.
"She was being stalked. But she knew who it was." She paused, waiting to see if either of them would say anything. But they didn't. "She was being followed by her uncle. He's recently lost his job and needs money until he can get a good replacement. His sister, Ruby's mom, has been lending him money. But she hates him. She won't even look at him. So Ruby, every night, with at least a thousand dollars in her bag, walks around and at a certain point, puts down the money and walks home."
Tom and Doug looked at each other. It was dangerous what she had been doing. She could've been robbed or hurt badly.
"So, do you think he's the reason why she's gone missing?" Doug asked.
"Perhaps. I mean she told me that if her mom didn't give him the right amount then there would be consequences. And right now I'm angry with her mom for putting Ruby in this position."
Tom nodded. "But why did Ruby go to the police if she knew who was stalking her?"
"She was scared. It was always on her mind and she always talked to me about it. She didn't really know her uncle that well in the first place. She didn't know what would happen. So I suggested it. She dismissed it at first but then she went."
"So do you think her going to the police may have also been another reason why she's gone missing?" Penhall asked. "I mean, if she's gone missing because of her uncle."
Georgia shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. If so, her cousin would've over heard our conversation, being the creep he is."
"Her cousin, obviously her uncle's son?"
"That's right."
Tom and Penhall looked at each other again. The tight knot in Hanson's chest had loosened slightly. But he was still worried about what her uncle may do.
"Do you know the address of the uncle's house?"
Georgia shook her head. "No I don't, if I did then I would've told you by now."
"Okay, well thanks Georgia."
"Man, I can't believe you're both cops. You should take drama, you're great actors."
"Thanks, we'll think about it," Penhall smiled but Tom was already walking away.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It seemed like the whole school was in the assembly. But only the older years were gathered in the hall. The school was full to the brim with students. Loud chatter filled the hall as they waited for the assembly to begin. Penhall and Hanson entered the hall and sat on two seats at the back of the hall.
"I wish she told me something," Hanson said. "I could've helped her."
"It was a family matter though. God, her mom giving her all that money to do all of the dirty work for her. And her family must be loaded, just giving out a thousand dollars here and there."
"It wasn't really dirty work though, Doug."
"She gave her a thousand dollars. Why couldn't her husband do it?"
Tom shrugged. "I've been wondering that too."
Eventually the head master came to the front of the hall and eventually all of the chatter came to a stop. Silence filled the hall.
"Good morning everyone. Thank you for all of you attending this short noticed assembly. I'm not sure if you're all aware, but a student from this school has gone missing." A quiet chatter filled the hall, mainly in surprise. "Quiet please. With me I have Captain Fuller, who will talk to you about the missing student."
Fuller stepped forward.
"Hello. I am Captain of twenty one Jump Street. Two of my cops have been on this case, in this school, disguised as students." Another round of surprised chatter filled the hall. Fuller waited for it to die down again before he continued. "We have been investigating this case for only three days. Ruby, the student who has gone missing, claimed that she was being stalked. Now that she has gone missing, we are not treating it as a kidnapping yet. She was last seen last night near the park down the road. If you have any information whatsoever, contact twenty one Jump Street. Thank you."
And with that, the assembly ended and everyone stood up. Penhall and Hanson ran out of the hall and to the parking lot, to report back to Fuller what they have been told.
