Spike was sitting in his living room with a hot cup of Timmy's next to his laptop while he typed away. He was staring intently at the screen, his earpiece in. There were two Candaces at Callie's school but had narrowed it down.
Greg was talking to the principal of Callie's school while Leah was walking the building looking for Candace. Ed went back to Callie's neighborhood to talk to neighbors and to try to find a witness to the accident. None of them were in uniform, but they had their badges and showed them to anyone that needed to see them.
"We think she may have had something to do with a car accident last night." Greg said to Principal Grey. The older woman sat back in her chair, contemplating.
"Boss." Spike said into his headset.
Greg put up a finger to the principal and said, "go ahead Spike."
"Ask her about," Spike looked at his screen, "Mitzy Allistair. It looks like she and Candace are tight. There are a bunch of pictures of them together and with three other girls on both of their Facebook pages. Maybe they're some kind of girl gang?"
"Ok." Greg turned to the woman in front of him. "Do you know a Mitzy Allistair?"
"Yes. She and Candace Bleu are friends. At least I think they are. They are together a lot, but teenage girls.." She rolled her eyes and fluttered her lips.
"What do you mean?"
"Well they're so emotional at this age. One day they could be friends, and the next they hate each other."
"Do you think they could be part of a gang? Do they hang with any older kids?"
"A gang?" She frowned at him. "No. The five of them stay together. It's not often they hang with anyone outside their group. I think it's a social thing. Trying to be considered cool."
"You seem pretty knowledgeable about the kids." Greg tipped his head. "It's not often the Principal knows so much."
"Well I take the time. If I don't know what's going on, I can't deal with it when it comes to my office."
"True." He nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell me? Have you seen Mitzy or Candace talking to Callie?"
She stuck out her bottom lip in thought. "Once in awhile. There was an incident with Callie yesterday. Poor girl. Apparently she waited too long to go the bathroom and wet herself. That's what one of the kids said. I tried to find her to ask her, but she cut her last class and disappeared after school."
"You don't think someone made her wait too long?"
"That's what I was trying to find out. If there's bullying going on here I want to know about it. We have a zero tolerance policy." She put her hand out palm up and then laced it with her other hand in front of her.
"Ok. thank you for your time." Greg smiled, stood and went into the hallway. They had already confirmed that Candace and Mitzy were in school today. "Spike, did you get all that?"
"Yeah Boss. I'm looking into both of their backgrounds." He stopped typing for a second. "That's why Jules had to wash her clothes. Poor kid must've been too embarrassed to say anything."
"Did she say anything at all?"
"No but she was moving kind of slow. I didn't think anything of it, but what if someone punched her in the stomach and made her pee herself?" Spike ran a hand through his hair. He should've asked her. She may not have admitted it. Fear is a big motivator.
"It's a possibility. Leah, I'm coming to you."
"Copy. I'm in front of room 202. I believe Candace and Mitzy are both in there. That's what their schedules say." Leah stood next to the door, but out of sight of the kids.
Greg met Leah at the door of the room just as the bell rung. They both stepped inside and blocked the door before anyone could leave. He whispered to the teacher.
"Mitzy and Candace." She called out. "Come up here please. Everyone else can go."
There was a collective "oooooh." From the kids before they filed out.
Mitzy gave Candace a look, then packed up her books and headed to the front followed by Candace.
"This is Sergeant Greg Parker and Constable Leah Kerns. They need to talk to you." The teacher introduced them, gave both girls a stern look and left the room.
"About what?" Mitzy asked. If they even utter Callie Marksen, I'm going to kill Candace, she thought.
"Do you know anything about an incident yesterday with Callie Marken?" Greg asked studying her face.
"You mean when she peed herself? Everyone knows about that. So gross." Mitzy kept her face neutral but laughed. She'd learn to do that whenever her parents fought so they couldn't see how much it upset her,
"Yeah. Disgusting." Candace added, making a face.
"You wouldn't happen to know why she peed herself would you?" Greg asked. These two are masking well, he thought. They definitely had something to do with it though.
Mitzy looked at Candace. You better not tell, her eyes said. "No. Why would we?" Mitzy said.
"Yeah. She's gross. We don't associate with people like her." Candace said with disgust.
"Boss she's lying." Spike said angrily. "Sending her school picture to your PDA, if that's the same person you're talking to, she was at the hospital last night."
Candace looked at Mitzy. They both had noticed the earpieces in the adults ears and now it seemed someone was talking to them. We deal with her after school, Candace's look said. Mitzy nodded imperceptibly.
Greg took out his PDA and compared the picture. It was the same girl. "So Candace, if you don't associate with her, why did one of my officers see you at the hospital in Callie's room?"
"Oh. Yeah he's cute." Candace gave them a shy smile. "I thought about it and felt bad for her so I went to see her."
"You went without me?" Mitzy frowned at her.
"Uh huh." Greg looked at them both. A couple good actresses, but not good enough. He looked at Leah.
"Where were you both last night around 8pm?" Leah asked.
"Home." They said together.
"Ok." Leah gave them a small smile. She did not like either of these girls, at all. "You can head back to class." Both girls smiled and left. Leah watched them walk down the hall, their heads together.
"Those two are involved more than we think." Leah turned and looked at Greg.
"Definitely." Greg closed his eyes and nodded. "Eddie?"
"No one claims to have seen anything." Ed stopped on the street in front of Callie's apartment building, looking around. "Jules and Callie are our only witnesses."
"All right Ed, you head to the hospital and talk to them. Hopefully Jules is up for it. Make sure that if Callie gets discharged you take her home. I'm thinking we may have to put a protective detail around her. These girls aren't done." Greg shook his head as he and Leah walked to the parking lot.
"Copy." Ed ran to his vehicle and jumped in. He was about to take off when a young boy waved to him. Ed waved but something about the kid's face made him get out and walk to him. "Hey. I'm Ed Lane with the SRU. What's your name?"
The boy looked at the badge the man flashed then turned his head and had a coughing fit. When it finally subsided he said, "I saw the accident."
##### hospital, Callie's room, 1215 hrs #####
Candace jumped out of the cab, paid the driver and ran into the hospital. Man, she thought, Mitzy was so mad the cops had talked to them. Her shoulder was still sore from where Mitzy had grabbed her arm and twisted until she'd cried out. That bitch Callie is gonna get hers, she fumed as she climbed the stairs. This is the last time she interferes in our business.
She made it to the med/surg floor and looked through the glass in the window. Just a few nurses around. She cracked the door and looked down the hall towards Callie's room. She slowly crept out the door and down the hallway. She could hear an older female voice talking to Callie.
"I'm sorry baby, but you know I have to go sleep before I go to the Kwik-E."
"I know mom, I just. Well I was hoping you could take me home."
"I'm sorry honey. Ed called and said he was on his way. He'll take you home."
"Ok." Kissing sounds and the door pulled open.
The hall was empty when Maggie left Callie's room. She went to the nurses station and told them that Ed Lane would be taking her daughter home and to keep an eye on her until he got here. She went to the elevators and was gone.
Candace stuck her head out of the room across the hall, then snuck into Callie's room. She found Callie sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked up and looked scared. Perfect. "Let's go." She snarled.
Callie had seen that murderous look in Candace's eyes before and didn't dare defy her. She stood and followed Candace as they snuck out of her room and then the hospital.