Authors note
Thank you for all the comments. They make my day.
So I have written myself a bit into a corner with this story and my Muse doesn't quite know how to get out of it. Fingers crossed that she comes up with a plan soon.
Enjoy!
Steph's POV
One month later
"My friends are having a party...can I go along?" Julie asks over dinner.
"When is it and who are the friends?" I probe, but already knowing the answer to the last part. A couple of months ago, Julie started hanging out with Brian Barnhardt, Joyce's nephew, and Rumour Gilman, Terri's little sister.
Both very troubled teenagers, both a couple of years older than Julie. Brian is rebelling against his abusive father and Rumour is the dirty little secret of an affair Terri's father had 18 years ago.
"Tonight and I am going with Brian and Rumour." Julie tells me. "So can I go?"
"No. It is not like I don't trust you, but I don't trust them." I inform her. "I know there will be alcohol and possibly drugs involved."
"They are not like their families. Trust me, I won't drink or do drugs" She pleads.
"No. And that is my final answer." I say and cringe internally. I sound like my mother.
"This is so unfair" Julie slams her fork down on the table and stands. "You never let me have any friends!"
"I do let you have friends…" I retort in protest.
"Yeah, just not the ones I want to have" She shouts.
"They are bad news Julie" I shout back. "Joe has arrested Brian for several misdemeanours and it won't take long before Rumour and her sticky fingers to get caught too."
"You are unbelievable. Trust me that I won't be like that…but I suppose once the screw up, always the screw up" And with that she storms into her room and slams the door.
I suddenly lost my appetite, so I stand and put the pasta bake which my mother made for us into the fridge, before clearing away our plates.
Seems like I will be watching TV by myself tonight.
Since Ranger left, Julie's moods have gone up and down. We fight more and her grades at school have dropped too. I don't want to blame it on the fact that he is gone, that would be too convenient. So instead I blame it on her teenage hormones.
We nor Tank, have heard from Ranger in the past month. Tank advised me that no news could also be good news. But I can't help to imagine the worst.
By ten o'clock I give up on watching TV and knock on Julie's door. "Julie…can we talk?" No answer. I knock again. "Please…I don't want us to go to bed angry." No answer again. This time I try to open the door, but find that she has locked it. "You just listen then... I am not sorry that I won't let you go to the party. I do trust you, but I don't trust your friends. You are a bright kid and I don't want you to ruin your future."
No answer again. "Well goodnight then…" I add and go into my own room to sleep.
RING
RING
"Someone better be dead" I say as I pick up my phone with my eyes still closed.
"Miss Plum?" a voice, which I do not recognise, questions.
"Yes? Who is this?" I probe and slightly open my eyes. 3.30 am.
"My name is Officer Redderick from the Edison Police Department. I understand you are the legal Guardian of Julie Manoso?" The officer asks.
"Yes, I am. Why are you calling Officer?" A suspicious feeling is making itself known in my stomach. I instantly get up, open my window, get onto the fire escape and shuffle along until I reach Julie's window.
"We have just arrested Julie. She was driving a car, with two drunken teenagers and a couple of crates of beer in the back." The officer informs me, just as I am pushing Julie's window open. I enter swiftly and turn on the bedside lamp. Sure enough her bed is empty.
"Tell me the address. I am on my way." I tell him, close the window and unlock the door.
"Joe!" I sigh in relief and hug him. I called him on my way to the station. Thankfully he was on night shift and with his blue lights and sirens, was able to make it here faster than I did. "How bad is it?"
"I talked to Desk Sergeant Fillmore. Julie is sober, but she drove Brian's car without a licence which is about a $1000 fine. He says that there were two crates of beer in the back, which she assured the Officers weren't hers nor did she knew about them. This usually could result in jail time" Joe informs me and my heart plummets to my stomach. "But…they are willing to drop the charges as a favour to me."
"Is that the right thing to do? I mean to let her off the hook?" I question. You always read about these teenagers getting caught and being let off, because of their parents or weak judges, only for them to screw-up again and again without any consequences. I always thought that someone should just teach them a lesson. But when it's your own child, you think differently.
"It's already done Cupcake." Joe tells me.
"Oh…Thank you." I nod and push past him into the precinct. "I am here to pick up my daughter Julie Manoso" I tell the Desk Sergeant as I get closer.
"Please have seat. It will be a moment." He advises, before disappearing behind a door.
"Say something" Julie requests as we reach my car. It took almost an hour before she was released.
"Get in" I motion to the open door, before turning around to Joe.
"You going to be ok?" He questions and nods towards Julie.
"Yeah. I am sorry that I had to call you away from work for this." I tell him.
"Don't worry about it. There was nothing happening anyways. " Joe steps towards me, places a kiss on the top of my head, before stepping away again. "I will call you later... there is something I need to tell you."
"Sure, just let me sleep in ok?" I nod and walk around the car.
"Wouldn't dare to call before 11 am" He smirks, turns around and walks quickly to his own car. He got a call half an hour ago that his presence is requested at a murder scene. As I told him he could leave, he advised me that the guy is dead and that there is no rush.
"Can you just please say something, mom?" Julie pleads, as we are about halfway home, and when I keep quite she adds "I am sorry, I truly am. I should have listen to you. I will never do it again."
I am far too angry to talk to her about this now. If I opened my mouth, I would talk myself into Rhino mode and we really don't need that.
Suddenly the car behind me flashes its lights and starts driving really close to my bumper. "What the hell? Move past" I roll down my window and motion for them to pass me, but they stay tight on my bumper.
They flash their lights again and come even closer. "Mom?" Julie looks at me slightly panicked.
"Hold on" I say and speed up to get away from the car.
Then the car behind me turns on its blue and red lights. "What the fuck?" I question. "Julie dial Joe. Tell him what is happening. Something isn't right." I add before speeding up again.
The Police car gains speed too, drives past me only to come to a screeching halt a couple of hundred meters ahead of me. I have to brake really hard to not crash into them.
"Joe…something is wrong. We were nearly run off the road by a police car…They are getting out now…" Julie explains to Joe.
I roll down my window further, as the two officers approach our car. One stands on the passenger side, watching Julie like a hawk with his hand resting on his gun, while the other is coming up to my window.
"Licence and registration please" He says with a heavy eastern European accent.
I fish both items out of my bag and hand them to the officer, who takes them back to his car.
"Is Joe still on the line?" I ask Julie, who only nods in response. "Describe the officers to him and the licence plate of their car." Julie does as I asked and in that moment the other officer comes back with my papers.
"Can you please step out of the car Mam…your daughter too." He requests.
"Why? Something wrong with my papers?" I question.
"Just step out of the car Mam" He request more harshly this time. I nod at Julie and we both get out at the same time. "Turn around against the vehicle please." The officer requests and once again we do as we are told.
Next thing I know a bag gets drawn over my head and I can hear Julie scream. "HEY…what is going on?" I shout and try to wiggle out of the officers hold.
"Resist..." He whispers in my ear. "And that sweet daughter of yours will pay for it."
Joe's POV
I hear Julie scream and Steph shout "HEY…what is going on?" before someone disconnects the line. Dread fills me from head to toe.
CRAP
"Hey you ok?" Big Dog asks with concern. "You are white as a sheet!"
"Someone just took Steph and Julie" I comment, before dialling Tanks number. I have started working with Rangemen on a regular basis a few months back, since I figured out that they are not bound by a lot of the red tape that the police encounters on a regularly. We have been trading favours ever since.
"Morelli?" Tank answers after the first ring.
"Julie and Steph have been taken. I was on the phone with them as it happened. Can you look into which location their call came from and sent it to me?"
"On it" He simply replies and hangs up.
Seconds later I get a message from an unknown number with a location. "I gotta go" I tell Big Dog, turn around and jog to my car.
As I get to the location, Tank, his men and a couple of officers are already there. Steph's car is parked in the middle of the road, with both doors wide open. There are skid marks leading a couple of hundred meters back, from when I heard her break. Further ahead there are skid marks from a second set of tires.
This is the only stretch of road between Edison and Trenton, which isn't surrounded by houses. No one would have heard them scream and at this time of day, traffic is sparse.
"Detective Morelli" Officer Miller greets with a handshake as I jog towards the scene.
"Miller" I nod.
"We got a call that there is an abandoned car. As we arrived, they were already here" He motions with his head towards the Rangemen. "We realized it was Miss Plum's car and were just about to call you, but the big guy informed us that you were already on your way."
"I was on the phone with them as they were taken. I have informed dispatch already about the license plate of the car Julie described. They are sending more people, put out a BOLO and APB already" I inform him. "Anything you can tell me?"
"Not yet." Miller replies.
"Keep me updated" And with that I walk over to where Tank is overseeing his people.
"We found Julie's phone smashed on the ground over there" Tank tells me and motions to the side of the road.
"Did Ranger ever get around putting Trackers on them?" I ask. Ranger and discussed it briefly and I advised him to run this by Steph.
"The car, her purse and both of their phones have trackers." Tanks tells me. "A load of good it does now."
"They cannot have gotten far" I tell him, hoping to catch these guys before they can harm the girls in any way.
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