Lacey had lost all concept of time, she'd been in the small room for hours. She'd been offered food and drinks, but turned each offer down. There was no way she could eat, her stomach was in knots, she kept asking for her children but her requests were falling on deaf ears.
It was starting to piss her off, she knew she couldn't lose her shit as that would only hurt her cause, but she was finding it hard to maintain her composure.
Lacey focused her gaze on the 'mirror', she wasn't an idiot she knew she was being watched, she knew the cops who brought her in were watching her like hawk, she wasn't going to give them anything.
She sat ramrod straight in the chair her hands folded in front of her on the table, she wanted to look as if she had it all together, she wanted to appear as if she was in control. It was all a facade and on the inside she was scared shitless, she was a hair's breath away from a full blown emotional breakdown. She missed her babies, the guilt over leaving them was becoming unbearable.
Kevin announced his return, "Breakfast is here." He had ended up with the short straw and had the privilege of picking it up, "Come eat. Voight said we will talk to her as soon as we're done eating." He had grabbed some food for her she hadn't yet accepted an offer but they had yet to bring the food in the interrogation room. It had been eight hours since she was brought in, she had to be starving.
Jay and Hailey followed Kevin out into the bullpen, they'd eat at their desks while Voight briefed them on the next step.
Harleigh rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she had wandered into the living room expecting to find Kim, and was shocked that she wasn't sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and her book. Harleigh always woke up after Kim and Diesel, and they were always in the living room. She felt her lip begin to quiver, she decided to go to Kim's room.
She slowly pushed the door open, she liked that Kim always slept with the door open just a tiny crack, she liked that was allowed to go in whenever she needed to. That was really nice of Kim, her mommy and daddy didn't let her do that, they always locked their door at night and it was scary sometimes.
"Kim" Harleigh whispered, "I'm awake, and I'm hungry." She stood in the doorway, she could see Diesel asleep in his little crib so she didn't want to be too loud, Diesel could cry really loud and that hurt her ears when he did that. When Kim didn't answer she tiptoed further into the room, she stood alongside the bed and discovered it empty. She felt the worry in her tummy begin to bubble, she glanced around the room and it all looked okay, it didn't look like the way mommy and daddy's room got when they left. When they had to leave they always made such a mess, they knocked things over, sometimes they broke glass and it would be on the floor. She always had to be so careful that she didn't step on it.
Kim's room looked the same as it always did nothing was different and that felt good, she decided to check the bathroom. It was just down the hall, the bathroom door was wide open and there was no one inside. Harleigh felt the first few tears fall and she was back to being scared, she hadn't felt this scared in a long time and she hated it.
On her way back towards the living room, she came to Adam's bedroom. The door was closed, she pressed her ear to it and listened intently, sometimes she could hear his tv on but not now, now it was quiet. She wasn't afraid of Adam anymore, he used to make her scared because he was always grumpy and he didn't talk a lot. Diesel liked him a lot but she didn't, Diesel always liked people though, even strangers. When the bad mans would come to the house Diesel was never scared, but she was, they were scary. They always looked grumpy and mean, Adam's face looked the same way. The bad mans used to yell and scream, sometimes they hit daddy and that's always when mommy made them go outside. Mommy and daddy would fight a lot and then they'd leave the house. She hated those times, she tried so hard to be brave but everything was so hard when mommy was gone.
Adam said he was sorry for yelling, and that made her feel better then they played games and watched television together. Adam really was sorry, he had told her that a bunch of times and that made her feel really good.
But now that sick feeling that her tummy always had was back and she didn't want she to open the door. She didn't want to know if Adam had left or not, she raced back into her bedroom and climbed in her bed and hid under the covers.
The drunk tank was at full capacity, the round up at the old paper mill had been a successful one. The town was downtrodden since the mill closed nearly twenty years ago, it had never really recovered from losing its biggest employer. The abandoned mill was a massive eyesore and there was no telling when it would finally be demolished, it was stuck in a political tug of war. The town's leaders couldn't get their shit together and figure out how to move forward, and the residents were paying the price.
The mill was often the host of all night raves, and it was constantly full of squatters. It was just a mess and the police did all they could, but it was a steep uphill climb and until the building was torn down they'd be climbing that hill.
They did what they could but it was pointless, everyone arrested would be released within forty eight hours, occasionally they'd get lucky and one of the people brought in would have a warrant for their arrest or a repeat offender, but more often than not it was a catch and release deal.
Those they arrested thought little of personal hygiene and lacked self respect, come sunrise the entire room reeked of piss, vomit, and shit. There wasn't enough air freshener in the world to rid them of the stench, needless to say they worked quickly on releasing them.
They'd run the name through the system and check for priors and warrants if they came up empty on the searches and the person wasn't a pain the ass they'd cut them lose.
"Jan...ko.." the officer stumbled over the name, he corrected himself, "Jankowski Travis?"
Travis stood up, "That's me." He pushed his way to the front, looping his arms through the bars, "You gonna let me out?"
"Let's see." The officer checked the file, "It appears so."
"Fantastic." Travis smirked, "Took fucking long enough." He was anxious to get out, he had a score to settle.
"Don't get too excited, you're being transferred to a different department." The officer met Travis' smirk with one of his own.
"What? Why?" Travis would never claim to have a clear record, he was always getting caught up in something but he was confident he didn't currently have any active warrants out for his arrest. He was picked up after a bender, he kept his mouth shut all night, and he was only on strike two of a three strike system, by all accounts he should be released on his own recognizance. "This is bullshit."
"Fremont Police Department begs to differ. It will be awhile before your ride gets here, you might want to have a seat." He loved this part of his job, a lot of these fuckers liked to pop off at the mouth knowing that a cop was limited in how they could react. This was priceless, he was getting the last laugh.
Travis went back to the concrete bench and sat hunched over listening to the clank of the bars as each of his 'roommates' were released. He had a hunch as to who was behind this and she was a fucking fool if she thought she'd get away with it. He would bring her sorry ass down with him and she'd never see their brats again.
The sun felt warm on her face as it filtered into the room, she snuggled even deeper into the covers, she felt an arm draped over her. Her eyes opened slowly and she found herself eye to eye with Adam.
"Well, good morning beautiful." Adam ran his hand through her hair, "This is the best wake up I've had in a long time." He leaned in for a kiss, one Kim happily accepted.
Only for Kim to suddenly slam on the brakes, "What?" Adam was a bit frustrated, it didn't take much to get him going and she definitely had him going.
"What time is it?" Kim asked, she climbed over him to see the clock that sat on his nightstand, "Shit!" She was out of bed and dressed in a flash, "Oh my goodness..." she couldn't believe she had slept as late as she had. "I need to check on the kids, I can't believe this. Diesel is usually up by now."
Adam quickly realized that any hopes that he had of a repeat performance had just been dashed, Kim was in a panicked state, "I'm sure the kids are fine, they were up a little later than usual. I'm sure they just slept in" he tried to reassure her, it wasn't working, "I'll be right out, I need a shower. A cold one." He tried to lighten her mood a bit but she just glared at him before leaving his room.
Kim ran back to her bedroom and found Diesel sitting up in his crib, gumming on his lovey. "Oh my sweet little man.." she held her arms out to him and was met with a gummy smile, "Good morning."
She was relieved to see that he was happy and oblivious to the fact that she had slept in, she quickly changed him and returned him to his crib as she grabbed a pair of leggings and t-shirt instead of the tank top and sleep shorts she had gone to bed in.
Adam had felt amazing despite the frustrating start to the morning, for the first time in a long time he felt like his life was trending in the right direction. Kim coming into his room in the middle of the night was unexpected but it had given him hope. He had hope that they'd find their way back to each other, he promised himself that he would fight tooth and nail for her. He loved her beyond words and it was time he showed her.
He could hear a soft cry as he passed Harleigh's room, he peeked in and saw her on the bed crying, "Harleigh, sweetheart. Can I come in?" He was still trying to prove to the little girl that she could trust him and that he'd keep her safe. He didn't want to just burst into her room and undo what ever progress they had made.
Harleigh's head flew up and she was on her feet in a flash, she threw herself at him, "I was scared!" She knocked him a bit off balance as she charged him. She was inconsolable and her body convulsed with each sob.
Adam held her and was shocked by how tightly she had wrapped her arms around his neck, "What scared you? Was it a bad dream?" She was trembling in his arms, her cries were no longer soft, she was hysterical.
Kim and Diesel stood in the doorway, "Harleigh?" Kim rushed in, "What's wrong?"
"I couldn't find you" Harleigh spoke through her tears, "I looked and looked.."
Kim's face went white and she set Diesel down and took Harleigh from Adam, Adam wasn't sure who he was more heartbroken for, was it Kim or Harleigh? He picked an oblivious Diesel up and took the little guy out of the room. He wanted to give the girls some privacy but he had to be honest it was hard to see Kim so upset.
"I couldn't find you." Harleigh told her, she sat in Kim's lap, "I got so scared, I thought you left like mommy and daddy."
It was a knife to Kim's heart, "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I was sleeping."
"Nuh-uh I went in your room. Just Diesel was sleeping. I looked everywhere." Harleigh waved her hands around, the tears had stopped and Kim was grateful for that.
Kim scrambled for an explanation, "I slept in Adam's room last night. We were watching a movie in his room and I fell asleep." Lying to her didn't sit well with Kim but she really couldn't tell her the truth, the white lie was the best option.
"I don't want you to leave me." Harleigh turned to hug her, "I love you"
Adam placed Diesel in his high chair while he started on breakfast, he was starved and he wanted to let Kim take it easy this morning and let her hang with Harleigh. He was going to fry up some bacon and eggs, it was one of the few meals he could cook that didn't taste like shit.
Hank pushed the plate of pancakes and sausage in front of Lacey, "Here you go. It's good stuff you should eat it."
"I'm not hungry. I want my children, I need to see them. I want to know that they're okay." Lacey tired her best to keep her voice steady, she knew the man opposite her didn't have her best interest at heart and she didn't want to forget that he wasn't going to help her. No matter what he said, he didn't give two shits about her.
"Now you care, how sweet." Voight mocked her. "You expect me to believe that shit?"
"You don't know me."
"I know you left your children alone." Hank explained, "I think I know all I need to know about you. Your kids are being well cared for I can assure you of that."
"When can I see them?" Lacey asked him.
"I'm glad you asked." Hank leaned back in his chair, "I think we can come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"What do you want?" Lacey was prepared to give him whatever he wanted as long as it meant she could see her kids and get them back.
"I want details. I know you're involved in some serious shit, but you're just runner yeah?" He asked her.
Lacey shook her head, "No. I'm not a runner. My husband, Travis. He is. He doesn't know anything."
"If you believe that you're an even bigger idiot than I thought." Hank pushed back from the table, "I will start the booking process, you'll be transferred to county within the hour."
"Wait!" Lacey called out, there was no hiding the panic she was feeling, "What if I help you?"
Hank stopped in the doorway, "If you give me what I want, I will give you what you want. It's that simple."
"I'll talk."
Kim and Harleigh finally emerged from the bedroom, Adam called them into the kitchen, "Breakfast is ready ladies." He pulled out a chair for Kim and then Harleigh, "Everything okay?"
Kim nodded, "It is, we will talk later. I'm starved."
"Me too!" Harleigh eagerly reached for a strip of bacon, "Mine tummy has been growling."
Adam could see the tears in Kim's eyes and he knew she was putting a brave face, he was desperate for a few minutes alone with her, he wanted to tell her that it was okay, that she hadn't done anything wrong.
Little did he know It'd be days before he get a few minutes alone with Kim.