Chapter Four

Rawlings watched the two women leave the barn. As soon as they were out of sight she called down to a detective on the floor. "Lemansky, come up here for a second."

Lemansky looked up and nodded. A few seconds later he was up the stairs and standing next to Rawlings. "What's up Captain? I was just about to call Dutch and Claudette. I know a few students at the high school. Figured I'd start there."

"I want you to work a different angle," Rawlings said.

"What?"

"Have you ever heard of something called the Jenny Calendar Foundation?" Rawlings asked.

"No," Lemansky responded. "What do they have to do with this case?"

"Hopefully nothing," Rawlings said. "Apparently it's some kind of private school or something. They opened an office here in LA a little while ago. They were looking to recruit Lucy Sutter."

"How do you know that?"

"One of the women that just left," Rawlings said. "Her name's Kate Lockley. She used to work homicide up until a few years ago. She was forced out when too many weird things starting happening around her cases. She got involved with some kind of vigilante private investigator. Personally I think she got a raw deal. She works for the Jenny Calendar Foundation now. She claims they were going to meet with Lucy this morning."

"The same day she goes ballistic on a bunch of her classmates," Lemansky nodded.

"I don't like coincidences," Rawlings said. "See what you can turn up on the Jenny Calendar Foundation and one of their employees. Name Amy Abbott. I'm going to find out what Lockley's been up to since she left the force."

"What do you think is going on?" Lemansky asked.

"I have no idea," Rawlings answered. "Kate was a damn good cop when I knew her. I don't know what happened at the end but I can't believe she would go bad. Get on it. Report back to me when you have something. I'll keep Dutch and Claudette in the loop."

Lemansky nodded and headed back downstairs.

"You think she'll call us if they find her?" Amy asked as they drove off.

"After she runs a background check on us," Kate answered. "Monica's not stupid. We go back a ways. That Nolan case was a mess. I assume you guys did a good enough job with the paperwork that the Foundation will come back clean."

"We did."

"Then Monica will keep us in the loop," Kate said. "If only to find out what we know or how we're involved. Hopefully we can find Lucy before they do. Or at least be nearby when they do find her."

"What if we can't" Amy asked.

"Then we're in trouble," Kate said.

Amy's cell phone went off. She answered it, "This is Amy … gotcha … Can you text message it too me? … Good. Anything else you can tell us about her? … I understand. And Faith … When is she getting in? … Have somebody there to pick her up … Perfect. Talk to you later," she hung up the phone.

"What's up?"

"That was Phil," Amy answered. "They hacked the district computer system. They're sending us Lucy's home address. She lives with her mother and older brother. He's a freshman at UCLA. Father died when she was four. And Faith's plane will be landing at LAX around 7:30 tonight. The office will pick her up and bring her to us."

Kate nodded. "The police probably have a unit sitting on the house already."

"So what do you want to do?" Amy asked. "If we're going to find Lucy we need someplace to start."

"We head to her house," Kate said. "Hopefully we can talk to the mother without the police around. But I doubt it. Like I said Monica's not stupid. She'll give them a heads to keep an eye out for us."

"Then why did you go to her to start with?" Amy asked. "Now they know to look for us."

"Better than stumbling into the middle of their investigation without any warning," Kate said. "You think they're suspicious of us now. Trust me, we pop up out of the blue, Monica would haul us into an interrogation room and hit us with everything she's got until she found out why we were interested in Lucy. Being above board means she's suspicious but she won't get in our way until she has too."

"And then what happens?"

"I don't know," Kate said. "First we find our Slayer and find out why she went crazy. Then we can figure out how to deal with the police."

"We didn't find any drugs in your daughter's room Mrs. Sutter," Wyms said. "And nothing turned up in her locker at school."

"I told you," Mrs. Sutter said. "My girl doesn't do drugs. She couldn't have done this."

"They're not going to believe that mom," a young man said. He was standing next to his mother's chair.

"Terrance," Dutch said. "We're trying to find out what happened to your sister."

"You don't care what happened to Lucy," Terrance answered. "You think I don't know what's going on. No matter what really happened you're going to call it drugs so you can take our house away. I know how these seizure programs work."

"Terrance no one is looking to take away your house," Wyms said.

"Don't lie to me lady," Terrance said. "The program is bringing in money for the city. City likes money. City needs money. So don't you tell me you're not looking for any excuse you can to keep the money rolling in."

"The evidence points to some kind of drug connection," Dutch said. "It's the only thing that accounts for her behavior."

"My sister doesn't take drugs," Terrance countered. "And you still haven't convinced me she did this. Lucy's never hit anyone in her life."

"Mrs. Sutter have you seen your daughter since this morning?" Dutch asked.

"No," Mrs. Sutter replied.

"She hasn't called?"

"No she hasn't," Mrs. Sutter. "I've called all her friends. No one's seen her since she disappeared."

"Mrs. Sutter," Dutch said. "We need to find out what happened to your daughter. The people she attacked said she was trying to get out of the classroom. You said something about her being claustrophobic?"

"She hasn't had any real problems with that for years," Mrs. Sutter said. "Not since she was ten or eleven."

"Why is she claustrophobic?" Wyms asked.

"My husband and Lucy were in the car," Mrs. Sutter explained. "They got in an accident. Ray … Ray was killed … Lucy … She was trapped in the back seat. It took almost two hours before they got her out. She's hated small spaces and being indoors ever since."

"You said she use to sleep outside sometimes," Dutch recalled.

"Terrance here, he built a treehouse out back when he was twelve," Mrs. Sutter said. "It's not much just a platform really. But it's strong. There were times when Lucy just couldn't sleep in her room. She panicked about the walls closing in on her. I know I shouldn't have let her sleep outside. But with the ladder pulled up, no one could get to her. And she was always well rested the next morning. Bright and shiny. It made her so happy. But she hasn't needed to do that in years."

"Like momma said," Terrance said. "She hasn't needed to do that in years. Still doesn't much like cars. But my sister's strong. She's past that now."

Dutch's cell phone rang walked over to the other end of the room to answer it.

Wyms kept talking with Mrs. Sutter and her son. "I know we've gone over this before. But is there anyplace Lucy would go if she was upset or thought she was in trouble?"

"I told you," Mrs. Sutter said. "I called all her friends. Nobody has seen her. I don't know where she is. Don't you people think I want to find her? My little girl is out there somewhere. You're all accusing her of attacking people and taking drugs. You don't know my Lucy. She would never do anything like that."

Dutch came back. "Mrs. Sutter have you ever been contacted by the Jenny Calendar Foundation?"

"No, why?"

"Apparently they were planning on contacting your daughter today," Dutch said. "They were going to try and recruit her."

"For what?" Terrance asked.

"They're some kind of private school," Dutch replied. "Apparently they work with young girls with special talents."

"Lucy's smart," Mrs. Sutter said. "But I don't know why any private school would be looking for her. It's not like we could afford anything like that."

"Have you been contacted by a Kate Lockley or an Amy Abbott at all?"

"Not that I can recall," she answered. "Do they know what happened to my daughter?"

"It's probably just a coincidence ma'am," Dutch said.

Kate pulled the car unto the street where Lucy Sutter's house was located.

"Police car a couple of doors down from the house," Amy said.

"I see it," Kate noted. They began to get closer to the house. "Looks like whoever is working the case is in with the mother."

"How can you tell?" Amy asked.

"I know a detective's car when I see one," Kate said. "I didn't spend all those years in the LAPD doing nothing."

"Do we wait for them to leave or do we go in?"

Kate thought for a second. "We go in now. Play it like we did with Monica. We want to recruit Lucy for one of the Foundation's programs for girls. Leave out the Slayer stuff."

Amy nodded. They pulled the car up to the curb in front of the house and got out.

Kate knocked on the door.

Dutch turned when he heard the knock on the door. "Allow me," he said as Mrs. Sutter started to get up. He opened the door and noticed the two women outside. "And you are?"

"Kate Lockley and Amy Abbott," the first woman answered. "I assume you're one of the detectives assigned to find Lucy Sutter. I'm betting Monica already called you and told you we might show up here."

"As a matter of fact she did Ms Lockley," Dutch said. "You know I heard about you. Detective Scully right?"

"Scully was the skeptic,' Kate said. "And I'd be careful what rumors you choose to believe."

"Who's there?" Mrs. Sutter said. "Do they know anything about Lucy? What happened to my little girl?"

"May we come in please?" Kate said.

"Why not?" Dutch said opening the screen door to allow the women to enter.

Wyms turned to study the two as they came in. The older blonde came in first. She carried herself well. The younger one however caught her attention. She entered the house like she owned it. There was a feeling of power that came off the woman. She saw Dutch notice the same thing.

Amy walked into the house and felt the Slayer stir. As Kate walked over to the mother and the other detective she wandered towards the entrance to the kitchen. Her senses picked something up. As she got closer she knew what it was.

Wyms saw the younger woman move towards the back of the house. "Young lady," she said. "Where are you going?"

Amy paused for a second. She knew the other girl could feel her too. She felt the panic. There wasn't time for subtlety. The girl could take off at any moment. There wasn't a choice.

"Kate. She's here."