Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case.
Welcome to Durham:
When Lilly Rush woke up this morning, the last thing she expected was getting told she would travel to North Carolina. To say she was now extremely annoyed would be an understatement. Perhaps it wouldn't have annoyed her so much if her boss had been considerate and let her know ahead of time. After all, Stillman knew she had to find a sitter for her cats. Luckily for her, her landlady had come to her rescue and had agreed to look after Olivia and Tripod.
She had just finished packing her bags when her cell phone rang. Figuring it was her partner, she answered it. "Rush," she said.
"Hey Lil, I'm outside," Scotty Valens's voice came through the speaker.
A warm feeling filled her like it always did when she heard her partner's voice; she couldn't help but frown; however, when she detected the anxiety hidden in it. She didn't have to guess to know why. This case was important to Scotty in a way that she couldn't understand. Perhaps it was because they'd both been undercover. That thought swirled in her mind as she walked outside.
Scotty was leaning against their police-issued black Cadillac when she stepped outside. The moment he saw her, he ran up and offered to take her bags while she locked up her apartment. She smiled at him, "Thanks Scotty," she said.
He winked at her as he took her bags. "No problem," he said as he walked back to the car bags in tow.
After double-checking to make sure her door was locked tight, she hurried into the warm car, followed by her partner. He glanced over at her. "Got everything you need?" he asked.
Lilly's eyes glanced away a moment in thought before giving a nod of confirmation. "Yeah, how about you?" she asked.
Scotty smirked as he put the car in drive. "I've got everything. I just wanted to make sure you did before we pulled out because we don't have time for me to turn back," he said.
Lilly couldn't help but laugh at his words. "It sounds like that's a common problem for you," she said.
Scotty sighed dramatically. "Yep, my Mom and my sisters. I love them to death, but every time my family and I would go anywhere, we would have to turn back at least once because one of them forgot something," he said, shaking his head.
Lilly chuckled at his dramatics. Scotty flashed her a quick grin before he suddenly frowned. "Hey what about your cats? Did you find someone to look after them?" he asked.
The question surprised her a moment, as she honestly hadn't expected him to think about them. It touched her, however, that he cared enough to ask. "Yeah, my landlady agreed to watch over them for me. Thanks for asking," she said.
He nodded, and the two soon fell into a comfortable silence. After waiting for a few minutes, Lilly decided it was time to talk about the case before they had to get on the plane. "So about the case, you said North was undercover like you were before transferring to Homicide?" she said, glancing out of the corner of her eye to watch his reaction.
She could see Scotty tense up slightly at the question, and his hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Yeah, something like that," he said.
Lilly frowned at his guarded demeanor; she knew he didn't enjoy talking about his time undercover. Something she'd gleaned from the Ana Castilla case. It appeared her partner still hadn't overcome his demons, although they had found her killers. Old wounds don't always heal. "So, did Manny tell you who North's target was?" she asked.
Scotty glanced at her in surprise. "How do you know I talked to Manny?" he asked.
He heard his partner laugh in amusement. "Because he's your old boss, and I can tell the two of you are close. Plus, this case is personal to narcotics, which makes it personal to you," she said.
Scotty sighed as he listened to her. As per usual, she was right on the money. Lilly knew him so well nowadays that he could hardly get anything past her. Strangely, that didn't bother him as much as it would have if it had been anyone else. "Well, you're right. I talked to Manny, just to let him know we were assigned the case. I wasn't trying to blindside you, Lil, just so you know. Anyway, we got to talking and Manny revealed that North's target was some local drug dealer named Jared Polinsky," he said.
Lilly raised an eyebrow at the information. "Local as in he's in Philly?" she asked.
Scotty laughed, but it wasn't in humor. "No, as in he's American made. Mexican drug lords importing to the U.S. weren't a thing till the eighties. So a lot of the drugs were homemade," he said.
Lilly nodded. "You would think that North would've had an easier time then," she said.
Scotty shook his head in disagreement. "Not really. A drug dealer is a drug dealer doesn't matter what the year was. When drugs and money are involved, anything is on the table," he said.
Lilly frowned. "You must have witnessed a lot of crazy shit then," she said. The two were almost at the airport, and she wanted to get as much information on what she was dealing with before they got on the plane.
Scotty snorted. "You remember the Ana Castilla case, right?" he said, turning onto the road leading to the airport.
Lilly nodded before remembering that he wasn't looking at her. "Yeah, I remember," she said.
Scotty sighed. "As gruesome as her case was, sadly, that's only the tip of the iceberg. I spent two years undercover and I still can't believe some of the shit I witnessed," he said.
Lilly felt a shiver go down her spine at her partner's description. Because of growing up with an alcoholic mother, she had a vague idea of what that world entailed. Maybe that's why she found it hard to picture her jovial partner as part of that world.
Scotty took her silence as the green light continued. "It's a completely different world, Lil, where anything can happen. Some of these drugs can make people do crazy shit," he said.
Lilly glanced at her partner. "Do you think it's possible then that North could have been outed as a cop?" she asked.
Scotty nodded. "I wouldn't rule it out," he said.
Lilly patted his arm. "I guess it's a blessing that you got out when you did," she said.
Scotty parked the car into the airport's garage before looking at her. His dark brown eyes were full of pain. "Yeah, I was lucky. Too bad North wasn't," he said.
The two were silent after that, as they had to hurry to get through customs. By the end, they barely got on the plane on time. Once on the plane, the two remained silent. Lilly took the time to read the file Stillman had given them, while Scotty read over his own copy. So many questions were running through Lilly's mind; the biggest one, obviously being how North ended up in North Carolina.
It was so odd to her he would be somewhere completely off the grid without his superior officer knowing about it. She was extremely eager to find that out. Thoughts of potential scenarios swirled around her mind. She was so deep in thought that she nearly jumped out of her seat when Scotty touched her on the arm.
Scotty looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, Lil. I didn't mean to scare you, but it's time to get off," he said, making her blink in surprise.
"Oh, we're here already?" she said.
Scotty nodded an affirmative. After waiting five minutes for the people in the front to get off, the two finally got off the plane. Fortunately, they had only three bags between them, so they had carried them on, so they didn't have the hassle of waiting at the baggage claim.
As the two made their way to the front of the airport, they saw a middle-aged man holding a sign saying "Valens & Rush." The duo walked over and the older gentleman held out his hand. "Valens and Rush, I presume?" he said.
Lilly gave a cautious smile. "I'm Detective Lilly Rush, and this is my partner Detective Scotty Valens, and you are?" she asked.
The man laughed. "Oh, excuse my manners. I'm Detective Roy Walters, and I'll be your guide while you two are here," he said.
Scotty shook Roy's hand. "Nice to meet you, Detective Walters. I can speak for both my partner and me when I say we look forward to working together," he said.
Detective Walters smiled a wide grin, showing off a set of perfect white teeth. Lilly vaguely wondered if he had his teeth whitened. "Likewise Detective Valens. How about we get out of here? I'll take you guys to the hotel so you can check-in and get settled before we head over to the precinct," he said.
The two Philly detectives nodded in agreement and the three made their way to Walter's car, which was a nice black Cadillac similar to the one the two had back home.
The car ride to the hotel was ridden in comfortable silence, except for the occasional question from Scotty about the city. The hotel turned out to be a Holiday Inn, and Walters was nice enough to drop them off at the front. "How about I pick you guys up here in about two hours?" he said.
Scotty and Lilly glanced at each other before shrugging. "Works for us," Lilly said.
Walters smirked. He could already tell that these two were going to be fun to work with. "Alrighty then, I'll see you guys in a couple of hours. Get something to eat, and welcome to Durham," he said, and then drove off, leaving the two Philly detectives to their business.
Author's note: So here's chapter two of Highway to Hell. I'd love to hear what you think. Thank you, Nerdzone6.