Chapter 62
"I wish Emma had said something," Jack sighs.
He and Elsa sit in his office at the station, the sun beginning to rise through the window. The officer is filling out the paperwork for what happened at the Swan/Jones home, while Elsa is there for moral support and giving him refills of coffee whenever his cup is low. She knows his desired order, even if the brew in the police station tastes like sour mud.
"I know, but she was scared and feared for her family… fear makes people do rash and sometimes stupid things."
Jack nods, brushing a hand through his brown hair. He begins to take a sip of his coffee but stops.
"What's wrong?" Elsa asks.
"I need a kiss," he smirks. "It's as good as a cup of coffee."
"I thought we agreed on no PDA in the station," Elsa mentions.
"Sometimes agreements have to be broken," he says, leaning forward and puckering his lips in a comedic way in an attempt to get what he desired.
"That's not what they're meant for," she responds. She finds a piece of paper, kisses it to leave lipstick on it, and then presses the page to his face.
Jack pulls back and begins to pout and sulk, moving to the far side of his desk to emphasize the point. "Not fair… you owe me a kiss considering you made me pull an all-nighter. I should be at home playing video games."
"What are you 8?" Elsa asks.
"You knew my mental age when you started dating me," he smirks.
The blonde rolls her eyes. Even though he was a detective for the Boston PD, he still had the mind of a child sometimes. She was used to it considering she grew up with Anna who never seemed to grow up. His antics were annoying at first, especially when they first started dating but it did grow on her. It even relaxed her and always made her smile. Now she actually looked forward to the nights when they would play video games or make ice cream sundaes (which usually ended in food fights and spraying each other with whipped cream). It was nice to have someone who did not take things seriously all the time, it balanced her out… but now was not the time to be joking around.
"Can my eight-year-old please get back to work?" she insists.
"My kiss first," he smiles.
Rolling her eyes again, the platinum blonde leaned over and kissed his cheek.
After placating her boyfriend, Elsa goes to get them some water to balance out their caffeine intake while Jack reviews the evidence left at the scene.
He wished that Emma had said something… anything about the bastard who abducted her and was now threatening her life and the lives of her family. They could have staked her house out in the hopes that this psychopath would return to make his move, and when he did, they could have finally put his ass in jail. He belonged in a concrete square for all the horror and damage he'd done, not just to Emma, but to his former family and all of them. He knew that both David and Ruby wanted a piece of him, to make him pay, especially now after Mary Margret was caught in the crossfire, but Jack might want to join the line up too. Just for the sheer delight of making a monster get what it deserves.
His phone rings.
"Hey Nova, you find anything?"
"Just the place where he and Killian likely fought. There's evidence of blood here."
"Where exactly?"
"The curb to the east of the property. It's probably where he was staked out for when he grabbed Sophie."
"Speaking of which, is there an AMBER alert out for her?"
"Mary put it out an hour ago. All state lines are on high alert and his description will be featured on the morning news as well as the truck he was driving."
"Have you found any more witnesses?"
"Just two; a couple who were walking their dog in the neighbourhood across from Emma's place and they saw the scuffle between King and Killian, as well as hearing Sophie's cries. They just thought it was a disagreement gone extreme and it wasn't until we showed up that they realized what they'd seen. They gave us a good description of the truck, but only partially got the license plate number."
"Good job, I'll finish the report and submit it to Gold."
"I'll see you later," Nova says before ending the call.
…
It's nearly half an hour and Jack was wondering where his girlfriend had gone. Perhaps she went to get them some breakfast or had to make a phone call, either way, he hoped that she would return soon.
Just then, there is a knock at the door before it opens. Jack is expecting to see Elsa, but instead, it is a bearded man wearing a dark leather jacket.
"Can I help you?"
"No, I'm here to ask if I can help you," the man says.
"I'm sorry?"
"My name is August Booth, and I am a private investigator, and I was hoping that I would be able to offer my assistance to the missing Jones case."
"I'm sorry, but this is official police business. There is no need for outside help. As far as I know, no one connected to the family has hired you and if I'm honest, we don't need any more false leads. This man is likely armed and most certainly dangerous."
"I am well aware," August says. He sits in the chair across from the detective's desk, clearly choosing to ignore the man's dismissal of him. "After all, I grew up with his first victim."
"That's right, now I remember who you are. Elsa's sister was part of your independent search for Emma."
"And now I'm willing to do it again for Killian and Sophie Jones."
"And I already told you, this is official police business," Jack insists dismissively.
"My skills are quite useful when it comes to finding people. It's been my job for years now."
"Such is the job of a PI,"
"But I can do the leg work. Do stakeouts, find other witnesses, help with tracking…"
"We have people on our team for those things."
"But I operate outside police restriction. You may be a detective, but police still have to follow the orders of their superiors, especially the less than likable commissioner. I work for myself and can stretch my influence further than your jurisdiction might reach.
"As tempting as that is, I'm afraid I will still have to say no. While David did let you assist in the search for Emma, this was after we'd exhausted a lot of our leads and were worried about the case being shelved..." Jack pauses, realizing the logic in having this PI work with them. Gold was a stickler for the rules and while the uppity man did care about keeping the city safe, he did things his way. He remembers how scared David was when months had passed in the search for Emma Swan and Gold was thinking of closing it since there were no leads.
He looks at the man in front of him, his blue eyes piercing into his own and the worried expression he carried on his face. It's clear that he cared about baby Sophie and Killian, just as he did, and he had followed a minute detail that none of the others in the police department thought was valuable. The changed license plate mentioned by the man's daughter… He did the leg work and dug for the truth. He had helped keep the hope and leads alive… even if in the end it was Emma who saved herself and closed the case.
A smile forms on his face, that immature and trickster nature beginning to grow inside of him. He'd love to shake things up for the Commissioner, even make the old man question his credibility and ability to work cases. It was too perfect to pass up.
"All right Mr. Booth, we'd love to have you on board, but as long as you don't interfere with official police business."
August's face lights up and he leans from the chair to shake the man's hand.
"Thank you, Detective Overland, it's going to be an honour to work with you."
"You don't have to keep sucking up, you are already a part of the case," Jack mentions.
"I'll start looking around, see if we can find out where Arthur King was staying. It's clear that he was living in the area if he was stalking Emma, and maybe he left a clue to where he might go after the abduction. He seems like he planned this for quite some time."
"Okay then," Jack says. He does his best to mask the deductive thinking the PI had already done. He hadn't thought about looking for where the monster had been living and he kicked himself for not setting an officer on that aspect already. It was probably due to the lack of sleep and downing of coffee that made him overlook it.
"Oh and make sure to thank Elsa."
"Why her?"
"She's the one who called me here."
Jack's mouth drops open with surprise as August leaves, stunned at the realization.
Ten minutes later, Elsa walks in with food and orange juice, his favourite beverage in the morning besides caffeine. She has a knowing smile on her face but tries to pretend to be ignorant.
Jack opens his mouth to speak, but she cuts him off.
"We're going to need all the help we can get," she says, attempting to explain herself.
Her boyfriend just nods and accepts the food being offered.
"You are one amazing woman," he says. "You always know what I need."
"Food and some extra help…" she agrees. "Besides, without me, you'd be at home playing Fortnite."
A/N: Hello everyone. I'm sorry that it's been such a long time since I updated. I have a teaching job now, which is very time consuming, so please bear with me.