"You dropped his count of child neglect and kidnapping from his file?!" Fisher exclaimed angrily, slamming his fists on Tess' desk.
While a little startled by this sudden aggression, Tess knew Fisher was quite harmless; to her at least. Fisher was always a little on the gung-ho side. His first day on the job, he was reprimanded and put on desk duty for a month after he roughed up a suspect when he couldn't get the information he wanted. Despite being on the force for several years, he was still, essentially, an assistant to Tess; a permanent rookie because of his behavior. Whenever he went out on his own, trouble came soon after. Everyone thought that he just watched too much cop shows on TV. Also, before Tess came along, his own father was considered the top investigator. She knew that Fisher was gunning for her spot though.
Fisher's father was idolized by everyone Tess worked with. He was a good man, the salt of the earth, was fair in all his doings and had a strong no violence approach to his suspects. Because of him, the country was the safest it had ever been and the police could bring in every criminal that came across Anthony Fisher's desk; except one, Felonious Gru.
Pushing his hands off her desk, she said calmly, "Yes I did and the Chief approved it."
"On what evidence do you base this on?!" He asked in annoyance as he paced her office.
"He saved the lives of his middle child, my nephew and me without hesitation. I'm even considering dropping his count child endangerment too."
Tess was still grappling with why she was doing all of this. She was ready to admit she didn't hate him but not that she liked him, other than liking to fight and argue with him. Why she suddenly trusted his word was whole different problem she had yet to puzzle out and put a rational spin on.
"Why the hell would you do that!?" Fisher questioned.
Tess sighed and shook her head, "I don't know."
Then she remembered the home inspection report on Hattie Smith's files. It had checked out clean. There were no notes of weapons, dangerous chemicals or anything hazardous lying around. By the inspectors report, it was a normal home. Tess was beginning to wonder if Gru had a secret underground lab he ran to, but he probably didn't. It was a ridiculous notion.
"His home inspection report checked out, remember?" She added in their defense.
"He probably hid everything before-hand." Fisher disputed.
"You know home inspections after adoptions are at random. Sometime in the first three to four months after the adoption, a home inspector will show up and the new parents only have a phone call ten minutes before the inspector shows up. That's nowhere near enough time to prep a house of that size."
Fisher was silent for a moment, thinking of his next move. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and pointed at Tess, "The report said he wasn't there until the tail-end of the inspection."
"His oldest is ten years old. Tell me, when did youbecome a latch-key kid?" Tess said, knowingly. Fisher himself had been a latch-key kid at ten. He was silent. "The rest of the report states the inspector interviewed their teachers. They all said that the girls have never missed school or had been late. They are always happy and eager to learn. It even said that Margo, the oldest, is mature and wise beyond her years. For all we know, Gru had run out to get milk before the inspector showed up. Compared to the reports their old schools sent over, their grades have improved, they are early to class, rather than late, and their entire demeanor has changed since Felonious Gru adopted them."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Fisher said, irritated, leaving her office and slamming her door.
For the rest of the day, Tess spent her time contacting her connections to keep Agnes with Gru. From the information she received, Cassie Whitlock had already filed an appeal for Agnes' custody. Despite the fact Gru was a known criminal; they had a pretty airtight case, simply based on the fact that Cassie Whitlock gave up her rights to Agnes and just how young she was. The fact that she didn't have a job and still lived on campus at school certainly did not help her case, either. She simply did not have the resources or funds to care for Agnes like Gru did.
While Gru did have several counts of manslaughter and murder under his belt, his influence had improved not just Agnes' but all three of the girls lives. Also, the innocuous home inspection report and the dropped counts of kidnapping, child neglect and the more than likely dropped count of child endangerment certainly helped to prove that he would never hurt the girls. Those coupled with his team of lawyers and the fact that he was more on his feet than Cassie Whitlock was, meant for a favorable outcome for Gru. Tess was quite confident that Agnes would never leave Gru's side until it was time for college.
That night, Edith and Percy were supposed to have their rocket ready and were going to assemble it at her house. It was still a few days before the fair, but Gru thought it would be the best to time to test it and build another, if needed. As she walked up to the tank, she could tell Gru was in a foul mood, fouler than usual.
"You sent your little lackey to Agnes' school today to talk to her, didn't you?" Gru accused, barely controlled anger lacing his voice.
"What you are talking about?" Tess asked, confused.
"Agnes came to me in tears after I picked her up from school today; telling me a man that fit Fisher's description asked her if I ever hurt her or her sisters. He took her off of school grounds during her recess to do so." Gru said, furiously.
Tess was stunned. Fisher had actually broken the law. It was illegal to bring a child into an investigation without authorization from her and Daniels, not to mention luring a child of her school campus and questioning her alone. This was a serious problem and Fisher more than likely lose his job over this.
"I did not authorize that. Fisher must have taken it upon himself. He's always been rather over-zealous. It is quite possible he'll lose his job over this." Tess answered.
"He could lose more." Gru threatened as Edith and Percy walked up to them. "Come on Edith, we aren't going to Sutterfield's tonight."
Tess slowly walked back to her car where Percy was waiting. She actually felt hurt, knowing that Gru thought she warranted this.
"We have to make a pit stop to my work, Perce." She explained as they got into her car.
A majority of the investigators had already gone home for the day by the time Tess arrived. Only a few people where spotted across the large, open space of cubicles.
"Go wait in my office, Percy." Tess said, pointing to her office door on the far wall.
He nodded and quickly obeyed. Tess wound her way through the cubicle maze until she came to Fishers. He was sitting with his back towards her. Angrily, she grabbed the back of his chair and spun him around to face her.
"You went to Agnes' school!?" Tess exclaimed, grabbing on to the lapels of Fisher's jacket. "He threatened to kill you! I almost hope he does! What were you thinking!? You could have traumatized her for life! How do you think that makes the force look!? Like a bunch of pedophiles!?"
"I needed to know if he was hurting them!" He countered, throwing his hands up in self-defense as Tess began pacing the length outside his cubicle.
"You can't do that without authorization from me and Daniels." She yelled, "And there's something else you need first, a thing called 'evidence'!" She added sarcastically. The irony of their previous argument was not lost on Tess or Fisher.
She calmed herself, "I'm recommending to the Chief that he removes you from the force."
"You're what!?" He exclaimed, standing up.
"This incident, along with a large list of others, is posing some serious problems for you. This type of environment is just not right for you." Tess explained.
Fisher was stunned into silence and Tess took this as a chance to leave.
The next day, she was prepared to talk to Daniels about dropping Gru's count of child endangerment and to have Fisher removed.
"Why didn't his home inspection report come up with the rest of his file?" Daniels asked.
"Our two agencies simply do not communicate." Tess answered.
"Ah. How annoying." Daniels said, casually. "Now you say you think it'd be best for Fisher to be removed?"
"Yes. His behavior is simply unbecoming and only sheds a bad light on us all." Tess replied.
"Yeah, I read the report about him going to that little girl's school without authorization." Daniels drawled. "I agree whole heartedly. I was just waiting on someone else to speak up. The only problem is that Fisher resigned from his position early this morning. I tried to contact him, but he never answered. I tried calling his apartment complex, low and behold, he moved out. Michael Fisher is gone."
Tess sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. That sounded like him, overly dramatic and wanted to have the last word. He was either starting his life over somewhere else, or ending it on the city bridge.
Feeling guilty over this entire ordeal with Fisher, Tess dropped Percy off at another friends' house, intending to go apologize to Gru. She arrived at his home, knowing she was probably overstepping her boundaries and doing something not much different from what Fisher himself did.
She unconsciously checked her appearance before she went up to the doorstep. She knocked on the door. After several seconds, she heard two high pitched voices, speaking gibberish. It sounded like an argument and she heard one hit the other. Then the door opened, revealing nothing but the entryway.
Confused, Tess looked around.
" 'Allo!" A high pitched voice greeted, happily. Two little yellow creatures with large eyes peaked out from behind the door, one holding the door knob and the other holding the first one up.
Tess' took several ragged breaths before she screamed in fright. It wasn't that they were scary to look at and Tess knew that Gru had created his own race of creatures, but seeing something inhuman and like no known animal; one can't help but be frightened. One of the little creatures started to bawl loudly at Tess' reaction to him. The other laughed at the crying one, obviously not realizing how similar he looked to the crying one, thinking only his appearance scared Tess.
Gru bounded around the corner; cursing in a language that Tess did not understand.
"Uh oh, I recognize some of those words," Edith said in alarm, from one of the steps on the staircase.
Gru grabbed the screaming Tess and pulled her inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
"What are you doing here!?" Gru yelled.
"I-I-I came to apologize on behalf of Michael Fisher. He resigned early this morning. I am the only one on your case and have dropped all counts of child abuse from your file." Tess said quickly, all her words and sentences running together, still stunned from her encounter with the yellow beings. "Now tell me what the hell those things are!" She exclaimed, her stare frozen and her expression still of stun.
Gru sighed. "They are my minions."
"Are they also your au pairs?!" Tess exclaimed, yelling in his direction.
"James, Jack!" Gru barked to the yellow creatures, "Go make sure the girls are getting ready for bed. Tell them I will be up for story time and good night kisses shortly."
"Okay!" The creatures replied, cheerfully and scurried up the stairs with Edith, one tripping over its own feet.
Suddenly, Tess heard the barking and growling of a large dog. What came around the corner was a small, black wiry haired creature with an under bite full of sharp teeth, large, round eyes and two furry antennas. Tess screamed again, this time in real fear. This was the other creature Gru created. Out of fear for her life, she latched onto Gru.
She felt Gru grab something from a table behind them.
"Go get your bone, Kyle!" He said with a hint of fear in his voice, throwing a bone meant for a larger dog; or a dog, period.
"You named it!?" Tess screeched.
"Of course I did! He's my…" Gru's voice faltered and he sighed, thinking of the right word to describe the creature, "dog."
Tess moved away from Gru and examined the entryway. Just inside was a mace propped up against a bookcase, another that seemed to double as a decorative chandelier, an assortment of swords on table and a heavily armed suit of armor with a spear and yet another mace. A bear trap was sitting casually on the floor as though it was simply a pair of shoes.
"This place isn't safe for children! How in the world did this place pass the home inspection!? You lied! You're the biggest asshole I have ever met!" Tess screeched again.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Gru shrugged.
"J-just shut up! Your voice is driving me up the wall! Drop that infuriating accent!" Tess exclaimed, knowing that Gru could not help his accent, but it felt good to yell about it. She kicked him in the shin out of frustration.
"I have intelligent daughters. They knew what they had to do." He answered, holding his shin. "I can assure you, they are safe here."
Tess huffed in response, "Like I said, I came to apologize on behalf of Michael Fisher, he essentially disappeared this morning." Then Tess put two and two together. "Did you kill him!?"
Gru looked insulted, "I wouldn't waste my time on such a simpleton."
Tess didn't know she believed him or not, but she continued on, she wasn't concerned about Fisher, "I have dropped all counts of child abuse from your file. Although you are still under investigation for the rest of your crimes," Gru looked proud at the word 'crimes', "I assume you have contacted your lawyers about Agnes' birth mother?"
"I have." Gru replied.
"I have been in touch with my own contacts and they assure me you have the upper hand. Tomorrow, social workers will visit with Cassie, to interview her and base her ability to care for Agnes and inspect wherever she intends to raise Agnes. She lives on school campus, in a shared dorm room. If she tries to take the inspector into the resident hall, she'll fail right there. Even if she intends to keep Agnes at her parents' home, three hours away from here, she will still fail. Agnes will need to be in her actual custody, not her parents, to regain her rights. The social workers will take a few weeks to go over their notes and a court date will be set. Unfortunately, you'll have to live with this well into next month." Tess explained.
"I understand. I, uh, appreciate what you are doing for us." Gru actually looked pained to say that.
Tess smiled, "I would be letting Agnes down if she went to anyone else but you." With that she turned and walked back to her car.
As she drove, she remembered what he told his 'minions' to do. He, Felonious Gru, the man who had the entire city and the world afraid of him, the man who was on America's most wanted list (he was towards the bottom, but he was still on there) read three little girls bedtime stories and kissed them good night? Tess' heart melted. Ok, she did like him.
Then she had another realization, a more sickening, cold sweated one. She just promised the man, the man that was her career's goal was to put in jail, that he'd get to keep Agnes and the rest of his daughters.
Tess Sutterfield, was, officially, stuck.
Author's note: Three guesses where the minion's names come from. Why not review while you're at it?