It's harder than I thought to keep the continuity and the action moving along. This a bit of a transition chapter as the team gathers evidence. It bugs me that I used the wrong middle name for Wordy in Chapter 2. I fixed it here. The next chapter might not be up until Friday. Flashpoint is the best, but it doesn't belong to me.
Chapter 3
Greg and Jules headed for the truck and Jules shook her head as she fastened her seatbelt. "Still not a lot to go on, Sarge, but it's a start. Do you think Spike should have another go at Lillie to see if she can help us with the family name?" Greg thought about it for a moment and replied. "Spike said she was struggling the most of the three girls. Maybe a chance to help is just what she needs. He got on the headset and spoke to his tech specialist. "Spike, do we have any spare SRU hats in your truck? Take Raf and make a quick stop over at the Lane's. See if you can hire Lillie on to figure out who this family is. Any info is more than we have now. Jules and I will stop by the pool and see what we can find out there. Ed and Sam, meet us there." After a frustrating couple of hours with no leads the team felt energized by the hope of a lead.
Spike and Raf pulled up to the Lane's house and waved to the cruiser parked in front. They went to the door and it was answered by Ed's son, Clark, with Dean close behind. They immediately asked how Wordy was doing followed quickly by how long they'd be on "lock down." The constables assured them that the hope was that it wouldn't be too long. Sophie had Izzie on her hip as she hurried to get the update on Wordy and Shelley. Again, the officers gave the update they knew. They asked if they could find a quiet spot to speak with Lillie and Sophie directed them to the kitchen. "The younger girls are watching TV, but Lillie's reading. I'll send her in. Help yourselves to a drink."
Lillie walked into the kitchen still far too serious for Spike's comfort. Her eyes grew large and fearful as she saw the team members. "Is Daddy okay?" her voice trembled as she asked. Spike crouched down in front of her. "He's doing fine, Lillie-bug. I'm sorry I scared you. The doctors are fixing him up and Uncle Greg said he asked about you right away. I'm here to ask for your help catching the bad guy. Are you up to being a part of the team?" Lillie nodded enthusiastically and Spike placed the SRU hat on her head. "First we need to make sure everyone knows you're a junior officer. A little big, but you make it look stylish." He was very happy to see a smile on the little girl's face. "Okay, sometimes when we work we all sit at the table and talk things out. Let's try that now."
As they took their seats, Spike opened his laptop. "Okay, your dad was telling us about a trip to the pool last week. You were playing with a friend. Do you remember that?" Lillie nodded along. "We went to the pool a lot last week, but only one day with Daddy. He works a lot."
Raf jumped in the conversation with his smooth, easy way. "I love to play with friends at the pool. Do you see a lot of friends there?" Lillie again nodded. Spike took up the questioning, "On the day your dad was with you, he said you played with a girl he didn't know. Do you remember that?" Lillie scrunched up her face and said, "I guess. Maybe it was with Maddy." The officer wanted to tread carefully with this next question, but he knew it was important. "Okay, on the way to the car, your dad said this little girl's mom and dad were having a bit of an argument. Your dad asked them to take a time out. Do you remember that?"
Lillie thought a minute and then explained, "Daddy sent us to the car, but it was Annie's mom and dad. They were mad and her dad was yelling mean things. I think Annie was crying. Daddy is a police officer so he told them to be nice." Spike encouraged his young friend. "That's great remembering, Lillie. I knew you'd be a great help to the team. Do you go to school with Annie? Do you know her last name?"
Lillie answered, "She's Annie B. because there's another Annie and she's Annie R. She went to my school, but wasn't in my class last year. Mommy has a phone book with all the phone numbers so you could call her and ask her last name." Both Raf and Spike smiled at Wordy's oldest child. "That is just what we needed, Lillie! We're going to figure this out and you told us very important information." Spike sent her back to her sisters with a smile on her face. They said a quick good-bye to Sophie and hurried back to the truck.
Raf took the wheel and Spike spoke to their team leader over the headset. "Ed, a little progress here. Lillie is a rock star. Can someone go back to Wordy's and look for a school directory. Shelley is very organized so it shouldn't be hard to find. The little girl was in the first grade this past year, not in Lillie's class and her name is Annie B." Spike heard Sam and Jules teaming up to handle that job. It would have been frustrating enough on a normal call for the information to come in so slowly, but it felt like they were wading through Jello as they worked to bring in the subject that went after their friend and family member.
Ed and Greg left the pool with no joy on their quest. There were security cameras in the area, but they weren't saved past 72 hours. Both men were frustrated and ready for something—anything to break. They instructed everyone to meet back up at Wordy's to regroup. Just as the two SVUs pulled up, Jules excited voice came over the headsets. "I think I've got something. There's an Annie Blazer in last first grade last year. Her parents are Taryn and James Blazer. The address is 671 Cherry Rd." As she finished, Greg's voice gave Spike instructions. "Spike, get on that. Everything and anything you can find on the Blazers." "Copy that, Boss" came the reply.
It was just a short time later that Spike excitedly spoke again, "And we got them. Taryn Blazer is clean as a whistle and James Blazer was clean up until 18 months ago. Since then it looks like he's had 2 DUIs, a drunk and disorderly and last week an order of protection was filed by his wife for domestic violence."
Ed's voice broke in, "So he acts like an ass, bullies his family, is now facing consequences for that behavior and somehow it becomes Kevin James Wordsworth's fault." The team leader's voice was yelling by the end of the sentence. Greg sat for a moment in truck. He thought back to when Ed was struck seven times by a subject and remember the self control it took to make it through that day. Getting his team through the hopeful arrest of this subject was going to be a challenge.