Chapter 5:
Calleigh POV-
When I woke up the next morning all five of the teenagers were in the kitchen.
"Hi guys," I greeted them, "Would ya'll like something to eat?"
They nodded. I grinned and pulled some eggs, bacon, and instant pancake mix out of the fridge and began to fix it on the stove, and started the coffee pot for myself.
"So what happens to us now?" Percy asked, and the others looked on like they were wondering the same thing.
I poured a glass of coffee, taking a sip. "I don't know. This kind of thing has never happened before at our precinct," I answered them honestly, "Without your parents, or a guardian, we can't release you…so, unless you all want to start talking and being honest with me, we're at a stalemate…" I arched an eyebrow and (most of) the kids looked at the countertop guiltily but remained silent.
"Yep, that's what I thought," I muttered, turning back to the stove to put the now-golden-brown pancakes on a plate. The teens eagerly grabbed at the pancakes, placing them on their own plates and proceeding to drown them in syrup. I chuckled a little to myself and pulled the frozen bacon out of the microwave.
"So tell us a little about yourself," Thalia said.
"Me?" I asked slightly confused.
"Yeah, if we're going to be staying with you for the time being, shouldn't we at least know a little about you?" Annabeth added.
I will admit, that made sense, so I sighed and began my story. "I'm from Louisiana. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from Tulane University…um…my parents separated a while ago and my dad has been an alcoholic for a while. I haven't seen my mom in…a while, of course she was never much of a maternal figure anyway. And now I'm working with Miami Dade, there really isn't much to tell about me," I shrugged, "Now what about you guys? You're living in my house and I don't exactly know a lot about you either," I stared at them pointedly. They all gave me suspicious looks, so I sighed. "I can assure you, anything you say will be between us. It would just be hearsay anyway."
"Okay," Percy spoke up. In a flash they all turned to him, giving him the 'you-better-not-say-anything' look, which he returned with the 'duh' look. The exchange was so quick that, if I hadn't been in my field of work, I might not have noticed. Once his friends had been reassured, Percy continued, "I was raised by my mom in New York because my dad was killed in a shipwreck when I was a baby. When I was little my mom married Gabe. He was an awful stepfather who gambled and beat my mom until she finally divorced him. I've been expelled from far too many schools, not entirely my fault, I might add, and I am currently going to a school the my mom's new boyfriend is headmaster of." He turned to Annabeth, giving her the 'your-turn' look.
"Okay. I was born in California, but I ran away when I was young, which is how I ended up in California with all of them," she gestured to the other teenagers, "I've been able to reconnect with my dad a little since then but I still live living in New York better," she finished and I got the feeling that was all that I was going to get out of her.
"I went to a boarding school in Maine with my sister, she died, there's not much else to say," Nico said curtly, looking back at his plate and poked at his pancake.
"I ran away when I was young too, and that's when I met Annabeth," Thalia didn't have much else to say, so she shrugged and ate some of her eggs.
I looked to Clarisse who is the only one who hadn't spoke. She snorted in my direction and popped a piece of bacon in her mouth. I guess I'm not hearing her story today.
Suddenly, my cellphone rang. I picked up the phone. It was Eric, telling me to bring the kids in (not that I had any other options).
They all looked at me quizzically when I hung up.
"Come on," I told them, "I've got to go to work, and I'm not allowed to leave you here."
They all looked irritated, but didn't object (though I did get an angry look from Clarisse) as they left the kitchen to go get ready to leave.
…
When we got to the precinct, I left the disgruntled teens in a containment room with a guard outside of the door as I went down to the lab.
"I take it you found something?" I asked, as I entered the lab putting on my lab coat.
"That's the thing," Ryan shook his head in frustration in front of the screen, "All of the cameras that had a hope of showing us something have been wiped out."
'What do you mean wiped out?" I questioned.
"Look," he pulled up the footage, but all that was on the tape was static.
"Well, that's weird…but you think those kids tampered with the tape?" I wondered, "It seems like a lot of work just to beat up an old lady, doesn't it?"
"Actually, it seems more likely that someone was tampering with it for them, look at this, thirty seconds before the attack…" Ryan showed me the camera working fine, "And…thirty seconds after the attack," that static vanished and the camera was once again working fine.
"Hmm…well, I'm thinking we go back and check those cameras for prints," I suggested.
"Way ahead of you," Ryan sighed, "There were none except for the man who had originally installed them and he checked out this morning."
"Great, so what now? We haven't gotten anywhere," I exclaimed (although my list of suspicions was growing), "How long can we hold them?"
Ryan shrugged like he had pondered the exact same thing and couldn't find an explanation either.
Suddenly there was a loud crash from upstairs.
"What was that?" I exclaimed as we both leapt towards the stairs.
"I don't know, but if it was those kids are behind it we might be able to get them after all," Ryan replied and we went to go investigate.
