I'm super excited! I finished writng the 10th chapter-which will either serve as the final chapter to this fic or the first "Act Break" in the trilogy. Still depends. I hope this chapter is better then the last. I think the cliff hanger is much hangierer then last time. And I'm definitely going to want to know what people think!
"-I know, but the drugs, while evidence, don't tell us anything new," Shawn whispered to his partner as they jogged up the stairs. He shrugged, "Not yet anyways."
"Woah," Shawn said slowly, slightly startled as he and Gus entered Millie's room. With a small shriek the balding red headed man turned around. "Jeffery?" Shawn frowned.
"H-hello." Jeffery nodded slowly, "What…um…what are you d-doing here?" He asked, fiddling with the duster in his hands.
Shawn frowned as he looked at the man. "I've come up to try and get a psychic reading on this room." Shawn gestured around, allowing a cheesy confident grin to spread across his face.
"Oh," Jeffery blinked in surprise. "Right…like you did at the s-station." Jeffery nodded and grinned, "That was funny. E-especially when you jumped on that detective's chair; the g-grumpy one with the purple and blue striped t-tie." Jeffery elaborated with a nod.
Shawn grinned. Lassie had been wearing that particularly dreadful tie. And he hadn't even commented on it. He pouted; he really was having an off day. His hand unconsciously moved to his hair.
Gus continued to stare at the man oddly. Jeffery finally noticed, "Oh, don't mind me. I'm…I'm a bit of a nervous cleaner," the man admitted somewhat apologetically. "I-it helps k-keep me calm," he explained.
Shawn nodded slowly walking around the room again, surveying the ridiculous amounts of stuffed animals piled along the walls. Seriously, together all those animals had to be some type of safety hazard. Shawn repeated this observation to Gus.
Jeffery nodded, "Mr. Jordan always brings a stuffed animal back from his business trips for Millie."
Gus frowned, "He must go on a lot of trips."
"He always h-has. His job keeps him busy…and s-stressed," Jeffery elaborated. "It's n-never been right how he's treated Alexandria since t-the divorce. She rarely gets to see Millie," he added as a quiet afterthought.
"Did he purchase this abnormally large stuffed bear?" Shawn asked, pointing to a picture of Millie holding her blue teddy. The answer was right on the edge of his mind, tickling him right behind the ear like a wispy pineapple leaf. He just needed a little more.
"W-who? Mr. Beary? No, I got that for her when she was born," Jeffery shrugged. "Mr. Jordan always purchases a puppy," he added.
A puppy…really? That was so unoriginallll….Shawn grinned as he felt the final piece of the puzzle fall into place. "Dude!"
Meanwhile…SBPD:
"Lassiter!" Juliet shouted as she crossed the room excitedly, her heels clicking loudly on the tile floor. "You should see this," she added as she approached her partner, thrusting the file at him.
Flipping it open Lassiter's face pulled into a large grin. "Good work O'Hara."
Interrogation Room:
"Ms. Bensen, when you were last in here you neglected to mention the half-million dollar life insurance policy your daughter has," Lassiter explained as he circled the woman in the small interrogation cell.
Ms. Bensen nodded coolly, "You didn't ask detective."
Lassiter shook his head. "You don't think that's something important to mention?" Juliet chimed in.
Lassiter slammed a paper down on the table with a loud clap, "The policy here states that if something was to happen to your daughter you and your husband-or in the case of a divorce, only you-would receive half a million dollars."
Ms. Bensen bristled and leaned forward towards Lassiter, "I love my daughter detective. And besides, Adam insisted on all of us having a policy. He wanted to be prepared in case anything happened. You can check; my ex-husband and I both have similar policies."
Lassiter nodded, the grin that spread across his face showed that he didn't buy it at all, "Right, because a policy on a seven year old is the same as a policy out on an adult with a family to support. And of course you love your daughter Ms. Bensen. Just not as much as you love money; especially when you live off of spousal support."
Ms. Bensen shook her head and gave a shrill laugh, "Don't you see what's going on here detectives?" They looked at her blankly,"I already told you, I'm trying to get custody of Millie again. Adam is a spiteful and petty man. When my lawyer contacted his office he probably cooked this kidnapping up to keep Millie from me!" She seethed angrily. "Drag him in here for questioning. He did it." She added, her knuckles wrapping around the edge of the table until they were white.
"Nice try, but unlike you, your husband has a rock solid alibi," Lassiter explained with a grin.
Alexandria Bensen pursed her lips, "He's a defense lawyer-and apparently a drug addict, so he was obviously not thinking clearly," she added dryly, "He works with the filth of the earth on a daily basis. Would it be so difficult for him to meet someone who could do the dirty work for him?" She asked calmly. Lassiter's grin and retort fell silently on his lips.
He glanced at O'Hara, seeing the same look in his eyes reflected in hers; that was an interesting and disturbingly plausible angle. But she was holding something back. Both of them could see that clear as day. A thunderous crash startled them from their interrogation. Hearing shouts, both detectives dashed out of the interrogation room.
"Where is she! What the hell is going on!" Adam Jordan screamed loudly as he barrled through the department, soaking wet from the storm outside, pushing a police officer who tried to restrain him into a desk, knocking a computer onto the floor.
"Mr. Jordan, you need to calm-" Chief Vick started calmly.
"Don't you dare tell me to be calm! I get a phone call saying my daughter has been kidnapped! Kidnapped! And you people give me a phone call!" He raged.
"I understand your anger," Vick said, remaining calm, except for the slight edge in her eyes that promised to find the officer had been insensitive enough to deliver news like that via telephone, "But you were not an easy person to get a hold of."
Jordan swallowed, and, despite herself, Juliet felt sympathy for the drug addicted defense attorney.
"It's so nice of you to finally show Adam," His ex-wife challenged coldly from behind the detectives. Alexandria stood with her arms folded over her chest as she stared at her disheveled ex.
Jordan laughed, "You have a lot of nerve," He started moving towards her, every step oozing aggression. McNabb managed to put a restraining arm on the husband while another officer grabbed the wife as they started screaming at each other.
Juliet ran a hand over her face; these two people completely deserved each other; each was more caught up in their own personal neurosis then in the fact that their daughters life was on the line. The shouting continued as the officers continued to pull the kicking and screaming couple away from each other.
Juliet felt a sudden pang of loneliness; Shawn would know how to make them focus on what was important. He was so good with people. She felt tears begin to seep into her eyes, swarming her vision, why wouldn't the lump in her throat go away? She let out a short ragged breathe; quietly admitting a simple truth to herself. She needed their goofy resident psychic. Why was he being like this? She sank into her desk, head in her hands. She had to fix things with him but she didn't even know where to start. She didn't even know what she was supposed to fix or, she felt the lump rise again, where it would leave them. She let out a ragged breathe, willing her voice to work properly. The couple continued to scream from their holding cells. This line of thought had to stop the young detective scolded herself. Juliet wasn't like the self centered pair behind her. She could put aside her personal feelings to find Millie Jordan.
Jordan Residence:
"I'm SO getting something," Shawn said jumping up and down excitedly as he closed his eyes.
Jeffery turned and looked at Gus, "Does he always do this?" Gus nodded silently and they turned to watch Shawn.
Shawn opened his eyes. "I was so right," he turned to Gus, "You owe me a pineapple smoothie," Gus frowned.
"Just tell us Shawn."
"Wait for iiiiiiit," he took a deep breath, "It was the butler."
Jeffery's eyebrows shot up, "M-me?"
"Of course!" Shawn said excitedly as his speech began to increase speed, "You worked for the Jordan's before Millie was born. In fact, you were one of Mrs. Jordan's lovers. Millie isn't Adam Jordan's daughter at all is she Jeffery? She's yours!"
Jeffery stared silently at the fake psychic for a long moment before he finally moved his lips, "T-that's…impossible. I'm…I'm not-"
Shawn shook his head, "Dude, I'm psychic. I know I'm right. You always called Adam Jordan Mr. Jordan, but Ms. Bensen? You called her Alexandria. You bought that bear for Millie when she was born because she's your daughter. And she got her photographic memory from you." Shawn nodded enthusiastically.
Gus frowned, "Wait, back up. This guy," he pointed to the stuttering balding man next to him, "Has a photographic memory."
Shawn nodded, "That's how he remembered something like the color of Lassie's tie at the station today," he calmed down slightly as Jeffery stood silently hunched in front of them, "Millie inherited it and that's how you knew. You always suspected but when she started reciting entire episodes of Barney at the table verb at them-"
"Verbatim Shawn," Gus corrected. Shawn ignored him and continued on with his reveal excitedly.
"But even when you knew you were ok with keeping up the lie. Probably because it was what Alexandria wanted. Millie would get a better education… a better life with Adam Jordan as her father. So you stayed on the staff, even after the divorce, content with just being around your daughter. Until, on one of your nervous cleaning sprees, you came across Jordan's drugs."
Jeffery nodded slowly, "Mr. Jordan was gone so much, I was raising her anyways…but what kind of father keeps their drugs just…lying around the house?" he said angrily, his fury eliminating his stutter.
Shawn nodded thoughtfully in agreement, "So you took her."
Jeffery nodded, "I…I wouldn't have…b-but the drugs. I was able to handle it, seeing her everyday and not being able to tell her the truth when I thought she was better off. But drugs?" Jeffery shook his head and stared Shawn in the eye, "I love my daughter. And I will do everything I can to keep her safe."
Shawn stared at the man thoughtfully, feeling a knot form in his chest. This was supposed to be a clean business. Find a killer, catch a bad guy, turn them in and case closed. This time…he felt his stomach flop. This guy had stood by and watched his daughter grow up with him on the sidelines because he had wanted her to have a better life; all her father had ever wanted was for her to be happy. He hadn't pushed her to be something she wasn't or tried to run her life or…Shawn sighed; now wasn't the time for those thoughts. And Shawn believed him; all Jeffery wanted was what was best for his daughter.
"Where is she Jeffery?" Shawn asked quietly.
"I-I…Mr. Jordan has a cabin in the woods about 30 minutes away from here," Jeffery said quietly. "Alexandria and I use to drive up there before Millie was born, " a small smile crept across the aging butlers face, "A-and after Millie was born, until the divorce, we would take her up there together while Jordan was out of town on business. I brought her there."
Gus frowned, "You left a seven year old girl in a cabin in the woods all by herself?"
Jeffery's cheeks turned a bright red, "I-it wasn't perfect, I'll admit, b-but it was just for a little while. I left food and water up there. It's just until I get what I need." He explained.
The fake psychic cocked his head to the side.
"Until you get what you need for what?" Gus asked suspiciously; he was obviously not as won over as Shawn was.
"I bought fake passports. I'm going to take Millie out of the country. We'll be able to be together and she'll be safe," Jeffery declared firmly, his eyes wide in, what Gus thought was, a look that carried just the slightest touch of insanity.
This man clearly didn't have all his screws. He and Shawn would just leave, call Juliet, and turn the guy in. Gus looked to Shawn for confirmation. Gus groaned. Shawn was grinning excitedly like the six year old he really was. Oh hell no.
I definitely want opinions on this chapter. I hope all the little clues Shawn picked up on made sense. It's hard to tell since I wrote this, so I know where I want the story to go. So hopefully the clues worked in a very 'Psych like' way.