Big Bob Pataki didn't sleep much that night. Tossing and turning, constantly thinking about his youngest rolling into a Hillwood PD station and reporting him for assault. His own flesh and blood. Truth be told, he never really wanted another kid after having Olga. He and Miriam had little too much Chardonay one night while at an electronics trade show nearly 17 years ago and then nine months later, here pops Helga. His clock read 5:34AM and Miriam was sound asleep next to him. He decided to give Officer McDonald another call. Too much was riding on this to not keep very close tabs.
"Sean? Any updates on what we discussed last night?" Bob questioned.
"Pataki? It's 5:30 in the morning! Geez will you get a grip? I'll call you when I have something concrete, now would you stop calling my personal cell? I don't like having phone records of these calls." Sean replied in a measured tone. He didn't like the amount of exposure he had on this particular matter. The surveillance equipment he got from Big Bob was invaluable in a high-profile drug bust that put Sean on the map. The kind of bust that fast-tracked him in the department and Big Bob knew this. He figured Big Bob would call in a favor or two but more on the order of getting out of the odd DUI not covering up domestic violence. Now he was leaving a phone trail, too. This was getting sloppy.
"Now you listen to me Sean, I know exactly how you made the Sanchez case last fall. So I better be seeing some results!" Bob barked.
Sean could tell reasoning with Bob would get him nowhere. He knew if Big Bob's daughter didn't surface soon then this would spiral. He would need to get proactive.
He sighed into the phone, "Alright Bob, do you have any idea where she might be? Does she have any friends she would go to?"
"There's this Asian girl she pals around with, Penelope I think is her name. Oh, and this football shaped kid named Arnie or something. I'll text you a photo of her yearbook," Bob was never very attuned to Helga's social life. Never in a million years would he have thought this was information he would need.
No sooner had Bob sent the text had Sean protested, "Bob! Don't text me that! This is exactly what we don't want to be doing leaving a paper trail!"
"Big whoop, why would they ever look through our phone records? My Helga is an odd duck and we can say I reached out to a cop friend about finding my little girl after she didn't come home last night and I was worried she had a mental break," Bob reasoned.
"Fine," Sean relented, "I'll get to work." He was already in it at this point, no sense in trying to back out now. He looked through the yearbook photo, no one by the name Penelope or Arnie but there was an odd shaped boy he noted. One Arnold Shortman. Sean ran him through the database he had access to at home and found his home address. Time for a house call.
Helga was watching Arnold sleep most of the night, thinking of her blonde-headed protector and how selfless he was to offer his home up to her in her hour of need. He was so peaceful. When she finally did drift off to sleep if felt she was immediately awoken by a knock at the bedroom door.
"Shortman… Hey Shortman," Grandpa called.
Arnold startled awake and went to open the door, nearly forgetting about his overnight guest. He turned to her before opening it, "Helga? Are you awake?"
"Yeah Arnoldo, I'm awake. And I gotta say, your bed isn't half bad. Now what is your Gramps doing knocking at your door? Is he having a stroke or something?"
"Ha ha Helga. Glad you enjoyed the bed." Arnold retorted as he flipped on the lights before opening the door.
"Criminy Football Head! Give a girl some warning before your turn on the lights."
Arnold's smile quickly turned to a frown as he saw her face in the light and was reminded of last night's events and her bruise.
"How's your head feeling Helga?" Arnold asked quietly.
Her hand reached up and touched her face, wincing slightly from the pain. "Nothing I can't handle," she gruffly responded, then added in a softer tone "but thanks for asking. You should probably see what your Grandpa wants."
Arnold opened the door and his Grandpa was standing there, "Hey Arnold, sorry to wake you and your friend here but there's an officer downstairs saying he's looking for her."
Arnold and Helga walked down the stairs to the living room where a red-headed stocky middle-aged man in a long coat was standing. He wasn't wearing a police officer's uniform but they could both tell by his demeanor that he was a cop.
"Hi there, are you Helga Pataki?" Sean asked. He put on a friendly smile in hopes of gaining their trust before he railroaded this girl he never met.
Helga was immediately suspicious of him. "I am… what's it to you?"
"I'm Officer McDonald. Your family put out a missing person's request after you didn't come home last night. You had them pretty worried little lady."
"Well, as you can tell, I'm not missing. And as you might also be able to tell, Officer McDonald I have a nasty shiner here curtesy of one Bob Pataki," Helga practically spat back at him.
"I do see that and in light of these accusations, I'll need you to come down to the station so we can get a full report."
"Whatever you say bucko," Helga was still behaving cautiously but figured that filing an official police report would be the best way to start making sure Bob paid for what he did.
Arnold insisted on coming with her and his Grandpa also came along so she could have a guardian present. Sean knew he wouldn't be able to shake them yet. Big Bob had already provided plenty of ammo for a pseudo-insanity plea for Helga. The shrine made of bubblegum is a slam dunk and with her parents on board then getting her committed would be no problem.
More to come soon