The Rookie

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

Chapter 28 (The Difficult News)

The only relative Beck hadn't visited in person to notify was Jack, for the reason of Jade wanting someone to go with her to the hospital. As for the rest of the families, he wanted to go to them personally. Granted, it was between Robbie's and Tori's; and unfortunately he knew well that Tori's relatives would have to receive the bad news as well.

In lieu of this fact, he chose to drive to Robbie's relatives first. He felt the personal touch was needed for his own relationship with the victims in this sense. He hated thinking of his friends as such, but it was the literal truth. In this case, they were the victims of crime.

Upon arriving at the Shapiro home, Beck had to pause for a moment to admire the house as seeing it still took his breath away. Both Robbie and Tori were asking why they hadn't seen their families yet, and that was because they were still under medical evaluation. Beck had the misfortune of having to tell Tori he would not only need to allow them to process her survival but that Trina was the one responsible. Even if Holly suspected it herself, there was never any real confirmation until now.

Shaking his thoughts, Beck held a fedora cap loosely in his hands and approached the door. Hearing a voice nearby, he turned to see Monica watering some plants near the fence. She was waving at him and motioning for him to come towards her. "Detective, why are you back here?"

Beck walked across the lawn to Monica, watching as she sized him up with her gaze. "I have news about your brother, I wanted to deliver it personally." Monica frowned and leaned over the nearby faucet where the garden hose was attached. She shut off the water and tossed the hose on the ground nearby.

"Okay." The girl pat her gloved hands together, getting rid of any dirt that remained on them. With a heavy breath, she wiped her hands down her pale-yellow blouse and kept them at the back of her waist. "I guess that means you found him or at least the person responsible."

"Yes, but it's not bad news." Her eyes lit up and her lips parted, she raised a hand towards her mouth and he watched as a flicker of hope shone in her expression. "Robbie is alive, and yes, we've found the person responsible." He smiled at her for a moment.

Monica shut her eyes, letting out a cry as she threw her hands over her face. The girl dropped to her knees, dropping an arm around her waist. "Monica?" A man's voice drew Beck's attention to the house.

It was a tall, older man, wearing a suit and holding a long cane with a golden eagle head gripped in his wrinkled hand. He had a flush of white hair and a bushy white goatee. Beck recognized the man immediately as Robbie's father, former District Attorney Thomas Shapiro.

For a man with a cane, he moved swift towards his daughter, looking warily from her to Beck. "What's wrong? Why is the detective here?" Monica rose to her feet, still weeping into her hand as she leaned into her father.

"Robbie's alive, Dad. They found him, he's alive." Thomas gasped, dropping his cane to hug his daughter as fresh tears sprouted from his pale blue eyes. The man looked at Beck with a relieved, but careful expression as if he still doubted the truth of the matter. After all, it had been ten years with no news whatsoever.

"Where is he? Can we see him? When?"

"I believe tomorrow morning he'll be able to accept visitations. He's at Cedars."

"Okay. Thank you, officer, thank you." The man exhaled and looked towards the house. "I'll get my wife." Beck smiled warmly and watched the pair retreat towards the home. He'd always been glad to deliver the good news, there was something comforting in watching the relief that families had when their loved ones were returned safe.

As for the next, there was nervous tension in Beck as he approached the Malone house. Given that Gary already knew what was coming, Beck asked that Gary allow him to be the one to deliver the news. At the very least, he wanted to be there for David, who likely wasn't having a good time with anything that was happening recently.

No sooner than when Gary opened the door, Beck saw behind him well enough to see David and Holly sitting at the dining room table near the kitchen. David was hunched over a glass of ice water, clutching it as if it were a glass of whiskey. Holly was seated in an upright position, her hands folded neatly on the table and her posture seemed strangely relaxed.

"I didn't tell them exactly," Gary began, "But I told them to expect some sort of news." Beck walked past him with a sigh, shaking his head slowly and running his hand through his hair. "I'm here if you need any help."

"How does one tell a couple parents that one child is responsible for what happened to their other child?" He turned to Gary, studying the solemn expression on the man's face. There was some wisdom in his eyes and he had to hear whatever the man said. "Trina once told me I shouldn't handle victim families with kid gloves, that I shouldn't underestimate the family members."

"She was right about two things. You've told me about that conversation. She was right in the scenario of an unsolved crime, underestimating a family member and handling them with kid gloves can lead you to missing something critical." Gary raised a hand to his chin, giving a slight hum. "Which, in the end, I believe you did ignore her until it became painfully obvious for you. Right?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want to believe she'd do it. That's right." He exhaled, considering the lesson learnt.

"But you still shouldn't underestimate families of victims. Sometimes it is best to just pull that bandaid off and not spare the emotions." Gary motioned towards the dining room. "You forget what David's position and career was. Yes hearing the news is going to be devastating, you can't prevent that; but he knows what to expect. You also forget Holly had her suspicions about her own daughter for some time. Again, it's probably going to hurt, but it's not going to be something she didn't see coming…even if she didn't want to."

"No one person is alike, right? Everyone reacts differently."

"You won't be able to prevent the mixed emotions that they'll feel. All you can do is tell them the facts, plain and simple. Offer help, such as victim advocacy and so on. So yes, again, Trina is right about something: Your job is not to handle them with kid gloves, not to try and soften the blow or prevent catastrophic emotions. Your job is to be, yes, somewhat sympathetic and not cruel; but to notify them."

"The difficult part of the job."

"It can be. No matter whether you're notifying next of kin of death, rescue, or an arrest…usually that last one is on the person being arrested."

Dropping his gaze for a moment, he hesitated to carry on. Taking another deep breath, he adjusted his shirt collar and navy tie, then turned towards the dining room. Holly and David both looked his way expectantly, something he found himself grateful for that he didn't have to worry about catching anyone off guard.

Maybe he had ignored speculating on Trina, perhaps he didn't see the signs; and sure he wondered if perhaps he could've saved Cat or gotten the case resolved sooner, but that wasn't the way it went. Trina wasn't making obvious moves, and it could've ended differently had he not connected the dots to Sam or to Gibby.

He had to build the case before considering Trina, it was simple as that; and he knew it.

Beck approached the table slowly, not looking back to check for Gary as he knew the man was right behind him. His hand brushed the top of the chair across from David and he slowly pulled it out.

David was the first to speak, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and concern. "Gary tells us you have news about Tori." The man paused, as if seeming to consider his next choice of words. "The fact that Trina isn't here gives me some trouble; but after what Holly's told me already…" The man shut his eyes, his forehead creasing as he looked like he was bracing for a sudden impact.

"I do have news." He wracked his mind on how to approach this. Should he give the bad news first? Was the good news even going to be good news? The evidence clearly showed that not only was there a possibility Trina wouldn't have gone down this path had it not been for Tori's actions; but it had cast a darker shadow upon their parenting. This was a truth they already were well aware of, but none of this was going to be good for them to hear in his mind.

Holly leaned forward, her eyebrows rising in hopeful expectation. "Please tell me you found her."

David looked over to his ex-wife, his stomach churning as his mighty grip tightened on the glass. "Can't I have one beer?" Holly rolled her eyes at him and responded with a sharp tone.

"There is no alcohol in my house."

David's shoulders fell and he let out a heavy sigh, he was already aware of what was coming but he didn't want to hear this sober by any means. "Is Katrina responsible for what happened to Tori? Is Tori alive? Or…" Tears began to spill over the old man's cheekbones and he leaned back in his chair, loosening his hand from his glass. No amount of drink would help him. "Just tell us, Beck. What of Tori?"

"Tori is alive," Beck replied while saying each word slow and careful. Holly let out a gasp, her hand shot to her chest and fresh tears sprouted from her eyes. "She's at the hospital right now. As for Trina, she's also at the hospital." David raised his head, his tears falling from his chin onto the table. "There's no easy way to say what I am about to say, but she is being placed under arrest in connection to the kidnapping of her sister."

A silence filled the room, so powerful that Beck could hear his own heart eating like a drum in his ears. David slid his fingers over his face, shaking his head from side to side. The lines on Holly's forehead deepened as she rose shakily from the table and stumbled towards Gary, who took her into his arms.

"I should have seen it," David said finally, "Or maybe I did but I ignored it. I didn't want to think my own daughter could do that." His words came between shocked gasps and trembles, his expression turning from disappointment to grief and anger. "I failed both of my children."

Holly made her way to David, she placed a hand on his shoulder and drew his gaze to her. "We'll get through this, David. The three of, together." David's lips parted and he looked to Gary, who flashed a friendly smile.

"Four," Gary replied, "Don't forget about Tori."

Slowly the man raised a hand to Holly's hand, nodding at the couple. "And Katrina?" He turned back to Beck, his eyebrows rising. "You said she's at the hospital too? What does that mean exactly?"

Beck let out a heavy sigh. The chase had already been on the news, but it was probable Gary didn't let the parents see it. "Trina led police on a high speed chase." David's eyes grew wide and Holly started to tense. The next words he had to choose very carefully, as he didn't know what was safe to say or how the parents might handle it. "A pit maneuver was performed and her car spun out, but the back end collided with an oncoming train."

Holly cried out in alarm and David looked like he was about to fall out of his chair. "Right now the doctors believe that she is stable and that she will pull through, but they are running multiple tests and will keep her in observation.

"But she may pull through?" There was hope in the man's voice. Beck knew from where it came. He'd already lost one daughter, now had that daughter back only to be told his other was now on the brink of death. It was a rollercoaster that Beck would never want to be on himself. "I-I don't care that she may be in prison, if she's still alive-"

"Again, the doctors do feel that she will pull through." He raised his hands and bowed his head a bit. "There is a good chance, however, she is going to face jailtime. Obviously I cannot go into details or speculations, even saying what I just did is a risk."

"Spare me. I'm the damn chief of police, I know this." The man's eyes dropped. "Or, I was the chief." Beck raised an eyebrow, looking from the man to Gary and back. "I intend to step down, to resign my post."

"Sir?"

"I have no business being Chief any longer." The man rubbed his misty eyes and started to cough. "No. I'm fighting liver disease, one daughter is going to prison and my other daughter is alive. I…I want to try and be there for them, for both of them, even though I know I don't deserve it."

"Can't say either of us do," Holly said as she slowly sat down. Her own eyes were wet with tears, her mouth curled into a frown as she spoke in almost a whisper. "We failed both of them; but maybe now we can be there. If it isn't too late."

"I don't think it's ever too late," Gary remarked. He moved behind the pair, standing between them as he put his hands on their shoulders. Smiling down at them, the two parents began to steady. "Better to step up late than never, and you've only failed if you never try."

Thoughts?