63 First Watch 9 45 AM
created: 2023-06-04T10:39 updated: 2023-06-04T10:
One of the downsides to living out in the country was that it took a while to get anywhere. It was almost ten before they reached the destination for breakfast, a brunch place called First Watch. They had taken the departmentally issued Explorer into town, so that Alex could keep an ear on what CIU was doing in regards to his suspects. Alex looked at Lilly and patted his side. She nodded and patted her purse. They were on the same page there, just like they always were. Suddenly, the radio crackled.
“S30, are you on this air?” Alex and Lilly shared a look as Alex picked up the mic.
“Affirm,” Alex said, opening the laptop and swiping his finger across the fingerprint reader. He pulled up the maps that would let him see the locations of cruisers two of the CIU cars were practically on top of him. Alex and Lilly looked at each other.
“Sir, the two that we’ve been following are inside, they’ve been in for about forty five minutes...” came the voice of one of the CIU units. Alex and Lilly shared a glance again.
“Well, I’m sure they didn’t get a good look at me this morning,” Alex said, looking at Lilly. Most of the details of what he did on the job were unknown to her so that she didn’t worry too much. “You saw the car I was in and it wasn’t this one, besides, unless he had binocs he didn’t have a good view of me anyway. I’ve got my radio, I’ll keep it turned down and if I need help, I’ll hit my banner.
“Copy Sarge.” The CIU unit said. “We’ve got your six.”
“What’s going on?” Samantha said, sitting forward in the back seat.
Alex looked at Lilly, who nodded. Anything that involved the safety of the girls should be fully disclosed. They had decided that last night before falling asleep. “This morning around four am, Lee’s phone got a text from Maxwell Richards. He was wondering why Lee hadn’t dropped you two off at the plane. We got in touch with the cell providers and tracked the phone down to a location. Detective Delaney and I met up and staked out the motel they were staying in. Around five thirty, they left the motel they were staying in and started driving around. I requested that the CIU units tail the Richards’ because they are better at it than I am.” Alex took a breath and turned as far as he could in the seat. “The person that just called me on the radio was Sargent Oliver Erickson. He’s been tailing these two since this morning. I’ll leave the choice up to you two, do we go in, or find somewhere else?”
Heather and Samantha looked at one another. “Will we be safe?” Heather asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes,” Alex said. “I’ll be damned if anything is going to happen to you two.” Alex looked out the window, trying to find the CIU units. He knew what he was looking for and couldn’t spot them... “Not to mention, there are four officers out here that will come in if something happens.”
“Let’s go eat...” Heather said, her voice resuming normal volume after she saw how protective this man that didn’t have to be was going to be.
“If either of you feel uncomfortable, say so and we’ll leave. Depending on how close we sit, try not to use each other’s names...” Alex said, closing the laptop. No sense in having a map of all the units in the city visible to anyone who wanted to look in.
“Ok.” Samantha and Heather said at the same time. Alex opened his door and got out, Lilly did the same and they both opened the back doors for the girls who got out. Lilly and Heather started toward the door with Samantha and Alex bringing up the rear. They walked in and Alex scanned the room, locating the people he was looking for. Two of the CIU guys were sitting near Maxwell and Brynn, having breakfast on their own. One of locked eyes with Alex, blinked twice, flicked his eyes to his left, blinked three times, paused, blinked three more times, and then blinked six times. He reached up to rub his eye like something had gotten into it. Alex blinked twice back, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.
“Good Morning, Sir,” the hostess said. “Four of you today?”
“Yes,” Alex said, removing his finger and thumb from his nose. “Can we sit over there?” Alex pointed to a table that was against a wall, with the backs of two chairs facing the rest of the dining room.
“Certainly, sir,” The hostess said, grabbing two menus and leading the way. When they got to the table, Lilly and Heather sat opposite Alex and Samantha. Alex leaned toward Samantha.
“See the two people at that table, the brown haired gentleman and the red head?” Alex whispered.
“Yeah,” She said.
“Recognize either of them?” he asked.
“Nope...” Samantha said, as the server walked up.
“Good Morning,” she said, her ponytail bouncing. “My name is Madison and I’ll be taking care of you today. What can I get you guys to drink?”
“Coffee,” Alex said, glancing up from his menu to see Brynn looking their direction. She quickly looked away and started talking to Maxwell.
“Coffee,” Lilly said.
“Chocolate milk,” was Heather’s response. Samantha looked at Alex.
“Can I have coffee?” she asked. Alex shrugged.
“Sure...” He said with a chuckle. “You know it’ll stunt your growth, right?” Samantha was already shorter than most girls her age at four foot nine inches. She rolled her eyes, which almost instantly started to water. Her dad had said the same thing to her the day he was killed. Alex noticed this and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear. “This is not the place for a breakdown, can you hold it together for a little bit?” She sniffled and then nodded. Alex glanced up to see Brynn walking toward them, Maxwell in tow, very much like a puppy being reluctantly led somewhere. Behind them Alex could see the CIU guys ready to spring to protect the Sargent and his sudden family. Lilly watched Alex tense up, and instinctively reached for her purse, acting like she was rummaging around for something. Sometimes ti was scary how in sync they were.
“Hi,” Brynn said, “I noticed your daughters and wanted to leave my card,” She rummaged around in her purse for a second, and pulled out a business card, which she handed to Alex.”I run a hair shop specializing in children’s hair and I’d love to see your daughters in the shop the next time they need something done with their hair; Homecoming maybe...” She smiled, noticing that neither of the two girls at the table looked up at her. “You guys have a good day.” Alex watched as Brynn and Maxwell left without a second glance at the family of four. Through the window, he could see them get into a car and leave. The CIU guys came over to the table.
“A little strange, eh?” one of them said. He had long grey hair that was pulled back in a ponytail.
“Yeah...” Alex said. The pair of officers looked at the girls and Lilly.
“You ok, or do you want us to stick around?”
“Now that they’re gone, we should be ok,” Alex said. “Besides, I have my walkie and my banner button...”
“Alrighty.” The other man said. “Have a good day.”
“You too,” Alex said, “Be careful out there...”
“What just happened?” Heather asked.
“That woman is the one that tried to sell you two,” Alex said, “We’ve been following her, and we’re gonna bring her down. You two are safe...” Madison came back up to the table, carrying a tray of drinks, which she distributed around the table. She saw the business card laying on the table.
“She gave you a card too?” Madison asked.
“Apparently...” Alex said, reaching into his pocket to pull out his shield. Madison glanced at it. “I would advise you not to go to her salon; She’s under investigation, that’s all I can say...”
“She gave me a stack of her cards to give out to the staff...” Madison said. Alex looked around, most of the serving staff seemed to be college age girls. A place like this would be like a department store for a trafficker.
“Can you bring them to me, please?” Alex said quietly. “We need a few minutes to look at the menu still.” He winked at her.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” As she walked away, Alex rubbed his temples. How many girls did he just save... Lilly exhaled.
“A hair salon?” She asked. “That’s her front?”
“Apparently,” Alex said, sipping his coffee. He still had no clue what he wanted to eat...