Voices began to rise above the music, but at this point, the sound was only one of interest, not alarm. Both detectives knew this needed to be kept as quiet as possible before the situation got out of control. Chief Vick moved quickly up to the pair with a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "What is going on?" she hissed.
Juliet answered quietly so that she wouldn't be overheard, "Shawn and I spotted Councilman Francisco's daughter crying and Mayor Schneider's daughter is missing. I was just briefing Carlton before seeing what Shawn's found out."
"Okay good. I'll get the Mayor and bring her to the atrium. Juliet, you go with Shawn and take the girl there and Carlton, get Dale and bring him as well. Just, don't make a scene. We need to keep everyone calm. It won't be long before people notice that the exits are blocked and then we're going to have a panic." She glanced up at a spot above Juliet's head. The detective jumped when she realized that Buzz was standing directly behind her. "Detective McNab, call in all available units to patrol the area in a two block radius around City Hall. Tell them to be on the lookout for anyone with a girl fitting Melissa Schneider's description. Now, go people."
The four of them moved quickly to their tasks. Juliet moved quickly over to Shawn and whispered in his ear. She showed her badge to the young girl and the trio left the room without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary.
Lassiter gave Marlowe a quick kiss and whispered for her to stay in the ball room. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She nodded with a worried smile and watched him move over toward a tall, handsome man with blonde hair showing only the slightest trace of gray. The man's eyes widened at the detective's quiet words but he nodded and followed.
The two men walked quickly out of the room with only a few people taking notice. Soon they were at the large set of double doors. Lassiter opened them and motioned the man into a large interior courtyard filled with trees and flowers. The councilman called out to his daughter and rushed toward her. The girl yelled, "Daddy!" and threw herself into his arms.
Drying his girl's tears, the older man looked up at Shawn and Juliet. "What's going on? Why did you bring my daughter here?" His tone was suspicious and angry.
Juliet spoke softly, "Councilman Francisco, your daughter was the last person to see the Mayor's daughter. It's possible the girl has been kidnapped and we need any information your daughter can give us."
Another voice called out in alarm. "My girl is missing? What is going on here? Why aren't you looking for her?" Everyone turned to see Mayor Schneider enter the room, followed closely by Chief Vick. The mayor was an attractive woman with dark curly hair and olive skin. She was dressed in a dark blue blazer and matching calf-length skirt. Normally, she was smiling but at the moment, her expression was anything but friendly.
Chief Vick quickly took control of the situation. "Helene, please calm down and let my people work. We'll get to the bottom of this and find Melissa as quickly as possible." The woman nodded and seemed to deflate under the weight of her emotions. Karen nodded at Shawn and Juliet before glancing down at the distraught girl.
Juliet knelt down next to her and spoke softly, "I'm Detective O'Hara. We need you to answer a few questions about what happened. Can you do that?" The girl nodded and sniffed loudly while wiping away tears.
Shawn stepped up and knelt down too and asked in a gentle voice. "Your name is Angela, right?"
"How did you know?" Shawn grinned and thought back to his careful study of the city officials and their bios. That kind of information always came in handy.
"My name is Shawn Spencer. I help the police with cases."
"You're the psychic guy, right?" Her excitement was obvious and Shawn knew that he would get her full cooperation. "Shouldn't you be able to figure out where Missy is? Can't you see the future or something?"
"That's not really how it works. The spirits tell me things and send me visions - like one of you shopping for this pretty new dress, something special for this party." Shawn had spotted a tag of her dress that was a brand only found in some of the expensive stores downtown. He decided to gamble that the dress was new. Another idea sparked in his mind and he added. "Melissa was with you too, wasn't she? You both got new dresses." They were dressed in a very similar style.
The girl's eyes went wide and she gasped. "That's right! We went last Wednesday, right after school. My Mommy took us!"
"Shopping with your mom and a friend? Sounds like a really nice time." Shawn could practically hear Lassiter's teeth grinding together impatiently so he got right to the questions. "Angela, can you tell me what happened tonight?"
The girl’s eyes brimmed with tears again but she spoke bravely. "Missy and I were playing tick-tock tag."
"Is that the one where the person you tag has to wait a few seconds before they can chase you?" Shawn had played the game a lot with Gus when they were kids because it was the only way two people could play tag without it turning into a slap fight. Lassiter let out an exasperated sigh, but Shawn ignored it. He closed his eyes and placed his fingers to his temples, "I can see it. You tagged Melissa and ran off, but when you looked back, she wasn't chasing you. Where were you when you last saw her?"
"In the hallway."
"Can you show us?"
The girl nodded and grabbed Shawn's hand, pulling him toward the door. Before they got two steps, the councilman's voice rang out. "Just a minute! You're not running through the halls with my daughter when there could be a wanted criminal on the loose."
Shawn grinned back at him a replied, "Of course not. We're All going!" He grabbed the councilman by the hand and nodded to Angela, who quickly led them all out of the room.
"Hold on, people!" Karen's voice made everyone jump. "Detectives, you go with Shawn, Dale and his daughter. I'm going to get the mayor back to the ballroom before people start to get suspicious." She turned to look gravely at Helene and added, "Then we're going to get you out of this building to a secure location."
"Karen, I'm not going to run off somewhere while my child is at risk."
"I'm sorry, Helene. Your safety has to be our first priority. I assure you that my people will handle this situation with the utmost caution and professionalism." She winced suddenly as she heard Shawn call out "I'm IT!" She looked to find him playing with Angela while Lassiter quickly became red in the face. She caught Shawn's eye and though he was smiling, his gaze was very serious. He nodded to Karen before turning to chase the girl out of the room.
When she turned back to the mayor, she was looking at the door where the others had left. "Sometimes, I wonder why you work with that man, but I can't argue with his track record. Do you really think he's psychic?"
Karen chuckled and chose her words carefully. "I don't really believe in 'psychic abilities' but he is extremely gifted. Whatever his process, he and his partner have been valuable assets to my department." After a slight pause, she continued. "Time to get you out of here."
"I still don't like this. That's my daughter who's missing."
"I know how you feel. Believe me..." Karen trailed off into silence as two of the most influential women in Santa Barbara exited the room.
In the hall, Angela led the adults (and Shawn) to the place where she had last seen her playmate. Immediately, Shawn told everyone to stop and back away. "You'll cloud my psychic receptors! Now, Angela, can you tell me where you tagged her. Show me the spot."
She ran over to a where the hall split in a T-intersection. "Right here."
"And which way did you run?" Angela pointed further down the hall, away from the adults. "Okay, now this is very important. I need you to run that way and stop when you get to the place where you noticed that Melissa was gone." The girl nodded and ran down the hall, her dress swishing around her ankles and her light brown hair bobbing up and down.
She stopped where the hallway took a turn and looked back. "This is where I was!" She called out excitedly.
"And did it take you that long to run there?" She nodded again.
Juliet moved next to Shawn and whispered, "You think the kidnapper grabbed Melissa while Angela was running away."
"Yeah, and with how much time it took, he had to have gone down this way; otherwise he would have been seen." He knelt down and studied where the girl had been grabbed. He sniffed the air and while Juliet did the same, he asked quietly, "Smell that? Chloroform. And there," he said, pointing at the floor leading down the opposite hallway. "Scuff marks where he dragged her backwards before lifting her up. Angela, did you come running right back to this spot?"
"No, I didn't run. I thought Missy was trying to trick me so I sneaked back."
Councilman Francisco spoke up. "Can't you 'divine' which way the kidnapper went?" The suspicion in his voice was obvious. Next to him, Lassiter's eyes narrowed. He was becoming accustomed to how the 'psychic' worked and he nodded at Shawn, who stood up with fingers pressed to his temples.
"I can see it clearly. The kidnapper stepped up behind the girl here." He spun Juliet around and moved behind her while lifting a hand to her face. "He placed a rag over her mouth and nose and dragged her backward as she fell unconscious." After re-enacting his words with Juliet, she elbowed him and moved away with an angry look in her eyes. Shawn mouthed the words "Sorry babe" before adding aloud. "He didn't have much time so he took the girl this way, to the first doors he could find." He pointed down the hallway and immediately, Carlton let out a soft curse.
Printed in large red letters, a sign on the door read, "Emergency Exit Only."
Author's Chapter Notes:
I probably should have made a spoiler warning for Marlowe and Lassie being together in the first chapter. So yeah, general spoiler warning for "This Episode Sucks" or any of the rest of season six where they are together. On with the show!
Chapter End Notes:
So I'm sure that Helene Schneider is not the mayor in the show, but she IS the mayor of SB in real life. And Dale Francisco is a city councilman. Hurray for the internet!!
I did make up their daughters though. Hope you like the story so far. Let me know!
I did make up their daughters though. Hope you like the story so far. Let me know!
You must login () to review.