CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR – Chen

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"SO HOW WAS YOUR DATE?" Rossi asked her T.O walking out the locker room.

"It was good" Vienna replied with a nod.

"Reyes, Rossi. Did you see Lucy in the locker room?" Nolan asked the two cutting their conversation short as him and Jackson walked over to them.

"No. Why?" Reyes asked them.

"If she's just running late and we ring the fire alarm, she'll get dinged, but-" Nolan started turning to Jackson.

"But if we don't and something terrible-"

"Grey!" Vienna called cutting Jackson's sentence short.

"Yeah?" Grey asked walking over to them.

"Tell him" Reyes told the two rookies.

"Lucy did not come home last night. She's not responding to texts or calls" Officer Nolan explained to him and Bradford.

"Okay. W- Did she go out with that guy?" Bradford asked the two, "The- The one she met at a bar. Caleb...Wright, with a W"

"Yeah, yeah, she was, uh, heading to meet him when we walked out together last night about 8:30. Haven't heard from her since" Jackson told him.

"Could've ended up at this place- overslept" Grey suggested, the two rookies shook their heads.

"No. Lucy doesn't do one-night stands" "No. And she's never late" Jackson and Nolan replied quickly. Summer gave Nolan a confused look.

"What do you know about this Caleb guy?" Grey asked.

"Nothing"

"No, he, uh- he said that he worked for a medical supply company. I saw a video of him playing with a puppy" Tim explained, they all looked at him confused. "Chen was checking out his social media page"

"Alright, take West, run a background check" Grey ordered, "I want to know everything you can find on Caleb before we knock on his door. And Reyes find Armstrong"

"Got it" Vienna nodded and walked away from the group.

"The bartender at Las Torres recognized Lucy and Caleb. The good news- there's a security camera in the parking lot, so we know they left at 9:05. The bad news" Armstrong started writing on the whiteboard. "The camera angle's too steep to recognize faces. Two minutes later, this car drove by" showing the officers the security footage.

"The license plate on Caleb's car was reported stolen earlier that day. Officer Chen's car was found in the alley where she left it last night. Which means we believe Caleb is Rosalind's protege and he took Officer Chen" Grey explained, Vienna sighed looking at the floor. "I know how upsetting this is, but we have to remain focused. She's counting on us. Any other questions?"

...

"No Armstrong?" Dyer asked Reyes as she stepped into her cell.

"He's working another case" The blonde replied, Rosalind gave her a look of disbelief looking up at her.

"Let's not start with lies. He found the letter I hid, which means he found the package I arranged for him. Tell me everything. Did he cry?" The redhead asked her. "I know most women find it a turn-off but I love it when a man cries"

Vienna rolled her eyes, "We're not here to talk about Armstrong. We're gonna talk about your favorite subject. You" The blonde spat.

"You're upset" Rosalind noticed raising a brow. "I understand. That pretty police officer is in trouble, it's all over the news"

"Then you understand why it's so important that we find her, I've come to make you an offer"

"I'm listening" Dyer replied quickly with a slight smirk on her face.

"Tell me who the guy is and where I can find him"

"And, why would I do that?" She questioned.

"To regain control" The blonde began, "I saw your statement to the press. I mean, yes, you project strength but clearly, it's coming from a place of weakness" Rosalind scoffed looking away from the woman. "You know Caleb is stealing your thunder, right?"

"He's not. His kills are my kills"

"Oh, t-that's not how the world sees it" Vienna replied with a slight chuckle, "No, he's the boogeyman now, not you. Caleb is eclipsing you, and you know it, soon enough...you're just gonna be afterthought" she shrugged her shoulders.

"I will never be an afterthought" The redhead snapped back.

"Oh, face it, you already are. Yesterday was your last day driving this narrative and now Caleb's taking it over. Unless you turn on him, show him, show the world no one eclipses Rosalind Dyer" The blonde told her before glancing over to a box of chocolates in Rosalind's cell, "I'll give you 30 minutes to think about it, and after that, I'm gone" and she walked away.

"Looks like you got through to her" Harper told the blonde.

"Maybe, but we might not need her anymore" She replied as Harper and Nolan looked at her confused. "Sergeant Hernandez, does she get any packages delivered?"

"Only thing she's received since she's been here is some fan letters, and the censors go over those with a magnifying glass" Hernandez said to her.

"I saw some Bovetti Chocolates in her cell. I'm assuming those are not from the prison commissary"

"No. they're not, black market items make it everywhere inside this place, even death row" He sighed before walking away.

"That's how Rosalind has been communicating with Caleb. Notes hidden inside contraband" Harper realized.

"We need to find whoever's running contraband into the prison. That's who gonna lead us to Caleb"

...

"Time's up. I want an answer" Reyes said to Rosalind as Rosalind just blankly stared straight ahead.

"There's a flaw in your theory, and you just can't see it" Dyer replied looking up and the blonde. "And now you've squandered the one thing you don't have- time"

"What are you saying?"

"The third grave was never the end game" She replied.

"Then what was?" Vienna asked her.

"Not what, who" 

Vienna quickly turned around to Harper and Nolan, "Armstrong, he's going after Armstrong" She told them and quickly grabbed her phone out her pocket walking out of Rosalind's cell. "Come on, Nick. Pick up the phone"

...

"LAPD unit on site. We cannot wait for SWAT. we're going in" Nolan said into his radio after pulling up at the cabin. The three officers grabbed their gun approaching the house, stepping over the tripwire landing to the house.

Nolan gave the signal looking in the window as Harper went around back with her gun ready. Nolan nodded to the blonde and she kicked the door in.

"LAPD! Drop that gun!" She yelled pointing her gun at Caleb. He turned around aiming for the officer but Harper shot him hitting him in the chest.

"No!" Armstrong shouted quickly getting up from the couch. "He's the only one who knows where Lucy is!" as Reyes and Nolan rushed into the room.

"Stabilize his head" Vienna told them putting her gun in its holster. "Let's roll him over" Armstrong and Nolan quickly rolled the man over. "Find something to put pressure on that" before grabbing her radio. "This is Officer Vienna Reyes. I need a Code 3 ambulance sent to 757 Old Farm Road. Gunshot wound victim, male in his 30s conscious and breathing"

"Copy. Code 3 ambulance en route. Be advised ambulance ETA is eight minutes"

"He won't last that long" Harper pointed out, "I'm gonna get the first aid kit" walking out while Vienna quickly put her gloves on and grabbed her phone out her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked her kepting pressure on Caleb's wound.

"Eddie, the ambulance is eight minutes out. I have a gunshot wound victim, one round to the chest. If he dies, Lucy dies" She explained to Eddie on the other end of the phone.

"Turn the phone around so I can see" Eddie told her, "Closer. I can't see. More light" as Caleb's pushed the blondes arm away.

"Hold him, Nolan, get your flashlight" he quickly did what she said as Harper rushed back with the first aid kit.

"Okay, Pull the cloth away from the wound. Gently push down on different parts of his abdomen" Eddie said to her, she did what he told him as Caleb screamed in pain. "Vienna, I need to see inside the wound"

"How am I supposed to do that?" She questioned.

"Pull the flesh back from around the wound"

Long story short Caleb died, the only way to find Lucy now was to search around the desert.

"I've got her!" The officer heard Tim yell as the officer quickly rushed over to Tim's aid. They quickly dug up the barrel opening the lid and pulled Lucy out.

"Is she breathing?"

"No, no" Tim mumbled before quickly starting CPR. Lucy gasped taking a breath as the rest of the team sighed in relief seeing the woman alive.

PRESENT DAY

"What the fuck happened this week?" Vienna asked herself staring into her morning coffee taking in the events of the last few days.

Tysm for reading! Hope y'all enjoyed sorry for any spelling mistakes!

Written: 22/06/2023

Published: 12/08/2023

Word Count: 1446