Chapter Text
David was pondering as he looked down the road whether it would be safe to hand the wheel to the colleague in the passenger seat.
"Do you know I'm going to miss you and that frown of yours?" The young woman with long wavy blond hair crossed her arms and mimicked David's expression. Or at least she tried. "I'm David Budd, and I don't like pranks."
Getting away from Emma Duke would be nice. The rookie detective is good at guessing, but she liked to interact with people way too much and that meant pissing David off as much as she could.
"I'll feel yours too," a genuine smile took over the face of the amazing blonde haired girl "only relieved."
'Idiot!'
The girl reached into the bag of chips, took out a handful of corn chips with artificial colors, then threw it at David.
"You're going to clean this car later."
"You're deluding yourself." Emma retorted.
The car radio made the weird noise before a man, probably from central, began to speak: Car 627, this is Officer Rutherford. Tell me your coordinates.
Emma didn't bother wiping her hands before picking up the communicator. At least the girl swallowed the contents she was chewing in her mouth before speaking.
"This is Detective Duke, we're near the entrance to the city of Beaconsfield, over."
“I will redirect you. The path should already be in the GPS. Duke, can you confirm me?"
"Yes sir. Can you tell us what we are going to do in this house?"
There was a long pause. David and Emma looked at each other.
“It's a security measure. Don't draw attention."
"A security measure for what, sir?" - David asked as he took the radio from his colleague's hand.
"Protecting a child. She is of the utmost importance, so do everything you can to keep her safe."
Emma took the radio back.
"Right. We're on our way."
"Must be the son of some politician who's done some shit and needs surveillance," said David, twitching his lips.
"Rutherford said it's her ."
"A piece of information that doesn't influence anything."
Emma shrugged her shoulders back, looking out the window at the landscape. The older cop went over in his head with his hands on the steering wheel what activities he would take the kids to at the end of the week. Ella was asking to go to a concert, but Charlie can't attend and doesn't like the idea. The boy had stated several times in the last few weeks that he would rather be muddy than having to see a group of teenagers singing. Vicky had agreed with him that Ella could go if David took her, without him Ella wouldn't be allowed.
But David could also travel to California or Orlando. The two children had already said since Christmas last year that they wanted to visit the Disney park. David would have liked Vicky to accompany him, but he recognized that she deserved some alone time with her boyfriend. The two of them were putting up with every time he ended up having to call and say he couldn't keep the kids like he had agreed to at the beginning of the month. They put up with the little ones' rebellious impulses and calmed them down.
“Whoever it is has a really, really nice house. I'm sure my uncle would buy this house to give to my aunt for her wedding anniversary."
David presented himself at the main gate which allowed the detectives in immediately. He parked the car just beyond the main entrance so as not to impede anyone from coming or going.
"Check your badge." He asked for the young woman.
"Right, Sergeant Budd."
He went to the door. He rang the bell and a man in a suit opened the door. David took the badge and held it up to the man's eyes.
“I'm Sergeant David Budd and this” he pointed at Emma, who had just arrived with a big smile on her face “is my fellow Detective Duke. The center sent us."
"Come in."
As soon as they entered, they were approached by another man in a suit.
“I must stress that whatever you see here must be kept strictly confidential. Take it to the grave." the man offered his hand "Thomas Brian Ward, current head of security."
David shook the man's hand.
"David Budd."
"I know."
“You speak as if someone has taken your position before.” David turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from. A woman had just entered the space carrying a baby—“Tell me Louise is nearby. Liliy is sick.”
“I just spoke to the lady's PPO. They have been detained in London as a security measure and there is a riot in front of the House of Commons."
"I want to see them keep her there."
Emma leaned into David, whispering: "I like that one."
The baby on the woman's lap looked to the side, finding the head of security and leaning over to him putting her hands on the receiver.
“Lily,” Brian put his hand on the receiver trying to free it from the baby's grip. “Lily, you can't.
The woman gave the baby to Ward.
"Stay with her for a while, I don't want to see her cry because you refused to take her." the man pressed his lips together into a thin line entering the room "It's no use making that face. Your job is to keep her safe." the woman turned to the detectives—"My name is Penelope, Lily's nanny."
"Hello lady..."
The woman interrupted Emma.
“I know who you are. I saw you perform a couple of times. You don't have to call me ma'am. Come, Ward will give you information."
David accompanied her. The room is very spacious and decorated in neutral tones and tall windows that go from the ceiling to the floor accompanied by heavy curtains. Perhaps it would be comical to see the head of security surrendered by the baby. Baby, to whom he unintentionally paid more attention. The girl named Lily is very cute and very beautiful with brown hair slightly curly at the ends and beautiful light brown eyes. The girl seemed happy to play with the agent's hand. Ward kept his expression serious.
“I've had three members of my team inspecting the area for every half hour since the threat was made. As you can see, only authorized people can enter here. Every ten square meters of the property is guarded by a schematic system of cameras and sensors to keep out intruders, but not everything is perfect. This girl…” Ward crouched down, holding the girl by the hands. David came to the conclusion that the baby couldn't have been more than a year and a half trying to take wobbly steps "Moving on, not everything is perfect. and my team isn't big enough to sweep the property and protect the house, so I've kept most of my men around the main entrances.
"How many men?"
"Six with me and the doorman."
“Okay.” David walked to the window keeping his hands behind his back, “Detective Duke and I are going to draw our own conclusions. Let's start by evaluating where you reported the failure occurred. I assume the cameras shorted out at the same time for about a few minutes or hours?"
"Yes, fifty-three minutes to be exact."
David looked in his colleague's direction and said, "Let's get started."
Emma smiled at him. She flexed her knees going to the floor getting close to the child.
"Hi Lily!" the girl took her hand "She's so cute."
"Detective Duke." David caught the attention of the woman who was on her feet in seconds. “We have work to do.”
“Drake will accompany you. The property is big."
Both nodded in agreement, following the directive. David took a few more seconds before he left the room, seeing the girl lifting one of her feet up. He heard Sergeant Thomas tell the girl that she would fall if she continued. A low noise of the body colliding with the floor was possible to hear.
"Lily Marie Anne, what did I say?"
The next event was the girl's shrill cry being heard from the front door.
"Thomas! You know she thinks she's getting scolded when she says her full name. Louise's fault."
"I didn't even get to the last name."
"David," Emma called to him from the door, "let's go."
He followed Emma and Drake, but his mind wandered to countless places other than the present.