Title: Grampa Who?
Author: Lizzy
Email: bsblizard@hotmail.com
Rated: G
Challenge: 136
Disclaimer: I don't know nor am I affiliated with anyone involved
in the TV program. This is pure fiction.
Summary: Sharon Sandford couldn't bring her self to tell her
daughter why they were going to LA. That fight 20 years ago tore
apart her family and now she wants to fix it, but it may be up to
her daughter.
Grampa Who?
"Dr. Sloan to the front desk. Dr. Sloan to the front please.
You have a message." The intercom called through the
hospital.
"Hello. Speaking. Yeah Steve I'll be right there. What is
it?" Dr. Sloan asked, a little worried by his son's tone.
" Thanks Dad, I think you'll wanna see this. Bye."
Steve was in shock. It had been so long and now he thinks he's
back. "I sure hope your not who I think you are." He
said after hanging up the phone.
** At the Station**
" What is it Steve? You sounded worried." Mark had
rushed over to see his pale son sitting outside the station.
"Are you ok? Steve? Steve?"
" Oh yeah, sorry I kinda lost it. I need you to look at
this." A shadow seemed to pass over Steve's face as he moved
into the station.
"What is… Oh my goodness." It was then Mark
noticed a picture of a man in his mid-forties on Steve's desk.
"Is that Jonathan?"
" I was hoping you could tell me. He was in a car accident a
year ago. A couple of fishermen found the body floating in the
lake. No onecould identify him. I was hoping you could tell me if
it was." Steve said holding the crime scene photo.
" I sure hope not." Mark said worriedly.
"Lieutenant Sloan to the front your student is here."
The intercom suddenly broke the silence.
" Oh yeah. Some kids from the New York Police Academy coming
to work for a semester. I got stuck with watching one. I think
his name is Ryan." Steve said as they rounded the corner.
"Hello…You're a girl!"
"And you're a man! Hi I'm Ryan Sandler." She said
extending her hand. "Sorry if you were expecting a guy. That
happens a lot believe it or not."
" Sorry I was told you were a guy." Steve replied quite
sheepishly. "This is my dad Dr. Sloan. He's also a
consultant here."
" Hello, pleasuring meeting you Ryan. I better get going.
I'll see you at Bob's tonight. Bring the file. I wanna look at it
some more." Mark said on his way out.
"Well I guess we better get started. Here are the files for
my current case." He said as he handed her the folder. Her
face paled as she saw the picture. "I know it's kind of
gruesome, but it's the only picture we have. The police think it
was a car accident. The driver was most likely drunk and ran off
the road. This is the case report from to of our newer recruits.
I'm not sure how accurate it is. If you have any questions feel
free."
" Actually yes. What is the his name, and where was he
from?" Ryan had finally gotten over her shock enough to ask
some questions.
"We're not sure of his Identity at the moment. The body was
just found recently, so we don't have a lot of info yet. The
autopsy and report should be in by tonight." The two
continued talking about the case and police work in
general for a few more hours. "Wow! I better get to
Bob's" Steve said as he heard the clock strike seven.
"I can't believe it's been this long. We'll put the case to
bed for now. I better bring it in case Dad wants to look at it.
Do you wanna have dinner with us?"
" Wouldn't Bob mind? I'd hate to intrude. What?" She
was a little confused by Steve's chuckle. "What'd I
say?"
" Bob's is Bar-B-Que. Bob's. It's a restraunt my friend and
I own. And no one will mind you coming. It'll be good to have a
fresh face around." Steve was a little tickled by her last
remark.
" Sounds great. Give me a sec. first." Ryan said as she
headed off to the restroom in the back. She sighed as she looked
into the mirror. In a few days it'll be a year since her father
went missing. She still wasn't over it. Those pictures brought
back so many memories. "I can't believe the case finally
getting some where. I figured they would give up by now."
She said to herself as she stared into the mirror. She rubbed the
small golden locket around her neck.
"I just hope it wasn't alcohol."
"Alright Steve I'm ready when you are." She said
emerging from the back. "Who all is gonna be there?"
"My friends Amanda and Jesse and then my dad who you just
met. Come on let's go." Steve grabbed his coat and handed
Ryan hers. "I hope you like Barbecue."
** Restraunt **
"Hey Steve." Jesse said as Ryan and Steve walked
through the door. "Who is this lovely lady with you?"
He said with a smile.
"Hi, Ryan Sandler. Pleasure to meet you. You must be
Jesse." Ryan was trying her hardest not to feel nervous. It
wasn't working.
"Hi I'm Amanda. We work at the hospital with Mark. Here's
the autopsy on John Doe. I figured you'd want it right
away." She said with a smile.
"His name is Jonathan Sandford, or Lieutenant
Sandford." Ryan said very matter-o-factly. "I worked on
this case in New York. He was one of the best cops on the force.
He put Jerald Gillis, one of the worst serial rapist in all of
New York, behind bars. He's done other things since then, but
that's the most well known. The interesting thing is that he went
missing on the five-year anniversary of the day he put Gillis
behind bars. It's also a week after Gillis was released from
prison." Ryan felt a little weird telling all this, but
they'd probably find out more soon. Hopefully this would delay
the rest of the questions.
"Wow! Why didn't you mention this sooner?" Steve was
amazed that she knew all of this. It also seemed a little
suspicious. Why was she telling this now, and not when they were
at the station? They talked for hours. If she knew this much, why
didn't she speak up sooner? Things just didn't make since. I mean
she had so many questions, half of which she just answered.
Weird!
" I didn't think it was important?" This was meant more
as a "would you believe that" sort of tone. "Ok,
ok I needed to know how much you knew, and to see if you were
hiding stuff to keep me out of the way. I figured now you were
being honest, so I told you what I knew."
Ryan was a little scared this would be her downfall, but they
needed to know that much, for Jonathan's sake. The rest of the
night the guys just talked about the usual. Where was she from,
how old was she, why did she want to become a police officer,
along with many other things. As the topic slowed they decided it
was time to turn in for the night.
"Ryan how about you stay at our house for the night. It's
kind of late, and I don't want you to wake anyone up going in at
this hour. Steve can take you to the station in the
morning." Mark really hoped she would stay. He was a little
curious about the amount of info she knew about the case. If she
knew that much who's to say she doesn't know more.
" Sure if its not too much trouble. I'd hate to be a
bother." Ryan didn't really care where she went as long as
she got to sleep. Mark also didn't seem like the time of person
to take no for an answer, and she wasn't up to an argument.
"No problem. Let's go." Steve said on his way out the
door.
It was a pretty quiet car ride. It was about midnight and no one
was up to talking. Even at sixteen, Ryan wasn't fully awake.
**Next Morning**
"Good morning everyone." Ryan had woken up to the aroma
of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. "You know it's impossible to
stay asleep in this house with these wonderful smells. How was
everyone's night? Mine was great. I haven't slept that well in a
year."
"That's good. Here eat up." Mark handed her a plate of
food and some orange juice. "Steve should be out of the
shower in a little bit."
"Who's next?" Steve said as he walked out about ten
minutes later. "Take your time. We don't have to be in until
ten."
"Ok thanks. I won't be long." Ryan hurriedly went into
the bathroom. She hoped there wouldn't be any questions about
last night's conversation. She wanted to be fully awake with her
guns loaded before they started.
"Dad, I'm not sure about this kid." Steve said as soon
as Ryan left the room. "I mean she seems to be hiding a lot
of stuff. The look on her face when she saw the pictures. I could
have sworn she knew him."
"I know. I just think she might be helpful on this one. You
said yourself it seemed a little suspicious. Maybe she knows
something. It never hurts to have someone who knew the victim.
Here have some food. It'll wake up your brain." Mark was
hoping that this wasn't the same Jonathan.
"Oh yeah, Steve I need to tell you I have a class today. Is
it alright if I get off a little early, so I can get there?"
Ryan
said as she walked into the room.
"Sure, we better think about leaving." Steve grabbed
his coat and started for the door. "See ya later Dad."
** The Class **
"Hey Ryan! Wait up. I heard about your dad." Sarah,
Ryan's best friend, ran up to her.
" Hey. Can you keep quiet about my dad for a bit? I'm not
ready to relinquish that info yet. How are things? You like the
class so far?"
Sarah was a little confused by Ryan. Why would she want to hide
that? " It's great. I don't quite understand all of it
though. Is your mom still coming? It's been so long since I've
seen her."
"Yeah. She's gonna go to the festival like Dad and I use
to…" At this point Ryan's face got really pale.
"I've gotta go. Tell officer Cane it's a family
emergency." At this point Ryan had broken into a run and was
heading for the door. "Ooof!" Ryan rammed into Steve
knocking her to the ground. "Sorry I guess I wasn't paying
attention."
"It's all right. Ryan I need to tell you something… I
don't know how to say this." Ryan's gaze was on Steve. She
knew what was coming. He fumbled on for about ten minutes.
"Ryan, I saw your mom today. She's… well she's…
oh… she's dead." Steve's face was hard as stone. He
didn't move, not even blink.
The tears began to swell in Ryan's eyes. She turned away and
swallowed hard. "Oh." Then she got up and walked out.
"I can't believe this! How could it happen! It's not
fair!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Then she ran.
She ran past the hospital. She ran into the park. Ryan slowed as
she passed the family having a pick-knick by the swings. She
burst into tears while she watched the little girl's daddy push
her on the swings. "I use to have that. Use
to…" Ryan stopped bye a lake. The lake her dad use to
take her to every year at this same time.
"Mind if I sit down?" Mark said as he walked over.
" Ryan, sweetie, I'm sorry. I know how hard this is. We can
call your dad in the morning."
"No." Mark's face looked puzzled. "My dad is…
he's… My dad is dead. He died a year ago today. He was
Jonathan Sandford. My name is Ryan Sandford." It felt good
for her to get that off her chest. She'd wanted to tell them for
so long.
" Ok, now we just have to find the murderer. This couldn't
be coincidental." The two walked off.
To be continued...
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