Neve Gallus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nevegallus) wrote2025-05-02 03:01 pm
nevegallus) wrote2025-05-02 03:01 pm
Entry tags:
The Wayward Child Case
She gets the call early. It works out, because she doesn't sleep much, but she still isn't used to her phone tootling out its cheerful melody and she startles from where she's looking at the colorful strands bisecting her living room wall. It's the Second City Case overlapping the Guided Prison Job, with different strands reaching different leads. She comes back to it now and then, adding pins and threads, but right now she's just been trying to find the pattern. It may not exist yet, but that doesn't mean she doesn't try.
Still, the phone.
She steps over to it and lifts it to her ear, thumbing the green button as she goes.
“Gallus,” she greets.
“Ms Gallus,” a voice on the other side says. “I apologize for the early hour, but you told me to call as soon as I could.”
“Not at all. Charlie, isn't it? What can I do for you, Charlie?”
She thinks she knows, but she asks anyway, and she keeps her voice neutral so she doesn't give away her hopefulness or her excitement. It can't be. She can't be that lucky. Darrow can't be that kind.
“You asked me to call if we got any packets for red-headed girls named Sophie,” he reminds, and there's a beat, during which Neve stops herself from pressing And? before Charlie says, “Well, we got one this morning.”
Neve feels her fingers tighten against the phone and she nods, then says, “Thanks, Charlie, I'll be right there.”
She doesn't know what Sophie looks like, not really. Red hair, pigtails, green eyes, small for her age. That's it. But that's a head start, and she knows who to ask for better.
She hangs up with Charlie and then thumbs through her contact list for Shion.
“It's Neve,” she says when he answers. “Meet me at Parliament Street, on the corner of Watling.”
She leaves it at that and grabs her keys and coat, tossing her hair up into its twist on her way out the door. Then she grabs a cab to the train station.
Perhaps it had been unkind to give the street corner instead of simply saying ‘the train station’, but there's a part of her that doesn't want to get his hopes up. Not yet. Not until they're sure.
She stands at the corner and clasps her hands together, trying not to wring them.
Still, the phone.
She steps over to it and lifts it to her ear, thumbing the green button as she goes.
“Gallus,” she greets.
“Ms Gallus,” a voice on the other side says. “I apologize for the early hour, but you told me to call as soon as I could.”
“Not at all. Charlie, isn't it? What can I do for you, Charlie?”
She thinks she knows, but she asks anyway, and she keeps her voice neutral so she doesn't give away her hopefulness or her excitement. It can't be. She can't be that lucky. Darrow can't be that kind.
“You asked me to call if we got any packets for red-headed girls named Sophie,” he reminds, and there's a beat, during which Neve stops herself from pressing And? before Charlie says, “Well, we got one this morning.”
Neve feels her fingers tighten against the phone and she nods, then says, “Thanks, Charlie, I'll be right there.”
She doesn't know what Sophie looks like, not really. Red hair, pigtails, green eyes, small for her age. That's it. But that's a head start, and she knows who to ask for better.
She hangs up with Charlie and then thumbs through her contact list for Shion.
“It's Neve,” she says when he answers. “Meet me at Parliament Street, on the corner of Watling.”
She leaves it at that and grabs her keys and coat, tossing her hair up into its twist on her way out the door. Then she grabs a cab to the train station.
Perhaps it had been unkind to give the street corner instead of simply saying ‘the train station’, but there's a part of her that doesn't want to get his hopes up. Not yet. Not until they're sure.
She stands at the corner and clasps her hands together, trying not to wring them.
no subject
"Deal," he says, now holding the ID tightly, his expression serious, even stricken, as he looks to Neve again. For all that he hides from her, he's let his guard down with her more than perhaps anyone in this city. For what she's given him now, that feels fair. "I'll take the mansion. I know it better." He tries to shake off how stunned he feels, reaching for the envelope to start shuffling everything back into it. Sophie will need these.
As he pulls the envelope against his chest, ready to start off, he stops, hesitates. "Thank you," he says. It's not something he says as often as he probably should. It's not something that's ever been quite as warranted as this.
no subject
"Thank me once we've found her," she says. The job isn't done until Sophie's been found, after all. Knowing she's in the city is just one more lead in the case.
no subject
She's also right, though. Finding Sophie matters more than anything else. He nods and flashes her a small, grateful smile. "I will," he says, all fierce bravado, and starts off. He'll find her, no matter what it takes.