SHE FELT HIS EYES ON HER, STUDYING HER, GATHERING ANYTHING he could about her intentions. Her brows pulled together, eyes casted downward, and fingers clenched on to her jeans. Her father would say to leave it. To hide what she could do, and not bring attention to herself. She agreed… somewhat. What if she could be helpful? What if she could become more? Or, what if she would be tested on? Honestly, she didn’t know what to do. Could she trust the chief? He certainly wasn’t what she thought he would be like. Then again, those stories were from people she didn’t really call a friend. In reality, she didn’t have anyone but her mom and dad. And, one of them was gone.
THIS THOUGHT CAUSED HER TO FROWN, AND LIPS TREMBLED. TJ was not going to cry in front of Chief Hopper. She needed to know about this lab. As far as she was concerned, they had killed her mom. So, she found her strength to pull her gaze back to him, “ What happened with Terry Ives? Do you know anything about her? ” her voice shook a little as she wasn’t so sure what sort of reaction she would get, “ W-Was she wrong then? About what happened to her? To her child? ”
A BREATH WAS DRAWN OUT. EYES CLOSED FOR A SECOND to gather more strength. Would causing a conversation like this put her on his list of people to watch out for? Maybe? She didn’t know, but TJ was going to get as much information as she could, “ Chief, ” she started, voice quiet as she opened her eyes again, “ Please. I’m just… ” just what? She couldn’t even figure out her words, “ I need to know. ”
The longer she sat across from him, the more her discomfort seemed to grow. Just about anybody would react the same, though, being seated in the heart of the police station with the Chief himself, whether or not they were guilty of anything at all. He knows he can be an intimidating man to be around, even if he doesn’t try to put off that air about him. It’s difficult to avoid, standing at six-foot-three, with a reputation of severity that clearly precedes him. He does his damnedest not to intimidate kids, though. Especially kids that haven’t done anything wrong. He keeps his posture pretty lax, with her, leaning his shoulders into his chair, both hands on his desk, one of them fiddling idly with a metal pen, turning it over in his fingers, once, and again, as she forces herself to try and stay calm.
Terry Ives… A name he hasn’t heard in a while, but a name that sits heavy in his mind, almost daily. Already, his intuition begins to send a sinking feeling into his gut. He is not going to like where this is going. He clenches his jaw for a moment, as he too, collects a breath through his nose, looking over her with a carefully guarded expression. What in the hell could she know, or think she knows about Terry Ives?
❝ Where did you hear that name? ❞ He asks curiously, flicking his gaze to the fan next to his desk, wondering idly if perhaps, he should be running the damn thing to make some noise in here. To drown out their voices a touch and make it hard for those bugs that he knows are planted in his office to hear them. It had taken some sleuthing for even him and Joyce to come across Terry’s name, what was TJ doing, searching through old records? ❝ If you have to know... her story is bogus. She had a miscarriage, her baby wasn’t— taken. It’s tragic, sure, it broke my heart to hear it, but she was doing a lot of different drugs before she learned she was carrying. These things happen, sometimes, and everyone takes tragedy like that a little different. Unfortunately, in her case, the tragedy broke her. ❞