silver_moon (silver_moon) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-10-02 00:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | place: la, ~august ridley, ~nichelle tameron |
You know that I could charge with fleeing a crime scene
Who: Nichelle and August
Where: The Tameron Residence
When: Friday Afternoon, October 1st
Nichelle slowed along with the couple of cars in front of her to glance over at the crowd starting to gather on the walk to her right. Something seemed to be catching peoples attention and when the teen dared a glance up she caught sight of a figure standing at the edge of the rooftop. Her eyes went wide when the person, Nichelle not realizing it was a woman until the form plunged several stories to the ground below with a sicken sound. The woman's limbs twisted and bent at odd angles while blood started to slowly pool out and around the lifeless body. The sight itself was gruesome enough, but the scent that reached the teens senses was a bit more then the werepanther could stand. The smell of fresh blood and Shally simply did not mix. The scent tended to arouse the teens wild side. So the teen snatched the only option that seemed open to her. As soon as the opposite side of the road was clear, Nichelle pulled around the stalled vehicles in front of her and roared the red Camaro away from the suicide scene.
After forensics combed through the scene and August and Jacob took witness statements, Auggie able to follow up on a few of those statements. That afternoon found him on the doorstep of one Nichelle Tameron, who was reported to have fled the scene of a jumper earlier that afternoon. Well, whether or not the woman that fell from the hotel rooftop actually jumped remained to be seen. Evidence was still be gathered and he had yet to see the building's security tapes. Jacob would be here with Auggie, but considering Nichelle was a minor with no record it really wasn't necessary. The Werecougar was still at the hotel going over the woman's hotel room.
With the help of his witness statements and a few uniforms, August was able to get a license plate number of the red Camaro that had fled the scene and it led him to the Tameron residence. Pulling into the driveway, there was the guilty car staring him in the face. Shutting the engine off and climbing out of the Chevy pick-up, Auggie studied the red beauty a moment for anything out of the ordinary (which there wasn't) before striding down the walk to the front door where he rang the bell. He took a few steps back to survey the front of the house while he waited, hands coming to rest o his hips and pushed back the brown blazer he usually wore on duty to reveal the gun on his hip along with his badge. Underneath the blazer he wore a dark blue t-shirt, jeans, and the work boots he preferred to wear on the job.
As luck would have it Nichelle was the one to receive Detective Ridley at the door. The teen had been on her way from the gym, where she had gone to upon her return home to work off that little bit of built up energy and mild urge to randomly shift, to head upstairs to shower when the bell of the front door rang.
"Yes?" The teen asked the man she found standing on the other side of the door when she opened it. That was before she sighted the weapon and badge the guy wore at his hip. "Can I help you officer?" Yes she had witnessed a crime in transition, but Nichelle wasn't connecting that with the officer at her front door at the moment.
Auggie had turned at some point during his survey to look out over the yard and turned back at the sound of the front door opening. He pulled the sunglasses he'd been wearing off his face and slid them into the inner pocket of the blazer while he introduced himself, "I'm Detective August Ridley and I'm looking for a Nichelle Tameron who I think," He indicated to the Camaro, "either owns or drives that beautiful red Camaro."
"I'm Nichelle Tameron and that's my Camaro." The teen acknowledged. There really wasn't any reason she could fathom to be denying either fact. "Can I ask what this visit is about, Detective."
At the question, August pulled out his little notebook while replying, "Earlier this afternoon a woman either jumped or fell from a hotel rooftop. Several witnesses and uniforms gave statements saying they saw a red Camaro that looked like it was fleeing the scene." While he was closing his notebook, the wind shifted briefly and Auggie caught the girl's scent.
Understanding seeped into his gaze and the detective had an idea as to why Nichelle had to leave in such a hurry. But, he was nothing if not professional and proceeded to ask, "Before I go any further, Miss Tameron, I need to know if your parents or a legal guardian is home so that they can be present for questioning."
"Neither is presently here, Detective." Nichelle informed the man. "And I really don't see why they need to be present for any questioning by the police." To be truthful Nichelle had been hoping to spare her parents any involvement or unpleasantness that would come of finding out what she had witnessed. "I was in the vicinity and witnessing all that I did just sickened me, which was why I didn't stick around. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to tend to," such as the days school work, "I'm sure you have enough witness accounts to know what happened." And as she moved to close the door on the Detective, Nichelle detected the underlying scent he emitted. It was similar to her parents yet distinctly his own. Nichelle glanced back up at the Detective then with the look of sudden realization in those green eyes of hers.
August nodded once at the look in her eye, but he wasn't entirely finished doing his job. Scuffing his boot against the porch, the detective continued, "Miss Tameron, you seem like a smart girl." He looked at her again, "I'm sure you know that I could charge with fleeing a crime scene. However," Auggie emphasized before she could protest or say anything further, "Considering you're a minor and have no criminal record, I'm going to cut you a break on the fact that legally, I can't enter knowledge that I possess as evidence." A brief smile curved his lips, "The normal doesn't exactly acknowledge that people like you or I exist, do they?" The detective regarded Nichelle a moment, "How long ago was your first change?"
Nichelle sighed with relief without actually realizing it. She wasn't one to normally flee from anything, but this had been a singular situation where if she had remained things would have gone much worse for her. "The first time was when I was twelve." And it might have been disastrous and the ultimate traumatic experience had her parents not been there to see her through the whole ordeal. "And it's nothing like they portray in the movies." The teen added with the slightest of smiles.
The detective chuckled ruefully at the teenager's comment about the movies and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, tell me about it." He looked away, out over the yard again while he recalled the first time he changed. It hadn't been a walk in the park. Auggie looked at the teenager again, "Does the name Alexanderia Ridley ring a bell with you at all, Nichelle?"
"It's got a vague familiarity to it." She answered truthfully. She might have heard the name mentioned by her parents, but Nichelle really couldn't say where she might have heard the name. "A relative of yours?" The teen catching the man's gaze when he looked back her way. Nichelle inquired casually for the simple reason of that the Detective had the same last name as the aforementioned Alexanderia Ridley.
"If your father is who I think he is, my mother contacted him over the summer to extend an invitation to join our pride. Ah," Auggie dropped his gaze to study his boot kicking at the concrete of the porch again. He cleared his throat, "I'm sure you're aware of the recent disasters the city has suffered. During that, my parents passed away and my sister, who was next in line to lead, isn't taking their passing too well." The detective lifted his gaze again, "She's not in any condition to deal with matters concerning the pride, so I'm acting as temporary leader. As such, it is my duty to extend that invitation again to your father and his family." He paused briefly to reach into the inner pocket of his blazer again, pulling out his business card complete with the LAPD logo, his name and contact information. Turning it over, August wrote down his personal number on the back and then handed it to the teenager, "Your father can reach me directly by that number on the back."
"I'm sorry." Nichelle said sympathetically to the detective after hearing about his recent losses. The teen werepanther was glad her family hadn't moved to the city in the midst of the disasters that had befallen it. "You'll probably be hearing from him soon." She informed August as she accepted the man's card, which she tucked into the hip pocket of her jeans. Nichelle knew her father well enough to know that he'd want to speak with a representative of the local pride at their earliest convenience. A meeting she was certain would take place at the Tameron residence. "He tends to like to get meetings such as this done as soon as possible." Shally smiled softly.
August shrugged at Shally's condolences, an appreciative smile curved his lips a little despite his cold sounding words, "Death, whether it's before a person's time or not, is a part of life. These things happen. But, um...thank you." He stepped once toward the teenager, extending his hand, "And thank you to your father as well, for meeting with me."
"I think that's something that would have been inevitable." The teen relayed to the detective as she reached out to shake the hand August offered. They were in another's territory and it was only common courtesy that the head of the Tamerons meet with the alpha of the Los Angeles pride. "You have a good day, Detective Ridley." Nichelle offering parting words before she turned to head back into the house only to hesitate a moment looking back to August Ridley with a questioning look. "Was it a suicide?" She asked with more the a mild curiosity. She had witnessed the tragedy and couldn't help but wonder about that.
The werepanther gave the girl a brief smile at her offer to have a good day. Seeing as how he had a strange accident on his hands, he didn't think he was going to have a good day. Auggie was about to turn, slipping his sunglasses back on when Nichelle asked her question out of curiosity, he had no doubt. He sighed, pushing back the blazer as his hands came to rest on his hips again, "Since there wasn't a note in her room, we're treating the incident as an accident until the coroner's report comes back."
Shally nodding understandingly. It was a police matter after all and she was going with the assumption that Detective Ridley could say little about the incident. "Good day, Detective Ridley." Nichelle repeated politely. "Sorry I can't be of more help to you with your investigation. I only witnessed what others did, and well, you now know why I couldn't remain in the vicinity." The teen would remain in the doorway as a bit of a courtesy to the man until he had turned to head from the porch back to his vehicle.
He glanced to the car at the girl's reason for not being able to stay on the scene. A slight smirk curved his lips as he replied, "Drive carefully, Miss Tameron, and I look forward to hearing from your father." As Auggie bounded down the porch steps, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jacob's number, "Jake," He started to say as he walked away from the teenager and toward his pick-up, "...Yeah, the teenager is a bust. You hear from the vic's family yet?" The detective climbed into his truck, shutting the door and cutting off the rest of the conversation. A few minutes later the truck pulled out the drive-way and drove away from the Tameron residence.