Grimm with a twist

7

Back at the police station, everyone was gathered around a projector that showed two pictures, one of the young girl, Robin Howell, smiling in a field and the other one was of a smiling Brooklyn in a dinner party with Nick holding her, "We don't know what we got here, relative, ransom in Brooklyn's case or pedophile in Robin's case, and the clock is ticking. We're gonna split into teams, section off the paths they would have taken from school. Now, it's a mile and a half from the school to the house. When last seen, Robin was wearing purple leggings and a red sweatshirt and Brooklyn was wearing black pants, a white shirt and a red coat. Make sure you have a copy of the photo and the map. You all know your sections, so let's get out there and find them." the Captain said looking at everyone and showing the map.

Nick's insides were still churning with worry and shock but when the Captain said that both of them were wearing red his heart stopped, "Captain." he called out forcefully, "Yeah."  the older man said as he turned off the projector, "When the university student was attacked, she was wearing a red sweatshirt." Nick said, "The girl that was torn to pieces? Well, let's hope it's not the same guy." the Captain said with a small apologetic look.

"She's supposed to cross Hunter Lane right there and then go around the park to Hildebrand." Nick said as they traced the map from his girlfriend's job, "The old man's house is on the other side of the park. Right?" Hank inquired as he pointed to the forested park, Nick looked at his phone unlocking it to show a picture of him and Brooklyn, he smiled softly before reopening the map and saying in a low tone "Right. 4753 Hildebrand Road. Directly across from here."  "When I was a kid, I wouldn't have gone all the way around the park." Hank retorted with a small smirk.

"Well, the mother was very specific about the route." Nick said locking his phone, "Yeah, right. Kids always do what their moms tell them to do. I know I did." the older detective said in a joking tone, "Brook would never stray from the path, she knows stuff can happen in the woods." Nick defended "Come on, Nick. If there was a creepy guy chasing them she would have taken the woods because it has better hiding places and places to attack the person." Hank told him as they entered the park.

The duo walked around until they reached a small sign that gave directions to two different paths, "I'll take this trail." Nick said as he turned to the left and started walking on the Hollyberry trail, Nick walked forward looking around, his aunt's words ringing in his head "You need to be careful. You're vulnerable now. This isn't a fairy tale." suddenly almost like a mirage he saw two children, a boy and a girl, "Hey, it's not safe in the woods." he called out to them in a whisper shout, the girl giggles and turns to him, her face reminded him of Brooklyn although her features didn't look like his girlfriend's, her eyes were gray and her smile was teasing, the boy next to her simply looked at him apprehensively, his features were like Nick's although his eyes were green, the little duo grabbed each other's hands and ran towards Nick disappearing behind him as Hank's shout was heard. "Nick, I got something here."

Still confused with what had just happened he rushed back to his partner just as he raised a few weeds up to reveal a small purple backpack with big letters saying 'R.H.' alongside a black purse that Nick knew too well, "Robin Howell." Hank said turning to him, "She must have been grabbed somewhere in this area." Nick said looking around. "Careful where you step. We got a crime scene in Berkeley Park. Yeah, off Hildebrand." Hank said into the phone. His eyes instantly spotting the necklace that he had given to Brooklyn for her 25th birthday alongside a muddy foot print," Hank, we got boot prints here, same kind and he have Brook's necklace, he took them this way." Nick shouted as he started to chase the footprints.

He stopped as he left the part, coming face to face with houses on the other side,he caught his breath as a man walked out of one of the houses to check his mail, as he checked, three girls riding their bikes passed him, attracting the man's attention, he turned around to look at him when suddenly his face changed, he sniffed the air before looking at him and growling slightly. Seeing this Nick turned his face back to the forest and shouted "Hank, I got him!" the man's face changed back to normal and he started to turn back to his house.Nick ran down the small slope, across the street and chased the man into the house jumping on his back, pinning him to the stairs as he shouted angrily "Where is she? Where is she?"

A while later after the rest of the police arrived, the man was put in handcuffs and in the car while the police looked inside the house for the missing women, "Look, I know they're in here somewhere." Nick said as he entered the living room, urgency and need clear in his face, his mind was clouded with too many possibilities of what could have happened to the woman he was going to propose, "You got another place to look, we'll look, but we've torn this place apart." Detective Wu said moving his hand around the living room to exemplify what he had just stated.

"What are we doing here?" Hank inquires as soon as he pulled Nick out of the house, "I know that this is Brook we are talking about but please." he added quickly before his partner said "If she's not in there, he's got them some place else." "What do you see in this guy we don't? He's got no priors. He's clean." Hank contradicted as the two looked at the man, "He fits the profile... he's a loner, he's never been married, he lives across the street from a park." Nick said in a tone of urgency, "That's not going to get him into a court unless he sues our ass. He doesn't have Brook Nick, accept that." Hank told him before going back inside the house.