Tales of Grimm : A New Beginning

The Alley on 4th Street

On this lonely Thursday evening, Nina tapped her pencil against her steering wheel distractedly. She was currently on a stakeout mission by herself to the one place where her case had led her - the alley on the 4th street. However, she wasn't focusing too well because in her head, she kept replaying the morning events in the precinct over and over.

After her arrest of the Skalengeck, Ethan Zila, Officer Bolander didn't hesitate to question her actions as soon as she sat down at her desk.

"So you think you found one of the men who kidnapped little Cindy, you arrested him on university grounds, and your only evidence for probable cause was a bottle of...of what..mold is it??"

"It's called Jay," Nina replied "And I already told you, I thought it was drugs."

Nina put her head in her hands in annoyance. Officer Bolander really wasn't the first person she wanted to start her day with on any occasion. He leaned in as much as he could and glared at her.

"You may have the Captain fooled, but I see you for what you really are. And it sure ain't a Detective. No, no, you're more like a sheep in wolf's clothing. I'm the real wolf around here and I'm going to catch you for sure."

She glared as he walked away from her desk. It took everything in her not to throw a pencil at the back of his head.

"Nina?" Captain Wu called. Nina turned in her chair as he motioned for her to come to her office. Someone coughed behind her and she had no doubt of where it came from. Nina sent one last glare to Officer Bolander as she stepped into the Captain's office.

"Something wrong Captain?" Nina asked.

"I couldn't help but overhear Officer Bolander's rant concerning your first case. I hope it's actually doing better than he was insinuating."

"It is!" Nina exclaimed "It really is. I have a lead as to where Cindy might be that I'm going to check out tonight."

The Captain nodded at her. "Okay, I believe you. I just...hope you know I'm putting a lot of faith in you being a detective so young. There's really no room for mistakes here in this case of yours. Once it's solved, all doubters from the commissioner or anyone in that case, won't have to question you being here or not."

Nina nodded in response, however, she couldn't help feeling nervous that the only way for her to make a name for herself as a detective counted on solving this first case.

That same nervousness made her jaw clench as she sat there staring across the road at the alleyway. She looked over for any sign of movement, but still there was nothing. So far, the only thing that seemed to run around through the alley were rats.

She groaned and hit her head back on the seat.

'This is going to be a long night' she thought to herself. She sipped her coffee that she picked nearby from a place called 'Red's Basket' and sighed. Tang Valley sure had a few good spots that she had yet to explore.

Nina eyed her wallet questioningly, not knowing if it was a good time or not to call someone just to distract herself for now.

"Screw it," she said to herself. She pulled out Barry's card and dialed his number. After a few rings, a groggy voice answered.

"Hello?" Barry answered.

"Barry? This is Nina Wendel. You gave me your card yesterday."

"Oh yeah the detective," he said in a honeyed undertone "If you're still looking for that tour now actually isn't the best time."

"Uh no," Nina said " Are you okay? You're almost whispering it's hard to hear you." There was a pause of silence from the other end before Barry spoke again.

"I'm kind of not at my house right now. More like a certain lady friend's house that I'm just spending the night at...for certain reasons.."

"Okay, ew. I didn't need to know that much. I just have a new-girl-in-town-question that I hope you could answer. It requires criminal knowledge of the town which I'm pretty sure you're an expert of since you've been arrested oh so many times."

"Okay, fire away Detective. But make it quick. I think she's waking up," he whispered.

Nina rolled her eyes and looked over again at the alley.

"What do you know about the happenings on 4th street?" she asked.

Barry sighed. "Ah, 4th street. Lots of good memories there. I had my first fight there, got jumped near it once, payed for some drugs -"

"Barry I'm still a detective here," Nina reminded him.

"Oh yeah, just forget I said any of that," he replied "Basically, 4th street is not the place you want to be on any night. Especially if you're crammed in like, one of the alleys or something. You'd definitely attract some unwanted trouble for yourself in one of those."

Nina saw something move and looked over to see if this is what she had finally been waiting for. She watched as two guys walked out from a door leading into the alley.

"Why are you asking about 4th street anyways?" he asked. Nina watched as the two men exchanged a small bottle between themselves.

"Because I'm looking at it," she replied.

"What!" Barry sputtered "Get the hell out of there. Didn't you just hear me say that place attracts unwanted trouble?"

"It's for a case," Nina explained "I just need to find someone who will lead me to this missing girl."

"I don't know what your general idea is of people in our town, but some people are not as friendly as I am. Especially people around that part. You need to get out of there now!"

Nina watched as one of the men looked down at the bottle they were given and walked off. The remaining one watched him and woged.

'I got him' Nina thought.

"Sorry Barry. I can't go just yet. There's a missing girl out there who needs my help and I am not going to disappoint."

Barry yelled "Be careful!" before Nina hung up on him. She had to move quickly before the man walked off.

Nina didn't plan on moving silently. So when he eyed her as she walked over to him, she didn't hesitate to pin him to the wall.

"What the hell is this?" he yelled. He woged in front of Nina and his face turned to a fearful expression.

"Oh my god, a Grimm. Please don't kill me!" he said. He was crouched down with his hands in the air. A small pack of jay was in his hand.

"I'll consider it. But only if you tell me where this little girl is." Nina pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of Cindy. Nina watched as recognition crossed his face.

"I-I don't know who that is,"he said breathlessly.

Nina pretended to reach for her gun so that he would see. "Okay okay! Some guy used her as payment for a dealing a few nights ago with one of my partners. Last I heard, she was being held at a warehouse on Dire Street."

"And you didn't have the decency to let her go?"

"I-I tried," he stuttered "I mean, come on, she's just a kid! I ha-have a sister too, but this is the only way I can make money for us."

Nina eyed him suspiciously, unsure if she wanted to let him go or not. His hands were still shaking and he continuously looked up at her, probably wondering if she had changed her mind about the gun or not. Nina took a few steps back and sighed reluctantly.

"Come on, get out of her," she said. The man scurried off, looking over his shoulder every other step.

But Nina was better than to go after him for nothing. Jay wasn't technically illegal and Nina felt bad when he looked at her so fearfully. She had gotten what she came for and that meant she was one step closer to finding Cindy.