The hair on the back of TJ’s neck stood more up on end the moment Dylan crossed his arms over his chest. Standing off against TJ, and the detective didn’t so much as blink as his eyes narrowed slightly and he stared down his nose at him. So they were gonna play tough guy huh? Fine by him. TJ knew a snake when he saw one, and he’d stared down his fair share of gators as well. The evidence was on one of his forearms. This man didn’t scare him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be cautious around him either.
TJ didn’t move even after Dylan retreated, agreeing to be complacent rather then going into another fit. Good. TJ was only a bit disappointed he didn’t get to see his ass dragged out of there, but the day was still young.
He canted his head to the side in acknowledgment, continuing to stay civil. “I understand completely, still doesn’t give you the right to disrupt the peace. Mercy has had enough disruption these past weeks.” TJ put it simply. “Aside from a broken arm, bruises, and a concussion, Miss Brown is alright and resting now. You can see her after the Doc comes and checks on her.” TJ told him. Not yet wanting the man in that room with her. At least until he could get some questions out of Dylan himself. “I’ve got some questions for you if you don’t mind answering them for me, Dylan.” TJ gestured off to the side for the man in see he wanted to take a walk with him. TJ watched him carefully, and was mindful of the fact his phone in his pocket was still recording.
Dylan raised one eyebrow at the lecture, barely containing an eye-roll. Good fucking grief, this guy thought he was so damn high and mighty, so perfect, defending the peace in a hospital. Too fucking bad there wasn't any peace or happy endings in a place like this. It was all sickness and death and medical debt. His yelling wasn't going to make a goddamn ounce of difference. But he kept that to himself.
He made a mental note of the injuries that Emily had, relieved to hear the detective call her "Miss Brown" and not anything else. The head injury worried him just a little, but he was banking on her meds and the careful conditioning he'd done to keep her on track.
“I’ve got some questions for you if you don’t mind answering them for me, Dylan.”
Red flag! Why questions for him? If this was a routine accident, shouldn't they only have questions for Emily and the driver who'd hit her?
"Sure thing. You need our car insurance info or something? I didn't think that applied since Em wasn't driving. Or, I assume she wasn't? I had the car." He kept his demeanor light and easy as he sauntered after the other man, deliberately showing the detective he wouldn't be flustered so easily.
TJ directed the man to where he wanted them to walk easily, letting him ramble and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Unfortunately not those questions." He started. His gaze flickered to the other man, paying attention to how he reacted."Normally, an officer at the scene of the crime gets that information. Though Miss Brown was unconscious and brought in, so someone had to come with her you see." TJ began to explain with him. "She didn't have her ID with her, so the nurses ran her prints." TJ filled him in. "And a funny thing happened," He actually grinned. "Do you know what division I'm in Dylan?" He asked the other man. Knowing of course he wouldn't know the answer.
"Missing Persons." He said. TJ continued them down the hallway. Letting his gaze flicker back over to Dylan. "It's not every day we find someone that's been missing for two years," TJ said. "Only, she claims to not be our missing person. So we're merely covering all our bases and confirming she is in fact not Emerald Vaughn." TJ stopped walking, turning to face Dylan more as his studying gaze just turned more scrutinizing. "How long have you known Emily for?"
Last Edit: Jul 22, 2021 3:29:17 GMT by TJ McCarthy
Dylan nodded along about the other officers, how Emily had been unconscious. When the detective said 'prints' though, the muscles around his eyes tightened in an almost imperceptible flinch. Shit.
"Do you know what division I'm in Dylan?"
Of course he fucking did, but he couldn't say that. He just widened his eyes and shook his head, letting his irritation mask as confusion. This guy liked the sound of his own voice, so Dylan was going to let him talk. Who knew what he might give away.
Only, she claims to not be our missing person. So we're merely covering all our bases and confirming she is in fact not Emerald Vaughn."
Good girl. Just like he'd taught her. She'd done better than he'd thought, after how much of a dick this guy was being. She hadn't fucked this up completely, not yet.
TJ stopped walking, turning to face Dylan more as his studying gaze just turned more scrutinizing. "How long have you known Emily for?"
Dylan stopped along with the detective.
"Emily and I have been engaged for a year and a half, but I met her three years ago. She got stood up on a blind date, and I stepped in. The rest is history." He grinned, then shook his head again. "I don't know who this Emory girl is, but it's not my Emily. Pretty sure I'd know if my fiancee was secretly someone else. Sorry to disappoint you, Detective."
There, let's see the detective work his way out of that one. He might not even realize that Dylan had planted the idea for him. It should buy them a bit more time--He'd been prepared for this eventuality, for needing to disappear. He already had another place under another name, two states away. The hardest part would be convincing Emily to behave. But if the detective was after her for identity theft, well, then Dylan would play the hero.
TJ studied Dylan’s reactions carefully, though he appeared to only be slightly interested. He listened to Dylan’s explanation and slowly nodded his head. Nothing hinky there, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be something more...sinister at play here.
“Emerald. Her name is Emerald.” Teej corrected. Making it a point to. Emerald Vaughn was a person. Someone’s daughter. A daughter whose parents still hoped that one day might show up. Who were constantly haunted by not knowing what happened to their child. TJ knew that feeling all too well himself, and if this was a lead he wanted to check everything. He owed it to Emerald and her family.
“Emily didn’t act strange or anything to you when you first met her? Nervous, like she was looking over her shoulder for something or anything like that?” TJ asked him. If Emerald really was Emily and only pretending for her own safety, then TJ wanted to know that as well. The police could offer far better protection to her if they what she was running from. Or Who.
Dylan pretended to puzzle over the question. Answering too fast was a rookie mistake. Liars answered fast because they were overly prepared. People telling the truth were unsure, they corrected themselves. He hemmed and hawed for a minute, rubbing his chin like he was really thinking it over.
"No, not scared… At least, not that I remember… She was just pretty spacey. But then, she always has been--she forgets the details, you know if it isn't written down. You know how they always make it out like girls are the ones who are crazy about anniversaries? Em won't remember ours unless I remind her every day for a week ahead of time. And parking lots are even worse! She can never find the car." He laughed, then shrugged. There, another seed was planted. It was the same trap he caught Emily in all the time--teaching her that she couldn't remember things correctly. She couldn't trust her memory, and neither could the detective.
"But hey, if a bad memory is the worst trait my wife has, I figure I'm doing pretty good." He grinned at the officer, hoping he'd commiserate. "At least she's not a shopaholic or some Karen who cusses out waitresses, you know?"
Tj's stance was relaxed as they stood there, his expression interested, as Dylan spoke to him. His gut twisted almost uncomfortably in the man's presence, something TJ often knew he shouldn't ignore, but he had nothing to go off of as to why the guy would give him...well...Jeff like feelings.
Appearing perfectly normal. Nice almost, and it felt wrong. TJ had an impeccable asshole radar, and Dylan McMann was going on the list. He just had to be careful with him. Because if he was involved in Emerald's disappearance, he sure as hell didn't want to spook the guy into doing something stupid. It was best to play dumb cop. Like he was perfectly happy with him cooperating.
He nodded his head, reached into his pocket for a notepad and started scribbling down some bullet points. Mostly the "important" things about when he'd met Emily, how long they'd been together, that sort of thing. "Mmkay, so she's got memory issues? She's always had them?" He asked for clarification, glancing up to look at Dylan. There was a slight smirk on his face at the Karen comments that got a small chuckle from him, but TJ was already thinking a few steps ahead. He needed to look at Emerald's toxicology report.
Dotting a period, he closed the notepad and tucked the pen behind his ear. "Anything else you think might be important Dylan?" He asked him, before he motioned with a hand for him to follow back towards Emily's room.
Last Edit: May 5, 2022 23:24:26 GMT by TJ McCarthy
"Mmkay, so she's got memory issues? She's always had them?"
Alright, that played into the story he'd built, easy. He could get things back on track if he just stayed calm. If anything, having the police hounding Emily, setting them up as the bad guys, it could actually work in his favor. He just needed to make sure that she saw him as the one person on her side, the one person she could rely on.
"Yeah, that's right. She'll just forget the littlest things; birthdays, anniversaries, all that. It's like it just doesn't stick." He shrugged.
"Anything else you think might be important Dylan?" He asked him, before he motioned with a hand for him to follow back towards Emily's room.
Okay, what else could he warn this guy to keep him off his ass? She was hospitalized so they'd probably tried to see if she was impaired, maybe run blood tests. He'd made sure that some of his cocktail didn't linger in her system, but there were some things she was taking on her own. It was a hell of a lot easier than having to slip everything to her, and it helped sell the mental instability.
"I mean, did the doctors get her medical history and stuff? Did she tell them what meds she's on, in case there are any interactions? I know she's on Ambien for sleep, and the other one is a generic… Shit, It's like, desper…desi… desiper-something?" He made a face, like he didn't know it was called desipramine, and he hadn't also laced the pills with Fentanyl when he picked them up from the pharmacy for her. He couldn't hand over the bottles in case they decided to test the contents, but he could prove it some other way.
"I can text you a picture of the labels, if you want." There, perfect. That would sell the name Emily Brown, too, having her name, address, and birthdate on a pill bottle like that.
TJ kept the pace back to Miss Brown's room casual. They weren’t in any rush, and he wanted this guy to feel relaxed and at ease. Like he had everything under control and everything was fine. He glanced at him as he started to ask about her meds, and he smiled softly. “I can’t pronounce half the medications on some of the lists we get.” He said with a small laugh, knowing the pain of the various different and often complicated medication names.
“I don’t think Ms. Brown’s had the chance yet to fill the doc’s in on what she’s currently taking, but Imagine they can pull her records up and find out. So, no need to send over the labels unless its anything new she’s been taking since her last check-up.” TJ reassured him. As they neared the room he held a hand up to stop Dylan. “I’m just going to make sure we don’t need anything else from her, and then see about letting you back, okay? She’s had quite a doozy.” He said before he motioned for one of the other officers to take Dylan off to the side.
TJ didn’t move until he was sure Dylan wouldn’t try anything and then tapped on the door, waiting for a response either from a nurse or Emily before he would slip in. Closing the door promptly behind him.
He approached the little bin that had Emily’s belongings in it slowly. “Ms. Brown?” He called, making sure his voice was quiet, but it also made his southern accent thicker. “Your Fiancé is here and very eager to see you, If you want him in here, I can send him in.” He explained. “But before that, I’m going to give you my card okay? In case you can think of anything that might be useful in helping us solve this Emerald Vaughn case.” Maybe if he said her real name enough it would trigger some memories or something of that sort. Either way, TJ was not going to give up on the fact his missing person was sitting right there in front of him.
He pulled the card out and waved it at her before he put it in with her belongings so she could watch him and then he moved towards the foot of the bed.
Dylan didn't like it, but he did as he was told and waited. Making a scene now would only rile this detective up again, and he wasn't interested in giving the smug bastard any extra reasons to fuck with him.
Inside the room, meanwhile, Em was still drifting, somewhere between asleep and awake. She still couldn't remember what had happened before the accident. The harder she tried, the farther away it seemed to get.
At the knock on her door, she lifted the arm she still had draped over her eyes ever-so-slightly and squinted at the detective as he came back in.
At the explanation that Dylan was here and wanted to see her, she almost laughed. As if she had missed that bit--of course Dylan was here and wanted to see her. He was probably out of his mind with worry; just her being gone when he got home was bad enough. She could only imagine how upset he must be now that she'd actually gone and landed herself in trouble like this. He was never going to let her out of the house again at this rate.
She nodded lightly at his explanation about the card. She knew she wouldn't have anything helpful to add, but there was no point in arguing with him. Just thinking about it sounded exhausting.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," she heard herself say, although she hadn't really realized she felt that way until the words had already left her mouth. She was sorry, though, genuinely so. It seemed so sad to her that this other woman had been missing for so long without a trace. She couldn't imagine what it must be like for her, or for her family.