Need help? {Daniel}

[kat]

Lily glanced up at the cop shop she stood outside of, leaning back against her car. She had heard of a kidnapping of a young girl, that the cops hadn't found any clues as of yet and the parents of the child were panicking badly. She knew, because a cop friend of hers had called her to tell her about it, and asked if she could dig up some information for the lead investigator, a younger guy named Daniel. She didn't know if she'd met this cop, but she'd met so many she wouldn't remember until she saw his face.

She pushed herself off her car, and tucked the manila envelope she held under one arm as she strode into the police station. Because of her being a PI, it was sometimes easier for her to get information on people, especially rich people with a lot of influential friends, who were also some of Lily's most valuable customers.

"I need to see a Daniel Cooper," She said to the uniformed cop sitting behind the glass partition. The man only nodded before he dialed a number. "I'll wait over there," She said, pointing towards a small lobby where hard chairs sat, discouraging a person to stay long. The cop simply nodded again and waved at her before speaking into the phone. He knew Lily, since she often got information for the police. Many of them knew her by sight.

She sat down in a chair, putting one leg across a small row of them and leaning her back up against the wall, making it look like she was half laying across the row of seats as she waited for this Daniel Cooper to show up.

Lily tilted her head back, eyes half closed though open to bare slits so she could see the door he would probably come through. She bobbed her foot in time to a song that had gotten stuck in her head thanks to the radio, and drummed her fingers against the side of one of the chairs, slightly impatient. She didn't have anything to do today, considering it was her day off, and she wanted to be looking up information she could find about witches. Gwen was still unsure about how to use her magic, but thanks to Everette, Gwen was happier than Lily had ever seen her before.

A door opened, though Lily didn't react. She saw a man come out, and watched as the cop behind the partition pointed at her. She didn't move from her spot, still bobbing her foot and drumming her nails on the chair, and let Daniel come to her.

[daniel]

In his office, he sighed briefly. Paperwork after paperwork. It was definantly piling up, that was evident. And it wasn't like he was falling behind or slacking off. It was just a huge week in Los Angeles, which unfortunately for him, resulted in a huge amount of paperwork. He wasn't afraid of a challenge. What he was afraid of, however, was the fact that the crime rate was so high this week. Something was stirring...And he wanted to know the details. There was a reason for everything, in most cases. There couldn't be a logical explanation as to why there were so many unexplained cases piling up in the media and into their offices, it was just too suspicious. If someone was behind all of these, he wanted answers, and he wanted them fast. He hoped some of these files would assist him in getting somewhere, regardless of how boring they are.

Just as he was about to open the next one, one of the officers who works at reception passed by, notifying him that someone, a woman, was asking for him. "Don't they know how to make appointments? Tell them I'm busy, life may not be so hectic for some, but in here, its pretty damn hectic. I have the piles of papers to prove it." The police officier assured him that she said it was important, and he rolled his eyes softly as he got up from the seat, placing the file on top of the yellow folder. "So is finding answers to all of these cases, but we never see them bitching. Probably because they're already dead and can't speak for themselves. He followed the officier out of the room and into the foyer where the officer directed him towards a rather beautiful woman lounging around on the couches.

He walked through the doors, unlocking it with a code, and passing out to see her. "Lily? Can't say I personally recognize you, but the name does ring a bell. You are pretty involved with cases in the force if I remember correctly? You have been quite an asset, and I hope you feel the same about all the information we've provided you with in the past. I'm rather swamped with files, but how can I help you? You said it was important, yes?" He was curious as to what this P.I was looking for. Maybe she had felt the inburst of crime cases in the past week and needed some help with a case of her own, or had some information for him? Either way, it would be an interesting response. He would help if he could, however with the amount of strenous workload he was already under, he wasn't sure how helpful he would be able to be towards her.

[kat]

Lily tilted her head as Daniel walked to her, looking at her like a cop would, assessing, curious and maybe a little wary. She knew because she was looking at him the same way. She lowered her head to see him better, and opened her eyes, watching as he stopped in front of her. She smiled when he said he didn't recognize her.

"Lily? Can't say I personally recognize you, but the name does ring a bell. You are pretty involved with cases in the force if I remember correctly? You have been quite an asset, and I hope you feel the same about all the information we've provided you with in the past. I'm rather swamped with files, but how can I help you? You said it was important, yes?"

"Hmm." Lily hummed in the back of her throat to his comments as she slowly stood from the couch she lounged on. She lifted the manila envelope and waved it at him. "I understand being swamped," She said finally, not commenting on his previous questions. "Believe me. I'm the only P.I. in town." She smiled faintly. "But I still have time to do things for my friends down at the station. I got a call from Detective Montenegro, a personal friend of mine. Monty told me about the girl of that rich couple that got kidnapped earlier this week."

She handed the envelope to him with a shrug. "He wanted me to look into it, and gave me your name. A lot of my clients are close friends with the family. It seems that they didn't give you all the information they said they did." She motioned to the envelope with her chin.

"I have some friends on the family's staff too. Turns out, the kid isn't Mr. Coffman's daughter. Mrs. Coffman cheated, got pregnant, and said it was Mr. Coffman's." Anger burned just behind Lily's eyes. She hated people who used their kids like tools or weapons. She was fond of children, very fond. And very protective.

"Well, Mr. Coffman found out. Threw a huge fit, according to a maid that told the gardener and so on. After that, little Elizabeth vanishes." She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "There's more info on the kidnapping in there. And more background info on both Mr. and Mrs. Coffman, as well as the guy Mrs. Coffman slept with. Don't worry about a fee. Consider it a favor."

[daniel]

The case Lily mentioned was one he had briefly read about, which had sparked some interest in finding answers to it and developing more facts. However a lot of the cases he had read from the huge pile of files had sparked some kind of interest, but he wasn't superman or anything; he could only do so much, and he had to leave the rest in other people's hands. Some mentioned to him that he should take less workloads and delegate it to others, however he couldn't help it. He just liked the idea of helping out those poor people who needed further help that they might not be able to recieve under normal circumstances. Maybe it was in his blood, or he was just too stresed in the head for answers, he really didn't know. He'd like to think it was in his blood at least, and that he was able to respectfully follow a standard his brother set for him in the force.

He took the envelope from Lily, opening it quietly and having a skim read of some of the crucial facts while he listened on to Lily describing the facts of the case; facts which he was missing from the files, he remembered. This Lily woman seemed to be a good investigator, he could tell from what she was describing and the amount of evidence she had given him. "Montenegro is a good bloke, he is well respected here. He must have a lot of confidence in you to work with you like this, he can be...Quite stubborn and overbearing at times." He smiled up towards Lily before looking back over the facts. She explained to him that it was a favor. He smiled again, putting the files back in the envelope. "Cheers, I do appreciate this, I'm confident it will help us out a lot in this case. I'm quite sure Montenegro would be grateful, also."

[kat]

Lily's lip twitched at Cooper's assessment of Monty. "He stopped trying to be over bearing when I knocked him flat on his ass. He's actually pretty nice once you get past that." She grinned a little. At his next comment, her grin faded and the anger came back. "If you need anything else, call me. My card is in the bottom of the envelope, and I wrote my cell number on it."

She glanced towards the front doors as a woman came in with a fading black eye, and went to the guard with money in her hand. Bailing out her jackass husband, Lily assumed. She looked back at Cooper. "I don't like people who put kids at risk or use them as weapons for their spouses," She said, lowering her voice so only Daniel would hear. "If you need someone to help out, hit me up. I'm usually not too busy to help out with a missing kid." She shrugged a little, and forced her anger back. "And if you think something's missing, let me know. I can dig deeper if needed."

[daniel]

He nodded towards Lily, flapping the envelope softly as she mentioned that her contact details were contained within the envelope. "Thanks, will definantly call if something comes up. Its not all the time you have a private investigator willing to help out with case files and all that. Its refreshing," he added softly with a friendly smile towards the woman. He hadn't really dealt much with private investigators, but he had heard good things about them. Bad also, as some could be rather annoying and really hassle people. He suspected Lily wasn't one of those annoying ones, and he was usually good on his assumptions and on reading people accurately. She seemed genuine. However what was ever what it seemed in Los Angeles. He learnt that from his first week on the force.

She soon expressed her dislike of people using kids as their shields in crimes, which he agreed entirely with. There were so many immoral acts taking place which just sunk so much deeper than just a simple crime, even for people like him who had to make reports on them and investigate further into the also. It was almost horrifying the things he has seen, but each case just seems to make him stronger mentally, as he is better able to prepare for the next. But even so, when can you prepare for some of the things you witness, even as a trained detective, who deals with these things on a regular basis?

Just by that, he had learned something about Lily and her emotions. She seemed to have a strong connection towards children. Did she have any, had she lost a child? He really didn't know, he could easily make simple assumptions but assumptions weren't everything. He was positive she had seen a lot in her line of work, she probably dealt with those domestic type cases in depth. He nodded again as she stated her willingness to help if needed. "I'll look over these reports when I get a chance, and will get back to you if I need any further details or assistance. I appreciate these, will be really helpful in our examinations. Its a shame you only had one case out of the fifty reports I have on my desk," he joked softly.