Commissioner Gordon sat at his desk in the office with a tired look on his faces.
He leaned back in the chair which creaked under his weight and he rubbed his eyes with one hand while he thought about the boy in the interview room down the hall.
The kid had lost both parents in a single night to what looked like a gang execution and now he faced the system as an orphan with no family to claim him.
Gordon recalled the dinner at his home just a week earlier when Ethan had sat at the table with Barbara and the conversation had flowed easily among them.
He wondered how a teenager handled that kind of loss without breaking down in the way most people would expect…
it troubled him that Ethan seemed so composed during the intake process.
Gordon picked up the phone from the desk where it rested next to a half-empty coffee mug and dialed the home number.
“Dad?
Is everything okay did you forget something at home again?” Barbara said from the other end of the line.
“Hey Barb…” Gordon replied while he held the receiver close to his ear.
“I need to tell you something…
it’s about one of your friends from school.”
“Someone from school?
Who is it?” Barbara asked, though her tone shifted with concern that carried over the connection.
“It’s Ethan Kane,” Gordon said as he glanced toward the door of his office which stood slightly ajar.
“He’s here at the station right now.”
“What happened?” Barbara responded quickly, the panic in her voice evident.
“Is he in trouble?
Did he get hurt?
Is he okay?”
Gordon paused for a moment.
“I can’t get into the specifics yet and you know how these things work with ongoing cases.
But he’s safe here for now and we’re handling the situation.”
“Dad, that doesn’t tell me anything,” Barbara said with a frustrated tone.
“If Ethan’s at the station then it must be serious, I want to come down there to see him.”
“No, Barbara,” Gordon interjected firmly while he shook his head.
“You stay where you are, you know better than to rush into the middle of police business.”
“But he’s my friend,” Barbara protested.
“If he’s there alone then he might need someone he knows…
I can at least talk to him and help him feel better.”
Gordon sighed softly into the phone as he leaned forward in the chair which adjusted with a slight shift.
“I understand that you want to help him and it’s good that you care about your friends.
But right now the best thing is for you to let us do our jobs here at the station.”
“Please, Dad,” Barbara pleaded.
“Just tell me if he’s okay or if there’s something really bad going on with him.”
“He’s not hurt in a way that needs immediate medical attention,” Gordon assured her while he tapped a pen on the desk surface.
“I’ll let you know more about what happened when I can share the details without compromising the investigation.”
“That sounds like it’s worse than you’re saying,” Barbara replied and doubt lingered in her response.
“You always hold back when it’s something big…
now I’m really worried about him.”
“Ethan is in good hands here and we’ll make sure he gets through whatever comes next.”
“Fine,” Barbara conceded after a brief silence on her end.
“But promise you’ll call me back soon with an update and don’t leave me hanging all night.”
“I promise,” Gordon agreed while he nodded to himself.
“Now get some rest if you can and I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, Dad,” Barbara said before the call ended with a click that echoed in his ear.
Gordon placed the phone back on the desk where it belonged and he let out a deep sigh.
He ran a hand through his hair which felt disheveled from the long day and he stared at the wall across from him.
The phone rang suddenly on the desk and it jolted him from his thoughts as the sound cut through the silence.
Gordon looked at the caller ID on the screen which displayed Harvey Bullock’s name.
“Harvey, what do you have for me?” Gordon asked as he settled back into the chair.
“Jim, it’s about Montoya,” Harvey replied.
“I think she’s missing, I’ve thought things were strange for a while and now it’s something more than just a hunch.
I can’t just ignore it anymore.”
“What makes you say that?” Gordon questioned while he grabbed a notepad from the drawer which he opened to a blank page.
“I got a call from her three days ago right after the City Hall explosion,” Harvey explained as he paced on his end which Gordon could hear in the background steps.
“She said her mother was sick and she had to leave town immediately to visit her.
But it didn’t sit right with me even then and now I’ve checked her apartment where everything looks too normal for someone who left in a hurry.”
“Go on,” Gordon prompted.
“Her favourite boots are still there in the closet and she never goes anywhere without them for more than a day,” Harvey continued.
“The duffel bag is under the bed unpacked, but her work jacket is missing along with her badge.
There’s a to-do list on her desk that is half finished…
listen Jim I have a bad feeling about this and o think it involves Ethan Kane.”
Gordon stopped writing for a second as the name registered with him.
“Ethan Kane?”
“Yeah, the same kid from Gotham Academy who popped up in the Upshaw case,” Harvey said and excitement built in his words.
“I think there’s a connection here that ties back to the bombing and the murder.
Renee must’ve been closing in on something with him and now she’s gone without a trace.”
Before Harvey could add more details, Gordon interrupted him.
“Harvey, Ethan Kane is at the station right now.
Both of his parents have been killed in what looks like a gang hit.”
There was a pause on the line before Harvey responded.
“What?
His parents are dead?”
“That’s right,” Gordon confirmed while he set the pen down on the notepad.
“He called it in himself from an alley near the apartment and the officers brought him here for a statement.
It seems tied to Iron Row over debts the parents owed.”
“Jim listen to me, that makes perfect sense in a way you might not see yet,” Harvey argued as he stopped pacing on his side.
“Iron Row wasn’t after the parents at all.
They were targeting Ethan himself, I don’t know how but they must’ve discovered that he was responsible for killing Upshaw, this must’ve been a revenge hit, or maybe this could even be Ethan trying to tie up any loose ends.”
“How do you figure that?” Gordon asked with a raised brow. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
“Think about it,” Harvey pressed.
“How often is a gang hit sent on a couple of nobody is like the Kanes?
They’re a bunch of goddamn junkies, no there has to be something more here, Jim you gotta let me interview him.”
Gordon sighed into the receiver as he considered the points Harvey raised.
“Listen Harvey, the kids just lost both his parents barely six hours ago I’m not gonna interrogate him for crimes that have no solid evidence.
Put the Ethan stuff on the back burner for now.
If Renee really is missing then that’s the priority we need to focus on first.”
“I’m not happy about brushing this aside Jim, every instinct I have is telling me the kids involved,” Harvey replied.
“What if Ethan killed her or kidnapped her to keep her quiet?
I’m telling you the common thread in all this mess.”
“I don’t believe that for a second Harvey,” Gordon stated firmly while he shook his head.
“It’s more likely that Iron Row is involved in whatever happened to Renee if there’s a gang connection.”
“Why not both?” Harvey challenged as he glanced around the apartment where the broken door reminded him of his entry.
“Ethan could have been using the gang as a smokescreen.”
“Harvey you’re starting to sound ridiculous now, we stick to the facts we can prove,” Gordon insisted.
“Start with verifying Renee’s story about her mother and check any leads on her whereabouts.”
“Fine, but I’m telling you that kid is bad news,” Harvey grumbled.
“I’ll file the missing person report officially and pull in resources to search for her.”
“Do that,” Gordon agreed while he flipped the notepad closed.
“And keep me updated on what you find about Renee.”
“You got it Jim,” Harvey said as the call wrapped up with mutual understanding despite the tension.
Gordon hung up the phone and leaned back once more in the chair which supported him through the ongoing strain.
He thought about the web of connections that linked Ethan to multiple cases and he wondered if Harvey’s suspicions held any weight after all.
As the hours ticked by in the office, Gordon reviewed the initial statements from the scene where Ethan’s parents had met their end and he cross-referenced them with known Iron Row operations that the department tracked.
He picked up the phone again to call the lead on the gang unit “Tell me what we have on Iron Row’s recent activities,” Gordon said to the officer on the line.
“They’re ramping up collections in the east side,” the officer replied with details that filled in gaps.
“Kieran Deloe is calling the shots and he seems to be wanting to expand, as far as I know he’s been calling in all debts.”
“That fits with what happened at the Kane apartment,” Gordon noted as he added to his notes.
“Keep on them and keep up to date with the other gangs territories, Iron Row seems to be on a full on collision to starting a gang war, something I hope we can avoid.”
“We’ll dig deeper sir,” the officer assured him before the conversation ended.
Gordon set the receiver down and he stood up from the desk to stretch his legs which felt stiff from sitting too long.
He walked to the window where the city lights flickered beyond the glass and he contemplated the safety of everyone involved in the unfolding events.
He was worried about Ethan, about Barbara, even about Harvey.
He returned to the desk and he dialed Harper’s extension to get an update on the interview.
“Harper, what’s the status with the Kane kid?” Gordon asked when she picked up.
“He gave a consistent statement with the one he gave at the scene with a few deviations here and there,” Harper reported.
“We’re waiting on child services now for pickup.”
“Make sure he’s comfortable until then,” Gordon instructed as he ended the call.
(AN: Shits going down next chapter and Ethan is going to have to take on an entire gang while maintaining his cover.
That’s going to be a little hard when a certain capes crusader comes into the mix.)
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