First Lead

When I woke up the next morning, it was different to the ones I have become accustomed to living in my new normal. When I went down to the kitchen in the morning, I was surprised to see Jackson standing there smiling at me with food and not my mother. 'Your mum had to go in extra early today, she told me to tell you good morning and hopefully she'll see you later tonight." He smiles sliding me over a plate of food, I was a little taken back at first trying to absorb all the information that he just told me. 'That has to do with the something bad that knocked my mum back she kind of told me about, no idea how she told me about it without actually telling me." I say picking up the spoon, but I didn't place in the food as I was too deep in thought. 'Have you got any idea what happened at that base place yesterday, I know you saw the way my mother was acting when she got home?" I ask finally taking a bite out of my yogurt, Jackson smiles taking a seat on the counter. 'We've been over this Ally; I don't get told anything that happens in that place. When I went there this morning to clock in, the atmosphere was very tense from the get-go, but whenever I walked by anyone, they would put a fake smile on their lips. But I have no idea, we're probably not going to find out so there isn't much point us trying." He says while I just smirk, this man really underestimates me, doesn't he? 'Let's steer away from that topic for a while, did you have time to read the file last night?" He asks now turning it around to ask questions, I knew he was only doing this to avoid the topic. 'I managed to read most of it last night, it really just made me feel bad for Mario, did you read it?" I ask thinking back to what it said about his past, maybe if he had better opportunities, he would have never got into the situation that he did. 'If we're going to do this Ally, you can't be feeling sorry for this man. I know it's human nature to feel a little empathy when you read about what somebody has gone through, but when you learn what that man has done and what all the other people, I have to look into have done, that empathy disappears." He explains pulling his copy of the file out, I would have brought mine down, but I thought my mother would be here. 'Before you say I'm wrong and maybe if Mario wasn't put in that situation, but there have been many other people that have gone through what Mario has and many people, have gone through much worse. But you don't see them turning to a life of crime, they took what happened to them and made it a positive experience to help others. He made that decision to turn out the way he did, no one forced his hand so we treat him like we would treat anyone else." He says which did take me back for a second, but deep down I knew what he was saying was right. 'Let's steer away from feeling sorry for him, you've dealt with investigations like this before, what is the next step?" I ask with a little smile, I could tell that Jackson might be talking from personal experience with being put in a bad situation, I didn't want to go further into it just in case he didn't want to talk about it. 'That is a good question Miss Carter, now we have got all the information on Mario, we need to see if we can find any advantage points that we could work from. Any information in this that could lead into even more information." He explains which tells me I'm going to need my copy; I hold my finger up before running up the stairs to get mine. I was soon back in the kitchen with the file in hand, he sends me a smile before we both turn our attentions to the notes in front of us. While reading back through, something I had glossed over become clear in my mind. 'All of the people that my mum or someone in her team spoke to regarding Mario, they wrote in the file and gave an in-depth explanation of what was said. But you know the one person that it seems hasn't been spoken to?" I ask breaking the silence, Jackson looks away from the file and shrugs his shoulders for me to tell him. 'His mother, it says that she hasn't spoken to him in years which is probably why she was never looked into, but in my mind she's the first person I would want to hear from." I say just speaking from a non-trained person, but the look on Jackson's face told me I was definitely, onto something. 'Woah Ally, you're right." He says skipping through the pages just in case he missed it, but he soon looks up at me with a smile. 'It looks as though you might have found our first lead." He smiles which I couldn't help but smile at, maybe I'm going to be good at this. 'So, what happens next, do you go and speak to her but how would we know where she lives?" I ask closing the file in front of me, I was both excited but fearful of what this all might entail. 'Mario's mother has lived in the same house for over twenty years, according to neighbours, she doesn't leave the house much and gets everything delivered. So, whenever we need to talk to her, she'll be there." He tells me standing up and taking his coat, this giving me a hint that we weren't going to waste any more time just sitting around. 'Go up and get your contacts and hat, yes you look nothing like yourself, but we have to remember whose mother we're talking to, we have to be as careful as we possibly can." He says which did make me sad, it's the first time someone has told me that I don't look like myself. I nod my head taking my file, I didn't need my mother coming home when we weren't here and finding it. I run up to my room making sure to hide it, before placing my contacts in place. Taking the hat and running down the stairs, Jackson was waiting by the front door with a smile. 'Ready for your first groundwork?" He asks with a little wink; this does make me roll my eyes and laugh at how corny he was being. 'We need to have a team name, but let's do this!" I cheer matching his energy, he laughs taking my hand before leading me out of the front door.